Chapter 486

If that's the case, then there must be pirates on this island, or there used to be.

Su Qiao felt even more certain about the presence of pirates on the island.

However, all of these need to be put aside for now.

After confirming that the little fox was the one deliberately making noise, Su Qiao slowly approached it.

The little fox did not flee; in fact, when Su Qiao reached out, it even stuck out its pink tongue and licked.

Su Qiao cupped it in both hands and, using the light from the fire, discovered a rather deep thorn stuck in its left front leg.

He didn't know what kind of thorn bush it came from.

340, Beach Scavenging!

Liu Rushi and Qing'er naturally would not refuse; instead, they were delighted.

They were actually quite interested in the various edible seafood left behind on the beach.

"Husband, then come back quickly!"

"Mm, don't worry, I'll be back in a moment!"

Su Qiao nodded in agreement and, taking the items, went to the seaside to find a spot to set the fish traps.

After choosing left and right, Su Qiao found a spot among the rocks to be quite suitable.

So he lowered the fish trap.

The seawater here was not high, reaching at most his waist; ordinary fish and the like could come in.

However, coming in was easy, but getting out was difficult.

The fish trap would trap them inside.

After lowering two fish traps in succession, Su Qiao glanced at the seawater.

Suddenly, he saw two palm-sized abalones clinging to a rock.

Palm-sized abalones!

These could be counted as large abalones.

Even in Great Ming, they would be considered a Treasure abalone.

Su Qiao's swimming skills were very high; besides, where he currently was could be considered the seaside, not the deep sea area.

So Su Qiao, without hesitation, jumped directly into the sea.

Once in the seawater, Su Qiao quickly caught those two abalones and put them into the bamboo tube at his waist.

Afterwards, he continued to look around and search nearby.

Under normal circumstances, abalones appear in clusters.

Only in rare cases do they appear occasionally.

That kind of situation was too rare!

As expected!

Su Qiao discovered other abalones, and the quantity was quite large; the bamboo tube simply couldn't hold them all.

Additionally, his breath-holding time was about to run out.

So Su Qiao quickly surfaced.

When he broke through the surface, Su Qiao heard the anxious cries of Liu Rushi and Qing'er.

It turned out that Su Qiao had dived into the sea without saying a word.

Liu Rushi and her maid turned around to look for Su Qiao; when they suddenly couldn't see him, they thought something terrible had happened and immediately grew anxious.

Fortunately, Su Qiao came out safely.

"Alright, alright, this time it was my fault; I was a bit too happy and forgot to tell you all at once; it will never happen again!"

Seeing Liu Rushi's unfriendly expression, Su Qiao quickly apologized.

Indeed, he had been negligent.

Isn't there a saying that goes quite well: admit your mistakes, and stand at attention when you get hit!

Since Su Qiao did wrong, he naturally had to admit it.

Liu Rushi said to Su Qiao in a low, melancholy voice: "I am not trying to stop husband from doing anything; it's just that we are currently in a desperate situation, and I still take husband as my mainstay. If anything unexpected happens to husband, I will absolutely not live on alone!"

"Understood, understood. Wherever I go from now on, I will definitely notify you. Besides, you must also believe in my strength!"

Liu Rushi quickly let the matter drop and changed the subject, asking: "What did husband go do just now that made you so happy?"

"Oh, if you hadn't mentioned it, I almost forgot. Just now, down there at the submerged rocks, I found a lot of abalones, but I didn't have any containers, so I came up to get some."

"Oh, this fish basket is just right; we haven't picked up much. Husband, you take it and use it first."

Liu Rushi and Qing'er quickly emptied the fish basket and then handed it to Su Qiao.

Indeed, they had only just picked up a few things when they discovered Su Qiao was gone.

They immediately grew anxious, searched for Su Qiao, and shouted loudly.

Where was there any time to worry about picking things up or the fish traps?

Su Qiao took the fish basket, handed the bamboo tube to the two women, and said to them: "The abalones are in the bamboo tube; you wait up there, and I'll be back in a moment."

Having finished speaking, Su Qiao dove into the sea again.

There were indeed quite a few abalones in this area; they were delicious and plentiful, and cost nothing; it was simply too awesome.

Su Qiao even saw a few sea cucumbers.

When Su Qiao had gone back and forth and was running low on stamina, he prepared to return.

However, just as he turned his head, he suddenly saw a colorful giant Long Xia hiding in the gap beneath two rocks!

Could he let that go?

Su Qiao turned and swam quickly toward the rocks, reached a position diagonally above the Long Xia, and reached out to grab it fiercely.

Long Xia seemed to have just been dazing off; only when Su Qiao made his move did it suddenly spring upward.

Yet there was no escape; Su Qiao caught it with utter ease.

He lifted the fish-cage lid and shoved Long Xia inside in one swift motion.

Su Qiao quickly surfaced and left the water!

"Huff, huff..."

He had just felt his lungs completely emptied, but now he finally came to his senses.

With one hand holding the fish cage and the other paddling, Su Qiao soon returned to land.

"Look what I brought back!"

Su Qiao raised the fish cage and said to the two women with a smile.

"What?"

To be honest, the two women had never seen Long Xia before.

Seeing something so large, so fierce and vivid, they felt a mix of fear and curiosity.

"What do you think it looks like?"

"A shrimp? Is this a shrimp spirit?"

Qing'er, the young girl, asked while looking at Long Xia inside the fish cage.

Su Qiao chuckled and introduced, "Qing'er guessed correctly; this is Long Xia. Its taste is extremely delicious. I'll cook it for you to try later."

"Wow, so this is Long Xia! I've heard of it before, but it seems few people eat it, fearing to offend the Emperor."

Upon learning it was a shrimp, Liu Rushi and Qing'er's eyes sparkled; they stared unblinkingly at the fish cage.

At this moment, Su Qiao first built a fire.

Then he placed the large turtle-shell pot he had brought, poured in the fresh water he carried, and tossed in sliced abalone, sea cucumber, and Long Xia meat, along with other conches, scallops, and so on.

It directly became a huge pot of mixed seafood stew!

The other abalones and the fish he had caught were simply laid out to dry.

Su Qiao also started another bonfire separately and set up a coconut shell to boil seawater.

It counted as doing two things at once; it just lacked a proper pot, so it might take a bit more time.

Before long, the mixed seafood stew was cooked.

Although only some lemon juice was added for seasoning, nothing else was put in.

Yet the cooked seafood remained incredibly fragrant and fresh.

Even though at first everyone smelled the oceanic fishiness.

However, the deliciousness upon tasting it instantly captured the hearts of all three.