Tanya quickly said, "Hurry and carry him inside. He's injured and weak, he needs rest."
She had just examined him, and there didn't seem to be anything seriously wrong. He was just injured and weak, and as expected, his wound had probably reopened.
But as soon as she finished speaking, she saw the two kids staring at her with wide eyes.
She sighed, realizing she had forgotten that these were two ten-year-old kids, still malnourished and too small to carry an unconscious adult male.
"Come on, give me a hand." She couldn't move him alone. If it were the apocalypse, it wouldn't be a problem, but in her current weak body, she couldn't do it.
The three siblings worked together, and they finally managed to get him into the bamboo hut and laid him down.
Tanya lifted the animal skin covering his upper body, and sure enough, his wound had torn open again, bleeding heavily.
Star and Moon were clearly frightened, their eyes filled with tears.
"Don't cry. Do as I taught you yesterday. Go boil water and make some medicine."
"Okay!"
Star immediately ran outside to boil water, and Moon began grinding herbs.
Tanya prepared the medicine. When the water boiled, she first used it to wash his wound, then disinfected it with some antiseptic, and finally applied the herbs. She also made him drink the medicinal liquid she had prepared.
Moon tried to cover him with the animal skin, but Tanya stopped him. "It's too hot. Keeping him covered will actually slow the healing of his wound. Let him stay like this."
After speaking, she went outside to spread the palm leaves she had collected earlier across the bamboo hut's roof. This would help protect them from rain. Without animal skins to cover them or the ability to build brick houses, this was the best way to shield the hut from rain.
By the time night fell, it had started to rain lightly.
The siblings hid inside the bamboo hut, eating roasted lion meat and wild fruits. They looked outside at the heavy rain, but inside the hut, everything was dry and clean. Not a drop of water leaked in. Star and Moon were even more convinced that their sister must have received divine guidance!
Only someone who had received a blessing from the gods could build such an amazing bamboo hut!
It had a door and windows. Even in the central village, no one had such a clean and beautiful house!
The villagers could make houses, but they only used tree leaves and dry grass to form a pile, which wasn't nearly as spacious, clean, or beautiful as this bamboo hut. And it wasn't as sturdy either. A strong wind could knock it over, and a heavy rain would surely leak in!
Tanya smiled at the siblings, who were looking up at her in awe. She patted their heads. "Wait until later, I'll take you to live in a better brick house."
"Okay!"
Though they didn't know what a brick house was, they understood "better" and nodded eagerly.
When the rain lightened a bit, Moon took some fruit and roasted meat to feed their idol.
As soon as he entered the room, he called out excitedly, "Miles, you're awake!"
Tanya's expression didn't change, but inside, she thought, the primitive body is truly amazing!
After the rain stopped, she checked on him again. He didn't have a fever, his spirits seemed fine, and he even had a good appetite.
The roasted meat Moon had brought for the three of them was already completely eaten by him. It seemed like Moon would need to roast more for him.
"Good. Eat more, and you'll heal faster."
With that, she left the room.
Behind her, Miles looked at Moon with a proud expression. He really believed that eating more would help him heal faster!
Tanya didn't bother with their eating and went back to the bamboo hut to rest.
For convenience, the bamboo hut was divided into two rooms. On the left was the main area, and to the right was the bedroom. There was no furniture, just a bamboo mat against the wall.
It wasn't quite sleeping. Instead, she entered her space.
Today, she had collected some palm leaves, which also unlocked a new entry in her guidebook.
[Palms, a plant from the palm family, are valuable for medicinal, economic, and culinary uses. Rarity: Three stars. Reward: Method for extracting plant salt.]
The method for extracting plant salt was to burn the roots of walnut trees and summer palms until all the moisture evaporated, leaving behind black salt crystals.
Tanya was thrilled. She didn't know this method before. In the apocalypse, salt was a rare and precious resource. Non-mutated trees had disappeared.
Ah, she should've checked the guidebook rewards earlier. Otherwise, they could've had food with salt flavor tonight!
Earlier during the day, she had seen walnut trees at the entrance of the forest behind their hut. She recognized them!
She shouldn't think about it anymore. The more she thought about it, the more she felt the emptiness in her mouth. It was unbearable!
When Moon returned, the two little ones were already asleep beside her. Tanya forced herself to fall asleep early. Once asleep, she wouldn't think about anything anymore!
The next morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, she rushed to the forest behind the house, dug up roots, and started burning them to make salt!
Star and Moon were completely confused.
"Why is sister digging up tree roots so early? We still have meat, it's not like we have to eat tree roots!"
"Is sister going to make a fire? Tree roots don't burn as well as branches. I'll go gather some branches for her!"
Miles, too, was confused.
The roots dried out, and eventually, black crystals began to form.
Tanya hurriedly scraped them into a bamboo tube, and once all the roots were burned, she couldn't wait to try the plant salt!
At that moment, Star was roasting meat, and Miles had just gathered a bunch of firewood, which he laid out on the ground to dry in the sun.
She didn't explain, just grabbed a skewer of roasted meat, sprinkled the black salt on it, and put it into her mouth.
"Mmm!"
A subtle salty taste!
It wasn't enough!
She sprinkled a bit more and finally felt satisfied. "Delicious!"
Seeing her so pleased, the other three couldn't help but swallow. Star, with little self-control, drooled as she asked, "Sister, what is this? Does it taste good?"
"Mm!" Tanya added some more salt to another piece of meat and handed a skewer to each of them. "This is salt. Try it."
"Mm, it's really good!"
Star and Moon ate their skewers in one go, and Miles raised an eyebrow before quickly finishing his skewer.
Tanya didn't have any special cooking skills, but at that moment, she felt quite accomplished. She added some mint leaves to the meat and roasted it again. This time, the meat didn't have any fishy smell and was incredibly fragrant!
They were all surprised. They hadn't expected the plant the tribe called "demon grass" to make such delicious roasted meat!
Tanya smiled and looked at Star. "Did you learn it?"
Star nodded eagerly. "I got it! This is easy!"
Tanya placed the seasoned meat skewers in front of her. "Great, now you do it!"
Without a word, Star grabbed the skewers and began to roast the meat carefully. Moon stood beside her, helping to watch the fire. When the fire died down, Moon quickly added more wood.
Miles raised an eyebrow and looked at Tanya, surprised to find that this female seemed a bit... lazy?
Tanya called his name. "Stop slacking off, come with me."