Suffer a Little

Feeling the primitive people's reverence around him, as well as the successful discovery of a water source, Zhou Xu felt as though things were finally starting to fall into place.

But as he drew closer and saw the situation along the lakeshore, Zhou Xu immediately furrowed his brows.

"Has anyone drunk this water?"

Faced with the question, all the tribe members shook their heads.

After successfully finding a water source, Zhou Xu's words suddenly carried twice the weight among the tribe members.

Remembering Zhou Xu's warning, they had all managed to restrain themselves for the time being.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu quickly walked to the lakeshore, scooped up a handful of lake water, and found it crystal clear. He then leaned in and smelled it.

Humans were actually a rather perceptive species. In many situations, their sense of smell and sight alone were enough to determine whether something could still be eaten.

The best example was food that had been sitting in the refrigerator for who knew how long. Before throwing it away, many people would first open it and give it a sniff.

Basically, as long as it smelled and looked fine, it was usually still edible—at the very least, it probably wouldn't kill you.

Zhou Xu clearly possessed this skill as well.

If possible, he naturally wanted to boil the water before drinking it, but how could they possibly have the means to do that right now?

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

Dashan had told him that on the night they were attacked, they had not even had time to carry away their fire source. They had no way to make fire now.

This meant that Dashan and the others' fire-making abilities were still stuck at the level of finding natural fire and preserving it. They had no idea how to make fire artificially.

As for him...

If someone asked him about artificial fire-starting methods—rubbing sticks together, using a bow drill, and all sorts of other techniques—he could rattle them off without hesitation.

But the problem was that he had never actually tried them!

Anyone could tell that these fire-starting methods were not as easy as they sounded.

Right now, they were exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. Any water they could get would help them recover considerably.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Xu dipped his fingertip into the lake water and put it into his mouth.

His brows immediately knitted together, and he spat it out with a loud "Ptooey!"

"It really is salty."

Earlier, after walking closer, Zhou Xu had noticed a ring of something resembling a salt deposit around the lakeshore. He had blindly guessed that this might be a saltwater lake.

Now that his guess had been confirmed, he found himself caught between laughter and tears.

The human body needed salt, and salt was naturally important. The problem was that what he needed more right now was fresh water!

After traveling all this way, his throat was so parched it felt as though it was about to smoke.

During this time, seeing Zhou Xu's reaction, the tribe members around him also realized that there might be something wrong with the water.

Yet many of them continued staring fixedly at the crystal-clear lake, plainly unable to suppress their urge to drink.

Seeing this, Zhou Xu calmly rose to his feet.

"I'll tell you this plainly: you can't drink this water. The more you drink, the thirstier you'll become. But I can also see that many of you still want to drink it, so I'll allow you to have one small sip. Those who want to drink can go ahead."

The moment he said this, many people at the scene eagerly rushed toward the lake.

But after swallowing that mouthful of lake water, they spat it out on the spot before even a second had passed. Some even began retching dryly in discomfort.

This sight undoubtedly frightened those who had not yet had a chance to drink.

For a moment, they all turned their gazes back toward Zhou Xu, and their awe of him deepened further.

At this moment, however, Zhou Xu was no longer looking at them. His attention had completely shifted to Fei Que.

He could tell that Fei Que also wanted to drink, but after Zhou Xu said the water could not be drunk, Fei Que had clearly abandoned the idea.

Based on his current performance, Fei Que seemed like a suitable candidate to develop into Zhou Xu's trusted aide.

As for Dashan...

He would need to observe him a little longer.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Xu's gaze returned to the tribe members.

He had just arrived, and faced with these primitive people, it was unrealistic to think he could simply stop them and make them obey his orders completely.

When necessary, he also had to let them suffer a little, as they had just now.

The reactions of these people had undoubtedly proven his correctness in the most direct way possible.

Without anyone noticing, his prestige was steadily accumulating.

He raised his head and glanced at the sky. It had remained gray and hazy all this time, making it impossible for him to judge the current time with any precision.

But judging by how long it had been since he crossed over, it was probably getting late.

[System Prompt: Congratulations, 'Zhou Xu' has established the first tribal camp!]

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

There were too many things he had needed to confirm along the way. He had originally planned to study the system after they had basically settled down.

He had not expected the system to pop up on its own.

As for the matter of its name, Zhou Xu did not hesitate at all.

"Let's call it the Salt Lake Tribe."

The new book had just been released, and recently I needed to organize the outline and reference materials, as well as deal with the contract. For now, I'll maintain one update a day. After some time, I'll return to the normal schedule of two updates a day. Thank you all for your support!