The difficult path of cultivation for a grassroots female practitioner

Chapter 1048: Safe Return. To be honest, several people were somewhat tempted, but they didn't speak and instead looked at the Grand Elder.

The elder pondered for a moment, then quickly shook his head.

"Why did we settle in this remote place? It's for safety. Have you looked closely at those two women's hands? They're delicate and smooth, hands that haven't been through any hardship. And look at the way they speak, you can tell they're definitely in a position of power."

If people like that, and a group of people outside, really die here, others won't need to send too many people; just a few hundred able-bodied men will be enough to wipe out our tribe.

Think of the women and children in the tribe; you can't just do things for immediate gains.

These words immediately sobered up the elder who had harbored evil thoughts, as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

Indeed, if even one of those men escapes, their women and children will be in danger.

Even if they manage to capture them all and none of them escape, the clothes and accessories they obtain will inevitably be traded with the caravan. If others follow this trail and come looking for them, they won't be able to escape either.

Although this place is far from the capital, it is not so far that it is inaccessible; otherwise, why would caravans come here so often?

The burly young man spoke up: "Then, how much salt should we give?"

The elder stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before saying, "Although there is a large salt lake in the desert, it will take us almost a month to go there and back. Carrying salt back will be very hard work, so we can't give them too much. Let's use those earthenware urns and give them one urn. If they think it's not enough, we can give them some other things."

Finally, he emphasized, "If they are unwilling, we will cancel the deal."

After reaching an agreement, the group returned to the large hut.

Inside the house, Xiao Han and Xin Ziqi were eating wild fruits without any hesitation.

These days, they've been eating dried meat and now fish, and they're really craving fruit-like foods.

When the elder and his companions entered, the burly man was carrying a pottery urn that was about a foot tall, with a small mouth and a large belly.

Xiao Han's eyes lit up immediately. It seemed that the people here could also make pottery.

The burly man placed the pottery urn on Xiao Han and the others' table, then stepped back to the other side.

The elder said with a pained tone, "Distinguished guests, it's not that we're unwilling to give you more salt, but it's just that obtaining salt is not easy. This amount of salt should be enough for you to eat for a long time."

Xiao Han opened the ceramic lid and was secretly surprised to see the white granular salt inside.

Has the salt refining process here reached such a level?

This earthenware jar of salt weighs at least twenty pounds. If they eat it sparingly, it will be enough for them to eat for several months.

Xin Ziqi was unaware of the difficulty of salt production; she simply instinctively wanted to negotiate the price.

"This little bit of salt is far too little. Why don't you give us some more food?"

Xiao Han immediately added, "We also need to send two ceramic jars."

With earthenware pots, you can boil water, cook soup, stew vegetables, and so on.

You don't need too many, as they're quite heavy to carry anyway, just enough is fine.

As for bowls and chopsticks, you can make your own bowls from wood and chopsticks from branches; you can solve these problems yourself.

The Grand Elder and the other elders exchanged glances and whispered a few words to each other.

Then, the Grand Elder stepped forward and said, "We really don't have much food, so we can only send two earthenware jars. If our distinguished guest is unwilling to accept this, then we will have to cancel this transaction."

Since the other party has taken the initiative to ask for a deal, they don't need to rush and can try to lower the price.

If it weren't for the fact that the headdress was truly beautiful and the caravan was willing to pay a high price for it, they wouldn't have even bothered to put up this earthenware jar of salt for trade.

As for food, they only grow rice these days. They usually make do with fishing, hunting, and gathering wild fruits and vegetables, and don't have much surplus.

As for the sheep, they have only just multiplied to a few hundred years.

Seeing that the other party's attitude was firm, Xin Ziqi had no choice but to give up in the end.

Xiao Han followed the burly man into their warehouse to select pottery jars.

Seeing that there were still some roughly fired earthenware bowls inside, he asked for twenty more.

This stuff is easy to fire, and after thinking about it, the burly man agreed.

The transaction was completed, and there was at most half an hour left before nightfall.

The elder did not ask them to stay, and Xin Ziqi and Xiao Han did not want to spend the night there.

The two women asked the burly man to take their belongings and escort them back to the riverbank.

The burly man agreed to this request.

They needed to bring some food to the tribesmen who were keeping watch on the riverbank, since they had to go there anyway.

So, the three men from the tribe each carried a pottery urn filled with salt, two empty pottery jars, and twenty pottery bowls, as well as food for their companions.

It was getting late, and the three men walked very quickly. Xin Ziqi and Xiao Han were empty-handed, and even keeping up with these three tribal men carrying their belongings was a bit strenuous.

Xiao Han looked up at the crotons circling in the sky, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't envious.

It's so much more comfortable to be a cultivator! This mortal body and mortal life are just too miserable!

We hurried along, and it only took about half an hour to reach the riverbank.

The crowd who had been eagerly waiting on the other side of the river breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Xin Ziqi and Xiao Han appear on the riverbank.

The three tribal men first waded across the river to bring over the pottery jars and bowls, then carried Xin Ziqi and Xiao Han on their shoulders before leaving the riverbank without saying a word.

Xin Ziqi and Xiao Han were like triumphant warriors, receiving a warm welcome from everyone.

Xiao Han returned Liu Pozi's hairpin to her. As for whether they would need to trade again in the future, they would discuss that later.

The two briefly explained the transaction, which made everyone even more curious about the mortals in this space.

However, at this time, it's more important to eat quickly.

Fatty Wang directed everyone to build a makeshift stove in preparation for cooking fish soup.

With salt and cooking utensils, Fatty Wang felt he finally had a chance to shine.

Everyone peeled the bark from the branches to make chopsticks, and then each person received a ceramic bowl.

As for the extra earthenware bowls, they can be kept and used gradually.

The fish soup was enhanced with deodorizing herbs and seasoned with coarse salt, instantly elevating its flavor to a whole new level.

After the fish soup in the two earthenware pots was cooked, Fatty Wang used an extra earthenware bowl as a spoon to distribute the fish and soup to everyone.

Watching these powerful cultivators drink fish soup from earthenware bowls, Xiao Han couldn't help but recall the scene in the small town of Xishan Island where Fatty Wang invited everyone to enjoy a meal, which led to a fight among the snake demon cultivators.

Back then, they stood on the street, pretending to be carefree and enjoying the food without a care in the world. They probably never imagined that they would end up having to be so carefree now.

After they had eaten, everyone sat down together again to discuss what would happen next.

After learning that there was a royal city here, almost half of the people wanted to go and see it.

Finding food in the wild is just too difficult, and life is too hard.

They certainly didn't want to spend three years searching for food in the wild every day.

In fact, Xiao Han preferred to stay in a safe place where food was readily available for three years.

But considering that there wouldn't be enough salt for three years, and that these great cultivators needed to interact more with mortals to help them complete their missions.

Therefore, she did not express any opinion.

As for crowded places, it might be even more dangerous. Seeing that these powerful cultivators didn't seem to care at all, Xiao Han didn't say anything more.

Ultimately, the minority yielded to the majority, and everyone decided to head towards the royal city.