The Abyss World, the Kemono Girl Encyclopedia Project!

Seeing the rapidly increasing favorability rating before him, Wang Yan was at a loss for what to do.

Perhaps it's the so-called "suspension bridge effect"? Maybe, anyway, Youli is still hugging herself, and even has some difficulty breathing.

"Youli... um... let's loosen our grip first... let's check our things and then go back."

Youli gently nuzzled Wang Yan's shoulder before reluctantly letting go.

The bison had already been mostly eaten and was no longer of any use. Wang Yan had no choice but to put the beast's carcass into the system's empty warehouse. It weighed about 600 kilograms, a very fruitful haul.

Having encountered such a serious incident, the two dared not delay any longer and returned home together.

As soon as they got home, it was getting late. Zhuohua had also returned. Wang Yan immediately went up to her and talked for a while, telling her everything that had happened that day. When he heard that the two of them had fought with the ferocious beast, his heart tightened.

"You mean... you also have the regenerative abilities of the salamanders?"

Zhuohua's question was tinged with disbelief. Wang Yan nodded affirmatively, and then picked up a small stone from the ground and gently cut his arm, leaving a thin line of blood that quickly healed before the naked eye.

Zhuohua lowered her head in thought. This was the first time she had ever seen anything like this, and she was momentarily stunned. However, only for a moment, she understood Wang Yan's situation and said to him:

"Although this is the first time I've seen a human with the same regenerative abilities as the salamanders, you'd better eat something to recover your strength, since the regenerative ability you've used doesn't come out of thin air."

Upon hearing Zhuohua's words, Wang Yan did indeed feel a spasm in his stomach. It wasn't a normal feeling of hunger, but rather an emptiness that made every cell in his body scream. Wang Yan initially thought he had been stimulated, but then he realized what was happening. With Zhuohua's help, he slowly sat down on a stone platform. Wang Yan also took out some food from the storeroom to fill his stomach.

"Hmm... As you just said, ferocious beasts have appeared in the nearby wilderness, which is very strange in itself. In addition, the attacks by strange beasts have been increasing recently. It feels like something big is about to happen..."

Zhuohua's delicate brows furrowed slightly, her face grave. Being at the bottom was becoming increasingly dangerous. For safety's sake, Zhuohua decided to quickly stockpile food so that they could stay in the cave all winter. Even if something terrible happened outside, it wouldn't affect her family.

Wang Yan gently raised his hand, and a huge headless corpse appeared in the courtyard. The little beast girls were all startled. Was this the ferocious beast that Wang Yan and You Li had killed together? It looked so terrifying...

"Um?"

Zhuohua carefully circled the corpse twice and said to Wang Yan:

"This is a white-armed tiger, a very ferocious beast. I didn't expect even something like this to come..."

If it were just some small creature, Zhuohua could comfort herself by saying it wasn't a big problem. But if even a predator like the White-Armed Tiger had come, it meant there was a serious problem up there. It was very likely that some incredibly powerful ferocious beast had driven them out of their original ecological niche, forcing them to migrate to lower levels.

Of course, this was just Zhuohua's guess. She didn't know exactly what had happened. She shook her head and stopped thinking about it. She instructed her sisters to pick up bone knives and quickly dissect the corpse and store it.

Wang Yan and You Li leaned against each other to recover their strength. Zhuo Hua and the others worked together and soon finished dismantling the white-armed tiger. It has to be said that the little beast girls' skills were really good. They shaved it very cleanly and neatly arranged the beast meat on the wooden table. There were a full 300 kilograms of meat. The rest were some beast bones, hides and internal organs.

Although Wang Yan said that he had the help of the system space, this warehouse did not seem to have the so-called "time stop" and "preservation" functions. In other words, the 300 kilograms of meat would need to be processed.

However, the problem is that there is no sunlight inside the cave, so it would be difficult to dry the food naturally. The only remaining options are pickling and smoking.

If we're considering pickling, the first thing to consider is the large amount of seasonings required, which isn't a suitable option given the current resource shortages. After all, the salt we have at home can't withstand that kind of consumption; small-scale pickling is fine, though.

The last remaining option is smoke, which is the safest option. The only concern is ventilation, since the cave is a closed space. However, Wang Yan has noticed that there is actually a slight breeze inside the cave, but it is not obvious. In other words, apart from the cave entrance, there is ventilation in some inconspicuous corners. This is good news for Wang Yan.

Once the plan was decided, Wang Yan immediately set up a smoking shed. It didn't take too much effort; he hung up 250 kilograms of smoke, and the remaining 50 kilograms were prepared for consumption or pickling.

By the time he finished dealing with everything, it was already quite late. However, his whole family was waiting for him, which made Xiao Zhizhi a little drowsy. When they learned that Wang Yan was going to cook for them, they all became interested.

Wang Yan poured the oil into the iron pot, but since there was no good stove, he could only make soup for the little beast girls.

Wang Yan was actually stumped about how to properly handle the meat of ferocious beasts, because it involved a natural law: the higher the predator, the worse the taste of its meat. Because it is at the top of the food chain, some metabolic substances accumulate in its body, which affects the meat quality and produces an "earthy taste". This is basic knowledge from junior high school biology, which Wang Yan naturally knew very well.

All he could do was blanch the vegetables a few times, then stir-fry them with a lot of spices, and finally add water, soy sauce, MSG, and wild vegetables to make a thick soup. He didn't have any other good methods.

As soon as the finished product was taken out of the pot, the rich aroma of meat instantly filled the air, reaching everyone's noses. Wang Yan wondered to himself, what's going on? It looks... pretty good?

As it turned out, Wang Yan's worries seemed unnecessary. The white-armed tiger's meat wasn't as dry and earthy as he had imagined. Instead, it had a texture similar to beef—firm and not greasy. This puzzled him greatly. Why was that? How could the meat of this ferocious beast be so delicious?

The family had already picked up their bowls and started to eat heartily. The warm meat soup filled them with a sense of fulfillment. However, Zhuo Hua suddenly noticed that Wang Yan was holding a bowl and seemed to be deep in thought. So she went up to ask him a question and understood Wang Yan's doubts. She then cleared up his doubts for him.

"Ferocious beasts and humans are natural enemies, even when encountering beast-like humans. Human meat has a fatal attraction for ferocious beasts, and of course, the reverse is also true. A good piece of ferocious beast meat can sell for a good price even in the upper class."

"And..." Zhuohua smiled slightly and picked up the bowl on her lap: "Didn't you feel a warm sensation in your body after eating the meat of the ferocious beast? Besides being very delicious, the meat of the ferocious beast also has the effect of strengthening the body."