章節 16: Chapter 14: New Miracles
The morning at Yatun Village was once again enveloped in joy.
In the bubbling large pot, yellow soybeans were being cooked, which was the breakfast Large Gold Coin had prepared for the People of Yatun for the next day—soybean soup with white rice.
Having had porridge last night, Bailuo felt it was time for a change of taste today.
Thus, he thought of the set-up from the breakfast shops of his previous life, such as soy milk, fried dough sticks, steamed buns...
Well, none of those were available yet.
As a second choice, Bailuo used animal fat from the clan as an ingredient and then poured out various spices from his pocket.
The uncle had cooked before, and had quite a bit of experience and ideas about the process.
He simply sniffed the spices by his nose and quickly picked out the right types and amounts from the pile, effortlessly eliminating the fishy smell that lingered on the fat.
"So dad can cook after all!"
"Mm, this is my first time finding out."
"But it smells so good..."
Bailuo knew he didn't have this skill, so he left everything entirely to his uncle.
Inya felt the same way, and the two sat behind the uncle, watching the elder meticulously prepare breakfast, their eyes filled with anticipation.
"Gurgle."
"Inya?"
"It's not me! It's really not me this time!"
The simple-minded girl Inya hastily made it clear that her stomach wasn't the culprit, and Bailuo turned to see that, unbeknownst to them, the villagers had already gathered outside the fence of Bailuo's yard.
Nowadays, Bailuo had become the king the Yatun Clan wanted to serve.
His status was no longer the same, so even kids like Miya, Shuster, and others who had previously been close to him did not dare to step into the yard unless Bailuo permitted it.
"Everybody, please come in, and then find..."
Bailuo realized his home absolutely could not provide seventy-five chairs, "Find a dry patch of grass to sit on, breakfast will be ready soon."
"Gurgle."
The sound of swallowing saliva rose and fell.
The People of Yatun really had never seen much of the world, even a bowl of soybean soup could make them yearn.
·
"Crackle."
In the dim forest, the only source of light was the campfire, flickering and crackling in the wind.
"Caw."
The cry of a hawk echoed nearby, as a woman who had been resting with her eyes closed opened them.
She had long silver hair and wore a grayish white coat over her knight's armor—it was Bailuo's sis-disciple, Isefia Vivian.
Isefia raised her hand, allowing the White Eagle in the sky to land on her arm, and then she took off the small animal skin scroll that was tied on it.
[Something good has happened in the clan, come back quickly]
"Something good?"
The sis-disciple took out a white stone the size of a soybean from her backpack, a common riverbed stone that could be found in the river at Yatun Village.
"I've received it, take it back."
The sis-disciple fed the White Eagle some jerky, then let it take flight.
The white stone was a secret sign of the People of Yatun, meaning "I'm safe now, I've received your message, don't worry, I will come back."
"Gurgle..."
Suddenly, the low growl of a wild beast entered the sis-disciple's ears.
In the moonlight, a faint blue glow flickered in the darkness, with pitch-black fur like a demon crawling out from the shadows and the abyss.
These were a kind of monster known as Wilderness Black Wolves. They stood about one meter tall, with sturdy limbs and sharp fangs, and were extremely dangerous due to their tendency to appear in packs.
"Twenty heads."
The sis-disciple glanced quickly and judged the number of Black Wolves.
She tossed the animal skin scroll into the fire pit, then, as if she hadn't seen the creatures, began to pack up her belongings, completely ignoring them.
One should know, encountering twenty Wilderness Black Wolves in the wild would require a 50-man mercenary troop to suffer quite a few casualties to repel them.
"Roar!"
The indifference of the sis-disciple's back had thoroughly enraged the Wilderness Black Wolves present.
At the same time, this also became their best opportunity to launch an attack.
"Puff!"
With the attack of the first Black Wolf under the moonlight, a huge wolf's head was thrown into the air.
One person, wielding a Cross Knight Sword, moved among the dozens of large Wilderness Black Wolves, leaving behind only blood and the sky filled with mournful howls.
"No chance to carry away."
Four Black Wolves had run away, and they might come back for revenge, but the sis-disciple was not concerned.
Her worry was that she had killed so many Wilderness Black Wolves but had no time to skin them and bring them back for the clanspeople, leaving them there was a waste.
"Forget it."
There was something urgent in the village, and the sis-disciple had to return.
As for the Black Wolves...
When the People of Yatun are abroad, the basic principle is to keep a low profile, not to cause trouble. Showing extraordinary abilities at times might also invite trouble.
"This area has basically been marked by someone."
The sis-disciple didn't just stick to one place; to exchange more goods for the People of Yatun, she had to keep moving from one area to another.
Once someone recognized her, the sis-disciple would immediately depart, never dragging her feet.
Of course, it wasn't just Isefia doing this.
Before Bailuo was injured, he was actually taking turns with his sis-disciple.
Either he or Isefia Vivian always stayed at Yatun Village, always ready to protect their homeland and clanspeople.
"Is it here?"
The day after Isefia Vivian left, a group of men on horseback, with numerous hunting dogs, traced their way to this forest.
"This is..."
They saw a field of Black Wolf corpses: "All killed with a single strike, it's those people, no doubt."
"Damn, they ran so fast!"
"Keep chasing!"
"But, venturing any deeper, we'll be in the depths of the forest," one voice expressed its unease. "There are monsters inside, we..."
"Idiots!" the leader of the mercenary group roared, "If she could get in, why can't we? Catching her is worth a whole 10 Gold Lions!"
The Gold Lion is the main currency circulating in Iron Eagle and surrounding kingdoms, along with Silver Serpent, Large Gold Coin, Small Gold Coin, Large Silver Coin, Small Silver Coin, Large Copper Coin, Small Copper Coin.
1 Gold Coin is equal to 10 Large Silver Coins, and 1 Small Silver Coin to 100 Copper Coins
That is, 1 Large Gold Coin = 10 Small Gold Coins = 100 Large Silver Coins = 1,000 Small Silver Coins = 10,000 Large Copper Coins = 100,000 Small Copper Coins.
And the purchasing power of a Small Copper Coin is about the same as a yuan from Bailuo's former life.
So, 1 Large Gold Coin is equivalent to 100,000 yuan from Bailuo's former life.
The Gold Lion and Silver Serpent are gold and silver cakes respectively, worth five times that of a Large Gold Coin and a Silver Coin.
Thus, 10 Gold Lions equate to a total of 50 Large Gold Coins.
That would be a whole 5 million in the previous life.
5 million to buy a person is definitely a considerable deal for an average mercenary group.
"Ahh!!"
"Save me, save me!"
A group of people crashed deep into the forest, yet they did not realize that they had already been detected by the senior sister.
She chose not to engage them in direct combat but intentionally left traces to lure them deeper until they ultimately perished under the claws and fangs of wild beasts, with no remains left.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle."
Pristine white tofu slid from the edge of the pot, and as it fried in the soy oil it turned golden and crispy, emitting a tantalizing aroma.
It had been seven days since Bailuo found the Initial Sprout Holy Pouch.
The physical constitution of the People of Yatun is astonishing; even Bailuo, with his injuries, took only half a month to recover from what would take an ordinary person three to four months.
Now, not only could Bailuo move freely, but he had also reached his peak strength.
"Oh~~~"
Miya, Shuster, Abadun, and the other children were all staring eagerly at the tofu frying in the oil, watching it slowly turn golden brown.
They treated the process of frying tofu as an unprecedented show, exclaiming continuously.
This was normal, for Yatun Village used to be so poor that they couldn't afford to use so much oil for frying food.
"It smells so good."
"What is this? It looks delicious."
"Even though I've just had lunch, I'm hungry again. What should I do?"
"......"
The staple food of the People of Yatun is bread, they hardly ever eat dishes with oil.
Oil is not cheap in this world, and using it like Bailuo, pouring a whole pot, was an extravagance that made people want to slap him.
The reason he could be so extravagant was that two days ago, Bailuo poured out 100 kilograms of soybeans.
Consequently, Uncle led everyone to press oil, completely solving Yatun's problem with oil.
At the same time, Bailuo had them build a stone mill to grind soy milk and make tofu.
These were things Bailuo actually didn't know how to do.
But Uncle did! Bailuo merely shared his ideas with Uncle, who instantly understood and then addressed all the challenges.
Bailuo didn't know how to press oil?
No problem, Uncle had experience pressing other plant oils before.
Bailuo didn't know how to construct a stone mill?
No problem, Uncle figured it out after a little thought...
Bailuo wasn't sure how tofu was made?
No problem, it only took Uncle one night to grasp the key aspects and by the second day, he produced tofu with impeccable quality and texture.
Additionally, Uncle figured out how to plant sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Sweet potatoes need to be grown from sprouts first, then planted.
As for potato seeds, without waiting for Bailuo to explain in detail, Uncle said that such a crop is not suitable for seed cultivation.
'Are sweet potatoes supposed to be planted using the roots?'
Bailuo wasn't sure how Uncle knew, but he was correct; tubers are indeed the right way to cultivate potatoes.
That's okay though, seeds can work too, albeit with a low yield and inferior varieties.
So later on, they just need to select quality potatoes, cut them into pieces, and replant them.
"The deep-fried tofu is ready."
Bailuo, smiling, said an anachronistic joke from his former life: "Although it doesn't glow, it's still one of my proud creations."
"Come on, everyone try it, there's enough for all, one piece per person."
Bailuo, like a gentle big brother, served each child a piece of golden, crispy tofu, then sprinkled on some salt and added hot sauce.
This hot sauce was made from tiny heaven-facing chili peppers.
Despite being fruit, heaven-facing chili peppers could be obtained because they don't exceed the size of a thumb.
Also, don't ask how the chili sauce was made.
Uncle has already started researching soy sauce; is mere hot sauce that difficult?
"I want some too, I want some too!"
Inya, although a grown young woman, mixed right in with the children, without the slightest self-awareness of being an elder sister.
"Rustle rustle."
Suddenly, Bailuo heard the sound of pages turning. He paused, then immediately said to Inya, "Inya, you handle distributing the tofu, I have something to take care of."
"Oh!"
Inya happily took the two long chopsticks from Bailuo's hand, proudly telling the children, "Now, General Inya commands these pieces of tofu. If you want some, call me 'General Inya'!"
Bailuo was already used to Inya's childishness, so he focused his attention.
In the next moment, the Black Leather Book reappeared in his mind.
It was now open, and on the second page, which had previously been blank, a new riddle, a new map, and a new countdown appeared before his eyes.
"The second miracle," Bailuo felt a mix of anticipation and excitement: "is coming!"
-- 收到的禮物 
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票