Chapter 35: Exquisitely Delicious Roasted Horsemeat

"Did they encounter someone on horseback, too?" Liu Hen wondered.

Because his vision had significantly improved, he spotted the Wu siblings while they were still over a hundred meters away. Considering the importance of the intelligence—namely, the reason for their injuries—he immediately approached them, accompanied by Little Black Stone.

It was not until they were within thirty meters, and after Liu Hen had deliberately amplified the sound of his footsteps, that the Wu siblings finally noticed them.

"Who's there?!"

Startled like birds frightened by the mere twang of a bowstring, the siblings snatched up their weapons, staring fixedly in the direction of the sound.

"It's us."

Liu Hen spoke, emerging from the darkness with Little Black Stone.

"Is that Lord Liu Hen?"

The Wu siblings let out a collective sigh of relief.

"What did you encounter?" Liu Hen asked curiously.

At the mention of this, the siblings' expressions turned grim. Wu Yuanming said in a low, heavy voice, "A demon. It took our fourth brother!"

"A demon?" Liu Hen felt a tightening in his chest. "Are there creatures like that in this area?"

According to the memories of the original owner, demons were a type of spirit, but specifically those that preyed on humans. Much like the demonic beasts and spirit beasts in fantasy novels from his past life, they were essentially the same in nature; the difference was that spirit beasts possessed human-like sentience, whereas demonic beasts did not. Demons were the same—they were either non-human creatures or inanimate objects that had gained awareness. However, while spirits could communicate, demons were incapable of discourse, and humans were firmly on their menu.

"Fourth brother volunteered to lure the demon away to save us," Wu Yuanxia said in a somber tone.

Faced with such a monster, they had no means of resistance. If it hadn't been for someone willing to sacrifice themselves to draw the demon away, all four of them would have perished.

"Did you get a clear look at what kind of demon it was?" Liu Hen asked.

Wu Yuanming thought for a moment. "It was all so sudden; I didn't see it clearly. But the thing that attacked us looked a bit like tree roots. I’m not entirely sure, though."

"Tree roots?" Liu Hen was struck by a mix of surprise and suspicion. "Could it be a tree that has gained sentience?"

"I don't know." Wu Yuanming sighed. Although he was deeply saddened by his brother's death, they had long prepared for such outcomes while traversing the darkness, so he quickly regained his composure.

*It seems I need to be more careful when chopping wood in the future, lest I encounter a disguised demon.*

However, seeing that their injuries were not severe, the demon likely wasn't particularly powerful. With these thoughts in mind, Liu Hen asked, "Do you know if there’s a copper mine anywhere around here?"

"A copper mine?" Wu Yuanming gauged the direction and pointed to his right. "About a hundred kilometers or so in that direction, there seems to be a copper mining zone. We don't know the exact location, though; it’s just something we heard others say. We never dared to venture that far."

Over a hundred kilometers? That wasn't too far. Even without the exact location, he could simply spend time digging around when he got there.

"Thank you for the information."

Liu Hen turned to leave with Little Black Stone.

"My lord..." Wu Yuanming spoke up suddenly. "Could you allow us to follow you?"

Wu Yuanxia and the others looked on with anticipation, evidently having discussed this beforehand.

"I don't like trouble, so I'm afraid I have to refuse."

Liu Hen rejected them without hesitation. The four surviving members of the Wu family looked dejected. Indeed, they had struggled for days, clinging to their pride and unwilling to submit to others, only to find that someone else didn't even consider them worth the effort.

*This valley is quite secluded. I might as well upgrade the workstation to the full Black Iron level here before setting off again.*

Having made his decision, Liu Hen led Little Black Stone to find a suitable spot to build. After they had walked about three hundred meters, a vast stretch of ice appeared in his field of vision. A thought struck him; he chose a relatively open area nearby and began gathering resources.

Once he had collected a sufficient quantity of large iron ore, he brought out the campfire and activated the homestead construction mode, building a coffin-shaped house. Immediately afterward, he gathered seven hundred pieces of small iron ore and pulled out the workstation, using seven magic crystals to initiate the upgrade.

The upgrade would take six hours; it would be finished by the time the dead of night arrived.

*The warm suit is complete. The next recipe shouldn't be a part for that. I wonder what it will be?*

Liu Hen waited in anticipation. Once the countdown began, he headed back outside to continue gathering large iron ore. By the time he had cleared the scattered boulders, turning the area into a flat plaza, he had four hundred pieces of large iron ore in his inventory.

Next, he walked to the ice patch and swung his All-Purpose Pickaxe to harvest large ice blocks.

[Large Ice Block + 1]

Sure enough, ice could also be gathered as a reserve material. With a single swing, a large chunk of the ice field vanished. He continued to swing the pickaxe, harvesting steadily. After about ten minutes, he had cleared the area, obtaining a total of eighty-eight large ice blocks.

*That should be enough.*

Liu Hen returned to the house with Little Black Stone and lit the campfire. He was just about to pull out a bowl of tree-paste porridge to satisfy his hunger when a thought occurred to him, and he opened the campfire's cooking interface.

Just as he expected, the unprocessed horse meat appeared in the ingredients list. The large ice blocks were there too, which was no surprise.

*I haven't eaten meat in so long; tonight, I'm having meat!*

Liu Hen immediately took out a piece of the raw horse meat and swung his pickaxe to process it into smaller portions.

[Horse Meat + 10]

Fine cracks appeared on the surface of the meat. He picked up one of the portions and found it to be the size of a palm, clean and weighing about a pound.

*Just as I thought, the smaller portions gathered are the essence of the item.*

He tucked the piece of meat away and continued swinging his pickaxe.

[Horse Meat + 10]

Another ten pieces were harvested, and the remaining mass of meat suddenly collapsed, turning into a pile of foul-smelling, bloody sludge. Of course, the stench was only apparent to Liu Hen; Little Black Stone, standing to the side, was practically drooling. She had never eaten meat in her life.

*These are just scraps, but I shouldn't waste them. Still, I’m eating meat tonight, so the sludge can wait.*

Liu Hen gathered the bloody sludge and put it aside. He opened the cooking interface again and placed one piece of horse meat into the slot. The cooking interface had four slots; he could combine up to four ingredients to create a meal, but there was a risk of creating "dark cuisine" if he was unlucky. He only wanted meat, so he used a single piece to avoid any accidents.

The countdown remained at one minute.

A minute later, the horse meat was cooked, and a new recipe appeared—Roasted Horse Meat. Liu Hen couldn't wait to take the meat out. He noticed it had shrunk slightly and turned golden brown, yet it emitted no aroma.

*Is it not tasty? Is it because I didn't have any seasonings?*

He took an eager bite.

Suddenly, an indescribable fragrance exploded in his mouth, and juices burst forth, causing his eyes to widen involuntarily.

"Gulp..."

Little Black Stone couldn't help but swallow hard. At that moment, she smelled the aroma. What kind of scent was it? Having never eaten meat, she couldn't describe it, but she knew it must be an incredibly delicious meal.

"Holy shit... how is it this good?!"

Liu Hen was stunned. It wasn't as if he were in a state of extreme hunger; he was capable of tasting the food clearly. Yet, one bite was enough to shock even someone like him, who had enjoyed gourmet food in his past life.

"There's even a salty taste. Did it extract the salt from the blood?"

He was bewildered, but that didn't stop him from gorging himself. He felt like he could have swallowed his own tongue.

As the aroma wafted out, Little Black Stone was nearly moved to tears by how much she craved it. She had an instinctive urge to eat, even though she wasn't particularly hungry.

If she felt this way, the Wu siblings in the distance were even worse off. The scavengers had keen senses, and as the scent of the roasted horse meat drifted over, the siblings—who were silently licking their wounds hundreds of meters away—froze.

"What... what is that smell? Why is it so fragrant?"

"It smells like meat, but how can meat smell this rich and savory?"

The Wu siblings stood up almost reflexively, drawn irresistibly toward the source of the scent. Even though they knew they should remain calm to avoid falling into a demon's trap, they couldn't overcome the instinctual urge, desperate to rush over and seize the food they so hungrily craved.