Chapter 35: Digging Out Provisions
Shu Jintian lit a large bonfire, filled the big seashell with water, and placed it in the center to boil.
At the same time, he built a simple stove and hung a few skewers of meat that were cut into large slices. The meat was smeared with seasoning, and the various scents of seasoning emanated while being roasted till they sizzled juicily.
The meat was thirty percent fat and seventy percent lean; the grease moistened the meat and occasionally dripped into the bonfire, releasing a crackling, frying sound.
“Wah! How fragrant~” Shu Jintian stared at the roasting meat and his saliva kept flowing. Seeing that it was thoroughly cooked, he took down a skewer of roasted meat and substituted it with the prepped meat slices and continued roasting.
“Hanyu, you try it too; it looks pretty good.” Shu Jintian knew the big snake was afraid of heat so he didn’t give it to him right away, and instead left it on a leaf at the side to allow it to cool.
Shu Hanyu had just eaten the meat Shu Jintian didn’t want and was lying sleepily at the side. His overly long body allowed his head to rest by Shu Jintian’s side while his tail was extended all the way inside the cave.
Hearing the female’s words, Shu Hanyu half-raised his translucent eyelids to glance at the female and let out a ‘ssss’ as he spat out his forked tongue.
Shu Jintian also no longer bothered Shu Hanyu and began to wolf his food down. For the past two days, he didn’t really eat much; he had thrown away the greater part of the meat Shu Hanyu roasted for him this morning, and currently, he was about to go crazy from starvation.
At this time, the water in the shell was boiled, so Shu Jintian folded a large tree leaf into a cup and poured in one cup of boiled water, leaving it at the side to cool. The last time he ran away, he saw someone use leaves to fold into a pot to cook meat, which was how he thought to make a cup with tree leaves. There weren’t many vessels to contain water, so he could only do this for now. In the future, he could try creating cups with wood or something.
As Shu Jintian ate, he divided up a handful of vines to cook in the seashell. When he was done eating the first skewer of meat, the vines in the shell had already been cooked into becoming thoroughly shiny, and the colour was even more emerald green.
Shu Jintian thought to himself that it was probably just about done, so he fished out the vines, and put in the next handful to cook.
When he finished up the roasted meat, all the vines on the floor were also cooked and Shu Jintian hung them on a bush to drip dry.
Shu Hanyu provided Shu Jintian with twice as much food as he usually ate, but this time, Shu Jintian surprisingly ate until nothing was left and still didn’t feel full.
Having been force-fed meat for the past two days and feeling full until he was half-dead each time, Shu Jintian internally thought that his stomach probably had gotten bigger during that time. However, this was fine as well; a day here was too long, so if he could eat more during a meal, he could prepare one or two fewer meals a day.
“Hanyu, your meat is already cold; hurry up and try it ba, it really is delicious.” Shu Jintian looked at the last skewer of meat, swallowed his saliva, and brought it to Shu Hanyu’s mouth.
Shu Hanyu glanced at the female, and seeing that he was salivating while looking at the roast yet still giving the meat to him, he was very pleasantly surprised. He promptly cooperatively opened his mouth and bit away the roast in one mouthful.
The instant Shu Hanyu bit the meat, Shu Jintian’s hand withdrew indiscernibly and his eyes finally revealed a disappointed expression. Ai! Why did he really eat it ne, I even thought the big snake wouldn’t eat it!
Shu Jintian was still immersed in the sorrow of losing the last piece of meat when his sight darkened and the big snake’s cool lips pressed against his. Shu Jintian couldn’t help freezing up.
A trace of a smile flashed in Shu Hanyu’s eyes and his snake tongue penetrated the female’s tongue, slowly moving the meat in his mouth over.
Feeling an additional object in his mouth and the roasted meat’s fragrant flavour permeating his mouth once more, Shu Jintian’s eyes widened.
Shu Hanyu was also not to be outdone and sent the meat over again, playing joyfully. The snake tail in the cave also began to lightly sway, and the messy dried grass on the floor were all pushed together.
A good piece of delicious roast, under the back and forth pushing of two people, had rubbed away the surface’s flavour and turned it into tasteless, soft meat.
Shu Jintian felt increasingly disgusted, yet couldn’t push it out. If they continued like this, it would only be increasingly disgusting. Shu Jintian took a deep breath and stiffened his throat, rolling up the meat slice and swallowing down the whole piece.
Only then did Shu Hanyu reluctantly retrieve his forked tongue, licking off the saliva that accidentally flowed out from the corner of the female’s mouth.
“Ugh~ Gh…” Shu Jintian choked on the meat and hiccuped a few times. His mouth still had the flavour of the roasted meat remaining, and Shu Jintian hastily cupped his hands and scooped up the cold boiled water at the side and drank a few large mouthfuls, washing away the meat flavour.
After eating and drinking, Shu Jintian did the same as before and used a mix of fresh and dried grass to cover the bonfire, encircling it with a layer of mud and only leaving a small hole for air at the very top.
Shu Hanyu watched as the female did everything, then swept him up and went to the grass pile. He wrapped around him in the center to have an afternoon nap.
Shu Jintian was also a little sleepy, and found a comfortable spot around the big snake and soon fell asleep.
The orange sun gradually inclined to the west. The mountain forest that was cold and desolate for a few days became very lively, especially this half of the mountainside, as various birds and insects cried out incessantly.
Shu Jintian covered his ears in irritation, but his heavy sleepiness gradually faded and he slowly couldn’t lay still anymore.
Shu Jintian raised his head to look at Shu Hanyu. His head was leaning to the side and he was still sleeping contently. Shu Jintian carefully moved, and Shu Hanyu immediately raised his transparent eyelids cautiously, his snake body tightening as he looked at his female.
“Did I wake you? Go back to sleep ba. I want to use the toilet; I’ll be back very soon.” Shu Jintian felt some chest pains from Shu Hanyu’s constriction and he struggled in discomfort.
Shu Hanyu slowly straightened his body, extending to a long stretch. Then, he turned into a human.
“I accompany Tiantian ba.”
Shu Jintian knew in his heart that the big snake was distrustful of him and felt very helpless, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Shu Jintian walked behind the bushes at the back of the mountains, and Shu Hanyu still kept watch outside like before.
Half an hour later, Shu Jintian limped out looking constipated.
Shu Hanyu was startled, and hurried over to support the female.
“What’s wrong with Tiantian? Did you fall?”
Shu Jintian kicked his feet, glaring at Shu Hanyu bitterly.
“No, my feet went numb. …I want to take a shower. Let’s go down the mountain ba!” Shu Jintian said unhappily. He tightened his chrysanthemum again and a painful sting came from behind. It would probably get better after a wash.
“Okay. I’ll carry you.”
Before Shu Jintian could even voice his protests, Shu Hanyu had bridal-carried him.
“Ai~ I say, can’t we change this position? This really isn’t cool.” Shu Jintian didn’t dare refuse Shu Hanyu, and he truly felt weak at his knees, so he did not ask to be let down. But this princess carry style truly felt unbearable to him.
Shu Hanyu ignored the female and kept his hold tight. “No. Carrying this way is very comfortable.”
Eh? Fine ba, it’s you who’s great!
The weather was a little hot while Shu Hanyu’s body was cool all over, so it felt very nice to lean on him during a summer day. Shu Jintian pasted his face against Shu Hanyu’s chest to cool it down. His cheeks touched against a cool and satin-smooth skin, like a first-rate jade.
Shu Hanyu carried the female downhill before putting him down, while he went to the riverside to drink water.
Shu Jintian’s behind had a stinging pain, so when he saw the river, he immediately stripped himself naked and leapt in with a splash, then reached out to clean his behind.
Seeing the female enter the water, Shu Hanyu followed him in and went over to wrap around him.
“Tiantian? What are you doing?” Shu Hanyu keenly noticed the female’s hand hidden in the water and repeatedly poking at that place. He was unable to help his heartbeat from quickening.
Hearing this, Shu Jintian retrieved his hand with lightning speed, pretending to look as if he was showering. Fuck me, being caught in the act of fingering is too awkward.
Tiantian… wants it again? Shu Hanyu couldn’t help swallowing his saliva. Previously when he hadn’t experienced such pleasure, he could just endure. Now that Shu Hanyu had already tasted the sweetness, enduring became much harder.
However, the female hasn’t been fed yet, so it was better to quickly find something for the female to eat. It was best if he found a bit more in one go, so they could mate whenever they wanted to at home, and he wouldn’t have to worry about starving the female.
Shu Jintian never wanted to experience such painful excretion again. It would be better if he could eat a few fruits that were good for digestion ba.
“I want to eat fruits. Can I?” Shu Jintian felt somewhat uneasy being naked with Shu Hanyu, and his upper body leant back slightly.
“En!” Shu Hanyu agreed lightly, then turned into a Spiritual Snake to wrap around the female and slid back to shore. They had better find food and return home as soon as possible, or else they really had to mate outside. The female would definitely catch a cold again.
Shu Hanyu brought the female to the place where he had previously dug out the sweet potato. This place was full of lush green sweet potatoes leaves clambering all over, so abundant that there was nowhere to place their feet.
“This is…?” Shu Jintian looked at these fertile green leaves, and thought that edible vegetables were fine as well. Now that he had a shell pot, he could try stir-frying vegetables. Meat slices with stir-fried vegetables; the flavour would probably be pretty good.
“Does Tiantian really not know? This is the sweet potato you like.”
Shu Hanyu had no choice but to squat down and pull at a sweet potato vine. Following along the vine, he dug out a bunch of sweet potatoes with his bare hands.
Shu Jintian shouted in surprise, “It really is ah. That’s perfect. With so many, it’s enough for me to eat for a very long time.”
Shu Jintian, who had been unaware at first, excitedly leapt into the pit that was not-quite-a-pit dug by Shu Hanyu, squatting down as well before he began to dig out sweet potatoes.
Mn, not bad. The female can slowly eat these sweet potatoes.
First of all, Shu Jintian was inexperienced, and second of all, had no strength, so he dug very slowly. By the time he dug a hole clean with great difficulty, Shu Hanyu had already dug out a large pile at the side.
Only then did Shu Jintian stop with dissatisfaction. Any longer they won’t be able to bring all of them back.
Shu Jintian strung the sweet potatoes together in bunches with sweet potato vines, only then could they bring back all the potatoes. It seems like the red potato leaves are also edible, Shu Jintian thought with uncertainty. He still took some of the ends of the sweet potato vines, bringing them back for experimenting.
Shu Hanyu then caught a small Maochu Beast and took a few wild fruits before heading back with the female. They returned from this trip downhill with a plentiful harvest.
Dinner was Maochu Beast and stir-fried sweet potato leaves, matched with roasted baked potatoes. It had a balanced nutrition and was also delicious. Shu Jintian only realised with a start that he had eaten about half more than he usually did after he had finished eating all the cooked food. If it weren’t because he ate up all the food he had prepared, he believed that he could still eat more.
Seemed like his appetite truly had increased due to that barbaric beastman. When that person came to mind, Shu Jintian felt unwell all over.
The sky was a little dark, and the greyish blue sky already had a few bright stars lighting up. The wind in the mountain was rather cold, and felt very comfortable when blowing on his skin.
Shu Jintian laid down on a patch of clean, green grass to digest, his mood somewhat downcast.
“Full?”
Shu Hanyu clambered onto the female’s body, stroking his stomach.
“Mn!” Shu Jintian replied lazily.
This posture of being controlled made Shu Jintian suddenly recall yesterday’s matters, and his heart jolted.
“You’re very heavy, so can you not lie down on me?”