Chapter 30 Montmorillonite and Gypsum Stone. Thank you for the invitation. My home is in a scenic spot.
Yu Yan led the people to stack pieces of wood in the pit.
To facilitate subsequent observation of the effects, different types of hardwood were placed in each pit.
He chose a pit, laid hardwood on top of twigs and dry grass, and then covered it with a layer of treated clay.
This time, the entire kiln pit, except for the air inlet and chimney, was sealed with clay.
Yu Yan checked it one last time and couldn't find any problems, so she announced that the engine should be ignited.
At this point, Yu Yan realized the problem. The air circulation in the kiln was poor; the chimney wasn't even emitting smoke. It needed to be improved.
Feng Gui poked his head out and said, "It doesn't seem to be on fire inside."
Xuefei: "If this continues, the fire will go out once the wood outside is burned out."
Xin Yu: "Yu Yan, what should we do?"
Yu Yan felt very hot, so she took off her straw hat and fanned herself.
"There's no other way, we have to dismantle the kiln roof, rearrange the wood, and let the air circulate inside."
Everyone was quite surprised. Yu Yan immediately saw where the problem lay!
With such a pillar of support, they have no worries even when problems arise.
Yu Yan will definitely solve it!
Everyone immediately sprang into action, enthusiastically saying, "I'll do it!"
Yu Yan quickly stopped her: "The fire isn't out yet! Be careful not to burn your hands!"
After a flurry of activity, they removed the kiln roof, uncovered the dry grass, took out the wood, and reassembled it.
Yu Yan pondered for a while, and this time she arranged the wood pieces in a staggered manner, leaving a hole in the middle.
"This place feels too big... Lanxiu, could you bring me some thin branches?"
Lan Xiu brought some branches, and Yu Yan used them to fill in the larger areas, feeling that this was enough.
They covered the kiln with straw again, sealed it, and lit the fire.
This time, white smoke quickly billowed out of the chimney above.
Yu Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "It should work. Do the same for the other pits."
They split up and soon all the kilns were lit.
Thick white smoke rose up, and everyone looked around to find that their faces were covered in dirt and soot.
Although they looked a bit disheveled, the successful ignition greatly encouraged everyone.
Cangfeng asked expectantly, "Yu Yan, how long will it burn?"
Yu Yan: "I'm not really sure... I guess it'll burn for three to five days?"
Everyone was stunned: "It's been that long?"
"The charcoal produced from that fire must be of very good quality."
Yu Yan added, "Cangfeng, this place can't be left unattended. You should arrange for some people to keep an eye on it. If anything happens, come find me immediately. I'll be coming here often too."
Cangfeng: "I know."
Even without Yu Yan saying it, he could sense how important this place was—the charcoal kiln was right near the new pottery kiln. And the new pottery was one of the most important things in their tribe right now; outsiders absolutely could not get close to this place.
Yu Yan twisted her neck, stretched, and said, "Everyone's had a long day, let's go back and rest."
"And you?" people asked.
"I'll stay here until nightfall before I leave."
"Why don't we watch it? You're the one who's most tired."
"It's nothing, I'm just looking around, it's like I'm resting here."
Yu Yan insisted on doing so, and no one could persuade her otherwise. In the end, many people brought their tools here.
Some people spun thread and wove cloth, some made straw hats from dried grass, and others processed food.
This place became a small gathering place, and Yu Yan was not lonely at all.
In the afternoon, several kilns encountered problems, which he promptly addressed with his team.
In the evening, the situation stabilized, and Cang Feng and his men took over the shift from Yu Yan.
The beastmen, wearing their newly woven straw hats, set off together towards the tribe.
Yu Yan looked around and saw that everyone's straw hats were bright yellow. Some people had modified the brim, making it longer in the front and shorter in the back; others had woven unusual brims, which was really creative.
The fashion-conscious Yinqing even adorned her hat with pearls, making it look like a trendy accessory.
After a whole day of smoke and fire, Yu Yan felt like she had absorbed the smell herself.
Thinking about having to take a cold shower when he got back, he frowned and sighed, "Ah, if only I could take a bath."
Jinxia, who was close to him, immediately replied, "We can go to the hot springs."
Um?
Do they even have hot springs in their territory?
Yu Yan's surprise was too obvious, and Jin Xia laughed, "Isn't there the Nine Beasts Mountain in the south of our territory? There are hot springs on the last section of the mountain. What, you didn't know?"
"I don't know, nobody's ever told me."
Well, he's always busy and hasn't asked.
Despite having only a few hundred people, the peninsula tribe's territory is as large as a modern province, so it's normal for it to have hot springs.
Yu Yan quickly accepted this explanation and inquired about the hot spring with great interest.
The people of the Beast World tend to name their animals in a rather simple and direct way. They call the nine connected mountains the Nine Beast Mountains.
The river at the foot of the mountain is called the Nine Beasts River, the lake is called the Nine Beasts Lake, and the hot spring on the mountain is naturally called the Nine Beasts Hot Spring.
Jin Xia was also happy to explain to Yu Yan: "The mountain where the Nine Beasts Hot Spring is located is almost entirely bare rock. There are fish in some of the hot springs, but people didn't really like eating fish before."
"It's quite far from the tribe, and there's no food to gather there, so not many people go there."
Yu Yan: "So that's how it is."
He had previously gone to Nine Beasts Mountain with Lan Xiu to cut brambles, and felt that it wouldn't take long if they flew.
Having been in this world for so long, he hadn't taken a hot shower even once, and he longed for it more than anything.
Just thinking about the feeling of soaking in hot spring water made him itchy all over. He immediately decided that after finishing dinner, he would go to the hot spring and take a nice, refreshing hot bath!
After this idea was revealed, many people said, "I haven't been to a hot spring in a long time, I really want to go with you."
Yu Yan: "Then come on over."
"No, I haven't finished weaving the fabric that the Mingyuan tribe ordered from me yet."
"I need to hurry up and process the dye, the roots I dug up are going to rot."
"I want to soak several batches of clover before it gets too old."
"The leaves and bark used for papermaking also need to be soaked. Ah, so busy."
...
We were busy gathering and hunting during the day, and today we also dug a kiln to make charcoal. We could only finish these tasks at night.
After removing those who didn't want to go, the final count showed that only a dozen or so adults went to the hot springs.
The little ones, however, were carefree and chattered around Yu Yan, "Brother Yu Yan, can you take us with you?"
"I really want to know what it feels like to soak in a hot spring."
Please, take us with you.
Yu Yan rubbed their heads, then looked at their parents with a wry smile.
Xin Yu looked helplessly at Shuo Xing, who was jumping around the most enthusiastically, and asked, "Didn't you want me to teach you how to weave a straw hat tonight?"
Shuoxing said guiltily, "How about... tomorrow night?"
Xin Yu sighed helplessly.
Considering that powerful beastmen like Lanxiu and Moye were also accompanying them, the children's parents agreed to let them go along to play.
Shuoxing and the others cheered happily, "That's great! Thank you, Father!"
"Brother Yu Yan, we can go to the hot springs together now!"
Yu Yan was infected by the children's smiles, and her eyes and brows were full of smiles: "Alright, hurry back and eat. We'll meet at the altar square after we finish eating."
"Okay!!"
Yu Yan and the others returned home, quickly finished their dinner, and took soap, towels, and a change of clothes before heading to the altar square.
Once everyone had arrived, Yu Yan had the beastman transform into beast form, carrying the cub and the non-flying sub-beastman.
"It's getting dark, so let's look out for each other and walk back together. Don't fall behind! Okay, let's go!"
After he finished speaking loudly, he was the first to sprout wings and fly into the sky.
Others who could fly followed closely behind.
Tonight the moon is full, its bright and clear light shining down on the vast earth.
As you traverse the mountains, looking eastward, you can even see the shimmering sea.
Feng Guifei was ahead of Yu Yan. He had been smiling much more lately, constantly telling Yu Yan which pools were good for soaking in, making Yu Yan even more eager, wishing she could jump into the hot spring water the next second.
Amidst laughter and chatter, they finally landed halfway down the hot spring mountain.
Yu Yan retracted her wings and looked up. Although she hadn't seen the hot spring yet, her nostrils twitched slightly, and she could already smell the faint scent of sulfur. Her ears could also vaguely hear the sound of flowing water.
The moon illuminated the entire mountain, which was covered with many white stones.
Without lighting torches, they followed their memories and climbed upwards.
Yu Yan was so focused on finding the hot spring that she didn't notice where she was stepping.
Soon, they arrived at a cluster of springs, where white steam was slowly rising from the water's surface, filling the surrounding area with moisture and making the temperature much higher than at the foot of the mountain.
Adult orcs bring their orc cubs to soak in this pool, while the sub-orcs go to a higher pool.
Before Yu Yan had gone far, she heard Shuo Xing shout excitedly twice, quickly take off his clothes, and jump into the water with a "plop," then let out two strange cries in the water.
He was startled. "Shuoxing! Why did you jump down like that!"
This child, doesn't he even check how deep the water is, or feel how hot it is!
Fortunately, before he could finish speaking, Shuoxing emerged from the water.
He wiped the water off his face and laughed heartily, "This is so much fun!"
Yu Yan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the water only reached his thighs where he jumped.
He told Moye, "Keep an eye on the kids, and call us if anything happens."
Mo Ye nodded: "Don't worry."
The beastmen climbed up a bit, and with the hills and trees providing cover, they could no longer see Moye and the others.
Everyone stood at the bottom of the pool, took off their clothes, splashed water to clean themselves, and then slowly walked into the pool.
The spring water here is quite hot, probably around 41 or 42 degrees Celsius.
In his past life, Yu Yan liked to soak in hot springs in water that was slightly warmer than his body temperature. Now, however, his subhuman skin is tough, and he finds the water temperature just right.
The pool water wasn't deep, only reaching a little above his knees.
He sat completely submerged in the water, letting the hot spring water envelop him, feeling a shiver run through his body from the comfort. He squinted his eyes and exhaled.
Finally, I got to take a hot bath! Awesome! So refreshing!
Yu Yan now understands Shuoxing's feelings a little better. If there weren't other people around, he would have let out a few loud cries.
Looking at the other sub-beastmen and cubs, their brows were relaxed and their expressions were joyful.
In a short while, Yu Yan's pale skin turned pink.
The hot spring water washed away all my fatigue, leaving my entire body feeling soothed and my pores open.
If we had to nitpick, it would be that soaking in a hot spring in the middle of summer can easily lead to oxygen deficiency.
Yu Yan needs to get up and move around after soaking in the water for a while.
I wanted to remind the kids to come out and play too, but I found they couldn't stay in the water at all. They were already dressed and running around like crazy in the vicinity.
Yu Yan kept her eyes and ears focused on the babies, while she lathered her hands with soap and thoroughly washed her hair and body.
After taking a shower, he also washed the dirty clothes he had brought with him.
To be honest, it's been about two months since he transmigrated, and he feels like he's never been so clean before.
After hanging up the clothes, he returned to the hot spring, intending to soak for a while longer.
Turning my head, I saw Qiu Ze carrying a grayish-white stone, running back with a clattering sound.
He jumped into the water and plunged a stone into it.
There was a hissing sound of water seeping in, and when it was picked up again, the stone had expanded several times its original size!
Yu Yan: "?"
Qiu Ze exclaimed in surprise, "Shuoxing didn't lie to me! This stone really does grow! Father, Father, look! My stone has gotten bigger!"
Xuefei swam over from a distance in the pool and, having missed what had just happened, asked in confusion, "How could the stone have gotten so big?"
Akizawa: "It's true!"
He then soaked the stone in water and took it out after a while.
Xue Fei's eyes widened slightly: "It really is! It's gotten a whole size bigger than before. How could this be?"
Others were drawn by their commotion and came over to see what was going on.
Feng Gui, being a bit older and more experienced, said, "These stones expand when they come into contact with water. If you break them and mix them with water, they turn into something like glue, though not as sticky as resin. I remember we used to play with these stones all the time when we were kids."
Jinxia said in a daze, "So amazing..."
Yu Yan also came over and said to Qiu Ze, "Could I take a look?"
Qiu Ze presented the stone as if it were a treasure.
Yu Yan examined the stone carefully by the moonlight.
He returned the stone to Qiu Ze and asked, "Where did you find this stone?"
Qiu Ze drew a big circle with his hand: "There are hot springs everywhere on the mountain! Shuoxing and the others have been playing there for half a day."
Feng Gui looked at Yu Yan: "What's wrong with this stone?"
Experience tells everyone that anything that can interest Yu Yan must be something good.
Yu Yan: "It should come in handy. Let me go find some."
After saying this, he returned to the shore, put on his clothes and shoes, and began searching around.
As Qiu Ze said, there are many white stones on the mountain, but not all of them are the kind he is holding.
Yu Yan picked and chose a few pieces, carefully examining them.
“It is indeed montmorillonite!” A glint of light flashed in his eyes.
A while ago, Shuoxing had an upset stomach, and he said he would go to the mountains to look for montmorillonite when he had time, but he was too busy and it was delayed.
Today I can conveniently collect montmorillonite!
Montmorillonite is a volcanic rock with stable properties and strong adsorption capacity. It has important applications in production, daily life, and medicine.
For example, montmorillonite powder is a very good medicine for treating diarrhea! If the dosage is controlled, it has few side effects.
When he encounters children with acute diarrhea, he prescribes strawberry-flavored montmorillonite powder for them.
For example, montmorillonite can also play a very good role in purifying wastewater.
Most importantly, processing montmorillonite into usable stone powder is relatively simple and easy—just heat the montmorillonite to over 100 degrees Celsius to dehydrate it into powder. It doesn't have high requirements for temperature or operating environment, which is perfect for him when he was penniless.
It's easy to handle and effective, so it would be strange if Yu Yan let this montmorillonite go.
He bent down and began collecting montmorillonite.
Seeing that he hadn't returned for a long time, Feng Gui and the others came looking for him.
"Yu Yan, are you sure this is what you're looking for?" they asked.
"Yes! I'll pick some up and take them home."
"Then let us help you."
"Aren't you going to soak anymore? There are still quite a few stones here. I can collect them all by myself in no time."
"Soaking in hot springs for too long can make us dizzy, so this is a good opportunity for us to get some fresh air."
"Then let me tell you how to distinguish stones. The one I'm looking for is called montmorillonite, and its characteristics are..."
Just as Yu Yan said, the group quickly collected a pile of montmorillonite.
When Lan Xiu and the others heard the commotion and came looking for her, Yu Yan had already finished her work.
He clapped his hands and laughed, "It's perfect that we didn't bring a basket. We'll have to trouble you to carry the montmorillonite back for me."
After soaking in the hot springs, packing their belongings, and making sure no one was left behind, the group headed back to the village.
It was already past midnight when we arrived.
After placing the montmorillonite in a dry place, Yu Yan went back to the bird's nest and went to sleep.
The next day, after he got up and washed up, the first thing he did was fly to the charcoal kiln to check on the situation.
He walked around, and white smoke was still billowing out of the chimneys of every charcoal kiln.
Senbo, who had just changed shifts this morning, asked, "How did it go? Nothing went wrong, right?"
Yu Yan: "No."
Senbo was relieved: "That's good. Go back and eat, we'll take care of things here."
"Hmm, have you eaten?"
"I came after I finished eating!"
"Okay, I'll head back then."
Yu Yan hadn't gone out to gather with the tribe for several days, and his hands were itching to go. After breakfast, he slung his basket over his shoulder and prepared to go out with Feng Gui.
Lanxiu was also going hunting, and before leaving, he asked him, "Is it okay to just leave these montmorillonites you collected like this?"
Yu Yan shook her head: "It still needs some simple processing. I plan to see how it goes and go to the salt lake this afternoon to find some other stones to process together."
Lan Xiu seemed to understand: "I understand."
The morning's gathering ended early, so Yu Yan sent some of the sub-beastmen back to their tribe with the food they had gathered, while he took the rest of the people and flew towards the salt lake.
The salt lake is not the territory of any tribe; people come here to harvest salt.
However, the salt lake was deserted today, and they didn't see anyone else.
Yu Yan hovered in mid-air for a while, found her bearings, landed, and picked up a long, white stone with a pearly luster.
He pinched the stone, and with a little force in his palm, crushed it.
With all the properties matching, this was the gypsum he was looking for.
He lived by the sea when he was young, and he came into contact with natural gypsum stone. He knew that gypsum stone could be formed during the evaporation of seawater.
However, he wasn't entirely clear on the specific principles behind it.
After studying medicine and starting work, I came into frequent contact with plaster casts, as patients with fractures often needed plaster casts.
If Shuanghong hadn't suffered a fracture from Qingzhi, but rather a more serious one, he would have needed to put a cast on her.
Besides its medical applications, gypsum can also be made into gypsum board for decoration; adding gypsum when making tofu creates gypsum tofu...
In conclusion, gypsum is also a widely used and effective material.
He came to the salt lake looking for gypsum to take back and process together with montmorillonite.
Both stones were heated at a low temperature (around 100 degrees Celsius). If the temperature were too high, it would damage their structure.
The thought flashed through his mind, and he turned around to show everyone the stone in his hand.
"This is called gypsum stone. I need to collect some to use. Can everyone help me find it?"
Yin Qing responded, "Of course, no problem! Look here, and there, so many gypsum stones!"
Feng Gui: "So we can just dig it out directly, right?"
Yu Yan: "Yes."
Just as everyone was about to take action, they suddenly heard a deafening sound of running.
When Yu Yan flew into the air, she saw that there were two groups of people coming.
On the peninsula tribe side, Lan Xiu led the orc team;
Jiang Kuo brought not only orcs but also sub-orcs from the Mingyuan tribe.
After the groups of people met up, Yu Yan asked in a daze, "Why are you all here?"
Lan Xiu: "I was originally going to come alone, but they heard you were looking for something, so they came with me."
Jiang Kuo smiled and said, "We also received the news and came to help you."
Yu Yan chuckled. This trivial matter had actually alarmed two tribes.
Since they were already there, Yu Yan couldn't send them back. After thanking them, she told them about her search for plaster.
Jiang Kuo, full of fighting spirit, said: "Gypsum stone, is it? No problem! We'll dig out all the gypsum stone from this whole mountain for you!"
Yu Yan quickly stopped her, saying, "No, no, no, we don't need that many at once. Just a few baskets will do."
The people of Mingyuan tribe were somewhat disappointed that they could not show their skills.
“Okay,” Jiang Kuo said.
Yu Yan met Zhong Hai in Ming Yuan's group and asked about Shuang Hong's situation.
Zhong Hai replied earnestly, "Everything is fine, it's just that he's too restless. He can run away in the blink of an eye. There's nothing we can do, Meng Yun is keeping a close eye on him now, otherwise she would have come with me."
Yu Yan thought of Shuang Hong's beast form and felt that his restlessness was understandable.
"Okay, that's good. Remember to come for my follow-up check-up at the scheduled time."
"knew!"
The people of the Mingyuan tribe were still staring at Yu Yan and the others' straw hats with great curiosity.
Yu Yan took off her straw hat and showed it to them so they could try it on, and they were overjoyed.
"Straw hats are great! They provide shade and look nice. I want to make one when I get back!" everyone said excitedly.
Jiang Kuo followed behind Yu Yan and told him that everyone in the Mingyuan tribe was actively searching for new seeds.
“We have found the honeysuckle you mentioned. Zhong Hai will go to your tribe in a couple of days, and we will have him take it with him.”
Yu Yan smiled and said, "That's great, dig some up with the roots for me."
Jiang Kuo: "Understood. As for the sheep beasts, we have found quite a few traces they left behind, but we haven't found their tribe yet. We suspect they may have gone to other tribes. This morning, I sent a message to the surrounding tribes and asked them to help me search."
Yu Yan: "Thank you for your hard work."
Jiang Kuo waved his hand: "It's not hard work, it's not hard work. Our two tribes are close by, and the sheep beasts might go to your tribe, so you have to be careful when you're out in the wild."
"How so?"
"During this season, many female sheep are with their cubs. They are very irritable and aggressive. If you encounter them, remember to stay far away and let the beastmen hunt them."
Judging from the wild animals that Lan Xiu and his group hunted back, it was clear that the size of the sheep beasts was definitely larger than that of modern ones. The two curved horns on their heads that could gore a person was no joke, so Yu Yan dared not take it lightly.
“Okay, I’ve got it.” He said earnestly.
With so many people working, the gypsum stone was quarried in the time it took him and Jiang Kuo to exchange a few words.
Lan Xiu offered to help him carry the stones, and the group headed towards the peninsula tribe. Jiang Kuo and the others saw them off for a long time with reluctance.
Back in the tribe, Yu Yan rested for a while before going to check out the charcoal kiln, as usual.
Only after confirming that everything was alright did he return to the ginkgo tree to cook and eat.
After dinner, before it got dark, he began to process the montmorillonite and gypsum, with Feng Guilanxiu assisting him.
"I need to heat both of these stones. To ensure even heating, I must first wash them, break them up, remove any impurities, and then grind them into coarse powder..."
After Yu Yan explained, the three of them worked together.
Montmorillonite and gypsum are both low in hardness and easy to crush.
Lan Xiu didn't even need tools; he could crush the stone into powder with just his hand.
After obtaining the two types of coarse powder, Yu Yan placed them in different pottery vessels and fired them.
At this stage, we need to be very careful.
The pottery they fired this time was still not resistant to low-temperature firing, but it was much better than before, so Yu Yan wasn't too worried about it exploding.
What he had to keep an eye on was ensuring the temperature didn't get too high and burn the gypsum and montmorillonite.
This was a task that no one else could do, and he was completely focused throughout, as if he were conducting a great scientific study.
Fortunately, despite the difficulties, he managed to burn both materials successfully.
To prevent them from getting wet and becoming ineffective, he specially took new, dry, oil-free, and well-sealed ceramic jars, packed them in, and carefully placed them in his own space.
It was already very late, so he planned to find time during the day to make the plaster cast.
The next day, after getting up, Yu Yan went to check on the charcoal burning as usual.
The smoke coming out of the chimney turned yellow, and he estimated that in another day or two, the moisture would be evaporated and the kiln could be sealed.
After instructing the orc in charge to keep a close watch, he flew to the riverbank and looked at his fields.
With the grassman there, the birds indeed dared not cause any trouble.
Afterwards, he ate breakfast and then went out with everyone to collect samples for the entire morning.
Shortly after landing at the altar plaza in the afternoon, Jin Xia came over, her face pale and clutching her stomach.
"Yu Yan, you're back. Many people from the Qingqing tribe have come and said they want to visit your home," he said weakly.
...I never imagined that one day my home would become a tourist attraction.
And the Qingqing Tribe... Why does that name sound so familiar?
More than that, Yu Yan was concerned about: "Jin Xia, what's wrong?"
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