Chapter 83 Liangpi

Chapter 83 Liangpi

Ever since Cat Tooth was injured by the man-eating vine, Hu Lai had been exceptionally good to him, showering him with preferential treatment. The male orcs in Hu Lai's den had long resented Cat Tooth, and now, presented with a blatant opportunity for revenge, they all grinned maliciously, cracking their knuckles as they prepared to give him a thorough beating—to settle old scores and right past wrongs!

Hu Shui was the most enthusiastic among them. Heaven knew how many times he, being at the bottom of their den's food chain, had been scolded to tears by Cat Tooth.

The last time Hu Lai sent him out with Wen Ran the Sage to search for baobab trees, it was because she had taken Cat Tooth's advice, which left him battered by sandstorms and scorched by the sun outside. His fair skin had peeled several layers, and Cat Tooth even mocked him, saying he finally didn’t look like a pasty-faced chick anymore. Enraged, Hu Shui had pounded the ground and cried all afternoon on his animal hide. Even if he were made of water, he couldn’t keep crying like that—it left his forehead throbbing with pain, and he was sure it had given him lasting trauma.

Wearing the sinister grin of a villain, Hu Shui said, "Cat Tooth, Alpha Male, you can’t blame me. As male orcs of the same den, both of us know we have to obey our female! Show that big face of yours and honestly accept my mighty little fists!"

Cat Tooth looked terrified, backing away repeatedly, but there was no escape. With a cry of "Ah!", dust flew as Cat Tooth cursed and raged, insulting every male orc in their den—yet he didn’t dare say a single word against Hu Lai.

Facing the group beating from all the male orcs in his den, Cat Tooth endured a flurry of punches and kicks with panic in his eyes. When it was over, he sprawled flat on the ground, moaning in pain, his voice filled with indignation and defiance.

Hu Lai cheered from the sidelines, urging them to beat Cat Tooth fiercely, while occasionally shooting glances at Wen Ran, looking at him as if he were some kind of disastrously handsome troublemaker.

Wen Ran: "..."

Watching the chaotic scene, Wen Ran massaged his forehead. This little red-furred fox was probably going to be jealous again, giving him the cold shoulder or a sour face for a while.

What a pair of livewires. But with an Alpha Male like Cat Tooth who never gave anyone peace, it was no wonder the little fox’s attitude toward him kept swinging back and forth—today they were the best in the world, tomorrow she’d be scowling and giving him attitude.

Wen Ran was genuinely concerned about the little fox’s mental state. With Cat Tooth constantly provoking her like this, would she develop schizophrenia?

Sighing, Wen Ran shook his head helplessly. Life here was truly exceptionally chaotic.

After the thorough beating, Hu Lai still had her other male orcs drag Cat Tooth to see Chief Mao Ke and Hu Xiu Shaman. Although Cat Tooth’s actions couldn’t be called a betrayal of the tribe, they were still suspicious. Even though Hu Lai was loath to punish her Alpha Male, she had no choice but to follow the rules.

By the time the farce ended, the sun was already high in the sky. Wen Ran decided to make something new to calm his nerves. In the hot weather, he didn’t feel like eating anything. Although sour soup dumplings were appetizing, they were too hot. After some thought, he settled on making liangpi—sour and spicy to whet the appetite.

When Mao Fei heard that Wen Ran was making something new, he even stopped feeding his two cubs and bounded over to Wen Ran’s den, asking to be taught how to make it.

Since Wen Ran didn’t feel like doing it himself, he had Mao Fei pour flour into a large wooden basin, add an appropriate amount of water and a pinch of salt. Just as Mao Fei was about to start mixing with his fluffy paws, Wen Ran quickly reached out and smacked the back of the white cat’s paw.

The white cat retracted his paw swiftly and looked at Wen Ran with a wronged expression. "What? Didn’t you say we need to knead the dough?"

Wen Ran said expressionlessly, "Change into human form to knead." His paws were full of fur—who would want to eat dough kneaded like that?

Mao Fei pouted. "Kneading in beast form has more strength. Otherwise, my wrists get tired."

Wen Ran: "..."

"Usually, Mao Shi does this. My only job is to eat and drink. Today he’s not here—he went with Lang Zhi and the hunting team to patrol the outskirts of the tribe. I thought I’d learn for him first, otherwise I might miss the chance and not know when I’d get to learn again. But I didn’t expect it to be so hard. I’ve been huffing and puffing while kneading for ages, and my paws are exhausted. Look, they’ve even developed wrinkles from the effort."

Wen Ran glanced at the wrinkles that would vanish the second he looked away and chuckled dryly. He shooed this big lazy cat, who was deliberately flaunting their affection in front of him, to the side and took over kneading the dough himself.

Gradually, the flour mixture transformed into a smooth, soft dough. Wen Ran pressed it—it was quite elastic. He brought out a large wooden basin filled with clean water, placed the dough in it, and began washing the dough.

As he kneaded, white starch gradually washed out from the flour, dissolving into the water, while the dough slowly turned into a resilient gluten. Wen Ran repeatedly changed the water and washed the dough until the water ran relatively clear.

"Let the washing water settle for a while to allow the starch to settle at the bottom of the basin. This process takes some time and patience. When you go home to make it, you can’t rush it, understand? Otherwise, the liangpi won’t turn out right."

Wen Ran explained step by step as he worked. Mao Fei watched the changes in the water with curious cat eyes, nodding vigorously upon hearing this.

He took out the washed gluten and placed it in a steamer to cook. Once steamed, the gluten became fluffy and elastic, emitting a faint wheat aroma.

Mao Fei thought it was done. Unafraid of the heat, he used the tip of his claw to skewer a piece and was about to pop it into his mouth when Wen Ran grabbed his paw to stop him. Looking at this greedy white cat, Wen Ran shook his head fondly and said, "That’s not how you eat it. Wait a bit longer—you can eat it after I finish making it."

Mao Fei had no choice but to put down the gluten, a look of regret on his face.

Wen Ran picked up the starch water that had settled, poured off the clear water on top, leaving behind the thick starch paste. He found a relatively flat wooden tray, applied a thin layer of oil to the bottom, then poured in an appropriate amount of the starch paste, spreading it evenly across the tray.

Next, he placed the tray into a pot of boiling water, covered it with a lid, and steamed it. As the starch paste gradually solidified into liangpi (cold skin noodles) under the steam, he carefully removed the tray and peeled the liangpi off, setting it aside to cool.

Once the liangpi had cooled, Wen Ran fried some chili oil. He cut the liangpi into strips and placed them in a bowl, adding steamed gluten pieces, sea buckthorn berry vinegar, salt, chili oil, and sand chives as seasoning. After gently mixing with chopsticks, a delicious bowl of liangpi was ready.

Wen Ran took a taste and thought it tasted pretty good. The only shortcoming was the lack of garlic sauce. He decided that after the dry season, once the crisis of the Iridescent Snake Tribe besieging the tribe was resolved, he would search around to see if he could find garlic.

Mao Fei, however, didn’t feel anything was missing. He thought the translucent liangpi, with its sour and spicy flavor, was perfect for the dry season. He ate two large bowls before feeling somewhat full. The three little ones also loved the liangpi, each eating until their bellies were round and exclaiming how delicious it was.

After eating the liangpi, Lang Zhi and Mao Shi returned from patrolling the tribe. Wen Ran tossed a bowl of liangpi for each of them, and both gave it high praise. However, there was still no movement from the Iridescent Snake side.

Wen Ran, rubbing his full belly, sprawled out on the animal skin at the entrance of the cave, half-closing his eyes as he thought. He decided to teach Mao Hu and Mao Yue a lesson for daring to incite Cat Tooth to harm the tribe and causing him to receive several annoyed glares from the little fox. He couldn't just let it slide.

Lang Zhi seemed to read his thoughts and poured him a cup of sweet soup. "Don’t be angry. Last night, not only did I bury a fishing net under the sand for Cat Tooth, but I also followed the paw prints left by Mao Hu and Mao Yue and set nets for them too. I even tossed the two, trapped in the nets, right at the entrance of the temporary cave where Zi Yao and those Snakemen are staying."

Just imagining Zi Yao stepping out of the cave and seeing the two bound up in a net—his expression would surely be priceless.

Wen Ran covered his mouth and chuckled. "Big Black Wolf, you’re really something. Zi Yao, such a proud Snakeman, having his face slapped like this, will definitely take out his anger on Mao Yue and Mao Hu. They’re in for a rough time!"

Lang Zhi sneered, "They deserve it."

......

Over at the Iridescent Snake Tribe, just as Lang Zhi had predicted, Mao Yue and Mao Hu were indeed having a really tough time.

Looking at the shattered vines and the two trembling figures kneeling among them, Zi Yao was so furious his face twisted with rage!

"Useless! All of you are useless!"

If he hadn’t discovered these two trapped in the giant net, they would likely have been left to die of exposure, thirst, and hunger at the cave entrance!

Being repeatedly bested by these weak beasts from the Sand Cat Tribe—where does that leave the dignity of us strong Snakemen?!

Zi Yao felt as if his face had been slapped repeatedly. Tying them up and dumping them at the entrance of his temporary cave—wasn’t that just a blatant provocation? It was like having his face rubbed in the dirt!

As a strong Snakeman, when had he ever suffered such humiliation!

It was all because of this Sand Cat female—so useless! Perhaps she did it on purpose. The more Zi Yao thought about it, the angrier he became. He picked up a vine and lashed it fiercely against the two. The force was so great that the moment the vine struck flesh, it tore open the skin with a sharp crack. Blood slowly seeped from the rough skin, staining the ground.

With each lash, Mao Yue let out a piercing scream. Mao Hu endured the pain, shielding Mao Yue under his body. His back was torn open, a bloody mess. The crimson stood out vividly in the dim cave.

Mao Hu went from stifling groans of pain to low moans, and then to utter silence...

Mao Hu had been beaten to death.

Mao Yue, facing away from Mao Hu, clung tightly to his embrace. She was too terrified to move. It took a long time before she slowly turned her head and met Mao Hu’s lifeless, glazed-over eyes. Her pupils contracted sharply in disbelief. Mao Hu was dead? No! Mao Hu couldn’t be dead! It was just a beating—he couldn’t be dead!

Mao Yue’s lips trembled as she tentatively called out, "Mao Hu?"

The beastman holding her did not respond. Staring into his clouded eyes, Mao Yue suddenly erupted into frantic screams. "Dead?! Ahhhh, Mao Hu is dead! You killed him! You killed Mao Hu! Ahhhh, how dare you kill Mao Hu!"

Zi Yao picked at his ears, annoyed by the female’s shrill, hysterical screams. He tossed the vine aside and waved a hand, ordering her to be dragged out of the cave and killed as well. "After killing her," he commanded, "drag both her body and her male’s body to the Sand Cat Tribe’s territory. Let them experience the ‘pleasure’ of having their faces slapped too!"

With that, Ban Shao and Jian Huan, two Snakemen, pulled Mao Hu’s body away, while two others dragged Mao Yue out of the cave. During the struggle, as Mao Yue cast pleading, desperate glances his way, Brownchain felt reluctant to see this female die. He hesitated for a moment, his heart softening, and thought about saving her.

Steeling himself, Brownchain moved forward, swaying his snake tail, intending to plead for Mao Yue. But just as he did, he caught the cold gaze of Bikui, the shaman’s apprentice, standing behind the chief. Bikui’s emerald-green tail lightly tapped the ground twice—each tap felt as if it struck Brownchain’s very soul.

Brownchain’s vertical pupils widened in terror. He quickly retreated a few steps, lowered his head, and hid among the tribesmen. After a moment, gritting his teeth, he seized an opportunity when no one was looking and slipped out of the cave unnoticed.