"This..."
Danzhu stared in astonishment as Uncle Xu Yanwu finished modifying the clay figurine.
After Uncle Xu Yanwu wished an indestructible buff onto the figurine, Danzhu finally could not resist snatching it over and turning it over in her hands.
"Uncle Xu Yanwu, you actually made this?"
Danzhu looked curiously at the rows of tiny characters on the figurine's base. "What kind of writing is this? How come I've never seen it before?"
"Hm?" Uncle Xu Yanwu froze. "Lesser Seal Script. What about it?"
Uncle Xu Yanwu had originally intended to carve it in simplified Chinese, but after thinking it over, he decided simplified Chinese did not look impressive enough, so he carved Lesser Seal Script onto the figurine instead...
"Lesser Seal Script? Is there really such a script?"
Although Danzhu was curious, she did not dwell on it. She simply assumed it was a script from some earlier civilization that Uncle Xu Yanwu had used.
Uncle Xu Yanwu immediately fell into thought. It seemed there were still some differences between the Previous Civilization and this one...
"Take your time studying it. Oh, right, where are Chi Yuan, Ji Xuanyuan, and your sister?" Uncle Xu Yanwu wrapped himself in the blanket like a spring roll and jumped off the bed.
"They..." Danzhu's expression grew complicated. "They're leading the tribe back to gather the bodies. They only left me behind to take care of you."
"..."
Uncle Xu Yanwu's mood sank as well.
Though he knew he could not be blamed for this, if he had arrived earlier, surely so many people would not have died.
That was why Uncle Xu Yanwu felt regretful. Regretful, and nothing more.
"Sniff... I'll go take a look at them..."
Sniffling, Uncle Xu Yanwu decided to find something to do.
As Uncle Xu Yanwu walked through the tribe, he found that its atmosphere was, in the end, one of grief.
Nearly every family had lost relatives, and there were no shortage of children who had lost their parents.
After searching for quite some time, Uncle Xu Yanwu finally spotted Ji Lin sitting high up somewhere with her knees hugged to her chest. Since they had already met, he would call her Ji Lin from now on; the same went for Lianshan later.
...Mm... and Lianshan was hiding behind a tree, secretly watching Ji Lin.
That reserved little virgin Shennong...
"Hey!" Uncle Xu Yanwu quietly crept up behind Lianshan and slapped his shoulder. "What are you doing, kid? Peeping?"
"Ah!"
Lianshan jumped in fright at Uncle Xu Yanwu's sudden attack. Only after turning around and realizing it was Uncle Xu Yanwu did he relax. "So it's Pun... Brother Xu. I..."
Only then did Lianshan realize what Uncle Xu Yanwu had just said. His face instantly turned bright red. "I-I-I-I wasn't peeping. I just saw that Ji Lin seemed really sad, and I couldn't stop worrying about her, so..."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Uncle Xu Yanwu clicked his tongue. "You're already calling her Ji Lin, huh? Not bad, kid. Yesterday, when you faced me together, I even saw you two holding hands. Very nice, very nice..."
"Well... I... that's not..."
Lianshan's words immediately became fragmented.
"Then let me ask you straight. Do you like her?"
Uncle Xu Yanwu smiled.
Uncle Xu Yanwu rather liked the pairing of Ji Lin and Lianshan. Shennong truly loved Ji Lin wholeheartedly. In the Honkai world, after Ji Lin, Cang Xuan, Danzhu, and the others sealed Chi You, Lianshan kept waiting for Ji Lin's return. He waited until he died of old age...
Of course, Uncle Xu Yanwu did not mind giving him a hand. It would be even more fun if those two could have seven or eight, maybe even ten children...
"W-What are you saying..."
Lianshan awkwardly tried to flee.
"I mean... you like Ji Lin, don't you?"
Uncle Xu Yanwu suddenly pinned Lianshan against the tree, blocking his escape route.
"I..."
"Quit beating around the bush with me! One sentence! Do you like her or not?"
"I like Ji Lin..."
"There... that's more like it..."
Uncle Xu Yanwu rubbed Lianshan's head in satisfaction. "Come on, let's first think about how to comfort Ji Lin..."
The corner of Uncle Xu Yanwu's lips rose into a troublemaking smile.
If he remembered correctly, Ji Lin was supposed to be a foodie, right?
Seeing Uncle Xu Yanwu's smile, Lianshan could not help but shudder. He felt as though something terrifying had set its sights on him.
"Young man..."
Uncle Xu Yanwu's eyes gleamed as he stared at Lianshan. "Want to learn to cook from me?"
"No..."
"Hm?" Uncle Xu Yanwu made a questioning sound through his nose as he stared at Lianshan.
Lianshan immediately displayed his powerful survival instincts.
"Mm... I'll learn..."
--- Storage Site for the Two Honkai Beasts, Feng Bo Yu Shi ---
"Lord Ying Long, Lady Jiang Zhu."
The two guards bowed to Lianshan and Uncle Xu Yanwu, whom Lianshan had brought over.
"You know me?"
Uncle Xu Yanwu asked with interest.
"Lord Ying Long saved our tribe from disaster yesterday. How could we possibly not recognize Lord Ying Long?"
One of the guards asked, "May we ask what Lord Ying Long has come here for?"
"To cook!"
Uncle Xu Yanwu grinned. "I want to take some ingredients from Feng Bo Yu Shi..."
"Lord Ying Long, these two monsters can't be eaten!"
The guards were horrified. "People once tried to eat monster meat to stave off hunger, but everyone who ate it turned into monsters as well!"
Lianshan naturally knew about this too, but he could not stop Uncle Xu Yanwu...
"It's fine, it's fine. Feng Bo Yu Shi are edible now." Uncle Xu Yanwu waved his hand dismissively. "I sucked all the Honkai Energy out of their bodies. Even ordinary people won't turn into Deadwalkers after eating them now."
As he spoke, Uncle Xu Yanwu had already walked to Feng Bo's corpse. "Well... Feng Bo Yu Shi are so big. I'll just take a small portion."
As he spoke, Uncle Xu Yanwu formed a blade of energy in his hand and cut toward Feng Bo's right hind leg.
"I'm telling you, this deer meat is incredibly nourishing. Later, I'll cut off some snake meat too and stew it into soup, so the whole tribe can have a taste of my cooking."
Uncle Xu Yanwu hoisted the massive severed deer leg onto his shoulder without feeling tired in the slightest.
Uncle Xu Yanwu had no idea what strange training his body had undergone. In any case, his physical strength was now frighteningly immense. Forget a deer leg—even Feng Bo's entire body could be lifted by him.
His gaze shifted to Yu Shi's corpse.
"Hehehehe... This probably can't even be called snake meat anymore... It should be dragon meat, right..."
Uncle Xu Yanwu grinned eerily. "Dragon meat stew... that sounds pretty good... And deer meat... it's most suitable for young married couples... Hehehehehe..."
Thanks to reader 08194839 for the reminder... The bug in the first chapter has already been fixed...