At the center of the square, the bonfire licked the bottom of the Black Pot.
Thick white broth churned. Translucent snake meat and the essence of century-old mountain ginseng rose as dense white mist suspended in the air.
The aroma was so overpowering that even the grass on the ground grew three inches in a frenzy.
The old clan chief, Shi Yunfeng, tightened his grip on his walking stick, his eyes burning. Dozens of men from the Hunting Team straightened their backs, their Adam's apples bobbing wildly.
Shi Hou swung up a rough stone ladle with one hand, plunged it into the bubbling broth, and scooped out a brimming basin of snake segments and soup. He thumped it onto the stone table before Shi Hao.
Shi Hao dropped his milk jar, grabbed the basin with both hands, and buried his face in it, chewing furiously.
Golden meat juices trickled down his little face.
Shi Feijiao grabbed a piece of snake meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
Crimson light gushed from his seven orifices. His meridians, drained in the battle just moments earlier, were instantly filled by this savage torrent of heat. He hammered his chest, his bones crackling all over, and the faint Suanni markings on his skin grew a little more solid.
More than a hundred people squatted in the square, tearing into the snake meat.
With catastrophe looming, only strength already swallowed into their bellies could serve as their trump card for survival.
Shi Hou leaned against the rim of the pot and swept a cold gaze across the village. A dense row of characters popped up on his retinas.
[This feeding has concluded.] [Diner status: great perfection.] [Blood qi value gained: 500,000.] [Current total blood qi value: 2,500,000.]
Two and a half million jin