Chapter 28: Facing the terrifying long-legged ape, the peerless fish.
Fish skin is very tough when raw; Zhang Liu could only leave a slight cut when he scratched it with the metal piece forcefully.
But, in his opinion, that's enough.
After all, this cut resembles Gua Cha in the game.
No matter how thick the armor is, it can still be broken if scraped too many times!
You've had countless opportunities to try, but you're doomed to fail.
When Zhang Liu felt that his back was already hot from the sun, he successfully opened the belly of the sea fish.
Pfft...
With a sound similar to muscle squeezing, Zhang Liu put his hand into the fish's belly and extracted all the internal organs.
The smell combines with the warm and sticky texture, which is really unpleasant.
He was surprised, too.
Zhang Liu never thought that the internal organs of fish could be as large as the internal organs of livestock such as chickens and ducks.
Looking at the mass of internal organs in his hand, he hesitated at this moment.
It is mentioned in some popular science videos that fish waste is edible, can provide some essential nutrients to the body, and is also a good choice for making various traps.
A certain person, who was good at surviving in the wild, once performed a terrible trick of throwing the internal organs aside to let them rot naturally and then eating them by worms.
Although I have never eaten fish waste,.
But Zhang Liu once prepared river fish offal, thinking that it might taste good if he cooked it with more seasoning.
The specific method of operation is to give carp and tofu soup to two sisters.
He himself tried simmering carp offal with some ginger.
Zhang Liu would never forget the terrible and extremely fishy taste after that.
But now he was in the wild, and he really couldn't bear to throw away this precious food he had gotten by luck.
After struggling for a long time, Zhang Liu carefully washed the fish's internal organs in seawater.
Fish gills and fish intestines were things that looked extremely suspicious, so naturally, he wouldn't keep them, no matter how reluctant he was to give them up.
Zhang Liu meticulously cleaned the large fish livers and skins favored by his sisters, removing any blood and placing them in coconut shells for storage. After a brief contemplation, he refilled the coconut shell with seawater to complete the anti-corrosion process.
His next task involved processing the entire fish. Zhang Liu, considering the eerie scenario of gutted fish jumping around, decided to separate the components. However, to his surprise, the supposedly dead fish tossed onto the reef suddenly twitched and displayed an eerie glow in its eyes, seemingly lamenting its fate as a once peerless fish defeated by a terrifying monkey with long legs.
To avoid a terrifying escape story, Zhang Liu chose to hold the fish and searched for a suitable clamshell container for cooking on the beach. Oysters, known to grow up to 1.8 meters, needed to be sizeable but didn't have to be overly large—sink-sized was sufficient. Having good luck, he found several oyster shells in the low-tide area.
After careful selection, Zhang Liu retrieved six oyster shells, differing in color but sharing a common triangular shape with perforations and teeth, creating a somewhat unappealing appearance. Despite the unattractive exterior, Zhang Liu was satisfied that their cleaned interiors, along with thick shells, made them ideal for use as fish cooking utensils.
The remaining fish, fortunate to keep its body intact, faced a less fortunate fate. Despite the challenges of using a not-so-sharp metal piece with a short blade, Zhang Liu succeeded in cutting the fish into pieces, even managing to sever the spine. Cooking ensued promptly, with the fish's head, tail, and body each filled with meat, ensuring a meal for the trio.
Zhang Liu confidently strolled back to the cave, holding the captured fish and a large bunch of herbs that might have been grass. This was just the first trip, and he planned to make several more to gather the remaining oyster shells. Humming a tune, he felt a sense of pride, looking forward to a satisfying meal.
On the other side, Qin Rushuang was bending down to pick up the Jiabao fruit that had fallen on the ground, then putting it in the coconut shell container next to her. Meanwhile, Anya was drinking water under a tree. The two girls' picking work was almost complete.
"Would you like some water?" Anya offered, handing the remaining half of the water to Qin Rushuang, who was also standing and panting.
"Okay, thank you." Qin Rushuang nodded after taking a few sips. "It's time to go back. The color of the sun is starting to change."
Following Zhang Liu's advice about the sunset, Qin Rushuang, not wanting to trouble him further, especially after the successful harvest, was ready to leave. The two coconut shell containers were full.
However, the availability of easily picked fruits was limited, considering they were not cultivated artificially. Despite the small output, it had been substantial enough to sustain the three of them over the past two days.
"There is not much fruit left," Qin Rushuang observed, expressing her concern. "What will we do in the future?"
"Don't worry, won't we eat fish tonight?" Anya reassured her with optimism. As she tasted the sweetness of a jiabao fruit, she added happily, "Then we will see who starts faster and who eats the most!"
"That's what I said." Qin Rushuang smiled at the thought of having meat for dinner. Her pace quickened.
Soon, the two arrived near the small rock. Looking at the stone she had leaned on all night, Qin Rushuang felt uneasy, recalling Zhang Liu's expression earlier due to her conversation with Anya.
"Anya, do you think Zhang Liu will abandon us?" Qin Rushuang asked anxiously the question that had been lingering in her mind. Anya, observing Zhang Liu's shocked face peeking out from the other side of the rock, remained silent, her face wearing a strange expression.
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