My basement connects to another world.

Chapter 24 Plaster

……

Jiang Yuan pulled out a lollipop, pretending not to see the stares coming from all directions.

The cat-eared girls and boys surrounding Jiang Yuan and hope Lu had completely let loose.

They had been close friends with Hil since they were children, and seeing that Hil was not polite to this human at all, they became bolder.

"Jiangyuan, Jiangyuan, Sister Xilu said you have something called braised chicken leg! What does it taste like?" The girl with the little pigtail came closer and asked curiously.

Jiang Yuan didn't actually bring any braised chicken legs. This time when he came back, he bought a big bag of candy and snacks and put them in his pocket. His canvas bag is still in the tree hole.

He pulled out another bag of beef jerky from his pocket, tore it open, and gave each of them a small strip.

The girl with her hair in a small ponytail chewed on beef jerky, her cheeks moving constantly. She chewed for almost two minutes before swallowing, then licked her lips and muttered, "It tastes better than mutton jerky."

Her younger sister squatted down beside her, tearing beef jerky into shreds and stuffing them into her mouth, her cat ears twitching.

Horned sheep jerky is the most abundant type of magical beast in Moondwelling Valley, with large spiral horns on their heads. Before the onset of winter, herds of horned sheep graze on vegetation at the edges of the Graycap Forest.

They are the Frostclaw tribe's most stable source of meat.

But when winter comes, the horned sheep, by their unique habits, will hibernate in rocky crevices, tree root hollows, or at the foot of mountain walls.

After hibernation, its body surface secretes a special mucus, forming a hard shell that looks like a stone.

Jiang Yuan watched them eat, silently making plans in his mind.

These snacks are sold by weight in real life, so they're not expensive.

But in the Frostclaw tribe, at this critical juncture when winter arrives early and food is scarce, their value goes far beyond simply filling their stomachs.

He needs magic cores to enhance his strength, he needs more information about this world, and he needs good "products" to sell in reality.

These candies are just the right way to pry open a crack and boost favorability...

At this time.

A sharp howl came from afar.

The sound came from the outskirts of the tribe, piercing through the crackling of the campfire and the conversations of the tribespeople.

Then came another sound, even closer. Then came the third and the fourth, and they began to ring out in waves.

Ug suddenly stood up from in front of the central campfire.

More than a hundred hunters had already gripped their weapons at the same time, their cat ears turning in unison towards the direction from which the sound came, their muscles tense.

"Keshan! Take two teams to the north!" Ug shouted in a low voice.

Ke Shan responded and waved his hand. Thirty-odd warriors followed behind him and disappeared into the shadow of the giant tree in a few breaths.

Jiang Yuan stood up, and the excitement in Xilu's sky-blue eyes was gone, replaced by a hint of nervousness.

"What happened just now?" Jiang Yuan asked in a low voice.

"It's white mane," Hilu whispered.

"Hilu told you that it's a big guy, they come in groups, they're very big and fierce. There's one that's bigger than the others, it fought with the tribe several times before, and the priest used the 'Pearl of Communication' on it, so it hasn't come around much since."

Are there any intelligent, social magical beasts...? Jiang Yuan nodded slightly.

The howling lasted for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, neither approaching nor receding.

The cat-eared people in the open space all stood up. The women hugged their cubs to their arms, and the elders placed their hands on the hunting knives at their waists.

After a while, the howling stopped.

Ke Shan returned with his men.

He walked up to Ug and shook his head: "They didn't fight. They circled outside the treeline a few times and then left. But there are a lot more of them than before; judging from the footprints, there are probably over a hundred."

Ug frowned. "Winter is here."

Ke Shan nodded and said nothing more.

Jiang Yuan, who was standing to the side, understood what was going on.

Winter arrived early, and the tribe was short of food, as were the magical beasts known as "White Mane."

As a species with some intelligence, they used to keep to themselves because they had enough to eat, but now that food is scarce, they have begun to probe into the tribe's territory.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan wondered why the priestess Mu Ye was not in the tribe at this time.

Jiang Yuan turned his head and asked, "Xilu, where did Priestess Muye go?"

Hilu thought for a moment and said:

"Grandpa Priest goes into the Gray Covered Forest in the north every year, and he stays there for a very long time. Hilu doesn't know when he will return. Father says it is the Moon Goddess's arrangement, and it cannot be missed every year, so even if it snows heavily, Grandpa Priest still has to go."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Did he go alone?"

"Yes." Hilu nodded. "Grandpa Priest is very powerful."

Jiang Yuan nodded.

Perhaps because of the white mane, the campfire burned for a while before gradually dying down.

There was no alcohol, and the food wasn't anything special either; the cat-eared tribe's gathering was so simple it was almost bland... Jiang Yuan complained.

The elderly left first, the women carried their sleeping cubs back to the tree hollow, and the hunters stayed behind to extinguish the campfires one by one.

Hiru was called away by her mother, and the cat-eared girls surrounding Jiangyuan also left reluctantly.

Jiang Yuan saw Qingye stand up from beside the campfire, brush the grass clippings off his leather armor, and turn to walk towards his tree hole.

He thought for a moment, then followed.

Aoba took a dozen steps, then suddenly turned around, her ears twitching.

The faint glow of the firelight in the distance was reflected in his pale honey-colored pupils, and his cat ears stood straight up. "You are that human... Why are you following me?"

"Here, have a taste." Jiang Yuan took a piece of chocolate out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Aoba paused for a moment, staring at the small square wrapped in colorful plastic for several seconds. Her nostrils twitched, but she finally reached out and took it.

She had long been curious about the various foods that the human had taken out.

She tore open the wrapper like Hilu had done before, broke off a small piece, and put it in her mouth.

First it frowned, then gradually relaxed, and its cat ears twitched slightly.

"It's delicious," she said softly, her tone slightly embarrassed.

"Want more?" Jiang Yuan chuckled. "I have quite a few of these delicious treats left."

"What do you want, human?" Aoba took a half-step back warily.

She's not like those little kids in the tribe; she's not someone who can be easily fooled.

Jiang Yuan rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a scabbed wound on his forearm.

He stretched out his arm: "Don't be nervous, I'm injured and need some medicine."

Aoba looked down at the wound and carefully pressed the edge of the scab with her finger.

She looked up, her light honey-colored eyes filled with confusion. "Does such a minor injury really need medicine?"

Jiang Yuan coughed lightly, rolling up his sleeves without changing his expression: "Better safe than sorry. Tell me, what kind of potions does your tribe have?"

Aoba looked at him for a while, then finally spoke:

"Our tribe's medicines mainly fall into several categories. For stopping bleeding, we pound up hemostatic herbs and bitter moss roots, boil them in water, and apply them externally to wounds to help the blood clot faster. For bone healing, we make a paste by mixing bone fragments and black pine resin, which, when applied to broken bones, can make them heal one or two times faster. There's also a medicine for dispelling cold, made by squeezing juice from red ginger roots; drinking it when you're cold can warm your body."

She asked, "Which one do you want? I do have some hemostatic herbs and bitter moss root; I can prepare a prescription for you."

So easy to fool, so easily… Jiang Yuan rolled up his sleeves again:

"I want to see the results for myself. Could you take me to your place?"

Aoba hesitated for a moment, glanced at Jiang Yuan's scabbed wound, and probably thought that this person was indeed making a fuss over nothing, but still nodded.

Her tree hollow is the same one Jiang Yuan saw last time, the one with bottles and jars outside.

The animal skin curtain hanging at the entrance of the cave was half-rolled up, and the room inside was slightly larger than the one Jiang Yuan lived in.

Several earthenware jars were stacked next to the low bed, some sealed with dry, hard animal hides, and others with their mouths open.

Hanging on the tree wall was a row of dried herbs tied with thin vines, including leaves, roots, and a few shriveled flowers of unknown origin.

A faint herbal scent filled the air.

On the corner stone slab sat a small stone mortar and a stone pestle, with some dark green powder remaining at the bottom of the mortar.

Qingye grabbed a few dark brown dried leaves and a fist-sized piece of dried root from the earthenware jar, threw them into the stone mortar and crushed them, then added a little water and continued crushing.

After pounding for about two minutes, the contents of the mortar turned into a dark green paste.

"This is the hemostatic ointment." She placed the mortar and pestle in front of Jiang Yuan: "I'll show you how effective it is."

As she spoke, she pulled a dagger from her waist and, without changing her expression, lightly made a cut on the web of her left hand.

A thin, long bloodstain immediately seeped out, and a few drops of blood trickled down her finger.

Jiang Yuan's brow twitched.

Ignoring the blood on her hands, Qingye used her right fingers to scoop out a small dollop of dark green ointment and spread it evenly on the wound. Then she raised her hand towards Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan saw this and his pupils contracted slightly.

The bleeding from the wound, which was still oozing blood, stopped immediately after the ointment was applied.

The dark green ointment dried quickly on the skin, forming a thin, translucent film.

The skin beneath the membrane is contracting and healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After about ten seconds, Qingye gently rubbed the film off with her fingers.

There was only a faint pink mark left on the skin at the base of the thumb.

"Alright." Aoba turned her hand over to show him:

"That's right. Your injury will heal in no time."

What amazing results! Jiang Yuan mentally gave this hemostatic ointment a thumbs up.

As expected of a world with extraordinary powers, this simple ointment healed a still-bleeding wound in less than ten seconds, leaving only a shallow mark.

"Is there anything that can cure aches and pains?" Jiang Yuan shook his arms and said, "You know, those old injuries that make your shoulders and back ache from practicing swordsmanship and archery for a long time."

Qingye tilted her head, and her cat ears tilted slightly as well: "That's even simpler, just mash up some hot stone grass and apply it directly. But old injuries are hard to cure completely, you can only relieve the symptoms."

Jiang Yuan nodded.

"How can we exchange these medicines for food?"

Aoba's ears perked up immediately, then she forced herself to remain calm and said, "You're willing to trade that kind of food for it?"

"I'm willing," Jiang Yuan said. "And I want to change a lot of them."

Aoba said expectantly yet hesitantly, "But I still need to leave my medicine for the tribe. The hunting team often gets injured when they go out hunting, and we use up a lot of hemostatic ointment every month."

"I only want the rest of you," Jiang Yuan said.

Qingye quickly calculated, then pretended to have a serious expression and said:

"Alright, how about I exchange one mortar and pestle ointment for ten of those candies you gave me earlier? No, five, is that okay?"

Her cat ears jutted out, looking somewhat nervous, afraid that Jiang Yuan wouldn't agree.

"Okay, ten it is." Jiang Yuan smiled slightly, took out the last two lollipops from his pocket and stuffed them into her hand: "This is the deposit."

Qingye clutched the candy and nodded vigorously.