Chapter 65: Chowhound Bai Xiang!
Chapter 65: Chowhound Bai Xiang!
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
Bei Feng knew that he had been too negligent this time. Even before having confirmed the kill, he went to remove the hook.
Right now, a scene of desolation was all that met his eye as he surveyed the yard, causing him to feel an intense headache.
"Bai Xiang, are you alright?"
Bei Feng asked, his concern apparent as he helped the hulking man up.
"It’s not a big deal, just a temporary loss of power. I’ll be fine after some rest," Bai Xiang shook his head dismissively. "That aside… Boss, can this thing be eaten?"
A scary gleam appeared in Bai Xiang’s eyes as he looked expectantly at Bei Feng.
"Sure…"
The corner of Bei Feng’s mouth twitched slightly.
"Oh, that’s great! It would be a waste to throw this gigantic fellow away," Bai Xiang smiled happily.
"It’s too big though… how should we keep it?"
Bei Feng stared at the Variant Giant Salamander, completely at a loss. There was no way this would fit in the fridge…
It was a good thing that there was no expert on wildlife conservation or some kind of marine life professor in the area. Otherwise, Bei Feng and Bai Xiang would most like be facing the prospect of spending the remainder of their life in the worst of jails.
Such a huge Variant Giant Salamander was impossible to find on earth. It would, without question, be treated as a national treasure; a protected animal amongst protected animals!
But now, this ultra rare beast was being discussed about as an ingredient, as though it were only some random chicken or fish. One had to lament the fate of the poor creature, for being reincarnated into such an unlucky life!
"Hmm… I got it!" Bei Feng gestured at Bai Xiang excitedly. "Bai Xiang, come with me!"
Bei Feng went to the back of the yard, near the side door of the mansion and lifted a door-sized board on the ground.
A stairway which led to an underground basement was revealed, which he did not hesitate to descend. As he reached the landing, Bei Feng felt around the walls and found the light switch.
It was an old-fashioned light switch, a faded yellow wire connecting it to a dusty old bulb. As long as the switch was flipped, the bulb would light up.
"Ping!"
Within the dusky basement, a brilliant light flashed once, followed by the sound of an exploding light bulb!
Bei Feng pulled out the piece of glass which had shot into his thigh expressionlessly, the corner of his mouth twitching.
‘I’m really down on my luck lately… could it be that I need to hire a master to turn on my lights for me now?’
The strange image of an old monk helping a prostitute to achieve enlightenment crept into his mind, causing him to shake his head violently. [1]
"Bai Xiang, grab me a new light bulb from the storage room. While you’re at it, tell the three Bei Feng Guards to come help clean this place up," Bei Feng turned around and said in an exasperated tone.
The three Mystics widened their eyes in shock as they passed by the yard and saw the gigantic beast sprawled on the ground.
Mystic One, being the most curious of the three, moved closer to the beast, squatted down by its side and measured it with her eyes.
"Mystic Two, you went to high school right? How did you score for biology?"
Mystic Three nudged him vexatiously as he asked.
"Single digit score," Mystic Two snapped in annoyance. Bloody hell, the guy really knew how to touch his sore spots. If he was good at studying, would he choose to hang out with these idiots in the first place?
"What kind of species is this thing? It looks like a… Chinese Giant Salamander, enlarged many times over?" Mystic Three mumbled in puzzlement.
"That’s impossible! No matter how you frame it, Chinese Giant Salamanders can only reach 2-3 meters at most! God knows where this huge creature sprung from!" Mystic Two rolled his eyes and commented as though he were trying to say, ‘I did not study much, so don’t try to trick me!’
"There’s no water body anywhere near this place at all, so how could such a large creature survive here? Furthermore, it’d appeared so suddenly… could it be something that boss summoned?"
Mystic Three was filled with reverence with regards to his mysterious boss. Not only did Bei Feng hold their lives in his hands, he clearly had the ability to perform all kinds of inconceivable feats!
Various thoughts flew through the three individuals’ minds, but none of them actually spoke out to reject the statement. It was quite clear that this beast’s appearance was somehow related to Bei Feng!
Bai Xiang quickly returned with the light bulb, the three Bei Feng Guards trailing behind him.
Under the faint yellow glow of the light bulb, the dusty basement was revealed to everyone.
The basement was not big, only about five-meter-wide and ten-meter-long. All kinds of junk littered the floor.
With the extra hands, the small basement was quickly tidied up. Within an hour, the basement looked as though it had been transformed. All the junk had been discarded, and it looked more spacious than before.
The floor had also been mopped clean. Bei Feng carried a large piece of thin film into the basement and laid it on the ground.
The group expended all their energy before somehow managing to drag the oversized beast into the basement.
Then, after making everyone back off to a safe distance, Bei Feng directly dropped Extreme Arctic Frost onto the ground.
"Ka, ka!"
Boisterous Frost Qi filled the basement in an instant, swirling about the enclosed area. Any liquid present on the ground also solidified immediately, turning into ice!
With Extreme Arctic Frost as the center, a ring of ice spread outwards rapidly.
"Ping!"
Bei Feng had also retreated from the room. But just as he was about to close the basement’s entrance, he heard a very familiar sound.
"F*ck! The bulb’s burst again!"
Bei Feng had an ugly expression on his face. He resolved to only go down to the basement with a torchlight in the future.
Half an hour went by, and Bei Feng finally recalled Extreme Arctic Frost back into his body.
The basement was now covered in a bluish white, resembling an icy world!
An ugly huge beast which resembled a prehistoric creature lay in the center of this arctic land, looking as though it were merely asleep.
As long as it was kept in the icy basement, this Variant Giant Salamander’s meat would not go bad within a short period of time.
Bei Feng swung a huge chopper at the front limb of the Variant Giant Salamander.
"Dang!"
The chopper which had been advertised with the tag line "there’s nothing that cannot be solved with a good kitchen knife; if there is, you just need two!" actually broke into two!
Bei Feng looked at the less-than-5-cm-deep gash left on the Variant Giant Salamander by his chopper and then at the broken chopper in his hand with a shocked expression.
"This… it’s been frozen to this extent?"
Bei Feng poked the frozen Variant Giant Salamander with his fingers, his eyebrows twitching constantly. It felt like he was poking a chunk of rock!
It was a good thing that he still had the electric cutter from the last time.
"JII!"
A shrill sound emanated from the basement, sounding as though there was some construction work going on there.
Bei Feng looked at the saw blade which had almost broken off expressionlessly, threw it to the side and attached a brand new one onto the cutter.
Ten minutes later, the Variant Giant Salamander’s front limb, as thick as an adult’s waist, was separated from its body.
Bei Feng carried the front limb in his arms and emerged from the icy basement. Then, he further separated the limb into two portions—it was necessary to fit them in the fridge later—and left them in a basin filled with water to thaw.
With that done, Bei Feng finally had the time to fetch a bucket of water from the well to clean himself. Three lines of claw marks extended from his shoulder all the way to his abdomen!
Due to his improved physique, the wound had stopped bleeding long ago. However, waves of pain still ebbed from the area. If the claw had went even a little bit deeper, Bei Feng’s stomach would have been ripped open!
The cold water ran down his naked torso, washing the blood away. Bei Feng scrunched his eyebrows, the stinging of his open wound amplified by the clear water.
‘My body is always hurting because of something. The old injuries had just disappeared, and the new ones are already here.’
Bei Feng didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. The gunshot wounds he had received previously had only just healed and the scars recently lightened, but new scars had already taken their place!
Night fell, and Bei Feng was in the kitchen, pouring boiling water over the two sections of Giant Salamander meat.
The hot water was used specifically to remove the slime which clung to the Giant Salamander’s skin. After that, Bei Feng used his newly bought soft bone cleaver and cut the meat into small cubes, which he then cut into small crescents.
He readied the wok, heating it above a strong fire. After the wok was heated, he added 25 grams of lard oil. Once it started sizzling, he added some diced green onions, garlic and ginger, and then stir fried it until it turned golden.
Then, he added the meat, some cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, sugar and some chicken broth. After some time, as the sauce started to boil, Bei Feng removed a carefully calculated portion of firewood to control the size of the fire, allowing it to burn less strongly. The dish was perfectly maintained at boiling point.
Bei Feng placed the lid over the wok and allowed the dish to cook for 20 minutes. By that time, the meat had just finished cooking and he immediately added more firewood, causing the fire to increase. Then, a small amount of msg was added, along with some starch to thicken the sauce. Finally, another 25 grams of lard oil was added and mixed into the dish. An intoxicatingly fragrant dish of Giant Salamander braised in brown sauce had emerged from the wok, enchanting the soul of any who smelled it.
[1] TL/N: This phrase was popularized around year 2011 because of an incident during the same period, where a monk was found to be visiting a prostitute. When confronted, the monk said that he was not there to receive sexual services, but to deliver the prostitute and help her achieve enlightenment. On the previous sentence, MC was daydreaming about how ridiculous it would be to hire a master to help him 开光—turn on the light. Thus, he came to remember the incident of the monk helping a prostitute 开光—achieve enlightenment.