Chapter 44: Chapter 40: Unexpected Harvest
Three days later.
On a sunny afternoon, Luo De saw Man Xiu off.
He promised Man Xiu that the next time he came, he would be richly rewarded.
He also hoped Man Xiu could bring some slaves, especially quality ones like craftsmen.
Man Xiu agreed wholeheartedly, then embarked on his journey home.
All the slaves were wholeheartedly devoted to building the water channel.
Luo De wanted a fish pond with running water, which required two channels: one for inlet and one for outlet.
As for where to build the inlet, Luo De had already decided.
At the River Bay located upstream of Blue River.
The outer curve of the river there has strong erosive power and fast flow, with little sediment accumulation, ensuring no siltation for future channel construction.
At the same time, the terrain there is higher than most of the farmland but not higher than Frost Leaf Town.
This way, the water can flow naturally downward without threatening the town, even when the water level rises.
And the other outlet channel functions as a flood discharge channel, preventing the pond from overflowing into the farmland.
The flood discharge channel is half a meter lower than the pond’s banks, allowing excess water to flow through, bypassing the farmland and returning to the River Bay.
Of course, a net will be set up in the flood discharge channel to prevent fish from escaping.
On another side, the inlet at the River Bay will also have a buffer area to prevent future water rises.
Luo De ordered the slaves to dig continuously from the River Bay towards the fish pond, with a deep trench of one and a half meters winding forward like a giant snake.
Luo De returned to his familiar Blacksmith Shop, continuously forging Armor-Piercing Arrowheads.
After ten days of continuous effort, Luo De managed to stockpile twenty arrowheads in the nearby box.
At that moment, new information interrupted Luo De.
Thanks to Gang Le’s persistent search, the Desert Wolf pack was finally located.
After a fierce battle, almost all of them were slaughtered, and the Wolf King was pierced into a sieve with seven Armor-Piercing Arrows.
The massive size of the Wolf King was astonishing, with a body length close to three meters, shoulder height over one and a half meters, and deep gray fur with silver streaks shining with oil.
When the wolf pack was being wiped out, this Wolf King even attempted to flee but was surrounded by Alya and others waiting in ambush, eventually falling under the Armor-Piercing Arrows.
If it were just these, Luo De wouldn’t stop digging the channel and personally visit the Desert Wolf habitat.
What attracted Luo De was the discovery by Gang Le and others of a purple gem larger than a pigeon egg in the Wolf King’s cave.
Yet another Extraordinary Gem.
Unlike the diamond-shaped Life Gem, this purple gem was like a smooth pebble with a slippery but icy touch, causing Luo De to shiver when he touched it.
No matter how cold it was, Luo De still pried it off the stone wall.
Even if an Extraordinary Gem fell into a cesspit, Luo De would fish it out.
After obtaining it, Luo De learned the information about this Extraordinary Gem.
Spirit Gem, which enhances mental perception when worn and can absorb surrounding free Magic Energy, improving constitution.
Luo De roughly understood Magic Energy as the energy used by Spellcasters when casting spells.
But Luo De was unsure what would happen when he absorbed Magic Energy.
The Life Gem could directly increase the efficiency of Luo De’s Breathing Technique, so improving constitution with Magic Energy should also indirectly boost speed?
Or mutate like the Wolf King?
The bloodline and physical constitution of humans and beasts are different.
Would he become a Warlock?
Luo De was confused but held a slight expectation.
If he had Avril’s ability to create clones, he wouldn’t just be a ’radio station’.
Of course, Luo De didn’t visit just to see the purple gem.
He thought whether the place with Extraordinary Gems might have some other minerals due to the gem.
The answer was no, the system just identified it as a stone mine.
Luo De also thought it might be a burial site and spent half a day digging around with Gang Le and others.
They did dig up a regular skeleton but found no constructed luxurious tomb.
Ultimately, they had to give up.
Rein continued to clear surrounding beasts with the Hunting Team, while Gang Le led twenty slaves to mine salt.
The journey to the salt mine was far, so to improve transportation efficiency, Luo De decided to refine the salt on site and transport consumable salt directly.
Edible salt in this era was far less refined than in Luo De’s previous life; it could be consumed after grinding, filtering, boiling, and drying, and the refining process wasn’t a secret—many nobles had learned it.
Avril had also learned, while Vivian guided the slaves on the other side.
Luo De just instructed some details in the town, such as digging large stone pots for boiling and drying, which were resistant to corrosion, couldn’t be eroded by salt water, and could be used for a long time.
After processing the wolf pack’s bodies, they harvested twenty-three wolf pelts, nearly a thousand pounds of wolf meat, and over three hundred pounds of entrails.
Wolf pelts were processed and kept for trade, wolf meat was all cured and dried into jerky, while the entrails were an extra meal for the slaves.
Although the entrails were strong-smelling and foul, such real meat meals provided more energy for work, and no one dared to complain.
In this era, food was precious; no one wasted even a bit of food, and bones had to be used for broth after the meat was stripped off.
Now with Luo De around, even the bones after broth had to be smashed for compost.
Of course, the wolf pelts, wolf meat, and entrails didn’t include those from the Wolf King.
Though the Wolf King’s pelt didn’t compare to a Two-legged Flying Dragon’s, it was sufficient to make one or two pieces of excellent Leather Armor, which paired with Chain Armor offers significant defense.
Since the dream of spicy dragon innards was shattered, Luo De had been brooding over it.
The Wolf King’s entrails certainly didn’t compare to a Two-legged Flying Dragon’s, so Luo De had to settle.
He had the guards set up a large iron pot in the manor, add firewood to heat, and melt wild boar fat, putting spices and chili into the pot to sizzle, adding chopped wolf entrails and sliced wolf meat, continuously stir-frying, then adding salt, ale, and ample water to stew.
Luo De personally handled the entire process, leaving everyone in the manor astonished.
They had never seen such a cooking method.
This era also had stews but in a much simpler form.
Chefs typically put ingredients directly into the pot to simmer slowly, adding spices directly rather than stir-frying like Luo De did first to bring out the aroma.
But no one was foolish — the aroma of spices and chili during the stir-fry filled the air from the pot.
Even before the pot was opened, the guards were casually circling around it.
The moment the wooden lid was lifted, the steaming hot vapor rolled out with a spicy aroma, the bright red broth bubbling with a "glu-glu" sound.
Luo De couldn’t wait to scoop a small bowl; the hot spicy aroma hit him, making him exhale deeply.
"Delightful!"
Luo De quickly grabbed the pancakes, soaking them in the broth and pairing with tender, springy wolf innards; in no time, he had filled his belly with a bowl.
Though Luo De lost his noble elegance at that moment, he gained happiness!
The guards beside him couldn’t help but swallow, even Durant couldn’t help but smirk.
Naturally, Luo De didn’t intend to enjoy the pleasure alone, immediately motioning everyone to dig in.
In no time, a large crowd surrounded the steaming iron pot, eating heartily and enjoying themselves.
Martha noticed everyone’s liking and pleaded with Luo De to teach her this cooking method.
Luo De wasn’t stingy, patiently explaining the essentials and precautions to her.
After learning, Martha passed it on to other women who cooked, and the slaves also got to enjoy the spicy wolf stew.
Half a pound of wolf innards could stew a big pot of spicy broth, with some wild vegetables added as a side dish, paired with black bread.
Many slaves fell in love with this dish, with no more complaints about the smell and stench.
Spring plowing was nearing its end, and Luo De checked the progress of his [Crop Lord], which stood at four thousand three hundred and fifty-one acres.
Missing over six hundred forty acres to unlock the entry.
Would Luo De tolerate this?
Even if Black Pine Ridge only had saline soil left, Luo De had to make up those six hundred forty acres!
Of course, there was still plenty of land in Black Pine Ridge.
He gathered scattered lands around Frost Leaf Town to plant vegetables, then opened three hundred acres of land beside the inlet channel for cultivation.
Though the sowing time would be a bit late, it was necessary for the entry.