Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Ma Ling lowered his previously proud chin slightly and said to Tuya at the side gate with a hint of grievance, “You don’t want me to come back?”

He had led a team for seven days, bringing back six sleds full of food, yet no one had even come to open the main gate.

Tuya slapped her forehead and laughed, her dimples showing: “Of course I wanted you all back! I’ll open the gate now.”

She turned from the small gate and ran to the large wooden gate, unlatched it from inside while Ma Ling pushed from outside. It didn’t take much effort for the door to swing open.

Ma Ling walked at the front of the 40-person team and quickly understood why Tuya had seemed a little indifferent.

Before Langze left with the hunting party, he had spoken privately with Ma Ling. Though he hadn’t said it outright, Ma Ling could tell the tribe’s food supply was running low. He had stayed behind to search for more food.

So they had rushed day and night to reach the coast, resting little. Once there, they dug and collected seafood almost nonstop.

Winter oysters were especially plump. When cracked open, the meat practically wiggled. When hungry, they didn’t even cook — just dug oysters off the rocks and ate them on the spot.

The bay was full of kelp and seaweed, which had become precious resources. In the past, beastfolk didn’t like eating plants — land or sea. But now it was different. Seaweed was easier to collect than seafood, and even the fishy ones, when handled by Qibai, became delicious dishes. After five to six months without any green vegetables, everyone started missing them.

Ahem, maybe he was getting carried away. What Ma Ling wanted to say was: their trip went better than expected. The coastline had no shortage of seafood, and they returned with a great haul. He thought they’d be hailed as heroes.

But in fact, the tribe didn’t look short on food at all.

On both sides of the main road were rows of rattan baskets once used to dry bamboo shoots and mushrooms in spring and summer — now filled with all kinds of fish.

Ma Ling tapped one — frozen solid.

Next to the main road, the row of houses by the wall had smoke coming from their chimneys. Ma Ling could smell something fragrant wafting out.

He asked, “Isn’t that where we store grass for the four-eared sheep? Why is someone cooking there?”

Tuya glanced that way and said, “You’ve got it wrong. The sheep fodder room is further in. That building is for marinating fish now.”

“That smell — must be Qibai frying seasoning,” she sniffed, then turned to say, “Wait here. I’ll go get Qibai to figure out where your sleds should go.”

After she ran off, several beastfolk shifted into human form and trailed behind, eager to see what was going on.

Ma Ling laughed and called after them, “Now you’re not tired or hungry anymore, huh?” Then turned to help guide the sleds to the wall.

Hu Meng rushed ahead. He wasn’t stupid — he was sure the tribe had prepared a feast for them. That smell had to mean food!

But this time, his calculations were off.

As soon as they entered the house, they were hit with a strong fishy smell — nothing like the delicious aroma outside. Definitely no feast.

Inside the bare clay house stood rows of bamboo racks filled with marinating fish. Even the back room was packed.

On the stove wasn’t a clay pot but the tribe’s oldest stone cauldron. Hu Meng recognized it immediately.

She Li was in front of the stove, stir-frying salt and pepper spice powder. Others were gutting fish, marinating, grinding spices.

Qibai was grinding pepper in a mortar while watching the fire. When he heard the door, he looked up and smiled, “Oh, the sea team is back!”

Hu Meng glanced around — especially at the racks of half-dried fish — realizing there was no food to be had here. He waved his arms and said, “Hey, we brought back loads of seafood! We even caught big snakes — they look super tasty!”

Because of the mention of snakes, Qibai approached cautiously. If they were only frozen, they might thaw and become dangerous again.

But when Ma Ling lifted the lid, Qibai’s concerns vanished — replaced by a grin.

Snakes? No, those were ribbonfish! Big ones, nearly two palms wide. In modern times, they’d fetch a good price.

The sleds also carried oysters, mussels, sea snails, octopus — and loads of seaweed.

The beastfolk who came out to look were amazed and overjoyed: “The sea is incredible. It even grows plants in winter!”

A young bull beastfolk added, “Yeah! It’s way bigger than the Xi River. We couldn’t even see the other side — and there are so many plants!”

The others laughed and whispered: they really wanted to go see it too.

Qibai said, “You’ve all worked hard. Leave the food here, we’ll handle it. Go find something to eat in the nursery.”

A beastfolk behind him nodded, “They’ve got lots of new food there — go try it!”

“Okay!” Hu Meng answered fastest and was the first to bolt out the door.

Ah, so the food was at the nursery! He knew Qibai wouldn’t let them go hungry.

As the sea team left, the others rolled up their sleeves to start unloading.

Niu Xu asked, “Qibai, do we dry and marinate these fish too?”

Qibai shook his head. “No, just sort them and freeze them outside.”

These had already been frozen solid during the journey. To turn them into dried fish, they’d have to thaw and re-dry them, which risked mold. It was simpler to keep them as frozen fish and eat them first. Later, they could process the freshwater fish from the river.

“Got it.” Niu Xu answered, then called over another beastfolk to help carry the baskets.

The others didn’t even ask. They admired Qibai completely.

Niu Xu was already considered smart for knowing how to count, but even she often said: after joining Heishan Tribe, she realized how little she had known before.

If someone like Niu Xu was in awe of Qibai, the rest were even more so.

“Kelp and seaweed — clean and dry them with the marinated fish,” Qibai continued, “Steam the shellfish and send them to the school later.”

“Yes, Qibai!” the others responded enthusiastically.

Some filled wooden buckets with snow to melt for cleaning the seaweed — the sea beastfolk hadn’t even drained the kelp properly, so they were all frozen into chunks.

Outside, Zhu Zhu and Ma Qian sat breaking open shells and separating meat and shell into buckets and baskets.

Even the shells wouldn’t go to waste — Qibai said they could be crushed for livestock feed or mixed into pottery clay to improve its quality.

Hearing that, everyone couldn’t help but sneak glances at the shell baskets: what would pottery even look like if it were better than now?

So if you asked the others whether they were tired after processing six sleds of seafood?

Their answer would be: “Not at all! We’re enjoying every bit of it.”