Chapter 51

 

They traveled quite far to reach this place, spending almost half a day on foot. Hunting crocodiles took less time, but still took a while. By the time they finished collecting the treasure chests, the sun was high. They continued upstream along the river, the water gradually becoming clearer. Lu Yu found a spot for everyone to rest and have lunch, which, of course, consisted of hunted crocodiles.

Shan Pu took out a stone blade, preparing to cut the crocodile into eight pieces. Lu Yu said, “Shan Pu, can you try to preserve the crocodile skin intact?”

Shan Pu paused with the stone blade in hand. “Witch, this skin is tough, not suitable for making leather skirts.”

Lu Yu chuckled, “I’m not planning to make leather skirts with it, but we can make bags.” He had heard from his apprentices that crocodile skin bags were sturdy, stylish, and expensive.

Lu Yu wasn’t seeking novelty; woven grass backpacks could carry a lot but were inconvenient for movement, especially in battles. Now that people in the valley were learning tailoring, sewing a fitted crocodile skin bag shouldn’t be a problem. Besides bags, they could make covers for their weapons, making it easier to carry them on their backs instead of holding large weapons while traveling.

Thinking of this, Lu Yu glanced at Tai Lie not far away. Tai Lie was using the iron axe dropped by the lion to chop branches from the shrubs, preparing firewood for later. The huge iron axe looked like a lightweight toy in his hands, effortless to wield.

Once the branches were cut, he could carry some with one hand.

An idea sparked in Lu Yu’s mind.

—

Lu Yu pinched the crocodile meat, checked its quality, and decided to make soup with the meat and bones from the back, roast the body, and cook the leg meat into a dish called “beggar’s crocodile.”

Shan Pu, holding the mud Lu Yu asked him to dig by the river, was puzzled, “Witch, what did you say? Wrap the meat in soil?”

“Of course not directly.” Lu Yu took out clean large pieces of fragrant leaves from his ring, rinsed them with water, swiftly wrapped the meat, then took the mud from Shan Pu’s hand and patted it onto the leaf-wrapped meat.

Actually, authentic “beggar’s chicken” should use Huadiao¹ wine and yellow clay, but they didn’t have those now, so they had to make do with regular mud. Luckily, all the materials they used were primitive and authentic, ensuring deliciousness. (Huadiao¹ wine is a Chinese rice wine known for its rich aroma and amber color, commonly used in Chinese cuisine, especially in dishes like beggar’s chicken.)

As expected, when all the food was ready, the Matai people didn’t even lift their heads.

“Witch, this crocodile meat is too delicious! It’s more tender than other wild beast meats, although not as tender as fish, but it’s chewier, um, it’s just like… just like…”

Lu Yu interjected with a laugh, “Like young chicken meat.”

“Yes, yes, exactly.”

Young chicken referred to wild chicken, but the wild chickens here were much prettier than modern ones, with glossy feathers and long, colorful tail feathers.

They had caught one before, and Lu Yu had roasted it.

However, for the Matai people with big appetites, that amount of meat was like a toothpick, so even though Shan Pu and the others found it tasty, they hadn’t specifically gone out to catch more.

Shan Pu took a bite of the beggar’s crocodile and exclaimed, “So delicious!”

Lu Yu smiled. It seemed he didn’t need to remind them; these crocodiles were in trouble.

Back in the village, it was already late.

On their way back, Lu Yu and the others also hunted two wild boars, which took some time.

At night, Lu Yu went to sleep.

After selecting tonight’s training activities in the control room, he didn’t choose physical exercises but opened the tailor training area. After opening the door of the control room, he walked out…

In the morning, Lu Yu rubbed his wrists.

He didn’t have a foundation in this area, so he could only try to make up for it as much as possible.

Today, Lu Yu wouldn’t go hunting with the Matai people; he had more important things to do.

Lu Yu went to the valley and chatted with everyone as usual.

In modern times, although Lu Yu wasn’t a recluse, he wasn’t particularly good at conversation either. Unless necessary, he rarely interacted with people too much.

But here, he quite liked chatting with people. Listening to the Matai people talk about their past adventures, hearing about the daily work of the valley people, he found it all very interesting.

However, today, he didn’t chat for long. He talked to the people learning tailoring about some sewing-related matters, handed over the crocodile skin to them for processing, and then he volunteered to go check on the fields.

The farmers patted their chests confidently and said, “Witch, rest assured, we will definitely meet your requirements.”

Lu Yu smiled, “I’m not doubting your efforts, I’m about to tell everyone something.”

“What’s that?”

“Today, we can harvest.”

“What????” Everyone was puzzled.

“Witch, didn’t you say we had to wait until late autumn at least to harvest?”

Although Lu Yu had already revealed himself as a witch, there were some things he temporarily decided not to mention. He changed his explanation, saying, “Yesterday, I developed a potion that can make plants grow quickly, so we can  harvest today.”

The crowd was astonished.

Even after witnessing the various powers of the witch, they were still shocked. But making plants grow quickly?? This was truly god-like! Or perhaps, could the witch be an incarnation of the earth, or even the mother earth?!

The people of the valley thought more and more about it, their expressions serious as they asked.

Lu Yu’s mouth twitched. What incarnation, mother earth? Did he look effeminate? Maybe his physique wasn’t as extreme as the Matai people, but he definitely had a masculine aura. Just in case he ended up with Tai Lie in the future, he could still be the dominant one.

After solemnly declaring himself as just a witch, Lu Yu couldn’t be bothered with their skeptical expressions and directly took them to the rice fields.

Today, their task was a bit heavy.

The range of the potion can only covered an area of one hectare, and there was only small amount of the potion. Lu Yu thought for a moment, stood in the center of the field, and carefully poured the potion onto a newly sprouted rice seedling.

It was like pressing the accelerator.

Lu Yu watched as the rice seedlings around him sprouted from the soil, grew taller and taller, gradually turning green, and eventually produced heavy rice ears hanging from the branches.

Not only were the people of the valley gaping in amazement, but Lu Yu’s eyes also brightened.

The sudden emergence of the village was also miraculous, but after all, it was lifeless. But this was life, plant has life and breath.

After the wonderment, it was time to work.

Lu Yu called on everyone to take out the curved stone knives they had been instructed to bring and start harvesting the rice. After harvesting, Lu Yu selected some suitable ones to continue planting. However, this time, it was just sowing seeds, and the seedlings hadn’t even sprouted yet. Lu Yu didn’t dare to waste the precious potion on them. He could only wait a while longer before using the growth potion again.

The harvested rice grains were threshed to remove them from the husks, then spread out on clean, flat ground to dry.

After completing this extensive task, Lu Yu, who had been training his physical fitness for days, also felt tired. He stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a leaf, and sighed.

“Hiss—”

Lu Yu pressed his lower back.

His lower back seemed a bit weak…

How could a man have a weak lower back?!

Lu Yu decided to go to the physical training ground at night to see if there were any exercises to strengthen his waist.

After a day of exhaustion, his grass vest and shorts were dirty. Lu Yu changed out of them and took them to the river for washing. While washing  clothes, he suddenly heard a child crying behind him.

“Witch, please save my father!”

Lu Yu almost slipped into the river, but he managed to steady himself. He turned around to see a little boy on the verge of tears. Furrowing his brows, Lu Yu asked, “What’s wrong?”

Tears kept streaming down the boy’s eyes, but he tried to hold them back. “My… my father is dying. Witch, please save him.”

The boy was from the valley, and Lu Yu remembered his name should be Qing Qiu, but he couldn’t recall who his father was; there were many men in the valley.

Seeing the boy’s urgency, Lu Yu didn’t dare to delay. He quickly followed him to the valley, urging him to explain his father’s condition on the way.

Qing Qiu choked up, “My father used to be in the Blackwater Tribe. Sometimes he would feel very stuffy and painful in his chest, and he couldn’t catch his breath. After coming here, his condition improved somewhat, but I don’t know why it suddenly became so severe today. He’s lying in bed and can’t get up.”

Lu Yu’s brows furrowed tighter.

He wasn’t a doctor, and from Qing Qiu’s description, he couldn’t determine what illness his father had. However, it seemed that it wasn’t an injury but an internal disease, a very serious one.

If it was indeed a fatal internal disease, the red medicine might be of no use…

The two of them ran to the valley at the fastest speed.

From afar, Lu Yu saw some people gathered in front of Qing Qiu’s wooden house. No one spoke; they all stood in silence, the atmosphere as quiet as death.

Lu Yu’s heart sank.

Someone spotted Lu Yu and Qing Qiu and walked up to pat Qing Qiu’s thin shoulder, saying solemnly, “Child, go take one last look at your father.”

Qing Qiu’s body stiffened, then he rushed inside, shouting, “Father!!!”

Lu Yu hesitated for a moment, then followed inside.

Inside the wooden house, besides the man lying on the grass leaves, there was only a woman kneeling beside him, her eyes devoid of life.

Whether it was Qing Qiu or Lu Yu entering, the woman remained motionless, unresponsive.

Without much time to think, Lu Yu went to check on the man.

The man had already lost his heartbeat and breath. He was dead.

Lu Yu shook his head at Qing Qiu, patted his head, and left the wooden house.

As Lu Yu exited, the people of the valley gathered around. Hearing Lu Yu say there was no solution, they completely lost hope, their faces showing sadness.

At this moment, there was suddenly a hoarse cry from the house, filled with extreme grief.

Lu Yu was momentarily stunned. The crying voice wasn’t Qing Qiu’s; it was a woman’s voice, perhaps the same colorless woman from earlier…

The surrounding people also heard the cries and couldn’t help but discuss quietly.

“Oh, if only Hong Yu hadn’t acted like that today, Qing Qiu’s father wouldn’t have died so early. It’s useless to cry now.”

“Yes, Qing Qiu’s father was a good person, and Hong Yu liked him too. They even had a child together. Why did she have to cause trouble all day? Why couldn’t she just live peacefully?”

“Yeah, back in Blackwater, they never said a harsh word to each other. Now that they have such a good life, why can’t they live it well? Crying now won’t change anything.”

“Let’s stop talking. Qing Qiu’s father has passed away. We need to discuss where to bury him.”

“Yes, and we need to ask Yunzi and the others to prepare some food for Hong Yu and her child.”

—

It wasn’t until people greeted him and started to disperse that Lu Yu came to his senses.

From the conversation of the people just now, he already had a rough idea of the situation in this family. To be honest, it was completely different from his and Tai Lie’s situation, but he couldn’t help but think about their complicated relationship.

Maybe, he was overthinking things.

Considering the future while worrying about being bound for a lifetime.

Why worry about things that haven’t happened yet?

Even with the life-extending potion, could he definitely live to that time?

Why couldn’t he just enjoy the present moment?

Wasn’t he the one who clearly wanted to be with Tai Lie?!

Lu Yu suddenly lifted his head and rushed towards the Matai village.