Chapter 134: Chapter 134: The South Side of Bai Lake

“Chang Xia, where did you get that ointment?” Shan Kun asked curiously.

There were elders in the tribe who knew how to make medicine. Their ointments weren’t as effective as Su Ye’s, but they were still pretty good. Whenever the hunting team went out, everyone would bring some along.

But the ointment Chang Xia used on the twins was obviously different from the ones made in the tribe.

“The shaman made it for me,” Chang Xia answered.

Shan Kun looked at Chang Xia with envy. “Chang Xia, I’m so jealous of you!”

Kong Shan nodded in agreement.

No one had ever seen the shaman dote on anyone the way she did on Chang Xia. If anyone in the tribe ever got a word of praise from the shaman, the whole tribe would be thrilled.

But Chang Xia was different—the shaman would come down from Kana Sacred Mountain every few days just to visit her.

Throughout the entire Twilight Forest, every beast tribe knew Chang Xia’s name. If she weren’t so weak, the number of people wanting to marry her would probably fill the whole Heluo Tribe.

“Hmph! You’re just jealous that the shaman likes me,” Chang Xia said proudly.

Shan Kun just responded with a silly laugh.

Before long, the rich aroma of chicken soup wafted out from the kitchen.

Gradually, all the noisy cubs in the courtyard ended up sprawled at the kitchen door, staring intently at the stone pot on the stove inside.

“Hey! Hungry, are you?” Nan Feng teased, playing with a mountain sparrow.

The sparrow chirped and laughed, replying, “Yeah! I’m hungry.”

She even stuck out her little belly, looking seriously at Nan Feng to let her know she really was hungry. And it wasn’t just her—Wu Liu, Lu You, and the others were all hungry too.

They’d been active all morning, and just now had been playing around with Ya Dong in the courtyard.

It would be strange if they weren’t hungry!

“Just wait a bit longer—” Nuan Chun said. “I’ll cut you a piece of roast meat to share and tide you over.”

Chen Rong was at the grill, roasting meat.

The grill was a makeshift one that Chen Rong had built based on Chang Xia’s description. It was made from yellow bricks, with an ironwood rack on top and a gap in the middle to keep the open flame separate.

It might look a bit rustic, but it was practical.

Before, they had to sit by the stove and could only roast three pieces of meat at a time. Now, standing at the grill, they could turn as many as ten pieces at once.

This really sped up the roasting process.

Chang Xia also thought the grill could be turned into an oven.

Of course, to use it as an oven, the top would need to be sealed.

Chang Xia had been busy lately and hadn’t had time to try it out yet.

Nuan Chun picked out a piece of roasted meat, cut it into finger-sized chunks with an ironwood knife, put them in a wooden bowl, and handed a pair of chopsticks to the mountain sparrow, telling her to share with the other beast cubs.

The chicken soup was ready, and the fish stew was almost done.

Now, they were just waiting for the rice noodles to finish steaming so they could slice them up.

There were a lot of people today, so the small living room couldn’t fit everyone. Chang Xia had Ya Dong and the others move the long table from the wooden shed out into the courtyard, so they could eat outdoors today.

Of course, they’d have to stick to the shady side near the kitchen.

All together, there were more than twenty people.

Even though most of them were cubs, Chang Xia didn’t skimp on them. Two long tables, over twenty wooden chairs—probably only Chang Xia’s house in the whole Heluo Tribe had enough.

As for the others, even the clan leader Genjia’s family only had two long tables and a dozen or so wooden chairs prepared.

But at Changxia’s house, there were six long tables and even more wooden chairs.

Besides the two long tables in the small living room, three more were stored in the wooden shed. Another was placed in the cave dwelling to the right where Baiqing lived.

There were also square and round wooden tables, these smaller tables were set up in the rooms of other cave dwellings, each with their own matching wooden chairs.

As Changxia put it, even if a hundred people came to eat at her house, there would be enough tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks. No need to borrow anything from anyone else.

Of course, only Changxia’s house was spacious enough to fit so much furniture.

The cave dwellings built by the tribe were usually three-chambered. With just one or two long tables inside, the space would be filled—just right.

“Luyou, have Shanque and the others line up to wash their hands and faces. It’s time to eat!” Changxia called out.

Luyou grabbed Shanque and herded the kids into line to wash up.

After playing around all morning, there wasn’t a clean spot left on them.

Before meals, Changxia would fetch water and make them line up to wash, only allowing them to eat once they were clean.

Maybe it was the irresistible smell of chicken soup, stewed fish, and roast meat, but Shanque and the others didn’t need any extra urging.

One by one, they obediently lined up for Changxia to help them wash their faces and hands, then sat down on their wooden chairs, waiting for lunch.

“This chicken soup smells amazing! It’s way better than my mom’s!”

“Is this stewed fish? The color looks weird, but it smells so good!”

Soon, the kids were craning their necks, staring at the delicious food on the long tables, chattering loudly and instantly turning into little foodies.

Changxia helped the kids wash up.

Nuan Chun and Nan Feng started preparing chicken soup noodles—sliced rice noodles paired with rich chicken broth, topped with a sprinkle of chopped green onions.

Bowl after bowl of chicken soup noodles were brought to the table by Feng Ye and Ya Dong.

Chen Rong and the others sat down directly, waiting for Changxia to join them so they could start eating.

Changxia didn’t waste any time. She sat down next to Chen Rong and said, “What are you waiting for? Let’s eat!”

With that, she picked up her bowl, took a sip of soup first, then ate the noodles.

Under the blazing sun—

The courtyard of the cave dwelling was filled with the rich aroma of food.

The tribe knew that Shanque and the others had escorted Changxia back to Baihu and hadn’t returned to the tribe yet. Most likely, Changxia had kept them at Baihu for lunch, so no one was worried, nor did anyone come to call them back for lunch.

If they weren’t too embarrassed, many would have wanted to come to Changxia’s house for a free meal themselves.

Besides, the beast cubs were at that annoying seven or eight-year-old age. The parents in the tribe were probably glad their kids hadn’t come home, saving them a headache.

“Chen Rong, I’m planning to go to the south side of Baihu this afternoon,” Changxia said.

Hearing this, Feng Ye and the others looked over curiously.

They wondered why Changxia wanted to go to the south side of Baihu for no reason.

That area wasn’t like the north; to get there, you had to go through dense forest, which was dangerous.

“The south side of Baihu?” Chen Rong was taken aback. “What are you going there for?”

“I want to check the flow direction of the small river there. I’m thinking of diverting some river water to the cave dwellings. With running water, we won’t have to fetch water anymore. Plus, we could build a pool to store water and raise fish,” Changxia explained.

Feng Ye narrowed his eyes, sizing up Changxia.

His instincts told him that Changxia’s goal in going to the small river wasn’t just to divert water.

Nan Feng asked, “Why not use Baihu for water?”

“Baihu is lower than the cave dwellings. To bring water up, we’d need to build a waterwheel and a channel, but I don’t know how to make a waterwheel,” Changxia said helplessly.

If she knew how to make one, she wouldn’t have to go so far.

Baihu was dozens of meters lower than the cave dwellings. A small waterwheel wouldn’t be enough to bring water up; it would have to be a large one. If she had the time to study it, maybe she could divert water from the small river to the cave dwellings.

But she’d have to check the flow direction of the small river on the south side of Baihu first to be sure.

Besides—

She wanted to check out Wei Mountain while she was there.

Even though she couldn’t go in yet, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look from afar.