Lin Mu returned to his resting area and asked Casso to hunt 2 âcolourfulâ birds, which is similar to chickens in Lin Muâs heart, and rushed to find Patrik. At the construction, Lin Mu found Patrik at once. He ran quickly and was anxious to let him know the good news.
âPatrik, Patrik!â Lin Mu ran to him, but because he ran too fast, Lin Mu almost couldnât stop in time. Fortunately, Patrik reached out and stabilised his body.
Patrik couldnât help but frowned when he saw Lin Mu didnât pay attention to his own safety. He said seriously, âDonât run so fast, what if you fall down?â
Lin Mu smiled in embarrassment. âIâm just too happy.â As Lin Mu said that, he took out the salt pieces and presented it like a treasure to Patrik. âLook, see what is this?â
Patrik inspected the salt piece in Lin Muâs hand. Through the sunlight, Patrik can see that the thing is something pure, sparkling and translucent. âEn, itâs pretty.â He knows that females like beautiful but useless things. However, even if it is useless, Patrik still wants to express his support to Lin Mu.
âWho told you to say itâs beautiful?â Lin Mu gently scratched some salt powder with his fingers and pointed at Patrik. âHave a taste.â
Lin Mu must be overly happy that his brain went haywire, causing his arc of reaction to be longer1, otherwise how would he do such a provocative thing?
Patrik was stunned, and he looked at Lin Muâs eyes which were full of expectations. He couldnât help but sigh, but he was very happy. At least he knew that he is special in Lin Muâs heart. Then, he took Lin Muâs hand and put his finger in his mouth.
Lin Mu finally reacted when he felt the warmth from Patrikâs mouth, and he wanted to pull his hand back. He could clearly ambiguous gaze pointed at them from their surroundings. Lin Mu blushed so hard. Whatâs wrong with him, doing such a thing! It must be because he was too smug! Unfortunately, Lin Mu couldnât pull his hand back and was feeling anxious, then sounds of laughter reverberated around him.
âPatrik, let go.â
Patrik finally reacted towards that item in Lin Muâs hand. He excitedly looked at Lin Muâs hand, âMu Mu, this isâŚâ\nâSalt, this is salt.â
âWhere did you find it, how many, how did you find it?! YouâŚâ
Lin Mu felt a bit uncomfortable to see the usually indifferent Patrik to act out of the norm, âPatrik, calm down, calm down. I will tell you slowly.â
Lin Mu pulled Patrik into the shade of a tree. Patrik deserved to be called Patrik because very quickly, he returned to his usually calm expression and listened to Lin Muâs explanation. Since there is already a result, he naturally no longer has to worry about the process.
Lin Mu told Patrik in detail how they knew about the salt spring, the salt-filled cave, and he(LM) gestured wildly to Patrik, telling how he would use the glowing stones.
Patrik smiled and looked at the energetic person in front of him. He pulled Lin Mu into his arms, rested his head on Lin Muâs shoulder, and said his true thoughts in a low voice: âItâs good to have you here with me.â Itâs really good to have you with me, so nice.
Lin Mu can understand Patrikâs mood, just like. . . how he would feel if his brother told him in his dream that he doesnât hate Lin Mu that much, it was a kind of psychological relief. Now that they have salt, Patrik finally can put down his psychological burden, but for him(LM). . . . . .Lin Mu doesnât know why he cares for Lin Yu2, perhaps because the only person he cares for more than a decade has become hypocritical, and he canât accept it; maybe because his heart felt too cold for 10 years, and when he finally felt warm, the warmth was fake. Could it be Lin Mu is worried that his past 10 years is also fake? Thinking about it now, submerged pure happiness (with Patrik), yes, those past 10 years are indeed fake.
Patrikâs arms make him feel warm and reassuring. Lin Mu sometimes wondered if he didnât meet Patrik but someone else, will he still feel simple happiness like this? Lin Mu knows that females are precious in this world, so even if he encountered other beastman tribes, he could still live very well. But he also knows he could live happily only because they need him3. As for Patrik. . . . . . Lin Mu returned his hug and encircled Patrik with his arms. âItâs good to have you with me too.â
Lin Mu happily cleaned the âchickenâ that Casso hunted for him. Although this colourful âchickenâ is much bigger than Casso, it was an effortless hunt for this little guy as a flying wolf. Lin Mu rubbed Casso and smiled in encouragement, âSince Casso did a good job, I have decided that both chickens belong to Casso. We will only drink the soup.â
âNo, although I caught them, I want everyone to eat together.â
Lin Mu didnât know what Casso was saying, but he could see its reluctance from its expression. âHaha, little guy, chicken meat after being stewed into soup doesnât taste very good. Do you still want to eat it?â\nCasso thought to itself that any food cooked by Lin Mu couldnât be bad. âI want to eat. I caught it myself so it must be delicious.â
âLin Mu, the chickens have prepared, what to do next?â Philâs voice could be heard.
Lin Mu patted Cassoâs head. âRemember to look after Misha properly. Todayâs chicken is a reward for you.â
Lin Muâs cooking stove was built by the creek, as it is unsafe to make a fire in the forest. The forest is providing cover for the house, and Lin Mu didnât want to burn it.
âPhil, cut more of those⌠âspicy ballâ (I still feel that calling them ginger is better in my heart)4, as we will be using a bit more of it.â
âEn.â Phil peeled the skin with bamboo chopsticks, diligently peeling them. His actions can be seen quite good.
Lin Mu is very satisfied upon seeing that, Phil is definitely a good helper for him. He(P) learns to cook very quickly, thus reducing a lot of pressure from him(LM).
Looking at the two chickens on the stone platform, Lin Mu decided not to cut them since he wanted to make soup with them. He put the chickens directly into the largest stone pot and added onion and ginger. Then he just starts to boil/stew it. Lin Mu looked at the stone pot that can be compared with a (small) tank. Ever since the beastmen realised the importance of using pots, the volume of the stone pot has been increasing. One can see how much is the beastmanâs food volume from that.
In the 2 largest stone pots, one was used to make chicken soup, and the other was used to stir fry meat. In the past, Lin Mu would not use big stone pot to stir fry meat. After all, his ability is limited, and it is very difficult to stir the meat so no need to mention cooking with it. But now with Lloyd as a helper, itâs not a problem anymore. Now Lin Mu just needs to add ingredients and give an order to cook it. So easy.The food in the 2 stone pots is naturally not enough for these âbig stomach kingsâ5Â to eat. So the beastmen would need to solve the problem by roasting their own food as well, otherwise they can tire him and Phil to death with the cooking.
After preparing the food for the beastmen, itâs time for Lin Mu and Phil to move to their small stove. Both Misha and Phil have different taste buds from the beastmen as they prefer to eat vegetables, like Lin Mu. Therefore, all beastmen understood the need for small stoves. It is compulsory for females to enjoy special treatment. Whatever females want to do is an absolute decision. One could say that all beastmen have unlimited potential to be a âwife slaveâ.
However, they also ignored the fact that thereâs one beastman who could enjoy the special treatment â Patrik (as for Casso who tagged along Lin Mu, the beastmen agreed that Casso is a small cub, so Casso doesnât count)6. Itâs useless to be jealous because the chef is Lin Mu. How could Lin Mu make delicious food without Patrikâs share? You asked what about Philâs Lloyd? Well, Lloyd can only take care of himself. Why you asked? Well, Philâs reaction arc not long like Lin Muâs7?
\nâI still need to cook some vegetables.â As he walked toward the stove, Patrik followed naturally behind him.
Patrik placed his wooden bowl down and offered, âI will help you start the fire.â
âAlright. You should heat the pot first.â As he said that, Lin Mu picked up a wooden bowl from the stone bench that contained the juice of an immature sweety fruit. Lin Mu tried it, and it was so sour that it made him frown. But as vinegar, it is very suitable. He added a little in the pot of meat soup but didnât add much fearing that the beastmen wonât like the taste.
Some beastman could be seen already started making their own barbecue. There are also some who are making barbecue chops. They were using an invention created by Lin Mu, which is a thin stone slate with holes drilled in it. They applied a layer of oil on it, when it is hot enough, one can grill the meat on it. The oil they used is naturally animal oil. It was made by Lin Mu yesterday. The animal oil is necessary to cook vegetables and grill meat on the slate.
Lin Mu asked Lloyd to take a large wooden bowl with him. âGive them this ginger juice, and also salt.â He has already crushed the salt into powders.
Then Lin Mu turned to Phil, who was also grilling meat by the side and said, âWe should brush some meat with sweet juice and some meat with ginger juice.â
âEn, Misha must like the sweet one.â
Lin Mu glanced at Misha playing with Casso. Although Misha didnât show it out, Lin Mu knew that the child missed his father very much. He also doesnât know when they will come back.
Everyone was very satisfied with their lunch. Like their blood bar has been refilled to the max, the beastmen passionately continued with the construction. As for the discovery of salt, Patrik decided to announce it at night.
âŚ
At night, Lin Mu lay in Patrikâs arms and thought back of that moment when Patrik told the beastmen that they found salt and a salt spring. No longer have to worry about their salt problem, every beastman gave an excited howl. Their excitement and cheers came deep from their heart; even until now Lin Mu could still feel their cheers as if itâs next to his ear. It will be a sleepless night. Still feeling very excited, the beastmen decided to decide not to rest and continue to build the house.
The only calm person in the pack should be Patrik, who is now sleeping while hugging him(LM). Looking at the person sleeping with him, Lin Mu has never see Patrik fallen asleep with a relaxed expression like he is now. He(LM) knows that even in his(P) dreams, he is still worried about their life. Lin Muâs fingers gently traced Patrikâs eyebrows. People like Patrik are dazzling being that shines brightly wherever they are, and now this great man is wooing him. Lin Mu suddenly smiled a joyful smile. Then he closed his eyes in satisfaction to sleep. There are still unfinished tasks to do tomorrow.