Banished to Another World
Chapter 36: Salt lake and salt-rich herbs

What did he see?!

About 500 m in front of him, there was a wide expanse of bright red-purple plants, Yan Mo couldn’t see where it ended from here. The shape of the grass field was curved.

This wide expanse of red-purple plants seemed to be enveloping a lake, likewise, Yan Mo couldn’t make out the edges of this lake. The lake was on depression and shaped like a long narrow eye.

The other side of the eye-shaped lake was a grassland. After the grassland there was another large lake, which size was even harder to make out.

This pillar where he was situated seemed to be the middle point, peak and edge of the curving landscape. The fan-shaped landscape around it made an irregular conical hill, with the pillar as the highest point.

From Yan Mo’s point of view, about 1000m away on the right side of the curve, was a dense forest. There’s no telling how big the forest area was. The trees blocked Yan Mo’s view of the land behind it, making it impossible to know what was on the other side.

The area on the left side was similarly covered with trees, but they were shorter, so Yan Mo could see some small hills and valleys along with the line of mountains farther away.

Right in front of him, the northern edge he was facing, he could make out shadows of some high mountains far away.

It turned out that this high mountain, that looked more than 2000 m high from the southern grassland was connected to a flatland on the other side… or was it better to call it high plains?

Whether this place was flat or high or semi basin, it seemed to stretch wider and wider, judging from the fan-like spread of the land. How vast was the land ahead?

Yan Mo hit his head, this type of topography felt a bit familiar to him. It felt like he had seen a similar terrain in his original world…

He remembered! Just that under the cliff in his memory was not another flatland, that high cliff was bordering a sea.

It was said that this type of terrain is caused by tectonic plates moving, the surfaces clash and push each other out. One part is pushed upland when the seawater dries up it becomes a big piece of land way higher than the sea surface, the other part that is pushed down remains an ocean.

Then, was this area once part of the ocean? Or was this terrain naturally like this and there was never an ocean here before?

Yan Mo was clear about one thing in geology and it was that it exists. He couldn’t be bothered to study these things. No matter what kind of terrain changes were able to make the narrow lake in front of him, the lake was here now.

Yes, what’s important is this lake! The reason why he was staring off into space was because of this eye-shaped lake!

No, it’s not right to say he was staring off. More accurately his eyes were burning with excitement at finding a treasure trove. Thrilled at ‘after a disaster a fortune surely followed’ situation happening to himself!

The warriors of Yuanji tribe went on a difficult journey, didn’t hesitate to risk their lives and follow him this “fake priest disciple” on a journey, just for that small hope of finding a new salt mine.

Zhi clan attacked Yanshan clan, killed so many people, forcing many people to flee from their originally comfortable homes, all for that small stock of salt.

On this land that looked like it’s as large as 1/10 to 2/10 of his Hua country and also that flatland on the south, who knows how many barbaric and developing tribes are looking for salt.

Salt! Salt! Salt!

He was caught by the human-faced bird, flipping from despair to hopeful. Just when he thought he won’t be able to escape this jail for a while, he finds a salt lake occupying a large area right below his prison.

The shore of this salt lake and some of the places with shallow waters had naturally accumulated salt crystals, stacking on each other like a bunch of flowers.

The salt crystals shone with a touch of red, the clear lake water was coloured light to darker red. This colour was probably due to some sort of mineral in the lake.

It’s like the famous red salt in his original world, its other name was lucky salt(from mongolian Alxa). That salt was famous for its large granules, low impurities and its rich aromatic taste.

He no longer needed to worry about white hairs all over his body because he’s not getting enough salt, lol.

As for whether or not the salt can be eaten, he was not worried at all.

Even if this salt was inedible, he did not have to worry about not having enough salt.

Because he recognised the roaming red-purple plants below, that’s one of salt-rich and salt-tolerant plants. Also known as sea blites or seepweeds (suaeda salsa).

Normally, seepweeds wouldn’t turn red. These seepweeds were most probably coloured red because of the minerals in the soil. He had seen some seepweeds turning red in autumn, they grew all over the wetlands near a beach.

This plant had lots and lots of benefits.

First of all, its seedlings and mature plants can be cooked and eaten as dishes, the seedlings taste the best. You can extract oil from the seeds, or stir fry it on the pan and eat it like that, the taste is said to be comparable with sesame seeds.

Secondly, it also had some medical effects and can promote health. Eating the right amount of these dishes will have a certain effect on diseased such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, obesity and diabetes. It also had effects on inhibiting the growth of cancer cell and anti-aging.

Finally, you can burn it until it turns into ashes. Those ashes can be used as salt and alkali. In his original world, the ancient people use this plant’s ashes as their salt. Some people later knead this alkaline ash into bread, apparently, it makes the gluten tougher.

Being bombarded by this sudden and bountiful finding, Yan Mo froze in one posture for a long time.

This was not a particularly ideal place as base, but it wasn’t too bad.

If he could find a suitable place to stay nearby, wouldn’t he be able to live well?

He couldn’t settle too close to the salt lake but also couldn’t live too far away. The plains in front of the mountains on the north west near those trees looked pretty good. Judging from that faintly visible gleam, there seemed to be a water source there, like a river.

Build houses with the stones. Open up land near the grassland to be farming fields, go to the forest and grassland for hunting. The salt lake behind them can be a source of salt or fish, and the seepweeds seeds there can be used to get cooking oil, maybe he can even make soaps from it.

He will take a powerful army to subdue the tribes around, build his city, found a nation. Then, establish a kingdom and sits himself on the throne. He will be worshipped by everyone in the land. He will use the salt to trade, he’ll get so wealthy that he’ll run out of places to store his gold, become stinking rich… As Yan Mo was imagining his bright future, a giant shadow enveloped his head. Strong winds from a pair of wings made Yan Mo stagger, he subconsciously looked up and made eye contact with a proud looking face of a bird.

A certain daydreaming someone instantly sobered up.

He was still under a bird’s thumb, and he himself only had the knowledge and none of the fighting skill. An indigenous man specialising in logistics.

Don’t even think of the impossible fantasy of building a kingdom and being the king there, it’s hard to know how many days he can stay alive in this nest.

He also thought to jump down regardless of anything else. With his healing ability, maybe in just a few days, he’d be able to crawl up and leave.

But he needed to make sure his remains would not be eaten by other birds, beasts and insects first. He didn’t want to be like that blonde god’s messenger, becoming endless feast bestowed by god — forever regenerating food factory… wouldn’t every living thing in the area be spasming with joy? Who knows if they’d end up building a settlement around him, eat a little bit of him today, eat a little bit tomorrow and so on. Keep him from dying so they can eat for a long time

If it really became like that…… Really couldn’t think about it anymore, or he’d immediately lose the will to live.

In this regard, at least during the time when he couldn’t do anything to the big bird in front of him (his biggest enemy right now), any plan was useless.

“Morning, you’re back?” Yan Mo smiled and greeted the human-faced bird in Chinese, deliberately making his voice gentler.

Besides, even if he really defeated this human-faced bird, could he survive on his own?

He hadn’t seen any other bird and beasts around here, wasn’t it due to the bird’s deterrent? If the bird dies or leaves this place, how long can he really hold onto this area?

Look for a place to stay somewhere else, you say? Can he be sure that there’s no danger around that new place, that no other tribes had settled there before him?

Big bro, don’t forget, it’s going to be winter soon and you didn’t even have a house to live in. Don’t even talk about a house, say you need to build yourself a tent that won’t let rain in and won’t be blown away by the wind, can you build it?

Besides, in such a short time, where can you get enough leather and food to last you all winter?

Yan Mo’s slight smile turned wry.

“Screech!” The human-faced bird called. It clutched the edge of the nest and stared at Yan Mo.

What’s the little two-legged monster trying to do? Fly off? Can he fly? It had never seen little two-legs show its wings though.

So was he looking at the trees? It would also stare off at random direction when it’s bored sometimes.

But isn’t he hungry? Why didn’t he eat the fruits here? Don’t like it? Can’t eat it? But the bird clearly saw those two-legged monsters eat some of this fruit, they’d even go back to get more.

Or…… he doesn’t know how to eat? Needs to be fed by big birds like those little birds?

The human-faced bird’s head tilted, then his wing swung Yan Mo back into the nest. Things without wings will be smashed to a pulp when they fall. That’s how it had killed some of its preys, by throwing them from the sky.

Then the bird hopped into the nest, picked up that yellow fruit bunch with its beak, and sent it to the boy’s mouth.

“Grumble……” A series of quiet but absolutely demanding stomach grumbling echoed in the space.

Yan Mo crawled up from the base of the nest with a head full of feathers and hays. He thought, was it something he did that offended this bird? He had his golden needle ready in his hand and raised his head only to see the scary beak was carrying a string of fruit towards his own mouth.

The fruit bunch looked like a variation of Manai grapes(milky grapes). The individual fruit was more slender, as long as a little finger.

The fruits were connected by a branching stem. There were not as many in one bunch as with grapes but the whole bunch was quite long. The fruits looked sparse on the stem and there weren’t many of them. Most were plump and intact, but some were mushy and those pulps were emitting a thick sweet scent.

“Gulp! ” A certain someone pressed down his drool to his throat.

Yan Mo was actually so hungry to the point his stomach hurt and he felt light-headed. He was just too excited before, and the hunger temporarily suppressed. When he noticed the hunger pangs again, he was already reaching out for the food with his right hand.

Seeing that he’s going to take the fruit, the human-faced bird’s beak let go, letting him take the fruit and eat it himself.

It had seen two-legged monsters eat, they all grabbed the food with their front paws.

Yan Mo picked out one 'Manai grape' and hesitatingly sent it into his mouth.

This was the second edible plant that he doesn’t recognise. The first was the Water God leaves Cao Ting gave him yesterday. He hesitated to put it in his mouth right away and took some when looking for Qianyangs. Before he could chew it, he got caught by this big bird and didn’t get to eat it at all. Who knew where those leaves were scattered at now.

Speaking of which, how’s his boy-master doing now?

He recalled that the boy was trying to save him when he was taken. He heard his roar and saw him chasing after him and the bird for a long time.

Was Yan Mo moved?

Of course he’d feel moved, being an asshole didn’t mean he’s emotionless, especially when the other party was spending so much effort on him.

He didn’t feel more than that. Just thinking it’s too bad, he didn’t know if he’d ever see that little boy again in the future. He had always wanted to escape from those people but when he really escaped, he discovered that without them, he couldn’t even run around.

“Ubp!” The skin was a little tart, but the fruit inside was very sweet. The fruit was not as watery and gel-like as the Manai grapes he had had before, the texture was more solid and crunchy.

Seeing the little two-legged monster was eating, the human-faced bird’s throat made happy “coo-coo” sounds.

Yan Mo didn’t feel any threat from the big bird, so he simply sat cross-legged in the nest eating his fill of the string of Manai grapes.

After eating, he wiped his mouth and looked up to negotiate with the big bird: “If you don’t want to kill me, can you take me out? I want to drink some water, and want to pee. You don’t want me to pee in your nest, do you?”