Chapter 71: Following the Adults to Eat Meat

  After wrestling with Wang Lai, it was still very beneficial. An Zhong and Wang Lai came to realize the ferocity of Lin Bei, because great strength is the fastest way to command respect, even An Zhong seemed to not dare be so casual anymore.

  The porters who came with them were also felling trees nearby and witnessed the process with their own eyes, so they also feared Lin Bei as if he was a god.

  "An Zhongzheng, let's gather all the husbands together and get acquainted," Lin Bei wrote suddenly.

  "Alright." Although he didn't know what the Dragon Lord was thinking, An Zhong had no resistant thoughts at this time and immediately followed Wang Lai Cai to shout for people everywhere, letting those civilians come to pay their respects to Lin Bei.

  Lin Bei's heart was a bit apprehensive, although he had already met many people, but these people were either hunters or experienced individuals who had a stronger ability to accept his kind of monster. However, these ordinary villagers were different, they couldn't even read, and many of them had never left Hezhou County their whole lives. Would they be able to accept his existence? Had the previous groundwork been in vain?

  As the villagers gathered, Lin North subconsciously straightened his back, but he didn't expect every villager who arrived to kneel down on the ground and use a big ceremony to greet him. This was an even bigger courtesy than ancient times when meeting officials. Lin North couldn't see their expressions, but none of the villagers were trembling with fear, which meant they weren't extremely afraid of him.

  When An Zhongzhi returned, he saw the scene in front of him and didn't show any surprise. It seemed that this was a matter of course to him. In An Zhongzhi's view, the dragon lord before his eyes was worthy of these villagers' grand courtesy.

  "All right, let them get up." Lin Bei was somewhat uncomfortable, with so many people kneeling on the ground and kowtowing to him, this was something that had never happened before.

  "Get up, all of you."

  "Thank you, sir!" The crowd shouted in unison, although not in perfect synchrony, but it sounded extremely powerful.

  As they stood up, they dared to steal a glance at Lin Bei, their hands tied behind their waists, looking very constrained, with occasional flashes of astonishment in their eyes, this was the shock of seeing Lin Bei in person.

  In Lin Bei's view, these civilians all had a vegetable-like complexion, almost all of them were shabbily dressed, their feet seemed to be wearing grass shoes, and they were all very tattered. Their living conditions must have been extremely poor. Lin Bei also saw that several of the civilians had a cloth bag hanging from their waist, which seemed to contain food.

  Lin Beishan signaled An Zhongzhi to bring over the bag, and upon opening it, indeed found food inside - a kind of yellowish-white dry cake that was extremely hard and cold, without any fragrance, let alone the smell of oil.

  "They eat this?" Lin Bei asked An Zhongzhi: "What is this thing?"

  "This is a pancake made from soybean skin and wheat flour, it's very filling, would you like to try some, adults?"

  Lin Bei really tried, his mouth was big, so a pancake went in without even making a sound, after chewing for a while, Lin Bei frowned, this thing had a very hard and rough surface, and it seemed like it wasn't even cooked, because of the strong raw soybean flavor, which was very pungent, Lin Bei swallowed with great difficulty.

  After finishing this, Lin Bei felt that his idea of preparing food for these civilians was still feasible. This kind of thing, even beggars in modern times wouldn't be able to eat it down. He swung his tail: "Let them go back to work, and also tell them, at noon, oh, two hours later, I will prepare food for them to eat."

  "Food? Adults?" An Zhong's eyes widened in surprise, he remembered explaining it to the adults yesterday.

  "Tell them."

  An Zhong straightened up, coughed a few times, and said in a tone that implied they had made a huge profit: "Listen up, the Dragon Lord has spoken. He wants you to work hard, and two hours later, he'll prepare rich meat dishes for you. I guarantee you'll be full, no need to eat these rough noodles anymore."

  The villagers were initially stunned, then overjoyed.

  "You haven't even thanked His Excellency yet." An Zhong shouted.

  "Thank you, sir." This time the voice was quite loud and clear, it seemed that having something to eat had indeed given him a boost.

  "Alright, everyone get down to work now. Do a good job and don't disappoint the adults. Wang Lai Cai, keep an eye on them."

  The villagers knelt down and worshiped again, then dispersed unusually. Lin Bei didn't see anyone looking unhappy, but instead they all looked excited and happy.

  After the villagers left, Lin Bei let out a sigh of relief. The villagers seemed to have accepted his presence and didn't show any signs of rejection, which was a good start for Lin Bei. As these people from Xishan Village gradually got used to Lin Bei's existence, those who joined later would also silently accept him. Perhaps these people from Xishan Village would even try to spread the word to outsiders, saving Lin Bei a lot of effort.

  Because of this, Lin Bei felt that inviting them to a meal was also worthwhile, so after saying a word to An Zhong, Lin Bei turned around and entered the forest, he had to go hunt for large wild beasts.

  This time, Lin Bei hunted a wild buffalo. The wild buffalo originally lived on the grasslands, but it was clear that the Great Han Dynasty no longer had large-scale grasslands, so the wild buffalo also moved to the forests like the African elephant. However, the number of wild buffaloes was not many. Lin Bei only saw two herds in Mount Fu, with each herd having only thirty or forty heads. The one Lin Bei hunted was an old male buffalo. When he brought it back, Lin Bei thought: In the future, he could organize the people of Xishan Township to develop a breeding base, taking the native species of Mount Fu as the foundation, and vigorously breeding various beasts to satisfy both the food chain of Mount Fu and the stomachs of the people in this era.

  Because Minfu and Liehu were all busy with their work, the task of roasting wild cattle fell on An Zhongzheng, assisted by Lin Bei.

  The bonfire crackled to life, and the savory aroma of roasting meat began to waft through the forest. The smell was so enticing that both hunters and farmers worked with renewed vigor. People in this era were simple folk; a full stomach was already a wonderful thing for them. And through this feast, they also confirmed the effectiveness of catching locusts as a means of making money. After all, when the great dragon lord casually hosted a banquet, wild cows and deer would be served, not to mention a few rabbits and pheasants that could be easily caught. They no longer had any doubts.

  As these people went back at night and spread the word by mouth, the people of Xishan Village unknowingly formed a concept: following Lord Yaolong would mean having meat to eat.