Chapter 38
Bai Tu looked up at the sky. Most of the Snow Rabbit Tribe’s territory was covered by trees, with only the mountain peak and the cornfields open to the sky. He hoped the Black Hawk Tribe would be able to find a suitable landing spot.
He transferred the silkworm eggs to the cave where Shi Peng had previously stayed.
This cave had initially been designated for raising silkworms, but Bai Tu had temporarily assigned it to Shi Peng to conveniently monitor his movements.
Worried that Shi Peng might dirty the cave, Bai Tu would check it daily, ensuring that it wouldn’t affect the silkworms’ environment.
Silkworms were very clean creatures, sensitive to even the slightest changes in temperature or humidity, which could be fatal to them.
The wild silkworms here were somewhat more resilient, but Bai Tu didn’t dare take any risks. He figured that the eggs would probably hatch by tomorrow. Stretching lazily, he headed over to inspect the grass that had been cut for drying.
The rapid growth of grass after the rainy season was astonishing.
A patch could be cut down, and within a few days, new grass would sprout.
Bai Tu planned to take advantage of this opportunity to cut as much as possible for winter animal feed. However, large-scale harvesting inevitably meant that some toxic or inedible plants might get mixed in.
Despite instructing the beastmen doing the cutting to avoid poisonous plants, Bai Tu still double-checked everything himself.
Inspecting the grass didn’t take much time, but it significantly increased the animals’ safety.
After all, the loss from ingesting toxic plants was more than just one or two animals—it could affect the food supply the tribe would rely on in the future.
These young animals, if raised properly, would provide a substantial amount of food for the tribe.
Bai Tu scanned the grass piles and, finding no issues on the surface, lifted the top layer. To his surprise, he spotted a mushroom.
A mushroom? Bai Tu blinked in surprise.
This was the first time he’d seen a mushroom here. After a rainfall, mushrooms should typically sprout in abundance, but for some reason—perhaps the high temperatures—they hadn’t appeared until now.
Bai Tu picked up the mushroom and set it aside, then continued checking the grass. Once finished, he carried the mushroom outside and approached the beastmen responsible for cutting the grass.
“Who cut the grass from the pile on top?” he asked.
A beastman stepped forward, looking somewhat nervous. “It was me.”
Bai Tu held up the mushroom. “Where did you cut it? Have you seen this before?”
The moment the mushroom came into view, several beastmen’s expressions changed. The beastman who had stepped forward turned pale with fear. “I’m sorry, Tu! I avoided all the poisonous plants, but I didn’t realize I missed something.”
The other beastmen were visibly tense as well, and one even scolded the speaker. “Wan, you’re too careless! Good thing Tu spotted it.”
“Exactly! You need to be more careful next time,” another chimed in.
“Hmm?” Bai Tu froze for a moment, glancing at the mushroom in his hand. He quickly interrupted their criticism. “Wait a second—I never said this was poisonous.”
“This is poisonous!” one of the beastmen who had been criticizing Tu Wan exclaimed. “Someone ate it before and died from it. This kind of thing grows in large quantities behind the back mountain. None of us go there.”
Bai Tu: “???”
“This type of mushroom isn’t poisonous,” Bai Tu quickly explained to the group. “Anything that looks like this can be called a mushroom. Some are poisonous, but many are edible. For example, this one—it’s called an oyster mushroom, and it’s delicious.”
The mushroom in his hand was a very common oyster mushroom. In his previous life, although he hadn’t lived in a mushroom-foraging region, he’d gone into the mountains before and could distinguish between edible and inedible mushrooms.
The mushroom Tu Wan had accidentally brought back was indeed an edible oyster mushroom—not only was it safe to eat, but it could also be cultivated.
Hearing that it wasn’t poisonous, Tu Wan sighed in relief. She had almost made a terrible mistake! However, when she thought about the back mountain, she looked a little embarrassed.
“Yesterday, the place I was cutting grass was too hot, so I went to a cooler area in the back mountain,” she explained.
The back mountain, however, had a lot of toxic plants—or rather, a lot of mushrooms.
Initially, Tu Wan avoided all the mushrooms, but as she realized she hadn’t cut enough grass for the day, she started cutting faster and must have accidentally included some mushrooms in the process.
Bai Tu recalled that he had overlooked the back mountain area recently.
After the rainy season started, he had begun using a shortcut through the mountains to reach the back caves where they stored food.
This path was much more convenient, so even after the rainy season ended, he hadn’t bothered to go around the long way. Other beastmen would use the route at the base of the mountain if they were transporting large prey, but for smaller tasks, most of them preferred the shortcut as well.
As Tu Wan mentioned the back mountain, Bai Tu’s thoughts shifted.
Mushrooms, after all, thrive in cool, damp environments. While the outer areas of the mountain were damp, the temperatures were too high.
The back mountain, on the other hand, was different. It was shaded year-round, never receiving direct sunlight, and the thick vegetation kept the temperature noticeably cooler. It made perfect sense for mushrooms to grow there.
Realizing this, Bai Tu immediately abandoned the idea of eating lunch.
It had already been ten days since the rain had stopped. If he delayed any further, the mushrooms might no longer be harvestable.
Luckily, the back mountain was moist enough for mushrooms to grow consistently. Otherwise, he might have missed out on this delicious ingredient until next year.
Bai Tu turned to Tu Wan. “Take me to the back mountain to have a look.”
“Okay!” Tu Wan agreed without hesitation, dashing off as if afraid someone else might take her place.
The other beastmen exchanged glances before one of the earlier speakers asked cautiously, “Tu, are you sure this stuff is edible?”
Previously, the tribe had quickly accepted wild vegetables because some beastmen could eat grass without any issues, while only a few got sick.
Mushrooms, however, were different. They had seen people cook and eat mushrooms before, only for those people to die shortly after.
“I’ll teach you how to tell the difference,” Bai Tu reassured them.
Some poisonous mushrooms were easy to identify, but others looked very similar to edible ones.
While mushrooms could be a valuable food source, it was crucial for the beastmen to know how to distinguish between safe and unsafe varieties.
The group followed Bai Tu to the back mountain, and just as the beastmen had described, the area was teeming with mushrooms.
Bai Tu was both excited and shocked—excited because many of the mushrooms were edible, and shocked because there were just as many that were highly poisonous!
Bai Tu only led the group to pick non-toxic varieties of mushrooms.
The most abundant among them were oyster mushrooms, the same type Tu Wan had accidentally brought back.
In addition to oyster mushrooms, they also found termite mushrooms and matsutake mushrooms.
Bai Tu didn’t let a single edible mushroom slip by—all of them were harvested. However, he reminded everyone to only pick the mushrooms without uprooting them entirely. If the roots were removed, they wouldn’t grow back.
This discovery was an unexpected windfall. Bai Tu had already given up on finding mushrooms, so this twist was a pleasant surprise.
He did feel a bit regretful, though—if they had found these mushrooms a day earlier, he could have used them to cook fish stew for Lang Ze. As a self-proclaimed foodie, Lang Ze would undoubtedly have loved trying this novel ingredient.
Still, mushrooms could be cultivated.
Bai Tu thought about it for a moment. While there seemed to be a lot of mushrooms in this area, the truth was that even if the entire tribe ate them, there was only enough for one or two meals. And that was assuming the mushrooms were cooked with other ingredients to stretch the portions.
It was still too little. If they started cultivating mushrooms, they could have them as a side dish during the summer. And if they controlled the temperature well, they could even enjoy mushrooms during the winter.
With that thought, Bai Tu began recalling the process of mushroom cultivation. He remembered it required a substrate and spores. The substrate could be made from various materials, like corn cobs, which were readily available. As for the spores, they could be directly harvested from the wild mushrooms here.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible mushroom cultivation seemed. Looking at the hesitant beastmen around him, Bai Tu made a decisive announcement: “We’ll eat these tonight!”
Most of the beastmen trusted Bai Tu.
After all, he had introduced them to so many new foods, and none of them had turned out to be poisonous. Even fish, which the tribe hadn’t liked initially, tasted amazing when Bai Tu prepared it.
He had also taught them to identify wild vegetables and poisonous plants, making their foraging much safer. However, there were still a few beastmen who remained skeptical. Even though Bai Tu assured them these mushrooms were safe, they were hesitant to eat them.
Bai Tu didn’t blame them.
Anyone would be cautious after witnessing unfamiliar food poison their companions. However, he didn’t want the tribe to reject mushrooms entirely out of fear.
Non-toxic mushrooms weren’t just edible—they could be dried and stored for a long time, even up to one or two years. They could serve as an excellent food reserve. It would be a huge waste to dismiss all mushrooms simply because some were poisonous.
Back at the tribe, Bai Tu first selected a fatty piece of meat to render the fat by pan-frying it. He then added water to the pot to start making a stew. On another stove, he boiled water to blanch the mushrooms.
Bai Tu never skipped the step of blanching mushrooms. He felt that unblanched mushrooms had a distinct, slightly unpleasant taste.
Although they had gathered quite a lot of mushrooms, Bai Tu didn’t use all of them. Since this was the first time the tribe was trying mushrooms, and he couldn’t guarantee everyone would like them, he only cooked enough to fill two small stone pots.
Mushroom and chicken stew would’ve been ideal, but the hunting team hadn’t caught any chickens recently. The hens were either laying eggs or incubating chicks, and the few roosters left were busy with their breeding duties.
Bai Tu decided to spare the chickens for now and instead made a mushroom and meat stew, which was just as flavorful.
As the mushrooms began to stew, the hunting team returned—with some familiar faces in tow.
“Tu, the Black Hawk Tribe is here!” Tu Qi came running to deliver the news, practically beaming with excitement. Ever since Bai Tu started focusing on corn and silkworms, Tu Qi had noticed that he was also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Black Hawk Tribe.
Hearing this, Bai Tu was so surprised that he stood up abruptly and looked toward the returning beastmen. Sure enough, he spotted a familiar figure among them. “Hei Xiao!”
“It’s me,” Hei Xiao replied, flashing Bai Tu a tired but warm smile. With a hint of exhaustion in his voice, he asked, “Bai Tu, do you have any food? These guys got lost, and we spent two extra days circling in the sky.”
The Black Hawk Tribe’s territory was relatively far from the Snow Rabbit Tribe, but the Eagles were excellent fliers.
Hei Xiao’s estimate of six to seven days had been accurate, and they could’ve arrived even faster if they’d flown at top speed. However, since they were carrying supplies, their pace was slower. As for why it had taken them so long to arrive, it turned out someone had taken the wrong route, leading to their extended delay.
Since the Hawk Tribe had immense confidence in their flying abilities and sense of direction, they hadn’t sent anyone to follow Bai Tu and his group back to the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
Instead, they had simply asked for a rough direction and a description of the tribe’s territory before parting ways. However, things clearly didn’t go as smoothly as planned. What was supposed to take seven days ended up taking nine, and they had only brought enough food for seven days.
For the past two days, some of them hadn’t eaten.
Although they could’ve stopped to hunt along the way, they realized halfway through the journey that they had gone in the wrong direction.
Since they were unfamiliar with the territory below and feared that stopping might provoke attacks from other tribes, they didn’t dare linger.
Being from another continent, the longer they stayed here, the more dangerous it became. With only a small group traveling, they decided to avoid trouble and immediately adjusted their course.
Going two days without food wasn’t unusual for most beastmen, but Hei Xiao was weaker than the others. On top of that, being carried through the air for so many days had left him thoroughly exhausted. His entire body ached, and he was in no mood to tolerate anything. Frustrated, he slapped the person next to him.
“I knew it!” The young beastman beside him protested indignantly. “Every time you see him, you toss me aside!!”
Bai Tu: “???” What is he even talking about?
They had only met a total of three times! The first time, they merely glanced at each other without speaking. The second time, they exchanged a few words, most of which Bai Tu said in front of Hei Xiao. Yet this beastman made it sound like Hei Xiao had abandoned him for Bai Tu after a passionate love affair. This accusation was way too heavy for Bai Tu to shoulder.
Clearly, Hei Xiao had pushed the other beastman aside because of the navigation mistake. After all, the young beastman had been so confident at the start, insisting that the Hawk Tribe never got lost and could find the destination with just a direction.
Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, Hei Xiao waved dismissively. “Don’t mind him.”
Bai Tu didn’t plan to argue with the young and obviously prideful beastman. Instead, he pulled out some fruit and dried meat. “Here, eat something to tide you over. The mushroom soup will be ready soon.”
The young beastman sulked beside Hei Xiao, refusing to speak or leave.
Hei Xiao, looking somewhat apologetic, explained, “This is my mate, Hei Yan. My beast form can’t fly, so he carried me here.” He silently added the rest in his heart: And he’s also the one who got us lost.
Bai Tu immediately understood.
From the moment he had seen Hei Xiao, Hei Yan’s attitude had been poor—swinging between anger at others and sulking in silence. It was likely due to his young age and a touch of jealousy.
Hei Xiao then shifted the topic to the iron ore. “Since this is our first visit, I brought only a small quantity. Have a look and see if you’re satisfied. I’ll bring more next time.”
It was their first time cooperating with a tribe from this region, and while Hei Xiao trusted Bai Tu, he was still cautious about the other beastmen in the Snow Rabbit Tribe.
For this reason, the first batch of iron ore was relatively small. If the Snow Rabbit Tribe showed any signs of bad faith, they could abandon this shipment and leave immediately, minimizing their losses.
“Don’t worry about it; you can check the iron later. Eat something first,” Bai Tu urged.
He wasn’t unconcerned, but Hei Xiao’s physique, much like his own, was clearly not as robust as most beastmen.
Going without food for two days during travel was no small matter, and Hei Xiao’s complexion was far worse than when Bai Tu had seen him at the market before the rainy season.
The iron ore wasn’t going anywhere, and it could be inspected at any time—but Hei Xiao needed to eat and recover his strength.
To ease their concerns that the food might be tampered with, Bai Tu split the food in half and distributed it among the beastmen around him.
He even took two pieces of dried meat himself and began to chew on them. The dried meat was both tasty and satisfying, and Bai Tu had gotten used to eating quite a lot of it every day.
The children in the tribe were no exception—whenever they did any work, they exchanged it for food and ate happily.
Hearing Bai Tu’s reassurance, Hei Xiao finally relaxed and began eating the food in his hands.
The other Hawk Tribe beastmen followed suit, though Hei Yan stubbornly set his share of food beside Hei Xiao and refused to eat it. Hei Xiao tried to give it back to him several times, but Hei Yan firmly rejected it.
Bai Tu reassured them, “The tribe has plenty of food, more than enough to go around.”
As a sincere trade partner, Bai Tu had no intention of being stingy with supplies.
Even though the tribe hadn’t caught a lot of prey since the rainy season ended, they could easily afford to provide for a few more allies. There was no need to be overly frugal.
Hei Yan, however, shot Bai Tu a skeptical look. “Aren’t you rabbits?” he asked, then glanced at Bai Qi and the others nearby.
Rabbit Tribes were notorious for struggling with hunting. Across the four continents—north, south, east, and west—there were fewer than ten Rabbit Tribes left. The rest had either starved to death or been swallowed up by other tribes.
Hei Xiao couldn’t take it anymore and smacked Hei Yan on the back of the head. “Just eat!” he barked.
Bai Tu: “…”
He regretted not asking Lang Ze to stay behind.
As expected, bratty kids were best when they were someone else’s problem. While he understood Hei Yan’s comment wasn’t malicious—just a blunt expression of doubt—the tone made him want to slap someone.
Unhappy with the disdainful looks from both Bai Tu and Hei Xiao, Hei Yan sulked as he reluctantly bit into a piece of dried meat.
He was too hungry to refuse it completely.
His plan was to eat just this one and never touch Rabbit Tribe food again. However, as he chewed, the more flavorful it became, and he suddenly fell silent.
He found himself reevaluating his impression of this rabbit named Bai Tu. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. Still, Hei Yan quickly decided that while the partnership could continue, only supplies should be sent—he wouldn’t let Hei Xiao come back here again!
Hei Xiao, noticing the change in Hei Yan’s expression, suppressed a laugh. As he slowly chewed the dried meat Bai Tu had given him, the exhaustion from nearly ten days of travel began to fade.
Meanwhile, Bai Tu stirred the pot of mushroom soup. “It’s about ready. Dong, go grab some bowls—bring plenty,” he instructed.
When Bai Dong returned with several wooden bowls, Bai Tu ladled out a few portions of the soup and set them in front of Hei Xiao. “You came at the perfect time. If you’d arrived a day later, you wouldn’t have gotten to try this.”
Beastmen might not understand the allure of mushroom soup, but Bai Tu certainly did.
Mushrooms might look unassuming, but once they tasted the soup, everyone would realize how delicious it was. Bai Tu was certain the mushrooms wouldn’t last until the next day.
“What’s this?” Hei Xiao asked, puzzled as he looked at the unfamiliar dish.
He had never seen anything like it before, not even at the markets in the Eastern Continent. Usually, any edible food would appear in the markets, but this was something new.
“Mushrooms,” Bai Tu explained, pointing to some uncooked ones nearby. “These.”
The moment Hei Yan saw the mushrooms, he jumped to his feet and positioned himself protectively in front of Hei Xiao. “Are you trying to poison us?!?” he accused, glaring at Bai Tu with suspicion. I knew it! There are no good people outside our tribe! I was just starting to think better of this Bai Tu, and now he’s trying to kill us?! So cunning! So devious!
“For the sake of poisoning us, you specifically made soup?” Hei Yan grew more convinced of Bai Tu’s cunning nature.
First, Bai Tu offered them food to lower their guard, and then, just as they were relaxed, he served a bowl of poisonous soup. That way, they would drink it without suspicion. No wonder such a weak tribe could survive—it’s all because of this scheming rabbit!
“How could that be? Bai Tu made this food for us!” Bai Qi protested angrily. I can’t even get a taste of Bai Tu’s soup, and here this guy is doubting it. What poor judgment!
Hei Xiao, his face darkened with embarrassment, pushed Hei Yan aside. “Sit down. We just got here.”
The two pots of soup had clearly been simmering long before they arrived at the Snow Rabbit Tribe. How could it possibly be a trap meant to poison them?
“Even so, we can’t drink it!” Hei Yan insisted, still shielding Hei Xiao as if his life depended on it.
Hei Xiao, unable to push aside the taller and clearly overfed youth, began to regret all the food he’d allowed Hei Yan to eat in the past. I must’ve fed him so well he’s turned stupid, Hei Xiao thought, sighing in frustration. He then turned to Bai Tu with a question, “What happened to that wolf beastman who was with you before?” At least when the wolf was around, Hei Yan didn’t act so outrageously.
“The Wolf Tribe’s territory is over there, pretty far from us,” Bai Tu replied, a bit confused by the sudden change of subject. Without dwelling on it, he returned to explaining the mushroom soup. “These are called mushrooms. The ones we picked are non-toxic and taste really good.”
If it had been anyone else, Bai Tu might not have bothered to explain so much. But he had a favorable impression of Hei Xiao from the start—he found him easy to get along with. The fact that his initial feelings had been proven right made Bai Tu enjoy sharing things with Hei Xiao.
Still, to prevent Hei Yan from continuing with his wild conspiracy theories, Bai Tu picked up a bowl of soup, used a small spoon to scoop some, blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip himself. “It’s really not poisonous. It tastes pretty good.”
On the Beast God Continent, most foods had great natural flavors, and this mushroom soup was no exception. It was rich, fragrant, and delicious. Because it had been stewed with meat, it carried the hearty aroma of the broth. The thick, creamy, white soup was incredibly appetizing.
Seeing Bai Tu drink it first, the other beastmen turned to look at the remaining pot of soup.
They exchanged glances and subtle signals. There was only one pot left, and there were a lot of them. What’s the best way to grab some without making a scene? Would rushing for it look too undignified?
Tu Qi, who had wanted to try the soup from the beginning but had to maintain his tribe’s image in front of the Hawk Tribe, couldn’t hold back any longer. He asked, “Bai Tu, can we drink it now?”
If it weren’t for the Hawk Tribe watching, he would’ve already been the first to dig in. But instead, all he could do was watch, while some fool doubted Bai Tu. He was seriously about to lose his patience!
