Chapter 28

“Done.” Su Bai put down the charcoal, looking at the animal hide drawing that only he could understand.

He looked up to see the cow horned girl standing nearby, craning her neck to peek at the animal hide drawing, when their eyes met.

“Shaman, I-I wasn’t trying to peek…” Yan Hua blinked, then frantically reacted, waving her hands in panic and instinctively taking a step back.

“It’s fine. No problem if you look.” Su Bai’s mouth curved slightly upward, rarely seeing the cow horned girl flustered.

*Phew…* Yan Hua saw that Su Bai was not angry, and her raised heart immediately relaxed. She had just been curious and peeked a few times, only to be caught red-handed.

“Eh?” Yu Ying stared blankly at the cow horned girl,

Yan Hua had not forgotten about her friend’s worries. After composing herself, she asked in a clear voice, “Shaman, do you not like drinking cold water?”

“I do like it,” Su Bai replied without thinking much, “Drinking a cup of cold water on a hot day can cool you down.”

“…” Yu Ying pursed her lips, her mood dropping.

“I, I see,” Yan Hua’s tone was a bit unnatural. She secretly glanced at her dejected friend and mustered up the courage to ask, “If the Shaman likes drinking cold water, why do you still want to boil it?”

“Oh?” Hearing this, and seeing the fox eared girl’s disappointed expression, Su Bai immediately understood what was going on. He nevertheless pretended not to know and calmly stated, “It’s safer to boil water before drinking it.”

“Why?” Yan Hua asked instinctively.

Yu Ying perked up her fox ears, trying hard to eavesdrop on their conversation, also wanting to know why.

“There are invisible tiny creatures in the water, boiling the water can kill them.” Su Bai said casually, as if talking about something trivial.

“Ah?” Yan Hua was shocked by these words, her face paling.

If the Shaman drank water with creatures in it and something happened, the Flame Dragon Tribe would be finished.

Yu Ying was even more frightened, her face turning extremely pale, her pink eyes welling up with tears. She said in panic, “Shaman, I didn’t know there were creatures in the water.”

Seeing the two girls almost crying in fear, Su Bai spoke gently. “It’s okay, just boil the water and it’ll be fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“Xiao Yu, don’t use this pot of water,” Yan Hua called out urgently, wanting to eliminate any possibility that it might harm the Shaman.

“Okay,” Yu Ying immediately responded.

“Stop. Don’t pour out the water!” Su Bai quickly stopped them when he saw this, “All water has these tiny creatures, just boil it and it’ll be fine.”

If they poured out the water, he would have to wait a long time before he could drink again. The Hollow Log had not been connected to the Tribe yet, so water was still very scarce.

“Shaman, are you saying all water has these tiny creatures? All includes the entire Tribe?” Yan Hua asked, her beautiful eyes widened with terror.

“All water, not just in the Tribe, but also in that small lake.” Su Bai affirmed.

“…” Yan Hua opened and closed her small mouth, her throat was now very dry, too scared to speak.

“Shaman, but everyone has always been drinking this water,” Yu Ying said timidly.

“Let me ask you a few questions,” Su Bai did not directly explain.

“Okay,” both of them nodded in unison.

“Have you ever noticed people around you suddenly getting diarrhoea? Some might suddenly foaming at the mouth while some suddenly fall ill?” Su Bai described several characteristics of drinking raw water.

Of course, there were other factors that could cause these, but drinking raw water would increase the likelihood to over fifty percent.

The tap water drunk in Earth cities was treated, and then boiled again. They were completely safe. However, in primitive society, the raw water in the wild had not been treated. It contained bacteria, eggs of parasites, and potentially some harmful minerals. If one drank raw water year after year, diarrhoea would become a common occurrence.

“…” Yan Hua’s face, which had just regained its colour, turned pale again. Her body shivered as if recalling something unpleasant.

She swallowed and said in a trembling voice, “There seem to have been a few people, and two people died from such illnesses.”

“Shaman, what should we do?” Yu Ying’s eyes were brimming with tears, thinking of people around her who fit what the Shaman had described.

“The tiny creatures in the water are invisible to the naked eye. They need to be magnified dozens or hundreds of times to be seen. They are mixed in the raw water, and if drunk, they get into the stomach. There, they will damage the body’s… energy. Over time, it will cause illness and diarrhoea,” Su Bai explained the harm of bacteria in easy-to-understand terms.

“The tiny creatures are that small?” Yan Hua and Yu Ying exclaimed in shock.

“So the simplest method is to kill them with high temperature,” Su Bai said softly.

“I understand now. From now on, we must boil water before drinking,” Yan Hua sighed in relief, glad that there was a solution.

“Now that you understand, I’ll leave it to you to inform everyone about boiling water before drinking.” Su Bai casually instructed.

“Alright.” Yan Hua agreed without hesitation.

“Also, have someone make a few of these for me.” Su Bai handed over the animal hide drawing and began to explain, “This big one is a wooden tube. I want the opening for this to be a bit smaller, with a piece of animal hide at the bottom to block it. Fill it with charcoal and sand. It should be filled in three layers.” His filter was an improved version, with charcoal and sand in three layers, which would make the filtered water much cleaner.

“Okay.” Yan Hua’s red eyes focused intently on the animal hide drawing, trying hard to remember what the Shaman said so she could relay it to the most skilled woodworker in the Tribe.

“Go on then, have it ready for me tomorrow,” Su Bai said softly.

“I’ll take my leave.” Yan Hua took the animal hide drawing and quickly ran out of the Teepee, eager to convey the Shaman’s requirements before she forgot.

“Indeed, like Father like Daughter, both have such impetuous personalities…” Su Bai remarked, turning his head to look at the fox eared girl who was boiling water.

Seeing the dried meat, he instructed, “Xiao Yu, roast some meat for us to eat.”

“Okay.” Yu Ying obediently responded, finding a whittled wooden skewer. She pierced through a palm-sized piece of dried meat with it and started to roast it over the fire.

Seeing the fox eared girl’s actions, Su Bai advised, “Use charcoal to roast. The dried meat won’t blacken as easily, and it’ll taste better.”

“O-okay,” Yu Ying quickly moved the dried meat away from the flames and placed it over the glowing red charcoal.