Chapter 84 How Did We Forget the Saltpeter While Digging for Razor Clams?

In modern times, the production of yeast has become a very mature technology, and there are many kinds of wine on the market.

Yu Yan didn't know much about yeast starter, but she knew that it was initially collected from moldy or sprouting grains.

Some time ago, when the tribe was grinding wheat, he deliberately left some on the stone mortar and millstone. Later, these leftover wheat grains got moldy, so he collected them.

The black mold didn't look edible, and Yu Yan was worried that eating it would upset her stomach and be difficult to cure, so she added an extra step of processing before brewing the wine.

At this moment, he gathered more firewood, started a fire, and added water to the large iron pot.

They then filled several small winnowing baskets with sorghum rice and put them in a pot to steam.

He said to Lanxiu, who was tending the fire, "Add some more firewood, and the fire will be bigger."

"good."

The firewood in the stove was burning fiercely, and the water in the pot was boiling violently.

This was Yu Yan's first time doing this, and he wasn't sure if it would be successful. When he saw that it was almost done, he took the collected Aspergillus and mixed it into the sorghum rice. He only stopped when he made sure it was mixed evenly.

"That's enough, no need to add firewood anymore. Lanxiu, could you bring me a few pieces of charcoal?"

Charcoal burns longer than firewood. After filling it in, Yu Yan used her hand to test the temperature of the outside of the pot lid from a distance.

"Let's just leave it simmering overnight, don't worry about it, let's wash up and go to sleep."

The first thing Yu Yan did after getting up the next morning was to check on how the sorghum was fermenting.

After opening the pot lid, you can smell the mold, but you can't see the mycelium growing with the naked eye.

The charcoal in the stove had burned down to embers, so Yu Yan added two more pieces of firewood to keep it warm.

Once it gets warmer during the day, you can take it elsewhere to ferment, freeing up the pot.

Feng Gui and Rui Hua knew he was tinkering with Aspergillus, and after getting up, they asked him how things were going.

Yu Yan smiled and said, "Things are going quite smoothly so far. Let's see how it goes from here."

Before dawn, he squatted in front of a pottery jar, using dried pomegranate peel and two other warming medicinal herbs to brew medicine for Mu Yao.

Xi Tuo and Mu Yao also got up. Mu Yao's eyes were bright as she sat to the side waiting, while Xi Tuo helped Rui Hua with chores in the yard.

After staying for a few days, Xituo is now an expert at feeding ducks and sheep, and he has even learned how to milk them!

After the medicine was brewed, Yu Yan let it cool down and then served it to Mu Yao.

"It's still a little hot, be careful."

"Yes, thank you, Dr. Yu Yan."

Xi Tuo stared intently at Mu Yao, watching him drink the medicine in one gulp from the bowl.

The medicine was bitter, and he couldn't help but frown.

Xi Tuo slipped a small handful of raisins into his hand—he had asked Yu Yan for them beforehand.

Mu Yao smiled at him and put the raisin in her mouth.

A subtle sweetness spread from the tip of his tongue to his heart.

After waiting for a while, Mu Yao's stomach began to cramp violently, so painful that he was covered in sweat and couldn't help but cry out.

Although Xituo was mentally prepared, she was still heartbroken. She hugged him and asked worriedly, "Dr. Yu Yan, is it really okay to be in so much pain?"

Yu Yan observed Mu Yao's condition: "This means the medicine is working. Take this; it's the enema medicine I prepared. Use it on him as I instructed and see if the worms have come out."

"Mmm." Xi Tuo took the medicine, carried Mu Yao on his back, and walked away quickly.

As dawn broke, more and more people arrived at Yu Yan's place.

Besides the people from the Caiyun tribe, Cangfeng, Xinyu, and others were also very concerned about Muyao's situation.

When Xi Tuo returned carrying Mu Yao, Yu Yan was the first to greet him.

"How is it?" he asked hurriedly.

Xi Tuo entered the clinic, placed Mu Yao on the bed, and laid him flat. Yu Yan noticed that the bloating in his abdomen had disappeared and become flat, which relieved her somewhat.

Xi Tuo turned around and replied happily, "Yu Yan, the deworming medicine you gave him was really effective! He expelled the worms from his stomach! Look, his stomach isn't bloated anymore."

"That's good." Yu Yan felt completely relieved.

He looked at Mu Yao and asked, "How are you feeling now?"

"So relaxing..." His voice was weak, but his eyes were full of joy. "I feel so comfortable all over."

Yu Yan was very happy for them that the parasite problem had been solved.

Mu Yao looked at Xi Tuo again and said pitifully, "I'm so hungry right now, I really want to eat something..."

Xi Tuo held his skinny hand, his eyes slightly red, and promised, "I'll make it for you! I'll make lots and lots!"

Yu Yan cleared her throat. "No, his spleen and stomach are still very weak. He needs to be taken care of slowly."

Mu Yao looked disappointed: "Don't tell me I have to keep drinking noodle soup."

Yu Yan chuckled: "No, I can eat some light, easily digestible food now."

Mu Yao's eyes lit up: "As long as there's food, that's fine!!"

Yu Yan told Mu Yao to lie down and rest, and asked Xi Tuo to collect a few parasites for him.

Xi Tuo immediately showed a look of disgust: "Doctor Yu Yan, what do you need them for?"

"I am useful."

"Oh well."

After giving her instructions, Yu Yan turned to Feng Gui and asked him to make some food that Mu Yao could eat.

Cangfeng and the others waiting outside asked, "How did it go? Did you get rid of the bug?"

Yu Yan nodded: "It was aborted."

"Great!!" everyone cheered.

Yu Yan asked, "Have you all had breakfast? If you haven't, go and eat. After you're done, call all the adults and children of the tribe over. I have something to show them."

"I've already eaten."

"We haven't yet."

"Then I'll go get someone!"

Yu Yan: "Wait a minute!" He thought for a moment and said, "Send a message to the people of Mingyuan, Shenhu and Qingqing tribes as well, and tell them to bring their babies to listen."

Last time he talked about the compass, they all regretted that their tribe's children didn't hear it, but this time he treated everyone equally.

"Okay, got it!"

After eating and busying herself for a while, Yu Yan saw that most of the people from the peninsula tribe had arrived, so she took a small ceramic bowl and walked into the middle of the crowd.

"Yu Yan, is what you want to show us what you have in your hand?" Yin Qing asked, cracking open a handful of freshly roasted melon seeds.

"Yes." Yu Yan opened the lid and said loudly, "Let me introduce this to everyone. These are the parasites that Mu Yao expelled from her stomach!"

Yin Qing only glanced at it before she couldn't finish cracking the melon seeds: "Ugh!"

Everyone else, adults and children alike, showed expressions of disgust.

Yu Yan looked at everyone and explained in detail the dangers of parasites. Some of the children almost cried after hearing it.

"Waaaaah, Father, parasites are so scary, I don't want to get parasites."

Yu Yan gave Lan Xiu a look.

Lan Xiu asked loudly, "Dr. Yu Yan! How can we prevent parasitic infections?"

The word "infection" was taught to him by Yu Yan beforehand.

Yu Yan cleared her throat: "Then we need to take the following precautions. First, cook food thoroughly before eating and boil water before drinking; second, many people have built houses now, so we need to clean our homes regularly; third, illnesses can enter through the mouth, so we need to wash our hands before meals and after using the toilet, and wash our hands after hunting or gathering outside..."

He bent down slightly, looking at the little ones, "After you finish playing games, you also need to wash your hands, understand?"

No matter how many times I've said it before, nothing is as shocking as seeing real parasites this time.

The children nodded vigorously, like pecking at rice: "We understand!!!"

Later, some parents came to Yu Yan and said, "My child is so sensible now. He reminds us to wash our hands before eating, saying that if we don't wash our hands, we will get worms in our stomachs and it will hurt a lot. Yu Yan, we owe this to you!"

After explaining the hygiene knowledge, Yu Yan led the people of Caiyun Tribe on a tour of the tribe, mainly to introduce the new houses.

The people of the Caiyun tribe were very envious and asked many questions.

This time, Yu Yan wasn't needed; everyone else from the Peninsula tribe was able to answer the question.

Around noon, people from Mingyuan, Shenhu, and Qingqing tribes arrived.

Judging from the fact that they mobilized their entire tribe, you can tell how important this trip is to them.

The little ones from several tribes were the most excited. Shuanghong (the children of Zhong Hai and Mengyun from the Mingyuan tribe) and Luanxia (the children of Junxi and Beihe from the Qingqing tribe), who had been here before, were as if they were back home, maintaining their animal forms and running around.

They happily introduced their playmates, Shuoxing and Qiuze, to the children of their tribe.

Fluffy rabbits, Totoro, birds, wolf cubs... chasing and playing, making a ruckus.

Shuanghong asked curiously, "Shuoxing, what is Brother Yuyan going to teach us this time?"

Luanxia: "Is it something more interesting than a compass?"

Shuoxing rolled her eyes and said seriously, "Of course! You'll see when you see it!"

The children were even more excited and rushed to Yu Yan's side, begging him to start quickly.

Yu Yan took out a small ceramic jar: "Since everyone is so eager to hear it, I'll begin."

Soon after, the sound of retching came from all directions.

Yu Yan's "mini-class" left an indelible impression on everyone.

For many years afterward, the people of these tribes ate cooked food, drank boiled water, washed their hands frequently, and maintained good hygiene, and no one was ever infected with parasites again.

Having done her job of popularizing science, Yu Yan looked up and saw that it was still early, so she said to the clan leaders, "Since you've all come all this way, don't rush back yet. How about I take you to the beach?"

The people of the Caiyun tribe were the first to respond: "Great! We're all looking forward to seeing the sea!"

Jiang Kuo and the others said, "We really want to go too."

Tan Nian from the Shenhu tribe asked excitedly, "Can we go beachcombing? Can we catch fish? Can we swim in the sea?"

Yu Yan: "Yes, we can, but please be very careful."

"Okay!!!"

In the afternoon, including Xituo and Muyao, the six tribes set out together to welcome the autumn sun. All sorts of beast-like creatures flew in the sky and ran on the ground, creating a grand scene.

The young people and children were the most excited, and they even started singing competitions, organized by tribe.

This time, Yu Yan led them to a mudflat. The tide had just receded, and countless fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish were scattered on the beach.

People who had never seen the sea before were going crazy and ran forward as fast as they could.

"Wow! This is the ocean!!"

"The ocean, here I come!!"

Bai Lang watched the waves crashing against the shore, his eyes welling up with tears of emotion.

In his heart, he said to his father and his second father, who had returned to the embrace of the Beast God: This is "White Waves," I have seen it.

People from the peninsula tribes often come to the beach, and seeing these people shouting and yelling at the sea, they feel somewhat helpless.

Senbai, puzzled, said to Yuyan, "Isn't the ocean just a bit more water? Why are you so excited?"

Yu Yan smiled; she could understand.

Moreover, he found watching these people much more interesting than watching the sea.

"Senbo, fly up into the sky and remind all the tribal chiefs to keep a close eye on their people and ensure their safety."

"Okay!"

Senbai transformed into a black eagle beast, and the strong wind from its wings flapping as it took off made Yu Yan's clothes flutter loudly.

Yu Yan didn't rush to the mudflats. Instead, she changed into tung oiled rain boots, tucked in her trouser legs, and put on a straw hat and gloves.

Then he carried a small wooden bucket, which contained a small salt pot and a small shovel.

"Wait a minute, it's crooked." Lan Xiu turned to the side, adjusted his straw hat, and tied the straps.

Yu Yan stood obediently without moving, her eyes sparkling, "Is it okay now?"

Lan Xiu smiled faintly: "Alright."

"Let's go dig for razor clams!"

This mudflat is particularly suitable for razor clams to grow, and the razor clams are very plump during this season.

Yu Yan carried a bucket and walked on the mudflat. With her excellent eyesight, she spotted many razor clam holes.

He bent down and shoveled twice, then sprinkled some salt into the hole. Soon, the razor clams popped their heads out with a "biu".

"Hehe." He carefully dug away the surrounding mud and pulled out the razor clams. They were longer than his palm, and the meat was so plump that it was overflowing from the shells.

"Wow! It's huge!" Yu Yan excitedly showed the razor clams to Lan Xiu.

"It's huge, I dug it up too."

"If we dig up a few more, we could cook a whole dish, haha!"

Others noticed the commotion and rushed over to see what was happening.

Yin Qing exclaimed, "These shellfish are delicious! I love picking them up when I'm beachcombing, but I never collect many. Turns out they're hidden in the sand!"

Xin Yu: "I've learned something. I'll try using salt too."

Salt is an important resource, and everyone brought some. They took out the salt and tools and started digging, just like Yu Yan.

Some impatient orc cubs would transform into their beast forms and dig at the mud with their claws, managing to dig up quite a bit.

Excited shouts could be heard from all around: "I dug up a huge shellfish too!"

"I found a super big jellyfish!"

"There are crabs here! They're so fat!"

"The rain boots that Yu Yan taught us to make are really comfortable."

The people of the Beast World are physically strong. Mu Yao was so sick before, but after successfully killing the insects today, she rested for half a day and had the energy to come and play.

Because their Gale Tribe didn't have a sea, the two of them were particularly enthusiastic about beachcombing, not only harvesting a lot of seafood but also collecting many beautiful seashells.

Xi Tuo held the seashells and said to Mu Yao, "When you're fully recovered, we'll make some jewelry from these seashells and wear it. It will look really nice."

Mu Yao smiled and said, "Okay."

Watching the crowds busily gathering seafood, they felt a surge of joy and excitement.

"The peninsula tribes are really wonderful," Mu Yao exclaimed.

...

Many hands make light work, and the haul from this beachcombing trip was quite amazing.

Even Yu Yan herself spent half an afternoon digging.

There's no way around it, beachcombing is like treasure hunting, it's just too fascinating.

Jiang Kuo, Fan Su, Shu Yu, and the other clan leaders urged them repeatedly, and it wasn't until evening that they finally gathered their tribes together.

They came over to say goodbye to Yu Yan: "Yu Yan, it's getting dark, we're going back today. Let's leave some of the seafood we caught for you."

Yu Yan waved her hand: "No need, we've already caught quite a lot, we can't finish it in a day or two. Take it back while it's still fresh."

"Then we won't stand on ceremony with you! Thank you!"

Yu Yan: "You're welcome. Take care on your journey! Welcome to visit again next time!"

Jiang Kuo: "Hahaha, even if you didn't tell us, we would have shamelessly come anyway!"

Fan Su: "Yu Yan, when you have time, come visit our tribe!"

Yu Yan nodded, "Okay."

Everyone walked together toward the peninsula tribes' habitat. Along the way, Mingyuan and his tribes left one after another.

With such a bountiful harvest of seafood today, the remaining tribes decided to have a feast at the new altar square of the Peninsula Tribe.

Yu Yan contributed her own iron wok and showed off her skills in several ways, making spicy stir-fry, plain stir-fry, scrambled eggs, and dipping sauce for the clams, and even stewing a tofu soup.

Everyone praised Yu Yan's cooking skills, enjoying the delicious food while singing and dancing around the campfire.

The people of the Caiyun tribe absolutely love clams. They pushed Zhu Yu to ask Yu Yan if there were any ways to preserve them, as they really wanted to take some back with them.

Yu Yan said, "Clams will only survive for two days in salt water. Your tribe is too far away from us. Let's dry them and take them back with us."

"Okay, dried is fine. Take it back and let the people in the tribe try it. Yu Yan, thank you!!"

"You're welcome."

After Zhu Yu and the others left, Lan Xiu came over and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

“Ah, I was thinking, if we freeze the clam meat, we can keep it fresh, but the problem is we don’t have the means to freeze it right now… wait,” Yu Yan’s eyes lit up as she looked at Lan Xiu, “If we find saltpeter, we can make ice!”

When saltpeter melts in water, it releases a large amount of heat!

How could he forget something as important as "making ice with saltpeter"?

Lanxiu asked, "What does saltpeter look like?"

Yu Yan described it to him, "You must have seen it before. It should be under the surface of the salt lake, but we have enough salt at home, so it's been a long time since we've gone to the salt lake to fish for it ourselves."

If you had gone there a couple more times, you wouldn't have forgotten it!

Sigh, the hottest summer is over!

After listening to him finish speaking, Lan Xiu said, "I have indeed seen it. I will take people to collect it tomorrow."

Yu Yan: "Yes, saltpeter is flammable and explosive, so be sure to keep it away from fire."

"Okay, I understand."

Yu Yan was thinking about the yeast fermenting at home, so after dinner, she went back with Lan Xiu.

When they arrived home, Lanxiu lit a torch, and Yu Yan lifted the lid off the winnowing basket.

The sorghum rice in the winnowing basket has already sprouted short mycelia! These white wisps are not only pure but also very abundant!

Yu Yan was overjoyed and slapped her thigh: "Hahaha, it's done!! With this, we can brew wine!!"

Lan Xiu knew how much he wanted the wine and was genuinely happy for him: "That's great."

Yu Yan wanted to examine the mycelium more closely, so she reached back to grab Lan Xiu's torch, accidentally touching Lan Xiu's hand in the process.

Both fell silent. There was no wind tonight, and their hearts burned as clearly as flames.

Lan Xiu didn't move, his icy blue eyes fixed intently on him.

Yu Yan exhaled softly and clenched her fists little by little.

Lan Xiu smiled, withdrew his fingers, and cupped Yu Yan's hand, which was a size smaller than his, with his palm facing down.

Yu Yan rubbed the tip of her nose, too embarrassed to look him in the eye, and took his hand, holding the torch as she led him forward.

"Grow the mycelium quickly, grow as much as you can, my alcohol depends on you."

Lan Xiu didn't hear a word he said; he just watched as his light pink lips opened and closed, and his breathing gradually became heavier.

Yu Yan turned her head: "You mean me..."

He met Lan Xiu's eyes, which were deeper than glaciers, and instinctively fell silent, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

Lan Xiu lowered his long, raven-feather-like eyelashes, his gaze fixed on his lips, and slowly drew closer...