In the early spring of September, at the easternmost point of the New Siakis Mountains, where they meet the northwest of the Pai Plateau, there is a green prairie, which stretches the rolling New Siakis mountains. A large amount of water from the melting glaciers of the snow-capped mountains of Nova Siakis is gathered here by several tributaries, and dozens of lakes, large and small, are gathered in this not so large grassland. Before summer, millions of the one-horned bison that migrate north to breed in the glacial tundra will pass through it, trampling it into barren terrain. Only in the early spring days before this, the caravans would choose to take this trade route. And now it's a paradise for all kinds of little animals.
I lie quietly in the grass tree motionless, even breathing is very light regulation. Beside me was a large cloth bag supporting the mouth of a fist-sized cave, the mouth of the whole cloth bag was slightly disguised with grass, and the more the mouth of the cloth bag, two feet square, the narrower it became, as long as a guinea pig got into the bag, there was no way to climb out.
Kutz is responsible for filling in the rest of the holes with a spade, a job only an experienced hunter can do, and you can't catch a guinea pig without plugging one hole. Fill in the nearby large and small rat holes, Kutz lit prepared cow dung in a specially left rat hole hole, the fire burned more and more, look about the time, Kutz poured a pile of white slag into the fire, instantly a lot of black smoke rose, mixed with pungent and spicy herbs of Wolf dung burning.
Seeing that the Wolf dung was fully burned, Kuzti covered the fire and the rat hole with a water-soaked linen blanket. She smiled at me and whispered, "Jijia, hold the pocket, don't tilt it!"
'All right! Even though the soul in my body was no longer young, I still became excited and even a little nervous when my little body lay on the grass, worried that I would not be able to hold the bag when those guinea pigs as big as rabbits pounced on it.
The smoke is pouring down the rat hole, and you can see this meadow with little bits of smoke rising all over it.
There was no time to think much, just listen to a "whoosh" sound, the grass of the mouse-hole was suddenly overwhelmed by a small yellow beast, and the yellow shadow even had no time to change direction and got into the cloth bag. Then two more came out in quick succession. I held the mouth of the bag tightly with both hands, not daring to be distracted. Guinea pigs the size of rabbits were darting from side to side in the bag, but Kuz, worried about my side of the mess, had already secured the bag to the ground with wooden wedges. I took a wooden stick and beat the guinea pigs who were not honest and still tried to find an exit.
Squatting next to the bag trap, I thought that I was only seven years old, at this age in the past, it was a happy time to cry and hold on to my mother's coat corner and refuse to go to school, but now I have to work hard for a bite to eat, and endure the pain of burning on my body, and work hard to integrate into the team with the most serious life attitude to understand this mysterious magical world. I guess I'm afraid of death after all, so I've been trying very carefully to stay alive, and in the meantime I've met some good people, Mr. Kuru. Butler Kuz Fred Leipas, and the rest of the caravan, they were all very friendly. Old Kuru not only saved me, but showed me the way to go in the future, and his words filled me with hope and courage. Whether this life is lucky or unlucky for me, I can't tell for a moment.
The sound of Kuz's cry came from a distance and pulled me back from my thoughts.
"Jiga, there's a guinea pig running away!"
I quickly dropped the stick in my hand and righted the crooked cloth bag. By this time, a dozen or so guinea pigs had run into the pocket, and a few fish had slipped through the gap on the other side of the mouth of the cloth bag and ran merrily across the grass. They leap three or four meters away, just a few ups and downs disappeared in the vast grassland.
Looks like the rat hole Kutz found belongs to a large family of guinea pigs. There are still a steady stream of guinea pigs along the choking smoke drilled out of the cave, some guinea pigs behind the general as drunk, shaking out of the hole to fall down in the hole, the hairy body seems to be straightened, the hind legs weak kick back two times, the body began to convulse, these guinea pigs are choked to death, perhaps the cave also, I don't think they're gonna make it out alive.
Kutz ran with an iron rod and bent the end of the rod. Stick iron into the hole and hook out the guinea pig that choked to death. His furry face was as smoky as black charcoal, and only his eyes were bright, showing the sharp canine teeth characteristic of the orcs in a smirk.
Our hunt was a great success. We caught 27 guinea pigs, each as big as a hare. We tied the bag to a long stick and carried it forward and back to the camp. On the way back, Kutz and I talked about treating the campers to stew, and Kutz agreed without thinking. Originally, I planned to fry the guinea pig, but I did not expect to catch so much oil at once, the original preparation will not be enough. We had to improvise the menu, but it was easier to cook in one pot. Now the early spring season is not winter, can not eat meat can also be frozen. As long as the fresh meat is put on for three or two days in this season, it will go bad, so it is better to invite everyone to eat together.
Old Kuru would be seen in the distance, squatting on the slope of the earth beside the camp, his wrinkled face would have an indescribable smell, just sitting quietly, holding a cigarette made of a coarse leaf of dry tobacco in his mouth. But the trip is very long, the old Kuru stock is not much, this is said to be this slightly sour as seabuckthorn taste of tobacco leaves can only grow on the Pai plateau, must be upon the family, those who have been reluctant to smoke tobacco leaves there is no need to save. Kuru saw our safe return, this only slowly walked down the hill, saw the bag of prey is surprised to say: "Caught so many, good luck, you two boys!"
"Grandpa, Jijia and I would like to treat all the people of the caravan to a good dinner, we would like to invite them to taste Jijia's specialty food, do you think it is OK?" Kuz asked cautiously in the presence of old Kuru, as good as a little quail. There are many differences between the rules of the Orc tribe and the human tribe. Although Kuz has lived in this caravan for a full three years, he still has the vigilance of the tribal beast people on human beings in his bones, which is something that leaves a brand in his bones and will not be easily changed.
Old Kuru gave me a look of surprise and relief. For a long time, the old Kuru has been trying to let Kuz integrate into human society. I know that the old Kuru has always wanted the young Kuz to travel to the most central Terran city in the mainland, but if Kuz always has the psychology of rejection, then this time will be extended indefinitely. Every orc who wants to be a horde leader needs to be forward-looking, but this thing needs experience and experience. However, the old Kuru was still a little hesitant, and after a moment of silence, he looked up and asked Kuz: "Since you want to invite all the caravan to eat stew, then do you know how many people are in the caravan, and do you have enough harvest today to feed everyone?" Do you think about how much food you're going to cook?"
"Ah! It is! Giga, there's a lot of people. We don't have enough guinea pigs!" Kuz was dumbstruck by a math problem that seemed a little difficult for a 12-year-old orc.
These days of studying herbology with the old Kuru, I had already figured out exactly how many people were in the caravan, in fact, such a large caravan, actually three independent teams, the smallest of course is two adventure groups, these two adventure groups only twenty-seven people, and they always walk in the front of the caravan, only when the supply will return to the majority of the team. Butler Leipas led the real caravan of Thunder rhinoceros, a total of 203 members, in addition to 70 giant thunder rhinoceros. The caravan was closely followed by thirteen moire iron wagons, and the Imperial Green Company was only going along with us, and there were far more of them than we were, but they had their own cooks, and the food was much better than we were, and I had seen a little girl in white at the side of the caravan at a distance, hanging on her slender white legs, He held a piece of white bread in his hand and played with the calf that followed him beside the wagon, and the sound of silver bells carried far.
I stood up and said, "There are more than 200 of us. For dinner, maybe 200 brown bread, which Kuz and I don't need to worry about, we just need to make stew for 200 people, and we only got 27 guinea pigs today, which is not enough. Yesterday, Kuz roped in seven prairie chickens and hid them in our tent. We also brought more than 50 mountain eggs, and I want to add vermicelli and steak to the stew..."
"Vermicelli... ? Is it the hard twine you made with potatoes in the first few days?" Kuz was obviously a little displeased with my vermiculli, as he was disgusted with the potato, a plant eaten only by the lowest slaves in the Orc tribe. Kuz was obviously worried that I was letting him eat the vermiculli made from the potato, so he quickly said, "Maybe we can add some tree rice to taste better, and I can ask Master Leipas for a bag of tree rice." Or a lot of live grass has grown in the field, and it is delicious to cook it in a pot."
In order to eat a fake pork vermicelli stew, I quickly put my arm around Kutz and whispered: "Animal brother, do you not believe me?" Because of my small stature, I could only stand on tiptoe to hug Kuz, who was still a head above me with his chest tucked in his belly. Kuz winked a little awkwardly and said to me, "When it comes to meat, you must give me more meat."
"Rest assured, when the time comes you will be open to eat, tube enough!" "I assured, patting my little chest.
In the easternmost part of the camp, near the lake, there was a row of large stone stoves with ten large iron POTS, each two meters in diameter, six on the side of the dance company and four on the side of the caravan. The cooks in the company have to stand on the stove with shovel-like spades to stir. In contrast, the caravan cooks are much easier, eating brown bread every day, just need to boil water in the pot, pour some dried vegetables and salt into it, and sometimes add some dried meat, this food is called dry vegetable soup. At that time, I thought it was more like a traditional Chinese medicine soup with salt, and it was difficult to drink, unless I was hungry, I would rather eat brown bread and water. Kutz is never picky, even if the soup can also drink a big bowl with relish, and then the old Kuru saw that I could not eat dry vegetable soup, only to take Kutz occasionally out hunting, for me to get some fresh meat to eat.
Butler Leipas, upon hearing Kutz's request, took us directly to the stove, reached for a spatula taller than I was, and asked me, "Giga, you say you want to make a meal for everyone, so if you can handle this spatula and promise not to fall into the pan, then I will oblige you."
Looking closely at the huge spatula, I found that the wooden handle soaked in grease and polished was almost as thick as my arm. My eyes were round, my hands clenched the spatula to take a deep breath, and I could not pick up the heavy spatula with all my strength.
In addition to the chefs of the dance company and the cooks of the caravan, many idle people gathered around the stove. The caravan camped early, in order to have a full rest in the lake where there is water, in preparation for entering the Pai Plateau. It was afternoon, and the caravans were sunning themselves outside their tents in the warm early spring weather. They saw people gathering by the lake, and they moved in.
"Ha ha, it is Jijia boy, careful the spatula hit your toe."
"Well, whose family is that child, and is this little boy still nursing?" How could Master Loy let him carry such a heavy spatula?"
People in the crowd talked about it, and when I finally didn't take the spatula, they laughed together. But privately some insiders began to explain that the caravan of medicine guru old Kuru with two children want to give everyone a good meal. Then the crowd began to talk about what to eat tonight.
I am a little embarrassed, I really did not expect the spatula can be so big, very heavy, I think it should be more than 30 kilograms, even if I want to pick up such a big spatula stir-fry is not easy.
"Maybe I can..."
I hesitated to ask for help, when Kutz reached out and grasped the wooden handle with one hand, lifting the spatula like a fly swatter, and asked me stupidly: "Giga, is this shovel heavy?"
"Ah! Az, you're so strong." I was a little dumbfounded. All the time, Kuz did not show his extraordinary strength, I sometimes a little childish, and Kuz on the back of the rhinoceros, I would press on his body to let him beg for forgiveness, Kuz would laugh loudly and concede every time. At that time, there was no feeling, I felt that even if his strength was bigger than me, it would not be much bigger, at most it was very able to run, endurance was very strong, and he could climb trees and jump higher than me. Even if we hunt guinea pigs back today, I will still feel that it is the efforts of our two people to lift back, but now looking back, I will bring my own thinking to the original mode, will think very strong, I think even if the number of guinea pigs I can not move it. It seems Kuz must have been carrying most of the weight, and I was careless enough to go ahead and not notice.
I quickly said to Butler Leipas, "Papa Leipas, then shall we begin?" Maybe I can do something else, wash meat and carry water. Kuz is a good cook. '
Leipas looked at me and Kuz with his long, thin eyes, and turned to a fat, greasy-stained cook, Anlu, who was nearby, and said, "Let these two little guys take care of the stew for dinner tonight, and I have one request, fat man, you listen, I need you to keep them safe." Anything happens to one of them, and you will receive my wrath. And I assure you that you will not receive any medical treatment for the rest of your journey. Do you understand?"
The fat husband, Anlu, whose round fleshly face was full of wrinkles, painstakingly wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief of indistindistable color, emerged from the crowd and tried to collect the pot of belly, and said bitterly to the butler Leipas: "Mr. Butler, you can rest assured that I will take care of these two young men."
Seeing Kuz always wanted to talk, I held Kuz's sleeve tightly. After Leipas left, the crowd dispersed, leaving only me and Kuz with a shovel, and I said to Kuz: "I will do all the ideas, but I am weak, you have to make some effort, after all, we are cooking dinner for more than 200 people, even if there is only one dish I can not do."
Kuz heard me say this, full of tension hair face relaxed, a long breath said: "Let me stew meat I can not, but I have strength, as long as the strength of the work, Giga, you go ahead."