Chapter 28: Fishing for Scorpions
In the Yangtze River basin of China, especially in the central and western regions, people often bring fishing rods and nets to the river to catch crayfish in summer.
Crayfish are not picky about water quality or food like river shrimp, and they are much easier to catch—a bamboo pole and cotton thread, with a piece of chicken liver or similar bait tied to the cotton thread, is enough.
Since the illustration card says that these sand scorpions are like land “crayfish,” why not try fishing for these little scorpions—no, big scorpions—the same way you fish for crayfish?
A moment later, Chu Jiu finished his preparations.
He instructed the still trembling little chestnut spirit, “Don’t be afraid, we have ways to deal with them.”
“You don’t need to rush forward, just have the Bodo bird tread in place.”
“If you still feel something is wrong, have the Bodo bird turn around and run away immediately, without stopping.”
Sheldon, his face green, forced himself to say, “I, I won’t run! I won’t leave you behind!”
Chu Jiu smiled, “Good.”
He fastened his safety harness and slowly floated up to about ten meters high with the Wind Breath Fruit.
Then, he took out a thin, long bamboo pole and tied a small bamboo flower chicken to it with a special “fishing line.”
This “fishing line” was actually made of spider silk from the [Treasure Spider’s Web], which was particularly strong and could not be easily cut even by the giant scorpions in the sand below.
At this time, as Chu Jiu instructed, the Bodo bird retreated fifty meters away from the cotton field and rhythmically stomped its claws back and forth on the ground.
This regular vibration quickly attracted the attention of the sand scorpions.
The three sand scorpions, which had been wandering near the cotton field, raised their dark black tail stingers and swam through the sand towards the Bodo bird.
On the first strike, Chu Jiu timed it precisely and cast his fishing rod, dangling the bamboo chicken bait down.
In an instant, the few tail stingers protruding from the sand all stopped moving.
Chu Jiu began to gently sway the bamboo chicken bait.
Not only that, but he also spared no expense—he threw two pieces of carefully cut [Juicy Pork] onto the ground.
Immediately, a few terrifyingly shaped, thick black pincers emerged from the sand, waving toward the pork.
Since there were only two pieces of meat, the six pincers fought over them, and in the end, four managed to firmly clamp onto the juicy pork.
Soon, two deep black scorpion heads—covered in dense bumps and equipped with feeding pincers—emerged from the sand. Using their front pincers, they passed the meat to their feeding pincers.
Although these scorpion heads, magnified nearly a hundred times, looked incredibly bizarre, Chu Jiu—well-accustomed to seeing all kinds of monsters—didn’t even flinch. Little Can didn’t even blink.
However, Sheldon, who stood the farthest away, had already started crying silently. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the Bodo’s feathers and run away as fast as possible.
At that moment, another sand scorpion that hadn’t gotten any food began slowly emerging from the sand.
As the only one without any spoils, it extended both its head and thorax above ground, waving its pincers rapidly, likely sensing for more food nearby.
Chu Jiu swayed the fishing rod again, practically dangling the bamboo chicken right above the scorpion’s head.
Finally, the scorpion that failed to fight off its peers noticed the food above!
Its four buried legs started moving swiftly, and the whole body emerged from the ground, snapping its pincers toward the dancing “fresh meat”!
Chu Jiu’s expression changed slightly.
Even though he had expected the giant scorpion to be massive and terrifying, seeing it in person—nearly as tall as a human—still made him a little tense. Fortunately, his hands didn’t shake. According to plan, he quickly jerked the rod upward, narrowly avoiding the scorpion’s strike.
Having failed to get the pork earlier and now missing this meal too, the scorpion was clearly enraged.
It raised its tail at the airborne bamboo chicken and clicked its pincers menacingly.
This movement drew the attention of the other two sand scorpions.
They paused their meal, deciding that snatching the falling prey took priority.
These two scorpions also surfaced, showing most of their bodies above the sand, and started scrambling for the bouncing bait, just like they had with the pork.
Watching the chaos below, Little Can meowed, “Now!”
Chu Jiu immediately stuck the fishing rod into the harness on his back and grabbed his bamboo bow with both hands.
Little Can swiftly readied an arrow, pulling back the string with all its tiny strength.
Its round eyes narrowed slightly as it aimed at the highest-jumping scorpion—and fired!
With a whoosh, the scorpion froze mid-motion, still standing half upright.
Before it could collapse, two more whoosh sounds followed—
The other two scorpions were also pierced through the back.
The three arrows struck true, each landing dead center on the two dark spots on the scorpions’ backs—like they were guided by homing beacons.
That was something Chu Jiu had taught Little Can: scorpions don’t have eyes on their heads—their “eyes” are the two darkest spots on their backs.
And between those two eyes lies the weakest point of a sand scorpion.
In less than a minute, the terrifying monsters that had scared Little Chestnut into wanting to flee were all dead, crashing onto the sand with a thud and kicking up dust.
Sheldon, half-hiding his face behind his hands, peeked through his fingers. First, he doubted his eyes, then slowly raised his head, muttering to himself:
“Th-the sand scorpions… they’re all dead?”
That fast?
That easily?
How did they even kill them?
These things were the kind of terrifying beasts that even Chestnut Spirits avoided—and could effortlessly hunt other monsters!
Though he could barely believe it, Sheldon still bravely nudged his Bodo bird forward a few steps toward the “scene of the crime.”
By now, Chu Jiu had let the air out of the Wind-Breath Fruit and slowly descended to the ground.
While retrieving the bamboo arrows, he smiled at Sheldon and said:
“Thanks to you drawing the scorpions’ attention earlier, this hunt went so smoothly.”
“You were really brave! Thank you!”
Sheldon was no longer scared or trembling—his whole face flushed red from excitement:
“R-really? Heehee!”
“Then I’m definitely gonna become a grown-up chestnut soon!”
Little Can, who had been calmly wiping down the arrowheads, now let its previously smug little kitty face droop again.
*
After packing up the bow and arrows, Chu Jiu began harvesting [Scorpion Meat].
Besides that, the three sand scorpions also yielded [Chillingly Sharp Scorpion Stingers] and [Razor-Sharp Scorpion Pincers].
Watching Chu Jiu skillfully extract the pale blue, semi-translucent meat from the hard shell, Sheldon asked curiously, “Why are you collecting that?”
Those [Stingers] and [Pincers], sure—they could be used as weapons.
But what was the meat of such a fierce beast good for?
Chu Jiu smiled and replied:
“To eat.”
“It should be delicious.”
Sheldon looked skeptical—could something that looked so ferocious and ugly really be edible?
But Chu Jiu was so good at cooking and could tell which mushrooms were safe to eat—so if he said it was okay, it probably was.
Thinking that, Sheldon rolled forward a few steps, stopping in front of the unbagged scorpion meat. He picked up a piece with both hands, opened his mouth wide—
Chu Jiu jumped in alarm and quickly said, “Not like that!”
Even though sea lobsters could be eaten raw as sashimi, these land-dwelling sand scorpions were probably more like freshwater crawfish—you absolutely couldn’t eat them raw.
Sheldon looked up blankly: “Huh?”
“Not like this? Then how do you eat it?”
Chu Jiu said, “You have to cook it first.”
Sheldon tilted his head. “…Cook it?”
He tried really hard to recall something and asked:
“Like how you dealt with the mushrooms in the cave before?”
“You put them in a pot and heated them over fire?”
Chu Jiu: “Exactly.”
Sheldon’s soft green fur shivered a little, and he whispered:
“Do we have to use fire…?”
“Fire’s really scary…”
Chu Jiu was surprised. “You’re afraid of fire? You never use it?”
That… shouldn’t be right.
It seemed that the Chestnut Sprites were quite an established tribe of spirit creatures. They had tribal rules, a chieftain, even mysterious mounts—so how could they not use fire?
Sheldon scratched his head. “Anyway, whenever we see flames, we start shaking.”
“But I don’t know why we’re so afraid.”
“If you want the reason, you’d probably have to ask my mom.”
Chu Jiu nodded and looked at the scorpion meat by Sheldon’s side.
“If you guys want to eat this meat, then it has to be cooked with fire.”
“The best way to do it… hmm, is to stir-fry it with chili peppers.”
The spicy crayfish dish that had taken all of China by storm was probably the optimal solution to the question of “how to handle scorpion meat.”
Chu Jiu paused and asked, “Can you eat chili peppers?”
Sheldon replied, “We’ve eaten them! Picked from chili trees. After slicing, they’re kind of sweet—really tasty!”
He wiped his drool away, eyes full of longing. “I don’t know what ‘stir-fry with chili’ means, but it sounds delicious! I really, really want to try it!”
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but laugh. “Even if it means using fire, you’re not scared?”
Sheldon: “I’m scared! But I still want to eat it!”
In that instant, the little Chestnut Sprite fully embodied the fearless spirit of a true foodie.
Chu Jiu stifled a laugh. “Well then… I’ll make a big pot. One big pot should be enough for quite a few Chestnut Sprites.”
“Besides stir-frying scorpion meat, I can stir-fry mushrooms too—spicy mushrooms are also delicious!”
Sheldon immediately turned into a happy open-mouthed chestnut: “Yay! Yay! That’s awesome!”
While Sheldon was overjoyed, on the other side, Little Can was looking more and more sour-faced.
The little cat twitched its whiskers, paws digging at the sandy ground, muttering in secret:
This human—he keeps praising that green chestnut, calling it cute, calling it brave. Now he even wants to cook for it?
As it thought this, the kitty’s eyes narrowed into a pair of unhappy little crescent slits.
Chu Jiu didn’t notice Little Can’s strange behavior at first.
He put away the spoils of battle and quickly ran into the cotton field ahead.
Just as he expected, the large, fluffy “cloud mountains” were especially soft and puffy.
After walking a few steps among the cotton hills, Chu Jiu couldn’t resist stopping in front of one cotton plant taller than a man. He reached out to hug the soft, white fluff, almost burying his head in it, and sighed softly: “So nice…”
Snuggling into the cotton ball, he turned to look at Little Can beside him. “Wanna roll around on top of the cotton?”
Though Little Can was strong, it was actually very lightweight—perfect for bouncing on this cotton like a trampoline.
However, Little Can just pouted in silence, not even twitching its tail.
Chu Jiu blinked. “What’s wrong?”
Little Can’s triangular ears twitched a little, its whiskers shivering slightly.
Chu Jiu wondered, What’s gotten into this little guy?
Back when it pierced the sand scorpions, even though it acted all cool and detached, you could totally tell it was actually really proud.
Why did it turn into such a moody little cat all of a sudden?
Chu Jiu gently scratched under its chin, voice as soft as the cotton around them: “Never seen a ‘cloud mountain’ like this before?”
Little Can gave a noncommittal “mm.”
Chu Jiu patted its little head. “You know, cotton isn’t actually a flower.”
Little Can: “Meow?”
Chu Jiu: “These white cotton fibers are actually the inside of the fruit, exposed when it splits open after ripening. Pretty cool, right?”
Little Can: “Meow.” — “That’s… kinda cool.”
Chu Jiu looked at Little Can, his black-and-white eyes curving into happy crescents. “This fun cloud mountain—you really don’t want to roll around a bit?”
Little Can looked back at Chu Jiu’s bright, glowing eyes and smiling face. It raised a little paw and patted its own cheeks, finally giving a half-hearted “meow”: “Guess I’ll try it.”
Since you keep asking so much…
Chu Jiu gave a closed-lip smile and gently placed Little Can on top of the cotton mountain.
The little cat scratched at the fluffy mass with a paw—and immediately its eyes went wide. Then it couldn’t help but give a delighted “meow-wu” and rolled around in a small circle on the cotton.
After finishing one roll, it suddenly stood up and nervously glanced at Chu Jiu—Did this human see me acting like such a kid just now?
Thankfully, Chu Jiu was completely focused on collecting cotton and seeds, not looking at all.
The little cat sighed in relief… and then sneakily rolled around a few more times.
Meanwhile, Chu Jiu quickly gathered 99 units of cotton, plus 20 units of [Cotton Seeds].
According to the Cotton Seed Field Guide, once removed from the natural environment of the Sunny Plateau, the seeds would grow into regular-sized cotton plants.
Chu Jiu calculated in his mind: 99 units of cotton should be enough to make quilts for the elders in the village who had trouble moving around. As for the cotton seeds, once they were given to the Rawr Rawr Rabbit to cultivate, the rest of the villagers should be able to get quilts too.
Not just that—if they could manage two plantings before winter, maybe everyone could even get warm cotton jackets. Any extra fiber could even be sold off as premium cold-weather material.
With this thought, Chu Jiu finally felt at ease.
He packed up his bag and turned back to call, “Little Can?”
He saw Little Can sitting properly atop a pile of cotton, face serious, as if saying: I definitely didn’t roll around on this. Nope. Not fun at all.
But the few tufts of white fluff stuck to the top of its head gave away exactly what it had just been doing.
Chu Jiu reached out and picked off the fluff, chuckling uncontrollably.
Little Can pouted. “Meow meow!” — “What are you laughing at!”
Chu Jiu cupped it in his hands. “Because I’m happy.”
“Because I finally gathered cotton and cotton seeds!”
He bumped his forehead lightly against the little cat’s. “Thanks for staying with me.”
“If you hadn’t helped, neither picking Wind Breath Fruit nor defeating the sand scorpions would’ve gone so smoothly.”
“You really are… the most reliable partner!”
The most reliable… partner? Most reliable… partner?
S-such an intimate thing to say!
The little cat felt its whole face heating up. It nervously rubbed its cheeks with its eight little paws, tail swishing nonstop.
That strange, inexplicable grumpiness from earlier? Completely gone in a flash.
In that moment, the little cat was so happy it just wanted to roll around again.
Of course, it definitely wasn’t going to do something that childish in front of this human.
So it just tilted its head back and gave a very dignified “meow.”
*
Having gathered enough cotton, Chu Jiu was ready to go find [Chili Peppers].
Before setting off, Little Can curiously meowed, “Is it to make spicy stir-fried scorpion meat for the Chestnut Sprites?”
Chu Jiu quietly swallowed his saliva and answered with a deadly serious face, “Exactly.”
“Since the chestnut spirits helped lead the way, of course we should cook them something delicious to thank them,” Chu Jiu said.
Little Can nodded. “I see. When we had hot pot before, you also said, ‘If only we had real chili peppers, it’d be even better.’”
“Now we can go pick some together.”
Chu Jiu hurriedly said, “Ahem—well, mainly since we’re already here, and with the Bodo bird it won’t take much time. It’s definitely not because I’m craving chili peppers, really not!”
Little Can: “…Meow?”
Why is this human blushing all of a sudden?
*
It didn’t take long for Chu Jiu to find a field full of fiery red chili peppers.
These peppers, as big as lanterns and as heavy as a winter melon when held in both hands, were Highland Chili Peppers—pure in spice, with a hint of sweetness when fully ripe. Perfect as either a seasoning or the main ingredient.
With great enthusiasm, Chu Jiu picked a generous amount, then hopped on the Bodo bird and headed for the sixth level of the plateau—the chestnut spirits’ camp.
Their camp was hidden in the forest—or more precisely, in a giant chestnut tree.
This tree, dozens of meters tall, was home to hundreds of chestnut spirits. Their houses were built from branches, with banana leaves for roofs and vines as ladders.
When Chu Jiu stood at the base of the tree and looked up, aside from noticing that “the chestnuts on this tree are much smaller than usual,” he couldn’t see anything strange.
It wasn’t until Sheldon whistled that chestnut spirits of all sizes began hopping out from behind the leaves one by one, cheerfully waving their little arms: “You’re back!”
Although Sheldon enthusiastically invited Chu Jiu to check out his little home, Chu Jiu politely declined—after all, to the chestnut spirits, Chu Jiu was a giant. One misstep and he could crush their houses like twigs.
Naturally, this also meant he couldn’t cook in their treetop village.
Eventually, he used a skill to locate a hidden mountain cave as their dining spot. The chestnut spirits, like the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels, rolled and bounced along in a cheerful procession behind giant Chu Jiu into the cave.
Luckily, with Eleanor the chieftain leading them, the little chestnut spirits didn’t go wild once inside. Instead, they lined up in orderly teams and followed Chu Jiu’s instructions—gathering firewood, washing mushrooms, chopping chili peppers…
Everything proceeded smoothly.
Soon, Chu Jiu lit a fire and placed the wok.
The moment the little chestnut spirits saw the flame in Chu Jiu’s hand, the once orderly crowd burst into panic:
“Fire! Fire!”
“Oh no oh no! We’re gonna turn into roasted chestnuts!”
Eleanor had to shout to restore order, explaining that this was a necessary human cooking method and there was no need to fear. Only then did the frightened chestnut spirits settle down and watch from a safe distance as Chu Jiu cooked.
Then the aroma began to spread.
The chestnut spirits started drooling uncontrollably.
With such a tempting scent wafting through the air, even the once-terrifying fire didn’t seem so scary anymore. A few brave ones even rolled a little closer to the stove, inhaling the smell with delight.
Sheldon licked his lips and said to his companions:
“Smells amazing, right? I’ve never smelled anything this good.”
“It was this very smell that made me follow them the first time!”
Even the usually composed Eleanor couldn’t help but say, “It really does smell incredible.”
Fifteen minutes later, Chu Jiu presented a pot of spicy ‘crayfish’ and a large plate of chili-fried mushrooms.
The “crayfish,” of course, was actually scorpion meat. He had stir-fried it in oil with chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, ginger, and garlic; added diced scorpion meat; poured in some market-bought grape wine and homemade soy sauce; added a bit of honey for flavor; and ended up with a glossy, bright-red, spicy and fragrant dish.
As for the infamous Jian Shou Qing mushrooms that had once poisoned Eleanor, Chu Jiu first rendered some pork fat, stir-fried it with Sichuan peppercorns, then added garlic and chili, and finally added the thin-sliced mushrooms, sautéing for six to seven minutes until cooked to perfection.
The chestnut spirits, already desperate from hunger, swarmed forward—but still neatly lined up, forming two circles around the food. Eyes full of anticipation, they waited for Eleanor’s signal.
Eleanor bowed to Chu Jiu, then invited him to have the first bite before turning and giving the go-ahead.
With a cheer, the chestnut spirits whipped out sharp little twigs as utensils, spearing “crayfish” and mushrooms one after another, stuffing their mouths with joy written all over their faces.
Sheldon first went for a piece of the Jian Shou Qing mushroom he’d longed for. As he chewed, he closed his eyes and swayed his head, as if a giant exclamation mark might pop out above him. After swallowing, he quickly grabbed a piece of crayfish.
That bite had him in tears.
“Waaah, how is this so delicious?!”
“Those big, ugly, fierce scorpions—who knew their meat would be so tender, so springy, so flavorful… Waaah!”
But he didn’t have much time to cry—because in those few minutes of tearful praise, half the pot had already been eaten!
In contrast, Eleanor was far more refined. After tasting a small piece of mushroom, she remarked:
“So this is what mushrooms taste like when cooked the human way… It’s truly delicious.”
Chu Jiu paused for a moment before honestly saying:
“Actually, cooking raw food with fire not only makes it taste better—it also reduces the risk of poisoning.”
“If you love mushrooms so much… why not try cooking them first?”
“And if used correctly, fire isn’t that dangerous.”
It won’t turn you into “exploding chestnuts” every time.
Eleanor sighed deeply and replied:
“Long ago, we did know how to use fire, and we did know how to roast food.”
“Back then, the Sunny Plateau was different—there were no endless rains, no massive beasts roaming the land.”
“Then one day…”
“A monster from who-knows-where tore open the sky. Flames poured onto the plateau.”
“The fire raged for seven days and nights. The forest was devastated.”
“My ancestors… they too…”
She shook her head.
Chu Jiu softly gasped. He hadn’t expected the chestnut spirits’ fear of fire to come from such a tragic history.
Eleanor sighed again:
“Maybe the gods heard our prayers. After days of torrential rain, the fire was finally extinguished.”
“Since then, the rain has never stopped, and the Sunny Plateau became what it is now.”
“The fire may have gone out, but our fear of it was etched into our very being—passed down from generation to generation.”
“Even just seeing a distant flame makes us panic and want to run.”
“So who would dare use fire to cook?”
Just as she finished speaking, a crisp little voice piped up:
“I—I’m willing to try!”
