Salted Egg
After Bai Wu and Nan Yao talked, Nan Yao’s attitude didn’t change, which made Bai Wu feel much more relaxed.
“I want to stay in the Night Howling Tribe for a couple more days until the rice is ripe before going back.”
“I’ll come back for you after I’ve finished my inspections of other places.”
“Huh? You’re not staying here with me?”
“Chang Shui is a trustworthy beastman; there won’t be any problems with him.”
After saying this, Nan Yao sent Bai Wu back to the Night Howling Tribe that afternoon and then went to inspect other tribes.
That evening, Bai Wu ate with the people of the Night Howling Tribe.
To entertain him, the people of the Night Howling Tribe prepared three earthenware pots of stewed meat, three earthenware pots of fish, and two earthenware pots of stewed vegetables.
Bai Wu ate a bowl of stewed vegetables and was almost full.
Seeing that he hadn’t eaten much, Chang Shui put some food on his plate. “Our food is far inferior to your tribe’s, but we have a lot more variety. Try a few more bites.”
When the tribal chiefs came to Bai Wu to learn weaving that day, it was Bai Wu who cooked for them.
Bai Wu’s cooking wasn’t particularly delicious, but it was much better than their haphazard stew. Bai Wu smiled. “I ate quite a bit of wild fruit at noon, so I’m not hungry yet.”
“Aren’t the wild fruits here delicious? When you go back, take some back for your family to try.”
“Speaking of which, I might have to stay here for a few more days.”
“Please stay as long as you like. I wasn’t quite clear on the dyeing process earlier. If you stay here, could you give us some pointers?”
“You’re too modest. I just saw that the robes worn by those two sub-beastmen were two-tone. They probably used two different colors of thread to weave the fabric, creating the two-tone pattern, right? Their technique is far superior to mine.”
Bai Wu and Chang Shui exchanged glances, their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills before bursting into laughter.
Chang Shui served him a bowl of fish soup. “Really, we welcome you to stay in our tribe for a while longer. Please teach us anything good you know.”
“We’ll learn from each other. I wonder if it would be convenient for me to go hunting with your sub-beastmen?”
“Of course you can if you want to. But our tribe is different from other tribes. Our territory is quite dangerous, so the beastmen and sub-beastmen usually go out together, mainly hunting and fishing.”
“That’s no problem!”
“Then you’ll need to get up early tomorrow. We’ll take you to a place with more prey.”
Bai Wu and the Night Howling tribe agreed to go hunting and gathering together.
The next morning, the little beastmen and sub-beastmen of the Night Howling tribe ran to Bai Wu’s nest, waiting for him to get up.
Bai Wu heard the unfamiliar voices and realized he wasn’t in the tribe.
He sat up.
The children by the nest opened their bright, dark eyes and looked at him.
Bai Wu smiled and raised his hand. “Good morning.”
“Waaa—” The children scattered, then came running back a moment later, drawing out their greetings, “Good morning—”
Bai Wu smiled and waved to the children, then transformed into his beast form and flew down to the river in the center of the forest to wash.
Most of the Night Howling tribe members were early risers and were already out and about.
After breakfast, Chang Shui led the tribe’s young beastmen out hunting and gathering.
Bai Wu mingled among them; his slender beast form and pure white feathers made him stand out.
The Night Howling tribe’s beastmen and sub-beastmen seemed to like him quite a bit; many of the sub-beastmen specifically circled around him, protecting him as he flew.
They flew until the sun was high in the sky before reaching their destination.
The place they went to today was also filled with lakes, swamps, and wastelands.
Bai Wu transformed back into human form, looking at the familiar scenery before him, and asked, “Is this also within the Thousand Lakes region?”
Chang Shui gave him a thumbs up, “I didn’t expect you to notice it so quickly.”
“The grass and water look the same.”
“The Thousand Lakes is composed of over a thousand lakes, and more than half of our tribe’s territory belongs to the Thousand Lakes.”
“That sounds really big.”
Now that they had arrived at their destination, the beastmen and sub-beastmen dispersed, going in groups to hunt or gather.
Bai Wu and Chang Shui walked together.
Beneath the wild grass was mostly swamp.
From mid-air, the grass below was lush and green, a beautiful sight.
Only when Bai Wu walked in the middle did he realize how difficult the swamp was to traverse; almost every step left a crater, and if you accidentally stepped into particularly soft mud, you couldn’t pull your foot out.
After walking for a while, Bai Wu had to bend down and feel his shoes in the mud several times before finally taking off his animal-hide shoes, throwing them into his basket, and walking barefoot.
Chang Shui asked, “Tired of walking?”
“Not bad.”
“If you’re tired, we can talk. You can ask anything you want, whether it’s about our territory or the Night Howling tribe.”
“I’ve actually had a question that’s been bothering me for a long time.”
“What is it?”
“The origin of your name.”
“Oh, there’s a great river that flows through the middle of Thousand Lakes, have you seen it?”
“And?”
“That great river is called the Chang Shui River. It brings us everything we need. My dad hoped I could be like the Chang Shui River, so he named me Chang Shui.”
Bai Wu nodded, then suddenly remembered, “Did the Chang Shui River originate from our tribe?”
“It should originate from the Beastman tribe upstream of your tribe, and flows through your tribe.”
“Our terrain is high in the south and low in the north?”
“Should be?” Chang Shui smiled. He was about to say something, when suddenly his ears twitched, and he listened intently to the sounds ahead.
Seeing his expression, Bai Wu held her breath, standing still and mouthing, “What’s wrong?”
Chang Shui answered silently, “There’s prey.”
Bai Wu’s spirits lifted, his eyes fixed intently ahead.
Ahead was a patch of wild grass, still and silent.
Bai Wu could neither see nor hear what was within the grass.
Chang Shui listened intently for a moment, then suddenly leaped upwards, transforming into a giant gray bird in mid-air, flapping its wings and flying into the grass.
He moved with incredible speed; Bai Wu only saw a blur before he was already more than ten meters away.
Bai Wu squinted.
The wind whipped by Chang Shui’s wings swayed the grass, and Bai Wu could see grayish-white shadows in the undergrowth.
Chang Shui pressed down as if pressing down on something. The thing struggled fiercely, and a muffled quacking came from the grass, “Quack—quack—”
No way?
Bai Wu froze.
There were ducks here?!
Bai Wu took off running, but before he could even stumble over to Chang Shui, Chang Shui transformed back into human form, standing up with a prey in each hand, and smiled at Bai Wu.
The prey in his hands was still quacking.
Bai Wu stared at the prey.
They looked somewhat like ducks, but much larger, at least half a person’s height when lifted.
They looked more like geese than ducks. Chang Shui met Bai Wu’s gaze, held up the prey, and waved it. “This is a Gaga beast unique to our territory. They nested here, and we unexpectedly stumbled upon them.”
Bai Wu stood in front of the Gaga beast. “Does it bite?”
“Yes. Look at its mouth, there’s three rows of sharp teeth inside. Its bite hurts a lot. Its saliva is also poisonous; if you’re accidentally bitten, the wound will be red and swollen.”
“That’s quite formidable.”
“It’s alright. Even if you get bitten, it’s just a minor injury, much weaker than damage caused by other wild animals. Come and take a look; their nest should be nearby. Maybe we can find their eggs.”
Bai Wu walked over, and following Chang Shui’s directions, used a stick to part the grass, searching along the Gaga beast’s footprints. Soon enough, he found five fist-sized, bluish-gray eggs.
Bai Wu touched the eggshells; they were still warm, clearly indicating the Gaga beast was incubating them.
Bai Wu’s eyes lit up. “Can the Gaga beasts fly?”
“They don’t fly very high, why?”
“I want to raise them!”
“Why raise them? Just catch them in the wild when you want to eat them, right? Besides, their meat is tough and has a fishy smell. It’s not as tender as other birds’ meat. They’re just big, and not very tasty.”
“Our tribe doesn’t have any. I want to take them back and keep them. How about I trade you something for these two Gaga beasts and this nest of eggs?”
Chang Shui was intrigued. “Didn’t you bring nothing?”
Bai Wu pointed to his head. “It’s all inside my head. Have you ever eaten salted eggs?”
“Huh? Eggs with lots of salt?”
“No, they’re pickled eggs.”
“Never heard of that.”
“Then how about I trade you my pickled egg recipe for some Gaga beasts? I see you’ve collected quite a few bird eggs; they might not keep well, right?”
“Good things don’t need to be eaten in time! No need to trade, you’re a friend of our tribe, these two Gaga are a gift for you.” Chang Shui smiled, “I’ll tie them up with vines and give them to you when we get back.”
“That won’t do. I have to teach you how to pickle salted eggs. Pickling them not only increases their shelf life but also gives them a special aroma; you’ll know once you taste them.”
Chang Shui finally stopped refusing.
The Night Howling tribe’s territory has many lakes and abundant grass, so there are a lot of bird eggs.
When Bai Wu returned, he observed that each of the beastmen and sub-beastmen who came out to hunt and gather had a basket almost half full of eggs.
With so many eggs, it’s impossible to consume them all in a short time.
Bai Wu didn’t believe these people didn’t know how to preserve bird eggs.
Chang Shui was just too good at talking; even though it was an exchange, he still owed him a favor.
Bai Wu sighed quietly, realizing for the first time that his interpersonal skills still needed improvement.
In the evening, after everyone returned to the Night Howling Clan’s village,
Chang Shui said to Bai Wu, “I’ll tie up the GaGa Beasts for you and keep them safe. You can take them back when you go. Forget about the GaGa Beast eggs; the place is so far, they’ll be ruined by the time you fly back carrying them.”
“Okay, are these two GaGa Beasts male and female? Will they lay eggs later?”
“Yes. They’re a pair, no need to wait later, they’ll lay eggs next month. If you want baby GaGa Beasts, I’ll go catch a few more for you in the next couple of days.”
“No need, no need, these two are enough.”
Bai Wu watched as Chang Shui tied up the GaGa Beasts and carried them under a tree to keep them temporarily, realizing it was now his turn to help.
He followed and asked, “Do you have any Jiji grass and quxing grass? I need half a basket.”
Chang Shui smiled. “These two are enough?”
“Also, give me a jar of salt and an unused earthenware pot or jar. Oh, and a basket of mud and a basket of bird eggs, plus an earthenware jar. The largest bird egg shouldn’t be larger than a Gaga beast’s egg.”
“Okay, I’ll go get them for you now.”
After dinner, everything Bai Wu needed arrived.
A group of Night Howling tribe members surrounded Bai Wu, looking at him curiously.
Bai Wu asked the Night Howling tribe members to light a fire, then placed the old earthenware pot on it and poured in a whole jar of salt.
“Wow—” A collective gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.
“Wu, can salt be fried and eaten?”
“It can’t be eaten alone.”
Bai Wu smiled and threw in the Jiji grass and quxing grass as well, frying the salt with a wooden spatula.
As the earthenware pot heated up, the aroma of the jiji grass and quxing grass was released.
Once the jiji grass and during grass wilted, Bai Wu removed them and added fresh herbs.
He patiently stir-fried them for most of the night until the pot of salt was golden brown and fragrant.
The onlookers watched him curiously, unwilling to go home to sleep even though it was late.
Taking advantage of the crowd, Bai Wu asked them to mix in some clay, making it slightly wetter than when making pottery.
Without a word, everyone mixed a pile of clay for him.
Bai Wu poured the fried salt into the clay and mixed it again.
The surrounding people were astonished.
Someone couldn’t help but exclaim, “Isn’t this a waste?”
“Are we going to boil mud to eat?!”
Bai Wu didn’t even look up. “No, we’re not boiling mud. This mud is used to wrap bird eggs.”
He demonstrated, thickly coating the bird eggs with wet mud. “That’s it. After wrapping, put them in a ceramic jar, fill it up, and then seal the opening with leaves and mud.”
“And then?”
Bai Wu smiled. “Then you can eat them after a month.”