Fang Zhixing didn't have much strength left, but he used his body weight and both hands to restrain the large eel.
After a standoff for a moment, the eel finally began to tire and its struggles lessened significantly.
Fang Zhixing quickly picked up the eel, stuck it into a broken bamboo basket, and leaned over, gasping for breath like an ox.
Just from that brief struggle, he was so exhausted that he saw black spots and his hands shook.
"Good gracious, this eel is huge," Xigou circled the broken bamboo basket, drooling from the corner of his mouth.
Fang Zhixing lay on the ground, took a long while to recover, regained some strength, got up, and picked up the bamboo basket.
Xigou shouted, "Let's go, head home and cook it."
Fang Zhixing shook his head slightly, "It's better to deal with it right here."
"Deal with it here?"
Xigou tilted his head, eyes wide open, "You aren't so hungry that you want to eat it raw, are you? I could eat it raw, aren't you afraid of parasites?"
Fang Zhixing said speechlessly, "Wild cooking, you know?"
Xigou suddenly understood and thought carefully that it made sense not to go back.
First, they were so hungry that they didn't have the energy to walk far;
Second, if they started cooking in the village using meat, probably all the village dogs would come running at the smell.
Not to mention, there were other villagers in the village, each as hungry as a wolf. If they wanted to share the food, would you give it or not?
The man and his dog left the riverbank and entered the woods.
"Can't go any further, let's just stay here."
Fang Zhixing found a sandy spot and discovered a pile of stones. He set down the bamboo basket and began collecting some dry leaves and branches nearby.
Then, he picked a few flatter stones from the pile and built a makeshift stove.
Xigou wasn't idle either, carrying a few dry branches in its mouth, all the while asking, "How do we start a fire? We don't need to start a fire by drilling wood, do we?"
"Nah, I've got this!"
Fang Zhixing pulled out a flint from his pocket, struck it hard against a stone, creating sparks that landed on the dry leaves.
After a few more strikes, more sparks fell onto the leaves until they started to smoke.
Whoo!
A flame burst into existence.
Fang Zhixing quickly blew on it to make the flame stronger, then added more dry leaves and branches to build a hearty fire.
"Not bad at all!"
Xigou clicked its tongue in amazement, giving him a serious dog stare.
Fang Zhixing ignored him. He really didn't have the energy for banter, and got busy grabbing the large eel. He smashed it dead with a stone, placed it on the rocks to roast, and took out the snails and clams, throwing them directly into the fire to roast together.
Soon, the eel's skin turned golden brown, and the snails and clams bubbled as they roasted.
A fishy yet tantalizing aroma filled the air.
Gurgle!
Fang Zhixing kept swallowing his saliva, while Xigou's drool stretched into a line, dripping down.
The first to be ready were naturally the clams. Back before they were transported to this world, the two of them used to eat barbecued meals like garlic vermicelli scallops.
Fang Zhixing reached for a clam, but the shell was so hot that he quickly set it aside to cool.
Xigou shifted closer to the clams.
Fang Zhixing glanced sideways at him and bared his teeth, "You eat first."
"Me first?"
Xigou lifted its head, looked at Fang Zhixing, then at the delicious smelling eel, shaking his head, "No no no, you eat first. After all, you did the work; I'm just the assistant."
"Tch! Smart dog."
Fang Zhixing casually picked up a clam, opened his mouth, his feeling of hunger reaching a climax at this very moment.
Ah hmm~
Under Xigou's intense gaze, drooling furiously, Fang Zhixing swallowed the whole piece of clam meat in one bite, chewed twice, bursting with juice and flavor.
He swallowed it down.
That piece of clam meat, as if weighing tons, suppressed his insurmountable hunger.
"Awesome!"
Fang Zhixing was deeply moved and completely satisfied!
Only those who have truly experienced hunger can empathize with this feeling of satisfaction.
Then, he put down the shell and placed it in front of Xigou.
Xigou: ???
"What are you looking at? Lick it fast!"
Fang Zhixing urged, "The shell still has juice and salt on it, don't waste it."
Xigou felt a rush of humiliation and angrily retorted, "Damn it! Fang Zhixing, be a human being! Let me make it clear to you, don't treat me like a dog; I'm not a dog!"
"Nonsense, you're even more of a dog than a dog."
Fang Zhixing scoffed disdainfully, "If you don't lick it, fine; it's you who's hungry, not me."
The moment Xigou heard the word "hungry," his stomach began to growl audibly, and a primal urge quickly overpowered his reason.
Slurp~
Xigou licked the shell, and pleasure filled his eyes as if he was drunk by the act. It felt awesome to lick like this.
Is this the joy of being a dog?
How wonderful!
Then, as if opening the door to a new world, the dog became possessed and started licking crazily, unable to stop or free himself.
After finishing the inside of the shell, he flipped it over and started licking the backside.
"Hmph, a dog is still a dog."
Fang Zhixing chuckled internally, poking the large eel a few times with a stick, grilling it until it was tender inside and crispy outside, and then started to eat when he felt it was just right.
"Wait, give me half!"
Xigou stepped forward, his right front paw on a rock, his head held high and his teeth bared, looking fierce yet adorably threatening.
Fang Zhixing said coldly, "I eat the meat, you chew the bones."
Xigou barked, "I'm too small to chew bones! Be a man with a conscience, don't forget I found the eel burrow."
Fang Zhixing snorted, "Fine, you can have some meat, but first say 'Master is really handsome' and let me hear it."
"You're talking nonsense! In front of me, Zhang Changji, do you qualify?" Xigou bared his teeth and growled lowly.
Fang Zhixing turned his back, bit into the thickest part of the large eel's back, and instantly his mouth was stuffed with meat.
"Fang! Zhixing!"
Xigou panicked, his four legs racing to the front of Fang Zhixing.
But Fang Zhixing immediately turned away again, teasing as if walking a dog.
Whining, "Damn it, I'm going to fight you!" Xigou bit Fang Zhixing's clothes and started to pull back fiercely.
Fang Zhixing ignored him, gulping down the food, and soon, most of the eel was in his stomach.
The feeling of hunger finally began to subside.
He then slowed down, and seeing there was just a head left of the large eel, and a small tail part still had some meat on it.
"Save some energy, here, you eat."
Fang Zhixing put the bones of the large eel on a rock.
Xigou hurriedly ran over, bit the eel's tail, and started to gnaw on it, not forgetting to mutter, "Eating alone, you'll get your comeuppance sooner or later."
Fang Zhixing said calmly, "If I'm not filled, I won't have the strength to hunt, and we will both starve to death. If you can hunt, I'll let you eat more in the future, how about that?"
"..."
Xigou was immediately at a loss for words.
Fortunately, since he was not big and had eaten some of the tail meat and an eel head, along with some small bones, he was quite full.
Fang Zhixing ate the last snail.
The man and the dog lay on the ground, digesting their food, basking in the sun, gazing thoughtlessly at the sky, clueless about the future.
After a while, Xigou suddenly asked, "Do you think my girlfriends will miss me?"
Fang Zhixing thought for a moment, and responded, "They definitely will, until they show up at your funeral together."
Xigou couldn't help but imagine a few women at the funeral, shocked to discover he was not devoted to just one girlfriend.
"Haha, hahaha!"
Suddenly, both the man and the dog burst into laughter.