Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

Jiang Bai jumped around, and the dragon lizard didn't even touch the pebbles that splashed up when it crashed to the ground.

The dragon lizard's anger intensified. It stretched out its body a few times and burrowed into the ground, then suddenly emerged from the ground where Jiang Bai was standing.

Jiang Bai had been watching the movements underground. When the dragon lizard emerged, a shield appeared around him. The dragon lizard not only failed to harm Jiang Bai in the slightest, but was instead thrown away.

"Hehehe, now it's my turn to fight back..." Jiang Bai, carrying a spiked club, laughed in a particularly sinister way.

"This rock shield is so useful! Why don't I have this ability?" Hu Tao, who was eating sunflower seeds, expressed her envy for Jiang Bai's shield.

With this shield, she doesn't need any movement techniques; she can just charge in directly.

Chapter 51 You want to play tricks on this master?

The gleaming spiked club slammed down, and the young rock dragon lizard died in no time.

Jiang Bai casually broke off a tree branch and poked at the dragon lizard's carcass, asking curiously, "Master, do you think this dragon lizard has meat? Can you eat it?"

The shell was entirely made of a thick layer of rock-like scales, and it didn't look like it had any flesh on it.

"I don't know. I'm not Xiangling. Why would I bother researching whether this meat is edible?"

She usually sends the demons to their deaths directly, and then cremates their corpses as well.

She walked over and tossed a small knife to Jiang Bai.

"Why don't you cut it open and take a look?"

Without hesitation, Jiang Bai took the knife and stabbed it into the gap between the armor plates. He held the handle and flicked it down, and the thick armor plates were lifted off, revealing the soft, tender flesh of the abdomen.

"There really is meat in it! I wonder what it tastes like."

Jiang Bai licked his lips and continued to pry open the entire carapace on the abdomen.

The dragon lizard only had meat on its belly; the rest was either bone or internal organs. Jiang Bai cut out the tender, white meat piece by piece, put it in a stone bowl made of condensed rock element, and planned to wash it later and skewer it for grilling that evening.

"Master, do you think the heart of this dragon lizard is edible?" Jiang Bai looked at the heart encased in bones. Dragon lizard, dragon lizard, is this heart roughly equivalent to a dragon's heart?

"I don't know, but we can give it a try."

Walnut was also a little curious about what the dragon lizard's heart tasted like.

The two reached an agreement: the poor baby rock dragon lizard, even after dying, was not spared and became food on their plate.

Jiang Bai hummed a little tune as he carried two stone platters to the stream to wash off the bloodstains. The blood of this dragon lizard was different from that of humans; it was blue.

Fresh meat won't last long without preservation methods. I was originally thinking of having Xiangling test the poison, but I figured the meat would be rotten by the time they got back to Liyue Harbor.

They can only try the poison at night first, and if they think it tastes good, they can find a few more dragon lizards on the way back to let them experience the pressure from the food chain.

After washing Jiang Bai clean, he wrapped her in a lotus leaf he had picked by the stream and handed it to Hu Tao.

"Master, why don't you put it in your ring?"

"Can't you carry it yourself?"

"This is our food for tonight, so we must keep it safe."

"Alright alright."

With a wave of his hand, Hu Tao caused the fresh meat wrapped in leaves in Jiang Bai's hand to disappear.

It gets dark earlier in the mountains than on the plains, and visibility becomes extremely poor once the sun sets. Fortunately, there are streetlights along the roadside that provide some light when the moonlight cannot penetrate the dense forest.

Jiang Bai found a small, recessed cave in the smooth rock face and, preparing to set up camp, discovered a campsite left by someone before him.

The simple tents were fixed around the perimeter, and licorice was laid on the ground for warmth. A clean cooking pot was placed next to it, and under the pot was a fire that had long since gone out and had been burning for who knows how long.

There is also a small pool next to it. It is not deep, but the water is clear and looks like it was formed by water droplets that seeped down from the rocks.

"Master, this place is great!" It has water, shelter from the wind and rain, and even a pot. Finding a campsite like this in the wild is like hitting the jackpot!

Hu Tao didn't care; she had everything and didn't care about these things.

However, having a place already available is better than them having to find another place to camp.

Jiang Bai picked out the charcoal that hadn't burned completely from the fire of the previous people, built a barbecue grill using rock elements, and then found some branches outside and used a knife to carve out a bunch of barbecue skewers.

After all that work, it was already late at night.

The bored Walnut had already fallen asleep, sitting on the rock, her chin nodding little by little.

"Master, do you have..." Jiang Bai was about to ask her if she had any seasonings when he saw her looking like she was about to fall asleep but was still trying to stay awake, and a look of helplessness appeared on his face.

She must have been exhausted after traveling all day.

Jiang Bai glanced at the meat and seasonings placed beside her, but didn't disturb her.

He took the food outside the cave, cut the meat into small pieces, and skewered them one by one. As for the dragon heart, he didn't know what to do with it, so he didn't do anything with it.

Sparks slowly rose from the charcoal, and Jiang Bai blew on it to make it burn even brighter.

He slowly grilled the meat skewers, watching the tender meat sizzle and release its oil under the high temperature.

As night fell, the mountains were reduced to mere outlines, the trees became silhouettes, and all around was silent except for the sounds of frogs and insects, with only the sizzling of the meat skewers in my hand.

Looking up at the sky, the sky was clear and blue. The moon was dimly obscured by a thin layer of clouds, but the countless stars shone with a brilliance even brighter than the moon.

An enticing aroma gradually wafted out. Half-asleep, Walnut followed the scent out of the cave, murmuring, "So fragrant, so fragrant..."

Jiang Bai maliciously held the skewers to her nose, sometimes pulling them away, sometimes bringing them closer. "Master, are you awake or sleepwalking...?"

Hu Tao took a bite of the skewer, snatched it from his hand, and kicked him away.

"Master, I worked so hard to grill skewers for you, and you kicked me away after you got them! That's too much!" Jiang Bai complained as he lay on the ground.

Holding the skewers, Hu Tao looked down at him and snorted coldly, "Who told you to try and make fun of me? Did you really think I was asleep?"

She took a big bite, chewing with relish, "Really good!"

The flesh of this young rock dragon is extremely tender. When you bite into it, the juice bursts in your mouth. Even without any seasoning, the flesh itself is delicious enough.

Seeing how much she was enjoying her food, Jiang Bai, who had been lying on the ground hoping to extort some walnuts, immediately got up.

If he doesn't get up soon, he'll be eaten by Hu Tao!

He hasn't even tasted it himself yet!

He picked up a skewer of meat and stuffed it into his mouth; the delicious grilled meat brought a happy expression to his face.

After finishing two skewers, Hu Tao got excited and sat down in front of the barbecue grill, picking up two more skewers and eager to try.

Jiang Bai swallowed hard.

After eating Hu Tao's cooking at Guyun Pavilion last time, he now has a phobia of Hu Tao's cooking skills.

But judging from her enthusiastic expression, it was clearly impossible to get her to stop.

Jiang Bai sighed, sat down next to her, and began to teach her how to bake.

If it turned into a culinary disaster, there must be something wrong with the cooking method. As long as he teaches Hu Tao the correct way to cook, it shouldn't turn into a culinary disaster anymore, right?

With this in mind, Jiang Bai began to offer his guidance: "When grilling meat, you need to pay attention to the heat, turn it frequently, and be careful not to burn it..."

Hu Tao rolled her eyes. She had her own Hu-style cuisine. What was the point of making everything the same?

"It's only just started baking, you can't add salt yet, it'll taste bitter... The temperature is just right, stop manipulating your elemental powers! It's going to burn!... Don't add vinegar..."

Jiang Bai was really risking his life for his stomach.

Chapter 52 I'm such a big sweet flower!

"You underestimate me, the master of this hall!"

Faced with Jiang Bai's pointing and gesturing, Hu Tao puffed out her cheeks in anger.

"I'm not belittling the hall master, I'm just passing on my experience to him..." Jiang Bai felt terrible; if he continued teaching, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack!

"I've dominated Liyue for so many years, I naturally have my own ways!" Hu Tao glared at him, but continued to do as she pleased.

Jiang Bai fell silent, abandoning his idea of ​​guiding Hu Tao.

Let her bake it however she likes, just don't give it to him to eat.

But it's clear that Jiang Bai's idea is destined to fail.

Once the meat skewers were grilled, Walnut handed him both skewers, saying, "Here! Try them! I guarantee they'll amaze your taste buds!"

Jiang Bai felt bitter looking at Hu Tao, who was smiling dangerously while holding two skewers of roasted meat.

With so many strange seasonings, you clearly didn't intend to eat it yourself!

"Master, can I not eat?" Jiang Bai, weak, pitiful, and helpless, uttered a faint protest.

"no!"

"Can I just have one skewer? You've been grilling them for so long, isn't it a shame you can't try them yourself?"

Hu Tao thought for a moment, nodded, and gave him only one string of them.

This little guy works hard grilling meat, so let's not torture him too much.

Jiang Bai took the skewer and carefully took a bite. Although it was a bit bitter and sour, it was still palatable, unlike the last time when it made one experience the cycle of life.

After finishing a barbecue, Jiang Bai lay on the grass, looking up at the starry sky, too tired to move.

This is not just physical exhaustion, but also mental exhaustion.

Teaching Hu Tao how to roast meat was more tiring than him traveling all day.

Does she not know what to do? She does know what to do, but she just wants to go in strange directions!

What's with putting vinegar in barbecue?!

This wasn't even intended to be made according to normal human tastes...

Looking at Hu Tao, she was still studying her roasted meat.

Take a bite and taste it; it's a bit strange...

I took another bite, savoring the taste again, but it still felt strange...

Take another bite, savor the flavor again; it's strange yet has a unique taste...

Jiang Bai silently turned his face away.

Forget it, the head of the hall has a unique culinary style... He'd better not even think about trying to bring her back to the right path...

......

The morning sun illuminated the cave, and the two, having washed up, resumed their journey.

The mountain forest in the early morning is different from that in the afternoon. Morning mist spreads through the mountains, water droplets hang on the roadside grass, birds fly in the forest, cranes dance by the stream, beasts roam in the forest, and Hu Tao hums a strange song nearby.

"When the eldest hill falls ill, the second hill comes to check on him; the third hill gathers herbs, the fourth hill brews them; the fifth hill dies, the sixth hill carries him away; the seventh hill digs a pit, the eighth hill buries him."

"Master, what song are you singing? It's rather eerie."

"This is a Qiuqiu rhyme that I, the hall master, composed myself. What do you think? Isn't it catchy?"

“Hehe...indeed…” Jiang Bai chuckled awkwardly.

It's not just catchy, it's addictive.

He listened to it on repeat in his head for a long time afterward.

"Hey, Master, there are so many sweet flowers growing here!" As he walked, Jiang Bai was pleasantly surprised to find a sweet flower bush on the hillside.

Before Hu Tao could speak, he had already climbed up, grabbed the largest sweet flower, and started pulling it out.

Before Hu Tao could finish saying "wait a minute," the sweet flower that Jiang Bai was holding instantly transformed into a scorching demon.

Jiang Bai withdrew his scalded hand and stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Where is his sweet flower? It's such a big sweet flower!

Did the monster eat it?

Thinking it over, he conjured a shield, added a layer of rock element to his hands, grabbed the flower around its neck, pulled open what looked like a mouth with both hands, and craned his neck to look inside.

"No?"

They fooled her.

It had intended to show this mortal who had offended it the wickedness of the world, but before it could do anything, it was grabbed by the neck and its mouth was forcibly pulled open.