Lu Shiyu watched as the snake-tailed chicken fell to the ground after being struck by the short arrow, twitching as it awaited death.
Shao Xingyang lowered the crossbow he was holding and shrugged at Lu Shiyu, who was looking at him. “You can’t blame me for this,” he said. “It was about to grab you.”
“I don’t blame you. Thank you.”
The two on the other side had also finished. Tang Zeyu flicked the blood off his blade before walking over.
“We’ve settled things on our end. Should we leave now?”
Yan Hong looked up at the nests in the trees and suddenly asked, “Do you think there are eggs in those nests?”
“There should be,” Lu Shiyu looked up as well. “The female snake-tailed chickens weren’t on the ground with the males earlier; they were probably incubating eggs.”
“How about we go grab a few?” Yan Hong suggested, adding before Lu Shiyu could speak, “Taking just a few won’t affect the whole population.”
“Alright then,” Lu Shiyu said. “Only a few.”
The task of climbing the tree to steal eggs was taken up by Yan Hong herself, since she was the lightest and most agile of the group. Her climbing speed was much faster than the others.
Yan Hong used both her hands and feet, moving up the tree with fluid motions. With each stretch and push, she reached the branches and leaned out to reach for the eggs in the nest.
Tang Zeyu stood guard to prevent the male snake-tailed chickens from suddenly returning. Lu Shiyu and Chen Yunliang held out a cloth below to catch the eggs Yan Hong threw down.
The technique for catching the eggs was crucial. If the cloth was pulled too tight, the eggs might shatter. If held too loosely, the cloth might slip due to inertia, causing the eggs to hit the ground and break. Therefore, while preparing, they had to keep the cloth slightly relaxed when pulled taut, and then gather it inward slightly at the moment the egg hit the cloth to help absorb the force and provide a cushion. This way, they could steadily ensure the safe landing of the snake-tailed chicken eggs.
They used this method to catch several eggs until Yan Hong had emptied two nests and was stopped by Lu Shiyu.
Lu Shiyu placed the caught eggs on the cloth on the ground and checked for cracks. When she picked one up, she discovered with surprise that the eggs were soft.
“Why are they soft?” Shao Xingyang pinched an egg. “Could these snake-tailed chickens have a calcium deficiency?”
“Sometimes chickens lay soft-shelled eggs. It might be because they were startled and laid them early,” but Lu Shiyu immediately dismissed this explanation. “But I don’t think these are premature soft-shelled eggs from being startled. It’s more like they were meant to be soft.”
Lu Shiyu checked all the eggs and confirmed they were all soft.
Chen Yunliang had a theory. “Maybe these aren’t chicken eggs, but snake eggs?”
“Snake eggs?”
“Yes. After all, snake-tailed chickens aren’t chickens in the conventional sense. They have snake tails, so it’s reasonable for their eggs to resemble snake eggs.”
Lu Shiyu thought about it; it was a possibility, though it challenged her perception of things. “Then… will these eggs eventually hatch into chickens or snakes?”
Chen Yunliang fell silent as well. “They should be snake-tailed chickens.”
Yan Hong climbed down the tree at that moment and said, “They won’t hatch into anything, because they are about to be eaten by us.”
Chen Yunliang held the sides of a snake egg with two fingers. “Don’t listen, little egg. That’s a bad review.”
“Alright, stop acting,” Yan Hong kicked Chen Yunliang. “Hurry up and pack. The roosters will be back soon.”
Everyone hurriedly packed up to leave. As Lu Shiyu wrapped the eggs in the cloth, she suddenly noticed the ants on the ground. These ants were the food for the snake-tailed chickens, and they were identical to the ants they had encountered last night.
“So that’s how it is!”
Lu Shiyu had a look of sudden realization, but before she could finish speaking, she was whisked away by Yan Hong and Tang Zeyu, her legs dangling uselessly in mid-air.
“Wait, wait! Put me down!”
“You’re too slow. By the time you walk yourself, the chickens on the ground will have woken up.” Yan Hong ignored Lu Shiyu’s protest.
Sure enough, just after they had walked a certain distance, a loud “woo-woo” sound echoed behind them. It was likely the returning male snake-tailed chickens discovering the dead females.
The calls of male and female snake-tailed chickens were similar but distinct. The male’s cry was loud and deafening, while the female’s volume wasn’t as great but was higher in frequency, making it audible from a great distance. That was why Yan Hong had heard them from so far away.
“What a pity. We killed them but forgot to pick them up. Otherwise, we could have had meat for dinner,” Yan Hong sighed deeply.
“Who said we forgot?” Tang Zeyu raised his other hand. A headless female snake-tailed chicken appeared before the three.
“Great! Chicken tonight! And snake-tailed chicken eggs!”
They discussed what to eat for dinner, having completely forgotten that a person was missing from the group.
A disheveled figure swayed toward them. The laughing group noticed something behind them. Thinking it was the male roosters catching up, they turned around only to find an exhausted man who looked remarkably like a zombie.
“Holy crap, this is biological mutation, where did a zombie come from?”
The “zombie” let out a few raspy sounds before finally managing to speak clearly. “Damn… you all screwed me over.”
Chen Yunliang spread his hands. “Sorry, I almost forgot you.”
Shao Xingyang: “…”
They clearly had forgotten.
The person being carried switched from Lu Shiyu to Shao Xingyang, whose legs had turned to jelly. Lu Shiyu took out the ant honey from her bag, scooped a spoonful into some water, and gave it to him to soothe his throat. Only after drinking the ant honey water did Shao Xingyang come back to life.
Although his body still lacked strength, he could at least speak. Shao Xingyang began to talk incessantly about how he had led the large flock of snake-tailed chickens away and subsequently escaped from their clutches.
The combat power of male snake-tailed chickens was higher, not lower, than the females. Shao Xingyang certainly couldn’t beat them in a fight, so he had been running almost the entire time. However, he couldn’t outrun them in a straight line, and the chickens could fly if he climbed trees. He could only shuttle back and forth between the tree trunks, zig-zagging to avoid the chickens’ sharp claws. His clothes were torn in several places; he looked utterly pathetic.
“However, for the sake of my teammates, no matter how hard it is, it’s worth it,” Shao Xingyang said, feigning a wipe of non-existent tears, his voice choking. “By the way, why did it take you all so long to walk over?”
“Oh, because we went to harvest snake-tailed chicken eggs.”
“What?!” Shao Xingyang had just lunged up but slid back down due to his weak legs. The indignation in his voice didn’t decrease one bit. “You’re telling me I fought with my life to buy you time, and you guys went to steal eggs!”
“Don’t be so agitated. Those eggs will end up in your stomach anyway.”
“Then I want to eat the most!” Shao Xingyang grit his teeth. “These are eggs I risked my life to earn!”
“Alright, alright, you’ll get the largest portion.” Yan Hong avoided Shao Xingyang’s gaze with a hint of guilt.
The sun was about to set, and they found a place to camp for the night.
Shao Xingyang lay flat on his back, letting Chen Yunliang use his ability on him. Lu Shiyu crouched nearby, watching quietly. This was the first time she had seen Chen Yunliang’s ability; it looked like a “healing type” from a novel. Under the effect of the ability, the wounds on Shao Xingyang’s body healed at a visible speed, scabbing over and then growing new flesh. Lu Shiyu found it very novel and intended to watch until Chen Yunliang had completely healed him.
“Lu Shiyu, it’s time to cook.” It was finally Yan Hong who came to urge her, and only then did Lu Shiyu remember she should be cooking now.
“Coming.”
Lu Shiyu briskly processed the snake-tailed chicken, scalding off the feathers. She discovered that the meat of male and female snake-tailed chickens was different. The males had longer torsos, while the females were rounder. Additionally, the male meat was firmer, while the females clearly had more fat. Fatty meat tasted more fragrant.
Lu Shiyu decisively chose to “roast” this fat chicken.
First, she had to remove the unnecessary parts. The chicken head was already gone, so she only removed the inedible internal organs. Then she placed the chicken’s belly facing downward, pressing on the bone and meat to make it easier to skewer later. Next, she marinated the whole chicken with seasonings to let the flavors penetrate. Once the marinating was finished, she was ready to start roasting.
Lu Shiyu used a knife to sharpen two wooden sticks, piercing them through the sides of the chicken’s rump and out from under the wings. This way, the chicken could be firmly fixed over the campfire. The chicken was a certain distance from the fire; Lu Shiyu wanted to use the temperature of the flames to “bake” the meat through rather than letting the fire touch the chicken directly.
After placing the chicken over the fire, she poured a little water into its belly. Seeing this, Yan Hong asked curiously why she added water.
“If you add a bit of water, the chicken won’t burn as easily. Snake-tailed chickens are quite large and need to be roasted for a long time. Roasting directly can easily result in the outside being burnt while the inside is still raw. So, adding water creates an effect where the outside is roasted and the inside is boiled.”
While turning the roast chicken, Lu Shiyu brushed it with oil. She also took out the ant honey and brushed a layer over the chicken, making it look even more inviting.
Just as Lu Shiyu had said, roasting the chicken took a very long time, and everyone’s stomachs began to rumble.
Lu Shiyu snapped off the chicken wings and feet. Everyone thought the chicken was done, but to their surprise, she said:
“The roast chicken needs a bit more time, but the wings and feet are already edible. The meat in these two parts cooks first; if we roast them any longer, they’ll char.”
Something was better than nothing. Everyone gnawed on the chicken bones that had only a tiny bit of meat, getting a premature taste of the deliciousness. Their eyes were filled with longing as they looked at the roast chicken.
Finally, just as everyone was about to start dozing off, Lu Shiyu announced the snake-tailed chicken was done. She took the golden-brown roast chicken off the rack and placed an iron pot over the fire. She poured a layer of oil to heat it up, then took out the eggs. She tore a slit in them, letting the orange-yellow yolk flow out, sizzling in the pot.
Only after setting up the pot did she begin to handle the freshly roasted chicken.
“Heavens, finally we can eat!”
Shao Xingyang reached out to tear off a piece of meat but immediately pulled back his hand from the heat. He put his burnt fingers in his mouth, watching Lu Shiyu calmly tear the chicken apart as if her hands were immune to high temperatures.
Lu Shiyu tore the meat apart and divided it into portions for the four of them. Given that Shao Xingyang had worked the hardest today, she gave him a whole large chicken leg. Shao Xingyang held his bowl, grinning like a fool.
A moment later, the eggs were mostly fried. They were in a semi-coagulated, semi-solid state; the bottom was cooked, but the top layer wasn’t fully set. Lu Shiyu didn’t intend to cook them fully; this semi-liquid form was just right. She served a piece of the half-cooked egg into each person’s bowl.
The golden egg liquid dripped over the honey-colored roast chicken meat, looking somewhat similar to Eggs Benedict.
Honey-roasted whole snake-tailed chicken and fried snake-tailed chicken eggs—done!