Chapter 90

"Your boyfriend, what is he doing?" Ding Jian asked in surprise.

"Shh! Keep it down, he must have gone to catch some pheasants," Han Ying watched Xu Mo's movements and quickly hushed him, thinking to herself that it was no wonder he didn't let her buy food, as he had this plan in mind.

Ding Jian muttered to himself: This... can he really catch them? By the time he gets there, the pheasants will have flown away.

"Hey!" Turning to look at Xu Mo, he was startled and exclaimed, his face full of surprise, and he couldn't help but rub his eyes.

It turned out that when he looked over just now, he couldn't see Xu Mo at all. After rubbing his eyes and looking again carefully, Xu Mo's figure reappeared in his sight, but it was elusive and faint, as if it had blended with the surroundings, turning into snow and trees. If he wasn't careful, he would lose sight of him again.

He was surprised and couldn't figure out what was happening. He said to Han Ying, "Strange, am I seeing things? Why does your boyfriend look so faint and elusive?"

"It can't be, right?" Han Ying glanced at him and then turned to Xu Mo, "You say he looks faint and elusive, but I see him just fine."

In fact, what she saw was the same as Ding Jian, and she was also shocked. Knowing something was amiss, she remained calm and was determined to cover for Xu Mo.

Ding Jian, not suspecting anything, muttered, "So it must be my eyes playing tricks on me."

Han Ying deliberately asked, "Why would your eyes play tricks on you?"

Ding Jian thought for a moment and guessed, "Maybe it's because I've been in the snow for too long. The snow is so blinding, it might have hurt my eyes." He then rubbed his eyes again.

While he was making wild guesses, Xu Mo had already used his ability to harmonize with nature to walk up to the group of pheasants, picked out a large rooster, and grabbed it. The rooster flapped a few times but couldn't escape, which startled the other pheasants, causing them to fly away.

The rooster was specially chosen by Xu Mo, weighing over three pounds and nearly four. This size was considered particularly large among pheasants.

Xu Mo brought the pheasant back, and Han Ying just smiled faintly.

Ding Jian, however, was delighted and said, "Hey! Buddy, how did you catch it with your bare hands? Why didn't they fly away when you approached them?" Without waiting for Xu Mo to answer, he continued, "This is great, we can have some chicken. Damn, those bastards in the house will be so envious when they see this."

Xu Mo, seeing that he was asking too quickly, didn't answer and said, "Alright, let's go back."

The three of them then headed back, carrying the dry wood they had collected. Xu Mo killed the pheasant with a knife, dug up some roots and bark, and carried them with him.

Han Ying and Ding Jian noticed that the roots and bark he dug up had a strong, pungent smell. Han Ying was curious but knew he must have a use for them, so she held back from asking.

Ding Jian couldn't help but ask, "Buddy! What are you going to do with these roots and bark?"

Xu Mo smiled and said, "You'll see in a bit."

When they returned to the small house, Xu Mo found a clear spot, swept away the snow, and dug a hole in the ground with a multi-functional knife, removing the frozen soil to expose the soft soil underneath. He then scooped up some of the soft soil.

Han Ying and Ding Jian watched his actions with curiosity and didn't return to the house. They squatted on the side and several times tried to help, but Xu Mo stopped them each time.

Xu Mo mixed the soft soil with snow to make wet mud, chopped up the roots and bark, and mixed them into the mud. He made a hole in the pheasant's bottom, removed the innards, and buried them in the hole.

He then turned to Han Ying and said, "I remember you have salt in your bag. Go get some."

Han Ying obediently agreed and returned to the house to get the salt.

Ding Jian, from Xu Mo's actions, had already guessed something and said with a smile, "Buddy, are you making beggar's chicken?"

Xu Mo nodded. While it was called beggar's chicken, it wasn't exactly the same as the traditional method. This was a technique he had come up with himself.

Ding Jian said happily, "I have to try it. To be honest, I've had beggar's chicken before, and it wasn't particularly good, but the meat was very tender because it was cooked in mud. But in this wilderness, being able to have such a dish is a real treat. I just can't figure out what the roots and bark are for."

Xu Mo said, "You'll understand when it's cooked."

At this point, Han Ying had already brought back the salt. Xu Mo took it, mixed it with some clean snow, and stuffed it into the pheasant's belly. He then coated the pheasant with the mud mixed with roots and bark, and finally covered it with a layer of ordinary wet mud.

The roots and bark, when roasted, would naturally emit a smell. The outer layer of wet mud was to prevent the smell from escaping, allowing the smell of the roots and bark to fully penetrate the chicken.

As for the salt mixed with snow stuffed into the chicken's belly, it served two purposes: first, to keep the chicken's belly full so that the mud wouldn't get inside when coating it, and once the mud dried from the heat, it wouldn't matter. Second, the snow, though it seemed a lot, would melt into a small amount of water, which, when heated, would turn into steam. The mud sealed the chicken, preventing the steam from escaping, which not only kept the chicken from drying out but also allowed the salt to evenly penetrate the meat.

After coating the chicken with mud, they returned to the house. Upon entering, Xu Mo noticed that there were three more people in the room.

These three people were clearly a family of three, a couple with a five or six-year-old girl.

With his hearing, he could have heard the additional people even outside the house, but he had been focused on his task and hadn't noticed.

The three of them put down the dry wood, and Ding Jian started a fire. Xu Mo placed the beggar's chicken under the fire. The wood they had collected was mostly pine branches, which burned easily, producing no smoke and emitting a pleasant smell of pine oil.

The three of them sat around the fire, and Han Ying and Ding Jian immediately felt warm.

"Honey!" The woman in the northwest corner suddenly called out in a sweet voice, gently pushing the man next to her and nodding in Xu Mo's direction.

The man, feeling all mushy from her call, stood up and said, "Alright, I'll go ask."

He walked a few steps to Xu Mo's side, glanced at the three of them, and thought Han Ying looked the most approachable. He smiled and said, "Ma'am, can we use your fire to warm up?"

Before Han Ying could speak, Ding Jian glared at him and shouted, "Get lost!"

The man, with a thick skin, didn't get angry and changed his tone, "Brother, how about I pay? A thousand bucks each."

Ding Jian, who didn't seem to be short of money, didn't even bother to speak to him, just shooed him away like a fly.

The man changed his offer, "Alright, two thousand bucks, two thousand each."

Ding Jian didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

Seeing this, the man realized that offering more money wouldn't help, so he left and returned to the woman, who gave him a good scolding.

After the man left, Ding Jian couldn't help but say to Xu Mo, "See! I told you, these scumbags, they're all the same. When it comes to work, they're the first to back off, but once others are done, they all want to come and enjoy."

He spoke loudly, not at all worried about the man hearing him.

The two couples in the northeast and southwest corners, who had been watching the man's approach, had been hesitant. Seeing him get turned down, they thought, "This guy is a bit unpleasant. Maybe if I go and ask, the result will be different."

But when they heard Ding Jian's words, they immediately gave up on the idea.

The new couple had been considering moving closer, but after hearing this, they stayed where they were. The little girl, who didn't understand much, moved closer and sat next to Han Ying to warm herself by the fire.

Ding Jian glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Xu Mo, however, couldn't help but look at the couple. They were in their early thirties, dressed in expensive clothes, clearly very wealthy.

The man was wearing a windbreaker, which wasn't unusual. The woman, however, was wearing a mink coat with the collar turned up to cover her neck. She also wore a mask, sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat that covered most of her face, making it hard to see her features. She even wore black gloves, leaving almost no skin exposed, and her body emitted a strong perfume scent.

But from this perfume scent, Xu Mo detected a faint odor of decay, the kind that comes from a rotting corpse.

This odor was masked by the strong perfume, and if not for his keen sense of smell, he might not have noticed it.

He was puzzled and couldn't help but look at the woman a few more times. She seemed to notice and turned to look at him, her face expressionless. But Xu Mo sensed a deep sense of sorrow and despair from her actions.

The little girl, seemingly unaware of her mother's condition, sat next to Han Ying, her eyes constantly looking at Xu Mo with curiosity.

Xu Mo looked at her, and the little girl, noticing that he had seen her, blushed and turned away. After a while, she turned back and looked at Xu Mo again, this time more secretly.

Xu Mo found it amusing, and the little girl reminded him of Xiao Man. But why she was so curious about him, he couldn't figure out.

What the little girl was curious about was his eyes.

His five senses were strong, but except for his eyes, he looked no different from an ordinary person, at least on the surface.

Only his eyes were exceptionally bright. Adults might just find them unusually bright and be a bit puzzled but not overly concerned.

But a naive child would naturally be very curious.

Han Ying also noticed the little girl's actions and couldn't help but smile at Xu Mo, "This kid likes you."

The little girl, hearing her mention herself, felt even more embarrassed and couldn't help but lower her head.

Han Ying held the little girl's hand and asked gently, "Little one, tell Auntie, what's your name?"

The little girl, hearing this, looked up and said softly to Han Ying, "I'm Meng Meng, Auntie, that uncle's eyes are so bright."