Chapter 57: Teaching Fire-Starting Methods

Chapter 57: Teaching Fire-Starting Methods

Wen Ran turned to the beastmen and declared, "This is absolutely not punishment from the Beast God! Nor is it the Beast God's wrath! This is simply a common occurrence of a large tree being struck by lightning and catching fire!"

"After analyzing why this particular tree was struck by lightning, I've identified two main reasons. First, it stands out from the ground, taller than its surroundings, making it more susceptible to high-altitude lightning. Second, trees are moist objects, and with the heavy rain last night, they became even wetter. Lightning, as you know, is attracted to moisture."

"Combining these two factors, the lightning naturally struck this tree. As for why the lightning strike caused it to catch fire, that's due to the extremely high temperatures generated by the lightning's thermal energy. Do you understand now? It has nothing to do with punishment from the Beast God!"

Despite Wen Ran's explanation that the burning giant tree was not a fire giant and his clarification of the cause, only a small fraction of the beastmen, including Lang Zhi, Mao Shi, and Hu Di, expressed understanding and accepted his reasoning. However, a significant portion still clung to the belief that it was divine retribution, convinced that only the Beast God could instantly ignite such a massive tree.

Seeing this, Wen Ran decided against further explanation. He understood that the beastmen's deeply ingrained beliefs couldn't be swayed by a few words from him. Even if he argued until he was hoarse, they wouldn't be convinced. He resolved to wait until the tree had completely burned out and cooled, then take them for a closer look and re-explain the principles of a lightning-struck tree.

At the same time, he felt a headache coming on. On ancient Earth, lightning protection for trees was often addressed in many places by installing lightning rods and other safety measures.

But how could they prevent lightning strikes in the vast desert, especially without lightning rods? Solutions from ancient Earth wouldn't work here, just as large-scale artificial rainfall, common on ancient Earth, was impractical in the barren desert, which lacked rainwater.

He wondered how frequently such lightning strikes occurred in the barren desert. If they were frequent, it would be troublesome. He had been planning to use the Magical Spring to plant more trees in the future, as trees could help improve the wind and sand conditions here, so they wouldn't have to endure constant sandstorms.

The beastmen watched in terror from a distance all night until daybreak, when the fire gradually weakened and eventually died out. Only after the charred tree emitted intermittent black smoke did they dare to cautiously approach.

Mao Shi curiously reached out with his paw to gently touch the tree, which had been reduced to black ash, and felt residual warmth. This discovery astonished the beastmen—wasn't the fire already out? How could the charred tree still be warm?

Wen Ran stroked his chin, shocked to realize that the tree struck by lightning was actually a birch tree!

Birch bark is highly flammable, which explained why it burned so quickly. Wen Ran decided to collect more birch bark to use as firewood.

Since they had found one birch tree here, there should be others elsewhere. Wen Ran shared his idea with the White Cat Mao Shi in detail. As a native male orc, Mao Shi immediately identified a grove of trees based on Wen Ran's description. Wen Ran decided that the next evening, he would take Mao Shi and Lang Zhi to check out that grove.

They couldn't go during the day—it was too hot. Even the male orcs couldn't withstand the heat, let alone him.

......

The next day, the heavy rain had stopped, and the blazing sun rose high in the sky, drying up all the rainwater on the sandy ground.

Before Wen Ran was fully awake, he heard Round Cat running back from outside the cave, shouting loudly, "Wen Ran! Zhi! The river has completely dried up! There's not a drop of water left in the river! It's all dry riverbed! And it's cracked so deeply—the cracks are as deep as Zhi's thigh!"

Wen Ran opened his eyes upon hearing this and thought to himself that what Mao Shi had said was indeed accurate—after the heavy rain, the dry season had officially begun.

Lang Zhi brought Wen Ran breakfast, reminding him to eat after washing up, and said to the three little ones, "Starting today, all beastmen of the Sand Cat Tribe will no longer go out hunting. Stay in the cave to avoid the heat. Even the cubs in the nursery cave are not allowed to go to the riverbank. Round Cat, Mao Xuan, Mao Yin—you three are not allowed to go out either."

The three little ones nodded obediently.

After washing up, Wen Ran looked at the breakfast Lang Zhi had brought: white porridge and pickled ginger stir-fried with beast meat, with some green and red peppers added. It was sour and spicy, quite appetizing.

Wen Ran ate two bowls in one go. He had to admit, Lang Zhi's cooking skills were improving. He had only explained once how to cook white porridge, and Lang Zhi had learned it. Now, whenever Lang Zhi wasn't out hunting, he was the one preparing meals.

Outside the cave, the terrifying drought and intense heat had set in. Wen Ran only stepped out to dump some water from cleaning pots and already felt dizzy from the heat, finding it difficult to take even a few steps.

Lang Zhi strode quickly toward Wen Ran, took the large iron pot from his hands, and urged him to return to the cave. Fortunately, the cave was relatively cool. Wen Ran collapsed inside the tent. During the day, they rarely lit a fire inside the cave; otherwise, they would be baked alive.

Once Wen Ran had recovered, he called Lang Zhi and the three little ones over. Since they had nothing else to do and there were no entertainment facilities here, he decided to teach them how to make fire and explain the principles behind it. This would prevent them from claiming that the Beast God had abandoned them every time the fire went out.

Just like the previous night, when lightning struck the birch tree and caused it to catch fire, they had seen it as a punishment from the Beast God. It was truly absurd—they needed a crash course on science.

He would start with the three little ones and Big Black Wolf, then gradually explain and reeducate them. After all, for beastmen living in the beast world, such deeply ingrained beliefs weren't easily changed.

Wen Ran thought for a moment. Using lighters or matches to start a fire wasn't feasible here since they didn't have such things. So he said, "Let me explain a few methods for making fire. The first is rubbing sticks together to make fire, which involves using a wooden stick and a wooden board. You rapidly rotate the stick against the board to generate heat through friction, which then ignites the tinder."

"The second method is using flint to make fire. Flint is a tool that can produce sparks. You place the flint against the tinder and strike it with a hard object. The sparks generated can ignite the tinder."

Round Cat asked confusedly, "What is tinder?"

"Tinder can be dry grass, dead branches, or leaves—anything that is dry and easy to ignite, fire-starting materials."

"We haven't found any flint yet, but we do have wooden sticks and boards in the cave. Let's use the friction method to make fire first. I'll demonstrate—like this, rub quickly until you see sparks. Once the tinder starts smoking, give it a gentle blow, and soon it will catch fire. You try it."

The three little ones watched the entire process of Wen Ran starting a fire and gawked in amazement at the now blazing fire. Their eyes widened, and their mouths hung open—they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Mao Yin cautiously extended his little paw, trying to touch the brown-red flames, but was forced back by the heat. This was real fire!

"But isn't it said that the fire seed was obtained by the High Priest of the main city, Wanxiang City, through guidance from the Beast God? And the fire in our tribe was brought from the Wanxiang Priest Temple. Since then, it's been said that if the fire goes out, it means the Beast God has abandoned us. How does Wen Ran know how to make fire? Could it be that Wen Ran is from the Wanxiang Priest Temple?" Round Cat covered his mouth in shock, as if he had stumbled upon some mind-blowing secret.

Wen Ran shook his head. He knew better than anyone that he came from Earth. He doused the fire and said, "I've put out the fire now, but no one has abandoned us. The idea of abandonment is not credible. As long as you know how to make fire, you can start a fire yourselves."

Lang Zhi looked thoughtfully at the extinguished fire.

Wen Ran watched quietly without disturbing him. He understood that his words had fundamentally challenged the belief system of the beastmen, who had lived their entire lives in the beast world.

......

In the afternoon, with nothing else to do, Wen Ran stretched and decided to make more pickled vegetables. He had previously made three jars of pickled ginger, and one of them was almost finished. The tangy, spicy flavor was appetizing, especially in the hot weather. Since he had nothing to do in the cave, he might as well make some pickled dishes.

He looked at the food he currently had on hand. Among them, white radish and radish greens seemed most suitable for pickling.

Radish greens were a great ingredient—whether pickled as sour vegetables or stir-fried, they were delicious.

He didn't have much ginger left, so he needed to save it for seasoning and couldn't use it all for pickling. Plants like welwitschia, sea-buckthorn-berry, potatoes, watermelon, desert rose, and agave flowers weren't very suitable for pickling. After searching through his storage for a while, he found a lot of sand chives, which were also good for pickling.

Wen Ran cut off the radish greens, washed them along with the white radish and sand chives, then took out the radish greens and chopped them into small sections. He placed them in a large wooden tray and set it in an airy spot to dry out. Once the radish greens had started to shrivel slightly, they would be ready.

There were actually two methods for pickling radish greens: one involved blanching them before pickling, and the other did not.

Blanching had the advantage of reducing the harshness and some of the oxalic acid in the radish greens. It wasn't complicated—just submerge the radish greens in boiling water for about two minutes, then quickly remove them and cool them in cold water. After squeezing out the excess water, they could be pickled.

Not blanching the radish greens helped preserve their original flavor and nutrients, but the texture might be slightly astringent, which some people didn't like. However, Wen Ran preferred unblanched radish greens, especially that astringent taste—it was weirdly addictive.

To prevent the three little ones and Big Black Wolf from being uncomfortable with the astringent taste, Wen Ran chose to add more salt during pickling to reduce the astringency, even though he didn't blanch the greens.

While waiting for the radish greens to dry, he decided to pickle the white radish and sand chives first.

He cut the white radish into strips of even size, added an appropriate amount of salt, and mixed well to marinate them. This drew out the moisture from the radish. Once the moisture was released, he rinsed the radish with clean water to remove excess salt.

Then, he placed agave syrup, sea-buckthorn-berry vinegar, peppers, sand ginger, and other seasonings into a jar, added some water, and mixed well. He poured this brine over the white radish, ensuring the radish was fully submerged in the pickling liquid. He used the same brine for the sand chives. Afterward, he capped the jars tightly of pickled white radish and sand chives and placed them in a cool, dark place in the cave.

By the time the white radish and sand chives were pickled, the radish greens were almost ready. Wen Ran brought out a fermentation jar, placed the radish greens inside, and added some washed and dried green and red peppers for pickling. He poured the same brine used for the white radish and sand chives over the radish greens, making sure everything was covered. After sealing the jar, he placed it in a cool spot. After a few days, the pickled radish greens would be ready to eat.