Chapter 166

Chapter 166

The fish was sliced into a crosshatch pattern, coated in starch, and deep-fried until golden. Then it was drenched with a thick syrup made from red berries and brown sugar. Finally, roasted pine nuts were sprinkled on top—thus completing the first fish dish.

Next came the salt and pepper fried fish balls, braised fresh bamboo shoots in oil, butter-roasted milk tofu, and creamy fish head soup.

Large rattan baskets were delivered to the school. When the beast hides covering them were lifted, thick white steam poured out instantly.

Clutching her portion, Quannan darted into a corner of the school. Without waiting for the food to cool, she eagerly bit into the strange fish. Her eyes lit up instantly.

The tender fish meat, paired with the sweet-and-sour sauce-soaked pine nuts, was so delicious Quannan almost bit her own tongue.

Moments later, Niu Xi plopped down across from her, huffing and puffing. One hand held her bowl, while the other pulled at the browned surface of the roasted milk tofu.

Baked in butter, the milk tofu had little sourness and was rich in creamy sweetness. A gentle tug made it stretch into long threads.

It wasn’t just Quannan and Niu Xi who were eagerly eating. Everyone around them clutched steaming bowls—some slurping fish soup, others chewing on fish balls with puffed cheeks. No one had the mouth space to chat.

Delicious—absolutely delicious.

This one phrase echoed repeatedly in everyone’s minds, especially among those who had only recently joined the tribe. They never knew fish could taste this good.

Across several rows of tables, old beastman Ma Qian took a big gulp of the mild sheep milk leftover from butter-making.

Qi Bai hadn’t lied to them. He said everyone would get to drink sheep milk, and indeed, they all had.

And not just drink it—foods made from the milk were now plentiful for everyone.

Ma Qian squinted slightly, feeling deeply content. If he hadn’t lived through it himself, he would never have believed this kind of life was possible.

After frying the final batch of fish balls, the group who had been working at the cooking station for over two hours finally slowed down, leisurely beginning to clean the kitchen and floor.

Qi Bai finally had time to ask the newly returned She Li, “How did everyone like dinner?”

Today, Qi Bai had taught them new cooking methods and stayed in the kitchen the whole time watching them fry fish and meatballs—he hadn’t seen the others’ reactions.

She Li replied, “They loved it. Didn’t you see? Everyone used the milk tofu to mop up the last drops of berry sauce. Not a drop was left.”

Qi Bai let out a long sigh of relief.

This was the tribe’s first attempt at a main meal without meat. As long as they’d opened that door, they could now mix food types freely, which meant the meat stores might last until the hunting team returned.

Qi Bai wasn’t worried about people staying full—the dishes were rich with oil, and even the fish was deep-fried, which made it more filling than steamed fish.

Tu Ya clicked her tongue. “We caught so many fish today, and it was all eaten in one meal.”

The fishing team had cast their nets four times during the day. Although the later catches dwindled, Qi Bai hadn’t tallied the total harvest. But they slaughtered over a dozen fish weighing 30–40 pounds just for the evening. Including the smaller fish, they had to have brought in over 500 pounds today.

Of course, the strange fish from the river bottom had huge heads—some nearly half their body size—so the edible portion wasn’t as much as it seemed.

As she scrubbed a pot, Hu Xue commented, “You don’t cook, so you wouldn’t know. The tribe already needed a lot of food before. Now with so many more people, we need even more.”

Yang Luo cracked pine nuts nearby and muttered inwardly: Exactly. Do you all understand now how hard it is to be the tribe’s priest? Stop thinking only about eating.

Thinking this, she tossed the pine nut shells under the stove and told Qi Bai and Diao Lan, “Aren’t you two going to check the fish traps? Leave the rest of the dishes here for them to wash. Go now—don’t waste time.”

Niu Xu dragged the wooden basin away from Diao Lan and smiled. “I’ll wash them.”

Diao Lan looked to Qi Bai, and when he nodded, she stood up.

As they entered the school hall, the tribe members inside were already hard at work—carving wooden buckets, twisting grass ropes, slicing bamboo shoots. All while chatting happily about the new dishes from dinner.

Qi Bai spotted the group peeling bamboo shoots—Shu You and others—and hitched one of the sleds parked by the door. Together, they headed toward the river where the traps had been set earlier that day.

Beastmen in horned animal form could pull a sled alone, but it took three sub-beastmen working together to manage the same.

When they reached the fence, a young horned beastman on night duty ran down from the watchtower. “I’ll help you pull the sled. You guys can’t manage this.”

It was Zhu Teng, the beastman once exchanged as a “two-legged sheep” by the Araki tribe, now part of the wolf clan.

He never forgot how Qi Bai had rescued them from that cramped wooden pen. So the moment he saw Qi Bai pulling a sled, his first thought was to help.

Qi Bai, adjusting the grass rope tied around his waist, waved him off. “We’ve got this. Don’t delay your patrol. Just open the gate for us.”

Zhu Teng looked behind him, scratched his ear anxiously. He really couldn’t leave his post.

With the tribe needing more tree trunks for buckets and sleds, Hun Lie and Hu Huo had just taken the horned beastmen out again.

At times like this, he had to patrol properly and not leave his station. “Alright, wait a second.”

He ran back to the tower and came out holding a torch. “Here—take this so you can see the road ahead.”

Snowy nights weren’t too dark, but in dense woods or when clouds blocked the moon, the path could be hard to see.

Qi Bai accepted the torch and praised, “This is well made.”

The tip seemed coated with a special tree oil, burning much brighter than regular wooden torches.

Flustered by the praise, Zhu Teng grinned. “This is how my old tribe made torches. They give off lots of smoke—not as good as our oil lamps here.”

Qi Bai asked, “Would you be willing to teach others how to make them? The priest will reward you.”

Zhu Teng stammered, “N-no need. I can teach directly, no reward needed.”

Hearing this, Shu You leaned over curiously. “It really is good. Ours aren’t nearly this bright.”

Diao Lan chuckled beside them. “Rewards are tribal rules. We can’t break them just for you.”

Zhu Teng flushed, rubbing his hands before running to open the gate.

The area where they’d placed the traps wasn’t often visited. Snow piled high, making sled-pulling tough. Every step sank thigh-deep into the snow, and soon their fur-lined boots were frozen through.

Shu You led with the torch, shouting, “We’re here!”

It had been over five hours since they set the traps.

They followed the grass rope left above the surface, leaning back like tug-of-war players as they hoisted the heavy trap from the water.

It was harder than lifting a net—being barrel-shaped, the trap also held water, making it even heavier. At over 20 meters long, the back half had to be pulled out by hand, requiring them to remove their gloves.

Even Qi Bai’s fur gloves enclosed the entire hand without finger divisions, so gripping the trap’s mesh meant bare hands in the freezing cold.

Qi Bai gritted his teeth and muttered, “This trap better be full, or it’s not worth the pain.”

“It’s coming up!”

“Whoa! Bai! There’s so much fish—way more than the nets ever caught!”

Several sub-beastmen had taken over at the front while Qi Bai lugged the trap toward the bank, barely catching his breath before running back to the hole in the ice.

In just moments, several fish had already been squeezed out of the trap and flopped on the ice, quickly covered in snow and turning into “snowfish.” Shu You and the others scrambled to catch them.

The still-bound end of the trap bulged and squirmed—clearly packed with more fish.

Diao Lan shouted louder than usual, “Bag them! Bag them! Let’s get them into the baskets!”

Because the trap entrance limited size, they didn’t catch huge fish—but even so, the haul was impressive. They filled an entire rattan basket.

It was just as effective as net fishing—but required no standing guard. Just bait it, drop it, and leave.

The success of the first trap gave them confidence. They re-baited and reset it, then headed for the second.

By now they were soaked, but the cold wind couldn’t stop them.

With so many fish—enough for breakfast—no one felt cold, only energized.

Only Qi Bai shivered miserably in the wind, thinking: I really need to improve these gloves. I can’t take this.

When the two traploads of fish were pushed back into the school, they drew a crowd.

After all, only six people had gone out, and they returned with this much. The efficiency was shocking.

In this weather, spoilage wasn’t a concern.

Qi Bai sat by the school gate, sorting the fish and lining them up for freezing.

Different fish called for different prep methods, so they needed to be categorized. And only flat-frozen fish could be removed intact.

More importantly, traps didn’t just catch fish—there were other aquatic creatures too. Qi Bai nearly jumped when he pulled a giant toad from a basket.

Miserable, he tossed the toad into a small bin. They’d dispose of these outside the tribe—he didn’t want any kids accidentally eating one.

A few horned beastmen doing carpentry nearby looked regretfully toward the bin.

Regret? Why regret?! That toad had massive warts—who knew if it was poisonous! Why would you even think about eating that?!

From that day on, the tribe members twisting grass ropes worked even harder. Every extra net they finished meant a trap could be set a day earlier—fish caught a day earlier.

They all knew how to count—and they understood this math very clearly.

With something to look forward to, time passed quickly.

When Ma Ling returned from the coast with his team, it was the first time no one rushed to greet them.

His partner Tu Ya’s first words were:

“Why are you back so early?”