Beast Egg
Lang Zhan nodded. “Yes.”
He glanced at the sweat on Bai Lou’s face and the branch in his hand, leading the way while asking, “Can a branch survive?”
Bai Lou didn’t dare to give a guarantee. He hadn’t learned how to plant trees, and he’d only heard about the effects of the spiritual spring water. So, when Lang Zhan asked, his voice carried a hint of unease.
“It should be… right?”
Lang Zhan noticed this, and glanced back at him. Bai Lou’s eyes flickered for a moment, and Lang Zhan didn’t ask further.
As they walked, Bai Lou seemed to hear the sound of flowing water. Curious, he asked, “Is there a mountain spring?” He was a little thirsty, and a mountain spring should be cool, right?
“Yes.” Lang Zhan didn’t say much, quickening his pace to their destination.
It was a small mountain spring, only about three meters in diameter. The water wasn’t deep, but the volume seemed considerable, flowing into a small stream below.
Bai Lou cheered, put down the branch he was holding, ran to the mountain spring, washed his hands, splashed some water to rinse them away, and then scooped up a handful and drank.
The mountain spring water was cool and slightly sweet, washing away most of the summer heat. Bai Lou contentedly squinted his eyes.
Lang Zhan wasn’t in a hurry to drink water, and the short distance was nothing to him. He walked around the neighborhood and returned with several eggs wrapped in a large leaf.
“Wow, what kind of eggs are these?” Bai Lou’s eyes widened. The eggs were of different sizes and colors. The smaller ones were larger than goose eggs from Blue Star, while the larger ones were twice as big.
“Cuckoo Beast eggs.” Lang Zhan placed the eggs at Bai Lou’s feet and washed his hands in the spring water himself.
“These are delicious, very tender and fragrant. You can roast them or boil them, you should like them.” Eggs are hard to find. Birds generally don’t lay eggs more than a few times a year, only the Cuckoo Beast lays them quite frequently.
There wasn’t a fixed nest, and the eggs were usually for the cubs and the female. He’d only learned of this place from a previous visit with his father. Lang Zhan hadn’t been here in a long time, and it took him a while to find it.
“I love it! I love it!” Bai Lou’s icy blue eyes were full of surprise. Eggs were good stuff, and tasted good no matter how they were cooked.
But what was a Cuckoo Beast? A chicken? These eggs didn’t look like they came from the same species.
“Can we catch a Cuckoo Beast alive? If we raise them, will we have eggs to eat regularly?” Bai Lou was thinking about raising chickens again.
He remembered that on Blue Star, Chinese people often said that Chinese people had a natural talent for farming in their genes. He suspected that this gene had also been passed on to cats. Perhaps it was because it was so poor here, now he wanted to grow and raise anything edible he saw.
Lang Zhan paused, hesitatingly asking, “Raise a Cuckoo Beast?”
He was beginning to feel curious about the White Cat Tribe. They had always lived by hunting, never thinking of planting trees or raising livestock. Was this the reason the small White Cat Tribe had survived?
Lang Zhan thought for a moment and replied, “We can catch them alive, but I don’t know if we can raise them. Raising one would require providing food every day, and they can fly, and don’t have a good temper.”
This was also why no one had considered raising them. The beasts on the Beastman Continent were all quite large, and providing them with food every day would be a considerable burden.
Moreover, it was usually the females who took care of the household, and even herbivores weren’t easy for females to deal with.
“They can fly?” Bai Lou stroked his chin. Pheasants could indeed fly. He’d have to make a cage then. He wondered how strong the Cuckoo Beast was, he’d have to see what kind of cage could hold it.
“How about catching one sometime?”
“Okay,” Lang Zhan readily agreed.
The meat of the Cuckoo Beast is tender, even if they can’t raise it, they can catch it for Bai Lou and Lang Tu to eat. However, it’s too small for wolf-like beastmen, so they generally don’t bother catching it.
Since Lang Zhan’s hands are inconvenient, Bai Lou has to carry the eggs and handle them. He doesn’t find it heavy at all, only beaming with joy. On the way down the mountain, he even found some scallions and garlic!
Now all he needs is ginger. Once he has ginger, at least he won’t have to worry about the fishy smell when cooking.
Finding so much in just one day, Bai Lou feels the forest is a treasure trove. As long as he digs diligently, he’ll eventually be able to live a life where he can have whatever he wants!
Back home, after putting everything down, Bai Lou, worried that the sun would be too strong and the lemon tree branches would wilt, dragged Lang Zhan to dig a hole by the stone wall without even resting.
He carried two large bamboo tubes to the riverbank and dug up two tubes of sand. While Lang Zhan wasn’t following, Bai Lou mixed some spiritual spring water into them.
They poured the sand into the dug pit, and together they planted the branches.
Thinking that it wouldn’t be safe to sneak two large heads of vegetables into their spatial dimension under Lang Zhan’s watchful eye, they simply directed Lang Zhan to dig a small vegetable patch, about 30 square meters—not much, just enough to plant some vegetables and save seeds for now.
After planting half of the vegetables they had brought back that day, Lang Zhan carried one and a half leafy greens to the priest. One-fifth of the harvested vegetables had to be handed over.
Wild vegetables and fruits were mostly handled by the females, so the priest was responsible for collecting and distributing them.
By the time they finished, sweat had soaked their animal-hide skirts. Lang Zhan was in the worst shape as he had been digging the soil the whole time, and without any suitable tools, he had to use his claws. Now, his snow-white animal-hide skirt was dusty and gray.
The two exchanged a glance, and Bai Lou couldn’t help but laugh. Looking at Bai Lou, now a little kitten, Lang Zhan’s usually cold eyes also flashed with a hint of amusement.
“Zhan, let’s go take a shower! Then come back and get some sleep. I’m so tired.”
Hearing Bai Lou’s words, Lang Zhan’s eyes flickered. “Okay.”
Carrying some wood ash, Bai Lou found a spot downstream far from the tribe. He unfastened the animal skin on his feet. It felt slippery underneath from sweating so much.
The rabbit fur inside was soaked with sweat. Bai Lou washed it and laid it to dry on a rock by the river.
Over there, Lang Zhan was squatting in the river cleaning his animal skin skirt. This was their own fur so it could only be created, and not removed for cleaning.
Bai Lou, barefoot, carefully avoided the sharp rocks and entered the river. The cool water covering his calves made him feel much better.
He squatted down and scooped up some water to wash his face. The river was a bit shallow, so Bai Lou found a clean rock, moved it over, and sat down, splashing water on his body.
The clear river water flowed over his fair skin, dripping down and splashing a few times on the surface.
Lang Zhan glanced at them a few times out of the corner of his eye, then quickly looked away.
After taking a nap, Bai Lou got up to check on the tree branch and vegetables he had planted. Perhaps because they had been watered with spiritual spring water, the plants were thriving.
Relieved, Bai Lou returned to his room and pretended to continue sleeping, while his soul entered the mall’s spatial dimension.
Unlike the sweltering heat outside, the temperature inside the space was pleasant. Bai Lou felt so comfortable upon entering that he didn’t want to leave.