Zhang Shuguang didn’t seem particularly hurried as he walked; he’d take a few steps, then look down at the weeds that had already grown to his calves, and then take a few more steps before turning his head to examine the flower buds on the grass stems beside him.

“Why didn’t you tell me before that this tree was edible?”

Xiao Cai: “The navigation system automatically upgraded after the main system went into hibernation. I only just discovered there was a pending message I hadn’t read. Also, the navigation system upgrade deducted 10% of the battery power.”

Zhang Shuguang wasn’t particularly concerned about the power drain at the moment; he was more concerned about why this tree had suddenly become edible!

Recalling how the earthworms had mutated after consuming the flesh and blood of Mang Jiu and the beastmen, he had reason to suspect that this tree—which had sprouted and grown from his own blood—was likely in the same situation.

Arriving at the Divine Blood Tree, Zhang Shuguang looked up at it and circled the tree once.

“Why does it feel taller? It seems a bit thicker, too,” he muttered to himself.

Raising his hand, he realized that the leaves, which had once been within easy reach, were now a good distance from his fingertips; he’d have to stand on tiptoe to pluck one. He bent his knees, jumped up from the spot, and snatched a leaf down.

He looked down at the break in the stem. A pale red sap oozed out—not much, but it was sticky.

Zhang Shuguang rubbed a bit of it between his fingers, then brought his fingertips to his nose to sniff. A pungent, fishy smell hit him. He furrowed his brow deeply. This clearly wasn’t the kind of smell a normal leaf should have!

It was downright suspicious!

“Is this thing even edible?” He pictured a pot full of leaves being thrown in, water added, and the result—a pot brimming with blood-red liquid…

He was stumped.

“Xiao Cai, is this thing edible?”

Xiao Cai: “I think so. You can give it a try, Master.”

Fine, he’d give it a try. Zhang Shuguang opened his mouth and bit into a leaf. He chewed it, only to find that aside from a strong fishy smell, the leaf had no other flavor—no sweetness, no bitterness, just a dry, astringent taste. It wasn’t good.

“Divine Son!”

Zhang Shuguang turned his head and saw the beastman behind him grinning broadly as he greeted him.

“Don’t call me Divine Son—just call me Shuguang,” he said with a faint smile. “What’s your name?” 

“My name is Xiong Zhuang.”

Zhang Shuguang pointed to the leaves above his head. “Do you have any wounds? I want to test how this works.” 

“Wounds?” Xiong Zhuang looked down at himself and shook his head. “No.”

Zhang Shuguang was about to say, “Never mind then,” when the guy suddenly raised his hand and swiped at his own arm with a claw, drawing blood instantly. “…You didn’t have to be so direct.” 

Zhang Shuguang sighed, hopped around to pluck a few leaves, and shoved them all into his mouth. “Eat them.” Xiong Zhuang did as he was told, stuffing all the leaves into his mouth and swallowing them without even chewing much.

Zhang Shuguang asked him, “Is it good?”

Xiong Zhuang nodded blankly: “It’s good.” 

Zhang Shuguang asked again, “Is it sweet?”

Xiong Zhuang nodded again: “Sweet!”

Zhang Shuguang sighed, “Your sense of taste is different from most people’s.”

Xiong Zhuang looked at him in confusion, smacked his lips twice, then froze. He raised his hand to cover his mouth, making muffled sounds while his eyes widened.

Seeing his expression, Zhang Shuguang thought back to the taste of the leaf juice and guessed that Xiong Zhuang had belatedly tasted it. He hurriedly said, “Don’t throw up, don’t throw up! Hold it in!”

Xiong Zhuang’s face alternated between pale and red. He tried to hold it in, but in the end, he couldn’t. He turned around and let out a loud retch, vomiting. Zhang Shuguang grimaced. Seeing how hard he was struggling, he reached out and gently patted him on the back. “Are you okay?”

Xiong Zhuang’s throat ached from the retching, and he weakly waved his hand.

Zhang Shuguang glanced at the mess on the ground—besides a pool of bright red, sticky substance, there were also some black, hair-like strands. He frowned and stared at it!

His eyes widened. He plucked a blade of grass and brushed it against the black, hair-like substance. The thing wriggled—it was alive!

“What is this…” Zhang Shuguang’s expression turned grim. “A bug?”

“I threw up a bunch of bugs?” Xiong Zhuang’s voice went high-pitched; he let out a howl and took off running.

Zhang Shuguang pressed his hand to his forehead, tossed aside the weeds in his hand, and turned to look at the Divine Blood Tree, whose branches were rustling in the breeze. He muttered, “You really are amazing.” Although he’d imagined what kind of use this tree might have, he’d never actually thought of it as an “insecticide.”

The leaves rustled loudly. Zhang Shuguang smiled slightly and raised his hand to touch the tree trunk. “No need to grow too big—that’d attract too much attention. You’re just fine the way you are.”

The leaves rustled once more, as if they could understand—or perhaps sense—his thoughts, offering him a response. Zhang Shuguang didn’t dwell on it; he turned to look at the group running toward him.

After letting out a loud howl, Xiong Zhuang rushed straight into the cave and told Xiong Kui about how he’d eaten the leaves and vomited up the insects, which had given them quite a scare.

Mang Jiu was the fastest to arrive. He stood beside Zhang Shuguang and looked at him. “You didn’t eat any?”

“I ate half a leaf,” Zhang Shuguang shrugged, handing him the half-leaf he was holding. “You guys eat raw meat and drink raw blood every day—spitting up a few bugs isn’t really that hard to stomach.”

Mang Jiu took the leaf, examined it, sniffed it, and nodded slightly.

Just because he could handle it didn’t mean the others could. Eating a worm roasted to a crisp was a completely different matter from spitting out a live one!

The whole group’s expressions darkened. Xiong Zhuang found a rock and smashed it directly onto the worm.

“That might not kill it. Burn it clean,” Zhang Shuguang reminded him. Without another word, Xiong Zhuang turned and ran toward the cave. He was back in no time, holding a burning stick.

Zhang Shuguang didn’t bother with how he burned the insect; instead, he looked up at the leaves, patted Mang Jiu on the arm, and said, “Lift me up so I can pick some leaves. You guys can share them.”

Mang Jiu didn’t mind; he bent down to pick him up. But when Xiong Kui and the others heard Zhang Shuguang’s words, they all took a step back.

“Shuguang, um, maybe we shouldn’t eat these?” Xiong Kui looked at the few leaves held out before him as if they were poisonous mushrooms, his face full of disgust.

The others felt the same way but didn’t voice it or refuse. When Zhang Shuguang handed them the leaves, they took them and immediately stuffed them into their mouths.

Their expressions changed the moment they chewed, and they nearly spat it out.

“This is absolutely disgusting!” They forced themselves to swallow, fighting back the nausea. After speaking, they waited a moment before beginning to vomit one after another.

Some vomited profusely, spewing out a dozen or so black nematodes in a gush; others vomited less, struggling for a long time only to bring up three or four. After Xiong Zhuang had burned all the worms to death, he looked at Zhang Shuguang. “Divine Son! They’re all burned.”

Zhang Shuguang looked at him helplessly. “Don’t call me ‘Divine Son.’ Seriously, you don’t have to call me that. I’m begging you.” Mang Jiu turned his head to glance at Xiong Zhuang, furrowing his brow slightly.

“Don’t say things out of turn.”

Xiong Zhuang flinched and quickly nodded. “Got it, I got it!”

Zhang Shuguang raised his hand and patted Mang Jiu on the arm, then said to Xiong Kui, “Hand out the leaves to everyone. Having bugs inside your body isn’t good—it’s always a potential hazard.”

Xiong Kui nodded, stuffing a few leaves into his mouth with a look of self-sacrificing generosity, then spewed out a whole bunch of worms. Of the group, only Mang Jiu ate the leaves without any adverse effects—in fact, he actually found them quite tasty.

Watching him munch on the leaves one by one as if they were snacks, Zhang Shuguang went ahead and picked some more for him. “Hand me the backpack. I’ll pick some extra to take back and dry.”

“Drying them will ruin the effect,” Mang Jiu said, showing him the sap on his hand. “It’s all thanks to this sap that we can make the bugs come out.”

Zhang Shuguang nodded. “You’re right. Never mind, then. Next time I’ll bring them here to try some.”

Xiong Kui heard him and waved his hand. “No need. Everyone grows up this way. A few worms in your stomach won’t kill you.”

Zhang Shuguang thought to himself, How do you know it won’t kill them? In your world, there are only two categories: dead and alive. You don’t care how someone dies—as long as it doesn’t look like an injury, you just chalk it up to old age or illness. As for the specifics of how they got sick, no one gives a damn.

He didn’t press the issue. After all, Xiong Kui was the chief; if he said it wasn’t necessary, then it wasn’t. In any case, after a while, Xiong Kui would naturally realize the benefits of being worm-free, and by then, he’d come asking for the leaves on his own.

“Come on, let’s go back and cook. We’ve got honey today—I’ll roast you a honey-glazed rabbit.” Zhang Shuguang tugged at Mang Jiu’s hand, smiling at him. “And I’ll make a cold salad with honey and amaranth.”

Mang Jiu nodded with a smile. “How are we going to eat the mushrooms?”

“We’ll roast the mushrooms. There must be plenty of them near the tribe. After dinner, I’ll weave a few wicker baskets. Tomorrow, we’ll pick them as we go—we’ll gather quite a few.” Hand in hand, the two walked back, chatting as they went.

Mang Jiu: “Alright, I know a grove where there are plenty of mushrooms.”

“Did you tell the chief about what happened with Hou Qi? I just feel like he’s acting a little strange. I’ll tell you, the way he looked at you…”

Back at the Cliffside Tribe, Mang Er sat cross-legged on the ground, cradling Naidou and Maodou in his arms, while Tangdou was curled up comfortably in his hair. Mang Er and the two little ones in his arms all looked up at the same time and yawned. After yawning, they gazed longingly at Li, who was busy at the hearth.

“Meow~”

“Meow~”

“Meow~”

“I’m hungry.”

Li’s mouth twitched slightly, and he had a strange premonition of what life would be like after he had kittens of his own.

“Wait, wait, don’t rush me. I need to take my time.” He hurriedly dropped the large chunk of meat he was holding into the basin and grabbed a handful of salt to sprinkle right in. 

Mang Er: “Ah…”

Naidou: “Meow?” 

Maodou: “Woof?” 

Tangdou: “Cheep?”

Li paused, looked up at them, then looked back down at the meat. “Did I mess this up?”

“Um…” Mang Er thought for a moment and said, “When I saw Shuguang curing the meat, he didn’t use as much salt as you did.”

Li scratched his head. “What are we going to do? It’s all melted.”

Ever since Xi San and the others brought back sea salt to share with the tribe, during every meal lately, someone in the tribe has yelled out that it was too salty.

Although Li had eaten sea salt before, the amount had been small back then, and he hadn’t dared to eat much, so he hadn’t found it too salty.

But now it was different. He’d been given quite a bit of salt himself, and Xi San had said that from now on, the tribe didn’t need to ration their salt—they could make their own, so they could eat as much as they wanted.

Li looked at him somewhat awkwardly. “Why don’t I just rinse it off with water?”

“Just use a different piece of meat and start over. We’ll treat this one as cured meat.” Mang Er set the cub he was holding down on the ground beside him, stood up, and went to wash his hands. “I’ll slice the meat. You stoke the fire and peel the potatoes.”

“Okay!” Li nodded. “That’s great.”

Mang Er’s meat-cutting skills had been honed by Zhang Shuguang. With a few swift strokes of his knife, he divided the entire piece of meat into evenly sized chunks and dropped them into a pot of boiling water to blanch.

By the time Li had finished peeling and washing the potatoes, he looked up to see that Mang Er had already heated the oil in the pan. He paused for a moment and asked, “Wasn’t I supposed to cook?”

Mang Er dumped the meat into the pot, where it sizzled and crackled. “If you cooked, you’d starve us to death.” He stirred the pot with a wooden spoon and pointed to the potatoes in his hand. “You’re done chopping. Hand me the Sichuan peppercorns.”

Li didn’t mind being bossed around at all; he was actually thrilled not to have to cook.

He knew full well that his cooking skills weren’t great; he couldn’t even manage to follow Zhang Shuguang’s steps properly.

Mang Er had watched Zhang Shuguang cook a few times and remembered what he put in each time. Aside from garlic, he tossed in a bit less of the other ingredients, stirred them with the wooden spoon, added some water, and put the lid on.

Li stood nearby, chopping potatoes, glancing up at him from time to time. Noticing he hadn’t added salt, he asked, “Aren’t you putting in any salt?”

“Shuguang always adds salt last. Once you’re done cutting the potatoes, just dump them right into the pot.” Mang Er sat back down on the ground, hugged the kids close, and lazily stared at the strips of meat hanging from the snake-skin bag, swaying in the breeze.

The air-dried beef strips had turned a dark purple; if he hadn’t helped thread them himself, he wouldn’t have believed it was meat.

“Is that meat still edible?”

Li turned his head to look, then shook it. “Before Shuguang left, he said we should roast it. I’ve got plenty of strips of meat marinated over there too—they look just like his. They’re dried out like dead twigs used for kindling.”

Mang Er was plucking the fur off Naidou and Maodou. His hand was covered in fur after just one stroke. He tossed the long white hairs aside and continued plucking, remarking on how much fur the two pups were shedding before saying, “I think he’ll be back soon.”

Li Jingxi looked at him in surprise. “Coming back soon? When will they be back? How do you know?”

“The salt’s been delivered back. It’s about time for the people heading to the gathering to get ready. I don’t know about the others, but Shuguang and Mang Jiu must be on their way. Are you missing Shuguang?” Mang Er asked with a smile.

“Of course I do. I was actually pretty happy when A-Si came back, but now he’s turned into a green-shelled turtle, holed up in the cave and refusing to come out, saying he needs to sleep. I mean, he’s not you—what’s he sleeping for!” As soon as the words left Li’s mouth, he realized they sounded wrong. He glanced at Mang Er, who was looking at him with a teasing expression. Li’s face flushed, and he stammered, “Um, I’m not—I’m not saying you’re lazy. Really!”

Mang Er didn’t stop what he was doing, just grunting and nodding. “I am pretty lazy.”

“You’re not lazy—not in the least.” Li thought of how Mang Er had been taking care of him these past few days, hunting fresh meat every day and even finding fruit for him to eat. His face flushed slightly as he lifted the lid and poured all the potatoes inside, then lowered his eyes and said, “I know you’re a good guy—you’re good to me and to the kids.”

Mang Er’s hands paused, and he looked up at him. Li’s face flushed bright red. “I—if I…”

“Kids! Daddy’s home!” Zhang Shuguang called out as he made his way up the mountain.

The two cubs in Mang Er’s arms darted out in an instant. Tangdou, who had been sleeping on top of his head, chirped and flapped its wings, flying out with a whoosh.

Zhang Shuguang bent down, scooped all three of the rushing cubs into his arms, and kissed each one in turn.

“I missed you so much!” As he kissed and cuddled them, he realized after two kisses that his face was covered in fur.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh, why are you shedding now?” Zhang Shuguang spat the long hairs out of his mouth and shook his arms. “You’ve gotten fat! You’re a lot heavier.”

Li ran over and happily circled around Zhang Shuguang. “I was so worried! Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, and your father and brothers are fine too,” Zhang Shuguang said with a smile as he looked at him. “Thanks to you, the kids have been well-fed—they’ve all put on weight!”

“It wasn’t me who took care of them—it was Mang Er who took care of the four of us.” Li was well aware of his own limitations. He pulled Zhang Shuguang over to sit at the table and chattered away, recounting in detail how Mang Er had looked after him and the others over the past few days. Finally, his face flushing, he added, “Mang Er is really great.”

Zhang Shuguang blinked, glanced at Li, then leaned forward slightly to look at Mang Er, who was sitting there waving at him. He straightened up and said to Li, “Are you planning to lay eggs with Mang Er?”

Li gave Zhang Shuguang a series of sly winks. “Shh, shh, shh! Don’t say it, don’t say it!”

“Why can’t I say it?” Zhang Shuguang’s eyes sparkled with amusement, though his expression remained serious as he asked, “Could it be that you’re actually dissatisfied with Mang Er?”

Li glared at him. “Keep your voice down!”

“Fine, fine, I won’t ask. You can go tell him yourself,” Zhang Shuguang said, turning around with the cubs in his arms and gesturing to Mang Jiu. “Here, hold them for a bit. They’re getting heavy—my arms are killing me.”

Mang Jiu reached out to take the cubs, and upon seeing the fur stuck to his leather vest, he furrowed his brow slightly. “They shed a lot.”

“Furry little ones are bound to shed. Make a comb to brush them with.” Zhang Shuguang thought of his own messy hair and sighed. “Actually, I could use one too. You guys should comb your hair with a comb as well—it’s way more comfortable than using your fingers.” He hadn’t actually thought of making a comb before; mostly because there were so many things to do every day that he simply hadn’t remembered to spruce himself up.

But now it was different! The pups were shedding, and if he didn’t properly comb and tidy up all that fur, it would end up floating all over the cave.

“Alright, just tell me how to do it, and I’ll make one.” Mang Jiu nodded, hugged the cub, and walked to the cave entrance. He looked down at his second brother and asked, “Haven’t you slept in days?”

Mang Er smiled at him and asked, “Since when did you start caring whether I sleep or not?”

Mang Jiu turned his head to glance at Li, who was talking to Zhang Shuguang, then looked back at Mang Er. “Are you planning to lay eggs with Li?”

“I’m kind of interested,” Mang Er licked his lips. “No rush right now. Let’s wait until the rainy season.”

Thinking of the excitement of the rainy season, Mang Jiu’s expression darkened. He felt a little of that, too. Hmm, we’ll see about that when the time comes.

Li helped Zhang Shuguang put away everything he’d brought back. Looking at the wicker baskets filled with mushrooms, the two buckets of sweet-smelling honey, and the assortment of wild vegetables, he said admiringly, “No matter where you go, you always manage to bring back plenty of food.”

“We found a peach grove,” he said, smiling at Li. “Peaches are those fruits with a fuzzy skin.”

“I know that. We call them ‘fuzzy fruits,’ but a lot of people in the tribe just call them whatever they like. If you say ‘peaches,’ then they’re peaches. I know there are some peach trees nearby, but not many.”

Zhang Shuguang used his chopsticks to lift the honeycomb out and place it in a bamboo tube, then poured some honey over it and handed it to Li. “Take this back to your mom. Have her mix it with warm water to drink. You can also spread it on the meat when grilling. Just don’t drink too much at once—it can give you diarrhea.”

Li nodded happily and accepted it. “I’ll take it back to Mom. The pot over there has venison stewed by Mang Er.”

“No wonder you said Second Brother takes good care of you all—I believe it now.” Zhang Shuguang lifted the pot lid and took a whiff; it smelled delicious. He turned to Mang Er and said, “Second Brother, you’re quite the cook. You’ve put in all the right ingredients.”

Mang Er nearly died laughing at that remark. He pointed to the thick bamboo tube sitting on the stove. “Everything in there—except for the garlic—is meant for stewing meat. You’ll see once you try making it yourself.”

Li stood there dumbfounded. “All of that can be used for stewing meat?”

“Yeah,” Zhang Shuguang nodded, looking at Li in disbelief. “You’ve cooked with me so many times—you still don’t know how?”

Li scratched his head and gave a sheepish chuckle. “It’s not that I don’t know how to cook—I just can’t get the measurements right.” He pointed to the large conch shell filled with sea salt. “I just grabbed too much salt a moment ago.”

Zhang Shuguang chuckled and asked him, “Has A-Si come back yet? Did they bring back a lot of salt?”

“Plenty! A whole lot. The shaman gave everyone a good share and even stored some in the cave, saying that if anyone runs out of salt later, they can come over and trade for some,” Li said excitedly, gesturing with both hands. “They brought it all back in animal-skin bags—so many bags. And A-Si—he’s been lying in the cave sleeping ever since he got back. I went to look for him, but he wouldn’t even acknowledge me.”

“Is A-Si sleeping?” Zhang Shuguang dumped the fresh mushrooms onto a bamboo tray. Tangdou flew over from Mang Jiu’s arm to help sort out the poisonous ones. Tangdou chirped, and Zhang Shuguang set one aside.

“Yeah, I saw him when he first got back. He said he’d tell me when he woke up. But I’ve been checking on him every day, and he’s been sleeping the whole time—I haven’t seen him wake up once.” Li grabbed one of the poisonous mushrooms he’d picked out, pouted, and said unhappily, “Next time you guys go do something, take me along too. I’ve never been out before.”

Zhang Shuguang picked up the bamboo tray and walked out, smiling. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere is fine. It’s boring being cooped up in the tribe all day.” Li gathered the poisonous mushrooms he’d picked from the ground, followed him outside, and placed them in a basin for miscellaneous items. “Wu had people dig another pit next to the big one, specifically for dumping this kind of stuff. We’ll dump some in and set it on fire every so often.”

Zhang Shuguang was quite surprised. He hadn’t expected Wu Ming to think of disposing of household waste so quickly. Though in the eyes of the people here, nothing was really considered trash, and even if there was, it was usually just tossed into the big pit.

“Why did Wu suddenly decide to dig another pit?” He placed the bamboo tray in the sunlight near the mountainside and set two trays on the ground. “How are my two plots of land doing?”

Li thought of the thriving vegetable patches on Zhang Shuguang’s two plots and smiled. “Wu took the tribe’s sub-beastmen for a walk. When they came back, they said to save all the manure from the big pit for farming, and told us to look for open spaces to weed and plant whenever we have free time.”

Zhang Shuguang looked at him in surprise. “Is that for real?”

“Seriously, you should’ve seen it. Those guys who were shouting the loudest earlier—once they saw your plot, tsk tsk tsk, they were more eager to pull weeds than anyone else.” Li chuckled as he recalled the look on their faces when they saw the vegetable patch that day. “Now they’re all waiting for you to come back and teach them how to farm!”

Zhang Shuguang nodded with a smile. “I do have a few ideas. I’ll go talk to Wu after we eat.” Li nodded. “Is there anything else you need to do? I’ll help you with it.”

“Let’s make meat buns. Since we don’t have egg wash for the wrappers, we’ll just wrap the meat slices around them. Stuff the potatoes, mushrooms, and whatever else inside the meat and steam them in hot water.” Zhang Shuguang glanced at the ready-to-eat ingredients by the stove and said to Li, “Help me dice the potatoes and dried bamboo shoots—the finer, the better.”

Li said, “I soaked some yesterday to eat tonight—they’ll work perfectly. I’ll go get them.” Holding the bamboo tube Zhang Shuguang had filled with honey for him, he ran back to his cave and returned quickly, this time carrying several pieces of soaked bamboo shoots and a few white eggs. “Mum would be so happy to hear you’d come back. These are the eggs she collected.”

Zhang Shuguang thanked him and took the eggs. “After we finish eating, bring me the beef jerky. We’ll roast it all together with mine.”

“Is it still edible? The meat’s all tough now.” Li reached up to touch the strips of dried meat hanging from the ceiling; there was a crisp snap. He handed a small piece to Zhang Shuguang, “Take a look.”

Zhang Shuguang took the meat, examined it, and nodded. “It’s fine. Dried meat has its own flavor. Once it’s roasted, you’ll see how fragrant it is. Besides, it’s meat—we can’t waste it.”

After speaking, he turned and called out to the two brothers who were whispering to each other about something: “Mang Jiu, come over and slice the meat. Second Brother, help me chop down those two cinnamon trees—I’ll use them for firewood.”

Zhang Shuguang pointed to the two cinnamon trees standing nearby, their bark already stripped. “Don’t cut them too thin. I’ll be roasting meat jerky later, and if they’re too thin, they won’t burn long enough.”

Mang Er stood up. “Alright, I’ll cut them thicker.” He went to fetch the bone knife, stepped on a log with one foot, and swung the knife with the other. With a clang, the log snapped.

Clang, clang, clang—several sections of the trunk fell to the ground. He looked up at Zhang Shuguang. “This long?”

“Right, thanks, Second Brother.” Zhang Shuguang nodded, took the meat out of the basin, and felt the salt crystals that hadn’t fully dissolved on the surface. “We’ll have to rinse this before using it, or it’ll be too salty.”

“Shuguang,” Mang Er said without looking up, “Go to my den and bring some fresh meat. Save this piece for Li—he cured it.”

Zhang Shuguang let out a wry sigh and turned to look at Mang Jiu. “Go on, go get the meat.”

Li sniffed, hung his head, and muttered, “This piece of meat was given to me by you anyway—it’s not like I can’t eat it.” Though he said that, the unashamed smile on his face was so sweet it could melt anyone’s heart just by looking at it.

Mang Jiu quickly brought the meat over—not just a piece, but half a carcass. He’d hauled over the entire half of the giant-antlered deer from Mang Er’s cave.

“This deer looks different from the one last time.” Zhang Shuguang stared at the deer’s head for a moment and noticed the antlers were different. “Does the meat taste the same?”

“Same,” Li nodded. “Apart from the size of the antlers, everything else is the same. We usually call this one a giant-antlered deer, that one a long-antlered deer, and the antlerless deer—we just call them whatever we like.”

Zhang Shuguang’s face twitched. “How careless! Sure, they’re all deer, but you could at least rank them from first to third.” He ran his hand along the massive, bow-shaped antler. “It’s really hard.”

“It’s no use. This shape isn’t suitable for sharpening into a knife,” Mang Jiu took the fishbone knife from his hand, sliced the meat into pieces, and placed them in a wooden basin nearby. He tapped the curved antler. “See what you can make out of it.”

“It could make a bow,” Zhang Shuguang held the antler Mang Jiu had removed upright, examining it from all angles. “You keep slicing the meat. I’ll find a vine to tie it with and give it a try. If it works, a little shaping will make it usable.”

Eager to get started, he turned and walked into the cave, the antler in hand.

The antler was massive; making just a single bow was clearly out of the question, and it was too heavy to handle. He sliced it open with his fishbone knife and found that while the antler felt hard to the touch, it had a certain resilience when cut.

Zhang Shuguang cut the antler in half, then into quarters, and finally sliced the vine into thin strips to tie to both ends of the antler.

He lifted it and tugged on the vines; the elasticity was actually quite good.

“Li! Get me a branch.”

Li brought in a twig and handed it to him. “What’s this?” It looked rather odd. Zhang Shuguang drew the bow, narrowed his one eye, and let go.

With a soft whoosh, the twig flew out. Li’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

Outside the cave, Mang Er was stacking the chopped wood when he heard a thud. He looked down and saw a twig lying at his feet. He turned to see Li running out of the cave.

Li jumped up and down excitedly, pointing at the twig at his feet and shouting, “Shuguang! Shuguang actually shot a twig out of the cave!” Zhang Shuguang, who was trailing behind as he emerged from the cave, froze for a moment, his mouth twitching violently.

“I didn’t shoot it out—the bow did,” Zhang Shuguang said, waving the antler bow in his hand. “Once we find some more elastic tendons to replace the vine, we’ll be able to shoot the twigs even farther.”

“Tendons?” Mang Er was very interested in the bow. He reached out to take it, then tugged at the vine. He picked up a twig and handed it over. Holding the twig, he gestured at the vine, examined it, and finally pressed the twig against a spot on the vine where there was a shallow indentation, then pulled it back.

Zhang Shuguang nodded silently. He really was a smart guy—he figured out how to use it just by looking at it.

Mang Er drew the bow and released the arrow. With a whoosh, the twig flew in a straight line, then cleared the low wall and fell down the mountain. Li ran over to look down and saw a twig sticking straight out of the ground on the third-level platform.

“Shuguang!” Li waved him over. “Come quick, you’ve got to see this.”

Zhang Shuguang ran over, leaned against the low wall, and looked down. After spotting the branch, he turned to look at Mang Er. “Second Brother, how much force did you use?”

“Not much. I just pulled it open and let go.” Mang Er bent down to pick up a stone, used the same method to pull the vines apart, placed the stone on top, and let go.

With a thud, a small hole appeared in the mountain wall.

Zhang Shuguang and Li’s eyes widened, and even Mang Jiu looked up to take a look.

“Is it that powerful?” Li looked at Zhang Shuguang in astonishment.

Zhang Shuguang was just as surprised. “Why are you looking at me? You saw exactly how that twig flew out just now.”

“Mang Er, how much force did you use?” Li reached out to feel the small hole in the mountain wall, then examined it closely. He discovered that the stone had been embedded deep into the rock face.

Mang Er said, “I didn’t use much force. It felt like I didn’t even use as much strength as when I was splitting wood just now.” Li rubbed his hands together. “Can I give it a try?”

Mang Er handed him the antler bow.

Zhang Shuguang rubbed the stubble on his chin, watching the two of them—one claiming the bow was too heavy, the other reaching out to help by wrapping an arm around his waist—and gave a soft snort before taking two steps back. “Your brother is actually a man of action.”

Mang Jiu looked at him. “Hmm?”

“He’s just… really good at it.” You know, getting handsy under the guise of teaching.

Zhang Shuguang couldn’t explain to Mang Jiu exactly how he was feeling right now, so he simply turned a blind eye. He mixed the prepared diced potatoes and bamboo shoots together, added some diced mushrooms, then seasoned them with salt, boar fat, Sichuan peppercorns, and crushed cinnamon bark.

“Wash some lemongrass; we’ll use it to tie up the meat.”

Mang Jiu washed the lemongrass, set it aside, and watched Zhang Shuguang work.

Because some boar fat had been added, the three types of minced meat had stuck together. Zhang Shuguang thought for a moment, then took the white eggs Li had brought over, scrambled them in a pan until crumbly, and poured them into a bowl to mix with the minced meat.

He placed a slice of meat—much larger than his palm—onto a wooden board, then spread the filling over it and tied the edges tightly with lemongrass, and a plump, round meat bun was complete.

Mang Jiu found it amusing and reached out to help. “Is this really that tasty?”

“It’s delicious. Last time I made egg rolls for them using egg wrappers; this one’s made with meat, so we call it a meat bun.” Zhang Shuguang glanced at the couple next to him, who were cuddling and practicing archery, then leaned close to Mang Jiu’s ear and whispered, “Actually, if you wrap the meat filling in dough, it’s also called a meat bun. We don’t have that right now, so let’s just make do with this.”

Mang Jiu nodded. “Do you want me to help you find some?”

“I just figure the world’s so big, there’s bound to be some staple food out there. Then we won’t have to eat potatoes and sweet potatoes every day,” Zhang Shuguang chuckled. “After we eat, let’s roast the dried meat, then go down to the fields to see how things are growing. From what Li said, all the seedlings are coming along nicely.”

“I’ll go with you.” Mang Jiu wrapped the meat buns in lemongrass. He wasn’t as nimble as Zhang Shuguang, so it took him a bit longer, but eventually, a perfectly formed meat bun took shape.

The two of them got the hang of it as they went along. After Zhang Shuguang transferred the venison and potato stew that Mang Er had prepared into a bowl, he washed the pot, boiled water, set up a bamboo steamer, and placed the meat buns one by one onto the bamboo tray. He covered it and began steaming them.

Steaming takes time, so he asked Xiao Cai to keep track of the time while he wrapped up the remaining slices of meat and filling. In total, they made over sixty meat buns, filling three large trays before they were all done.

The three kids had been howling with hunger for ages. Zhang Shuguang gave them some of the stewed meat to eat first to tide them over, and after the buns were done, he handed them a few more.

Li and Mang Er sat at the table, each holding a bamboo bowl. As they ate, they nodded in agreement: “Meat buns taste different from egg buns.” As Li spoke, he reached for the garlic, causing Mang Er to glare at him.

Li quickly withdrew his hand. Remembering the time Mang Er had made a fool of himself over garlic, he suddenly wasn’t so sure he wanted to have children with Mang Er after all.

What if they ended up living together, and Mang Er wouldn’t let him eat garlic? Wouldn’t he have to give up a lot of delicious food?

He frowned, feeling a bit conflicted.

“What are you thinking about? Eat up—it’s getting cold.” Mang Er picked up some braised meat with chopsticks and placed it in his bamboo bowl.

Li looked at the meat buns and stewed meat in the bowl, then glanced at the bamboo bowl placed farther away on the other side, which contained a few cloves of plump, white garlic.

“You, me, garlic…”

“What?” Mang Er looked at him with confusion.

Li blushed, shook his head, and said, “Nothing, nothing. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

Zhang Shuguang chuckled softly and said, “What he means is, if he eats garlic, are you still planning to lay eggs with him?”