Gladiatorial Contest
Zhou Fu quickly stuffed the rest of the fish into their mouth, breathing out hot puffs of air. "It's so delicious, and there are hardly any bones. It's so convenient."
The children gathered around, slowly nibbling on their pieces of fish, all nodded in agreement.
Even the little ones who couldn't yet transform held their fish down with their paws as they nibbled, blissful expressions on their faces.
Jian Mo kept frying the fish, then fried it a second time to make it crispier and reduce the oil inside.
The people gathered around had already tasted the fish but still wanted more. The children in particular gazed longingly at the freshly fried pieces, wanting to eat them but knowing Jian Mo planned to trade them, so they didn't dare have any more.
An sub-beastman in the crowd asked, "Jian Mo, are you taking these fish pieces to the Hunting Gathering to trade? Can I trade with you directly? I have hides, cloth, and plenty of food."
Jian Mo turned and saw that it was Ze Yu, the young sub-beastman Jiang Xing's father. He shook his head. "There's no need to trade. Everyone knows how to make them. If you like them, just take some seasoning and starch home and make some yourselves."
Ze Yu said, "Starch is hard to come by, and even if I know how to make them, I might not get the same flavor. I might as well trade for some. I just want a little more to eat, and making another batch would be quite a hassle."
Everyone agreed and chimed in. Whether Jian Mo took the fish to the Hunting Gathering or traded it in the tribe, it was still a trade, so why not trade it here?
Jian Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but in the end he agreed to trade for cloth.
Everyone's cloth was woven together and was much the same in style and material. Clothes made from it would look fairly consistent, without patches of different shades.
Cloth was much harder to come by than fried fish, so Jian Mo gave everyone plenty of fish for each piece of cloth.
Everyone happily took their freshly fried fish home to eat.
Nothing was more blissful than eating a hot, delicious meal of fried fish on a cold autumn night.
That night, most families in the tribe ate their fill and went to sleep early.
Chapter 14: Gladiatorial Contest
Nearly all of Jian Mo's first batch of fried fish had been traded away to people in the tribe.
He and Wu Jiong took the Flying-Winged Beasts out to catch fish twice more, then came back, prepared the fish, and fried it.
There wasn't much hair-root starch left at home, and he couldn't bear to use it all on fish. So he adjusted the recipe, leaving out the starch and marinating the fish with only seasonings before air-drying it. He fried it directly, then left it soaking in the hot oil afterward.
The finished product was a little like canned fried fish on Earth, and a little like vacuum-packed five-spice fried dried fish. It was fragrant and chewy, with flavor even in the bones, making one want to hold it and slowly gnaw away.
While they were busy frying the dried fish, the Hunting Gathering drew closer day by day, until it finally arrived.
The entire tribe considered the Hunting Gathering important. Before daybreak, Jian Mo was awakened by all sorts of noises outside.
He clutched his hide bedding between his long legs, mumbled, and buried his head beneath it, but he still couldn't escape the excited voices below, so he had to get up.
After Jian Mo went downstairs, he found that Wu Jiong was already awake too, wearing a hide robe more elaborate than usual.
A robe like that could easily make an ordinary person look bulky, but Wu Jiong was exceptionally tall. He had a kind of wild sexiness, with a fierce boldness that still held a touch of youth.
Even Jian Mo couldn't help giving him a few extra appreciative looks.
After breakfast, everyone prepared to head to the Mengshui Tribe for the Hunting Gathering.
The Hunting Gathering was a rare lively event, so more than half the Riverside Tribe came along. Only the patrols and a small number of people who weren't particularly interested in the gathering stayed behind.
The beastmen returned to their beast forms and ran across the plains with their families on their backs.
Every beastman had all sorts of supplies strapped to him, but that didn't stop them from running at great speed.
Jian Mo sat on Wu Jiong's back, and the sight of the happy faces around him lifted his own spirits.
Before they reached the Mengshui Tribe, Jian Mo spotted beastmen and sub-beastmen from other tribes.
The beastmen had all taken beast form. They didn't look like the felines or canines Jian Mo knew, but like rhinoceroses, elephants, or moose—or nothing at all like any beast Jian Mo recognized.
The sub-beastmen's Beast Marks were also rather different from those of the Riverside Tribe. Some had beastlike eyes and eye sockets, while others had hands that had turned into tentacles.
Sitting on Wu Jiong's back, Jian Mo stared at it all in amazement.
Luckily, when he transmigrated, he had arrived in the Riverside Tribe. If he had landed in another tribe, he presumably would have had an even harder time adapting.
"We're here!" a sub-beastman from another tribe called.
Everyone looked different, but they all spoke the same beastman language.
Jian Mo looked up and ahead, where he saw the Mengshui Tribe.
The Mengshui Tribe was situated on a plain and was much larger than the Riverside Tribe.
Their houses dotted the plain from one end to the other, stretching almost farther than the eye could see.
The houses were built of stone, most of them a single story tall.
What set them apart was that the Mengshui Tribe had painted all sorts of ochre-red lines on the stone houses, especially around the doorframes and window frames.
The ochre red of the window frames contrasted sharply with the white bark used for windows, giving them a bold, rugged look.
The Riverside Tribe also covered its windows with bark at night, but theirs weren't so decorative.
Jian Mo studied them, guessing that there might be hematite or something similar near the Mengshui Tribe, giving them so much ochre-red pigment.
While all sorts of thoughts flashed through Jian Mo's mind, they reached the open space designated by the Mengshui Tribe.
The sub-beastmen climbed down from the beastmen's backs and unloaded the things they had been carrying.
With Qing Kuo and Zhou Fu's help, Jian Mo took the baskets off Wu Jiong's back.
Wu Jiong turned away, changed back into human form, and put on his hide robe.
As the chief of the Riverside Tribe, he had to go discuss the Hunting Gathering with the people of the Mengshui Tribe.
Wu Jiong said to Jian Mo, "Things can get a little chaotic at the Hunting Gathering. Stay with Qing Kuo and the others later, and don't wander off. I've already spoken to Qing Kuo. They'll help."