Chapter 56: Chapter Fifty-Seven

After finding a place to land, Ba Ke Er and Mo De landed one after another. Since it was already approaching noon, and they weren't sure whether they had brought enough food when they set out, Ba Ke Er and Mo De thus had to leave one person to watch Zhang Fan and Fei Er, to prevent them from running around as they did yesterday, while the other would be responsible for hunting food for the four of them.

After the two males exchanged glances, it was decided that Ba Ke Er would stay while Mo De went hunting. Zhang Fan and Fei Er saw that they had just arrived, and Mo De then flew off again, which seemed a bit strange.

"Ba Ke Er, Mo De, what's wrong with him? Where is he going?" Fei Er felt a little worried, "Why did you leave me and you guys here?"

"Fei Er, don't worry! Mo De went hunting. It's almost noon, and we didn't bring enough food when we set out today, so we need to go hunt now!" After Ba Ke Er said that and saw Fei Er less worried, he began to gather materials on the spot and set up a grill. He also took out various seasonings from the beast-skin bag, along with a pottery jar and rice. Then he directly took the pottery jar and rice to the riverbank to wash the rice and start cooking.

Seeing that Ba Ke Er seemed completely unconcerned about Mo De, Zhang Fan and Fei Er knew he was telling the truth. They stopped worrying and began chatting enthusiastically.

"Fei Er, you must have participated in tribal gatherings before, right?"

"Of course! Our tribe also holds tribal gatherings! Although I haven't attended many other tribes' gatherings, I have never missed a single one held by our tribe!"

"Really? What fun things are there then?"

"There are lots of fun things! For example, the beautiful necklaces made by females of other tribes, the various rare fruits gathered by the males, and even some witchcraft with miraculous effects. By the way, Fan Fan, you didn't know, but the pottery produced by our tribe is the best-selling item at every tribal gathering! Around here, only our tribe makes pottery; other tribes who want pottery have to trade with us."

"Really? What do other tribes sell well?"

"Of course there is! For example, the Bear Tribe's honey, the Spirit Snake Tribe's snake shed, the Bird Tribe's feathers, and the Mermaid Tribe's dragon gauze, and so on."

Zhang Fan was still learning for the first time that there were so many races on this Beastmen Planet! Even merfolk existed! Zhang Fan suddenly became interested, and excitedly asked Fei Er:

"Mermaid? Is that the kind where the upper body is human and the lower body is fish?"

"Exactly! Fan Fan, do you also know about the mermaid tribe? Could it be that your original Earth also had them?"

"On Earth there are indeed mermaid legends, and there are claims of having seen mermaids, but no evidence can be produced. Thus mermaids have become a legend, and also one of the world's unsolved mysteries."

Ba Ke Er, who had been watching Zhang Fan from the side, felt a bit jealous seeing Zhang Fan so interested in the mermaid tribe, but after hearing Zhang Fan's answer he realized he had overthought it and couldn't help asking:

"Fan Fan, does that mean you've never seen a mermaid either?"

"Yes, Ba Ke Er, that's why I'm so excited to hear there's a mermaid tribe here! I never expected to see species on this Beastmen Planet that I hadn't seen on Earth! By the way, do those mermaids have females? You know, the kind with two round masses of flesh on their chest."

"I haven't seen that kind of mermaid either!" Fei Er said, then glanced at Ba Ke Er.

Zhang Fan followed Fei Er's gaze and also started staring at Ba Ke Er.

"Hey! What are you staring at me for? I've never seen such a mermaid either! The mermaids I've seen, although they look more handsome than the fox tribe's beastmen and females, have upper bodies just like ours—flat-chested like the beastmen and females on land."

Hearing Ba Ke Er's words, Zhang Fan thought it possible that the mermaids on this Beastmen Planet differ from Earth's legends! After all, the species here are completely different from those on Earth! The only things that resemble are those plants.

Not long after Ba Ke Er finished cooking the rice, Mo De returned with the processed game. After all, in the wild the smell of blood easily attracts beasts; although there are two male beastmen here, there are also two females. If too many beasts are drawn by the blood scent, even their two strong male beastmen might not be able to handle it easily. Even if the two males got injured, it wouldn't matter much; what they fear is harming the females they love most.

Ba Ke Er took the game Mo De brought back, cut off the meat for lunch with a sharp bone knife, cleaned it, and then started grilling it on the grill. Mo De also didn't idle; he began to fetch the pottery jar he had brought, took it to the riverbank to wash it clean, filled it with water, then washed the bones he had removed from the game, placed them in the jar to parboil. After parboiling, he scooped the bones out, changed the water in the jar, then put the bones back in and began to simmer the soup.

When Mo De's soup was halfway done, Ba Ke Er suddenly remembered he had also brought some dried mushrooms that Zhang Fan had sun-dried. He took them out, washed them clean, and tossed them into the pottery jar Mo De was using to simmer the soup. After finishing, Ba Ke Er returned to his grill to continue flipping the meat.

During this period, Zhang Fan and Fei Er didn't lift a finger—after all, when you can eat without lifting a hand, who would want to work? So they relaxed, chatting while waiting for their beastmen to bring them food.

Finally, when the grill made a sizzling sound, Ba Ke Er brushed the meat with a layer of Zhang Fan's secret barbecue sauce, making the aroma even richer. At that moment, Mo De's mushroom bone soup had also been simmered to a fragrant, creamy white. Seeing that lunch was ready, Zhang Fan and Fei Er picked up their clean bowls and chopsticks and came before Ba Ke Er and Mo De.

Seeing their beloved females arrive, Ba Ke Er and Mo De simply announced, "Let's eat!"

After lunch, the four divided up to wash the dishes and cookware. Once cleaned, Ba Ke Er and Mo De cut the leftover meat into small pieces with a bone knife, salted and cured them, and packed them into the beast-skin bag. Having tidied up what they brought and the meat to take away, they began to extinguish the fire they had used for cooking. After the fire went out, they also made sure to erase any traces of burned ground. After all, they were in the wilderness during harvest season, with dry branches and weeds everywhere; even a tiny spark could set the whole mountain ablaze.

After taking care of that, Ba Ke Er transformed into his beast form. Then, after Zhang Fan and Fei Er each settled their luggage and sat on their backs, Ba Ke Er and Mo De successively spread their wings and flew off toward a more distant place.