Chapter 28 - Like
Shan Pu barely managed to retract his mouth, which could swallow a fist, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, “Witch, you really—”
Before he could finish his words, Tai Lie interrupted him.
“Shut up.”
Tai Lie’s expression was dark and inexplicable. He took a step forward and said to Lu Yu word by word, “This matter, tell me about it later.”
“Uh, okay.”
Just a second ago, Lu Yu, who stood tall with a look of wanting to reason with them, for some reason, suddenly felt timid… No, this wasn’t timidity.
Tai Lie meant that it wasn’t good to argue about this kind of thing in public, so it would be better to go back and discuss it slowly.
That’s what Lu Yu told himself.
—
Lu Yu and the others arrived at the location of the wooden hut that originally belonged to Qiu Guang but now belonged to them.
This wooden hut was different from the ordinary ones they saw when they first entered the city. It was a standalone “luxury version” wooden shed.
There was a rough wooden fence around the wooden hut, enclosing some open space around it.
Inside, the place was quite spacious, enough to accommodate about a dozen people without any problem. It looked like the tea pavilions by the roadside in ancient times, just much rougher, and there was nothing inside, just a place to stay.
When Lu Yu and the others came to see it before, there were still people from the Gao Hui tribe guarding it. Now, they must have received the news and left.
They placed the obsidianwood on the open ground and let a Matai man watch over it while the others went into the wooden shed.
Lu Yu spoke first, “We’ve got enough obsidian wood, but we haven’t found any shellstone or submarine mud yet.”
They didn’t see these two items at the exchange place before. Later, when Lu Yu made the second appointment with Qiu Guang to go to the wooden hut, he asked about it, but no one took out these two items for exchange.
Shan Pu anxiously said, “What should we do? Should I go back to the exchange place to check again? Maybe someone has exchanged them by now?”
Lu Yu shook his head.
He had a guess that these two items, unlike the very useful obsidian wood, might not have much value, so fewer people knew about them because no one would pay attention to useless things.
Not everyone had a golden finger like him, and who would collect useless things for no reason?
After a moment of contemplation, Lu Yu asked Mao Pu, “Mao Pu, do you know if there is a place in the Beast Plain used to exchange information or someone who knows a lot of information?”
If not, he would have to consider whether to go to the seaside and find them himself, because these two items seemed to be closely related to the sea and the beach.
Mao Pu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly seemed to remember something and clapped his hands, “Oh yeah, how could I forget! There is indeed such a person, right at the place of commissioning. This person is responsible for supervising the three major tribes there, and it is said that he also collects information from all over the Beast plain.”
Lu Yu nodded, “Okay, then take us there.”
It just so happened that they could also see the commissioning area.
The commissioning area was in the opposite direction from the exchange area.
As they walked, Mao Pu introduced, “There are many slaves there, all of whom are unwanted by the three major tribes. You can pay a certain amount of fur or other things to take them away. There are also some people who make tools. As long as you pay them, they will help you work.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yu asked, “Then can we take those toolmakers with us?”
Mao Pu quickly waved his hand, “That won’t work. Those are all people from the three major tribes. Even if you want to take them, they wouldn’t dare to leave with you.”
Saying that, they arrived at the place.
Because there were more important matters at hand, they didn’t linger and went straight to the supervisor.
Lu Yu was mentally prepared for the possibility of being disappointed, but unexpectedly, the supervisor seemed to have collected a lot of information and kept records.
They spent five medium furs and bought the information about the locations of shellstone and submarine mud, which turned out to be near the sea.
The man added, “If you plan to go, it’s better to go soon. The Great Drift is coming soon, and by then, it won’t be easy to move around there.”
—
On the way back, Lu Yu and Tai Lie discussed, “It’s getting late today. How about we go tomorrow instead? We can stay here for the night since we have a place to sleep.”
Tai Lie nodded slightly, “Okay.”
“Oh right, Witch, you haven’t told me yet, what are you planning to do with that wooden hut?” Shan Pu suddenly interjected.
Lu Yu smiled and didn’t immediately answer. Instead, he asked him, “Shan Pu, are you hungry?”
With this reminder, Shan Pu remembered that they hadn’t eaten anything all day. He touched his empty belly and said pitifully, “Yes, I’m hungry.”
Lu Yu smiled, “Then let’s go back and make some delicious food.”
Shan Pu loved the food made by Lu Yu the most. Upon hearing this, he immediately cheered enthusiastically, “Witch, you’re the best! You’re even better than the King!”
Le Shui nudged him.
Shan Pu came to his senses, shivered, and hastily changed his tone with a strong will to survive, “No, no, it’s the same as the King…”
Tai Lie glanced at him lightly and then looked at Lu Yu, saying lightly, “Lu Yu, you’re indeed amazing.”
He was the only one who could control him.
Lu Yu had already had some crazy thoughts earlier, and now, hearing Tai Lie praise him, he felt something was off…
But then he remembered the attitude of the Matai people towards people like gays earlier…
Well, Lu Yu, your delusions can take a break. The people in front of you are all top-notch straight guys and won’t have any other interests in you.
Lu Yu sighed and maintained a smile, “Still, the King is the most impressive.”
—
Back at the wooden hut, Lu Yu had them set up a bonfire in the open space.
Actually, influenced by Lu Yu, the Matai people now also eat fruits and vegetables, but today, Lu Yu still chose to roast a large piece of meat.
Lu Yu once again used his “deceptive move,” reaching into his back basket, but in reality, he took out a large piece of wild beast meat from his ring.
Mao Pu looked at him puzzledly, “Your back basket can hold quite a lot of stuff, huh? By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, where are your weapons and armor?”
Lu Yu remained unfazed, “They’re hidden in the woods. I was afraid they might be stolen here.”
During the past few days, Lu Yu had found many seasonings for cooking. Depending on the type of meat, different seasonings could be used to bring out the most special and delicious flavors of the food.
He chose a hind leg of iron-hoofed sheep today. This type of mutton was similar to modern mutton but had a richer flavor, with a slight gaminess that was irresistibly delicious.
Lu Yu placed the meat on the bonfire.
—
At this time, the sun had set, tired birds returned to their nests, and people also returned to their dwellings.
Apart from Lu Yu and his group, many places in the stone city were lit up with bonfires, and people began preparing food for the night.
At first, everyone was roasting meat as usual, but as they continued roasting, they noticed something was amiss.
What was that scent in the air, and why was it so fragrant?
As mentioned earlier, those who could live in the Beast Plain were important members of the tribes, and these people were used to eating the most tender meat cooked by the best craftsmen in the tribe. They felt that there was nothing more delicious in the world.
Now, just a whiff of fragrance made them suspicious.
Yin He from the Song Valley tribe was one of them.
Yin He was the most beloved son of the chief since childhood. Whatever delicious fruits and tender meat there were, they were all for him.
But he had never smelled such a fragrant scent before. Just by smelling it, his mouth was watering.
Unable to resist, Yin He led some people to follow the fragrance.
—
Shan Pu looked eagerly at the roasted meat, “Witch, can we eat now? Look, the meat has turned yellow, and oil is seeping out.”
After eating so much, Shan Pu could now tell the degree of meat when cooked.
Lu Yu fanned slowly with a large leaf resembling a fan, “Don’t be impatient, wait a little longer.”
“Hey, what meat are you roasting?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a proud voice came from behind.
Lu Yu, “Here he comes.”
Shan Pu was confused, “Who’s coming?”
Lu Yu smirked, “The guy who will give us free stuff.”
He stood up, turned around, and looked at the newcomer with a gentle smile, “What can I help you with?”
Seeing Lu Yu’s colorful face suddenly, Yin He, who was holding his head high, was startled and jumped back a bit, “Why did you suddenly turn around! If you’re ugly, you should remind others earlier!”
Lu Yu: …
Yin He steadied himself and pretended to cough, “This meat of yours seems quite fragrant.”
Lu Yu, “Oh.”
Yin He paused for a moment and arrogantly said, “Some food smells good but doesn’t necessarily taste good.”
Lu Yu didn’t bother to waste words, “Five medium furs for a piece of meat.”
“What?!” Yin He jumped up again, “You want five medium furs for this piece of junk meat?!”
Before Lu Yu could speak, Shan Pu beside him shouted loudly, “Then get out of here! We didn’t even started to eat yet!”
Yin He sniffed, swallowed the saliva in his mouth, gritted his teeth, “Five furs it is! If it’s not delicious, you’ll face the wrath of the Song Valley tribe!”
—
Yin He returned to his wooden hut in a daze, and someone approached him curiously, “Yin He, did you go eat that roasted meat? Was it delicious?”
“Delicious? No no no…”
“Oh, so it wasn’t delicious.”
Yin He suddenly came to his senses and shouted, “Can’t describe it as delicious, it was too too too delicious!!!”
After saying that, he ran back into the wooden hut and shouted, “You, get twenty medium furs, no, fifty, go to that fragrant wooden shed and have them roast meat for us tomorrow!”
—
Lu Yu smiled at the newcomer, “I don’t have the leisure to roast meat for you, but you can bring the prey here, and I’ll help you process it. You can take it back and roast it yourself, and it will taste delicious.”
“Remember, it must be prey that still has a breath, the bigger, the better.”
The bigger it is, the better the loot box he can possibly unlock.
—
At night, the Matais people and Mao Pu went to rest.
Tai Lie called Lu Yu to the campfire.
Lu Yu thought he was going to ask about the meat roasting.
Lu Yu flicked a twig at the almost extinguished fire, “Anyway, we’re just doing a little bit of work, and we won’t…”
“Lu Yu. What I want to ask about isn’t that,” Tai Lie interrupted.
Lu Yu raised his head, puzzled, “Then what is it?”
Tai Lie pursed his lips, “During the day, you said you were a broken man.”
Lu Yu slapped his forehead, Ah, right! How could he forget about this? He shouldn’t have let Shan Pu and the others go, he should have given them a bedtime lesson.
Since he had been so straightforward, it didn’t seem appropriate to backtrack now.
“Yes, I said that. I’ll tell you about that broken man is—”
Tai Lie asked in a low voice, “So, have you ever liked a man?”
Lu Yu was dumbfounded, “Huh?”
“How many?”
Lu Yu: ???
Tai Lie’s expression was inscrutable, his voice somewhat dry and tense, “If, like me, I only liked one person, does that count as being a broken man?”
Lu Yu’s brain suddenly felt sluggish.