Even women who travel through time can become prime ministers and nobles.

While cutting grass, Shen Yanchu kept an eye on Shi Wanxia's surroundings. The deep mountains and forests were teeming with wild animals, and they could easily be attacked if they weren't careful. Shi Wanxia, ​​however, wasn't worried. It took the two of them quite a while to fill a basket with all that Suaeda salsa.

The two of them didn't dare to stop working and quickly harvested the Suaeda salsa. After all, the sun was about to set. The Suaeda salsa couldn't be cut directly. They had to pick the ones that were just starting to bear fruit and had thick roots and stems. The leaves were also useless, and they had to be cut off to save space.

Therefore, the process was complicated and the progress was a bit slow, but no matter how slow it was, they couldn't stop. Shen Yanchu was in charge of cutting, and Shi Wanxia was in charge of trimming the leaves and tying them up. The two worked together very quickly.

Suddenly, a huge leopard leaped out of the forest and pounced on Shi Wanxia. Shen Yanchu heard the noise and turned around to see the leopard's sharp claws and gaping maw attacking Shi Wanxia.

He used his lightness skill, wielding a wooden stick and channeling his inner energy to sweep the leopard away. The leopard howled in pain, its deep, penetrating roar echoing through the valley. The leopard seemed very angry.

Staring coldly at Shen Yanchu, Shen Yanchu also sized up the leopard. This leopard was powerful, muscular, and moved as fast as lightning; a quick battle was necessary.

The wooden stick collided with the leopard's claws, producing a deafening sound. Shen Yanchu's arm went numb, and the stick nearly slipped from his grasp. He took a deep breath, channeling his inner energy to its limit, and a faint blue light emanated from the stick.

A powerful sword aura struck the leopard. The leopard was knocked back several steps, fear flashing in its eyes, before turning and fleeing into the forest. Shi Wanxia, ​​recovering from her shock, looked at Shen Yanchu with gratitude.

"Brother Shen, you're amazing! You chased the leopard away. Are you alright? Sit down and rest for a bit. I'll pack my things and head back soon. It's getting dark, and this forest isn't safe."

Shi Wanxia was amazed by Shen Yanchu's martial arts skills. His aura had completely changed when he fought the leopard, as if he were a peerless master standing aloof from the world. Seeing that he was pale and unsteady on his feet, she helped him sit down. Shen Yanchu was exhausted and immediately sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing.

Shi Wanxia quickly gathered the prepared Suaeda salsa into the basket. Fortunately, the Suaeda salsa was not heavy, and the two full baskets were easy to carry. Shi Wanxia quickly returned to Shen Yanchu's side.

After a brief moment of meditation, Shen Yanchu opened his eyes and saw a pretty girl looking at him with bright eyes. A little embarrassed, Shen Yanchu chuckled softly, "Let's go back, it's getting late." Shi Wanxia smiled and helped him up, happy to see he was alright. The two walked one after the other towards the cave.

The night was as black as ink, and a black veil was cast over the sky, gently enveloping everything in a mysterious shadow. Shi Wanxia and her companion carefully placed the pickled Suaeda salsa grass, and she collapsed onto the grass mat to rest. After walking five or six kilometers, they finally returned.

With aches and pains in her calves, Shi Wanxia muttered uncomfortably, "Ouch, my legs hurt so much, they're almost ruined. Brother Shen, you should rest too. I'll cook later."

Shen Yanchu looked at the girl's posture with a sense of helplessness, but since the girl was used to being carefree, Shen Yanchu wisely did not say anything to stop her, after all, today's harvest was indeed quite good.

After resting, Shi Wanxia gritted her teeth and got up, started boiling water in a pot, stewed wild vegetable and fish soup, and took out the pheasant that Shen Yanchu had hunted a few days ago, and roasted it over the fire.

I filled a basin with water and washed the collected Suaeda salsa. While recalling the salt extraction method in my mind, I washed the Suaeda salsa twice to clean it thoroughly.

"Brother Shen, light another fire. I want to boil this Suaeda salsa." Shen Yanchu nodded and quickly lit a fire. He also added some water to the earthen pot, and Shi Wanxia quickly put the Suaeda salsa into the pot to stew.

"Miss Shi, can boiling this turn it into salt?" Shen Yanchu was a little confused. She had never heard of this extraction method before and didn't know if it would work.

If it works, is coarse salt also refined using the same method? Shi Wanxia stirred the Suaeda salsa in the pot with a wooden stick, unsure of his own abilities.

"Brother Shen, this is my first time making salt. I've only read about it in books. It's okay, we should at least try it, right?" Although Shi Wanxia wasn't very sure, she figured it was okay to try a few more times.

"Brother Shen, let's eat first. This salt still needs to boil for a while. Brother Shen, we've searched this area thoroughly. Should we follow the river, looking for herbs along the way, and slowly make our way out of this forest? We don't have warm clothes for winter, and even if we have a fire, it will be very cold."

Shen Yanchu took the bowl and chewed slowly. Her words made sense, but autumn was here and there was more rain. What if there was another flash flood? And who knew where the river led? Could it reach Cangling Kingdom? What if it was getting further and further away from Cangling Kingdom?

Shen Yanchu pondered for a long time, forgetting for the first time the etiquette of not speaking while eating or sleeping. "Miss Shi, no, we have no way of knowing where this river flows, and the rainy season is coming soon. It's dangerous to travel in the rain. What if the flash flood breaks out again?"

Shi Wanxia had considered his words before, and after thinking for a moment, she replied, "Brother Shen, we have no way to determine the direction! Although the direction of tree rings can be used to determine the direction, I don't know how to do it. Do you?" Shen Yanchu had been leading troops for so many years and had never heard of this method before. He shook his head blankly.

Shi Wanxia took a sip of soup to moisten her throat. "That's right. Besides, the rainy season isn't a big problem. When it rains, we can just find caves or tree hollows to take shelter! And to be honest, even though I have a compass, the magnetic field here is abnormal, so the compass isn't very accurate!"

The compass she mentioned, also known as the Sinan, was, in Linzi's words, due to a disordered magnetic field, causing it to indicate an incorrect direction.

Shen Yanchu was quite fond of the small compass. Miss Shi had given it to him on the spot. When marching and fighting, maps alone were not enough; one also needed direction. Without the sun and stars, one would have no idea where one was. Her words made some sense, after all, they had searched everything within a radius of forty or fifty miles.

If you don't have warm clothes to keep you warm in winter, it really will be..... He thought for a moment and nodded.

“Miss Shi, how about this, we’ll set off in three days. Tomorrow we’ll gather some more Suaeda salsa to make salt. I’ll try to hunt a bigger prey so we have enough time to avoid being too disheveled on the road.”

Shi Wanxia nodded in agreement. Yes, bring more food. Anyway, her backpack was empty, with less than ten packs of compressed biscuits left. She could still fit the rest of the things, so it wouldn't be a big problem.

"Okay, Brother Shen, then it's decided. By the way, do you want to dry your purple clover? It'll spoil if you leave it like this."

Shen Yanchu hesitated for a moment and then nodded. Drying it wouldn't affect its medicinal efficacy. "Don't worry, Miss Shi, as soon as we leave this mountain range, I'll arrange for someone to come and meet us."

Shi Wanxia nodded perfunctorily, not taking it to heart. "Once we're out of this forest, we'll go our separate ways on the main road. I won't go with you. Your identity is obviously not simple; who knows what trouble you might encounter later?"