Chapter 359: Stewing the Chicken
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Xia Meng immediately swallowed the words he was about to say. Helplessly, he could only lead Lin Lei and Lin Ying to the side to sit and wait. However Xia Meng did not sit around doing nothing. He circled the area and was certain that all clues ended here before he sat down quietly. However, from beginning to end, he looked at Fangzheng as though Fangzheng was the murderer. He was extremely wary of Fangzheng and Red Boy.
Red Boy only laughed in response to this. He circled behind the boulder and whispered, “Master, how did I do?”
Fangzheng secretly gave him a thumbs up.
Red Boy chuckled. “Master, how much longer are you going to posture? Doesn’t your b.u.t.tocks hurt after sitting so long?”
It would have been fine if Red Boy had not said so, but the moment it was mentioned, Fangzheng really felt that the boulder beneath him was hard and uncomfortable. It was fine sitting for a moment, but prolonged sitting really hurt the b.u.t.tocks. It was also uncomfortable sitting cross-legged for an extended period of time. More importantly, the back of his head was being illuminated by the sun. It felt like there was an eighty watt light bulb burning at his head. The crux of the matter was that the fuse inside was almost burning up…
However, Fangzheng also knew that it was not the time to wake up yet. Since Lin Zicheng enjoyed wreaking havoc on the mountainous woods, he wanted Lin Zicheng to experience the feeling of being harmed!
Deep down, Fangzheng could not be considered a real accomplished monk. Nor was he disapproving of hunting or would he normally care. But as the saying went, the ‘survival of the fittest’ part of natural selection was a system in which all things in the world ate one another. It was a form of balance. Any imbalance was a bad phenomenon. One had to kill and eat in order to survive. This was not a sin from Fangzheng’s point of view. As for how the Buddhist school of thought viewed this matter, Fangzheng had no idea. He only acted on his own beliefs.
Now, if it was not for survival but to hunt crazily like draining a pond to catch all the fish, causing wanton destruction without any control, that was absolutely non-permissible. The world became interesting because of humans, but if there were only humans, only despair would remain. This was not something Fangzheng wanted to see.
Therefore, Fangzheng naturally did not stand on ceremony with Lin Zicheng.
Fangzheng was waiting, but so was Xia Meng. He was waiting to question Fangzheng when he woke up. No matter what, he needed to find Lin Zicheng. That was his duty.
However, someone was turning impatient waiting. Lin Lei paced back and forth and said impatiently, “How long are we going to wait?”
Lin Ying whispered, “According to what I’ve read in books, some masters can meditate for days. It’s said that Patriarch Bodhidharma faced a wall and meditated for nine years in seclusion. Even the stone had his shadow etched in.”
“What?” Lin Lei jumped in fright and pointed at Fangzheng. “Don’t tell me he will sit there for nine years?”
“I have no idea. Even if he doesn’t sit for nine years, just sitting there for two weeks or so… That would already be suffocating,” said Lin Ying with a bitter smile.
Lin Lei was stunned. As he continued pacing around with nothing to do, he saw the hazel grouse struggling on the ground in an attempt to escape from its bondage. He grunted. “This chicken sure knows how to kick up a fuss. Since we have nothing to do, shall we stew it?”
The moment that was said, Lin Zicheng, who was sprawled on the ground, had his feathers stand on their ends in fright. He struggled desperately in hopes of escaping. At the same time, he yelled, “Lin Lei, you rascal! How dare you!?”
Unfortunately, Lin Lei did not understand him at all. He lifted Lin Zicheng and looked at him carefully. “Lin Ying, say something. Do we eat it?”
“We haven’t found Brother yet and your thoughts are on eating? Also, you never liked killing animals in the past. Why have you turned so zealous a few days after coming into the mountains?” asked Lin Ying unhappily.
“It was Brother who taught me. He said that men need to see blood. Those that have never seen blood or dissected an animal aren’t considered men! After today’s experience of the wild boar and deer, I find his words reasonable. If men aren’t a little more ruthless, how can they find their place in the world?” asked Lin Lei.
Lin Zicheng really wished to give himself two slaps! According to Lin Lei’s past personality, he would absolutely have released him, but now… Lin Lei seemed to really wish to become a man after more than a month of Lin Zicheng’s brainwas.h.i.+ng! He had heard of people shooting themselves in the foot, but he had never seen anyone do it so badly. He was basically shooting himself to death!
At that moment, Lin Zicheng truly regretted. He regretted teaching Lin Lei all of this. He could only pin his hopes on Lin Ying. He wished that his sister with br.i.m.m.i.n.g love would be able to reign in Lin Lei. Therefore he looked pitifully at Lin Ying. At that moment, Lin Zicheng truly experienced helplessness, resignation, horror, and thirst for life! This was something he had never felt before.
Now Lin Ying was really vexed. Lin Zicheng’s whereabouts remained unknown and Xia Meng wasn’t leaving. The monk who was the only person who might know Lin Zicheng’s whereabouts was sitting there motionlessly. With her vexed emotions, how could she be in the mood to reprimand Lin Lei?
Therefore when Lin Lei asked Lin Ying again, “Lin Ying, since we have nothing to do, and this chicken isn’t being obedient, why don’t we roast it since it’s quite a ch.o.r.e holding it?”
“All you know is food! It’s up to you! Eat it if you want!” Lin Ying lost her patience.
At that moment, Xia Meng looked up at Fangzheng, the corner of his mouth curling upwards. “Lin Lei, this flying dragon will be wasted if you roast it. Stewing it is how you get its flavor. The meat’s texture is fragrant and succulent. It’s not something the meat you usually eat can compare with.”
When Lin Lei heard that, he immediately took off his backpack and took out a portable pot. “Thankfully, I brought everything. Haha!”
Lin Lei did not have deep feelings for Lin Zicheng. Although they were brothers, they had an age gap of more than ten years and a generation gap. When Lin Zicheng became rich, he liked to speak and look at him as though he was the elder brother. He often picked bones with him and reprimanded him. Since Lin Lei was in the rebellious stage, he was already unhappy. Besides, Lin Zicheng was too domineering as a brother, forcing him to obey him.
Now that Lin Zicheng’s whereabouts were unknown, he was not worried at all. At the very least, he was not as anxious as Lin Ying. Therefore after he saw the flying dragon, he was more bent on capturing the flying dragon than on finding Lin Zicheng. He had used the excuse of wanting to gift it to Lin Zicheng, but what just happened exposed his true intentions. He just wanted to satisfy his palate.
Regardless of what the others thought, he got some of the stream’s water to wash the pot and set up a frame to the side before finding some dry timber.
And Lin Zicheng, who had been thrown on the ground but was unable to escape due to a rock holding down the rope, was trembling all over! He was murmuring, “The frame is up. The frame is up… He’s gonna kill me to eat my meat!”
He understood the process very well. He had performed it himself numerous times. However, this time he was the one being killed!
Lin Zicheng writhed constantly, hoping to escape the bondage. At the same time, he looked hopefully at Lin Ying, hoping that she would stop his cruel brother at the critical moment and spare him. Although becoming a hazel grouse was tragic, living an ign.o.ble existence was better than death. He did not want to die!