Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Seeing Ye Ke approach, the little snow fox was startled at first, then said happily, "Ye Ke! You're here! We didn't see you when we got here earlier."

As soon as he finished speaking, the little snow fox was swept up into Ye Ke's arms as he hurried over.

"I spent the night in the bamboo house," Ye Ke said joyfully, holding the little snow fox up and nuzzling him affectionately. "You're in your beast form!"

The little snow fox sighed, not even wanting to nod. In the entire beast world, he was probably the only one who didn't want to be a "little snow fox" right now.

Ye Ke didn't need the little snow fox to nod. It had been so long since he'd seen his friend's beast form that Ye Ke wanted to just tuck the little snow fox away and take him back to his own home.

But the moment he had that thought, Ye Ke immediately felt a gaze boring into him.

He knew exactly who it was from. Talk about sensitive! Ye Ke had always known Zhong Yan's possessiveness was frighteningly over-the-top, but how had it become even more intense now?

Holding the little snow fox tightly, Ye Ke couldn't help but mutter, "What's this, now I can't even think about it?" Looking at the incredibly cute little snow fox in his hands, who wouldn't want to steal him away?

That's what he thought, but when Ye Ke glanced at Zhong Yan's beast form... forget it. He didn't have a leg to stand on. Indeed, it was just a thought, and he had to quickly give it up.

"How's your injury?" Ye Ke asked, turning his back to Zhong Yan to face the little snow fox.

Ye Ke's hand gently stroked over the little snow fox's shoulder and back. He could barely feel any trace of the wound anymore.

"It's already healed," the little snow fox said, moving his shoulder slightly to demonstrate he was fine.

"That's great," Ye Ke said, his face lit up with joy, though he still offered some comfort. "Just hang in there a bit longer and rest up." The outside might be healed, but the inside still needed time to recover.

Ye Ke's words spoke volumes about how well he understood Xue Tuan's personality. He was worried the little snow fox wouldn't be able to stay put at home, so he couldn't help but nag a little.

He suspected this little trip probably hadn't been approved by the leaders either.

"Got it," the little snow fox said, pawing at Ye Ke's arm to reassure his friend.

"What are you and Zhong Yan doing here?" Ye Ke asked, finally turning to look at the giant black lion.

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The third method! Ye Ke's eyes instantly lit up. He had been looking forward to this third method for a long time!

The little snow fox curled up softly in Ye Ke's arms as he explained, and Ye Ke listened attentively.

But as he listened, Ye Ke began to feel that this method was a bit over his head... The very idea that the beast world's soil could "come back to life" was already shocking enough for the beastmen. Now, Xue Tuan was telling him that they could grow things without soil?!

This sounded like even bigger news than "The beast world's soil can grow things again!"

But given how Xue Tuan had made the impossible possible time and again, Ye Ke didn't hesitate for a second to believe him.

Ye Ke immediately grew excited and began asking questions one after another, eager to understand exactly how this method worked.

As the little snow fox talked, he started to feel a bit thirsty. It was too bad he and Zhong Yan had forgotten to bring his notes; otherwise, he could have just handed the notebook to Ye Ke to read for himself.

That would have been faster than explaining. He could have just answered any questions as they came up.

The little snow fox continued, "Zhong Yan is digging the hydroponic pool now. We'll probably need to stock it with about ten small edible fish, two or three Fat Ducks, and we'll also need about three or four floating rafts..."

Each raft needed to be about one square meter in size. With a hydroponic pool of a little over ten square meters, that should be enough for them to observe.

"So, what exactly is that 'nutrient solution' like?" Ye Ke was most curious about this part. This must be the key to growing things without soil, right?

The little snow fox replied, "The nutrient solution in the hydroponic pool mainly relies on fertilizing the water body." The "wild rice, fish, duck" system played an important role in this.

"For example, we can add a small amount of decomposed beast manure and rotten green plants into the hydroponic pool as green fertilizer."

This step was to artificially cultivate plankton and algae in the water, which would serve as food for the fish.

The fish's excrement was rich in elements needed for crop growth. It essentially transformed algae and other materials that couldn't be directly used into a form that crops could absorb.

Ye Ke pondered thoughtfully, "So putting fish in has that kind of effect too..."

The little snow fox nodded and added, "After that, we introduce the Fat Ducks. The fish handle the underwater ecological cycle, and the Fat Ducks handle the surface cycle."

After following him for so many years, many terms no longer needed further explanation for Ye Ke.

The little snow fox said, "The Fat Ducks can eat weeds and pests, and their excrement naturally serves as fertilizer too. However, once the crops in the hydroponic pool mature, we'll need to drive the Fat Ducks away from the pool to prevent them from pecking at the grains."

Ye Ke suddenly realized, "Ah, right! Fat Ducks do love eating those things, don't they? We'll definitely need to remind the beastmen to be careful about that later."

The experiment hadn't even officially started yet, but Ye Ke was already assuming its success.

Holding the tip of his tail and tucking his paws, the little snow fox nestled on Ye Ke's arm and continued, "If conditions permit, the hydroponic pool can be designed with 'flowing water' to ensure the water doesn't become oxygen-depleted."

"But generally, we don't have that condition in the early stages. So besides having beastmen regularly stir the water in the pool to increase oxygen levels, we mainly rely on the fish swimming in the water and the Fat Ducks to handle this task..."

Oxygen depletion could cause the crop roots to rot, which was a point that needed close attention.

Absorbing so much information at once made Ye Ke feel his brain was almost overloaded. Not to mention getting other beastmen to understand it later.

But beastmen had one good trait: they had blind trust in their leaders. They would follow instructions first and accept the results once they saw them.

After all, for so many years, that's how beastmen had dealt with things they couldn't quite understand.

The little snow fox had no intention of letting Ye Ke off easily. Since Ye Ke had asked voluntarily, he was determined to make him listen in detail: "Besides, having Fat Ducks living in the hydroponic pool means if there's any problem with the water, the Fat Ducks' behavior will definitely change! For example, if the Fat Ducks suddenly refuse to enter the water, then we'll know something's wrong with the hydroponic pool..."

While they were chatting, the black lion had already dug out a pit of about five cubic meters—quite efficient.

Clumps of soil kept flying out of the pit, piling up around the edges. The giant black lion took a moment to say to the little snow fox, "I'll dig half today. We'll sneak back again tomorrow."

If they slipped back home around mealtime, probably no one would notice they had sneaked out.

The little snow fox replied, "Okay!" Sneaking out to play like this occasionally was quite fun.

"But our tribe has never grown wild rice before. Are we really going to use that crop first?" Ye Ke asked next.

If they used their tribe's own soil, he had no doubt they could grow it.

But starting directly with the "hydroponic method" made Ye Ke a bit worried.

"We can grow it both ways..." the little snow fox replied. If their tribe's soil could grow it, but the hydroponic pool couldn't, then they'd know the problem was with the hydroponic pool and would need to keep improving it.

However, the issue with wild rice was that once it matured, the grains easily fell off the spikes into the water, resulting in a very low harvest rate. This required beastmen to pay extra attention during the pre-harvest period.

So, one solution Xue Tuan envisioned was to make some fabric, similar to fishing nets, that could be retrieved.

First, have everyone lay this fabric under the floating rafts in advance. When the wild rice matured, they could shake the plants to make the grains fall onto the fabric. Then, by pulling a rope, they could retrieve everything at once without any loss.

This way, they wouldn't have to worry about some grains falling off early, which could improve the harvest rate of wild rice.

As soon as Ye Ke heard Xue Tuan mention this idea, he found it particularly clever. He couldn't help but reach out and stroke the little snow fox's head, saying, "How does your little brain always come up with so many interesting ideas!"

The arctic fox nuzzled Ye Ke's palm and murmured, "But there are other things to note about Manchurian wild rice..."

Manchurian wild rice is highly susceptible to a fungus that mutates it into a vegetable—water bamboo.

If you want to eat water bamboo, that's perfectly fine, but if the goal is to harvest the wild rice, any plant that starts forming water bamboo must be promptly removed from the hydroponic pool to prevent the fungus from spreading.

Ye Ke asked curiously, "Water bamboo? Is it tasty? I'd really like to try it."

Nowadays, the beastmen of the Mountain Water Tribe have gotten into the habit of wanting to taste any new food they hear about, almost forgetting about the tribe's herbal expert, the Hundred Herb Beast.

As for the tribe's newest batch of kids, Xue Tuan thought this was a habit they'd be better off not picking up, especially once they left the tribe.

While they were talking, the sudden sound of flapping wings reached them.

The arctic fox looked up and saw several little bird cubs flying toward them.

It was A Ang and his Rockball Sparrow friends.

"Brother Xue Tuan—" A Ang greeted Ye Cong and Zhong Yan in turn before heading straight for the arctic fox.

With practiced ease, A Ang perched on the arctic fox's head, while the Rockball Sparrow cubs landed on Ye Ke.

"What brings you guys here?" The arctic fox shook his head, causing the little bird cub A Ang to sway along but remain firmly settled, as if already accustomed to this way of greeting.

A Ang replied, "Xiao Hong and the others came with me to find Brother Ye Cong to ask if he still needs help catching bugs."

Xue Tuan understood immediately. When he and Ye Ke were experimenting with the Beastworld soil, they had asked these little ones to help catch earthworms, hoping to figure out if there was an issue with the soil's ecosystem.

Xue Tuan caught their drift: they were bored and looking for something fun to do.

The little sparrow named Xiao Hong stared at the arctic fox and said, "Brother Xue Tuan, are you feeling better now? My brother is really worried about you."

The arctic fox extended a paw and patted the Rockball Sparrow cub on Ye Ke's shoulder. "There, there, Xiao Hong, I'm all better now! Remember to tell your brother when you go back!"

Xiao Hong was Xiao Jian's younger brother, and both brothers were very concerned about Xue Tuan, who had been injured earlier. They had visited him while he was unconscious.

"Okay." The Rockball Sparrow cub obediently nuzzled the arctic fox's paw, looking quite content.

"What's Brother Zhong Yan up to now?" Digging a hole? A Ang tilted his head curiously, watching the big lion.

The arctic fox said, "We plan to dig a pool here."

"A pool? Let us help!" The little bird cubs flapped their wings and flew over to the black lion, instantly transforming into humanoid cubs.

Then, the arctic fox watched as these little sprouts fetched bamboo buckets and helped transport the soil the black lion had dug up. They were clever about it, clearly no strangers to this kind of work.

While the group was enjoying themselves here, they didn't expect a beastman to come looking for them.

"Everyone, the chief sent me to inform you that the Dawn Dusk Tribe has sent representatives to visit. Please head to the 'guest house.'"

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Author's note: Thanks for the nutrient solution [heart]