Gathering (Continued)

Unlike ordinary birds, this bird had bare wings, like a human wearing a thick fur coat with only their arms exposed as they walked with their hands on their hips, making it look very distinctive.

Jian Mo by inspiration, Jane sat up in the water and patted Wu Jiong's leg. "Look! There are some birds over there, aren't they the flesh-winged birds you were talking about?"

Wu Jiong looked in the direction he was pointing and quickly gave an affirmative answer, "Yes."

Jian Mo: "We're lucky with our food search today! Are they fast runners? Will we be able to catch them?"

Wu Jiong: "It runs very fast, but I can catch it. Wait for me."

Wu Jiong took a few steps to the side, transformed into a giant wolf, and ran towards the shore.

He lowered his body as he ran, and his enormous size made him surprisingly agile. It wasn't until he was very close that the flesh-winged bird noticed him, flapping its wings to help it run and squawking wildly.

This seemingly ordinary bird is surprisingly agile when it darts around.

The giant wolf was too big and missed its target.

Several flesh-winged birds swooped directly towards the riverbank. Jian Mo, who was standing in the river, jumped up and instinctively scooped them up, one in each hand, and threw them into the river.

Jian Mo was completely stunned by the fall; his skills were surprisingly good today!

The two fleshy-winged birds flapped their wings frantically in his hands, but to no avail.

The giant wolf quickly brought over two more flesh-winged birds, mumbling, "Well done."

Jian Mo clung tightly to the two fleshy-winged birds. "I never thought I'd actually catch them today! Quick, quick, help me catch them, they keep pecking at me."

Without hesitation, the giant wolf bit off the necks of two flesh-winged birds, transformed back into human form, and twisted off the necks of the other two.

They happened to be right by the river, so they cleaned up the four flesh-winged birds right there in the river.

After finishing their business, they took a shower before rushing back to their temporary camp.

They were quick and didn't take long at all. When they got back, the people in the camp were just starting to cook.

Seeing them return carrying meat-winged birds and mushrooms, Qing Kuo shouted, "Your harvest is quite good!"

Jian Mo smiled broadly, "I'm lucky today. What should we have for breakfast? How about I make some chicken wing and mushroom soup?"

Since he was willing to take action, everyone had no objections and made way for him.

Jian Mo specifically instructed the people next to her to fill two large pots. After the water boiled, she removed most of the firewood and placed the cleaned meat-winged birds into the two large pots, slowly cooking them in the just-boiling water.

This poaching method produces exceptionally tender and juicy poultry, making it far more delicious than poultry prepared using the usual stewing method.

They're making breakfast here, while the others are preparing for the hunt.

Today's hunt requires more rope, baskets, bags, and other supplies. Various shell knives, stone knives, and metal knives also need to be sharpened, and we should also bring medicinal powders and ointments for emergencies.

Jian Mo quickly boiled the four meat-winged birds until they were cooked. She stabbed the thickest part of the meat-winged birds' thighs with a knife; if no blood came out, they were considered cooked.

He scooped up the four flesh-winged birds, while Qing Kuo and the others used a metal knife that had been heated with fire to chop the birds into pieces and arrange them on a bed of large leaves for easy sharing later.

Two large pots of bird soup were still in the pots. Jian Mo had someone start a fire, and once the bird soup boiled again, she poured in the sliced mushrooms, sprinkled in some salt and pepper powder, and the mushroom bird soup was ready.

Jian Mo invited everyone to eat breakfast.

The others also brought up the stewed meat and stems they had made earlier. This morning we had two dishes and a soup. There weren't many varieties, but the portions were generous, and everyone ate to their heart's content.

Jiujiu also got a share, but compared to cooked food, it had to eat more grass.

Jian Mo shared some of her food with it, Jiujiu happily rubbed against Jian Mo.

When others saw this, they all fed it. The dog would lick the food from whoever it got, showing great tact and making everyone laugh.

After breakfast, some of the orcs stayed behind to patrol the temporary camp, while the others went hunting.

The beastmen were processing the meat that had been cured yesterday.

The meat had been marinated overnight, and the salt and spice powder had drawn out a lot of blood. After dehydration, the meat was very firm and heavy.

The beastmen used knives to cut the meat into thinner strips and laid them out on the grass to dry.

Under the intense sunlight, the meat should be ready in about two days.

The beastmen worked very quickly and finished processing the meat in no time.

People don't eat lunch when they're out and about, nor do they need to cook lunch, so they have a lot of free time.

Seeing this, someone suggested, "Why don't we go out and gather resources? We've come all this way to the Great Plains; it would be such a waste not to go out and gather resources."

This suggestion was met with unanimous agreement. "Yes, we can draw lots to leave a few people here to provide backup. The orcs might not be able to bring the prey back so quickly."

The lottery was purely based on luck, Jian Mo was lucky; she drew the ticket to go out.

Qing Kuo and Ye Luo were also having good luck, but Min Dang needed to stay at the temporary camp, which he didn't mind.

The orcs were about to go out, so two of the orcs who stayed behind to patrol went out with them to ensure their safety to the greatest extent possible.

After leaving the camp, everyone decided to walk along the river.

Generally speaking, plants grow more lushly and are more diverse near rivers, so collecting along the river will yield the greatest harvest.

Apart from Jian Mo, everyone present was a highly experienced orc hunter.

Their guess was correct; there were indeed many beautiful plants along the river.

Jian Mo found several large garlic plants along the way. The newly grown garlic this year was tender and green, and even less bitter.

He didn't stand on ceremony and directly dug it up with his hands and put it in his basket.

They found many tender wild vegetables and spices such as broadleaf grass, and soon their harvest was plentiful.