In ancient times, people rose early; beneath painted eaves at dawn, they saw crows roosting.
Smoke curled from ten thousand hearths in the old town. Women tied on aprons, lit fires, and cooked amid steaming kitchens. The city, silent through the night, grew noisy once more. They ate at sunrise, and common folk who rose early to labor needed enough nourishment in the morning to face work that never seemed to end.
At the vendor stalls outside the city gate, breakfast stands prepared pot after pot of batter porridge, while tea stalls busied themselves boiling water.
"Hot porridge and batter mush! Hot soup noodles!"
With a rag draped over her shoulder, the cook at a breakfast stall warmly called out to draw customers. From afar, she spotted a travel-worn girl in a straw hat passing by.
"Miss, come have some breakfast. Fresh greens, hot soup—and there's salt in it!"
Bai Yujun thought it over. Eating salt was important. It seemed she had gone a long time without replenishing her salt intake. She would have breakfast first, then buy some salt to eat afterward.
Many wild animals had the habit of seeking out salty soil to replenish their salt intake.
Wild animals could not live without salt. When many large animals could not obtain enough salt through food, they would lick salt-bearing minerals or rocks. Normally, snakes did not need to deliberately seek out salt. Small herbivores absorbed trace amounts of salt by eating grass and drinking water, and snakes gained sufficient nourishment when they ate those little animals.
But after cultivating as a demon, a problem had arisen: her hunting came in fits and starts, leaving her unable to obtain enough salt.
Cultivating as a demon did not mean she could ignore her body's nutritional needs. Spiritual energy was not