Bo Tu sized up Xiao Xun, thinking: I haven't seen him in a few days, but his appearance and his mouth have changed.
"I wonder what guidance Prince Svyin has for me this time?"
Xiao Xun's lips curved upwards, "Guidance is too much to say, I just want to borrow some food."
Bo Tu's gaze was piercing, surprised that the other party was so direct and thoughtless, "Prince Svyin, are you kidding me?"
Seeing that Bo Tu made no move to offer him a seat, Xiao Xun found a place to sit himself, crossed his legs, just like when he was collecting debts, as if the Beastmen owed him something.
"What do you mean?"
Bo Tu looked at this self-important Human commander, "Everyone knows that Santiloman and Midia are bordering each other. This place is less than thirty li from your border. If you leave now, you can get there before nightfall. Do you need to borrow food from me?"
Xiao Xun glanced at Bai Yang, who was standing behind him, then turned to Bo Tu, "General, is the camp short on food? That's right, after all, there's a long mountain road from your territory."
Bo Tu gritted his teeth, "How could that be? Our supplies are abundant, enough for the army to eat for half a year."
Xiao Xun put his legs down upon hearing this, "If that's the case, why are you unwilling to lend us some? We are just borrowing, not not repaying."
Bo Tu slammed the table and said magnanimously, "It's just food! How much do you want to borrow?"
Xiao Xun thought about it, if there were no accidents, three days' worth of rations should be enough to last until the subsequent supply transport.
"Eighty thousand men, three days of food."
Bo Tu let out a hearty laugh, "I thought you wanted more. No problem, our Beastmen wolfmen are all excellent hunters, tauren are skilled farmers, and shamans can pray for good weather. We have plenty of food, vegetables, and meat."
Seeing Bo Tu's boasting, Xiao Xun, with the mindset of exploiting a wealthy patron, said, "Since your Beastmen are so capable, I wonder if your cooking is good?"
"That is naturally the delicacy of the world."
Xiao Xun's gaze fell on Bo Tu's table. He picked up a fork from the table, speared a piece of meat, and put it into his mouth. He chewed it gently and swallowed with difficulty, "Although the food is borrowed, I can't just take it for nothing. How about this! I'll cook you a meal, so you can taste what true deliciousness is."
The Beastmen ate for sustenance and had no pursuit of flavor, but Bo Tu had long heard that Human cooking was a hundred times better than Beastmen cooking and had always wanted to try it. What difference could the same ingredients make if cooked by different people?
"Since Prince Svyin has said so, I accept your offer. Please proceed!"
Bo Tu had soldiers bring over cooking utensils, a stove, and the available ingredients. Xiao Xun looked at the ingredients and knew Bo Tu wasn't lying, only that the cooking utensils were a bit lacking, with only one pot.
Xiao Xun picked up a white jar, "Besides salt, are there no other seasonings?"
Bo Tu nodded. Xiao Xun was in a difficult situation, "It's truly a clever cook who can't cook without ingredients!"
But he had boasted, so how could he not show some real skill?
Xiao Xun asked the Beastmen soldiers to prepare a skewer for him. Although these people didn't know what their commander wanted this for, they still prepared it for him.
Xiao Xun cut the meat into small cubes according to lean and fat, and threaded them onto skewers one by one.
He placed forty skewers on the stove, constantly flipping them as they grilled. When they were half-cooked, he brushed on a layer of oil, sprinkled some salt, and continued to grill. When they were eight to nine parts cooked, he brushed on another layer of oil.
"If only I had some cumin powder and chili flakes."
The fire reddened his face, and sweat quickly dripped down.
These Beastmen soldiers, including Bo Tu, were stunned. They hadn't expected meat to be heated in such a way. They usually roasted an entire animal and then shaved off the best meat with a small knife for the general and other high-ranking officers.
At this moment, the grilled meat sizzled, and a drop of hot oil slowly slid down the rich grain of the meat.
Xiao Xun handed the grilled skewers to Bo Tu, "Try it!"
Bo Tu reached out to take the skewer, but Xiao Xun shook his head and patted his hand, "Come, learn from me."
He picked up a skewer, put it in his mouth, and pulled the skewer out, "See? Eat it like this."
Bo Tu imitated Xiao Xun and took a bite. He was instantly conquered by the taste of the skewers – tender, crispy, and savory all at once. It was truly delicious!
The soldiers around Bo Tu couldn't help but drool, especially the tauren who didn't eat meat.
The forty skewers were almost eaten in one go. Bo Tu smacked his lips, still wanting more, "It's indeed different. Your Human race does have some skills. How about this! You don't have to return the food, but you have to give me thirty cooks from your camp."
Xiao Xun thought about it, this was a profitable deal, but business required reciprocity. If he agreed to thirty immediately, wouldn't the other party feel awkward?
Thinking of this, he put on a look of difficulty, "General, it's not that I disagree, but we have very few cooks. Cooking is also a skill. If you want thirty at once, even if we have food, we will go hungry!"
Bo Tu, being very understanding, extended two fingers, "Then twenty."
Xiao Xun suppressed a smile, "Twenty is no problem, but exchanging those twenty cooks who can make delicious food for three days' worth of food just doesn't seem fair."
Bo Tu thought, why is this person so troublesome? "Then what does Prince Svyin mean?"
Xiao Xun directly extended five fingers, "We are allies, and we should help each other. You and I get along well, so let's not be so polite. Five days of food for twenty cooks."
Bo Tu nodded, "No problem, but you have to grill me another one of those skewered meats."
Xiao Xun clapped his hands, "Good, it's a deal."
While threading meat skewers, Xiao Xun asked Bo Tu, "We have a lot of rats around here lately. Do you have any way to drive them away or exterminate them?"
Bo Tu licked his lips, "Rats! A lot?"
Xiao Xun saw the other party's excited look, "Very many. They ate all ten days of my food in less than ten minutes."
Bo Tu's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Great! I haven't eaten rat meat in a while. Roasted rat meat is the best food I've ever tasted."
The thought of eating rats made Xiao Xun feel nauseous, "If you're willing, take them all away, don't be polite with me."
And so, the Beastmen escort officer, with five days of grain and a rat-catching team, headed towards Kache.
The grain officer was so excited upon seeing the food that he almost knelt down.
The Grand Commander had long ordered the city gates opened to welcome Xiao Xun into the city.
"Prince Svyin, how did you persuade the Beastmen to lend us food?"
Xiao Xun looked at the Grand Commander, feeling quite proud, "It wasn't borrowed, it was exchanged!"
"Exchanged?"
The Grand Commander was bewildered, "Exchanged for what?"
"Twenty cooks. I'll pick twenty from your logistics department and send them to the Beastmen later."
After saying this, he followed the Beastmen escort officer to the place where the Phoenix Army stored its grain.
Seeing the rat holes all over the ground, Xiao Xun believed the grain officer. He said to the rat-catching team beside him, "Do you have any way to catch all these rats in one go?"
In Xiao Xun's memory, catching rats was usually the job of cats, and the rat-catching team didn't have a single cat.
The captain of the rat-catching team didn't answer, but took out a vial of medicine from his bag. He placed a piece of meat on the ground and poured the medicine onto it.
Xiao Xun sniffed, but smelled nothing, so he stood aside and watched their performance.
As the medicine infinitely amplified the aroma of the meat, the rats, who had been waiting for an opportunity as large quantities of food were being stored, could no longer resist. They swarmed out of their holes.
The members of the rat-catching team cast spells simultaneously, and a huge black net descended from the sky. The mesh was very dense, and it was extremely fast.
Facing the 'heavenly net and earthly snare,' the dense rats had no time to dodge, and the rat-catching team quickly caught them all.
Xiao Xun felt his scalp tingle and felt disgusted by the dense, squeaking rats.
The captain of the rat-catching team was thanking Xiao Xun, while Xiao Xun just wanted them to take the rats away quickly.
By the time they finished, it was already evening. With the food crisis resolved, Xiao Xun's mood improved considerably.
He ordered the logistics department to build the granary on steel plates and assigned dedicated personnel to guard it twenty-four hours a day. He also instructed them to store the food properly, protecting it from moisture, fire, insects, and rats.
If anything similar happened again, the entire logistics department would be made into rations for the army.