Chapter 147: Chapter 147: Bonus Chapter for Sha’s Reward

“South Wind, my arms are so sore. Come take over for a bit—I need to rest,” Changxia said weakly, waving to South Wind.

The sun was setting behind the mountains.

Bonfires blazed on all sides of the little river, lighting up the wilderness as if it were daytime.

At her words, South Wind came over and took the wooden ladle from her.

Changxia dragged her tired body over to a wooden stump to sit down.

Chen Rong quickly put down the ironwood knife he’d been using to cut anaconda meat, wiped his hands clean on some leaves, and hurried over, asking anxiously, “Changxia, are you feeling unwell?”

In the distance, Elders Yami and Senda also noticed Changxia’s state. Seeing Chen Rong go over, they paused and decided to just watch for now.

“I’m fine, just a little tired,” Changxia shook her head. “I just need to sit and rest for a bit, get my energy back. I finally understand how terrifying Elder Pukang’s appetite is!”

“Elder Pukang has had good self-control these past years and rarely loses control. This time, he was probably agitated by the anaconda,” Maple Leaf explained.

Elder Pukang had been quite stable for decades.

Today, perhaps because of the anaconda, he’d lost control in an instant. Luckily, Elder Senda had intervened in time to stop him from going on a rampage.

“Food really is a powerful temptation!” Changxia sighed.

Hearing that Changxia was fine, Chen Rong didn’t go back to help with the anaconda. Instead, he went to the river to wash his hands. Afterward, he made sure Changxia was sitting comfortably.

“Sit still, I’ll give you a massage,” Chen Rong said.

Changxia didn’t protest and sat down on the wooden stump, letting Chen Rong massage her shoulders and hands. She’d spent the whole afternoon making snake soup for Elder Pukang.

Judging by Elder Pukang’s appetite, he could probably keep eating all night without a problem.

His stomach looked perfectly flat, without the slightest bulge. Where on earth did all that food go?

“Are you wondering where all the food Elder Pukang eats actually goes?” Chen Rong asked with a smile. Changxia’s expression made it obvious what she was thinking.

“You know?” Changxia asked in surprise.

“I do,” Chen Rong replied. “Elder Pukang’s bloodline ability is special—he can convert the food he eats directly into energy.”

Going berserk always comes at a price.

But looking at Elder Pukang’s strong physique, it seemed the aftereffects of his rampages didn’t affect him at all.

“That’s amazing!”

Changxia couldn’t help but repeat herself again and again.

“Don’t overdo it, we’re almost done!” Yami called out.

She glanced at Elder Pukang to confirm the situation, then stopped the tribe members from feeding him any more and told them to start preparing dinner.

It seemed like nothing much had happened that afternoon.

But in reality, it was even more exhausting than going out hunting.

“Hee-hee-hee—” Pukang chuckled, rubbing his warm, full belly. This was the most he’d eaten in a long time. He could still eat more, but seeing the unfriendly looks from Yami and Senda, Pukang knew he shouldn’t push his luck.

Just then—

Maple Leaf and the others burst into cheers.

The long summer had worn them out. It wasn’t that they felt tired or overworked—they were just bored. Terribly bored.

“Maple Leaf, how about some dessert?” Pukang said.

Dessert was something Changxia had mentioned before. Feeling his warm, full belly, Pukang thought he could still eat a few more sweetgrass roots. The sweet taste would balance out the flavor of the snake soup.

The snake soup was good, but after a while, it just tasted ordinary.

Maple Leaf froze, speechless. “Elder Pukang, we don’t have dessert here.”

She’d been training with Elder Pukang, so she was half one of them now. Maple Leaf was much more casual in her words and actions.

Pukang rubbed his hands together and said calmly, “I want dessert—”

“…” Maple Leaf looked at Elder Pukang’s hands and suddenly felt a headache coming on. This was ridiculous!

“Fine, wait here—”

Helpless, Maple Leaf had no choice but to get up.

She dragged over half a basket of sweetgrass roots she’d dug up and set them down next to Elder Pukang.

Crunch—

Soon, Elder Pukang was happily munching away.

This scene—

Left everyone speechless.

He really could eat!

But as Nan Feng watched Elder Pukang eat like that, she reached in and grabbed a handful herself, whispering, “Elder Pukang, I’ll save some for Changxia.”

She said it was for Changxia, but as soon as she turned around, she popped one into her own mouth.

In an instant, everyone’s gaze toward Nan Feng became subtly amused.

Her shamelessness was on par with Elder Pukang!

Did the chief know Nan Feng could be this cheeky?

“Here, Changxia, have some,”

Maybe feeling the weight of everyone’s stares, Nan Feng quickly walked over to Changxia.

As she spoke, she stuffed a sweetgrass root into Changxia’s mouth.

“Nan Feng—” Changxia was exasperated, black lines on her face. “What are you up to now?”

“Nothing, I just thought you worked hard today. Have something sweet, cheer yourself up.” Nan Feng put on an innocent smile.

Changxia rolled her eyes. Yeah, right.

After smelling snake soup all afternoon, no one really wanted to eat it anymore. Maple Leaf decided to have Kongshan take a few people down to the river to catch fish for grilled fish instead.

No one even wanted fish soup—just grilled fish.

“Chen Rong, take a break.” Changxia stopped Chen Rong’s hands. Now that she was feeling much better, she didn’t need him to keep massaging her.

Chen Rong sat down next to Changxia and took a sweetgrass root from Nan Feng to chew on.

The python was forty or fifty meters long—just the meat alone was enough to feed the tribe for a month.

But with the weather so hot lately,

There was no way the python meat would last a month. It wouldn’t even keep for three days before it started to spoil. They’d have to dry it or fry it, otherwise it would go to waste.

“Changxia, do you have any way to preserve the python meat?”

Before they started, everyone had been excited and happy.

But after butchering the python,

They couldn’t help but worry about how to store it.

The python was huge. If it were the cold season, this wouldn’t be a problem at all. But unfortunately, it was the warm season now.

“We can try frying it, or smoking and drying it to make jerky…”

Changxia thought about how to make the most of the python. Actually, making sausages wouldn’t be bad either, but she didn’t know how to make them.

Smoking and drying in the warm season wasn’t reliable—they might still spoil. Fried meat or jerky should work, but she’d have to experiment.

After all, she’d never eaten python before and didn’t know what it tasted like.

“Jerky—”

“Like the kind you made for Baiqing?”

Even without looking up, Changxia knew that was Nan Feng asking.

What she made for Baiqing was meat jerky—just a softer kind. The taste was different, but both had their own appeal.

Hearing that Changxia had a solution,

Yami and the other elders immediately felt relieved.

Meanwhile, Maple Leaf and the others started grilling fish. Some tribe members couldn’t resist and secretly dug up more sweetgrass roots. After tasting sweetgrass root candy, everyone knew how valuable this unremarkable plant was. Looking out at the endless wilds, their hearts burned with excitement.

Just think how much sweetgrass root candy they could make from all those roots!

Elder Yami took a grilled fish from Maple Leaf and smiled. “There’s enough sweetgrass here to make tens of thousands of jin of sweetgrass root candy. The tribe will be busy this year!”

The wilds weren’t far from the tribe, so people could come dig roots every day.

Hunting and foraging suddenly didn’t seem so important.

After all, there was fish to eat, plenty of wild vegetables in the forest, and now a freshly hunted python.