Why did these two suddenly seem especially enthusiastic after eating?
Hayoon laughed and waved her hand. "No need. You two don't know what kind I'm looking for. But if you really want to help... could you collect some plant ash for me?"
The two of them agreed.
As for the uses of Fire Flame Hemp, it was not only for making hemp rope.
In the beast world, Fire Flame Hemp was named after its flame-shaped leaves.
Its characteristics were similar to modern hemp plants.
However, the plants in the beast world grew exceptionally well.
The Fire Flame Hemp here was more than five times taller than the hemp plants Hayoon had seen before, with broader, thicker leaves and much sturdier stalks.
Following her memories, she braved the rain and arrived at a patch where Fire Flame Hemp grew.
She selected mature plants with the best qualities and cut them down using a sharp curved shell knife.
The shell knife was nowhere near as convenient as a sickle.
Hayoon patiently continued cutting while deeply missing all the various metal tools she had used in modern times.
Within the territory of the Ur-Shet Tribe, there seemed to be several areas where the soil had unusual colors.
When she had time, she needed to check them out.
What if she found mineral deposits there?
If she could make some metal tools, doing things would not be this troublesome anymore.
After bundling the harvested Fire Flame Hemp together, Hayoon walked back toward Minho's cave beneath the glow of the setting sun.
Beastmen had extremely sharp hearing.
While she was still far away, Haeun had already run over to greet her, the panda ears on top of his head bouncing up and down.
"Sis! I'll help carry them!"
The young boy was full of energy after eating his fill, so Hayoon did not refuse his help.
What surprised her was that Minho had not gone down to the second underground level of the cave to rest.
Instead, he stood nearby watching her.
"The water's already boiled," he said. "Do these Fire Flame Hemp stalks need to be peeled?"
Hayoon nodded. "Yes. The outer layers need to be peeled off one strip at a time."
Minho gave a quiet "Mm" and walked toward Haeun.
Hayoon knew she would not be able to stop them, so she gave up trying and turned toward the stove instead.
It had been raining constantly lately, so a simple grass shelter had been built above the stove.
Whenever the wind blew, raindrops still drifted inside.
Even the pile of firewood beside the stove had become slightly damp.
The plant ash she had requested had already been collected and stored inside an old clay cauldron, tightly covered with layers of leaves.
A wooden bucket nearby was filled with clean water.
The beast world had flint stones and fire starters, so lighting a fire was not difficult.
Hayoon crouched down and gathered dry grass and thin twigs to start the fire in the stove. Then she ladled water into the pot and tossed in a handful of plant ash.
Without dish soap, plant ash was the only thing she could currently use to clean the pot.
Plant ash was alkaline and quite effective at removing grease.
Hayoon carefully scrubbed the pot three times.
Once she was certain it was clean, she turned around, intending to ask Minho and Haeun how the peeling was going.
The moment she turned, she nearly crashed straight into Minho's firm chest.
"!"
After spending so much time around him, she had already become somewhat accustomed to his intimidating presence and had failed to notice the sound of him approaching.
Minho reacted quickly and stepped half a pace back before showing her what he held in his hand.
"Is peeling them like this alright?"
The outer skin of the Fire Flame Hemp had been removed completely intact, each strip curled and stacked neatly in his large palm.
"That's perfect!" she praised immediately. "You did an even better job than I did! Just toss them into the pot for me."
"Alright."
Clean water completely submerged the Fire Flame Hemp fibers while the firewood beneath the pot crackled loudly as it burned.
Using a stone slab as a lid made the water take longer to boil.
Hayoon said, "You can just sit over there. You can head back into the cave too."
Minho responded with a quiet "Mm" before turning and waiting beneath the grass shelter.
Once the water finally boiled, Hayoon grabbed a stick and stirred carefully, thoroughly boiling the Fire Flame Hemp fibers before removing them and setting them aside to cool.
She asked Haeun to fetch fresh water again.
Afterward, she mixed the hemp fibers with plant ash and began washing and rubbing them in the clean water.
Haeun had seen others process hemp fibers before, but he had never seen this cleaning method. Squatting beside her curiously, he asked, "Sis, why are you adding plant ash?"
Scrubbing the fibers was labor-intensive work.
As night fell and the temperature dropped, Hayoon still ended up sweating all over.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm and replied, "I'm not completely sure about the exact principle either. But after washing the fibers this way, they become cleaner, prettier, and more durable."
Just as she had said, once the hemp fibers were cleaned again, they gleamed with a beautiful silver-white sheen.
"Wow..." Haeun widened his eyes in amazement. "This color is so pretty! It looks just like Brother Minho's hair!"
Hayoon: "..."
Feeling slightly awkward, she glanced at Minho. Fortunately, the calm and handsome man showed no reaction on his composed face.
There were many types of hemp plants in the beast world, and once processed, all of them could be made into hemp thread.
Hayoon had chosen Fire Flame Hemp because it was durable, tough, relatively soft, and had a clean-looking color.
She truly had not been thinking about Minho's hair at all.
After removing the processed hemp fibers, the next step would have been spinning thread.
But after glancing at the sky, Hayoon saw that it was already completely dark.