"I'm sorry, Li Ke, Jinx, we in Winter's Claw don't have enough rooms for both of you, so you'll have to sleep with me for the next few days."
In the dead of night in Freljord, the Winter's Claw tribe can hear not only the crackling of campfires burning outside, but also the noisy sounds of animals.
In a small room, Li Ke and Jinx were sitting in front of a stove. The room was indeed small, only a few square meters in size, and the campfire, used for cooking and heating, took up a quarter of the area. Apart from that, there was a simple bed made of weeds and animal hides.
The woman who originally lived with Donna was moved to another room by Donna's arrangement, making room for Li Ke and Jinx.
At this moment, Donna was smiling as she looked at Li Ke and Jinx, stirring a small pot with a clean bone stick, not a single piece of meat in it. A smell wafted from the pot, a slightly fishy smell, but mostly the aroma of meat.
The initial conversation with Sejuani didn't go smoothly. When the topic of Darius came up, Li Ke immediately expressed his hope that Sejuani could send warriors from his tribe to find Darius, but Sejuani said she needed to see some of the food first.
Otherwise, why should she trust Li Ke?
If Li Ke hadn't told Udyr beforehand that Li Ke Sejuani a dangerous man, and if Udyr's judgment hadn't been so accurate, then when Donna revealed Li Ke's terms, Sejuani would have simply thrown her weapon and smashed Li Ke to death with a single blow.
Are you kidding me!
Do you think of me as Ashe, that foolish idiot who always trusts others and gets hurt because of it?
Therefore, when they finally left Sejuani's house, Li Ke and Sejuani agreed that Li Ke would first have someone bring some food, and then Sejuani would release a group of Noxians according to the amount of food. At the same time, she would also issue orders to her tribe and the surrounding areas to search for Darius's whereabouts.
Li Ke naturally agreed.
For Li Ke, finding Darius was about building a good relationship with Swain, and Darius's situation during Winter's Claw... well, he escaped alone. Li Ke learned the details from watching videos he had seen.
Darius's Braveheart skin line includes a simple description of Darius escape: after overcoming numerous obstacles, Darius escaped Winter's Claw and eventually returned to Noxus successfully.
However, Darius was able to escape successfully because the Winter's Claw didn't take Darius escape seriously at all. To put it simply, Darius led a group to invade the Winter's Claw, was defeated and captured. As a result, when Li Ke and Sejuani were talking about Darius, she had no idea that such a person existed.
If Donna hadn't mentioned the Noxians had escaped, reminding Sejuani that something similar had indeed happened in her tribe recently, Darius would have been completely forgotten by Sejuani.
Li Ke agreed, of course, to do Swain a favor. Darius escaping back to Noxus on his own and being sent back to Noxus because of Li Ke were two different things. Although Swain would give Li Ke the craftsmanship of the Rune Coffin in either case, the latter would deepen the relationship between Li Ke and Swain.
Therefore, Li Ke planned to notify Janna to come over before going to bed, and then have Silco prepare food. The supplies would depart no later than the day after tomorrow, and Janna would act as a radar to ensure the food reached Winter's Claw.
Large chunks of venison were cooking in the pot. After watching for a while, Li Ke couldn't help but say to Donna, "Donna, why don't I cook?"
"Hmm, you can cook?" Donna, who was constantly stirring the food in the small pot, looked up at Li Ke when she heard this.
Jinx, who had been standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Alright, Donna, step aside and let Li Ke cook."
Are you kidding me? Although Jinx can't cook, she watches Li Ke cook every day, so she has a basic understanding of the cooking process.
Jinx was already getting impatient when she saw Donna cooking. No, look at the foam bubbling in the pot! That's the blood foam that comes out when the venison is cooked, and Donna doesn't skim it off at all!
Don't they know that this foam will make the soup taste incredibly fishy?!
Right now, Jinx can smell an unpleasant fishy odor. She even thinks that if she were to cook this dish herself, it might taste better than Donna's!
Li Ke smiled, picked up the backpack next to him, opened it and found a bunch of utensils inside, including a frying pan, a slotted spoon, a spatula, chopsticks, and some bottles and jars.
Seeing that Li Ke was really going to cook, Donna gave up her spot and then curiously squatted down to watch Li Ke scoop something out of the pot with a round silver spoon.
"Do you want soup? But Li Ke, the soup isn't ready yet. We need to add some salt and stir it, otherwise it won't have any flavor," Donna said from the side.
Li Ke shook his head, skimmed off the foam with a spoon, and said, "I don't want to drink the soup, Donna. Fresh meat is delicious when roasted, but when boiled, it's best to skim off some of the foam, otherwise the blood foam will put a fishy smell in the soup."
"This step is called blanching, which effectively removes impurities and unpleasant odors from the meat."
Li Ke has eaten venison. Of course, you can't see deer in Zaun and Piltover, but that doesn't mean there's no venison. The Twin Cities have everything now, so Li Ke has naturally prepared venison before.
As for venison, Li Ke's assessment is that it tastes delicious, but it's easy to make it tough and dry. Also, unlike beef, even the freshest venison has a strong gamey smell, which requires the chef to have a good grasp of the heat and use plenty of spices to get rid of it.
Therefore, after swatting away the blood foam, Li Ke reached out and picked up a few jars from the side.
Those were all seasonings brought from Zaun, including simple pepper, chili, and salt, as well as seasoning packets specially made by the Zaun factory.
To put it simply, even someone who can't cook can make a decent meal by simply throwing the seasoning packet into water, turning on the stove, and adding meat.
Therefore, after a short while, a rich aroma wafted from the bubbling pot.
Donna made several swallowing motions during this time, staring longingly at the small pot. Before preparing dinner for Li Ke, she had already eaten some dried meat, but she was still hungry. She was in the period of growth and had a big appetite, but because she had to save food for the children and the elderly in the tribe, Donna had become accustomed to going hungry.
But... this smells so good!
"Coo coo coo--"
Donna's stomach growled, and she awkwardly reached out to cover her lower abdomen.
Seeing this, Li Ke first used the small bowl he had brought to serve Jinx a bowl of broth, then handed it to Jinx. After that, he picked up another bowl, looked at Donna with a smile, and said, "Would you like to eat some together?"
Donna was taken aback and instinctively started to nod, but after only a slight movement of her head, she said bitterly, "But... I've already gotten all this meat. It might not even be enough for the two of you, and if I'm included, you won't have enough to eat, will you?"
"It's alright, I have some other things here." Li Ke found it even funnier after hearing that.
To put it simply, Donna reminded Li Ke of Isha in Zaun. Little Isha and Donna are somewhat similar. If she could speak, then perhaps she would speak just like Donna.
Like Isha, Donna appears prickly on the outside, ready to prick anyone who touches her, but once you get to know her, you'll find she has a soft heart.
Donna is like that. At first glance, this girl is aloof, but after spending a few days with her, Donna is actually just like her age. She has wild thoughts and is interested in and curious about what Jinx has seen and heard.
It's like this now. She's clearly drooling with desire, but she's still suppressing it for the sake of her pride. She hasn't lived up to her words and acted like a qualified, cold-blooded warrior.
Li Ke served a bowl of meat soup with a large piece of venison in it, and then handed the bowl to Donna.
Seeing this, Donna could no longer hold back. She reached out and took the bowl, then immediately reached for the steaming meat inside.
But Jinx called out to her.
"Hmm?" Donna turned her head to look at Jinx.
"Use these." Jinx handed Donna a pair of nice chopsticks and said seriously, "Aren't you afraid of burning your hands?"
Donna took the chopsticks but didn't know how to use them. However, Jinx started teaching her the next moment, and she used the little golden chopsticks very skillfully!
Li Ke took out a piece of bread from his backpack, broke it open, and threw it into the soup.
Frozen, hard wheat bread is perfect for dipping in soup; otherwise, it would be quite tough to chew.
Inside the small house, the three of them ate from a small pot. Donna wasn't used to using chopsticks, so she eventually combined them and used them as a fork to pierce and pick up the meat before eating.
Jinx didn't say anything about it and told Donna to use chopsticks. It wasn't that Jinx thought Donna's behavior of eating with her hands was unrefined; after all, she was also someone who liked to eat meat directly with her hands.
Vi and Vander are exactly the same; they both like to grab the meat and eat it directly. Therefore, Jinx made Donna use chopsticks because she was afraid that Donna would burn herself with the soup. As long as Donna doesn't get burned, Donna can eat however she wants.
"Delicious, so delicious!"
"This is the first time I've ever eaten something so delicious, Li Ke! How did you make this?" After Donna ate a piece of meat, Li Ke offered her more, but she refused. However, she still drank two more bowls of meat soup and ate quite a bit of bread.
Touching her warm belly, Donna very energetic. This was the first time in a long time that she had eaten so much. The bread that she used to find hard to swallow when brought back by traveling merchants tasted surprisingly good, even though it was just as good as meat, when eaten with this savory meat broth!
"It's because of the seasonings. Tell me, do you guys always just throw the meat into the pot and then throw in salty stones?" Jinx said before Li Ke could speak.
Donna nodded and said, "It's always been like this. Sometimes we don't even need to use salt. Salt is a very precious resource in Freljord."
"You're all so pitiful," Jinx said, a hint of pity in her eyes.
She ate Donna when she was eight years old, right?
Well, it seems Jinx really didn't have a hard life. Although Zaun was extremely poor and chaotic when she was young, Vander and Vi protected her very well. She could even get juice from Vander every few days, and she could eat vegetables and meat, and sometimes even fruit!
As for Jinx, she was well cared for by Silco after Vander "left," and she was never lacking in food from birth.
Therefore, seeing Donna's happy expression because of "a pot of meat," the eccentric Jinx, unusually, did not feel superior, but instead felt that Donna was really pitiful.
In the past few days, she's already started to think of herself as Donna sister.
After finishing her meal, Donna picked up the small pot and went outside to wash it with ice and snow.
Li Ke and Jinx stayed inside. Jinx was making up her sleeping bag, while Li Ke called for Janna, preparing to have Janna come and act as a messenger bird.
After Jinx finished setting up her sleeping bag, Li Ke explained the situation to Janna. After Janna went back, Donna also returned.
But her face showed an anxious expression.
The moment Donna entered, Donna shouted, "Li Ke, Jinx, stay here and don't wander off!"
With that, Donna picked up the knife beside her, slung it over her shoulder, and ran off again.
Li Ke and Jinx blinked, and then Jinx quickly followed, reaching out to lift the curtain and peering outside.
Are you kidding me? Jinx is the kind of person who'll do whatever you tell her not to do; the word "rules" doesn't exist in her vocabulary!
"Li Ke, it looks like they've started fighting!" Jinx exclaimed excitedly.
After hearing Jinx's words, Li Ke stood up and stood behind Jinx, both of them craning Jinx necks to look at the situation outside.
This is the heart of the Winter's Claw tribe, but at this moment, the entire Winter's Claw seems to have been awakened.
The warriors of Winter's Claw emerged from their houses, weapons in hand, and headed out of the tribe. Li Ke also spotted Sejuani.
She rode on the back of a Drüvask Boar even larger than Vana —it had Bristle.
Wearing heavy leather armor and a helmet with a missing corner, Sejuani looked dashing. Her right hand gripped a yoke behind her back, the end of which was an icy blue object radiating extreme cold, while her left hand was outstretched and raised, as if giving orders.
Donna reappeared, riding on her Vana and following behind Sejuani. She saw Li Ke and Jinx peeking out, and after saying something to Sejuani, she quickly rode Vana over.
"Why are you all out here?" the girl riding the pig said unhappily.
"Go inside quickly and don't come out, or you'll be mistaken for spies!"
Li Ke looked at Donna and asked, "What happened?"
Donna hesitated for a moment, glanced at her Warmother, and then whispered to Li Ke and Jinx:
"The Frostguard has appeared, just above the valley."
"The Warmother said it was an enemy attack."
She then added, "Alright, you can go inside now. We'll protect you."
Li Ke narrowed his eyes, then smiled and said, "You should know I'm very capable, right?"
"I think I can help you, don't you think?"
Jinx ran back into the house and started getting dressed.
She had already laid out her sleeping bag, ready to brush her teeth and go to sleep, but now that there was something fun to do, of course she had to join in!
Jinx isn't stupid!
The safest place for her is with Li Ke; as long as Li Ke is there, she will be safe.
"."
"Okay, I'll tell Warmother." Donna remembered how Li Ke subdued Vana with one hand, nodded, and rode Vana toward Sejuani.
Then, Li Ke saw Sejuani looking over.
Sejuani's gaze lingered on Li Ke, and after a moment, she nodded and looked away.