The tribe’s children shouted and yelled as they ran in a long line towards the stone sheepfold beside the kiln.
The thick wooden door of the sheepfold opened, and the sheep lay lazily in the sunlight that was streaming through the window.
The horned beastmen entered the sheepfold and the four-eared sheep leader at the edge of the flock raised his eyelids. He gently flicked his tail at the sight of the familiar beastmen carrying rattan baskets.
Before his tail could even touch the ground, four more people rushed into the sheepfold. They each grabbed a leg before running out.
A brief commotion occurred. The next second, fodder soaked in rotten vegetables rained down fiercely.
The sheep in the flock spun around a few times, bleating. However, they didn’t receive a response so they lowered their heads and chewed on the fodder on the ground.
The horned beastmen’s actions were incredibly smooth. After all, they did this almost every day when shearing sheep in the summer.
“We’ve caught him!”
At the children’s cheers, the four-eared sheep leader was placed on the ground, dazed. Immediately, a tall and strong four-eared sheep rushed over.
The leader sheep was hit hard but his newly grown fur was still very thick. The bump didn’t seriously injure him.
Shu Lin waved his fist. “Chuan Chuan committed a foul!”
Qi Bai sided with his family member in a reasonable manner. “That is called a sneak attack. It is a tactic!”
“Baa!”
The leader sheep finally realized what was happening and roared. He had always been the most authoritative figure in the flock and no sheep had ever dared to provoke him like this. The leader sheep pawed at the ground with his hind legs and charged at Chuan Chuan.
“Bang!”
Chuan Chuan instinctively ducked, using his horns to block the leader sheep’s attack. The horns of the two four-eared sheep collided heavily, each exerting their strength.
Qi Bai had only known about two cows fighting by facing each other with their horns. He hadn’t expected the four-eared sheep to fight like this.
However, the scene that everyone had been hoping for, Chuan Chuan’s decisive victory, didn’t occur.
The two sheep were locked in a stalemate for a moment. Suddenly, the leader sheep retreated, leaped high on his front legs and slammed down, his horns striking Chuan Chuan’s head once more.
Chuan Chuan was forced back half a step by the leader sheep’s sudden attack. As he was still a bit dazed, the leader sheep crashed into him again.
Bang, bang, bang!
Yang Ling frowned and rubbed his forehead.
Some of the beastmen had sheep forms but they rarely attacked so directly like wild beasts. Just hearing the sound of the horns colliding made Yang Ling’s head buzz.
Lang Ze watched Chuan Chuan gradually grasp the pattern of the horn collisions from his initial dazed state and nodded with satisfaction to Xi Zhou and the others.
The horned beastmen who had been waiting on the sidelines quickly rushed forward, separating the two four-eared sheep who were in a stalemate. One was quickly thrown back into the sheepfold while the other was dragged back to the group.
The previous pitiful look of Chuan Chuan was gone. The battle with his own kind seemed to have ignited the fighting spirit in his blood. Despite someone holding him down, Chuan Chuan kicked his hooves hard, wanting to chase after the leader sheep to fight another hundred rounds.
Lang Ze pressed down on Chuan Chuan’s horns with one hand. “You are still far from good enough.”
Chuan Chuan gradually quieted down, his four ears visibly drooping. Qi Bai chuckled and patted Chuan Chuan’s head. “Don’t be discouraged. You can definitely beat him.”
Having lost face, Chuan Chuan lost the swagger he had when he came to the sheepfold. He didn’t pay any attention to the chattering little ducks following behind him as he returned to his bamboo nest, burying his head in the food.
Qi Bai locked the ducks in their enclosure and watched the sheep devour his food through the bamboo gate. “Chuan Chuan is trying to channel his grief into food.”
Lang Ze pondered on Qi Bai’s words and found them quite reasonable. “Eating more will definitely make him stronger.”
The two of them slowly descended the stone steps. There were no more tribe members living in the cliffs of the Black Mountain, so the snow on the steps was piling up thicker. Qi Bai could still find his footprints from that morning.
A gust of cold wind blew by and Qi Bai pulled his cloak tighter, putting his hands into his inner pockets. “Did you already know that Chuan Chuan couldn’t beat that leader sheep?”
Lang Ze answered, “The way that beasts fight is different from how beastmen fight. The methods for determining victory are different too. Chuan Chuan has to figure out these things himself. What he is doing now is correct. It is only by eating more food that he will gain more strength.”
Qi Bai thought of Lang Ze’s usual appetite. It wasn’t surprising that he agreed with Chuan Chuan on this point.
“So what are we having for dinner tonight?” However, Lang Ze’s mind was clearly still on food. He casually remarked, “I heard from Xiong Feng and the others that you made delicious sweet potato noodles.”
Qi Bai secretly smiled under his hood.
Since Lang Ze returned, Chuan Chuan had been undergoing training. Qi Bai had focused on Chuan Chuan’s food, which made him neglect his big dog somewhat.
Qi Bai smiled. “Then we will eat it tonight.”
The two of them returned home. Qi Bai picked up two pieces of dried sweet potato drying on a bamboo rack. He gently touched them and heard a crisp sound.
These were the sweet potato slices Qi Bai had dried a few days ago. Now they looked ready to eat.
Lang Ze’s voice rang out, “When can we eat this?”
Qi Bai turned around and saw Lang Ze squatting on the ground, looking at the earthenware jar he had placed in the corner.
Lang Ze had frowned the first time he saw these green powdery things, but Qi Bai treated them like treasures. He carefully collected the moldy soybeans in a jar and soaked them in salt water. Predictably, the contents of the jaw now looked even more disgusting.
Qi Bai naturally treasured it as the green mold proved his first step in making soybean paste was successful. “Don’t even think about it. It will take at least two hundred days.”
Hearing this, Lang Ze moved a bit further away from the jar. The food the beastmen hunted would spoil in just a few days if not processed. He couldn’t imagine what terrifying thing Qi Bai would create after two hundred days.
Qi Bai raised his eyebrow. “Don’t underestimate it. This is a delicious seasoning.”
“Someone might be using the stone mill right now.” Qi Bai went into the bedroom, found a clean animal skin bag, shoved some dried sweet potatoes from the winnowing basket into it and handed it to Lang Ze. “I’ll trouble you to go and join the queue.”
Lang Ze naturally didn’t think it was a troublesome task. He quickly headed towards the children’s house with the animal skin bag.
Qi Bai rubbed his hands, looked around the kitchen and took out a piece of smoked meat and a large piece of pickled bamboo shoots, chopping them all into small cubes.
He added lard to the earthenware pot and sauteed scallions, ginger and garlic until it was fragrant. Then he added the chopped smoked meat and stir-fried it until it was half-cooked. Next, he added the remaining pickled bamboo shoots and stir-fried them together.
The pickled bamboo shoots were salted and the smoked meat itself had a unique aroma. Therefore, Qi Bai didn’t add any other seasonings when stir-frying the bamboo shoots and smoked meat, preserving the natural flavors of the ingredients.
Qi Bai scooped the stir-fried side dishes into a large earthenware basin and placed it in a nearby oven to keep it warm.
He washed the earthenware pot clean and poured all the water from the bamboo tube into it.
Just then, Lang Ze lifted the animal skin covering the outside of the house and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll find a large rock to make a jar.”
There was no industrial pollution on the Beastman Continent and the snow falling from the sky was very clean. Last winter, Qi Bai and Lang Ze drank snow collected from the stone platform.
Now there were more people in the tribe and everyone was moving around. The snow in front of their houses was trampled, making it no longer safe to drink directly. Qi Bai now carried a bamboo tube to the waterfall every morning to fetch water.
The pool at the bottom of the waterfall wasn’t completely frozen yet. Everyone chiseled a few small holes in the riverbank to draw water, which wasn’t too troublesome.
Qi Bai put the pot lid on. After all, a water jar was something needed every day. “Okay, make another smaller one to store meat as well.”
Most of the meat distributed now was pickled and smoked meat, but the hunting team still patrolled the territory every day, bringing back fresh game every time. This meant everyone could get some fresh meat.
Eating picked and smoked meat every day wasn’t healthy, so Qi Bai wanted to freeze some fresh meat so they could have something different every few days.
Qi Bai put the sweet potato flour that Lang Ze had just ground into the earthenware basin. He added water little by little and a large dough slowly formed in Qi Bai’s hands.
Lang Ze saw Qi Bai pinch off a piece of dough and remarked, “This seems different from what everyone else described.”
“Yes.” Qi Bai rolled the dough into a small ball. Then he pressed a hole in the center with his finger before showing it to Lang Ze. “I’m making cornbread today.”
A steamer basket sat on the edge of the stove. Qi Bai placed the shaped cornbreads one by one into the basket. By the time the basket was full, the water in the earthenware pot had almost boiled. He covered the pot and steamed them for around ten minutes.
As the steam dissipated, the cornbreads in the basket were no longer dry. Lang Ze ignored the heat to pick up a cornbread. He kneaded it in his hand and the soft cornbread quickly regained its original shape.
Qi Bai opened the oven and took out the smoked meat and pickled bamboo shoots that had been warming inside, carrying them into the house. Meanwhile, Lang Ze lifted the entire steamer basket.
The cornbread and smoked meat with pickled bamboo shoots were placed on the kang table. Qi Bai took a small ladle and scooped the smoked meat and picked bamboo shoots into the cornbread, handing it to Lang Ze. “Try it.”
Lang Ze took a bite of the cornbread from Qi Bai’s hand and his eyes lit up. “Delicious! These dishes can actually taste so good!”
If one was to look for the happiest moment for a cook, it would definitely be seeing someone wolfing down his food.
Qi Bai took a cornbread and added some vegetables for himself. Hmm, it was quite delicious.
Lang Ze thought he wouldn’t be full when he saw that Qi Bai had only prepared one dish, smoked meat with pickled bamboo shoots. However, he already felt full after eating half a steamer of cornbread.
Lang Ze couldn’t help slowing down his eating speed as he looked at the cornbread in his hand. “This food can actually fill me up.”
If it was a sweet potato of the same size, Lang Ze was sure he could eat twice as much and still not feel full. However, food made from sweet potato flour could achieve this effect.
Qi Bai couldn’t help admiring Lang Ze’s keen senses.
Since Qi Bai made sweet potato noodles, most of the tribe members had tried this food but even Yang Luo hadn’t noticed any difference from flour-based foods.
Qi Bai nodded. “In addition, drying sweet potatoes and grinding them into powder allows them to be preserved for a long time. The food made this way is also very delicious. Combined with wild animal meat, we don’t have to worry about going hungry anymore.”
Lang Ze’s expression turned serious. “If the tribe planted them in the land like you did, won’t we be able to get more food?”
“That’s right.”
Lang Ze suddenly remembered the blueprint Qi Bai had shown them when they were building the wall.
On those blueprints, Qi Bai had already marked the locations of the farmland. Lang Ze smiled. “It seems you’ve already planned this out.”
Qi Bai rubbed his ears. “The people where I’m from grow their own food, so I subconsciously planned it this way.”
Lang Ze nodded. “Your former tribe members were intelligent beastmen.”
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