Tai Zhu Xuan Xiang: Me and My Eight Golden Gourd Sisters

Chapter 21 The Culinary Connoisseur on the Tip of the Tongue

Cai Xuan was clearing a path with his machete when suddenly a strong, fishy stench filled his nostrils.

The smell was somewhat like snake, but much stronger than the usual snake smell.

His heart tightened, and he immediately stopped, held his breath, and looked around. The surroundings were eerily quiet; the weeds were motionless, the bushes showed no sign of anything amiss—there was nothing there.

Seeing this, Cai Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, picked up his wood-chopping knife, and continued clearing the way forward.

The moment the blade cleaved through a chest-high shrub, suddenly—

A striped python, thicker than a thigh, leisurely crawled past not far ahead!

The python was covered in yellow and black stripes, each scale gleaming with a cold, eerie luster in the sunlight, its body as thick as a log. It slowly writhed forward, its movements unhurried and even somewhat languidly elegant, like a noblewoman from the prosperous Tang Dynasty, trailing her long skirt, gracefully passing through the flowers.

From Cai Xuan's perspective, the python's body was at least four zhang (approximately 13 meters) long, and its tail was not visible at all.

It didn't even turn its head to look at Cai Xuan, as if this lowly human wasn't worth its attention.

Startled, Cai Xuan quickly crouched down, hiding behind the bushes, not daring to make a sound, only peeking out through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

At that moment, he suddenly regretted why he hadn't forged a sword instead of a spear! If he had a sword, he would have jumped out long ago and cleaved the python in two by surprise!

That's what he was thinking, and he squatted down obediently.

A sage said: One should not judge a hero by his cowardice.

The standard for judging a hero lies in their spiritual qualities and the value of their actions, not simply in success or failure or superficial cowardice. A true hero should dare to face a bleak life; true heroism should be reflected in the courage, perseverance, and transcendence shown when facing challenges and difficulties.

So, he is a hero now, even though he's crouching.

Cai Xuan squatted down obediently, without moving an inch, suppressing his breathing to the lowest level, without making a sound.

The striped python continued its unhurried climb, its scales scraping against the withered leaves on the ground with a soft rustling sound, gradually disappearing into the distance. After a while, its massive body finally vanished into the dense forest ahead, the tip of its tail also disappearing behind the grass.

Cai Xuan squatted for a while longer, and only after confirming that there was no further movement did he slowly stand up from behind the bushes.

After walking a few steps forward, I looked down and saw that the weeds and bushes by the stream had been crushed by the python, leaving a deep gully, as if a huge boulder had rolled over them, and they lay flat on the ground, forming a winding groove.

Cai Xuan was secretly astonished. How much weight must it have taken to leave such marks?

He shook his head, stopped thinking about it, and continued walking forward with his machete in hand.

After walking for a while, we finally arrived at the territory of the red-maned jackals. Looking around, most of the jackals were lying on a barren, grassless patch of gravel on the rocky hill, lazily sunbathing; a few ran down to the grassy area by the stream and chased each other, playing as if they were having fun in their own home.

Cai Xuan did not rush up, but crouched down in the bushes below, quietly observing the movements of the red-maned jackal.

After a while, a red-maned jackal broke away from its pack and wandered alone by the stream. It lowered its head and sniffed the ground, as if looking for food.

The opportunity is here.

Cai Xuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately took out the small pieces of smoked, spiky porcupine meat that he had prepared beforehand, and silently tossed them to the red-maned jackal.

"Snap"

The piece of meat landed on the ground, and the red-maned jackal's ears perked up, immediately noticing the meat that had fallen from the sky. It sniffed the air warily, then looked around to make sure there was no threat before trotting over, picking up the piece of meat, and eating it.

Cai Xuan threw out another piece, this time it landed a little further away, closer to the bushes.

The red-maned jackal followed the scent and came over, then ate the piece of meat again.

Cai Xuan followed suit, throwing out chunks of meat one after another, like fishing, luring the red-maned jackals step by step to a place far from the pack and close to his hiding place.

almost.

Cai Xuan gently tossed the last piece of meat, which landed less than ten paces away from him. He then nocked an arrow, drew it, and waited for his opportunity. The red-maned jackal, without the slightest suspicion, swaggered over, lowered its head, and snatched the piece of meat from its mouth.

"call out!"

The long arrow pierced the silent forest with a sharp whistling sound, as swift as a shooting star, and struck the red-maned jackal squarely in the belly!

"Aww—"

The red-maned jackal let out a mournful howl, blood gushing from its wounds, staining the grass beneath its feet. It turned to run, but its four legs would not obey its commands.

Cai Xuan wasn't about to let it escape. Holding a spear, he leaped out of the bushes, rushed forward, and thrust the spear into the red-maned jackal's neck.

"puff!"

The spearhead pierced through the neck, and the red-maned jackal's body stiffened abruptly before collapsing limply to the ground, lifeless.

Before Cai Xuan could even admire his victory, he drew his spear, grabbed the red-maned jackal carcass from the ground, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and, carrying his belongings, ran back as fast as he could.

The red-maned jackals might come to investigate at any moment upon hearing the commotion, and he didn't want to be surrounded by a group of red-maned jackals with bloodshot eyes.

He ran incredibly fast, the machete, spear, and bow clashing against his body. Blood from the red-maned jackal dripped from his shoulder, leaving a long trail behind him.

Cai Xuan ran all the way to the foot of the rocky mountain. He glanced back and, seeing that the red-maned jackal wasn't chasing him, slowed his pace slightly and continued uphill. He was suddenly amazed to find that despite carrying such a large red-maned jackal for so long, he wasn't even out of breath or red-faced, and he didn't feel that the jackal was very heavy.

It seems my strength has indeed increased; the Nine Oxen Divine Strength Potato truly lives up to its name. I should eat more of it in the future.

Soon after, several red-maned jackals, having heard the noise, came to the place where he had set up an ambush.

They circled around a few times, followed the trail of blood, and found the mountain path that Cai Xuan had newly opened, arriving at the foot of the stone mountain.

One of the larger red-maned jackals glanced menacingly at the path leading to the rocky mountain, let out a long howl, and then turned and led the other red-maned jackals away.

Cai Xuan was overjoyed to have hunted such a large creature for the first time in his life.

As soon as he got back, he immediately started processing the red-maned jackal. The meat was still fresh and hot, but he didn't stew it. He sliced ​​it into thin slices, picked some sweet potato vines, washed them clean, and then took a hot pot outside to cook them.

"Old vines and giant trees in the mountains, thatched cottages and wooden frames with golden gourds, hot pot, dog meat and purple sweet potato vines."

As the sun sets, the connoisseurs of culinary delights are far away.

While eating heartily, Cai Xuan recited his own nonsensical poems, lamenting that his talent was being buried. He thought that if he were in the Tang Dynasty, he would be a poet who appears only once every three thousand years.

A wave of heat, accompanied by a fragrant aroma, wafted upwards. The eight small golden gourds hanging under the wooden frame all looked down, seemingly wanting to taste the red-maned jackal.