As a result, after walking for two days, we didn't find the salt mine, but we did find a large chestnut forest.

"You pick chestnuts here, I'll go to the hill ahead and search it. After you pick the chestnuts, you won't have to waste time on that hill anymore." Qiao Yu said.

"Okay." Shu said.

In this unfamiliar place, everyone was worried about large wild beasts, and no one dared to move forward without a group of more than ten or twenty people.

However, Qiao Yu had no problem running around alone, and Shu no longer worried about her safety.

Qiao Yu ran to the hilltop ahead and began a horizontal search. While they called it a search, they were merely looking around in areas accessible to humans. They wouldn't venture into steep areas or deep forests.

Fortunately, the grass and trees are withered in autumn, making it much easier to walk than in spring and summer when the grass and trees are lush.

"Huh?" Seeing two goats in front of him, Qiao Yu quickly lowered his pace and quietly approached them.

Two goats were eating grass when they heard a bleating sound in front of them. The goats looked up and walked forward.

Qiao Yu followed behind.

When she saw this, she was ecstatic.

There were five or six goats there, licking the stones on the ground on a stone wall, and bleating from time to time.

The two goats that were attracted over also came over and started licking the food along with the other goats.

In addition to the animal hide bag she carried on her back, Qiao Yu also made two smaller bags out of the hide, styled like crossbody bags, which she wore on either side of her hips. One contained a quiver, and the other contained stones she had specially polished at a stone mill. Some of these stones were round, while others were pointed, making them perfect for concealed weapons.

At this moment, she selected a few smaller pebbles, held them in her hands, and threw them one by one, hitting the goats on the head. The goats were hit so hard that they fell to the ground one by one.

Qiao Yu walked over and looked down at the place where the goat had just licked. Sure enough, she saw that the rocks were just as she had guessed, white in color, very different from the rocks she usually saw.

She took out an iron axe from the animal skin bag and chopped at the stone wall a few times, chopping out a small piece of rock underneath. She put it to her tongue and tasted it, and it was indeed salty.

Qiao Yu was almost in tears.

As expected, hard work pays off and she finally found the salt mine.

After her joy, she looked around and felt a little troubled again.

You have to know that it has only been a day and a half since they left their hiding place. In other words, this place is only two or three days away from the Sun Tribe and is still within the hunting range of the Sun Tribe.

Their attempt to mine salt here was like plucking the hair from a tiger's head. If they were discovered by the Sun Tribe, a fierce battle would ensue.

However difficult it is, this salt mine must be mined.

After thinking for a while, she tied the unconscious goats with vines and tied them under the tree, and then made a mark with white vines in the east and west directions twenty meters away from the stone wall.

After doing this, she did not go back to inform the group of people picking chestnuts, but continued searching forward.

Now that the salt mine had been found, whether or not it was a rich mine, it should be able to sustain the Dragon Tribe for a while. Her biggest hope now was to find an iron mine.

Of course, there are no such good things in the world. She searched the entire mountain but found no copper or iron ore, so she had to return to the chestnut tree.

The men of the Dragon Tribe had almost picked all the chestnuts from the seven or eight chestnut trees.

When Qiao Yu told everyone about the salt mine, they were so excited that they kept asking, "Where is it? Let's go and see it."

Liu Shui suddenly thought of Qiao Yu's concern and asked, "This place is so close to the Sun Tribe. Should we take advantage of the snowy season when the Sun Tribe members aren't out hunting and quickly dig up the salt and take it away?"

Qiao Yu was also thinking about this question on his way back.

She nodded and said, "Now is the best time. Let's mine the salt in early winter. But it's getting late now, so let's rest here for the night and go back tomorrow morning to prepare to mine the salt."

She said with regret, "What a pity. If only I had more time, I could have forged all those iron tools."

Because she had to prepare for battle, she had been crafting weapons like arrowheads and spearheads for the past few days, and hadn't made mining tools like chisels and hammers. It would be difficult to mine the salt quickly.

Fortunately, everyone had stone axes, and the team leaders were each equipped with an iron axe. Anyway, let's start mining with these limited tools.

Early the next morning, Qiao Yu took everyone to the place where the salt mine was discovered.

"Is this the salt mine? Apart from being a little whiter than ordinary stones, there's not much difference." Everyone sighed as they looked at the minerals.

Some reckless people even wanted to lick the ore with their tongues, but Qiao Yu stopped them: "That was just licked by a sheep, don't you think it's dirty?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Okay, everyone, spread out and look for a place to live," said Qiao Yu.

They would stay here for the next ten days or half a month, until the snow covered the land and salt mining could no longer be carried out. Therefore, a place to live was very important. If they could find a suitable cave, that would be the best.

Unfortunately, they were not so lucky this time. There was no cave nearby. If they wanted to find another one, they would have to go further away. They had to work quickly, and wasting time traveling back and forth was not worth it.

"Let's build wooden houses nearby." Qiao Yu said.

Everyone immediately set to work, chopping trees, cutting straw, and weaving thatch in an orderly manner. However, this was limited to the people of the Valley Tribe and the Stone Tribe. They had gone with Qiao Yu to the Dragon Tribe last year to build a new tribe, and they had also initially built small cabins to live in, so they were very experienced.

The people of Shanyin tribe didn't know what to do, so they had to clean up the ground under Qiao Yu's command.

"Keep it simple, don't make it so complicated," said Qiao Yu.

Now that she had an iron axe, chopping down trees was a piece of cake. While she was talking, a row of bowl-sized trees had been felled.

"Six wooden stakes on each of the three walls and four at the door will be enough, and the thatched curtain will provide an extra layer. This way it takes less effort and it will be warmer." Qiao Yu said.

Everyone was a skilled worker, so Qiao Yu's explanation made everyone understand. Strength lies in numbers, and everyone worked together. By evening, ten cabins had been completed.

Each cabin is about 20 square meters in size and can accommodate eight or nine people in a haphazard manner, which is enough to accommodate everyone.

"What? You want to sleep in a tree?" Everyone disagreed when they heard Qiao Yu's plan. "We are all grown men sleeping in the house, but you, a little girl who is the leader, are sleeping in a tree. We're afraid we'll be drowned in spit when we return to the tribe!"

"That's right. We can easily sleep here. The room at the very front is for you, Yu."