Back on the boat, Shen Baoying asked anxiously, "Why did you have to use a hand grenade?"

Jiang Si described what had just happened, and everyone felt a surge of belated fear.

If Jiang Si hadn’t brought a hand grenade, they would have been in real danger.

In truth, Jiang Si hadn’t brought it with her; she had pulled it out of her space on the fly.

She felt a pang of regret for using one hand grenade to blow up a single giant salamander. She didn’t have many to begin with.

Their homemade explosive packs were slow to react in comparison, and not nearly as powerful.

’If I get the chance, I have to find a way to stockpile more guns and ammunition.’

After confirming there were no more giant salamanders in the area, Jiang Chengwu and Jiang Linhai began to process the elk.

Deer blood is believed to nourish the blood and essence, stop bleeding and abnormal discharge, and treat ailments such as lower back pain, impotence, uterine bleeding, nosebleeds, and insomnia caused by palpitations.

They collected three whole basins of deer blood. Shen Baoying took half to make blood sausage, while Jiang Chengwu planned to make the other half into a fine powder for later use.

Grandma cleaned the small intestines. The deer blood had started to coagulate, so Shen Baoying stirred it with chopsticks until smooth. She then added oil, salt, five-spice powder, pepper, chopped scallions, and minced ginger, adding water little by little as she continued to stir.

Jiang Si handled the tendons, Qin Shen worked on the hide, and Jiang Linhai and Lu Zhifeng butchered the meat. Everyone had a job. Niu Niu crouched down in front of Shen Baoying and asked eagerly, "Aunt Shen, is there anything I can do?"

Shen Baoying glanced at her and smiled. "Niu Niu, you just peeled so much garlic. Why don’t you rest for a bit, or go play with Big Black and Little Black?"

Big Black and Little Black were circling Jiang Linhai and Lu Zhifeng, greedily eyeing the meat. They didn’t look like they were in the mood to play at all.

Niu Niu shook her head. "I don’t want to play. I want to help."

’This child is so sensible, it breaks your heart.’

Shen Baoying thought for a moment, then asked her, "Did you wash your hands?"

Niu Niu held out her clean palms. "I did."

Shen Baoying smiled. "Alright, then. Auntie will teach you how to stuff delicious blood sausage."

Niu Niu was excited and eager to try. Shen Baoying tied one end of the small intestine with thread and had Niu Niu hold it. She then inserted a funnel into the intestine and slowly poured in the deer blood.

"See? You just pour it in slowly like this. When it’s full up to here, you can tie it tight with a string. Simple, right?"

It was indeed simple, but Niu Niu’s hands were too small, and the blood sausage kept slipping from her grasp.

On the other side, Jiang Si had already finished processing the strips of deer tendon and hung them up to dry in the corridor.

Once the tendons were dry, she could soak them, then pound them into fine threads with a wooden mallet to make tough bowstrings.

This was knowledge Jiang Si had picked up while practicing archery at a club, and she had put it to proficient use many times in her past life. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Including tanning hides—her skills were comparable to a master craftsman’s.

Jiang Si looked over at Qin Shen. He was still scraping the last bits of flesh from the deerskin.

Qin Shen was very meticulous. He only stopped once he was sure every bit of flesh had been scraped clean from the hide.

When tanning a hide, too little salt will let it rot, while too much will make the leather hard.

He was probably trying to estimate how much salt to use, as he stood stock-still holding the salt container.

Drawing from her experience, Jiang Si said, "You’ll need about ten jin of salt to tan this hide."

Qin Shen glanced at her, weighed out ten jin of salt, and spread it evenly. Following Jiang Si’s instructions, he then folded the hide with the fur side out, making sure to completely envelop all the fine salt, placed it in a large barrel, and added water until the hide was fully submerged.

Jiang Si then told Qin Shen, "You’ll have to come and stir it every day to help the salt dissolve. That will keep the fur from falling out. The elk hide produced this way will not only be incredibly soft but also very durable and have a beautiful color."

Lu Zhifeng had been about to come over and offer some guidance, but after hearing Jiang Si, he said with effusive praise, "Sisi, you know so much!"

He had been a ranger for many years, but he felt that even he didn’t know these things in such detail as Jiang Si did.

Jiang Si smiled. "I happened to come across a book about this in school and found it interesting, so I read a bit more."

Lu Zhifeng glanced at Niu Niu, who was diligently stuffing the blood sausage, and felt a pang of regret. ’Niu Niu probably won’t ever be able to go to college like Qin Shen and Jiang Si in this lifetime.’

They hadn’t finished stuffing the blood sausage when Big Black and Little Black suddenly pricked up their ears and began to bark ferociously.

Jiang Si grabbed the binoculars and looked in the direction they were barking. Several men, wearing loincloths woven from reeds, were approaching them purposefully.

Jiang Si’s eyes darkened. "On alert!"

Shen Baoying and Zhang Qingzhi took Niu Niu back into the cabin. The others dropped what they were doing, grabbed their guns, and spread out to cover all 360 degrees, scanning their surroundings.

A moment later, a group of people appeared in their line of sight.

When they saw the yacht and the steamship, their eyes lit up with a greedy glint, and they grew visibly excited.

The leader was a man named Qiu Lei. He was tall and burly with a square jaw, tan skin, and a tattoo on his shoulder. He looked brave and fearless, but when he looked up and saw the cold firearms in Jiang Si’s group’s hands, his heart went cold. He quickly raised his hands and shouted in a panic, "We don’t mean any harm! We just heard the explosion and came to check it out! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!"

Jiang Si indeed saw no malice in Qiu Lei’s eyes, but she had no desire to interact with him either. "Get lost!"

’The one who spoke was a woman. That means she holds a very high status on these boats.’

Seeing that Jiang Si wasn’t the type to kill indiscriminately, Qiu Lei had an idea. Instead of leaving, he said, "Big sis! Can you take us in? We’re young and strong, and we can do any kind of work. Just give us a room to stay in. We can even find our own food."

The reedbeds were too damp. Having gotten used to living in high-rise buildings, who would want to live in a grass hut in the middle of nowhere?

Besides, nighttime brought many unknown dangers.

If they could get on the boats, they at least wouldn’t have to worry about a leaky roof, or a snake slithering over them in their sleep. They wouldn’t have to worry about being robbed of the few possessions they had left—losing everything down to their last pair of underwear.

Jingjing would definitely be happy too.

There were ten of them in total, while Jiang Si’s group only had eight people.

Letting them on board would be no different from inviting a wolf into the house.

Jiang Si’s eyes grew cold. "BANG—" A shot hit the ground by Qiu Lei’s feet. "Get lost."

This was the second time Jiang Si had told them to get lost. Her posture suggested that if she had to say it a third time, she would just shoot them all.

Qiu Lei caved instantly. He hunched over and ran as if his ass was on fire.

He was terrified that if he ran too slowly, Jiang Si would shoot him in the back.

Only after Qiu Lei and his men had completely disappeared into the reeds did Jiang Chengwu say worriedly, "If we stay docked here, those people will definitely come back."

Jiang Si looked at the gradually receding floodwaters and sighed. "We’ll just have to be on guard." Even if they left, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t run into more people.

Elk meat is very nourishing, so Shen Baoying was afraid to let everyone eat too much at once. She cooked a few blood sausages and made several other dishes, none in particularly large portions.

But everything tasted exceptionally good, and once again, everyone cleaned their plates.

Jiang Si was so full she came out to walk it off. The sky was full of countless stars, and the brilliant Milky Way was breathtakingly beautiful.

She was pleasantly enjoying the gentle breeze when Qin Shen suddenly came out. He stared at her for several seconds before finally speaking: "I have a stiff neck. Can you give me a massage?"