bookcurios Chapter 6 Bamboo Shoots
Chapter 6 Bamboo Shoots
He jogged after him. Lin Baiyan looked at the sub-beastman who had caught up with him and smiled gently, "I'll go over there and see if there's any food left."
"Can I come with you? I'd like to go and see it too."
"My name is Lu Xiao, I'll go with you~ Okay, okay?" He stared at the young man expectantly with his wet, doe-like eyes.
Lin Baiyan thought about it for a moment and decided that having another person would be good, as it would allow him to learn more about this world. So he nodded in agreement, "But you have to stick close to me."
Lu Xiao cheered happily, then took Lin Baiyan's arm and walked forward with a delighted expression: "I know, I know, I promise I won't run around."
"Let me tell you, do you know why my name is Lu Xiao (Deer Laughs)? Because my mother said I loved to laugh when I was little..."
Lu Xiao started chatting away with Lin Baiyan.
The young man also learned more about the continent from Lu Xiao.
"Now? It's almost the end of autumn now. I think the snow season will start in three or four ten-day periods."
Lu Xiao thought of the cold of the snowy season and shivered involuntarily.
He had a gloomy look on his face. "The snow season is too hard to endure, and we don't have enough food."
Lin Baiyan speculated that it should be around the beginning of October on Blue Star.
He comforted him, saying, "It's alright. I think we don't need to migrate anymore. We should just try to gather more food these days, and we'll definitely be able to get through this snowy season."
When Lu Xiao heard him say that, her eyes lit up immediately: "Really? We don't need to look for anywhere else?"
Lin Baiyan hesitated for a moment, then cautiously said, "I think we shouldn't need to. This is a flat area now, it's safe, right?"
The young man didn't dare to be too certain, after all, he didn't know much about this place.
Lu Xiao looked at him expectantly, "In that case, do you think we can stay here indefinitely?"
"Don't you want to find your former clansmen?" Lin Baiyan asked, somewhat puzzled.
Lu Xiao's eyes dimmed. "I won't look for them. They abandoned me. My father and mother are gone too."
He had no attachment to his former tribe.
Hearing him say that, Lin Baiyan patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.
Lu Xiao was naturally optimistic. He shook his head and smiled, "I'm already very grateful to the Beast God for surviving."
"If possible, I would prefer to have a new tribe."
Lin Baiyan didn't speak. Their temporarily formed team was too uncertain, and he was actually a little confused about the future.
The two walked a short distance and arrived at the grove they had just mentioned. Deep within the grove was a small bamboo forest.
Lin Baiyan was overjoyed and quickly took a few steps forward with Lu Xiao. He was even happier when he saw the bamboo leaves and bamboo joints that were almost identical to those in his previous life.
He looked at the bamboo forest floor covered with fallen bamboo leaves, found a spot, brushed aside the leaves, and sure enough, found bamboo shoots underneath.
The young man quickly waved to Lu Xiao, "Come and see, this is edible."
Upon hearing that it was edible food, Lu Xiao quickly stepped forward to take a look. Lin Baiyan pointed to a bamboo shoot that had only sprouted a pointed tip and said to him, "This is called bamboo shoot, and it tastes crunchy."
Lu Xiao examined the bamboo shoots carefully, then slapped his forehead, "Isn't this what a bamboo shoot looks like before it grows up? Can this really be eaten?"
The knot tree? That's a fairly apt name.
Lin Baiyan nodded, "That's right, but bamboo shoots grow very quickly, and if you're not careful, they'll grow into knotted trees."
"So you probably don't know these things." The young man subconsciously used the term "joint tree" to refer to bamboo.
He needs to keep a low profile to avoid being noticed that he is different.
Lu Xiao didn't notice Lin Baiyan's strange behavior and excitedly looked at the small bamboo grove. "Then I'll go and call Yang Ye and the others over to collect all these bamboo shoots."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Xiao started running back, shouting back to Lin Baiyan as she ran, "Cat Bai, wait for me here! Don't leave!"
Seeing his elated expression, Lin Baiyan shook his head helplessly. Lu Xiao had a good personality; he didn't take anything to heart and was happy as soon as he had some food.
Lin Baiyan waited for Lu Xiao to call the other sub-beastmen over. He looked around at the plants, looking for some tough vines that he could use to weave baskets.
He had wanted it just now, but he was in a hurry to get back to the cave, so he had to give up for now.
The young man circled the bamboo forest but didn't find what he was looking for; instead, he picked up a few edible mushrooms.
He was somewhat discouraged. Oh well, it seems he won't be able to weave this basket today.
However, finding bamboo shoots today was a pleasant surprise.
The young man wasn't persistent; after all, it was only his first day here, and he figured he'd find the right vine eventually.
Lin Baiyan put the mushrooms, which were held in large leaves, aside, squatted down, and began digging for bamboo shoots with a relatively long stick.
A short while later, Lu Xiao led several sub-beastmen over quickly.
"Ye, look, this is the bamboo shoot Bai mentioned." Lu Xiao said to a female sub-beastman behind him.
Yang Ye saw that Lin Baiyan had dug out a bamboo shoot that was as long as a sub-orc's forearm and asked Lin Baiyan, "Bai, how do we eat this?"
Lin Baiyan turned around and explained to them seriously: "Just peel off the outer skin and boil it directly."
Of course, there are many ways to cook bamboo shoots, but given their current impoverished situation, they can't come up with any fancy ways to prepare them.
It's still easier to just boil it.
Lin Baiyan turned around and spoke to himself, while the few sub-beastmen who had followed him couldn't help but look at him with amusement, and Lu Xiao couldn't hide the smile in his eyes.
The young man looked puzzled and instinctively scratched his face. "What's wrong?"
He asked Lu Xiao a question tinged with doubt.
"Bai, look at what you did to yourself, it's turned into a little tabby cat."
He pointed to the mud smeared on Lin Baiyan's face and asked, "How did you get mud on your face?" Lu Xiao's tone was full of teasing.
When the young man heard them say that, he awkwardly wiped his face with the back of his hand, but ended up smearing a lot more mud on his nose.
With his wide, round cat-like eyes, he looked somewhat comically cute.
Several sub-beastmen laughed good-naturedly, and Yangye smiled as well, "Alright, alright, Bai is still a cub, don't make fun of him, let's hurry up and gather the resources."
The beastmen responded and began to quickly dig bamboo shoots with wooden sticks.
Before long, more than a dozen bamboo shoots were laid out on the ground in the bamboo forest. Lin Baiyan used a thin stone slab to peel off the outer shell of the bamboo shoots, leaving only the edible part inside.
The bamboo shoots we're seeing now are likely winter bamboo shoots, which have a lot of edible parts and are crisper and more refreshing than spring bamboo shoots.
The beastmen worked together and soon produced a bunch of bamboo shoots.
Seeing that everyone had collected enough, Yang Ye called them back. The group found some larger leaves, wrapped up the bamboo shoots, and each carried a bunch back.
Lin Baiyan held the peeled bamboo shoots in his arms and followed the group back.
As he walked, the young man pondered that he still needed to find some materials to weave baskets, otherwise it would be too much trouble to carry them back again and again.