The wild boar was enormous, even with everyone eating their fill, they couldn’t finish it.
Xiong Xuan split the wild boar in half down the middle and said: “Cook half of it first. Keep the other half for tonight, or we can make it into dried meat.”
Lu Xuan was rubbing salt onto the fish. Hearing this, he said: “First, take one leg bone and make soup. Also, save the inner tenderloin.”
Tian Xuan asked in confusion: “What is the inner tenderloin?”
Lu Xuan pointed to the area inside the pig’s spine: “That long, strip-shaped piece of meat closest to the kidney, it’s the most tender.”
Tian Xuan cut it out and brought it to Lu Xuan: “For you.”
Lu Xuan was busy curing the fish. Hearing this, he looked up and laughed: “Just set it aside for now. I’ll get to it when I’m done.”
Tian Xuan placed it next to him and asked again: “What else do you need?”
Lu Xuan thought for a moment: “Can you find any wild eggs?”
Tian Xuan: “I’ll try.”
With that, he stood up and headed toward the forest. He had already stopped using the wooden leg splint, but his walking posture still showed a slight limp.
Lu Xuan was a little worried: “Your leg isn’t fully healed yet. How about letting Xiong Qi or the others go instead?”
He just wanted to make stir-fried tenderloin and needed egg whites to marinate the meat. But it wasn’t essential, the seasonings were already far from complete anyway.
Tian Xuan said in a deep voice: “It’s fine. I don’t need my legs.”
Lu Xuan simply said: “Wait a moment for me. I’ll put these fish in the basin, then go with you.”
Tian Xuan lowered his gaze: “Just wait here. The forest might be unsafe.”
Lu Xuan quickly put the fish into the basin to cure, then washed his hands with the freshly warmed water.
He walked over to Tian Xuan, stood on tiptoe, patted him on the shoulder, and said: “It’s fine. We won’t go far, just nearby. I’ll see if I can find any wild vegetables or something.”
Tian Xuan glanced at him, then walked into the forest.
Lu Xuan followed behind carrying a soft vine basket. Since they would be living nearby, he wanted to carefully search for anything edible.
During the days of rushing along the way, he hadn’t had the chance to look seriously.
If possible, he would dig up the roots and plant them.
The vegetation here was extremely lush and dense, it was practically uninhabited land. Even a random unknown weed could reach knee height.
Lu Xuan dodged a branch hanging down from a tree, then paused and stepped back.
The stem was blackish-brown, long, and growing horizontally. The edges of the leaves curled inward.
Was this bracken?
Bracken this tall?
Bracken generally grew to about one meter in height. This one looked like it was one and a half meters.
Still, it looked quite tender. Lu Xuan enthusiastically began picking the bracken. In his mind, he had already planned out how to cook it: first, stir-fry a plate of bracken with pork belly, then a cold dish.
The clump next to the root looked very familiar. Lu Xuan crouched down for a closer look, and his eyes lit up. Isn’t this wild garlic?
“Tian Xuan…”
His voice was soft. He had been about to ask if Tian Xuan had brought any tools, but when he saw Tian Xuan looking back at him empty-handed, Lu Xuan smiled and said: “Never mind.”
Tian Xuan still walked over. Seeing the sub-beastman’s slender white fingers about to dig into the black soil, he reached out and held Lu Xuan’s smooth, delicate wrist.
“Let me dig.”
Lu Xuan said sheepishly: “I was going to ask if you had any tools, but I saw you didn’t bring anything… I didn’t mean to make you dig for me.”
“Mm. How do you want to dig it? Do you want the root?”
Lu Xuan was very strict about digging herbs. Tian Xuan wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with that clump on the ground.
“Yes, root and leaves together.”
Lu Xuan’s eyes sparkled. This was garlic! With garlic in hand, he believed it was only a matter of time before he found other seasonings.
Tian Xuan transformed one hand into a bear claw. He struck once, opening half a hole, and lifted the whole clump of wild garlic, every single root and bulb intact, not one garlic clove damaged.
“…” Lu Xuan was amazed: “You’re really impressive.”
Tian Xuan put the wild garlic into the basket on Lu Xuan’s back, then moved the basket onto his own back.
“Anything else you want to dig?”
Lu Xuan: “No, but I need to pick all this bracken.”
Tian Xuan then placed the vine basket back on the ground. He said: “There are signs of small animal activity nearby. There shouldn’t be any large beasts around the forest. I’ll go ahead a little, just within your line of sight. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
After picking half a basket of bracken, Lu Xuan also spotted wild chestnuts. They were about the same size as the varieties from his previous life, already fully ripe, with many fallen on the ground.
He picked up the ones that hadn’t rotted yet. After checking all around, he had gathered quite a few. As for the ones still on the trees, he left them, there weren’t many left anyway.
“Lu Xuan! Tian Xuan! Come back and eat the roasted meat!”
“Coming!”
Hearing Xiong Yue’s shout, Lu Xuan gave up on going deeper. Tian Xuan, not far ahead, also turned around at that moment.
In one hand, he carried a wild pheasant, in the other, he held three eggs. He walked over to Lu Xuan in a few steps, placed the items into the basket, and lifted it.
“Let’s go.”
When the two emerged from the forest, the aroma of roasting meat hit them. The meat on the rack sizzled over the fire.
“Why are you two picking wild vegetables at a time like this?” Xiong Yue didn’t understand at all. With such a huge wild boar, why would anyone still want to eat wild vegetables?
Lu Xuan smiled and said: “Today, I’ll make you two new dishes.”
Xiong Yue immediately put down the meat he had been roasting and came over to Lu Xuan: “What dishes? The wild pheasant Tian Xuan caught?”
“Of course not. It’s the bracken, wild chestnuts, and wild garlic that I picked. Just wait and eat.”
Seeing Xiong Yue frown at the sight of greenery, Lu Xuan didn’t say more. He would find out once the food was ready.
Lu Xuan kept only the tenderest parts of the bracken. He washed some of the garlic leaves and cloves. While he was washing them by the water, Tian Xuan walked over.
“What do you need me to do?”
Lu Xuan looked up, his brows curving into a smile: “Then slice the tenderloin into thin pieces, and also cut some pork belly, the meat with alternating layers of fat and lean.”
Tian Xuan turned and went to slice the meat, without saying an extra word.
Lu Xuan suddenly remembered and added: “Coat the tenderloin pieces with egg white and massage them, marinate them for a bit.”
Heat the iron pot, add two pieces of fat meat to render the oil. When enough oil is released, scoop a little into a bowl. Then add the garlic cloves, stir-fry a couple of times, add the pork belly. It was a pity there was no soy sauce for color.
Finally, add the bracken, stir-fry until cooked, then plate.
Rinse the oil pot with clean water, then add the reserved oil and stir-fry the garlic leaves with the tenderloin.
The seasonings were few. Having eaten mostly roasted meat and meat soup, these two stir-fried dishes made a nice change of flavor.
The portions were small. Among four beastmen, three sub-beastmen, and three cubs, each person got only two bites.
Since the cubs were small, they got a little more.
Xiong Yue licked his lips: “Make these again tonight.”
“There’s no more tenderloin.”
Lu Xuan also felt unsatisfied. If only they had some rice, and a tomato egg drop soup to go with it.
After eating and drinking their fill, they rested in place for an hour. The cubs were still sleeping. The beastmen prepared to go out and find a place to set up camp. Tian Xuan stayed behind to protect the sub-beastmen and cubs because of his leg injury.
Xiong Yue instructed them: “Also look for a place where we can get salt. Our salt is almost gone.”
Xiong Xuan’s brow lowered: “If it comes to it, we’ll have to take the risk of trading with other beastmen.”
After they left, Lu Xuan was just about to take Xiong Yue to search the edge of the forest for more bracken, everyone had been won over by the pork belly stir-fried with bracken, when suddenly:
“Who is the priest?”
A beastman with fiery red long hair appeared before them, carrying a sub-beastman horizontally in his arms.
Tian Xuan instantly transformed into a black bear and growled at him in warning.
The red-haired beastman stepped back, lowering his posture considerably: “My name is Xing Chi. My beast form is a red-haired orangutan. I need your priest to save my mate. His name is Xue Rong, a rabbit-form sub-beastman. He has a high fever and is unconscious.”
The two sides faced off for a while. Under Tian Xuan’s protection, Lu Xuan moved closer to them.
Xue Rong’s cheeks were flushed bright red from fever. His lips were cracked and had traces of blood.
A piece of animal hide was wrapped around his right calf, from which a faint unpleasant smell emanated.
Lu Xuan wanted to unwrap the hide to examine him, but Xing Chi moved away.
He said in a low voice: “His calf was bitten by a wild beast. I have been taking good care of it. You just need to break his fever and wake him up.”
Lu Xuan frowned: “I need to examine his wound in order to treat him according to his actual condition.”
There was already a smell, the wound had definitely become infected and was suppurating.
Xing Chi hesitated. Lu Xuan turned directly and picked four large ear-shaped leaves, spreading them on an open patch of ground.
His expression calm and serious, he said: “Lay him flat here. Your hesitation only delays his treatment. Since you came to me, I hope you trust me.”
Lu Xuan’s composed demeanor influenced Xing Chi. He laid his mate flat on the leaves.
Lu Xuan quickly unwrapped the hide from Xue Rong’s leg. A foul smell hit his face.
His expression remained calm, without a trace of superfluous emotion. The wound, about fifteen centimeters long, was indeed suppurating and turning black, and the infection was spreading to the surrounding skin.
He said to Xing Chi: “His fever is caused by the wound infection. I need to drain the pus from the wound right now.”
With that, he took out some Iron Arhat, a medicinal herb, squeezed out its juice, and applied it around the wound.
“After the pus is drained, the black, necrotic flesh around it needs to be cut away. This herb is called Iron Arhat, it can relieve pain.”
Iron Arhat originally grew on mountain slopes at altitudes of 3500 meters. Lu Xuan didn’t know why it could be found here. He had dug up his only three plants and carefully carried them with him, hoping to try planting them once they settled down.
Now, one less plant remained.
Tian Xuan, having transformed back to human form, automatically found the hemostatic herbs and began pounding them. Over the past half month or so, their group had learned to recognize many herbs and their effects under Lu Xuan’s guidance.
Lu Xuan never hid anything from them when using herbs to treat wounds. Just like now, what herb he used, what effect it had, how he treated the wound, he explained everything clearly.
After treating the wound, applying the medicine, and administering a fever-reducing herbal dose, Lu Xuan took the animal hide Tian Xuan handed him and wiped the sweat from his face.
Then, he portioned out the necessary herbs and said to Xing Chi: “His leg should not touch water for now. I’ve prepared all the herbs you need. When they run out, you can find more yourself. Once his body temperature returns to normal, stop giving him the fever-reducing herbs. The medicine for the leg wound should be used continuously. When the wound scabs over and new flesh begins to grow, you can reduce the amount, just apply less.”
Lu Xuan explained the properties, effects, and precautions for treating the injury to Xing Chi one by one.
Since carrying herbs was inconvenient, he had only dug up and brought along the rarer ones. He didn’t have many of the common herbs.
Xing Chi was stunned, his face full of bewilderment: “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Huh?”
Lu Xuan was equally confused: “If I don’t tell you, how will you take care of him?”
Xing Chi: “Don’t I need to come every day?”
Lu Xuan scratched his head: “That won’t be necessary. Can’t remember what I said? Should I say it again?”
They might not even be here by nightfall. Where would this red-haired beastman find him then?
Tian Xuan looked thoughtful. He asked Xing Chi: “Do you live near here?”
Xing Chi’s expression instantly turned wary: “Why are you asking?”