After finally making it up the mountain, Su Mingyue deliberately slowed her pace, intentionally allowing some distance to grow between herself and the older women and aunties who had come up the mountain with her. Only after she had gotten far away from the group and reached a deserted place did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
It had to be said that the aunties and older women in this village were simply too enthusiastic! Their simple and genuine affection was a kind of strong human warmth that Su Mingyue had never experienced in the distant interstellar world.
However, this excessive enthusiasm did not annoy Su Mingyue. On the contrary, deep down, she actually quite liked this kind of atmosphere.
After resting for a while, Su Mingyue concentrated and released her powerful mental energy, carefully scanning her surroundings.
Very soon, she “discovered” a pheasant hidden deep in a patch of grass. Unfortunately, her current mental power was not strong enough to directly attack the pheasant. But if she approached it, she was afraid that the highly alert bird would be startled and escape.
So Su Mingyue bent down and picked up a stone from the ground. Then, with a sudden swing of her arm, she hurled the stone with all her strength.
The stone struck the pheasant precisely in its slender neck. The heavy blow made its head jerk to one side, and it immediately collapsed heavily to the ground.
After successfully landing the hit, Su Mingyue did not dare relax in the slightest. She once again used her mental power to quickly scan the surrounding area.
After confirming that there was no one nearby and no potential danger, Su Mingyue hurried over to the pheasant and picked it up. Using the cover of the basket on her back, she quietly put the pheasant into her spatial storage.
Having made a catch, Su Mingyue was extremely happy. Although there was not much expression on her face, her lively eyes were filled with delight. This catch would not only satisfy her appetite, but also strengthen her mental power. It was truly killing two birds with one stone!
In high spirits, Su Mingyue did not stop. Instead, she continued using her mental power to scan and search the surrounding area. Unfortunately, despite searching with all her concentration, she failed to discover anything else.
Perhaps it was because the weather was still cold. Most of the adorable little animals were probably still hiding inside their warm nests and had yet to come out.
Still, even though she had no further harvest, Su Mingyue was not discouraged in the slightest.
After all, the mountain before her was vast and enormous. As long as she successfully raised her mental power by another two levels, she would have enough confidence to venture deeper into the mountains in search of more prey.
Even if she could not catch any large predators, there would surely be far more small animals deep in the mountains than in the outer areas. Moreover, judging from the progress she was currently making, once she raised her mental power by another two levels, even if she unfortunately encountered a large animal, she would have no trouble escaping unscathed.
Thinking of this, hope once again burned in Su Mingyue’s heart. She gazed firmly toward the mysterious, deep mountain forest in the distance.
As long as there were small animals, restoring her mental power to 3S rank would be just around the corner. By then, these deep mountains would be like her own backyard. Even if she encountered a tiger, a bear, or some other large animal, she would not be afraid. She could even have a little “in-depth communication” with those large animals.
Su Mingyue turned her gaze toward the deep mountains ahead. Just thinking about the little animals inside made her mouth water again. She swallowed and, thinking about the pheasant in her space, happily turned around and headed back the way she had come.
When Su Mingyue reached the place where she had parted ways with the aunties, she did not dare relax at all and kept her mental power activated.
In her mind, it was as though a clear topographical map had appeared. Every subtle rise and fall of the terrain, the location of every tree, and every corner where danger might be hiding were all clearly visible.
She was especially cautious about venomous snakes and other poisonous creatures that might appear. Although most venomous snakes were hibernating at this time of year, she was still worried that she might accidentally disturb a snake that had awakened during winter.
Taking advantage of the aunties being engrossed in lively conversation and paying no attention to her, Su Mingyue quietly approached them like a ghost.
She moved carefully, doing her best not to make a sound, and successfully reached a spot not far from the aunties. Then she quickly crouched down and imitated their movements, beginning to gather firewood from the ground.
As time passed, the basket on Su Mingyue’s back gradually filled up. When she felt that it was more or less full, she straightened up, waved to the aunties, and called out loudly, “Aunties, I’ve picked up just about enough! I’m heading home first!”
With that, she turned around and walked briskly down the mountain.
After returning home, Su Mingyue went straight into the kitchen and placed the basket on the ground. Then she reached both hands inside.
At the same time, she concentrated and sent her consciousness into her spatial storage. A moment later, a pheasant suddenly appeared in her hands, as though it had been hiding inside the basket all along.
Only Su Mingyue knew that the pheasant had actually been taken out of her space.
To prevent anyone from discovering the existence of her space, Su Mingyue had gone to great lengths and was extremely cautious about everything she did.
She knew very well that if the existence of this space were exposed, it would bring her endless trouble and even danger. Therefore, no matter what she did, she always thought things through carefully in advance, making sure there would be no mistakes.
Su Mingyue placed the pheasant in the kitchen first. Su Qingfeng was not at home at the moment; he had gone into the village to play with his friends.
Looking at the pheasant in front of her, Su Mingyue began thinking about how to prepare it. She carefully recalled the steps Grandma Su had used when cleaning a chicken and began imitating them one by one.
First, she boiled some water. Once the water was boiling, she placed the chicken in a basin and poured the boiling water over the pheasant. After letting it sit for a while, she began plucking its feathers. Once all the feathers had been removed, she chopped the chicken into evenly sized pieces and then washed the pieces thoroughly with warm water.
Next, Su Mingyue placed the thoroughly cleaned chicken into the pot and added an appropriate amount of water.
Then she skillfully lit the fire beneath the stove. The flames immediately roared to life, and soon the water in the pot was boiling vigorously. At that moment, she quickly grabbed the prepared scallions and ginger and tossed them into the pot.
As time passed, the water in the pot began boiling again. Su Mingyue then sprinkled in a little salt, allowing the flavor to seep into the chicken.
Once all these steps were complete, she gently adjusted the heat, turning the high flame down to low. She then began slowly simmering the pot of delicious chicken soup.