The next morning, I was woken up by birdsong. I was puzzled; I had never encountered so many birds when I stayed in this tribe before. Why were there so many birds today?

I was just about to ask Dante to use his blowgun to wake them when I realized that Dante had already gotten up, and now I was the only one sleeping.

Do all these indigenous people get up this early?

I slept pretty well last night, and I stretched and got up from my cot.

I opened the curtain. The sky was still dimly lit, but not far away, a beautiful figure had already lit a bonfire. That person was Su Su.

Beside her sat several indigenous people chatting and laughing, each holding a dark, unappetizing object and gnawing on it with great enjoyment.

When Su Su saw that I was already up, she smiled and greeted me, inviting me to come and get something to eat. So they must have been hungry from sleeping in, which is why they got up so early?

Su Su presented a piece of roasted pork liver with both hands. There were some white crystals on the surface of the pork liver, which showed that it had been salted beforehand.

I took a bite of the grilled pork liver and thought it tasted pretty good; the original flavor was quite fragrant. It had the same atmosphere as the salted pork liver that we grilled by the charcoal fire early the next morning after slaughtering the pig for the Lunar New Year.

After we finished breakfast, it was already broad daylight.

Although it's still cloudy today, thankfully there's no sign of rain. If we hurry up and get the brine from the mountains, we should be able to come back and get some rest.

At this point, the birds that had been chirping by the house could be seen more clearly. These birds were entirely black and only slightly larger than sparrows.

The reason they came to the tribe was simple: yesterday, when the pig was slaughtered, there was still a lot of congealed pig blood on the ground, as well as some other unwanted offal and meat scraps.

They are now pecking at the scraps on the ground, the birds flapping their wings and eating happily, and even when they see me coming, they are not afraid and continue to peck at the ground.

Dante told me with a smile that these birds came to clean the tribe, and everyone welcomed them and no one would harm them.

I nodded, and then said to Dante,

"Let's have Su Su take us to that brine spring before it rains today. If we have enough time, we can get some rest when we get back."

Dante translated my words to everyone, and Su Su mumbled something after hearing it, pointing to the distance and then to the location of the pit.

I looked at Dante and waited for him to translate.

"Susu said it will take us quite a while to get down from the mountain we went up. We haven't fed those wild boars yesterday, should we feed them something first?"

I smiled and shook my head, then said to Su Su,

"Don't worry, these guys are very resistant to hunger in the wild. They have fat reserves, so even if they don't have any food, they can go without food for two or three days without any problems."

"Sir, why don't we feed them a little? We can find some leaves in the soil where the fruit is grown to feed them."

As Dante spoke, he pointed to a hill not far away.

I sighed and decided it was better to explain the domestication process to everyone.

"Dante, the reason we're not feeding them now is to keep them hungry for a while longer. If they're fed, their wild instincts will remain."

We have to use hunger to smother their wildness; only after a few days will they willingly and obediently come with us.

Then I added,

"Not only that, we also can't feed them too much in the days that follow, just enough so they don't starve. That way they will become completely dependent on us and think that they can only have enough food if they follow us."

This method is somewhat similar to falconry, where the animal is first trained to develop a dependence on the eagle. It may seem cruel, but it's also one of the fastest ways to gain an animal's acceptance in animal training.

After my explanation, everyone who was completely confused suddenly realized that wild boars could be played with in this way, and they learned something new.

"Alright, now that I've explained my plan to everyone, let's get our things ready and head up the mountain. We need to get the brine as quickly as possible because we'll need to boil salt when we get back."

As I spoke, I hoisted the basket from the ground onto my back, checked my belongings to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, and then waited for everyone to set off together.

Before leaving the tribe, we closed the gate. The wild boars are now trapped in the pit, and if any predators come looking for their scent, it will be a disaster for them.

The path up the mountain was still the same muddy animal trail, showing that even these wild animals knew how to conserve their energy.

I found the tracks of more than one species of wild animal on the muddy ground along the way.

Among them are hoof prints of the familiar takin, as well as some plum blossom-shaped paw prints larger than a hand. The preliminary judgment is that they were left by a feline animal such as the saber-toothed tiger.

It seems we're not the only ones getting salt; animals from this area also come here to obtain the salt necessary for survival. You might even bump into them.

"Dante, remind everyone to be alert and pay attention to any sounds around us. There might be some wild animals here."

Dante nodded to me, then mumbled a few words to everyone. Even though Top was leading the way, the rainforest was different from other places, so we should still be careful.

We were still on the road when Pat, who had already been released into the sky, let out a sharp hawk cry.

Sure enough, speak of Cao Cao, and he arrives.

"Everyone be careful!"

I warned everyone and exchanged glances with Dante. We told everyone to wait where they were while Dante and I went ahead to check what was going on.

The natives took out their bows and arrows, nocked them, and prepared for battle. Susu also picked up her wooden spear. The tips of their spears and the ends of their spears were soaked in the concentrated juice of the fruit that Dante had brewed; if one was wounded by it, it would have a numbing effect on wild animals.

After walking a while longer, Dante and I were unsure if our view would be blocked, so we each climbed a tree to check.

This way, the two people can see a more comprehensive picture.

I chose a eucalyptus tree, which is quite common in jungles. This type of tree is vertical and likes sunlight, so it grows faster than ordinary trees. The one I climbed was probably over twenty meters tall.

After climbing to the top of the tree, I looked towards the place where Pat had sounded the alarm. Through some dappled leaves, I could see a few yellowish-brown figures, and it seemed there were quite a few of them.

Due to the angle, I only saw part of the body and not the whole animal.

To get accurate information, I changed my perspective from the tree and continued observing. They can't stay in one position forever; if I wait a bit, I should be able to see other features of their bodies.