Chapter 19: Choose a Beastman to Spend the Night With

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Choose a Beastman to Spend the Night With

After she was done, Su Luoluo wrapped the chicken completely in banana leaves and used small twigs to pin them in place so they wouldn’t come undone.

Once the chicken was wrapped, the most important step was to coat the outside of the banana leaves with a layer of yellow mud.

Making a fine paste with the yellow mud would have been a challenge without water.

But luckily, there was some moist yellow mud not too far away.

It was a pit of yellow mud.

It must have been formed by runoff after a rainstorm.

Su Luoluo’s eyes lit up. Cradling the chicken, she walked toward the mud pit.

Xiao Ye hadn’t been paying attention to what Luoluo was doing, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw her crush some things she had gathered and rub them onto the chicken.

But when she suddenly got up, ran to the mud pit, and started using a stick to slather muddy water onto the chicken, he thought Su Luoluo had gone mad.

He hurriedly got to his feet and ran over as well.

’Why would she coat a perfectly good chicken in mud?’

’What a waste.’

Xiao Ye darted over, grabbed her hand, and asked angrily, "Su Luoluo, what are you doing?"

Su Luoluo was carefully smoothing the yellow mud over the chicken when Xiao Ye suddenly grabbed her hand.

Seeing his gaze fixed on the yellow mud on the banana leaves, she pursed her lips and said flatly, "Relax, it’s not poisoned. It’s just a little bit of yellow mud."

"Not poisoned? It’s a perfectly good chicken. Why are you putting mud on it?" Xiao Ye demanded, holding her back with a look of complete distrust.

"Who’s trying to harm you? I’m making Beggar’s Chicken. Once you coat it in mud, you can put it in the fire to cook."

"Roast chicken? The roast chickens I’ve seen are skewered and cooked directly over a fire, not like this," Xiao Ye said doubtfully.

"That’s why that’s called roast chicken, and this is called Beggar’s Chicken!" Su Luoluo explained, exasperated.

’The method is different, so of course the name is different. Isn’t that perfectly normal?’

Xiao Ye didn’t believe a word she said and refused to let go of her hand.

Having no other choice, Su Luoluo did her best to explain. "Look, the chicken hasn’t been plucked, right? After I cover it with mud and bury it in the fire, the chicken will cook. Then, when I crack the hardened mud open, it will pull all the feathers off with it. That method is called Beggar’s Chicken. Understand?"

Xiao Ye was still skeptical after her explanation, but he was less so than before.

When he still didn’t let go, she added patiently, "Brother, I haven’t eaten either. I’m going to eat this chicken too, so I won’t ruin it."

Xiao Ye released her hand after she said that.

A strange look crossed his face.

’Su Luoluo actually called me brother. As expected, she never misses an opportunity to try and seduce me.’

If Su Luoluo had known what Xiao Ye was thinking, she would have cried foul.

However, she was too busy smoothing out the yellow mud to pay any attention to Xiao Ye.

After a good while of work, the yellow mud was finally smoothed evenly over the bundle.

She then found a large branch, used it to dig a pit in the ground, placed the mud-caked chicken inside, and covered it with a thin layer of earth.

Once that was done, she gathered some dry branches. After successfully starting a fire with a bow drill, she got a good blaze going.

Xiao Ye watched from the sidelines as Su Luoluo bustled about. He didn’t know what exactly she was doing, but it all seemed very methodical.

It didn’t look like she was just messing around.

She was actually quite hardworking.

He’d never seen her this "active" before.

When Su Luoluo saw the fire was burning nicely, she went and dug up some sweet potatoes.

She tossed a few into the hot embers to bake.

The Beggar’s Chicken wouldn’t be ready for a while, so Su Luoluo gathered some wild fruit and tossed a few to Xiao Ye. "This will take some time to cook. Eat these to tide you over."

This time, Xiao Ye didn’t say a word. He just took the fruit and started eating, lost in thought.

After a little while, the sweet potatoes were cooked, and Su Luoluo used a stick to rake a few out of the embers.

They were scorching hot right out of the fire, so Su Luoluo snapped off two twigs to use as chopsticks. She peeled back the skin and began to eat the flesh inside.

Seeing Xiao Ye staring blankly, she snapped off two more twigs and handed them to him. "What are you staring at? Hurry and eat. They won’t taste as good when they’re cold."

The cooked sweet potatoes gave off a sweet, charcoal-roasted aroma.

After taking the chopsticks, Xiao Ye copied Su Luoluo and took a bite. A fragrant, sweet, and creamy flavor instantly filled his mouth.

He had never eaten anything so delicious and soft. His eyes lit up, and once he started, he couldn’t stop, devouring several more one after another.

Su Luoluo watched Xiao Ye eat one after another, a secret smile playing on her lips as she shook her head.

After calculating the time, she figured the Beggar’s Chicken was about done. Su Luoluo cleared away the dirt and dug the chicken out.

The once-moist mud was now bone-dry, its color changed from yellow to black.

Su Luoluo used a rock to crack open the mud casing. As she peeled back the banana leaves, a rich aroma of chicken blended with the fragrance of the leaves wafted out.

Su Luoluo tore off a chicken leg and handed it to Xiao Ye. "Now do you believe the mud was useful?"

Xiao Ye took it and bit down. He felt as if he had entered a new world, and his light purple eyes grew brighter and brighter.

’This chicken is incredible!’

’The flavor is a world away from eating it raw.’

’I’ve made up my mind,’ he decided. ’From now on, I’ll listen to Su Luoluo about anything related to food.’

’She might not be much to look at, but her cooking skills are amazing.’

...

「Back at the tribe’s camp.」

Lan Ya returned with a group of females who had been out gathering wild fruit.

After the fruit was distributed among all the Beastmen, a group of them gathered to eat.

Su Zhao scanned the crowd but didn’t see Su Luoluo. "Where’s Su Luoluo?" he asked.

Su Nuannuan put in a "good word" for her. "Luoluo went off to gather things somewhere else."

Lan Ya’s brow furrowed. "Nuannuan, stop making excuses for her. Su Luoluo was slacking off. She didn’t want to pick fruit, so she ran off to play somewhere."

A subtle smile touched Su Nuannuan’s lips when she heard Lan Ya’s words.

Su Zhao’s frown deepened at her words.

Su Yang also looked displeased. "Why is she wandering off? She..."

Just as he was about to say more, someone suddenly stood up. "What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant!"

"Yeah, it smells amazing."

"I think it’s coming from over there."

Su Yang was cut off as the tribe members, drawn by the scent, began to walk involuntarily toward its source.

They were starving after a long day of travel. The wild fruit was something to fill their stomachs, but it was nothing compared to this aroma.

Following the scent, they found Su Luoluo and Xiao Ye sitting before a fire.

Su Luoluo was still holding a piece of chicken in her hand.

A young Beastman couldn’t help but ask, "Sister Luoluo, did you make this chicken? It smells amazing!"

There wasn’t much chicken left, but when she saw everyone arriving, Su Luoluo tore off a piece and offered it to Su Yang, who was in the middle of the crowd. "Father, have a taste."

Although Su Yang didn’t particularly like her, his attitude had improved somewhat after Su Luoluo revealed she had a Water Ability.

This proved that he still had some fatherly love for her, he just valued her abilities more.

’If I can get him on my side, my life in the tribe will be much easier.’

Su Yang took the piece and bit into it. His expression changed instantly.

’This flavor is actually incredible.’

He looked at Su Luoluo’s hands, which were still smudged with ash, and it was clear she was the one who had cooked it.

Having eaten something his daughter made, he offered her a rare piece of advice. "Your Mother just said you were wandering off. Once it gets dark, don’t wander around anymore. It’s safer to find a Beastman to stay with."

Su Luoluo: ???

’Find a Beastman to stay with?’

She glanced at the three of them in the crowd and felt a headache coming on.