Li Long said to Harimu:
"Let's slaughter one first and put it on to cook. The water's already boiling. I think you're good at cooking meat. Once the sheep's slaughtered, you go cook it first. Use whatever seasonings you think best. Just let the others get on with slaughtering and skinning."
"All right." Since he was here, Harimu followed Li Long's directions.
"Let's get started," Li Long told Jade Mountain River and the others. "Slaughter one to eat first. For the rest, just slaughter, skin, and gut them. You're only responsible for those two jobs. Uncle Lao Luo and the others will clean the innards."
"Sure." Jade Mountain River smiled, then said to Talihaal and the others:
"Come on, lads! Each of you handle your own..." He meant that each of the five of them would slaughter his own sheep.
Talihaal had already vaulted nimbly over the wall into the pen without even needing the gate opened. Only after he was inside did he ask:
"Li Long, can I slaughter any of these?"
"Any of them. They're all pretty fat anyway." Li Long waved a hand. The ewes carrying lambs had already been separated into another pen-some of the people selling sheep probably hadn't even known their ewes were pregnant, while others simply hadn't cared. They sold the whole flock, pregnant or not.
Inside the pen, Talihaal moved lightly and swiftly. He caught a sheep by the leg, deftly flipped it over, and tied three of its hooves with the rope he carried, leaving one foreleg free. Then he lifted it sideways in his arms and passed it to Bek, who was waiting outside the wall.
Bek took the sheep and carried it over to lay it in the snow. By the time he returned for the next one, Talihaal