Hayoon's breathing tightened and two words instantly appeared in her mind.
Alloy.
She already knew that metal existed in this beast world.
The Ur-Shet Tribe, for example, possessed a metal knife that had been obtained through expensive trade.
But the color of Chorong's knife reminded her of a very common modern metal.
Copper.
This was an incredibly valuable thing.
But copper had quite a high melting point, did it not? How were they purifying and forging it?
Lost in thought, Hayoon walked over to Chorong and watched him rinse the knife with clean water.
As she swallowing her saliva slightly, she asked with shining eyes, "Chief Chorong, can I take a look at your knife?"
Naturally, Chorong agreed and handed it over.
Hayoon carefully accepted the knife and examined the blade closely under the sunlight.
The knife felt much lighter than she expected.
When she lightly tapped it with her fingernail, the blade trembled slightly and produced a clear sound.
She gently bent the tip downward a little and confirmed that the hardness was not particularly high either.
Among the metals she knew, the softer ones were mainly aluminum and gold.
When she was younger, her family had used aluminum pots.
However, they dented and deformed very easily after even slight impacts, which was why stainless steel had gradually replaced them later on.
Aluminum's melting point was much lower than copper's.
If this really was aluminum, then forging it would indeed be much easier.
Hayoon returned the knife to Chorong and asked, "Was this knife forged by your tribe?"
Chorong shook his head. "No. We traded for it from traveling merchants. According to them, it was forged by the Mor-Khal Tribe."
"The Mor-Khal Tribe?"
"Mm. If you walk in that direction from our tribe and pass through several tribes like the Ruun-Lai Tribe, you will reach the Mor-Khal Tribe."
"That sounds very far away."
"It is. Even traveling at full speed, it still takes us five days to get there. Are you very interested in blacksilver knives?" Chorong asked.
Hayoon felt a little embarrassed.
She was just about to nod when she noticed the gleam in Chorong's narrow fox-like eyes, so her answer changed midway. "A little."
Chorong smiled meaningfully, it's impossible to tell whether he believed her or not.
"If you want to know more about Mor-Khal Tribe, come find me sometime. I can explain it properly."
Still smiling, he reached out as if to pat Hayoon on the shoulder.
"Hayoon!"
Beom's voice suddenly rang out behind them, interrupting Chorong's movement.
Hayoon turned around and saw Beom and Minho standing together, each holding a fully plucked bird.
Minho's deep red eyes looked over quietly, his thin lips pressed slightly downward.
"What should we do next?" Beom asked.
"Oh, leave it to me! Help me boil two pots of water first!"
Thinking about the food, Hayoon quickly left behind a "We will talk next time," before hurrying away.
Chorong watched her back and shrugged with a smile before squatting down to continue slicing fish.
In this beast world, strength was respected above all else.
If Chorong were not skilled enough, he could never have become the chief of such a large tribe.
By the time Hayoon finished boiling the bird meat and returned, all the long-eyed fish the group had brought back had already been sliced into even fillets by Chorong and neatly piled into several wooden basins.
"Is this alright?" Chorong asked.
"It is perfect." Hayoon invited him to carry the basins with her back to the stone stove area. Then she added chopped Spelon Berry pieces and salt into the fish, mixing everything thoroughly by hand before setting it aside.
Immo leaned closer curiously. "Are you marinating it?"
"Yes. It would be even better with some starch, but I used up the last batch I had and have not had time to make more yet."
"I have some. You can use mine."
Immo took out a small bag wrapped in two layers of hemp cloth from her storage space.
The people from the Ur-Shet Tribe were already familiar with the ingredient, but the people from the Voz-Karr Tribe all revealed curious expressions.
"Starch? What is that?"
Immo glanced at Hayoon and did not speak rashly.
Remembering that Ahri had let her keep the tomato seeds, Hayoon did not hide anything and explained, "It is a powder extracted from kudzu root. It can be used to tenderize meat and thicken soups and sauces."
She accepted the starch from Immo, took out a portion, and poured it into the wooden basin.
At the same time, she briefly explained the process of extracting starch.
After listening, everyone shook their heads repeatedly.
"That sounds way too troublesome. Washing, filtering, drying... forget it."
"I think meat is fine even without making it extra tender."
As for thickening sauces, most of them had never even heard the term before.
Including Immo, the people from the Ur-Shet Tribe all wore expressions that seemed amused yet unwilling to explain further, leaving the Voz-Karr Tribe utterly confused.
Hayoon did not elaborate either.
Once the fish slices were marinated, the birds had finished boiling as well.
She called over two people to help her tear the bird meat into thin strips, eventually filling three large wooden basins.
Then she brought over a larger pottery bowl and added chopped Spelon Berry, stir-fried green peppercorns, crushed nuts, and salt before pouring hot oil over the top.
Sizzle!
The beast fat instantly released the aroma of the seasonings, making everyone's eyes brighten and their appetites flare up immediately.
Finally, she selected a small basin of sweet-and-sour fruit, mashed it into pulp, then chopped two half-ripe tomatoes and added them into the pottery bowl before stirring everything together with chopsticks.
The fragrance of scallions, peppercorns, and sweet sour fruit blended together in rich layers, instantly stimulating the werebeast's sharp senses of taste and smell and awakening their hunger instinctively.
"It smells amazing! I am starving. When can we eat?" Ahri asked while clutching her stomach and staring unblinkingly at the sauce.