Song of Adolescence

Chapter 258 Bonfire on the Beach

Xiao Se turned his head and looked at Mu Chunfeng who was still standing in the same spot. "What are you waiting for? Let’s go to the Silver Snake Island."

Mu Chunfeng heard him and grinned complacently. In his head, he was thinking that reading more books had its own benefits too. Slowly, he said, "Silver banded snakes only show up at dawn, so we’ll have to wait for tomorrow."

"Oh." Xiao Se responded indifferently and turned to leave.

Lei Wujie was very curious when he heard that, so he slowed down to walk next to Mu Chunfeng. "Why do the silver banded snakes only show up at dawn?"

"Because the silver banded snakes have very thin skins. Most of the time, they live in the dark and won’t show themselves. Their bodies can at best tolerate the light at dawn, so we will only be able to see them every morning at daybreak," Mu Chunfeng said.

Lei Wujie nodded. "Then we can rest for the rest of the day?"

Mu Chunfeng laughed and said, "I guess so."

"Da-shixiong," Lei Wujie shouted loudly.

Tang Lian waved his hand. "Boil snake soup!"

Sikong Qianluo made a vomiting expression again.

Quickly, the people Mu Chunfeng brought along cleaned up all the golden line snakes on the ground. The snake catchers who had been recruited were all prepared to die on this trip that had a one in ten chance of survival, but they didn’t expect their task was so easily completed and they were all smiles. The two snake chiefs completed their inventory of the harvest and said something to Tian Mozhi. Tian Mozhi nodded and walked to Mu Chunfeng\'s side. "Two hundred and thirty-six snakes."

"Harvest the snake galls and extract the snake venom. Hurry up, and don\'t throw away the golden line snakes. Bring them over," Mu Chunfeng instructed in a soft voice.

Tian Mozhi was puzzled. "What are we going to do with all the snake carcasses?"

Mu Chunfeng said helplessly, "Eat them."

Maybe it was because they had been on the boat for so long, but with the exception of the two snake chiefs who returned to the ship to take care of the golden line snakes, as well as a few boatmen to watch the ship, everyone else stayed on the island and appeared reluctant to leave. But, they also didn’t dare to wander too far away. After all, there were still a lot of golden line snakes on the island. Tang Lian and Lei Wujie set up a big iron pot and filled it with sea water to boil.

Lei Wujie grinned and said, "It’s only because we’re on this trip out to sea that I found out da-shixiong is also proficient in cooking."

"That’s because I’m always being sent out on missions for Snow Moon City and often have to spend my nights in the open. Where did you learn your cooking skills from?" Tang Lian asked as he lit the fire.

Lei Wujie scratched his head. "I have a really great shifu. Every time he’ll make me cook something nice for him before he was willing to teach me martial arts."

Mu Chunfeng walked up to them and said, "I’ve heard that snake meat is fresh and tender and a rare delicacy in the world. But I haven\'t had the opportunity to try it. Looks like I’m going to get my fill today?"

Sikong Qianluo was sitting nearby and said with disdain, "Only Nanjue people eat that stuff. I won\'t eat it!"

"They say Nanjue people will eat anything. I think snake meat is indeed more popular in Nanjue." Mu Chunfeng nodded.

Tang Lian smiled and said, "Eating snakes is nothing to a Nanjue person. They have a dish called Three Little Squeaks. That’s the true ultimate test of the world. Even I dare not eat it."

Sikong Qianluo thought for a moment. "What kind of dish is this? It has an interesting name."

"It\'s interesting, indeed. They place a pile of newly born mouse pups on a plate. They have yet to grow hair and haven’t even opened their eyes. Reach for one with your chopsticks and clamp a head, it makes one squeak. Then, dip it into the sauce, and it makes another squeak. Lastly, put it into your mouth and bite down, and it makes one more squeak. Altogether three squeaks. It’s said that the juice flows everywhere, and is quite tasty "

"Da-shixiong, you shut up!" Sikong Qianluo picked up a stone and threw it at him.

Tang Lian was born in the Tang Clan, after all. Such a hidden weapon would never hit him. He kicked a stone on the beach and smashed that stone into two. He returned a laugh. "Qianluo-shimei, I was just telling a story."

Mu Chunfeng shook his head. "That was really disgusting."

Lei Wujie swallowed. "Da-shixiong, you’re really sick."

Even Xiao Se snorted in disgust.

Tang Lian scratched his head with embarrassment. "Actually… I really don\'t dare to eat it too."

But everyone else ignored him, disbelief written all over their faces. After all, Tang Lian described it too vividly, and even the boatmen who happened to overhear were now looking at him with suspicion in their eyes. Fortunately, the two snake chiefs came over and brought with them a basket of golden line snake carcasses, alleviating the awkward moment.

Tang Lian took the basket of golden line snakes and sighed. "If only we had an old hen here."

Lei Wujie raised his eyebrows. "Da-shixiong, we’re really in the same line."

"What’s the story now?" Mu Chunfeng seemed to have read many books, but they didn’t include food recipes.

"This dish is called the Dragon Phoenix Stew. One whole chicken to three snakes, stew them together, very delicious." Lei Wujie licked his tongue.

"We have chickens on the boat. Bring a few over," Mu Chunfeng said to a boatman next to him.

"You even have chickens on board?" Lei Wujie was stunned.

Mu Chunfeng finally had a chance to show off. He cleared his throat and was about to speak, but was interrupted by a lazy voice, "If you only eat fish on the boat, the crew will contract malaria and sepsis, so they have to raise a few chickens and ducks."

"Not only do we have chickens and ducks, we even have a pig on board," Mu Chunfeng added.

"Mu-xiong, can I trouble you to prepare some fish for us. I’ll skip the snake soup," Xiao Se continued.

Sikong Qianluo was overjoyed. "Xiao Se, you don’t want to eat that disgusting thing too, right?"

Xiao Se shook his head and said faintly, "In my current condition, if I eat snake meat, I’ll die."

Sikong Qianluo felt a tightness in her heart. She had a feeling that Xiao Se spoke less and less lately, and this made her very uneasy.

Night slowly fell.

Tang Lian and Lie Wujie had set up over ten large pots to boil the two hundred plus golden line snakes they caught in the morning. The fragrance from the soup was everywhere and even Sikong Qianluo couldn\'t help salivating.

"Snake meat really does taste good. Don’t be afraid. You can give it a try," Xiao Se said softly.

Sikong Qianluo shook her head vigorously. "Don’t want."

Xiao Se chuckled and took a sip of water.

Everyone was drinking, laughing, and eating snake meat.

Xiao Se and Sikong Qianluo sat aside, looking at them, appearing a little lonely.

Sikong Qianluo was a little annoyed, wondering why she could clearly tell that Xiao Se was feeling downcast, but Tang Lian and Lei Wujie over there were acting like everything was fine while they went on pretending they were chefs?

At this moment, Lei Wujie took a sip of wine and waved his long sleeves. The Heart sword was instantly unsheathed and fell into his hand.

His display brought on a burst of applause.

Lei Wujie raised his sword, waved his sleeves, and his red clothes followed in a wild dance.

It was the Ruoyi sword dance he’d learnt at the Snow Moon City Full Blossom Festival that day.

Tang Lian gave a small smile and threw a pot of wine into the sky.

Lei Wujie took a flying leap, intercepted the pot of wine, and landed in front of Xiao Se.

He handed the pot to Xiao Se.

"Why are you drinking water? Have some wine."

"Don\'t worry. With us around, we won’t let you die."