Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Little Paws, So Cute

“Your little paws are really cute,” Shen Rong said seriously.

Honestly, he wanted to grab them and knead them in his hands—the little pads must be so soft and squishy. But with Changxia giving him that half-smiling, half-threatening look, Shen Rong didn’t dare move.

The difference in beast forms was obvious.

Changxia’s beast claws were different from the others—more delicate and refined, fluffy and round, just looking at them made you want to pick them up and play with them.

If even her little paws were this cute, then her full beast form must be even more…

Ahem—

“Shut up!” Changxia snapped.

She shifted back to her human form and slumped lazily at the table.

“How long will it take to finish digging the canal?” Chang Xia asked. Diverting water from the stream to the cave dwellings would solve the daily problem of fetching water—it would save them a lot of trouble.

Shen Rong replied, “We can finish digging by this afternoon. But if we want to bring the water all the way to the caves, we’ll need pipes. If nothing else works, we can do what you suggested—hollow out the middle of some trees to make wooden pipes, then cover them with planks.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you,” Chang Xia nodded.

After lunch, the two of them lay on the corridor, chewing on some wild grass roots.

A cool breeze drifted by, making them feel a bit drowsy.

“I need to find time to make the dried powder—”

Thanks to the promotion by the shamans of Mount Kana, the method of eating white nuts had spread, and now the beast tribes finally had a true staple food. Chang Xia wanted to hurry and make the dried powder; if another tribe figured it out first, she’d feel embarrassed.

“When the canal is done, I’ll help you,” said Shen Rong.

Making the powder was hard work, and Shen Rong didn’t want Chang Xia to tire herself out.

Chang Xia tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, “This afternoon I’ll go to the tribe and talk to Elder Yami. Maybe the tribe can help with the powder-making.”

The Lion Tribe had chili peppers, the Bear Tribe had seaweed candy.

As for the Luo River Tribe’s wild grass root candy, the clansfolk probably wouldn’t want to trade it away.

If powder-making could become a skill unique to the Black Panther Tribe, the clansfolk would be delighted. The more Chang Xia thought about it, the more she liked the idea.

Besides, she wouldn’t have to rack her brains alone over the process.

Just as Shen Rong said, making powder was exhausting.

Shen Rong didn’t want Chang Xia to work too hard, and Chang Xia felt the same about him.

If the clansfolk joined in, things would be much easier. After all, many hands make light work, and if the steps were divided up, it would be far less tiring.

“Are you sure—” Shen Rong hesitated.

He wasn’t worried about the powder-making method leaking out.

He just wondered if Chang Xia was willing.

“Yeah! I think it’ll be easier if the tribe helps. Sooner or later, powder-making will be passed on to the tribe anyway—I’m just letting everyone join in a bit earlier!” Chang Xia said cheerfully.

She was a little frustrated—after being protected by the tribe for over ten years, her thinking had become sluggish.

She always acted on impulse, without much planning or organization, and that just wouldn’t do.

Chang Xia wasn’t thinking about “the rich helping the poor,” but about making the whole tribe prosperous. In the Twilight Forest, everything revolved around one’s tribe and race—no beastman could survive alone, not even wanderers.

“If you’ve decided, that’s fine,” Shen Rong said. “Do you need my help this afternoon?”

“No need. You take Yadong and Shankun to finish the canal—that’s the real priority. Carrying water every day is such a hassle. I also want to build a pond and keep some pretty fish. As for the powder, I’ll leave it to the tribe. With everyone’s skills, it’ll be done in no time,” Chang Xia said happily.

As they chatted, the two of them went back to their rooms for a short nap.

In the afternoon, Shen Rong headed south of White Lake again.

Chang Xia strolled leisurely toward the tribe.

Passing the White Lake wall, she stopped to chat with Elder Dalai.

“Muqin Amu—”

Crossing the tribe’s plaza, Chang Xia headed straight for the chief Gen’s house.

She knocked on the gate, calling out for Muqin Amu to see if she was home.

That morning, Muqin had also gone to the wilderness south of White Lake to dig wild grass roots. But she’d come back to the tribe around noon, so when Chang Xia called, she quickly answered, “Chang Xia, do you need something?”

It was rare for Chang Xia to come to the tribe on her own, so Muqin was a bit surprised.

“I want to ask the clansfolk to help make powder. The Heavenly Lion Tribe has chili peppers, the Earth Tribe has seaweed candy—our Luo River Tribe can’t fall behind,” Chang Xia said. “Making powder is hard work, I can’t do it alone. So I thought I’d ask you to help organize everyone.”

Chang Xia pushed aside her embarrassment and voiced her thoughts.

As soon as she finished, Muqin broke into a smile.

“You!” Muqin said. “We’ve all been waiting for you to ask. You’ve finally come around.”

Making powder is hard work, but that’s nothing to the beastfolk.

When Chang Xia had everyone taste the freshly pressed rice noodles, the tribe had already started thinking about how to preserve them. But Chang Xia hadn’t found a way, and when the clansfolk tried on their own, the pressed noodles spoiled quickly.

Now that Chang Xia had come to ask for help, Muqin was overjoyed.

“I was thinking I’d wait until the dried powder was ready,” Chang Xia said, a little embarrassed.

“You’re just too kind-hearted,” Muqin replied.

She pulled Chang Xia inside, and the two of them discussed how to make the powder and who should help. They needed to prepare a few things, but there was no need to worry about the white nut powder—the tribe had plenty stored in the caves.

This year, the tribe had organized everyone to gather all the white nuts from the area and bring them back.

Only a small portion had been ground; the rest were stored in baskets, stacked in the caves.

If it weren’t for the new ways to eat them—powder cakes, noodles, and so on—the white nuts in storage would be enough to feed the Luo River Tribe for a year or two.

After their discussion, Muqin led Chang Xia to the tribe’s plaza.

“…I tried using a press to make the dough into fine powder, then cooking and drying it. But the fine powder doesn’t keep well and breaks easily,” Muqin said.

The clansfolk had made quite a bit of fine powder, but the results weren’t great.

Chang Xia thought for a moment, recalling the steps Muqin described.

“It’s probably because of the dough. If you want to preserve dried powder, it’s different from the fresh pressed noodles we made before. The dough needs to be steamed and then pounded until it’s stickier. After that, you use the press to make fine powder. Once it’s cooked, you have to rinse it twice in cold water, then dry it.”

Having made powder countless times herself, Chang Xia had picked up some experience.

After hearing Muqin’s description, she quickly figured it out.

Still, whether it would work or not would only be clear once they tried.

White nut powder is made from white nuts, which is different from rice powder. At least the first step—soaking the rice—could be skipped.

When they reached the tribe’s plaza, Chang Xia stopped Muqin from calling everyone over.

She wanted to first soak a bucket of fruit starch, filter out the water with a blue cloth, let it settle for a while, then put the damp starch into a sieve to air-dry until evening.

Next, she would take the damp starch, shape it into dough balls, and cook them in a stone pot until half done, then take them out and pound them in a stone mortar to increase their stickiness. After that, she would use a press to squeeze the dough into vermicelli. The following steps were to cook the vermicelli, rinse it in cold water twice, and finally set it out to dry.

There were many steps, and the process was time-consuming.

That was also why Changxia stopped Muqin from calling for more people.

If it was just a small experiment, she and Muqin could handle it themselves.

Besides, for now, all they needed to do was simply soak the fruit starch, filter out the water and let it settle, then pour the damp starch into a sieve to dry. Everything was simple—having Muqin help was really just because Changxia wanted to slack off in the future...