Jian Mo and the others quickly filled their baskets with crackling nuts and got ready to leave.
The two beastmen shifted into their beast forms, each carrying their partner as they ran down the mountain.
The forest gradually transformed from lush green to vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow. Jian Mo felt the crisp wind on his face, invigorating his spirit.
When they reached a wide river, Ji Xun called out, “Let’s wash the nuts here before we head back.”
Jian Mo agreed easily. “Sure, but do nuts really need washing?”
Ji Xun nodded. “It’s better to clean them, and we can sort them at the same time.”
Ji Xun seemed experienced, so they all unloaded the nuts by the riverbank. The icy blue water, fed by snowmelt, sparkled under the sunlight. They tipped the nuts into the current.
The nuts were heavy enough to sink unless they were hollowed by bugs, in which case they floated. By stirring the water, the damaged nuts naturally drifted downstream. Meanwhile, the intact nuts were scrubbed clean.
As they washed, the group used small knives to poke holes in the nuts’ smooth outer shells.
Ji Xun explained, “Making these little holes now will make it much easier to peel them after roasting. It also helps remove the inner husk, which can taste bitter.”
Jian Mo nodded in admiration. “That’s a clever trick.”
Ji Xun smiled. “If you don’t do it, the peeling process is a nightmare, and you might end up with husky bits in your food.”
Once the nuts were prepared, they resumed their journey, heading toward Ji Xun and Mo A’s home.
Ji Xun invited Jian Mo and Wu Jiong to stay for dinner. “I’ve perfected a special nut butter recipe—it’s delicious. You should try it.”
Jian Mo’s curiosity was piqued. “How delicious are we talking?”
Ji Xun chuckled. “Rich, sweet, and creamy. I created it when I started feeling hungry all the time during my pregnancy.”
Jian Mo grinned. “Then I’m sold. Let’s do it!”
The first step was roasting the nuts.
Mo Ah took charge, placing a large clay pot over an open flame outside the house. The nuts began to crackle and pop as the heat penetrated their shells, filling the air with a rich, nutty aroma. Mo Ah stirred them swiftly and skillfully, ensuring nothing burned.
Watching from the side, Jian Mo marveled at the technique. “Now I get why you insisted on washing them. If they were dry, they’d probably scorch too quickly.”
Mo Ah continued to roast the nuts, and Wu Jiong eventually joined him to lend a hand. Meanwhile, Ji Xun led Jian Mo to the back of the house to retrieve a stone mill.
“Making nut butter means grinding the nuts finely first. Let’s clean the mill before we start,” Ji Xun instructed.
Seeing Ji Xun so energetic, Jian Mo quickly interjected. “Let me handle this. You should take it easy.”
Ji Xun waved him off. “I’m careful, don’t worry.”
But Jian Mo insisted on taking over the heavy work, muttering, “I still won’t feel at ease unless I do it.”
Once the nuts were roasted to perfection and the stone mill was ready, they began cracking the nuts and extracting the kernels. These were placed into the mill along with a drizzle of golden nut oil that Ji Xun had prepared.
“This oil is the secret ingredient. It’s from the yellow-flower tree’s nuts,” Ji Xun explained, pouring it over the kernels.
Jian Mo leaned in for a sniff. “It smells mild yet rich.”
The mixture was ground into a paste using the stone mill, with everyone taking turns. The paste became smoother with each round, and after three passes, it was as silky as sesame paste.
Ji Xun then transferred the nut paste to a clay pot for the final step—cooking it over a low flame. While Mo Ah stirred the pot constantly to prevent burning, Ji Xun prepared a batch of dough using flour, bird eggs, powdered sugar, and animal fat.
Ji Xun shaped the dough into flat discs and placed them in a separate pot to bake.
By the time the nut butter was ready, the biscuits had also finished baking.
The group gathered outside, enjoying the crisp mountain air and a view of the distant snowy peaks. They paired the warm biscuits with the freshly made nut butter, savoring the results of their labor.
Jian Mo took a bite of the biscuit. It was firm, with a delightful crunch, and paired perfectly with the sweet, creamy nut butter. The contrast of textures—crunchy biscuit and velvety spread—was a sensory delight.
A look of surprise and admiration crossed Jian Mo’s face. “This is amazing! How did you come up with this biscuit recipe?”
Ji Xun tilted his chin proudly. “I started out trying to make a filling snack to stave off hunger. After experimenting for a while, I stumbled upon this combination. Pretty good, right?”
Jian Mo gave Ji Xun a thumbs-up. “This is the best nut butter I’ve ever tasted.”
Ji Xun smiled. “The secret to this recipe is adding oil and being generous with the sugar. Actually, you can even add more sugar if you want. With both oil and sugar, the butter can keep for a long time without going bad.”
Jian Mo nodded. “True, though with how delicious this is, it’s not going to last long—it’ll end up in our stomachs soon enough.”
Ji Xun laughed. “Exactly. Whenever you’re tired or hungry, just pour out a small dish of nut butter, grab some biscuits, and brew a cup of tea. It feels like life instantly becomes more hopeful.”
Raising his teacup, Jian Mo said, “I’m impressed. When I get back, I’m definitely trying this myself.”
Ji Xun, knowing Jian Mo was in the midst of a growth spurt, agreed wholeheartedly. “You should; it’ll be great for you.”
Jian Mo considered something. “We have milk back home. If we use it to make biscuits and nut butter, it might taste even better. If you have time, why not come down to visit us tomorrow?”
Ji Xun thought for a moment. “How about the day after tomorrow? Mo Ah has a class to teach then. We’ll come down early and drop by your place.”
“That works,” Jian Mo said. “I’ll make sure to save up some beast milk for it.”
With the sun still in the sky, Jian Mo and Wu Jiong packed up their crackling nuts, added two packets of tea leaves gifted by Ji Xun, and ran back to the He’an Tribe.
To prepare for Ji Xun and Mo A’s visit, Jian Mo decided to experiment with biscuit-making at home.
He wasn’t an expert baker, but the biscuits he made turned out decent—slightly hard but tasty enough. Chirpy and Ying Ao were especially fond of them.
Chirpy, despite having a rather weak bite strength—it struggled to chew through a large fish—could still manage to gobble down biscuits whole.
Suspicious, Jian Mo squinted at Chirpy and reached up to hold its jaw. “Don’t swallow them whole! You need to chew! If you choke, I might not be able to save you in time.”
Obediently, Chirpy lowered its head and opened its beak to show how it was using its molars to grind the biscuit. “Chirp! I’m chewing!”
Only then did Jian Mo relent, pulling out another biscuit from the basket. He tossed it lightly into the air.
Chirpy, with its big beak, caught it perfectly each time. “Chirp!”
Ying Ao, on the other hand, was far more refined. It picked up each biscuit delicately with a claw and ate slowly, savoring every bite.
Jian Mo reached out to stroke Ying Ao’s wing. “You’ve got the demeanor of a true boss, Ying Ao.”
Ying Ao responded with a calm “Chirp.”
After satisfying the two winged beasts, Jian Mo distributed a portion of the biscuits to the village’s younglings.
The little ones adored the sweet, milky biscuits, with their subtle fragrance of freshly baked flour. Some even carefully saved a portion to share with their families.
Soon, word spread throughout the He’an Tribe that Jian Mo’s household had created a delightful new snack.
When Ji Xun and Mo Ah arrived two days later, they asked curiously, “Have you been baking biscuits these past couple of days?”
Jian Mo grinned. “Yes! I wanted to see if adding milk to the recipe would work. It turned out even better than I expected. Come in—today I’m trying out a waterless biscuit recipe.”
Excitedly, Jian Mo ushered them into the kitchen. “We ground the nuts into butter this morning, but instead of using plant oil, I used butter extracted from beast milk. Smell this and see what you think.”
Ji Xun took the jar and inhaled deeply. “Wow! It smells creamy and delicious.”
Jian Mo handed him a spoon. “Taste it.”
Ji Xun scooped up a little and tasted it, then passed the spoon to Mo A. “It has a sweet, creamy flavor, and it’s much richer and smoother. I really like this version of the nut butter.”
Jian Mo smiled. “I haven’t cooked it yet—I wanted to do that after you arrived. Freshly cooked nut butter always tastes the best.”
Ji Xun eagerly awaited the final product. “It’s already so good; I can’t imagine how much better it will be after cooking.”
As Jian Mo kindled the fire to cook the nut butter, he explained his tweaks to the recipe. In addition to a generous amount of powdered sugar, he added a pinch of salt and some tart fruit juice.
Curious, Ji Xun asked, “What’s the reasoning behind those two ingredients?”
Jian Mo replied, “They make the sweetness pop and create a more distinctive flavor.”
With all the prep work already done, the nut butter didn’t take long to cook.
Once finished, it had the consistency of chocolate spread but was even richer and creamier. Jian Mo couldn’t help but feel proud of this improved recipe, and Ji Xun and Mo Ah were equally impressed.
As for the biscuits, Jian Mo mixed the milk-based dough with some yellow butter, shaped it into rounds, and brushed the tops with egg wash.
Before Ji Xun could ask why, Jian Mo explained, “This will make the biscuits look more appetizing.”
Ji Xun nodded. “That’s a good tip!”
Using a clay oven heated with coals above and below, Jian Mo baked the biscuits until they were perfectly golden.
When they were ready, everyone gathered in the courtyard to enjoy them.
Ji Xun took a bite and was instantly delighted. “Your biscuits taste even better than mine—so rich and flavorful!”
Jian Mo smiled. “That’s all thanks to your original recipe.”
Ji Xun waved it off modestly. “My version’s just a basic one. Yours takes effort and thought—it’s on another level.”
Mo Ah added, “Making biscuits is also costly, so it’s not something most people would bother with.”
Jian Mo shrugged. “That depends. Other tribes might hesitate, but people in the He’an Tribe can afford it.”
Ji Xun nodded in agreement. “Your tribe has stockpiled plenty of resources over the years.”
As they ate and chatted, time flew by.
Just as Jian Mo was starting to think they could relax until the afternoon, a child’s voice rang out from the courtyard.
“Brother Jian Mo! Someone’s at the clinic!”
Jian Mo set down his tea. “Who is it? What’s wrong?”
The child called back, “I’m not sure—they said their stomach hurts, and someone had to carry them here.”
Jian Mo immediately stood up, putting the biscuits aside. “Tell them to wait a moment. I’ll head over right away.”
Jian Mo glanced at Ji Xun and Mo A. “I’ll go take a look. You two stay here and relax.”
Ji Xun quickly nodded. “Go ahead. Prioritize the important things.”
Jian Mo stood up, went back into the house to grab his medical kit, and hurried toward the small clinic.
The visitors were from the Hai Zuo Tribe, familiar acquaintances of the He’an Tribe.
As soon as they saw Jian Mo, they anxiously called out, “Doctor Jian Mo, please help him!”
Jian Mo weaved through the crowd. “Where’s the pain? Do you know the cause?”
One of the Hai Zuo Tribesmen replied, “We’re not sure. He’s just been complaining about stomach pain for three days.”
Another added, “It started late the night before last. He’s been drinking medicinal soup, but it hasn’t helped. By the time we brought him here, he’d already spent over a day in agony on the road. Look at his face—it’s not normal anymore.”
Jian Mo entered the clinic, where a beastman lay moaning on the bed. His complexion was a sickly yellow-green, his face ashen and dull.
A thought immediately flashed through Jian Mo’s mind: It might be a problem with his liver or gallbladder.
If that were the case, this was serious. Jian Mo’s heart sank as he moved closer to examine the patient.
Injuries he could see and treat directly—like a gaping wound in the abdomen—would be easier to deal with. Stitching up a clear injury would at least offer a path to recovery.
But internal organ failure? That was another matter entirely.
Without proper diagnostic equipment or specialized medication, his training as a veterinarian wasn’t enough to tackle such a complex issue.
This wasn’t just troublesome—it was daunting.
Jian Mo frowned deeply as he completed the physical examination.
This time, I really don’t know what to do.
