Chapter 176: Chapter 131: Wolf Attack
Once they arrived, Cheng Zongyang first had everyone start cutting down trees to prepare for building houses.
They wouldn’t be able to produce salt for the first few days, so they had to build their houses first. At the very least, their living arrangents had to be settled.
After designating a location, he left his uncle and cousin to manage the work. anwhile, Cheng Zongyang searched for a water source in the vicinity.
Salt production, of course, required water—it was an essential part of the process. He had to find the closest water source available.
And so, in a single afternoon, the group managed to build a simple wooden cabin that could serve as temporary housing for everyone.
Cheng Zongyang also found a relatively close stream, but the water flow was quite weak. They would need to connect bamboo pipes to bring the water over. Later, they would also have to dig sothing like a reservoir to centralize their water supply.
Over the next two days, Cheng Zongyang helped everyone with the reservoir and the construction of the workshop, while also clearing the surrounding area of potential dangers.
The Seven Herbs Powder naturally ca in handy.
He had to ensure there was no threat from venomous snakes or poisonous insects within at least a one-hundred-ter radius of their living and working areas.
It was safe to say that without the Seven Herbs Powder, they wouldn’t be able to survive in this environnt. Even if they tried, it would only be a matter of ti before they suffered heavy casualties. The Seven Herbs Powder was the key to their confidence, the very thing allowing them to settle at the Inner Mountain Pass.
「On the third day.」
A simple Salt Workshop was finished, and they had also constructed a large wooden cabin.
The smaller cabin was used to store items, serving as a warehouse.
The large one could house twelve people—sleeping side-by-side, of course, with six people to a side.
This was only a temporary solution; they could gradually build a few separate cabins later on. Food would be delivered every three days, so they didn’t have to worry about running out of supplies. They could take care of everything else themselves.
On the afternoon of the third day, Cheng Zongyang began to personally demonstrate how to produce salt.
The process wasn’t difficult.
Once everyone had practiced their part of the process and knew what to do, Cheng Zongyang felt at ease.
Of course, to be considerate, Cheng Zongyang also promised them one day off every six days to go ho and reunite with their families.
This wasn’t a for-profit business, so there was no need to work them every single day. Once they had more people, they could set up rotating shifts.
After giving his uncle and cousin a few more instructions, he headed back toward the Inner Mountain Pass alone.
On the way back, however, he re-entered the Wilderness World. For the past three days, aside from his dicinal baths, all his ti had been spent on matters concerning the Salt Workshop.
He appeared inside the market hut and dismissed the stream of ’Points
1’ notifications that kept popping up, then imdiately checked his own interface.
---
Na: Cheng Zongyang
Age: 15
Realm: Eighth Grade (Muscle Strengthening)
Points: 2986
Skills: Archery (116,442/20,000, Specialization); dicine Recognition (67/1000, Beginner Level)
Cultivation Techniques:
Body Refining Skill (2729/3000, Eighth Grade)
Martial Arts:
Basic Saber Technique (568/3000, Entering the Hall and Chamber)
Wind-Stepping Step (85/1000, Beginner’s Practice)
Great Strength Vajra Palm (48/100, Uninitiated)
---
Cheng Zongyang nodded, looking at his nearly 3,000 Points.
’Nearly a thousand points a day.’
’I didn’t expect these four to be so efficient, they completely blew past the quota I set. Three thousand Points in just three days!’
It seed that aside from their official duties, they spent all their remaining ti by the river catching and killing fish. They had killed so many that the stream banks had beco a "river of blood."
This had also attracted many other animals, which Ma San and his n had casually shot dead with a few arrows.
But a problem had also arisen.
The mont he left the market hut, a thick, fishy stench assaulted his nostrils, making him nearly gag.
Huge quantities of fish were laid out to dry everywhere outside.
It slled like a fish-gutting pier that had been baking in the sun for three days. The stench was overwhelming.
Holding his breath, he took a look inside the Preservation Warehouse next door. He found it piled to the brim with a whole warehouse full of unprocessed fish.
’This is what happens when you kill too many fish but feel it’s a waste to throw them out.’
He could even sll the foul odor of curing fish.
"My Lord!"
When Ma San saw Cheng Zongyang arrive, he and the others quickly put down their work to greet him.
But the sll clinging to their bodies left Cheng Zongyang speechless. ’Have they been marinating in it?’ he thought.
’Three days. It’s only been three days. How will we manage in the future?’
"This won’t do. We have to think of sothing," Cheng Zongyang said. "If this continues, the entire territory aside from the market hut will be unlivable."
The market hut had a Shielding effect, so there was no sll at all while inside it.
Ma San gave a wry smile. "My Lord, killing the fish is one thing, but gutting and processing the at... a sll like this is unavoidable."
Cheng Zongyang, of course, understood the problem.
But he felt it would be a waste to simply throw so many fish away. He was still thinking of drying them all, finding ti to go to the county, and selling the entire batch through Li Lu.
’At a ti like this, families with even a little bit of money would probably be eager to buy fish. Even dried fish.’
"We’ll just have to endure it for now. But let’s make a change: from now on, only use fish that are three or four pounds or heavier for drying. The bigger, the better. Chop up anything smaller than three pounds and use it to cultivate the flesh-rot soil."
’If we had modern technology, there would be so many by-products we could make. It wouldn’t be such a waste.’
"Yes, my Lord," Ma San and the others responded.
"By the way, when you have a mont, look into how we might crush these fish into a paste without having to skin or debone them, so we can make them into things like fish balls. You can try using stone or tal, whatever works. If you can figure it out, we can make fish balls in the future. They’d be convenient to eat, and we could also sell them."
"Ah?" Ma San was stunned for a mont, but then he understood Cheng Zongyang’s aning. He cupped his fists and said, "Yes, my Lord."
Cheng Zongyang then walked back into the market hut to check the new types of fish that had spawned for the day.
A mont later, he had Ma San and the other three n bring over five hundred fish of three different types from the warehouse next door.
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