Chapter 13 Swampland
Following Jian Mo's instructions, Ada came for a follow-up check the next evening.
Jian Mo opened the cloth wrapped around his wound, and the herbs had dried and turned dark green.
After peeling off the herbs, he could see the wound on his leg that was tightly closed into a line. The wound was not red or swollen, and it looked almost healed.
Jian Mo took a closer look and confirmed that his wound was indeed healing well. It was estimated that it would heal smoothly in a few days.
He looked up at Ada in surprise.
The orc's physique is really good. Such a large wound has almost healed in such a short time.
Ada saw Jian Mo's expression and asked nervously: "What's wrong? Is my wound not healing well?"
"No." Jian Mo smiled, "It's much better than I thought. I'll get some herbs to wrap it for you for a day. I guess you won't need to wrap it tomorrow."
Ada breathed a sigh of relief and stared at his leg: "That's great, I think it's almost healed. You are a great doctor."
Jian Mo: "You have a good physique."
Jian Mo pounded the fresh herbs and wrapped it with a new cloth.
The old cloth can be washed and boiled, and can be used again after drying, so it can't be thrown away.
Ada watched Jian Mo working and asked hopefully, "I've healed so well, can I participate in the hunting conference?"
Jian Mo paused and asked, "When is the hunting conference?"
Ada: "Maybe in five or six days, then the Mengshui tribe will send someone to notify you."
Jian Mo shook his head: "Five or six days is too long, the meat inside may not have grown well yet, and if you exercise vigorously, the wound will easily split and become infected and inflamed."
Ada instantly showed a disappointed expression.
Jian Mo looked at him and said, "We'll see then. If it doesn't work, wait until the next time. The wound is more important."
Ada agreed very sadly.
Jian Mo was not a local beastman, and he didn't have any real feelings about the hunting conference.
He was busy every day, collecting, cooking, and taking care of winged beasts, as usual. Occasionally, he made medical equipment with Wu Jiong.
On this day, he had just returned from collecting with the team, and he felt that the atmosphere in the tribe was different.
Before he had time to ask his companions, the people in the team had already rushed up with cheers.
Jian Mo watched from behind and soon saw a strange young man who was surrounded.
The young man was talking.
Jian Mo listened for a while and realized that the young man was an orc from the Mengshui tribe. He came specifically to inform them that the hunting conference would be held in five days and asked their tribe whether they would participate. After receiving an affirmative reply, he asked their tribe to be prepared.
The young man did not stay for long. After conveying the message and getting a reply, he changed back into beast form and ran away.
Jian Mo watched from behind and saw that his beast form was not any familiar animal. If anything, it looked a bit like a deer. He was as strong as a deer, but his teeth were sharp and his hair was long, and he looked very fierce.
When Jian Mo came to his senses, the people around him were discussing the news of the hunting conference. Jian Mo
asked, "Are you all participating?"
Zhou Fu answered quickly, "Of course, it's boring to be in the tribe all year round."
Xilu explained, "The hunting convention has a lot of fun and interesting things. Even if you are not a warrior in the competition, you can still participate."
Zhou Fu: "Yes, yes, everyone will bring things to exchange. Some tribes' things are particularly interesting, such as the flowers of the Dianxin tribe, which I exchange every year."
As he spoke, Zhou Fu showed a look of longing, "I just don't know how many tribes will participate in the hunting convention this year."
Jian Mo heard his implication, "Aren't the tribes different every year?"
Zhou Fu Fu: "Yes, at most, the hunting meeting gathered people from 27 tribes, and at least only four. So every year, the people of Mengshui tribe would send beastmen to ask other tribes if they would participate this year."
Jian Mo: "Are there 27 tribes nearby?"
Zhou Fu: "That's not the case. There are only five tribes around us, and there are six of us in total. People from other tribes are all from outside. Our place is relatively high, and there are not many tribes around us. I heard that there are tribes living relatively low, and the surrounding areas are all other tribes' territories."
As everyone chatted, the topic turned to what to bring this year.
Some people brought animal meat, some brought animal skins, and some brought this year's woven cloth - recently everyone is still obsessed with weaving cloth, and many Asian beastmen have extra cloth in their hands.
Knowing that Jian Mo had no experience, everyone suggested that he should bring some more useful things so that the chances of a successful exchange would be higher.
Jian Mo said sadly, "Then it seems that I have nothing to bring."
Xilu: "You can bring soap bars. I like the soap bars you make."
Jian Mo calculated: "There are not many. I'll make a new batch in two days."
Zhou Fu immediately said: "You can also bring food. The things you make are so delicious. If you bring them to exchange, you will definitely be able to exchange for a lot of things."
Jian Mo looked at him in confusion.
Zhou Fu: "The fastest-changing thing every year is various kinds of food. Everyone is happy to try the delicacies of other tribes, but unfortunately there are not many delicious ones."
Jian Mo understood that everyone was tired of eating the things they made and wanted to use the hunting meeting to satisfy their cravings.
Jian Mo: "Let me think about it."
Jian Mo also asked Wu Jiong for his opinion on the items to be exchanged at the hunting meeting.
Wu Jiong also suggested bringing some delicious food.
Jian Mo's cooking skills are very good, so it will definitely be popular if they bring some.
Even if some food cannot be exchanged, it is still okay to bring it back and eat it, so it won't be wasted.
Jian Mo pondered: "You are right."
Wu Jiong: "You want to bring meat cakes? What kind of meat do you want? I'll go hunt it."
Jian Mo already had an idea in his mind: "Hunting is too difficult, I'll bring some fish fillets."
Wu Jiong: "Fish fillets?"
Jian Mo: "Didn't you say last time that the fish fillets I made were delicious?"
Wu Jiong nodded.
Jian Mo smiled: "So let's bring some fish fillets, fish are easier to catch than beasts."
Wu Jiong said, "The nearby river is not good, the fish in it are not big enough, go to the Green Swamp to catch them."
Jian Mo: "Where is that?"
Wu Jiong: "It's a bit far from the tribe, there are a lot of fish. It's hard to tell, come back early tomorrow, I'll take you to see it."
Jian Mo and his team were going out to catch fish. When collecting, Jian Mo specifically told his teammates that they needed to go back early in the afternoon.
This year's team members were all old acquaintances, and he had to go back early because he had something to do, and everyone had no objection.
That is -
Zhou Fu asked: "Can we go fishing too?"
Jian Mo was surprised: "Everyone wants to catch fish? Don't you all not eat fish much?"
Zhou Fu said very frankly: "That's because the fish we cooked before was not delicious. The fish you fried last time was very delicious. We all liked it very much."
Jian Mo: "Wu Jiong and I plan to take the flying beast to the Green Swamp Source to catch fish. If everyone goes, we may have to let the beastmen change into beast form and go."
Zhou Fu: "No problem, but it's a bit too late today. Do you want to set off tomorrow?"
Jian Mo thought it was okay. There were still several days before the hunting conference, so he was not in a hurry.
Jian Mo talked to Wu Jiong and postponed the time to go out fishing to the next day.
At first, Wu Jiong only planned to take Jian Mo with him.
After Zhou Fu and the others joined, the team expanded to more than a dozen people.
Later, other people in the tribe heard about it and expressed their desire to go fishing together.
As a result, most of the tribe was agitated.
Seeing this, Wu Jiong simply made a new plan, set aside a whole day, and took everyone to go fishing.
The Green Swamp Source is some distance away from the tribe, and with the beastmen's beastly running speed, it would take about half a morning to run.
In order to catch more fish in the Green Swamp Source, everyone set out at dawn.
The orcs carried the sub-beastmen on their backs and ran across the wilderness.
The orange sunlight sprinkled down, covering the earth, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance were particularly dazzling.
As the destination got closer and closer, Jian Mo slowly saw large swamps and slowly flowing rivers, and also saw some animals he had never seen before.
Wild animals are very alert, and they spread their legs and start running from a distance.
The sunlight shines on them, and they become another "river" in the wilderness.
"Roar, we're here--" Di Ya, the leader, stopped and gestured to the back.
The Asian beastmen slid off the beastmen skillfully, and the beastmen turned their backs and turned back into human form.
Jian Mo stuck his head out to observe the surrounding environment.
It's also a river, but the river here flows over the swamp, the water is more turbid, and there are more aquatic plants on the riverbed-the creatures here are much richer.
Maybe it's because the terrain here is lower and the temperature is higher.
Wu Jiong said a few words to the beastmen around him, and walked to Jian Mo: "Let's go catch fish there."
Jian Mo was eager to try: "Are the fish here easy to catch?"
Wu Jiong: "They are easier to catch than the fish in the river near the tribe."
Others have already dispersed and tried to catch fish.
Just like this, several people have already had a harvest.
Jian Mo glanced at them. The fish they caught were big and plump, and looked very good.
I just don't know what this fish that I have never seen before tastes like, does it have a strong earthy smell?
Although the fish are easy to catch, it takes a certain amount of time to fill the backpack one by one.
The impatient people soon lost patience and shouted in front: "How long will it take to catch enough if we keep catching like this?"
"The water here is so turbid, I can't see clearly!"
"Who can think of a way to catch something together?"
Jian Mo listened to them shouting, straightened up and looked in their direction.
Wu Jiong also stood up.
When the young people met Wu Jiong's eyes, they immediately dared not speak and quickly lowered their heads to catch.
Wu Jiong threw the caught fish into the basket, bent down and continued to catch.
Jian Mo looked at the scene in front of him and felt a little funny.
He said to Wu Jiong: "If you think it's too troublesome to catch the fish one by one, you can have people rush down from above, rush the fish over and then catch them."
Wu Jiong: "Rush over?"
Jian Mobi said: "Yes, we can build a dam downstream of the river, and people can run down the river from above. The fish will be frightened and swim down. We just need to guard the dam and catch them."
Wu Jiong thought for a while and said: "This method is good. I will go and tell them."
Wu Jiong gathered people and told them about this method. Everyone thought it was worth a try.
Many people turned into huge beasts on the spot and ran in the swamp.
By late autumn, the beastmen had already changed their fur. The fur on their bodies was longer and furry than before.
Jian Mo looked at their raised ears and slightly swaying tails, and knew at a glance that they were in a good mood.
——Most of the people in the tribe are felines or canines. Looking over there now, he seemed to see a group of big cats and dogs.
Cats and dogs really love water. Even though they haven't caught any fish yet, they have already started to get excited and are running around in the swamp.
A small number of orcs who didn't change back into beast form, together with the sub-beast people, built a dam with mud downstream of the river.
After it was built, Jian Mo and the others waved at it from a distance.
The orcs roared a few times to show that they had received it.
Then, they lowered their heads and ran from upstream to downstream.
Mud and water splashed, and soon the furry people's legs, stomachs, buttocks, and tails were all covered with mud and water.
They didn't care about the mud on their bodies at all, and ran faster and faster.
As they ran from top to bottom, the fish were chased down with them.
The dark backs filled the ditch, and even if they had just started catching fish, Jian Mo was sure that there would be a big harvest today.
"Hurry up, start catching--"
"Don't let the fish run away!"
"Scoop! Scoop directly to the shore!"
While they were talking, people had already started to take action.
Some people just grabbed the fish and threw them onto the shore, some used baskets to scoop the fish onto the shore, and some people just ate them in their mouths.
One after another, the big, plump fish fell onto the shore like raindrops, jumping and crackling.
Anyone standing near the fish would be hit by the fish's tail if they were not careful.
Seeing that this method worked, the beastmen ran upstream again, this time rushing down from a farther place.
Jian Mo looked up at the big mud cats, giant mud wolves, and mud foxes, and couldn't help but hallucinate those large cats and dogs that specialized in digging into mud pits.
It really seemed like that.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wash it this time, otherwise he would really cry.
Jian Mo retracted his gaze and found that Wu Jiong was looking at him.
Wu Jiong was clean, if he turned into a giant wolf, he would definitely be a clean and handsome giant wolf.
Jian Mo thought so, and smiled at Wu Jiong in a good mood.
"The second batch of fish is coming--"
The huge white wolf transformed by Di Ya ran in the front and directly turned into a muddy wolf, sticking out his tongue and enjoying it.
When he passed Qingkuang, he took the opportunity to lower his head and lick Qingkuang's hair.
Qingkuang grabbed his nape and rubbed him, his eyes full of smiles.
Jian Mo looked at the couple, and quietly turned his head away before they looked over.
Everyone found a way, so it was easy to catch fish.
A large number of fish were caught, and everyone showed their magical powers, catching them one by one and throwing them onto the shore.
In between catching fish, everyone used ropes to pass through the gills of the fish, then lifted the bunches of fish and put them into the baskets.
While threading the fish, they would also pick out the smaller fish and throw them back into the river.
Everyone was busy until the afternoon, and only when they had used up all the ropes they brought and filled the baskets did they prepare to go home.
Everyone was covered in mud and water, and after returning home, everyone took soap and washed themselves thoroughly in the river to wash away all the fishy smell and mud and sand.
In the evening, the tribesmen gathered at Wu Jiong's house to learn how to cook fish from Jian Mo.
The weather has been quite cold recently, and the evening breeze is only a few degrees above zero. This weather is enough to make bacon.
A few days ago, Jian Mo taught them how to marinate animal and fish meat with coarse salt and seasoning powder. Marinate at night and hang them outside to dry during the day. Repeating this process can ensure the quality of the bacon.
Today, they are going to make bacon. Jian Mo said, "The steps are the same. Just wash it clean, apply salt and seasoning powder, and marinate it."
Although everyone knew it, they were still a little unsure and wanted Jian Mo to help control it.
Jian Mo didn't mind, so he asked everyone to bring the fish to Wu Jiong's house to marinate.
The others made bacon, and Jian Mo fried the fish pieces.
Just like last time, he cleaned the fish pieces, washed off as much blood as possible, removed the fishy smell, and then poured in seasoning and fruit wine to marinate.
However, after marinating it this time, he did not take it outside to dry, but directly coated it with the hair root starch prepared before with egg liquid, and then fried it in a stone pot.
The fish pieces floated in the pot, bubbling, and soon the fragrance came out again.
Jian Mo took out the fried fish and put it in the rack to drain the oil.
Seeing the people around him staring eagerly, he picked up the basket and said with a smile: "You can eat it, be careful of the heat."
Zhou Fu took the lead and took a piece impatiently. After taking a taste, his eyes lit up: "This fish fillet is delicious! There is no fishy smell at all."
Xilu said: "It's so tender inside, completely different from the last fish fillet!"
Jian Mo nodded: "They are all fried fish fillets, but they do use different techniques. This fish fillet is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside."
Zhou Fu stuffed the rest of the fish into his mouth and blew out the hot air: "It's really delicious, and there are no bones, so it's convenient."
The children around who took the fish fillets and nibbled them slowly nodded in agreement.
Even the little guys who couldn't transform were stepping on the fish fillets with their claws and nibbling them slowly, with happy expressions on their faces.
Jian Mo continued to fry the fish, and then re-fried it to make it more crispy and less oily.
People around who had tasted the fish were still not satisfied, especially the children, who looked at the freshly-cooked fish eagerly. They wanted to eat it, but they knew that Jian Mo would exchange it for something else, so they dared not eat it.
In the crowd, an orc asked, "Jian Mo, are you going to take these fish to the hunting fair to exchange for things? Can I just bring things to exchange with you? I have animal skins, cloth, and a lot of food."
Jian Mo turned around and saw that it was the little orc Jiang Xing's father Ze Yu, so he shook his head and said, "No need to exchange, everyone knows the method. If you like, just take some seasoning and starch home and make some."
Ze Yu said, "Starch is hard to come by. Besides, even if I know the method, I may not be able to make the same taste. Let's just exchange some. I just want to try some more. It's troublesome to make it again."
This was unanimously agreed by everyone. They said that Jian Mo took the fish to the hunting fair to exchange for things, and he also exchanged things in the tribe. Why not exchange them in the tribe?
Jian Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he finally agreed to exchange the cloth.
Everyone's cloth was woven in the same way, with similar styles and materials, so the clothes they made would be more consistent and not have different textures.
Cloth was much more valuable than fried fish, so Jian Mo exchanged a piece of cloth for a lot of fish.
Everyone happily took the freshly-cooked fish home to eat.
There is nothing more joyful than eating a hot and delicious fried fish on a cold autumn night.
That night, most of the people in the tribe ate very well and went to bed early.
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