Sizzle~
Sizzle~
Sizzle~
On the beach, Chu Xiu and the four women sat around a campfire, each with a large skewer of pork belly roasting in front of them.
Fat dripped down the roasting meat with a sizzle, landing on the burning charcoal and making the flames flare higher.
"It smells so good. I'm practically drooling."
Ning Rongrong swallowed as she spoke.
Shui Bing'er agreed. "The owl meat we had before was good too, but it was too lean. It can't compare to pork."
"It should be cooked by now, right? Can't we eat yet?"
Qian Renxue wasn't swallowing her saliva, but her almond-shaped eyes were fixed on the meat before her. Her eagerness was plain to see.
"Just about."
Chu Xiu took a pinch of salt from a shell beside him and sprinkled it over the skewers one by one. Only then did he say, "All right, dig in."
Ning Rongrong moved first, all but snatching up the skewer before her and bringing it to her mouth. She blew hard on it a few times, then took a bite before it had fully cooled.
"Hah! So hot, so fragrant... so delicious."
Ning Rongrong was in bliss.
There was only a little salt on it, with no other seasoning at all.
Yet Luo Sanpao tasted even better than the pigs carefully raised for meat by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Shui Bing'er praised it too. "Spirit beast meat really is something else. It's firm, springy, and crisp, with such a rich aroma."
"Why aren't you eating?"
Qian Renxue looked at Ah Yin.
Ah Yin forced a bitter smile. "I don't like eating meat."
"If you don't like it, give it to me."
Ning Rongrong reached out to grab it. She hadn't even finished her own portion and was already eyeing someone else's.
Chu Xiu caught her wrist and stopped her. "Your skewer is already the biggest. Have you no shame, trying to snatch someone else's?"
"What do you mean, snatch?"
Ning Rongrong protested, "She said herself that she doesn't like it."
"You have to eat it even if you don't like it. Setting yourself apart won't do you any good."
Chu Xiu directed those words at Ah Yin.
She was no fool and naturally understood what he meant. If she wanted to fit into human society, she first had to let go of her former identity.
Otherwise, if she insisted on setting herself apart, how would anyone else see her as human?
Ah Yin gritted her teeth and picked up the skewer before her. While growing up as the Blue Silver Emperor, she had never eaten meat. Even after taking human form, she had lived on fruit and animal milk.
This was her first time trying meat.
She held it beneath her nose to sniff it, then brought it to her mouth and bit off a tiny shred.
It didn't taste bad. The hurdle was in her own mind.
In the end, though, Ah Yin steeled herself and swallowed the mouthful.
"Does it taste good?"
Chu Xiu asked.
Ah Yin shook her head. "I don't really like it."
"Then eat less, but you can't refuse to eat any."
Chu Xiu picked up his own skewer and tore off a large chunk of meat, speaking as he chewed. "Humans aren't plants. They need a balanced diet. We don't have eggs or milk here, so eating meat is essential."
"Mm."
Ah Yin knew Chu Xiu was right.
When she first took human form, she hadn't even drunk animal milk. Only after her body grew weaker and weaker had she realized she was malnourished.
Despite that minor interruption, everyone was satisfied with the meal overall.
The next day.
After waking up that morning, they first dismantled the grass tent together, then gathered all the straw inside and tied it into bundles with vines.
"The foot of the mountain has more resources of every kind than the beach, except for straw."
Chu Xiu told Qian Renxue and Ning Rongrong, "Your job today is to carry the straw to the spring pool and salt the pork left there while you're at it."
Ning Rongrong licked her lips. "Don't worry. We won't sneak any bites."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Once everything was packed, the two groups set off separately.
Qian Renxue and Ning Rongrong shouldered the straw and headed toward the spring pool. With Ah Yin having scouted the route for them in advance, there would be no danger on their journey.
Meanwhile, Chu Xiu took Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin to search for the only spirit beast remaining nearby.
"Huh? That's strange. Why can't I sense it anymore?"
After entering the woods, Ah Yin expanded her senses. Yet even after searching a thousand meters in every direction, she couldn't find the spirit beast from yesterday.
"Could it have gone farther away?"
Shui Bing'er asked.
Ah Yin shook her head. "Probably not. Spirit beasts are generally territorial. Very few leave their territory and travel far away."
Ah Yin's sensory abilities were astonishing.
Especially where vegetation grew thick, every plant and tree could amplify her senses.
Only by hiding underground, well away from plant roots, could something possibly evade her detection.
"A spirit beast that can burrow?"
Chu Xiu smacked his lips and said, "Come on. Let's start by searching the place where it disappeared yesterday."
The three continued onward.
Half an hour later, they reached the spot Ah Yin had indicated.
Dense trees surrounded them, but here alone lay a clearing roughly ten meters across. Sunlight spilled through the canopy, illuminating a small, oddly shaped fruit tree.
"What kind of plant is this? Its fruit looks like a sword."
Shui Bing'er asked curiously.
"It's golden sword fruit."
Before Chu Xiu could speak, Ah Yin had already identified it. "This fruit contains metal energy. It can increase the density of the eater's bones and keratin, strengthening things like nails and teeth. It's a favorite of many metal-attribute spirit beasts."
"But this plant is extremely rare. It's an immortal herb."
"I never expected to find one here."
Chu Xiu nodded. Ah Yin's explanation was essentially correct.
There was one detail, however, that differed from what he saw.
In Ah Yin's understanding, this golden sword fruit was an immortal herb, but in the information window Chu Xiu saw, its grade was only low-grade Spirit Tier.
"It seems the immortal herbs of the Douluo Continent are only relatively low-level spirit herbs here."
Chu Xiu felt a little excited.
Something at just low-grade Spirit Tier already rivals the immortal herbs of the Douluo Continent. If I go farther up the mountain someday and find higher-grade immortal herbs, couldn't eating one make me a god outright?
"I know what kind of spirit beast it is."
Ah Yin crouched and pointed to a barely visible trace on the ground. "These are pangolin droppings. It usually lives in the mountains. The reason it's lingering here is probably this golden sword fruit."
The creature was a pangolin, also known as a scaly anteater.
Pangolin spirit beasts were excellent burrowers, but their fighting ability was relatively ordinary.
For one to make Ah Yin sense considerable danger, it had to be at least around thirty thousand years old.
"Pangolins have some natural poison resistance. I'm afraid the paralyzing toxin from yesterday's spirit beast would struggle to subdue it completely. Once it reacts, it can burrow underground and escape in a second."
Ah Yin analyzed the situation earnestly.
After spending these past two days with them, especially after Chu Xiu had forced her to eat meat last night, she had begun deliberately distancing herself from her former identity as a spirit beast.
Her taking the initiative to help analyze the situation proved that her mindset had changed.
Before you continue