Stunned

Jian Mo said understandingly, "You've already brought us here; we can handle the rest ourselves."

Pengxi immediately put the peppercorns in his hand into their cloth bag. "Now that you've found the peppercorns, can we come back next time to exchange them for seasoning powder?"

Jian Mo smiled and said, "Of course, you're welcome."

Chapter 72: Stunned

After Pengxi others left, Jian Mo and Wu Jiong stayed behind to continue picking pepper buds.

The peppers here are not only plentiful, but also of excellent quality, emitting a powerful and pure pungent spiciness.

Even after picking for a while, the skin on their hands that came into contact with the pepper buds felt a bit spicy.

Jian Mo's hand wasn't feeling well, but she was quite happy.

There are enough pepper buds for them to use for half a year. Even if they exchange them with others or find a new batch, they won't lack pepper buds this year.

During a break, Jian Mo told Wu Jiong to wash his hands in the ditch with melted snow water, "It was a mistake not to wear gloves. Looks like I'll have to remember to wear gloves next time."

Wu Jiong noticed that his hands were a little red from the spice, and gently reached out to cover them. "Go back first, come back tomorrow wearing gloves."

Jian Mo reluctantly refused, "No need, it's too far. Let's just pick them all at once; it won't make me feel uncomfortable."

Wu Jiong frowned slightly, looking at him with disapproval.

Jian Mo changed the subject. "Will these pepper buds bear fruit?"

Wu Jiong guessed what he wanted to ask, "The pepper fruit is sweet, and it only has a thin skin."

Jian Mo nodded regretfully; in that case, the pepper pistils couldn't be used as chili peppers.

Wu Jiong: "Birds love this fruit. When the pepper berries ripen, many birds come to eat them and then carry their seeds to various places. Some tribes also like to use it to make wine. When the pepper berries ripen, some tribes will come specifically to collect the berries and catch birds, and they usually have a good harvest."

Looking at the pepper-scented grass covering the mountains and fields, Jian Mo's heart stirred. "We can come and pick some later. Besides brewing wine, we can also plant it in the tribe, so we can use fresh pepper-scented grass in the future."

Wu Jiong: "We'll come back again then."

Jian Mo: "I'll make a note of it and gather more later. We can plant them at the foot of the mountain and along the edges of the fields; they should work well as a fence."

After resting for a while, the two went back to pick pepper buds.

There were so many flowers that even after they had set aside enough for pollination, they still couldn't harvest them all.

The flowers of the pepperwort were large and vibrant, and after looking at them for Jian Mo's eyes became a little blurry, and she lost her focus on picking the pepperwort flowers.

He picked the items almost mechanically, his mind wandering to all sorts of things.

Just then, his hand touched a hard, moving object. He was startled and immediately flung the thing away.

"What's wrong?" Wu Jiong quickly turned around, took his hand, and asked, "Were you bitten by bugs?"

Jian Mo raised her hand. "No, I just bumped into something that was moving. I don't know if it was an insect, I couldn't see it clearly."

"Let me see." Wu Jiong examined the flowerbed and quickly pulled out a large brown insect, showing it to Jian Mo. "It's an insect, this kind of insect."

Jian Mo looked closely and saw that the insect looked a bit like a grasshopper or a wasp. In any case, it was a long, thin insect with wings and an outer shell, but it was particularly large, almost half the size of his palm.

Jian Mo gasped, "Does it bite?"

Wu Jiong: "If you put your finger near its mouth, it will bite, but it doesn't usually bite much. This is a pepper bud worm that specifically eats pepper buds."

As he spoke, Wu Jiong showed Jian Mo the serrated teeth inside the insect's mouth.

Jian Mo help but ask, "Just eat the pepper stamens? What happens after the flowers wither?"

"They also eat grass and leaves," Wu Jiong said, then went to the side and pulled up a relatively thick grass stem to string the insects together. "Pepper crickets are edible, and they taste good too. Let's take them back."

Insects have always been on the diet of orcs and sub-orcs. Jian Mo has eaten plenty of insects since coming to this world and has gotten used to it, so she immediately agreed.

Tell them to continue picking pepper buds, and to pay extra attention to whether there are pepper bud worms inside.

There were so many pepper flowers that even though there weren't many pepper insects inside, you could still find quite a few in such a large area of flowers.

By the end of the day, they had found four large strings of insects, each string containing more than a hundred insects.

There are enough insects for them to feast on.

When they returned to the tribe, it was already dark. Many people were eating and chatting in the open space. When they saw them returning with the pepper-bearing insects, many people ran over to watch.

"Pepper bud worms! Where did you find so many pepper bud worms?"

Seeing the pepper worms you caught makes me want to eat some too. I'll go find some tomorrow.

"These insects are delicious; they have a hint of pepper flavor, and they're fragrant and crispy when roasted."

"Oh, if I had known you could find so many pepper-flowering insects, I would have gone with you today."

Seeing everyone's envious looks, Jian Mo realized, "These pepper worms are especially delicious?"

Before Wu Jiong could answer, Ban Ming interjected, "This is one of the most delicious insects. If you don't have enough pepper crickets, catch some other insects and mix them together; they'll taste just as good."

Jian Mo: "So how will you eat?"

Ban Ming: "Just remove the wings, head, and legs, squeeze out the internal organs, and then roast it."

A Hu, standing nearby, leaned his big head in and said, "Deep-frying is also delicious, but you have to fry it slowly and not burn it, or it will taste bitter."

Upon hearing this, Jian Mo replied, "It's just how you eat ordinary insects."

Ban Ming emphasized, "There are only a few ways to cook insects, and no matter how you cook them, they taste especially good. Even if you cook them all in one pot, they'll still be the best-tasting ones."

Having been out for so long, Jian Mo was already a bit hungry. Listening to the crowd chattering about how delicious the insect was, she couldn't help but feel a little hungry herself.

He pushed Wu Jiong home to prepare dinner.

The insects are quite large, so they are relatively easy to handle.