In the beastman tribe, they typically ate raw meat or dried it in the sun. They didn’t cook their food at all.
They lived in the forest and were especially afraid of fire, treating it like a monstrous disaster. Unless absolutely necessary, they would not go near fire. There were hardly any beastmen who weren’t afraid of it.
This was because the beastman tribes had suffered many times from wildfires that started with just a spark, burning down entire forests and destroying their homes. In their eyes, fire was an evil force that could destroy everything.
They knew fire could roast meat. Sometimes, when a forest fire occurred, they would collect and eat the carcasses of beasts that had been burned to death.
In the coldest winters, fire would bring them warmth.
At first, beastmen avoided fire altogether. But after realizing its benefits, the tribe kept fire seeds in reserve.
In the Lado Tribe, the only one unafraid of fire was the High Priest. The fire seed was stored closest to the High Priest’s stone house. Under normal circumstances, no one would go to take the fire seed, even if they knew fire could cook food.
In fact, roasted meat could taste dry after a while and wasn’t all that pleasant. Most tribe members still preferred raw meat.
Last night, after Gaien got the meat, he tossed a chunk to Ning Luo and told her to chew on it.
At the time, Ning Luo looked at the bloody piece of meat and nearly vomited everything she’d eaten the day before. She told Gaien she didn’t eat raw meat.
Gaien then thought of roasting the meat. Even though he was a powerful beastman, he was still afraid of fire. But seeing his mate refusing to eat, he fetched fire. His cave was large enough to safely light a small fire. He even fetched plenty of water and placed it nearby in case it got out of control.
He threw the meat into the fire right away, which left Ning Luo stunned. The final product, a pitch-black piece of meat, was handed to her. Ning Luo took a bite and found it incredibly tough to chew. Roasted meat without any seasoning was just hard to eat.
She looked at the containers inside the cave and came up with the idea to make broth. Gaien discovered that his female wasn’t afraid of fire, and was especially happy at the time, so he let Ning Luo go ahead and cook the broth.
Outside the cave, Ning Luo discovered a few unusual herbs. She picked and cleaned them, then tossed them into the pot. That’s why the entire tribe had smelled the fragrance of meat the day before.
Gaien not only shared the method for making the broth, but also told everyone about the spices Ning Luo had discovered. The tribe decided that going forward, whenever they were out hunting, they’d gather those herbs as well.
At Gaien’s request, Ning Luo publicly cooked a big pot of broth for the whole tribe to share.
After tasting the broth, every unmated male in the tribe looked at Ning Luo with shining eyes. A female could have multiple mates, but a powerful male could claim a female exclusively for himself.
Gaien could clearly feel the hostility of the others. He publicly declared Ning Luo as his mate and warned the others not to think about her.
This stirred up the tribe again. Several males challenged Gaien, but Gaien showed no fear. Right in front of Ning Luo, he defeated over a dozen of them. Then he turned to her, making her blush from head to toe. Finally, he smiled and carried her into the cave in front of everyone.
Tang Guo watched the whole show, sipped her broth, and commented, “Not that tasty.”
But for the beastmen who had never had cooked food before, it was certainly better than raw meat.
She handed the broth to Ai Yi, who was eagerly eyeing it, then headed to Yin Yao’s stone house.
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