The spiritual energy in the Monster Beast Forest is richer than elsewhere, offering various resources and abundant ingredients. While waiting for the Desert Leopard King to recover, Yu Su and Lu Yan took the opportunity to process the hunted monster beast meat. They set up a stove by the nearby stream and prepared to roast the monster beast meat.
Lu Yan took the meat to the water's edge for cleaning, slicing it into neat pieces and arranging them on a wooden board.
Yu Su went into the forest and gathered various natural spices, including spicy lantern fruit and fragrant rice-sized fruit seeds. After picking them, he crushed them and placed them in bamboo tubes.
Next, he set up the stove, laid the brought iron mesh on it, leaving a space beside it. He took a clay pot from the space, filled it with water from the stream, and set it up to simmer a beast bone soup.
When he lit the charcoal fire, Lu Yan brought over his meat.
Using bamboo chopsticks, Lu Yan picked up the meat and carefully roasted it on the iron mesh.
Yu Su noticed some green lantern fruits nearby and asked Lu Yan if there was any meat left.
Lu Yan nodded, "There is, by the stream."
Yu Su first brought back the meat and bones for soup, placed them in the clay pot, and then went to the stream. He cut the remaining meat into cubes, fetched some non-toxic branches from the forest, and skewered the meat.
In the middle of two pieces of meat, there was also a green lantern fruit.
Several other skewers included spirit fruits.
After skewering a dozen or so, he picked them up and walked back to the stove, placing them on it to roast.
It was Lu Yan's first time seeing meat with fruits and lantern fruits in the middle. Seeing Yu Su roasting them with great interest, he couldn't help but wonder if they were edible.
Yu Su said, "Of course, it's delicious, fragrant, and helps balance the flavors. Try it, and you'll know."
The Little Darkbird had been eager to eat, "I want to eat too."
The thin slices of meat were the first to be roasted. Lu Yan placed them on a wooden plate and handed them to Yu Su.
After Yu Su took the wooden plate, he naturally took the roasted meat skewer from Yu Su's hand.
"I'll do it. You eat," Yu Su said.
"I'll do it."
Lu Yan skillfully flipped the meat skewers, sprinkling powdered lantern fruit peel and spices on them, releasing a fragrant aroma.
While watching, Yu Su wolfed down the roasted meat, closing his eyes in delight.
The Little Darkbird used its sharp claws to cut the meat pieces in front of it into small, bite-sized pieces, eating happily.
Yu Su asked, "Spicy?"
The Little Darkbird jumped while saying, "Too spicy!"
Yu Su said, "Then ask Lu Yan to put less lantern fruit powder for you."
The Little Darkbird protested, "No need, I like it spicy!"
Seeing tears welling up in its eyes the size of mung beans, Yu Su said, "You're crying from the spiciness; no need to pretend to be tough."
The Little Darkbird cried while saying, "But it's so pleasantly spicy!"
It had never encountered something like this in its inherited memories, both spicy and enjoyable. Even though tears were streaming down, it couldn't resist wanting to continue eating.
Yu Su observed, "Crying from spiciness but still wanting more. Don't force yourself."
The Little Darkbird, crying, said, "But it feels so good!"
Humans indeed excelled at making delicious food.
Yu Su shook his head at its antics.
Then he heard Lu Yan asking him, "Is it delicious?"
Yu Su responded, "Delicious!"
Lu Yan remained silent, just looking at him.
Yu Su immediately understood, picked up a slice of meat, and brought it to Lu Yan's mouth, saying, "You eat."
Lu Yan opened his mouth, ate the meat, and then said, "Indeed delicious."
Yu Su grinned, "Of course, regardless of who's doing the cooking."
Lu Yan, "..."
After finishing a small plate of roasted meat, the clay pot beside them was also bubbling.
Yu Su put down the wooden plate, added several edible and tender mushrooms that he had picked, sprinkled some salt, and let it continue simmering.
...
They were roasting meat and stewing soup here, and the fragrance spread far and wide.
The monsters in the forest smelled it and came over.
Yu Su noticed but had no intention of driving them away.
"Little ancestor, quickly scare away those monsters."
The Little Darkbird, busy eating, reluctantly released the pressure of the divine bird, scaring away the monsters approaching.
"Chirp!"
Dare to disturb this grandpa while eating; eat you all!
...
"So fragrant!"
When Yu Mang and the others were tired from fighting monsters in the forest and smelled the rich meat fragrance from afar, they couldn't sit still. They ran towards the direction of the fragrance.
"It must be Lord Yu Su and Chief Lu roasting meat."
"Hurry, walk faster; we might miss out if we're late."
Those nearby in the forest, after smelling the aroma, were so hungry that their stomachs growled.
By the time they reached the stream, they indeed saw Yu Su and Lu Yan roasting meat.
"Brother Yu Su!" Yu Mang shouted, "You're roasting meat, and you didn't call us!"
Yu Su glanced up, "How did you all come here? Is your nose so sensitive?"
Yu Mang and the others ran over the stream, "We smelled the fragrance from afar."
A group of men, all carnivores, turned green-eyed at the sight of meat on the stove.
Yu Su protected the food, "Go away, there's still meat by the stream. Skewer it yourself if you want to eat."
Lu Yan also glanced at Yu Mang and the others.
Yu Mang and the others didn't dare to snatch food from Lu Yan, so they obediently went to skewer their own meat.
After Lu Yan roasted the meat skewer in his hand and placed it in Yu Su's plate, he said, "After eating these, don't eat anymore. Don't overeat."
Yu Su acknowledged with an "Oh." The spiritual energy in the monster beast meat was abundant, fragrant, and tender. Unconsciously, he finished all the roasted meat, and Lu Yan hadn't eaten much yet.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Yu Su put down his plate, "You can have these; I'll roast a few more skewers for you."
Lu Yan declined, "I'll do it myself."
He walked toward Yu Mang and the others, took away the skewers they had prepared, and returned to continue roasting.
Yu Mang and the others dared not speak up against Lu Yan and quickly re-skewered their meat.
Yu Su watched with amusement, enjoying the show while continuing to eat meat.
After finishing, he scooped a bowl of bone and mushroom soup, hot and aromatic with added spices. Taking a sip, the mouth was filled with rich fragrance, warm and comfortable.
Leaning against a tree trunk, Yu Su blissfully squinted his eyes.
This life, apart from lacking the conveniences of modern technology like online games from future generations, wasn't bad.
"Online games?"
Lu Yan's voice suddenly sounded, and Yu Su just noticed that he had spoken aloud.
"What's that?" Lu Yan had keenly noticed Yu Su's interest in these things.
Yu Su: "Uh, just some entertaining games."
Lu Yan: "If you want to play games, I can play with you."
Yu Mang and the others happened to come back with meat skewers and placed them on the stove.
"Yu Su, what game? Want to play games?" Yu Mang exclaimed excitedly.
Yu Su: "..."
---
After a hearty meal, everyone felt a bit sluggish and leaned against tree trunks, squinting to rest.
Lu Yan was still thinking about the games Yu Su mentioned, eager to play with him.
The little black bird, with its eyes the size of green beans, also stared at Yu Su curiously.
Yu Su: "It's nothing, if you want to play, when we get back, I'll make a deck of playing cards for you to play."
"Playing cards?"
"What's that?"
Lu Yan and the little black bird asked one after another.
Yu Su explained to them, "In addition to playing cards, there's mahjong, chess, and more. They are all interesting things."
Lu Yan: "I know chess; Chi Nan knows it."
Yu Su almost forgot that Chi Nan mentioned he was skilled in various arts.
"That's it. I'll make them when we get back for you to see."
Lu Yan wasn't very interested in these entertainment things, but if Yu Su was fond of them, he was willing to learn and play with Yu Su.
"Wait, when we go back, I also want to play...plop."
The little black bird said a sentence and then plopped down into Yu Su's arms, closing its eyes and falling asleep.
Yu Su almost thought it was poisoned, but seeing it sleeping so soundly, he was somewhat speechless.
The All-Knowledge Spirit in Yu Su's mind spoke, "Master, monster beast dan."
The All-Knowledge Spirit also wanted to eat monster beast dan. Previously, with the little black bird around, all the monster beast dan Yu Su hunted went into the little black bird's mouth, causing a commotion among the All-Knowledge Spirit.
To appease it, Yu Su had to leave the little black bird to Yu Mang and the others and then got up with Lu Yan, summoning their swords to search the forest.
Lu Yan, a bit puzzled, asked, "Why?"
Yu Su: "Hmm...I plan to study it so it won't want to eat when it sees it."
Lu Yan nodded without further inquiry.
---
In this monster beast forest, there were mainly low-rank monster beasts, and encounters with third and fourth-rank ones were rare.
After searching for a long time in the forest, the two finally found the trace of a fourth-rank monster, and they were already very close to the eastern edge of the monster beast forest.
"It's a fox," Lu Yan whispered.
A fox with red fur, larger than an ordinary fox by twice the size, had a fierce expression, and it was glaring at a small cave.
Yu Su heard faint sounds coming from the cave, speculating that there might be some weak monster hiding inside. They had stumbled upon this fox's hunting scene.
It was also the unfortunate fate of that small monster inside the cave that Yu Su and Lu Yan arrived just in time.
Using vines and flames, the two attacked the red fox together.
The red fox, under attack, immediately shifted its attention from the cave to Yu Su and Lu Yan. It dodged quickly, roared at them, and then pounced towards Yu Su.
Yu Su immediately drew his sword and engaged in a fight with it.
After the first exchange, Yu Su sensed that this red fox's strength was much stronger than what they had seen before!
Unlike the fourth-rank monsters they had hunted previously, this fox obviously had richer combat experience, and its cultivation seemed to be on the verge of breaking through to the fifth rank.
Yu Su couldn't afford to be careless and warned Lu Yan, "This red fox is almost at the fifth rank. Be careful!"
Lu Yan drew his knife, glanced at the cave, and joined Yu Su in attacking the red fox.