Chapter 4: A Taste of Hardship

Feeling the reverence from the surrounding tribespeople and having successfully found a water source, Zhou Xu began to gradually gain confidence.

However, as he approached and saw the condition along the lakeside, his brow immediately furrowed.

“Has anyone drunk this water before?”

In response, all the tribe members shook their heads.

Having found the water source successfully, Zhou Xu’s words suddenly gained much more credibility among the tribespeople. Recalling his earlier warnings, each of them managed to restrain themselves—for the time being.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu quickly strode to the lake’s edge, cupped some of the clear water in his hands, and brought it to his nose for a sniff.

Humans are actually quite perceptive creatures; many times, just by using their sense of smell and sight, they can judge whether something is safe to consume.

A perfect example is the food left forgotten in refrigerators. Many people will open and smell it before throwing it away.

Basically, if it looks and smells fine, it can generally be eaten without fatal consequences.

Zhou Xu undoubtedly possessed this skill as well.

If possible, he would have liked to boil the water first, but where were the conditions for that now?

On the way here, he had already asked Dashan and the others if they knew how to make fire.

Dashan told him that on the night of the attack, they hadn’t had time to bring any fire-starting tools and now couldn’t make fire.

This indicated that Dashan and his group’s fire-making skills were limited to finding and preserving natural fire sources—they had no knowledge of artificial fire-starting methods.

As for Zhou Xu…

If asked about artificial fire-starting techniques like fire plowing or bow drills, he could speak at length.

But the problem was, he had never actually practiced them!

Such fire-making methods are obviously not as easy as they sound.

At this moment, they were all tired, hungry, and thirsty. Having even a sip of water would greatly relieve their condition.

With this in mind, Zhou Xu dipped his fingertip into the lake water and tasted it.

He immediately frowned and spat it out with a “pheh.”

“It’s salty, just as I thought.”

Earlier, upon approaching, Zhou Xu had noticed a ring of what appeared to be salt deposits around the lake, and he had guessed it might be a saltwater lake.

Now that his suspicion was confirmed, he felt a mix of amusement and frustration.

The human body needs salt, and salt is important, but the problem was, he needed fresh water far more urgently!

After this long journey, his throat was parched to the point it felt like it was burning.

---

Watching Zhou Xu’s reaction, the tribespeople around began to realize the water might be problematic.

Yet many still fixed their eyes on the clear lake surface, clearly struggling to suppress their urge to drink.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu calmly stood up.

“I’m telling you clearly: this water is undrinkable and will only make you thirstier. But I can see many of you still want to drink, so I’ll allow you to take a small sip—those who want to go ahead.”

At these words, many rushed eagerly to the lake.

The moment they took a mouthful, they immediately spat it out, some even retching in discomfort.

This scene undoubtedly scared those who hadn’t yet drunk.

For a moment, all eyes turned back to Zhou Xu, their respect for him deepening.

Yet Zhou Xu was not looking at them; his attention was fully on Fei Que.

He could tell Fei Que also wanted water but had clearly abandoned the idea after hearing the water was undrinkable.

So far, Fei Que seemed to be the best candidate to become a trusted confidant.

As for Dashan…

He would need more observation.

With this in mind, Zhou Xu’s gaze returned to the tribespeople.

Being new here, expecting these primitive people to fully obey his commands was unrealistic.

When necessary, they needed to taste some hardship—like now.

Their reactions were the most direct proof of his correctness.

Unconsciously, his prestige was growing.

Glancing up at the sky, which remained overcast and gray, he couldn’t tell the exact time.

But judging from the time since his arrival, it was probably late.

[If we leave now to find a new campsite, it’s not realistic. Mainly because we have no water, insufficient food, and no clear direction or goal—we’d be wandering aimlessly, which is unwise.]

[Given this, although the saltwater lake water cannot be drunk directly, after simple distillation, I can obtain both fresh water and salt—it just requires more effort.]

[Regarding location… that patch of dark, oddly shaped forest should provide usable wood. Camping here, situated between the dark forest and the saltwater lake, is actually quite good.]

Having made up his mind, Zhou Xu decisively declared,

“Order everyone to set up camp here!”

After issuing the command, he quickly turned to Fei Que.

“Fei Que, take some people to the forest’s edge and collect dry branches…”

At this point, Zhou Xu paused.

“Also catch some insects and mice, but don’t venture deep into the forest.”

“Understood.”

Fei Que responded promptly and moved efficiently.

After watching Fei Que run off, Zhou Xu turned to Dashan and asked what utensils or tools they had.

They had fled the attack in haste and hadn’t been able to bring much.

But they did have a few things.

Dashan brought over several roughly edged yet fairly rounded vessels about the size of rice bowls.

[These look like some kind of fruit shells, similar to coconuts but not quite.]

Zhou Xu tapped one lightly, producing a dull “tok tok tok” sound.

One was especially large—like a small pot.

“Dashan, can this be placed over fire?”

Though unsure why Zhou Xu asked, Dashan nodded.

“Should be able to.”

With that answer, Zhou Xu gathered his thoughts and formed a rough plan.

“Anyway, we must start a fire. Dashan, take two others and help me gather some stones.”

Making fire had become an urgent problem. Despite lacking experience, Zhou Xu had no choice but to face it head-on.

Stones were easy to find, and with Dashan’s help, Zhou Xu soon built a simple stone stove.

During this process, a voice echoed in Zhou Xu’s mind—

[System Notification: Congratulations, ‘Zhou Xu,’ you have established your first tribal camp!]

[System Notification: Would you like to name the newly established tribal camp?]

He had so many things to confirm on this journey that he had planned to explore the system later, once settled.

Unexpectedly, the system had prompted him now.

Without hesitation, Zhou Xu answered,

“Name it Salt Lake Tribe.”