Wild Scallions
Ta, feeling obligated to help, reluctantly agreed to take his two younger cousins to Deer Mountain.
He claimed he was taking his cousins to scout the route first, and then bringing his partner later.
Bai Wu didn’t care about his reasons; as long as they could go, that was enough.
The next morning, Ta came to find them.
After forcibly getting a bowl of green rice noodles for breakfast at their house, he led them on their way.
Deer Mountain was in the southwest, and quite far from their tribe, but not outside their territory. There were beastmen hunting nearby, so safety was relatively assured.
The three brothers set off from the tribe with Ta leading the way, flying southwest.
Shortly after leaving the tribe, Bai Wu looked at the unfamiliar hills below, high and low, and flew past the snow-white, damp clouds beside his wings. His spirits lifted, and he let out a few clear cries, tumbling and flying through the misty clouds.
An, beside him, gave a few warning calls, telling him not to waste his energy.
Bai Wu was extremely excited, ceasing its chirping but still frolicking happily.
It had been a long time since he had flown so freely.
An shook his head, his fluffy bird face clearly saying, “You’re going to die,” glanced at him, then flapped its wings and caught up with his cousin.
Bai Wu didn’t understand his brother’s little expression and continued to fly joyfully.
Along the way, beautiful scenery was plentiful, but good moods were rare.
Halfway through the flight, Bai Wu’s wing roots slowly began to ache, and because of the thin air, he had to gasp for breath with every flight. Only then did he understand why his brother had told him to take it easy.
Damn.
Being a bird isn’t easy!
Bai Wu was completely listless. He flapped his wings listlessly, and used the air currents created by his brother ahead to glide forward slowly and weakly.
Ta, seeing them from the front, cried out, folded its wings, and slowly descended with his two cousins.
They landed in a forest at the foot of the mountain, intending to rest their wings there.
Bai Wu transformed back into human form, straightened its feathered skirt, put down the basket on its back as a chair, and plopped down on it. He asked wearily, wiping away sweat, “How much further? This is too hard to fly!”
Ta said, “We’ll be there after flying over two more mountains.”
Bai Wu leaned back against a tree trunk and wailed, “Two more mountains! It’s like a bird dying from looking at mountains!”
An patted his back, “Say something strange again.”
Ta looked at him sympathetically, “If I didn’t have a lover, I’d carry you.”
Beastmen usually only carry mates and children on their backs, so Ta was helpless now.
Bai Wu leaned back and sighed, “Let’s rest a bit longer.”
After Bai Wu had rested enough, the three of them took off again.
Bai Wu dared not act recklessly again, and obediently used the air currents created by his two brothers to fly slowly.
After leaving the tribe, Bai Wu was surrounded by dark green mountains and fields with fluffy white clouds around him and a clear blue sky above.
Although flying was tiring, Bai Wu felt very relaxed looking at the scenery.
As the sun passed its zenith, they finally arrived at Deer Mountain.
Deer Mountain consisted of a range of mountains.
The lower mountain ranges stretched endlessly, each higher than the last, with the highest peak even capped with snow that never melted.
They landed on the summit of one of the lower mountains and began climbing while carrying baskets on their backs.
The vegetation on this mountain was sparse, and they could see the withered yellow leaves at the bottom, which rustled underfoot.
They walked along the ridge, seeing many mushrooms along the way.
Bai Wu only picked the mushrooms he recognized. An, standing nearby, would occasionally pick any that had slipped through his net and put them in his basket.
Bai Wu would then carefully identify and remember the characteristics of these mushrooms, so that he could collect them all in his basket the next time he picked them.
There were many mushrooms here, and also a lot of green roots.
Ta was strong and carrying a stone hoe, he dug up the green roots one by one, quickly filling half a basket.
They also discovered a kind of noodle-like fruit commonly eaten in the tribe. It was soft and chewy when cooked, and a bite revealed its fragrant and sweet taste.
“There’s so much food here!” Bai Wu dug up a green root from the ground, wiped his sweat, and put it in his basket. “I wonder if Father can bring back some meat tonight. It would be great to cook noodles with it.”
“If there’s no meat, smoked meat will do. Didn’t you say smoked meat is especially delicious?”
“It’s delicious, but it’s still a little inferior to fresh meat.”
“Anyway, as long as there’s something to eat. Let’s go, let’s keep going, we’ll go home once the basket is full.”
Bai Wu nodded, grabbing the tree trunk to start climbing.
They were standing on the hillside, and the fallen leaves below were very slippery. Bai Wu turned, lost his balance, and slipped.
This happened so suddenly!
Before anyone could react, Bai Wu was dragged down by the heavy basket and fell straight down.
“Ah!”
Bai Wu’s eyes widened, and he reached out to grab the tree trunk, trying to steady himself.
He was tall and thin, but the basket on his back was full and heavy. As the basket dragged him downhill, he couldn’t find his balance.
Bai Wu’s hands only left three scratches on the tree bark before he and the basket tumbled down the bank amidst screams.
The contents of the basket spilled out, and the basket was flattened.
It all happened in an instant.
An, standing behind him, took several steps forward, reaching out to pull him back, but it was too late.
Bai Wu had already tumbled and rolled down more than ten meters.
Ta reacted quickly and grabbed An, otherwise An would have fallen too.
Bai Wu’s ears were ringing; he couldn’t hear anything.
He tumbled downwards. Countless blades of grass and shrubs hit him, leaving bloody welts. In the uncontrollable momentum, he tried to grab onto something, but instead of regaining his balance, he cut his palms, leaving them bleeding profusely.
Bai Wu quickly realized this wouldn’t do. He desperately covered his head with his hands and curled up to protect his head and torso.
After tumbling for dozens of meters, he finally managed to steady himself on a relatively gentle slope.
Oh my god!
He thought he was going to die here!
Bai Wu couldn’t move for a moment. He lay there, panting and staring at the small patch of sky peeking through the trees.
An scrambled down the slope, frantically patting his body, his voice trembling with fear, “Wu, are you alright?!”
“I’m fine.” Bai Wu lay on his back on the gentle slope, feeling pain all over his body. He tried to vomit in three gulps, afraid that vomiting too quickly would aggravate his wounds and cause him further suffering.
Ta arrived too. “Wu, how are you? I’ll take you back first.”
After recovering a bit, Bai Wu slowly moved his limbs for a moment, grimacing as he said, “I’m fine, it’s just superficial wounds.”
Ta checked him over and, seeing that he was truly unharmed, plopped down on the ground. “You scared me to death! If you were seriously injured, Mo would have beaten me to death.”
Bai Wu, panting slightly, said, “Don’t worry, if Father really beats you, I’ll plead for you.”
After resting for a while, the group checked him again. Bai Wu’s injuries were most severe in three places: his back, thigh, and calf.
Especially his thigh, where a branch had deeply pierced through the skin, revealing the muscle underneath.
All the wounds were still bleeding.
Ta glanced at the wound and immediately said, “This injury is too deep. I’ll go gather some herbs. You all rest here.”
“Wait,” Bai Wu gasped, enduring the pain, and asked, “Won’t the smell of blood attract wild beasts?”
“There aren’t any wild beasts nearby. I’ll fly over and be right back. Don’t be afraid,” Ta said. “An, use some grass stems to tie Wu up.”
An said anxiously, “I know, go quickly!”
Ta nodded, transformed into a giant white bird, crashed through the tree branches overhead, and flew away.
Bai Wu lay on the fallen leaves, looking at the crushed mushrooms scattered everywhere, and said with heartache, “All that work for nothing today.”
“Still worried about food? Your wounds are more important.”
“I’m already injured, there’s no point in saying anything more.” Bai Wu nudged him, “An, why don’t you pick up the mushrooms and green roots?”
“No way.” An said irritably, “What’s the point of picking them up? If it weren’t for these wretched green roots, we wouldn’t have come to this unfamiliar forest.”
Bai Wu forced a smile, “It’s all my fault, Ta meant well.”
An rolled his eyes, “It’s also my fault, I didn’t keep an eye on you.”
The two brothers waited where they were.
An couldn’t stay idle, so he finally took Bai Wu’s flattened basket and repaired it, temporarily weaving the torn parts with sturdy grass stems.
Bai Wu watched him finish repairing the basket and then bring back the nearby mushrooms and green roots. He turned his head and smiled.
“Still laughing?” An glared at him. “Even the kids in the tribe who can’t stand properly aren’t as clumsy as you.”
“I’ll be careful next time.”
“You want a next time?”
“Ouch, my finger hurts so much, did I break my nail?”
An’s attention was instantly drawn to him. He grabbed his hand to check. “Three nails are broken. We’ll apply the medicine together later.”
While the two were talking, Ta returned with a bunch of green herbs. “I brought back the herbs, only found spicy herbs. Apply this first.”
An nodded. He looked around but couldn’t find a stone to use to break the herbs, and took the spicy herbs to put them in his mouth.
Bai Wu snatched the herbs away. “I’ll do it myself!”
He couldn’t accept putting herbs that someone else had chewed on his wound, not even herbs his own brother had chewed!
Before anyone could object, Bai Wu hurriedly put the herbs in his mouth. One chew, and a spicy, bitter taste shot straight to the top of his head.
The taste was so familiar. Bai Wu’s face changed instantly.
This thing—it tastes like scallions?!
Bai Wu quickly pulled the half-chewed herb from his mouth and looked at it, only to be shocked to see that the herb was actually a clump of scallions!
Slender, bright green wild scallions!
He never expected that what he had been searching for so long would appear so easily; the seasoning he had been looking for had actually appeared here.
“Scallions! What Chinese person doesn’t know the taste of scallions?”
Bai Wu looked at the scallion in his hand, almost moved to tears.
He was a scallion enthusiast!
“What’s wrong?” An’s expression changed. “This herb isn’t right?”
Ta leaned over to look at the spicy herb in his hand, his voice tightening. “Did I pick the wrong one? This is a hemostatic herb!”
“No,” Bai Wu grimaced from the spiciness of the scallion. “I just remembered this stuff is edible.”
“What situation is it, and you’re still thinking about food!” An hadn’t expected his focus to be on this. He reached out and snatched the scallion from his hand. “You can’t chew it, I’ll chew it for you.”
“I can!” Bai Wu, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, quickly dodged An’s hand, stuffed the scallion’s green parts into his mouth, chewed them, and applied them to his wounds.
In this world, there were no anti-inflammatory drugs; he had to apply herbal medicine to prevent infection and inflammation.