In the evening, outside the Main Teepee, Yan Jiao, Yan Hua, and Cang Shi had already arrived.
“Shaman, we’re here,” Yan Hua called out in a clear voice.
*Swoosh!* The door flap was lifted.
Yu Ying poked her head out and softly said, “Come in, everyone.”
Yan Jiao and Cang Shi entered first. The cow horned girl followed behind, carrying a large piece of Pure Blood Ferocious Beast fresh meat. She was responsible for helping with the roasting.
“Shaman.” The three bowed in greeting.
“Please sit,” Su Bai waved his hand and walked to sit by the fire pit.
“Yes.” Yan Jiao and Cang Shi sat down cross-legged.
Yan Hua, holding the fresh meat, said to the fox eared girl, “Process the bear meat. They’ll eat this tonight.”
“You haven’t eaten yet?” Su Bai looked towards Yan Jiao and Cang Shi.
“Yes, we wanted to come here to eat while we talk,” Yan Jiao quickly nodded.
“Tonight, we’ll try a different way of eating,” Su Bai said, looking at the huge piece of fresh meat. The pungent smell was overwhelming. [It would be too gamey to roast and eat as is…]
“What different way of eating?” Yan Jiao asked, puzzled.
Without explaining, Su Bai turned and instructed, “Ah’Hua, go to Shan Qiu’s place and bring back a flat stone.”
“Alright,” Yan Hua handed the fresh meat to the fox eared girl and left the Teepee.
“Xiao Yu, slice the meat as thinly as possible,” Su Bai continued to instruct.
“Okay,” Yu Ying took the fresh meat to process it.
“Are there any sour berries in the Tribe?” Su Bai asked the two idle men.
“Yes, I’ll go get some,” Cang Shi stood up and rushed out of the Teepee.
“Chieftain, can you carve a few wooden sticks about this long and as thick as a pinky?” Su Bai gestured to a length of about twenty centimetres.
“Of course” Yan Jiao stood up and rushed out of the Teepee.
“I wonder if stone-grilled meat will taste good?” Su Bai sighed, taking a few stones and placing them around the fire pit to make a stove.
Soon, the three who had left returned one by one.
The cow horned girl brought back a flat stone slab the size of a washbasin. After washing it clean, she placed it on the stove, and the water quickly evaporated from the heat.
“Shaman, these are Green Sour Berries,” Cang Shi held seven or eight green berries.
“Just set them aside for now,” Su Bai waved his hand, picking up two of the carved wooden sticks to use as chopsticks.
He skillfully used the chopsticks, picking up the fatty meat sliced by the fox eared girl and placing it on the stone slab, quickly spreading it out.
*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…* The fatty meat on the hot stone slab made a pleasant grilling sound.
“Bring out some salt. We’ll exchange for more salt at the Spotted Deer Tribe tomorrow, so don’t save the old salt,” Su Bai said with a light smile.
“I’ll go get it,” Yan Hua stood up and ran out of the Teepee.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this method of grilling meat,” Yan Jiao said, looking at the meat slices on the stone slab.
“Yes, but the meat slices are too small,” Cang Shi nodded, then looked disapprovingly at the thin meat slices.
“Xiao Yu, cut a large piece for him,” Su Bai rolled his eyes, using the chopsticks to flip the meat slices.
“Okay,” Yu Ying responded with a suppressed laugh.
“Uh…” Cang Shi smiled awkwardly.
“Shaman, can’t we eat yet?” Yan Jiao swallowed his saliva.
“Don’t rush. Delicious food needs time,” Su Bai wanted to grill the meat longer to reduce the gamey taste.
*Swoosh!* Yan Hua lifted the door flap and entered, handing over a wooden tube, saying, “Shaman, here’s the salt.”
“En” Su Bai took the salt, removed the wooden plug, and poured a little salt in the corner of the stone slab.
He had just poured out a bit of salt when he froze, staring at the grey salt. He hesitantly asked, “Is salt always this colour?”
“Yes, salt is always grey,” Yan Jiao looked at the salt on the stone slab with a pained expression. The thumb-sized amount of salt was several days’ worth.
A thought crossed Su Bai’s mind, [Could the salt in this world be different from Earth’s?]
He dipped his finger in the salt and tasted it. His expression immediately turned bitter. The grey salt was salty, bitter, and strange tasting.
“This salt probably hasn’t even been filtered,” Su Bai guessed.
“Filtered?” Yan Jiao and the others looked confused.
“I’ll tell you later,” Su Bai shook his head. With the Tribe’s current salt amount, there would be hardly anything left after filtering.
He said to the fox eared girl, “Xiao Yu, cut open the Green Sour Berries.”
“Okay,” Yu Ying took the Green Sour Berries and went to cut them.
She always remembered not to reveal the Fruit Knife, so she did it with her back facing Yan Jiao and Cang Shi.
“They’re cut,” Yu Ying brought over the cut Green Sour Berries.
“I’ll try it first to see how it tastes,” Su Bai picked up a piece of grilled meat. He first dipped it in a bit of salt, squeezed some Green Sour Berry juice on it, then put it in his mouth.
He chewed it, his eyes brightening slightly. He exclaimed in surprise, “It tastes quite good. There’s a hint of meat flavour with the sourness, and a bit of saltiness to balance it. The only downside is the slight bitterness from the salt.”
“Is it really that good?” Yan Jiao asked in surprise.
“Try it yourselves,” Su Bai picked up another piece of grilled meat to eat.
“Alright,” everyone started to help themselves, actually using their hands to pick up the meat or using a single wooden stick to skewer it. Using chopsticks would be a bit difficult for them.
“It’s so much better than the roasted meat we used to eat,” Yan Jiao said in amazement.
“It’s sour. I didn’t know we could use Green Sour Berries to grill meat,” Cang Shi squeezed the Green Sour Berry onto his large piece of grilled meat.
His only dissatisfaction was that the meat pieces were too small, making it unsatisfying.
“The texture is so refreshing,” Yan Hua’s red eyes brightened, fixated on the grilled meat on the stone slab.
Su Bai watched as everyone was scrambling for the meat, and noticed the fox eared girl sitting obediently to the side without reaching for any.
He softly asked, “Xiao Yu, why don’t you help yourself?”
“I… I can’t eat it,” Yu Ying said, pursing her lips.
“Why can’t you eat it?” Su Bai curiously asked.
“Shaman, this is Pure Blood Ferocious Beast Meat. Yu Ying will get a nosebleed if she eats it,” Yan Hua said in a clear voice.
She was also only tasting a little, not daring to eat too much Pure Blood Ferocious Beast Meat, afraid of getting a nosebleed in the middle of the night.
“It’s fine, just eat a piece,” Su Bai smiled lightly, picking up a piece of grilled meat, seasoning it, and bringing it to the fox eared girl’s mouth.
*Aaah* Yu Ying’s face reddened slightly. Smelling the grilled meat, she finally could not resist. She opened her mouth, revealing her small right fang, and took the grilled meat in one bite.
She chewed it, her face showing an expression of delight. The taste of the grilled meat was truly delicious, incomparable to the roasted meat they used to eat.
Yan Hua’s red eyes stared blankly at the interaction between Su Bai and Yu Ying. She felt an inexplicable tightness in her heart.
She picked up half a Green Sour Berry and stuffed it directly into her mouth. Her pretty face immediately scrunched up since it was so sour!
[noscript][/noscript]