The morning mist had not yet completely dispersed, and the soil at the edge of the mountains and forests was moist and black, feeling soft underfoot.
Chief John was leading Mark and two Hunters, patrolling the area where they had dug yams yesterday—traces of wild beasts had increased since the snow melted,
Alex had specifically asked them to come and check to prevent the Tribe from encountering danger when searching for food.
“Chief John, look over there!”
Mark suddenly pointed at a bare rock wall ahead, his voice filled with curiosity.
John looked in the direction he pointed and saw several irregular white stones embedded in the gray-brown rock wall, they looked like snow that hadn’t melted, yet they were brighter than snow, shimmering faintly in the morning light.
The group quickly walked over.
John reached out and touched the white stone, feeling a rough texture on his fingertips, along with some fine powder stuck to them.
He pinched the powder, brought it to his nose, and smelled it.
There was no special scent, then he subconsciously licked it—a salty and bitter taste instantly spread across his tongue, like the taste of rainwater falling on burnt ash, but much stronger.
“What is this?” John frowned, rubbing off the powder on his finger.
“It tastes strange, a bit salty.”
Mark also imitated John, touched some powder, and tasted it, immediately wrinkling his face:
“So salty!
Saltier than the river water we drank last time.
Can we eat this?”
Another Hunter, A Shan, shook his head:
“It looks like a stone, but how can a stone be salty?
Maybe a Mountain Spirit left it behind.
We shouldn’t touch it.”
In the perception of primitive Tribes, anything that exceeded common sense might be related to “Mountain Spirits,”
and was usually treated with awe and caution.
John didn’t speak, just stared at the white stone for a while.
He recalled what Alex had said yesterday when teaching everyone to recognize yams,
“Not everything in the mountains and forests is useless; the key is to distinguish what is edible.”
Although this white stone tasted strange, perhaps it had a special purpose?
He simply used his stone axe to chip off a small piece and wrapped it in animal hide:
“I’ll take it back for Alex to see.
He is knowledgeable and might know what this is.”
When they returned to the cave, Alex was organizing the dried yams with Yuna.
Fish soup was steaming in the Fire Pit, and the Tribesmen gathered around, helping to string up dried fish while chatting.
A He squatted by the Fire Pit, holding a piece of Dried Yam.
He took a bite but frowned:
“Why doesn’t it taste as good as yesterday?
It’s a bit bland.”
His words drew agreement from many Tribesmen.
Mark’s mother rubbed her arm and sighed:
“Not only is it bland, but I’ve been feeling weak these past few days, and the wound I got from the wolf scratch last time hasn’t healed as quickly.”
Several elders also nodded, saying that when cooking fish and yams these days, they always felt something was missing, and they got hungry easily no matter how much they ate.
Alex knew clearly that this was due to a lack of salt.
In modern times, salt is an essential electrolyte for the human body.
A lack of salt leads to decreased stamina, slow wound healing, and can even cause more severe problems.
It was just that the Tribe had been short of food before, so he hadn’t had time to mention salt, but now that they had fish and yams, the importance of salt became evident.
Just then, John walked in, holding up the white stone:
“Alex, look at this thing.
We found it on a rock wall in the mountains.
It tastes salty, but we don’t know what it is.”
The moment Alex saw the white stone, his eyes lit up—it was Rock Salt!
The most primitive and easily accessible salt resource!
The surface of the stone had fine crystals, and the cross-section was translucent.
He licked it, and the salty, bitter taste was pure, without any off-flavors—it was indeed Rock Salt of decent purity.
“This is salt!” Alex’s voice carried uncontrollable excitement,
“It’s a good thing that gives us strength and makes wounds heal quickly!
It is the Tribe’s’Source of Life’!”
“Salt?” The Tribesmen all gathered around, looking curiously at the white stone.
The Old Shaman walked over, leaning on his Wooden Staff, and cautiously touched the stone:
“Alex, you say this can be eaten?
But it’s made of stone; won’t it hurt our stomachs if we eat it?”
“Of course, it can be eaten.” Alex handed the Rock Salt to the Old Shaman,
“Taste a little, and you’ll know its use.
The reason we felt weak and our wounds healed slowly before was because we weren’t consuming salt.
With salt, adding a little when cooking fish or yams will not only make it delicious but also give us more strength to hunt and work.”
The Old Shaman hesitated for a moment, then pinched some Rock Salt powder and tasted it.
The salty and bitter taste spread across his tongue.
He paused, suddenly recalling migrating with the Tribe when he was young, and drinking salty water by a Salt River.
At that time, the Tribesmen all felt energized, and their wounds healed quickly.
“This taste…
is exactly like the water from the Salt River back then!”
The Old Shaman said excitedly, “We didn’t know why back then, but we just felt strong all over after drinking that water,
It turns out it was because of this’salt’!”
When the Tribesmen heard the Old Shaman say this, they immediately became interested.
Mark was the first to come closer and carefully licked the Rock Salt:
“It really is salty!
If we add a little when cooking fish soup, it will definitely be more fragrant than now!”
Ashi also tasted it and nodded: “If we eat some before hunting, maybe we can carry back more prey!”
But after the excitement, new questions arose.
A Shan frowned and said:
“This salt is embedded in the rock wall, how do we get it down?
And it has dirt on it, will there be a problem if we eat it directly?”
Alex held up the Rock Salt and said to the Tribesmen:
“We can use stone axes to chip the salt blocks off the rock wall, and then use clean animal hides to wipe off the dirt.
Although it has some impurities now, we’ll make do for the time being, and later we’ll figure out a way to purify it.”
He paused, then added, “Moreover, this salt can be stored for a long time.
We should chip off more and put it in Clay Pots,
We can use it for cooking and drying fish later, and we won’t have to worry about running out of strength anymore.”
John immediately stood up, hoisting his stone axe:
“I’ll take the Hunters to chip the salt right now!
We’ll chip back a lot so everyone can taste fish soup with salt!”
Mark and Ashi also stood up, excitedly saying they wanted to go along.
Alex instructed, “Be careful when chipping.
Don’t break the salt blocks into too many pieces; try to keep them intact for easier storage.
Also, wrap the chipped salt blocks in clean animal hides so they don’t get too much dirt on them.”
John and the others nodded and quickly walked out of the cave.
Yuna watched their retreating figures, then turned to Alex and said:
“I didn’t expect there to be such a good thing in these mountains.
If we had discovered it sooner, everyone wouldn’t have suffered so much.”
Alex smiled and put the remaining small pieces of Rock Salt into a Clay Pot:
“Before, the Tribe only focused on hunting and gathering wild vegetables, and didn’t pay attention to these’stones.’
In the future, we must pay more attention to the things in the mountains and forests.
Maybe there are more treasures that can help the Tribe survive.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
The Tribesmen excitedly discussed salted food while waiting for John and the others to return.
A He lay by the Fire Pit, imagining the taste of fish soup with added salt, practically drooling:
“Alex, when the salt comes back, can we cook fish soup first?
I want to taste what fish soup with salt tastes like.”
“Alright, when John and the others return, we will cook fish soup with salt.”
Alex patted A He’s head, his heart also full of anticipation.
The discovery of salt would not only improve the Tribesmen’s physical health, but also extend the storage time of food—for example, sprinkling salt when drying fish, could prevent the dried fish from spoiling and make the Tribe’s food reserves more abundant.
This was crucial for the upcoming Spring Plowing.
About an hour later, John returned with the Hunters.
Their animal hide bags were filled with rock salt blocks of various sizes.
The largest were the size of a fist, and the smallest were the size of an egg.
They were piled up in the center of the cave, resembling a small white hill.
The Tribesmen gathered around, curiously touching the salt blocks.
Some couldn’t help but lick them, their faces full of surprise.
“We chipped off quite a lot from that rock wall; it should be enough for the Tribe for a while!”
John wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled, saying, “There are several other rock walls with these salt blocks, so we can go chip more if we run out later.”
Alex walked over, picked up a salt block, and used a clean animal hide to wipe off the surface dirt:
“Now let’s try adding a little when cooking the fish soup.”
He broke off a small piece of salt and put it into the boiling Clay Cauldron, stirring it gently a few times.
Soon, a fragrance different from before wafted out of the Clay Cauldron.
Besides the freshness of the fish and the soft texture of the yams, this aroma had an additional layer of rich, savory saltiness that whetted everyone’s appetite.
A He was the first to come closer, sniffing hard: “So fragrant!
Much more fragrant than before!”
Yuna scooped out a bowl of fish soup and handed it to the Old Shaman: “Please taste it first and see how it is.”
The Old Shaman took the bowl and took a sip, his eyes instantly brightening—the savory saltiness perfectly neutralized the fishy smell, and the yams became softer and stickier.
With one mouthful, warmth slid down his throat into his stomach, making him feel comfortable all over.
“Good!
Good!” The Old Shaman nodded repeatedly.
“With this salt, this fish soup is truly excellent!
Drinking it makes you feel strong all over!”
The Tribesmen eagerly scooped up the fish soup, and after one sip, they couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Mark drank the fastest.
After finishing a bowl of fish soup, he wiped his mouth and said:
“It’s so fragrant!
Why didn’t I think fish soup was this delicious before?
With salt, I could eat two big bowls even if I only had yams!”
Alex felt a warmth in his heart as he watched the satisfied smiles of the Tribesmen.
Just then, a System prompt sounded in his mind:
[Detected that the Host led the Tribe to the initial discovery of the critical resource “Rock Salt,” resolving the Tribe’s salt deficiency crisis, improving the Tribesmen’s health level and food storage capacity, meeting the standard for “Civilization Progress – Critical Resource Acquisition.”
Reward Civilization Points: 100 points.
Current Civilization Points: 440 points.]
440 points!
Alex was delighted.
He looked at the salt blocks in the center of the cave, then at the Tribesmen drinking fish soup by the Fire Pit, and suddenly felt that what was called “Civilization” was exactly this: discovering “treasures” step by step, improving life bit by bit, and bringing a taste of warmth to savage days.
The fish soup in the Fire Pit was still boiling, and the savory aroma drifted out of the cave, floating toward the distant mountains and forests.
The Tribesmen drank the soup while planning to chip more salt blocks the next day and store them in Clay Pots.
Alex leaned against the rock wall, watching the scene before him, knowing clearly that the discovery of salt was another important step in the Tribe’s development—with salt, they would have more strength to cultivate land and develop Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, taking another step toward true “Civilization.”