Chapter 47
The fat droplets trembled, and the aroma of meat filled the air. The roasted lamb was wrapped in an amber-colored crispy shell. One bite was crispy and crunchy, making a “crunch crunch” sound. And the tender and juicy lamb inside glistened with an alluring oily sheen. The charred fragrance of the crispy shell and the fresh fragrance of the lamb intertwined on the tip of the tongue, leaving an endless aftertaste.
After tasting it in its original flavor, he tried another way of eating it.
A wisp of the crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside lamb was torn off and gently dipped in the bamboo bowl. The moment it entered his mouth, a powerful numbing and spicy flavor bloomed on the tip of his tongue. The wild mountain peppers were very spicy, with a fragrant spiciness and a numbing fragrance. Every bite was an ultimate enjoyment.
Delicious, delicious…
Hua Shi’an turned over and rested his head on his arm, smacking his lips unconsciously in his sleep.
He didn’t taste anything. He suddenly woke up a little and groggily opened his eyes, only to realize that eating the roasted whole lamb was last night’s business. He was now lying in bed, sleeping.
What a glutton. He had been thinking about the roasted whole lamb all night, even dreaming about eating it. Hua Shi’an slapped his forehead, feeling both helpless and amused.
It was starting to get light outside. Peeking through the cracks in the bamboo door, he saw the hazy daylight. Hua Shi’an was alarmed to realize he had overslept and quickly got up from the bed.
He washed his face, brushed his teeth, and ate breakfast. He rushed, but he was still late. By the time Hua Shi’an arrived at the camp, the hunting team had already gone out. There were a few more bundles of green bamboo in the open space by the fire, which they must have cut before they left.
The gathering team was also gone. The camp suddenly became much quieter. The tribe members who had stayed behind returned to their usual routine, continuing to twist coir rope and weave fishing nets. And the small team led by Hua Shi’an was already busy. Chang Yueyue was drying meat, Yan Zhile was moving winnowing baskets, and Hong Yinglan was picking out the sheep fat.
The preparations were almost done. It seemed they were just waiting for him.
They had agreed to meet at dawn, but he had gotten up a little late. Hua Shi’an was so embarrassed that he was a little hesitant to walk over. But just then, Hong Yinglan saw him. She put the sheep fat in her hand into the winnowing basket and walked quickly towards him. “Lord Priest, you’re here!”
Hua Shi’an gave a dry laugh. “Yes, sorry I’m late.”
“Not at all,” Hong Yinglan stood beside him, pointed to the open space where the mutton was placed, and said with a smile, “We haven’t finished what you told us to do last night. How is it late?”
Without giving Hua Shi’an a chance to refute, Hong Yinglan counted on her fingers and then began to report:
“The sheep fat has almost all been picked out, but it hasn’t been cut into small pieces yet. The winnowing baskets are also ready. The dried chili peppers from before have been collected. The mutton has also been spread out to dry in the winnowing baskets as you said. Oh right, and the salt. We took twenty bamboo tubes from the tree hollow. Is that enough, Lord Priest?”
This is too much. They probably got up before dawn, even earlier than the hunting team.
Hua Shi’an sighed and said earnestly, “The chief asked last night, so I just mentioned today’s arrangements. But we should do things together. It wasn’t specifically assigned to you. There’s no need to get up so early and finish everything before I arrive.”
“Yes, I, I did get up a little late, but we agreed to meet at dawn,” Hua Shi’an pointed to the sky and said half-jokingly, “The sky has just brightened, and you guys are almost ready. Are you trying to outdo me? It’s a cold day. You should sleep a little more when you have nothing to do.”
It seemed like a reprimand, but it was actually concern. Hong Yinglan knew it in her heart. She pursed her lips and smiled, a little embarrassed. “It wasn’t intentional to finish everything before you arrived.”
“Last night’s mutton was really too delicious. We’ve never eaten such delicious meat in our lives. We were a little too excited and couldn’t sleep, so…”
This was not an exaggeration at all, but it was not just a compliment to Hua Shi’an’s cooking skills.
There were also wild beasts in the Clear Sky Forest, and the various small tribes could occasionally eat beast meat.
The beasts there were not only strange-looking, but their taste was also strange. It was clearly fresh meat, but the texture was loose and weak, soft, like meat that had been frozen for a year or two, thawed, frozen, and then thawed again. It also had a distinct, foul smell that was hard to describe.
In comparison, the mountain goat meat from last time, which had been so gamey that Hua Shi’an could barely eat it, was already a rare delicacy. Not to mention that the red sheep they had caught this time was even more delicious than the mountain goat from last time. The gamey and rank smell was not as strong, and the meat was more delicate, absolutely delicious.
Eating some mutton in winter warmed the body. Hua Shi’an had slept comfortably, but he hadn’t expected the few of them to have collective insomnia. But he didn’t dare to tease them. The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black. He had also dreamed of mutton last night.
“Lord Priest.”
Another soft call came. Hua Shi’an looked up to see Chang Yueyue, who had just been squatting there drying meat, had walked up to him at some point. She lifted her chin and held out her hands to him.
Two egg-sized wild fruits lay in her palm. Hua Shi’an’s breath hitched for a moment, and his expression instantly became serious.
The fruits were not only as big as eggs, but also shaped exactly like eggs. The skin was smooth and shiny, and the color was a genuine bright red, like a ripe, large cherry, reddish-black.
Hua Shi’an picked one up and examined it carefully, then sniffed it. A rich, fruity aroma filled his nostrils. His clear eyes lit up slightly, and he asked Chang Yueyue with joy and eagerness, “You picked this? Is this—”
“The big oaf, Mo Huaishan, gave it to me,” Chang Yueyue and he spoke at the same time. After a two-second pause, seeing that Hua Shi’an had no intention of speaking further, she added, “He couldn’t find you in the camp at dawn, so he gave the fruit to me and asked me to give it to you. He said it was a fruit he picked on the mountain while collecting honey.”
Seeing the Lord Priest’s reaction, the fruit must be edible. Hong Yinglan quickly asked, “Lord Priest, what’s this fruit called? Is it very delicious?”
“Fruit? Where’s the fruit?”
Yan Zhile heard the commotion and ran over. Seeing the bright red wild fruit in Hua Shi’an’s hand, he quickly came over, touching and sniffing it. “Wow, what kind of fruit is this? Where did you pick it? It must be edible, right, Lord Priest? Can we have a taste?”
“You’re so greedy.” Hua Shi’an tapped him on the forehead.
The brightly colored wild fruit was extremely tempting, and everyone wanted to find out what it was.
This thing could be eaten directly. Hua Shi’an simply broke the wild fruit in his hand in half.
The skin was a bit hard, but after breaking it open, the flesh inside was exceptionally soft, like a combination of tomato and passion fruit, with a rich fruity and fresh fragrance, and a hint of pineapple.
He broke the wild fruit into four pieces, one for each of the three sub-beastmen. Hua Shi’an lifted his to his lips but didn’t rush to eat it. He took the opportunity to educate them, “This fruit is called a tree tomato. It can be used as a seasoning or eaten directly. For the raw fruit, just eat the pulp inside. It’s sweet and sour, and the taste is not bad. Be careful, the skin is a bit bitter and astringent. When you eat it, don’t—”
“Ptui, ptui ptui, oh my, so bitter.”
“Lord Priest, you said it too late. Ptui, I threw the whole piece in my mouth. It’s so sour and bitter!”
Before he could finish speaking, they had already eagerly fed it into their mouths. Yan Zhile and Hong Yinglan’s faces twisted, and they quickly spat it out.
The pulp was all wasted. They didn’t taste anything, and a bitter taste filled their mouths.
But Chang Yueyue, who had listened to him, took a small bite of the pulp. Her eyes instantly lit up, and she nodded with a smile. “It’s just as the Lord Priest said. It’s sweet and sour, and delicious.”
Not having tasted it, Yan Zhile pouted, his eyes filled with resentment as he looked at Hua Shi’an. “Lord Priest, isn’t there another one? We…”
“Don’t even think about it.” Hua Shi’an took the other tree tomato from Chang Yueyue’s hand. “This one is for teaching the tribe members to identify it tonight. We can only eat it after everyone knows what it is. Let’s go, let’s get to work.”
There was still a lot to do today. The sub-beastmen didn’t dare to delay and followed Hua Shi’an back to the open space.
The mutton had just been laid out to dry, and the moisture hadn’t evaporated yet. The internal organs would be dealt with later, and some of them would be cooked for a meal… After inspecting the camp, Hua Shi’an finally decided to start with the sheep fat.
He cut the large pieces of sheep tail fat and abdominal fat into small pieces, put them in a pot with a small amount of clear water, and boiled them over a high fire. The water was just a starter. In a short while, the sheep fat in the pot boiled, bubbling away. The sheep fat and clear water mixed, gradually turning milky white.
Only at this stage did the rendering truly begin. He removed some of the firewood to reduce the fire, changing from high heat to medium heat. At the same time, he continuously stirred the pot with a bamboo sliver to prevent the sheep fat from sticking to the pot. The worst thing about rendering oil was burning it. Once a few pieces of sheep fat were burned, the entire pot of oil would have a burnt and bitter taste.
He continued to cook over medium heat. Slowly, the clear water in the pot completely boiled away. The sheep fat had obviously shrunk a circle, and the milky white liquid, under high heat, gradually turned into clear and transparent sheep oil.
When the oil residue had turned a light yellow, he could reduce the firewood. Hua Shi’an had also thought of using coir sheets to filter it, which would be more convenient and faster, but the oil temperature… the coir sheets probably couldn’t withstand it. In the end, he and the sub-beastmen used a bamboo sliver to scoop out the sheep oil residue bit by bit.
If it were lard, this step would have been the end. But unfortunately, it was sheep oil.
Mutton had a gamey and rank smell, and the smell of sheep oil would only be stronger. Thinking that he would be using sheep oil for stir-frying in the future, Hua Shi’an specially got some dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger slices, and sour papaya slices, and fried them in the oil pot once.
Although there weren’t many seasonings, it had to be said that with just this one fry, the sheep oil in the pot instantly became much more fragrant. The seasonings were not enough to completely suppress the gamey smell, but they could enhance the fragrance of the sheep oil.
After scooping out the dregs, he sprinkled a small amount of salt, stirred it evenly, and poured it into a bamboo tube. The hot sheep oil was done. All he had to do was let it sit.
Overall, rendering sheep oil was relatively simple, but there was a lot of sheep and a lot of fat. Hua Shi’an and the three sub-beastmen cut and rendered, and they were almost marinated in the smell. Finally, at noon, when the sun was high in the sky, all the sheep oil had been rendered.
It was a good thing they hadn’t been boiling salt recently, and the two large stone pots were both in the tribe. Otherwise, if they had to render it bit by bit in a small pot, it would probably have taken until evening.
The mutton of twelve red sheep was still waiting for them. After drinking a cup of honey water and taking a short break, Hua Shi’an and the three sub-beastmen started a new round of work—curing the meat.
Curing the meat was even simpler. The salt was first fried with Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers. After it cooled down, it could be directly rubbed on the mutton. The only thing to pay attention to was the amount. If too much salt was used, the meat would be salty. If too little was used, the meat would spoil. It had to be applied in an appropriate amount, and the thicker parts of the meat had to be cut open and rubbed.
A full twelve sheep. It wasn’t tiring, but it was tedious.
Doing the same boring thing over and over, even Hua Shi’an was a little tired of it. But the three sub-beastmen were full of energy and tireless, because the more meat there was, the more mutton each person could get, and the better they could get through the winter.
Before the sun set, finally, all the mutton had been rubbed with salt.
The salted mutton still needed to be left for a few days to cure. The tribe had no containers to put it in. The small team of four went to the jungle to pick some more leaves, washed them, spread them in the back baskets, and then put the mutton in.
The sun had just started to set, and it was still a bit early to cook. After resting for a while, Hua Shi’an patted his coir skirt and stood up, at the same time picking up the stone knife that was placed beside him.
The giant redwood trees were too tall, and the surrounding bushes and trees had been mostly cleared. There was nowhere to hang the meat for smoking and drying. Hua Shi’an thought for a moment and decided it was better to make a few bamboo racks.
Holding a stone knife and standing in front of a few bundles of green bamboo, Hua Shi’an hadn’t even thought of how to start when a joyful and ecstatic shout suddenly came from not far ahead, “Lord Priest, Lord Priest!”
That loud voice belonged to Yan Qiuyu.
Hua Shi’an looked up, and sure enough, on the increasingly sparse grass by the river, as if a herd of beasts were chasing him, Yan Qiuyu’s legs were a blur as he ran wildly.
The focus was not on the rapidly running Yan Qiuyu, but what was the gray, furry thing in his hand? Hua Shi’an squinted and took a closer look. Holy crap, a rabbit!
