Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 299: Consecutive Gains
Soon, Xu Yi and Lu Ke spotted a mountain roebuck.
Without much suspense, Lu Ke took it down directly with a crossbow, and then after catching it, dragged it to the water’s edge and tossed it into the river.
The roebuck struggled and flailed in the river.
Xu Yi and Lu Ke followed along the bank, and after about two hundred meters, the roebuck stopped struggling.
No crocodiles appeared in this process.
It’s important to know that the roebuck was bleeding continuously during its struggle, which should be quite attractive to crocodiles.
Yet there wasn’t a single sound, which was very unusual.
The two continued on, as they needed to return to the rest area of Juha and the reindeer.
"Looks like there really are no crocodiles in this river," Xu Yi said helplessly, realizing it wasn’t so easy to get crocodile meat.
"Maybe it’s because of the snowstorm. Perhaps they migrated," Lu Ke speculated, doubting that the crocodiles were frozen to death; there should be bodies, after all, if they were.
But there wasn’t a trace.
"Forget it, seems like crocodile meat isn’t in our fate. I’ll go fetch the roebuck’s body, we’ll have it for lunch," Xu Yi said and prepared to retrieve the body.
At that moment, a shadow appeared in the sky.
"Giant Emu," Lu Ke pointed to the sky and then raised her spear.
With the spear, she could attack the Giant Emu directly without having to run into the forest to hide.
But the Giant Emu’s target wasn’t Xu Yi and Lu Ke; it was the roebuck in the water.
Its sharp claws gripped the roebuck’s body and flew away with it.
Xu Yi gave the Giant Emu the finger, opting not to attack with the Hunting Bow because the Giant Emu moved fast.
Without hitting a vital spot, the Giant Emu wouldn’t drop immediately.
If it died elsewhere, there’d be no points, so there was no point in shooting.
"Xu Yi, do you think the crocodiles got frozen and then snatched away by the Giant Emus?" Lu Ke wondered, watching the Giant Emu fly away.
Considering the severity of the snowstorm, with temperatures below minus ten degrees, freezing crocodiles to death seemed likely.
Xu Yi nodded, not ruling out that possibility.
These Giant Emus probably relied on this river for survival, so maybe they really were responsible. After all, crocodiles are cold-averse creatures, mostly living in temperate and tropical zones.
"Let’s go back and munch on some jerky," Xu Yi said, looking away. Their feast was gone, and they’d have to settle for some jerky.
Back at Juha and the reindeer’s place, Juha lay on the ground while the reindeer grazed.
Xu Yi and Lu Ke ate some jerky and then rode their mounts along the river upstream.
They didn’t know what the upstream looked like yet, so taking advantage of the time left, they decided to check it out; they might gain something unexpected.
The two rode along the riverbank, urging their mounts forward.
Suddenly, Xu Yi stopped.
"What’s wrong?" Lu Ke turned back to Xu Yi because he had dismounted.
"Pepper, these are pepper," Xu Yi said excitedly, having spotted a small patch of pepper.
"Ah, this is pepper, like the black pepper powder—what a nice find!" Lu Ke exclaimed, jumping off Juha’s back.
"Yes, these peppers are still green, not yet ripe; when dried, they’ll become black pepper," Xu Yi said, picking a few and biting into one to confirm the taste.
Yes, it was indeed pepper, a very important seasoning.
"And white pepper?" Lu Ke asked curiously, knowing there’s both black and white pepper but not their exact differences beyond color.
"White pepper comes from fully ripened pepper with red skin, then peeled and dried," Xu Yi explained while picking more pepper.
"Oh, that’s how it is, learned something new today," Lu Ke said with a sweet smile, joining Xu Yi in picking the pepper.
Altogether, they gathered over thirty pounds, quite a haul for Xu Yi and Lu Ke.
Since if they were to exchange points, a small bottle of black pepper would cost 5 points.
This haul was worth hundreds of points.
After gathering the pepper, they decided to head back since it was already past three o’clock.
"Xu Yi, do those look like tomatoes over there?" Lu Ke asked as she rode Juha over.
She heard Lu Ke exclaim excitedly: "Xu Yi, they’re tomatoes, they’re really tomatoes."
"Seems like today is our lucky day. Not only did we get pepper, but also found tomatoes," Xu Yi said happily, hopping off the reindeer’s back.
Lu Ke had already picked several red tomatoes, showing them off to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi glanced around, finding thirty tomato plants, each bearing seven or eight fruits, with about half of them ripe.
So, Xu Yi and Lu Ke picked all the ripe tomatoes.
In total, there were over forty pounds of tomatoes, which they could turn into tomato sauce to preserve them longer if they couldn’t finish them in a few days.
"Xu Yi and Lu Ke sure have good luck today, finding tomatoes in addition to pepper. If they pick up some eggs, they can make tomato and scrambled eggs," someone commented.
"Their luck is indeed good, but I really wish they find some crocodiles," another replied.
"The crocodiles must have been frozen and then taken by the Giant Emus," someone speculated.
"There’s still about an hour until they return. What do you think Xu Yi and Lu Ke will encounter?"
"Are you suggesting they inherit the title of Koi?"
"I think anyone with claims to Koi title was eliminated, so don’t jinx Xu Yi and Lu Ke," another remarked.
Xu Yi and Lu Ke controlled their speed, constantly scanning their surroundings.
After finding pepper and tomatoes, they sensed the forest held more treasures, unnoticed before.
However, until they returned to camp, they didn’t discover anything else.
It wasn’t fully dark when they arrived back at camp.
Initially, Xu Yi wanted to hunt a rabbit nearby for dinner, but he couldn’t find any around.
As they left earlier, they rarely encountered animals, too.
Perhaps the snowstorm scared all animals into hiding in their nests.
For dinner, Xu Yi and Lu Ke made tomato soup to go with potatoes and jerky.
While eating, they heard a cry.
It sounded like a goat’s bleat.
