Access to New Sources of Edible Salt

The rainy season brought new problems. The rock crevices on the sandy beach used to be ideal natural salt deposits, forming saturated brines that would precipitate edible sodium chloride crystals every so often.

But now, the brines in the rocky pits diluted by the rain had freshened back into ordinary seawater, or even fresher than ordinary seawater, unable to precipitate any salt crystals at all.

Lu Zhe tried looking around to see if there were any sheltered places with residual salt crystals left.

If it really came down to it, they'd have to boil seawater, but the purity and taste of the sodium chloride crystals extracted this way were far inferior to those produced naturally from brine.

He searched for hours but didn't find any.

July 16th, the 37th day stranded on the deserted island. Lu Zhe had Ning Shu and Tang Xiaoguo boil seawater while he himself went into the woods to look for food.

After all, the salt-boiling method Tang Xiaoguo had learned from somewhere could tide them over for a period of time.

They would have to wait for an opportunity to settle down and use vats to crystallize salt from brine.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zhe had originally gone into the woods to find food, but ended up finding "salt" there!

Saltwood!

Anacardiaceae, a deciduous tree!

The fruits inside the canopy bore white crystals. Lu Zhe tasted one, it was slightly sour with a prominent saltiness. This "salt" tasted much better than what they boiled out, though unfortunately it was a resin that couldn't provide sodium.

Still good though!

He could bring some back to season their food, and also soak it in water to make vinegar!

"Ding! Obtained medicinal item Maydis Fructus, +1 potential point!"

This thing was formidable, a famous traditional Chinese medicine, capable of stopping diarrhea, staunching bleeding, and reducing inflammation.

But it wasn't the fruit of the saltwood tree. Rather, it was a gall formed from aphid secretions on the saplings, easily reminding one of certain uncomfortable images from the Bug Valley of Yunnan.

He'd take it back for later use.

Returning to camp to try his luck by the seaside again, he found Ning Shu looking very pleased with herself. Turned out she had found a 20-plus kilogram sea turtle on the beach.

Lu Zhe looked at the sea turtle and nodded approvingly: "Not bad, we've got our protein for today."

"Lu Zhe, you're going to eat it?"

"What else?"

"Hey! Turtles are so docile and cute. When I flipped it over, it didn't resist at all, just like a human's best friend. How could you just say you're going to eat it like that?" Ning Shu said indignantly, then added lightly: "At least... give it a trial first!"

Lu Zhe almost spewed out a mouthful of blood.

"And you'd be totally fine with that?"

"Yup!"

"Well I can't think of any charges."

"Then... I know, my hand got cut when I picked it up!"

Lu Zhe nodded: "That's charge enough!"

Tang Xiaoguo had also finished boiling the salt. The white salt crystals looked no different from table salt.

He tasted some. Slightly bitter, still mixed with small amounts of magnesium chloride and potassium chloride. Couldn't eat too much of it, but occasionally supplementing their sodium intake with it shouldn't be an issue.

That night, they used the turtle shell as a pot placed over the campfire. Seasoned it with spicy salt, and enjoyed a delicious turtle feast.

On July 17th at noon, Lu Zhe brought the two girls back to the bear cave, finally reuniting with their companions.

Five days felt like a whole month. Meeting again inevitably aroused some emotional outbursts.

Once everyone had calmed down, Lu Zhe recounted what he saw and learned during the mountain ascent.

Shen Bing asked: "So you've decided to move?"

Lu Zhe nodded: "This move should be our last on Volcano Island. There's fresh water, mountain goats, and arable land there. It's also relatively close to the sea. I think it's the most ideal habitation site on this island."

Jiang Yao sighed: "We have gotten a little sick of it here. We should find a new place."

Lin Qianqian said: "When do we set off then?"

"We can start preparing today. Bring food and necessary tools, and we can head out tomorrow."