LSLFBW: Chapter 39

After boiling water and scalding the feathers, Qi Bai soon obtained a smooth and white mountain phoenix.

Qi Bai took out a stone pot that he usually used to cook soup. He put the mountain phoenix in the pot, added salt, and gave the mountain phoenix a full body massage. Then he put in onions, ginger, garlic, and peppercorns and started marinating.

He took advantage of the marinating time to go around the tribe, looking for leaves that could be used to wrap the mountain phoenix.

Authentic beggar’s chicken should be wrapped in lotus leaves, but there were no lotus leaves in the mountains in winter.

In the end, Qi Bai picked some plants with larger leaves. People in the tribe called in broad-leaf vegetables. The leaves of the broad-leaf vegetables had a peculiar taste, and their fibers were very thick. It was difficult to chew after being cooked. Unless they were extremely hungry, basically no one would eat it. Fortunately, it was non-toxic and came in handy at this time.

On the way back to the cave with the broad-leaf vegetables, Qi Bai also picked some red and blue berries from the bushes. These berries tasted sweet and sour, but they were very troublesome to pick. The people who usually picked them were the children in the tribe.

After returning to the cave, Qi Bai peeled and cut the ready-made radish, sweet potato, and chestnuts into small pieces. He added berries and the marinade. Then he stuffed them into the mountain phoenix’s belly and curled up the mountain phoenix’s two claws and head.

The washed broad-leaf vegetables were wrapped layer by layer around the bulging mountain phoenix. Then he tied it tightly with straw ropes. Finally, he covered it with a thick layer of mud.

Lang Ze watched Qi Bai being busy for a long time before finally making a lump of earth. “Should this be put into the kiln to burn?”

“Yes.” Qi Bai nodded.

Since the kiln was very spacious, Qi Bai built the charcoal kiln there bigger. The small kiln next to his cave had been vacant for a long time. Qi Bai planned to demolish it when he had time. He hadn’t expected that it could be used now.

He opened several vents in the earth kiln, placed the lump of earth in the middle of the firewood, and lit it. Then he had to wait patiently for the mountain phoenix meat to be cooked.

Qi Bai’s whole heart was on the earthen kiln. He would go to take a look at it after a while. It was only after it had been baked for nearly two hours that he felt it was almost time to take it out.

The two of them ran to the earthen kiln. Lang Ze used a wooden stick to push away the firewood. A complete lump of earth rolled out of the kiln.

Qi Bai nodded solemnly at Lang Ze. Then Lang Ze smashed the soil with stones.

The mountain phoenix wrapped in broad-leaf vegetables was placed on the stone slab. Qi Bai cut the straw rope with a bone knife, and the heat and fragrance hit his face at the same time.

It was really fragrant.

The unique aroma of the broad-leaf vegetables combined with the aroma of meat created a scent that was completely different from lotus leaves.

Qi Bai twisted off a mountain phoenix leg. The meat was juicy, soft, and tender. It almost fell off the bone with a slight pull.

Since the soil locked in moisture, the grass juice of the broad-leaf vegetable and the aroma of the berry marinade were perfectly integrated into the bones, making every bite of meat he ate full of the aroma of plants and fruits. He would never feel tired of it no matter how much he ate.

In the same way, the radish and sweet potato in the mountain phoenix’s stomach were soaked in oil and became extremely delicious. Even Lang Ze, who didn’t like to eat plants, ate a lot of them.

Under normal circumstances, a mountain phoenix like this would be enough meat for a meal for the entire tribe. However, Qi Bai and Lang Ze ate so much that not even a bone was left.

Qi Bai touched his round belly and took a sip of hot berry tea. Such a day was really comfortable.

Lang Ze and Qi Bai hadn’t been idle while waiting for the mountain phoenix to cook. They had completed a lot of work, whether it was drilling holes or chiseling the interface. At this time, there were piles of bamboo pieces of various sizes around them.

Qi Bai counted the parts and found that with the help of Lang Ze and Xi Zhou, the parts that were originally planned to be made in two days were almost completed. As long as he worked overtime in the evening, he could sleep on the bamboo bed today.

The two of them moved the processed bamboo into the room. Qi Bai placed the bamboo bed in the middle of the stone wall on the far left side of the room.

Assembling a bamboo bed was much easier than processing parts. He inserted the crossbeams and support rods into the holes and nailed them down with a stone hammer. In less than an hour, the frame of the bamboo bed had been assembled.

Qi Bai nailed in the last bamboo nail. Then he used a bamboo knife to flatten the excess space. He gently shook the bed with his hand. The bamboo bed was very solid and didn’t shake at all.

“Great! I finally have a bed!” Qi Bai opened his arms and fell on the bed with his arms and legs spread out.

The bed surface was made of bamboo strips. Qi Bai had polished the edges of each strip, but due to the curvature of the bamboo strips themselves, it definitely wasn’t as smooth as a wooden bed. However, making a wooden bed required more tools. He hadn’t yet figured out how to prevent corrosion, so it was more worry-free to go with a bamboo bed.

Qi Bai quickly got up. He ran to the corner where the miscellaneous things were placed, found the largest animal skin, shook off the dust on it, and spread it out on the bamboo bed.

At this time, Lang Ze was still studying the joints of the bamboo bed. This was the best mechanism he had ever seen. Even though their tribe already had the technology to build wooden houses and beds, people still mostly used straw ropes to tie and roughly stack them. He had never thought that a bamboo bed could be made to look like a whole through the mortise and tenon structure.

The animal skin was soft and warm. Qi Bai suddenly felt lazy and didn’t want to get up. He patted the place beside him and said, “Hurry up and lie down. It is really comfortable.”

A figure lay down beside him. Qi Bai turned sideways and rested his head on his arm, facing Lang Ze. The success of making the bamboo bed gave him great confidence. He muttered about the furniture he would make next, including the tables, chairs, and shelves.

The light was dim in the windowless stone house. Lang Ze listened silently to the beautiful vision of the future expressed by the sub-beastman beside him.

After not hearing any sound for a long time, he turned around and found that Qi Bai had fallen asleep. Lang Ze got up, found a thick animal skin, and gently covered him with it.

The air shrouded in frost seemed particularly thick. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, so the sky seemed a bit gloomy.

In the forest, a group of people were moving quickly among the trees and grass covered with frost and snow.

When hunting in the mountains in winter, the most important thing was to find traces of prey. This could be easily observed through things such as feces and footprints or in a more complicated manner, such as determining the location of prey burrows based on terrain, wind direction, and food. Each one required great patience and time from the beastmen.

Qi Bai carefully avoided the dead branches on the ground, but his eyes were particularly bright. He kept looking around, afraid of missing any clues.

On the side, Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao were even more excited. Their fists were clenched tightly, and they looked like they were ready to jump into battle at any time.

The reason was simple. They came here following the footprints of an antler deer.

Antler deer were large in size and generally lived alone unless it was mating season. The one they found now was obviously a single deer.

However, Lang Ze, who was walking with them, had a serious look on his face. They had been away from the tribe for half a day. Usually, Hou Yan led everyone out hunting. It was time to return now.

“What is this?” Qi Bai asked in confusion.

Lang Ze stepped forward and followed the direction that Qi Bai pointed. He saw an abrupt black spot on the opposite hillside.

“It looks like a burnt-out fire.” Qi Bai squinted and looked at it carefully for a while before saying, “Was this built by the hunting team?”

Lang Ze’s brow furrowed slightly.

At this time, a series of ‘tapping’ footsteps were heard. Qi Bai turned around and saw a prey that looked somewhat like a moose.

“It is an antler deer!” Hu Qiao exclaimed in a low voice.

The deer was only a few dozen meters away from them. Qi Bai felt the blood in his body boiling.

Lang Ze made a gesture of preparation. Several people immediately took off their animal skin clothes.

Qi Bai’s beast form was too small to directly fight against a behemoth like the velvet deer. Just like the last time he hunted a black bear, he held the bone knife given to him by Lang Ze and climbed up a big tree. As long as he was given the chance to jump onto the back of the antler deer, he would definitely let his newly acquired bone knife see blood.

Three animal forms with one horn on their heads appeared at the same time.

On the ground, the giant wolf roared and faced the deer. Meanwhile, the rhino and gray fox quickly approached from both sides and surrounded it.

In mid-air, the little snow leopard jumped lightly on the tree. His speed didn’t slow down much.

The antler deer spotted its pursuer and quickly ran towards an open area. The giant wolf and gray fox followed closely behind, leaving long snow trails on the snow. Seeing that there were no more trees for Qi Bai to stand on, Qi Bai jumped off the tree without hesitation and caught up with the rhino in the blink of an eye.

Qi Bai had to use inertia to maintain his running speed. Without the cover of trees, the snow here was thicker, and he was too small. If he stopped, he might sink into the snow.

“Awoo!”

The giant wolf howled. The gray fox took his place and chased after the velvet deer.

The gray fox knew his duty. He didn’t need to rush to bite the deer’s body. All he had to do was follow the velvet deer and consume its physical strength.

The giant wolf changed direction and sped up. He flanked the deer from the rear, preventing it from running towards the open area.

The deer saw the giant wolf suddenly appear, so it turned almost 90 degrees and fled to the other side. It was facing the rhino, who wasn’t very fast.

Xi Zhou didn’t dodge but charged forward directly. However, Xi Zhou was only a 17 or 18 year old underage boy after all. His animal form couldn’t compete with an adult deer in front of him. He only slowly slowed down the deer’s running speed.

Lang Ze saw that Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao were able to control the direction of the deer while Qi Bai circled around the deer to look for opportunities. Then he stood up, looked up and kept turning his ears to be on guard for them.

The hunt lasted for nearly an hour. Qi Bai and the other two took turns to maintain their strength, while the deer was getting slower and slower.

Following a wolf howl from Lang Ze, Hu Qiao pounced to the side of the deer and bit its fur tightly. The deer’s speed suddenly slowed down. Xi Zhou immediately stepped forward and held the deer’s antlers.

At this moment, a snow-white figure leaped up from the ground onto the back of the deer.

Qi Bai transformed into human form and stabbed the bone knife in his hand deep into the back of the deer’s neck. The bone knife made by Lang Ze was extremely sharp. More importantly, there was a blood groove on the bone knife. Qi Bai held the bone knife tightly with both hands and slid it down along the deer’s spine.

The huge body of the deer was knocked down. Its blood dyed a large area of the snow red. Qi Bai also fell on the snow soon after.

Hu Qiao turned into a human form and said in disbelief, “We really hunted a deer. It is such a big one.”

Xi Zhou made a coquettish cry that was completely inconsistent with his body size.

At this time, the giant wolf that had been observing them threw the animal skin in his mouth to the ground and rubbed Qi Bai’s exposed skin gently with his head.

Qi Bai hurriedly put on his clothes. After getting used to the warmth of the animal skin clothes, his human form was temporarily unable to withstand the cold in the snow.

However, Hu Qiao didn’t put on the animal skin clothes. He turned into an animal form again. They needed to drag this huge antler deer back to the tribe. It wasn’t an easy task even if there were three horned beastmen taking turns to drag it.

Qi Bai put away his bone knife and hugged the clothes of the other three people, his face full of excitement. Not only did they successfully hunt the prey, but more importantly, everyone could get a lot of meat with this deer. This could at least ensure that they would be full for the next half month.

It was late at night, but the square in front of the collective cave was bustling with activity. The news that a few people had dragged back an antler deer had spread throughout the tribe.

Xi Zhou and Hu Qiao sharpened the bone knife repeatedly on the stone table and started to cut the venison in front of the crowd.

In the collective cave a few dozen meters away, Lang Ze was sitting face to face with Hou Yan and Yang Luo. The atmosphere was somewhat stagnant.

The first words that Lang Ze said made the two men change their expressions. “There are signs of the activities of other beastmen around the tribe.”