Chapter – 16
It’s So Delicious!
For some reason, Lu Liufeng’s heart was beating unusually fast.
Meanwhile, Mu Ling’s mind was entirely preoccupied with one thought—when do we eat?
The wild boar meat was tougher than Jiang Xi had expected, so it had to simmer longer. But counting the stir-frying time, everything was finally ready.
There wasn’t a dining table in the kitchen, so they simply placed the dishes on the ground beside the fire.
As soon as Jiang Xi sat down on a grass mat, Mu Ling impatiently began fishing out the pig’s feet.
Even so, he still remembered the rule that females ate first. The very first pig’s foot went straight into Jiang Xi’s bowl.
Lu Liufeng followed suit, adding a rib for her.
Jiang Xi thanked them politely.
Then, as she glanced around, something felt… off.
It only took a moment for her to realize what it was.
“Where’s Yi Yuexi? Call him to eat with us.”
Mu Ling had already tossed aside the hastily carved chopsticks and was holding a pig’s foot in both hands, gnawing on it enthusiastically.
When he heard Jiang Xi’s words, he mumbled with his mouth full,
“No need. He doesn’t eat with us.”
Jiang Xi made an “oh” sound, not thinking much of it.
After all, Yi Yuexi did seem rather unhappy with this household.
If he didn’t want to eat, so be it—she wasn’t going to force him.
Lu Liufeng looked thoughtful but said nothing.
The three of them were eating happily when someone suddenly shouted from the courtyard:
“Jiang Xi, Female Lord! Lu Liufeng! Are you home?”
Jiang Xi was holding a large wooden bowl, Mu Ling had his pig’s foot, and Lu Liufeng was gnawing on a rib. The three of them looked toward the doorway together.
In the courtyard stood a silver-haired middle-aged beastman, swallowing hard as his eyes darted around.
When he saw them, he broke into a grin.
“Ah, you’re home! Eating, I see.”
As he spoke, he swallowed again, the mouthwatering aroma in the air making him want to roll on the ground in his beast form just to soak it all in.
Jiang Xi recognized him immediately.
It was Rupert, the chieftain of the Lion Roar Tribe.
“Is something the matter?” she asked.
Rupert’s eyes couldn’t help but flick toward the pig’s foot in Mu Ling’s hand. He swallowed again and said,
“Well, I just wanted to ask—I heard that you, Jiang Xi, found some edible food in the Hot River Valley, is that true?”
As the chieftain, Rupert was responsible for guarding the Cursed Lands, but also for ensuring his tribe’s survival.
If too many beastmen starved to death, exiled beastmen and females would refuse to come to the Lion Roar Tribe.
And if their numbers dwindled too far, they might fail to guard the breach in the Cursed Lands, allowing the curse to spread back within the walls—an unimaginable disaster.
“Yes,” Jiang Xi nodded.
As a typical traditional Chinese person, she reflexively asked,
“Have you eaten, Chief? If not, come join us. We can talk while we eat.”
Usually, people would politely decline such an invitation.
But the middle-aged beastman’s eyes lit up immediately.
“No, no, I haven’t eaten! I’d love to eat! Talking while eating sounds perfect!”
Mu Ling: “…”
Lu Liufeng: “…”
Though they silently disapproved of how shameless the chieftain looked, they had to admit—no one could resist this smell.
And since their Female Lord had invited him, it wasn’t their place to object and risk embarrassing her.
Rupert cheerfully followed them into the kitchen.
Lu Liufeng and Mu Ling made room for him. Just before closing the door, they caught a glimpse of the courtyard outside—dozens of beastmen and little beast cubs were sneaking around, peeking curiously through the fence.
The cubs, who hadn’t yet learned to transform, had especially sensitive noses.
One by one, they twitched their noses and stared longingly inside.
Mu Ling mercilessly shut the kitchen door.
Outside, chatter immediately broke out.
“So good! Do you smell that?”
“It’s coming from here, right?”
“Definitely! I just saw the chieftain go in, drooling.”
“How shameless—going to mooch food like that.”
Someone gulped.
“I want to eat too.”
“Could it be true? That the things she brought back today are actually edible?”
Inside the kitchen, the door blocked out the noise.
A pot of pig’s head meat was still simmering, and a small stone bowl over the fire held roasted pig brain—the entire room filled with an intoxicating aroma.
Rupert’s stomach growled loudly the moment he stepped inside.
Jiang Xi handed him a bowl. She was about to tell him to help himself when Mu Ling swiftly took it and served him only a tiny piece of braised pork and a few potatoes.
Jiang Xi: “…”
A bit too protective of the food, wasn’t he?
Was that the dog ancestor’s instincts showing?
There were only three pig’s feet, true, but plenty of other cuts had been braised along with them.
Jiang Xi grabbed the spatula and scooped generous portions of each dish into the chieftain’s bowl.
“Chief, please eat as you like. These were all made from the ingredients I brought back this afternoon. Try them.”
She knew from her inherited memories that the chieftain carried the heavy responsibility of his tribe.
Without his leadership, the Lion Roar Tribe would never have become the largest in the Cursed Lands.
The larger the tribe, the greater the burden.
Jiang Xi didn’t care for boasting about her discoveries, but she was willing to help the chieftain improve the tribe’s food situation.
After seeing how rich the Hot River Valley was in resources, she realized—this world wasn’t lacking food. The beastmen simply didn’t know how to cook it properly, which led to winter hunger every year.
This year’s winter had arrived earlier than usual, catching many families unprepared, making things even more severe.
Rupert thanked her repeatedly.
He had expected Jiang Xi to be secretive about her find.
To his surprise, she turned out to be a “poison outside, kind inside” sort of woman—someone who yelled and fought often, but had a genuinely good heart.
“This is potato.”
“This is taro.”
“This is wood ear fungus.”
“This is shepherd’s purse.”
“And in that leather bag in the corner, there’s purslane and a lot of seasonings used for flavor.”
“For example, the pig’s stomach and intestines—after using these spices to remove the odor, they become deliciously fragrant. Would you like to try some?”
Jiang Xi knew that people here weren’t accustomed to eating offal, so she made sure to explain the braised pig innards carefully.
Rupert nodded repeatedly, chewing non-stop, completely forgetting why he’d come in the first place.
“So good! So delicious!” he exclaimed between bites.
“They’re truly lucky to have you as their Female Lord!”
Yet half a year ago, he’d been one of those urging the beastmen to find golden soul fruits—so they could break free from this “vicious” female.
Now, one mouthful of good food had turned him into her staunchest supporter.
Mu Ling was speechless.
Lu Liufeng also thought the chieftain’s behavior was hardly befitting his title.
Not wanting Jiang Xi to overexert herself, Lu Liufeng spoke up:
“The serpent beastmen of Hot River Valley are already familiar with these ingredients. The Female Lord has taught them to recognize and prepare them. If the females of our tribe wish to gather food, they can ask the serpent beastmen for help.”
After all, even though many new foods had been found in the valley, the agreement among the three tribes still stood: only females could gather food there.
If the beastmen rushed in en masse, the valley’s plants and animals would be stripped bare, leaving the serpent tribe starving.
Rupert finally came back to his senses but frowned in concern.
“I just don’t know if the females of our tribe would be willing to enter the valley for their beastmen’s sake.”
If any of them had serpent beastman mates, they could rely on them for help.
But the females of the Lion Roar Tribe tended to dislike serpent beastmen and rarely took them as husbands.
At that moment, more noise rose outside—the voices of several females drifted in.
“Is anyone home?”
