Aya, who was standing to the side, opened her mouth, but ultimately just scratched her head and squeezed in next to Wu Yue. "Yue, some of the mushrooms I brought home yesterday have already gone bad."

As she spoke, she lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed.

Hearing this, both the Snow Tiger Tribe Leader and the Snow Tiger Witch frowned. "They went bad after just one day?"

Food that spoils so quickly has to be eaten immediately after being gathered. That makes it even less valuable than wild vegetables.

Wu Yue nodded. "It might be because you stored them improperly. The ones at my house are still fine."

Then, she turned to the Clan Leader and the Witch. "I have a way to make dried mushrooms. This kind of dried mushroom can be stored all the way until next year."

As soon as Wu Yue finished speaking, the cave fell silent. The Snow Tiger Tribe Leader stared at her in disbelief. "You said... until next year?"

Wu Yue nodded gravely. "I wouldn’t lie about something like this. They really can be stored until next year.

In fact, many wild vegetables and fruits can also be dried. While they might not last as long as dried mushrooms, they’ll last through the winter, no problem."

The Snow Tiger Witch ran a hand over his face, his eyes shining as he looked at Wu Yue.

’If my own divination skills weren’t so terrible, I’d be asking the Beast God right now if Wu Yue is a Messenger he sent down.’

Suddenly, as if a thought had struck him, the Snow Tiger Tribe Leader abruptly looked up at her. "Yue, I have something very important to ask you."

He stared intently at Wu Yue, his gaze so serious that she couldn’t help but feel nervous herself.

She straightened her spine and nodded gravely. "Go ahead and ask."

The Snow Tiger Witch watched them, finding the scene quite amusing. But as a witch, he had to maintain his dignity, so he held back his laughter with a pair of soft coughs.

The Snow Tiger Tribe Leader pressed his lips together. His massive fists kept clenching and unclenching, a clear sign of his nervousness.

A chill ran down Wu Yue’s spine.

’Could it be? Has my beauty conquered this handsome, middle-aged Beastman? Is he about to confess his love to me? Ask me to be his second wife?’

You couldn’t blame her for thinking that way. Having second wives—or second husbands—was all the rage here. As long as you were powerful enough, it wasn’t a big deal.

What she didn’t know was that Aya, standing beside her, was feeling the same way.

’Her Father only looked this anxious and nervous when he was facing her Amu.’

She cast a complicated look at Wu Yue. ’I finally found a good friend; she isn’t about to become my new, younger Amu tomorrow, is she?’

"Last time, the Beastman Warriors brought back a very salty piece of meat. They said you made it with salt and that it could be stored for a long time.

But none of us believed it, so we scraped the salt off and ate it right away."

When he finished, he looked at Wu Yue anxiously. "That meat made with salt... can it really be stored for a long time?"

Wu Yue and Aya both let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. So long as he wasn’t asking her to be his second wife, everything was fine.

But at the same time, another one of her questions was answered.

Back in the cavern, to avoid being discovered by the Black Wolf Tribe, everyone had eaten salt-cured meat.

And everyone there had seen for themselves how long the salted meat could be stored.

For the people of the Beast World, meat was their staple food.

But meat also couldn’t be stored for long. So, before every winter, they would eat as much as possible to store up body fat, preparing to burn through their reserves to survive the cold.

She had thought a method for preserving meat for so long would cause a huge stir in the tribe. But after returning, she never heard anyone mention salted meat again, which she found quite surprising.

She never would have guessed that the tribespeople had just eaten the salted meat the Beastman Warriors brought back. They hadn’t believed that such terribly salty meat could be preserved for a long time and even thought using salt to cure it was a waste.

It was a waste of meat and a waste of precious salt. After all, aside from a few of the Beastman Warriors, most of the tribe didn’t know that the Snow Tiger Tribe now had plenty of salt.

Wu Yue gave a wry smile. "I just assumed the tribespeople hadn’t told you or the Witch about the salted meat. I never imagined this was the reason."

She nodded. "Yes, salted meat can be preserved for a very long time. If we start hunting before winter and cure the meat with salt, we’ll have no problem eating it even after the winter is over."

Seeing their shocked expressions, Wu Yue continued, "As long as we have enough salt and prey, the Snow Tiger Tribe will no longer have to worry about food during the winter."

They would no longer have to worry about food!

The promise in those words was simply monumental!

But it left the people in the cave both stunned and filled with a poignant sorrow.

This was a problem that had plagued the Snow Tiger Tribe for generations, yet this year, it was being solved by a young female who had nearly become one of the tribe’s slaves.

"Curing meat is simple, but there are some techniques involved. I can teach those to the tribespeople as well.

But I hope the task of curing the meat is given to tribespeople who can be trusted."

When she finished and looked up, she was startled by the sight of several pairs of bloodshot eyes staring at her and fell right on her butt into the nest of grass behind her. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Clutching her wildly beating heart, Wu Yue had a single, pressing thought she wasn’t sure she should voice.

’Damn it all! For a second when I looked up, I thought I’d transmigrated again into some post-apocalyptic survival world, surrounded by a bunch of red-eyed zombies.’

"Yue!" With a cry, Aya threw herself at Wu Yue, wrapping her in a hug so tight it hurt.

"Shit, shit, shit! Aya, you damn brute! You think I’m a tank like you? Get off me! You’re gonna crush me!"

Wu Yue let out a series of exaggerated, blood-curdling screams. After successfully getting Aya to back off, she clutched her arms and scrambled to a safe distance, looking like a frightened maiden who’d just escaped the clutches of a villain.

Seeing Wu Yue watching her defensively, Aya scratched her head in embarrassment. "Hehe, uh, I just got too excited. We’ll have food for the winter! Hehe... HAHAHAHA... AHAHAHAHA!"

Wu Yue: "..."

Snow Tiger Witch: "..."

Snow Tiger Tribe Leader: "..."

’Has this girl lost her mind?’

"All the Salt Crystal Stones from that cavern have been brought back now. We’ll keep this matter a secret. Before winter, the Witch and I will find some absolutely trustworthy Beastman Warriors and females to handle the meat curing."

The rest of the tribe thought that the cavern was completely depleted of Salt Crystal Stones.

But only Wu Yue knew what those Salt Crystal Stones really were.

They were shed from the body of the Salt Crystal Beast. As long as the Salt Crystal Beast had a salt crystal mine to feed on, it wouldn’t be long before more Salt Crystal Stones appeared in that cavern.

And the last time she’d had the System investigate the salt crystal mine near the cavern, she’d learned that the vein extended far beyond the Polar Forest.