LSLFBW: Chapter 15

Qi Bai wanted to make grilled fish with garlic tonight.

By the time Qi Bai came back with the fat and salt, Lang Ze had already found all the firewood and stone needed.

Qi Bai spread the processed fish meat on a clean stone slab. Then he cut the fish with a knife and evenly applied salt.

He also took out the green onions, garlic, and red fruits he had picked during the day. He cut the green onions, sliced the garlic and red fruits, and inserted the garlic and red fruit slices directly using the knife edge. He placed the onion segments into the fish belly for pickling.

It was only now that Qi Bai had time to check the stone that Lang Ze brought back.

What Qi Bai wanted was a large, flat stone pot with grooves like the metal pots in the grilled fish restaurant he had eaten before. But if the material of this style was replaced with stone, it would look very similar to the pig trough used to feed pigs in the countryside.

Qi Bai held back his laughter. It wasn’t Lang Ze’s fault. The fact that Qi Bai had such an association proved that the stone Lang Ze found completely met Qi Bai’s requirements.

As the fish was being marinated, Lang Ze lit a fire and heated the stone trough while Qi Bai prepared the side dishes.

Qi Bai cleaned and chopped the mushrooms, wild vegetables, and green onions that he found along the way. He mashed some of the remaining garlic into minced garlic and kept some intact, setting them aside for later use.

At this time, the stone trough was almost hot.

Qi Bai poured water into the stone trough, put the diced pork belly into the pot, and slowly boiled it.

Mutton fat had a bit of a mutton smell, but there was only mutton fat in their tribe at this time. Qi Bai had no choice.

The aroma of mutton fat soon spread to the entrance of the cave. In fact, it was mainly because the piece of mutton given by Yang Luo was fat and lean. Once the mutton fat was boiled, the lean meat was fried in the oil, and the fragrance could be imagined.

Most of the people in the tribe came over to watch. Yang Luo stood in the very front position.

Yang Luo was still holding his bear bone scepter. He pointed at the oil residue in the pot and asked, “Is this the fresh food you mentioned? No, aren’t you going to make grilled fish?”

Qi Bai smiled. “Yes, this oil will be used for grilling fish later. But this oil residue is also delicious. Grandpa Priest, please try it.”

As he spoke, Qi Bai picked up a piece of oil residue with chopsticks made of thin bamboo. He thought about it, dipped it in a bit of salt, and sent it to Yang Luo.

Yang Luo took the oil residue with his hands, and his eyes widened. “Is this still mutton?”

The fried oil residue was full of fat, with a dry and crisp taste. It wasn’t as woody as when roasted over an open fire. Add a bit of salt, and it was especially delicious. It was no wonder that Yang Luo asked such a question.

Qi Bai replied with a smile, “Of course, it is mutton. Please wait a moment. The grilled fish I will make will be even more delicious.”

Qi Bai took out the remaining oil residue from the stone trough. In fact, there was only a palm-sized piece of pork belly and not much meat residue. But as the chef, QI Bai himself was greedy and couldn’t share it with everyone. As the chef, it wasn’t too much for him and Lang Ze to taste a piece.

Then Yang Luo saw Qi Bai dip the oil residue in salt. Just as he thought Qi Bai was going to give it to him, Qi Bai turned the bamboo chopsticks and gave it to Lang Ze.

Yang Luo had no time to stop him. After all, who was Lang Ze? The meat disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Qi Bai finally tasted the last piece left. The oil residue was soft and melted in his mouth. Qi Bai wanted to swallow his tongue.

As Qi Bai was savoring the aroma of the oil residue, he put the chopped green onions and whole garlic into the hot oil and stir-fried them. The aroma of garlic and green onions was instantly stimulated.

Shu Lin couldn’t close his mouth when he saw it. He didn’t expect for garlic to be so fragrant.

After stir-frying for a while, Qi Bai poured all the washed side dishes into the stone trough. Once the vegetables were almost seasoned, he poured in clean water and added an appropriate amount of salt. Then he had to wait for the water in the stone trough to slowly boil.

At this time, the fish that Qi Bai had previously marinated was almost ready. He strung the fish on thin bamboo sticks. He was reluctant to throw away the garlic slices and green onions used for marinating, so he put them directly into the pot and grilled the fish carefully on the fire.

He was worried that the temperature of the fire source provided by the firewood would be unstable, causing the grilled fish to burn in places and be raw in other places. Qi Bai was very careful when grilling the fish, and he kept an eye on the flames.

He waited until the water in the stone trough boiled and everyone was drooling with greed. Then Qi Bai put the whole fish into the stone trough again and sprinkled the minced garlic on the grilled fish.

At this time, he should add another spoonful of hot oil so that the aroma of garlic would be fully stimulated. Unfortunately, Qi Bai had no extra oil.

Even so, it was several times more fragrant compared to the simple vegetables and meat stew in the tribe.

The most delicious thing about grilled fish was that they could eat it while it was cooking. The freshness of the soup and the aroma of the grilled fish would gradually blend together during the cooking process. The more it was cooked, the better it tasted.

Qi Bai swallowed his saliva and gave Yang Luo a pair of bamboo sticks to act as chopsticks. “Grandpa Priest, please try it first.”

Yang Luo took the chopsticks handed over by Qi Bai. He didn’t know why, but the bamboo sticks that were very convenient in Qi Bai’s hands were completely uncontrollable in his hands. He put the bamboo down and returned to the cave in a flash. After he came out again, he handed over a bamboo bowl made of bamboo tube. “Pour it into the bowl for me.”

Qi Bai picked some mushrooms, wild vegetables, large garlic cloves, and of course, a large piece of fish meat for Yang Luo. Qi Bai specially picked a piece of crispy fish skin and some fish meat soaked in soup. Then he slowly poured a spoonful of soup.

Yang Luo took the bamboo tube without caring about the heat. He first drank a sip of soup. Then he hummed an unknown tune and walked slowly to the side.

Yang Luo ate the tasty wild vegetables in small bites. He thought as he ate that even his teacher had never eaten such delicious wild very, let alone those guys.

Yang Luo couldn’t help thinking a few times when he thought of this.

His vision was indeed correct. The Black Mountain Tribe would definitely become a better tribe.

In stark contrast to Yang Luo’s far-reaching considerations, a long queue had already formed on Qi Bai’s side. It was because Qi Bai said that everyone could taste his newly cooked fish.

There was nothing superfluous. After all, everyone had already watched how to do it. They just had to be willing to use things to exchange with Yang Luo for salt and fat, and everyone could make it themselves.

However, Qi Bai didn’t give the remaining people any soup. After all, the soup still needed to be kept to cook the remaining fish and vegetables. Everyone naturally had no objections.

During this period, many people saw that Qi Bai hadn’t prepared many side dishes and took the initiative to send some mushrooms and wild vegetables. Qi Bai collected them one by one.

On this night, Qi Bai and Lang Ze were busy grilling fish. Of course, they ate the most. Lang Ze alone ate five or six fish.

Qi Bai used the water in the bamboo tube to clean the stone trough, which had been eaten without a drop of soup left. Then he ran over to ask Yang Luo, “Grandpa Priest, where should I put this stone trough?”

Yang Luo thought for a while before saying, “Since you found it yourself, keep it. I don’t have time to take care of your junk.”

Qi Bai wasn’t angry at all by Yang Luo’s words. Instead, he said happily, “Thank you, Grandpa Priest!”

Due to Yang Luo’s words, Qi Bai and Lang Ze had their own pot. They could cook anytime in the future. How could Qi Bai not be happy?

Qi Bai placed the stone trough next to the stone wall outside the cave so that it could be used at any time.

After making grilled fish all night, Qi Bai felt he was full of oil and smoke. He returned to the cave, took out his sheepskin and gently shook off the dust.

Qi Bai wrinkled his nose. It was too smelly. During his time on Earth, Qi Bai had only seen processed leather. Most of those skins had a faint fragrance. It was the first time he knew that freshly peeled skin would have such a smell.

He carefully recalled Mao Bai’s former tribe. It was a tribe living on the plains. Most people lived in simple tents made of animal skins. In that tribe, there was a stinky smell all year round.

It seemed that the smell wasn’t only because the beastmen didn’t pay much attention to hygiene, but it was also likely the smell of those animal skins.

But no matter what, he had to tan this piece of skin quickly. Qi Bai believed that the smell would become heavier and heavier.

Qi Bai held the sheepskin, stepped on the moonlight and slowly walked through a path in the forest.

Now the forest seemed to be full of vitality with insects and birds singing at night. Qi Bai didn’t feel lonely along the way.

It felt like he had only taken a few steps when he already reached the edge of the waterfall.

Qi Bai saw Lang Ze’s figure from a distance and hurried over to say hello. Then when he got closer, he found that Lang Ze was soaking in the pool with his upper body naked.

Since this place was in a valley, the moonlight shone leisurely on it. Qi Bai could see Lang Ze’s thin but well-proportioned body at once.

Qi Bai couldn’t help shedding tears of envy.

He had become a sub-beastman but he still looked thin.

Even though he and Lang Ze were both malnourished for a long time, Lang Ze’s foundation was better than his own.

At this time, Lang Ze found Qi Bai on the shore and stood up from the pool.

He stood up and countless bright water drops flowed down his body. Qi Bai quickly soothed his heart that was beating wildly due to envy and jealousy.

Lang Ze had obviously seen the animal skin in QI Bai’s hand and asked, “It is so late. Do you still want to wash the animal skin?”

Qi Bai took a deep breath. “Yes, my animal skin is so smelly. I plan to wash it and learn how to tan animal skin from others tomorrow.”

“You don’t know how to tan animal skins?”

Qi Bai shook his head. Not only did Qi Bai not know how to tan animal skins, but he searched through Mao Bai’s memories and found that Mao Bai didn’t know how to tan animal skins either. The animal skins he usually used, including the animal skin bag around his neck, were all left to him by his mother and father before he died.

Lang Ze paused before saying, “I saw some leaves and weeds nearby that can be used to tan animal skins. I will bring some back tomorrow night. If you are willing, you can tan it with me.”

“Great, Lang Ze. You can actually tan animal skin. I couldn’t touch animal skins previously when I was in the tribe.”

“I haven’t tanned animal skins for a long time.” Lang Ze turned his head and finally told the truth. “This is a method I learned when I was very young, and I haven’t used it for a long time. If you are afraid of damaging your skin, you can find someone else to teach you.”

Qi Bai didn’t seem unhappy when he heard this. He knew that this might be the method of Lang Ze’s original tribe. He pretended to be serious and said, “It seems that this is your secret recipe, Lang Ze. Then I must learn it. You can’t regret it.”

Qi Bai was about to enter the water with the animal skin. “I’ll go wash my animal skin first, so I can use it directly tomorrow.”

Lang Ze’s eyes were a bit evasive when he saw Qi Bai’s actions. “Then I’ll wait for you in the forest.”

“Huh?” Before Qi Bai could answer, Lang Ze had already turned and left.

Qi Bai realized belatedly. He was frustrated to find that while he thought that he and Lang Ze were good brothers, his good brother didn’t think so. The scene of everyone taking a bath together was impossible to happen.

He looked down at his flat chest and sighed.

Why did this world distinguish between beastmen and sub-beastmen? It was too outrageous that he, a grown man, couldn’t take a bath with another man.

Qi Bai had no choice but to shout at Lang Ze’s back, “Lang Ze, don’t wait for me. I won’t be able to finish washing it for a while.”

Qi Bai saw Lang Ze nodding with his back to him. Then Qi Bai turned around and walked under the waterfall.