Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space

As they got closer, they discovered that not only was there a layer of white stuff spread along the lake's edge and mountain's base, but it also extended into the depths of the lake.

This lake water was peculiar. Having never seen such a sight, Hua Chengtian and his companions hesitated.

How could such things appear in normal water? And although there were traces of animals here, they were indeed sparse.

Looking at the thick layer of frost-like material by the riverbank and mountain foot, a thought emerged uncontrollably in Hua Chengtian's mind.

Could this be the salt lake his father mentioned? Or perhaps this mountain is a salt mine, causing these white substances to appear around the lake?

The more Hua Chengtian looked, the more it seemed to him.

Wouldn't it be known if we validated it somehow?

But looking at the frost-like, ice flower-like white and slightly yellow things, Hua Chengtian hesitated on how to validate them.

He couldn't just taste them directly, could he?

But if it wasn't as he guessed, could there be other dangers?

He just wanted to find salt, not to put himself in danger.

In his hesitation, it was his son who handed him a wild rabbit, snapping him out of his daze; he'd gotten too caught up to think clearly.

Such a simple solution hadn't even occurred to him.

The Qinggu Mountain range has the most animals, of course. If there's something wrong with the water, a rabbit drinking it wouldn't survive, and vice versa.

One just doesn't know if there are fish living in this huge lake, if so, there's no need to use animals for experiments.

So, they prepared in two ways: he arranged for his nephews to fish, which could also take care of today's ingredients if successful.

Everyone had their roles, those who fished did so, and those who experimented continued on.

Hua Chengtian gave the still-breathing wild rabbit several mouthfuls of lake water to drink, and then it was just a matter of waiting.

Half a cup of tea time passed, then a full cup, and soon an incense stick's time passed as well. The rabbit remained in good health, and even his nephews caught two fat fish, which looked somewhat like carp but not quite.

The whole fish body had no scales, was spindle-shaped, and had a rounded blunt head, but lacked the whiskers characteristic of a carp.

Possibly due to the area's lack of human visitors, the two caught fish were quite large, each no shorter than half an adult's arm, delightful to look at, though their taste was unknown.

But it was enough to make the children fishing happy, and they excitedly aimed to catch more, having long forgotten the original purpose of fishing.

Hua Chengtian paid the kids no mind. After another stick of incense burned out, seeing the rabbit had no issues, he decisively scooped a bowl of water to personally taste it, barely giving Hua Yunao time to react and suggest waiting longer.

"Dad?" In nervousness, Hua Yunao watched his father, even holding a detoxification pill in hand ready to feed him at the first sign of trouble.

Only to see Hua Chengtian wave his hand, his eyes lighting up with excitement, then take another sip of water, smacking his lips and grinning.

"Son, we don't need to look any further."

The excitement in his tone was palpable to Hua Yunao.

"Dad, you mean..." Hua Yunao took the bowl from his father's hand and tasted it himself, then looked with delight at the vast lake ahead.

"The water... is salty," moreover, it's very salty.

Father and son then both looked with equally eager eyes at the vast expanse of the lake ahead.

Without hesitation, they pinched some of the yellow-white particles off the ground and tasted them again.

Salty, very salty, with a slight bitterness, they both spat out the partially melted particles immediately.

The whole area was covered in salt, no wonder the animal tracks were scarce; it was all salt, animals would only come if they needed it.

Whether it's a salt mine or not, the salt lake was already confirmed.

Either would be enough to make Hua Chengtian and his companions ecstatic.

Looking at the white spread along the lake banks, it didn't matter if there was a salt mine — there was enough to produce large amounts of salt, enough for not just one village but even the whole of Shanggu Town.

Excitement is contagious, and soon Nephew Li and his cousins, in their confusion, realized they had found the goal for their journey: "salt".

Their excitement didn't need to be said; in their joy, they grilled all the fish they caught and finished eating the uniquely flavored ones.

They resembled carp but were finer and more delicious than carp.

Once settled in, Hua Chengtian and the children dedicated themselves to boiling salt.

Both Hua Chengtian and his son were very familiar with the salt boiling process, and they had all the tools ready. They even brought a small mill with them.

The nephews followed orders precisely, completely listening to their uncle and never speaking unnecessarily.

No one questioned how their uncle could pull so much out of a small basket; even when the stone mill was taken out, they just admired their uncle's strength for carrying it without apparent strain.

After five continuous days of processing, the uncle and nephews produced about ten bags of snowy white salt, as white as snow.

The first time Liu Guang and the others encountered this salt, whiter than snow, they were in awe, finding it hard to believe they had actually made such exquisite salt.

Especially its pure salty taste without any bitterness, leaving the kids ecstatic, thinking they were dreaming until Hua Chengtian knocked them to the ground, making it clear it wasn't a dream.

With more salt boiled daily, that initial shock gradually faded, until eventually, they faced bags of white salt without any visible reaction.

Seeing his nephews so composed, Hua Chengtian felt slightly relieved, though he reminded them of the importance of keeping the salt boiling process secret.

They were to remain silent about the method of boiling the snowy salt, not even to their families, for leaks could lead to dangerous consequences.

The children weren't the brightest, but they were obedient, which was what Hua Chengtian appreciated most, especially their adherence to their uncle's words.

After stressing the severity of the matter, he saw their pale faces and frantic nods, making him completely at ease.

The fear he instilled would surely serve as a reflexive deterrent.

As for the intentionally less-filtered fine salt meant to be taken back to the valley, Hua Chengtian left it less guarded, as it could be purchased externally for silver and didn't draw much attention.

Five days of boiling yielded several thousand pounds of snowy salt; many were secretly stored by Hua Chengtian, leaving about a thousand pounds remaining, both fine and coarse salt, which they could manage to bring back, though some collected special minerals had to be reduced, since leaving them in the valley posed no risk of loss.

It took nearly a month, but the successful outcome meant Hua Chengtian could finally release the heavy burden weighing on his heart.