Chapter 16: Laughed Until Breathless

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Gu Xiaomai looked at the shriveled bag and sighed, “It’s been the whole morning, and we’ve only found this little. There are so few purified plants.”

Jiang Chen’an replied, “It’s still early spring, so it’s normal to find fewer. By June or July, or around November, there will be more purified plants, but there will also be more corrupted plants, making foraging even more dangerous.”

Corn added, “Last November, Brother Chen and I served as temporary logistics for a medium-sized squad. When we went out to gather purified plants, half of the 30 squad members were killed or injured. Many logistics personnel also died, and we only managed to collect 40 jin of purified plants.”

The casualty figure startled Gu Xiaomai, and she shivered, “Yikes! That’s way too dangerous!”

Corn nodded solemnly, “If it weren’t for Brother Chen, I wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

Recalling the scene still sent shivers down Corn’s spine.

Gu Xiaomai asked, “So why do you still dare to join the pioneering team?”

Corn replied helplessly, “There’s no work in the base, no way to survive otherwise! But now it’s better; the corrupted creatures on the mountain have been cleared by the camp soldiers. We just need to focus on finding purified plants.”

Jiang Chen’an cautioned both of them, “Be careful. Last time, Xiaomai encountered a corrupted lop-eared rabbit. If more corrupted animals appear, it could be dangerous.”

“Got it,” they both replied firmly.

At noon, the three came across several young Chinese hackberry trees, just budding—tender and delicious.

Gu Xiaomai stared at them, swallowing repeatedly as images of various delicacies involving Chinese hackberry flashed through her mind: scrambled eggs with hackberry, minced meat with hackberry, hackberry pancakes...

After Jiang Chen’an inspected each tree, the sparkle in Gu Xiaomai’s eyes faded completely.

No luck—none were purified!

They drank some water to quench their thirst, rested briefly, then continued their search.

This time on the mountain, the wild vegetables and grasses had grown considerably compared to before, no longer requiring them to clear dead leaves and branches to expose the plants.

Gu Xiaomai scanned the area and spotted what looked like astragalus plants to the left.

“Brother Chen, Brother Corn, test the plants here first. There’s a patch of astragalus to the left; I’ll go collect one and teach you how to identify it when I return.”

Jiang Chen’an agreed, “Okay. We’ll finish testing and come over.”

As Gu Xiaomai approached, she noticed several pits in the ground—the very spot where they had found purified astragalus last time.

She casually picked a plant, plucked some leaves, and was about to leave when she heard a chirping from the astragalus bushes behind her.

“Gui—gui—”

A chill ran down Gu Xiaomai’s spine, her scalp tingling.

Oh no! Could it be another corrupted creature?

Memories of the corrupted lop-eared rabbit and purified giant catfish made her uneasy.

Although she had ultimately slain both, without help, she would have been the one killed.

Clenching her bone-cleaving knife, she braced herself.

At that moment, the smooth pearl in her body suddenly emitted a soft glow. Soon, the light dimmed, and a small bead of liquid the size of a grain of millet formed on its surface, flowing through her veins to her right hand.

She spun around swiftly, throwing her knife, which sliced through the air toward the source of the sound with a sharp whistle.

Alongside the flying knife, a drop of the liquid separated from her right hand unnoticed.

Gu Xiaomai caught sight of her target: a bird with a golden crown, green neck, vivid red belly, and long tail feathers. A bird? Or a chicken?

A chicken!

No, not quite like the roosters and hens she knew in her past life—it resembled the red-bellied pheasant, a protected species.

Even so, the red-bellied pheasant belongs to the same family as domestic chickens.

Essentially, it was a chicken.

Her eyes brightened as she wiped her mouth.

Honestly, she was craving chicken soup.

Astragalus hen soup was excellent for replenishing energy and nourishing the blood!

In an instant, her desire to kill the chicken surged, disregarding whether it was a hen or if it was edible!

Seeing the flying bone-cleaving knife, the red-bellied pheasant initially tried to dodge, but the liquid it had just ingested made it hesitate, and it charged straight toward the blade.

Its neck brushed the knife, and after swallowing the liquid, its eyes lit up—it was worth the wait!

Ignoring the tuft of feathers lost to the blade, it rushed toward Gu Xiaomai.

Seeing that the knife attack was ineffective, Gu Xiaomai couldn’t help but grumble, “How can a chicken be so agile?”

Its dodging moves were incredibly slick!

As the chicken charged, she wanted to turn and run.

At that instant, a childish voice rang out:

“Delicious! So comfortable! Hahaha...”

“Good thing I insisted on waiting!”

“Lady, give me some more, I want more.”

Gu Xiaomai thought her ears were malfunctioning—big trouble!

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Despite no one being nearby, she heard the child’s voice and panicked, turning to flee hastily.

The red-bellied pheasant followed behind, but having just consumed the liquid, its body felt warm and pleasant, making it disinclined to exert itself.

It sauntered after Gu Xiaomai, ensuring she wouldn’t lose it.

“Don’t run! Lady, why are you running? More of that water just now!”

“Stop! Why run so fast?”

Ignoring the voices, Gu Xiaomai kept running, retracting her knife and clutching the bag with the astragalus tightly.

At that moment, she was desperate to curse.

Was this mountain cursed against her?

Twice she entered, twice something unexpected happened!

Corn, testing the purified plants, glanced up and saw Gu Xiaomai sprinting, “Brother Chen, why is Sister Xiaomai running so fast?”

Jiang Chen’an looked up—she was indeed running fast, but not exactly toward them.

His heart skipped a beat. Trouble again.

“Wait here, I’ll go find Xiaomai. If we can’t handle it, you fetch Mi Tang.”

Jiang Chen’an drew his whip and ran toward Gu Xiaomai.

Gu Xiaomai didn’t see him, but the red-bellied pheasant trailing far behind did. It slowed down, hiding its small frame in the grass.

“Xiaomai, what’s wrong?”

Hearing Jiang Chen’an’s voice, Gu Xiaomai exclaimed joyfully, “Brother Chen!”

Gasping for breath as she ran, she said, “There’s a chicken chasing me! It can dodge my bone-cleaving knife—I can’t handle it.”

Jiang Chen’an looked behind her but saw nothing. “What chicken? There’s nothing.”

Gu Xiaomai glanced back while running. “A chicken with yellow feathers on its head, green on its neck, red on its chest.”

After speaking, she realized there was nothing behind her. Huh? The chicken?

She stopped running, took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart, and searched the grass. Where had the chicken gone?

Jiang Chen’an looked for a long time but couldn’t find any such chicken.

It probably wasn’t a corrupted chicken, he thought, relieved.

“Must have run off. Let’s go back.”

“Okay.” Walking toward Corn, Gu Xiaomai recalled the voices she had heard. After the frantic escape, her initial fear had faded.

In fact, she felt a little excited—perhaps she had awakened some kind of special ability.

“Brother Chen, do you know of any abilities related to hearing or sound?”

“There is one type—body enhancement abilities that strengthen hearing. Depending on the ability, the hearing range varies.”

“That’s not quite what I experienced,” Gu Xiaomai said. “Anything else? Like understanding non-human creatures’ calls, or even hearing their thoughts?”

“No such abilities have been publicly revealed.”

Unwilling to give up, Gu Xiaomai pressed, “What about undisclosed abilities?”

Jiang Chen’an wondered what status he held in her eyes to prompt such a question.

Undisclosed abilities were secrets!

Should someone like him, a low-level individual with no powers, even know?

After a long silence, he replied, “I don’t know about undisclosed ones either.”

“Oh... okay.” She lowered her head, the light in her eyes dimming.

But she had clearly heard those voices—just her and that chicken. Could it be the chicken’s doing?

This thought revived her spirits.

“Then... is there any creature highly purified, so much so it can speak human language?”

Jiang Chen’an placed a hand on her forehead.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked, confused.

He removed his hand. “No fever. Why are you talking nonsense? Animals can’t speak human language.”

The red-bellied pheasant, overhearing this, had a mischievous gleam in its deep blue eyes.

Gu Xiaomai abruptly stopped and looked back, hearing the childish voice again. It said she was a fool, that they weren’t human, and how could they speak human language.

Ha! It was mocking her!

Jiang Chen’an took a few steps, noticing Gu Xiaomai hadn’t followed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Brother Chen, do you know how to cook chicken to make it delicious?” Gu Xiaomai continued walking while listening for any movement behind her.

“How?”

Gu Xiaomai laughed and said loudly, “Cut the neck with one stroke, drain the blood quickly. Add a bit of salt to the blood to make blood tofu.”

The red-bellied pheasant immediately covered its neck with its wing. Though it thought of itself as a phoenix, not just a chicken, it couldn’t deny that the woman’s description fit it perfectly.

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“Claw the bones and make lemon chicken feet, sour and spicy and refreshing.”

It looked down at its sharp, sturdy claws and tried to hide them.

“Brush honey on the tips and middle of the wings, roast over fruitwood, and take a bite—the fruity sweetness mixed with honey is crispy and delicious.”

The wing that covered its neck quickly retracted and curled up entirely.

“Fry the chicken collarbone, sprinkle chili powder and cumin—crispy and fragrant, absolutely delicious!”

“The chicken leg meat is firm and tender. Cooked with spices as a stew, it’s a delicacy! The head, neck, heart, and liver can all go into the stew pot.”

“Make soup with the kidneys, intestines, and chicken frame—rich, delicious, and nutritious.”

“Also, use the deboned meat for stir-fries: kung pao chicken, spicy chicken, braised chicken chunks, pan-fried chicken breast...”

Gu Xiaomai listed each part, and the red-bellied pheasant couldn’t cover itself fast enough, eventually giving up.

“Ahhh!!! Woman, you’re a devil!”

“Ahhh!!! I’ll scratch you to death!”

“Ahhh!!! If it weren’t for... hmph!”

Gu Xiaomai snorted in her heart, “Serves you right for calling me a fool!”

But she was sure she had heard the chicken’s thoughts.

She suspected the phrase “if it weren’t for...” was the key to hearing the chicken’s mind, but it was unfinished.

While the woman and chicken focused on different things, Jiang Chen’an was seriously drooling over the cooking methods, wanting to eat every one.

From now on, if they encountered a chicken, they’d kill it if possible.

“With so many ways to cook, it seems every part of the chicken is valuable!”

“Yes! Every part is treasure. Chicken feathers can make shuttlecocks and feather dusters, especially the brightly colored ones—they look gorgeous!”

The red-bellied pheasant looked at its own beautiful feathers, feeling every one was a threat.

“Waaah... Mommy, I want to go home. Humans are scary!”

The little voice in Gu Xiaomai’s mind laughed heartily.

Although Jiang Chen’an didn’t know what shuttlecocks or feather dusters were, he was satisfied with the many cooking methods.

“Xiaomai, what does the chicken look like? Just yellow head, green neck, red chest? Easy to catch?”

Gu Xiaomai gave Jiang Chen’an a surprised look. How could he not know what a chicken looked like?

It reminded her of Corn, who hadn’t seen Corn before.

People here seemed to lack basic knowledge of things she considered common.

No, not everyone—probably just young people like Jiang Chen’an and Corn, while older folks like Liu Ju and Xia Yang didn’t.

It was probably due to the disaster Liu Ju mentioned!

After the disaster, survival was the priority. Education was postponed or simply nonexistent.

Even when things recovered, people like Jiang Chen’an and Corn, who hadn’t solved basic needs, couldn’t enjoy it.

Moreover, the knowledge taught was probably different from what she had learned.

Thinking this, Gu Xiaomai described the chicken to Jiang Chen’an.

“Chickens come in many colors, pure or mixed. You can’t rely on color alone; shape matters too.”

“They have small heads, short sharp beaks, small round eyes on the sides of their heads. Ears are hidden beneath feathers and hard to spot.”

“The neck is slender and flexible.”

“The tail feathers are long and fluffy.”

“They have broad, strong wings; they can fly but not far.”

“Strong legs support the body.”

“Sharp claws with four toes—three forward, one back.”

“As for how easy to catch, it depends. The one I met was quite agile—hmph, not easy to catch.”

The red-bellied pheasant proudly puffed up its chest.

“Of course! Don’t you know who I am? A majestic divine beast phoenix! Not something you can easily catch!”

Gu Xiaomai burst out laughing until she could barely walk.

Jiang Chen’an, seeing her so happy, had no idea what was so funny. He asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

“I... ouch~ haha... I laughed too hard, my side hurts.” Gu Xiaomai held her right waist, where a dull pain lingered.

Was this chicken trying to kill her with laughter to inherit her precious herbs and bone-cleaving knife?

A divine beast phoenix! Good grief! How could a chicken be so narcissistic?

How dare a chicken claim to be a phoenix!