Several enormous bonfires blazed in the stronghold's plaza. The wild beasts captured from the mountains had been skewered on thick branches and roasted over the flames. Fat dripped from them now and then with a series of "puff, puff" sounds, filling the air with rich aromas.
Sitting beside the fire, Muchijia stared blankly at the roasted wild boar he had nearly grown tired of eating. For the first time, he realized that roasted boar could smell so delicious. Of course, all the credit went to the packet of spices Gan Ning had brought out.
The people under Liu Bei had all been spoiled rotten by Wang Xuan. They had become extremely picky, and many foods they had once considered decent could no longer satisfy them.
After wiping away his drool, Muchijia chattered animatedly at Gan Ning in a long string of words. His expression was filled with excitement. Gan Ning likewise spoke to him in the mountain tribes' dialect, leaving Jia Xu beside them completely bewildered.
After the two finished communicating, Jia Xu asked curiously, "Doesn't this mountain tribe chieftain speak Chinese?"
"He doesn't!" Gan Ning looked at Jia Xu strangely.
"He doesn't? His Chinese was very fluent when he begged for mercy just now!" Jia Xu said in surprise.
"Ha, hahahahaha!" Gan Ning burst into loud laughter, looking utterly smug and delighted. "I taught them that sentence when I was fifteen, after I fought my way through the Daba Mountains. I told them to memorize it well—shouting it out at a critical moment could save their lives!"
Jia Xu rolled his eyes dramatically. He was utterly speechless. Gan Ning had possessed this peculiar taste for mischief since he was barely a teenager. He really was...
"Heroes emerge in their youth!" Jia Xu gave him a thumbs-up with an expression