Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, it was already afternoon; the sun had begun to dip toward the west.
After some effort, Okabe had caught a total of eleven fish, varying in size, with the largest being the length of a forearm.
In addition to these, there was a small quantity of Oriental river prawns hiding in the silt. They were all of decent size, and two out of every three were carrying roe. He placed them inside a bamboo cage.
As for the fish, he strung them together by passing a flexible grass stem through their gills and placed them on the grass some distance away from the water source to prevent them from flopping back in.
However, just as Okabe was preparing to enter the river again to focus on groping for river shrimp in the silt, his ears caught a trace of an unusual sound.
It was the extremely faint sound of a dry branch being stepped on and broken.
His expression changed slightly. He swiftly dove into the water and sat cross-legged, using the duckweed on the surface as cover, exposing only his eyes to quietly observe the movement on the shore.
A dozen seconds later, two sneaky figures appeared in the bushes behind their campsite.
It was people from Adana's team.
Okabe recognized them immediately: the ponytailed man, Cato, and another tall, thin man. At this moment, the two were hunched over sneakily, whispering something to each other.
"Cato, the task Adana gave us was to collect wild ginger and lemongrass, but we came here instead. If Adana finds out, we're done for!"
The tall, thin man's expression was hesitant.
He didn't understand. They could clearly win fair and square in a frontal confrontation, so why did Cato insist on coming here? Just to cause some trouble for their opponents?
But Lady Adana was invincible!
"What do you know? Only by constantly accumulating advantages can we win the competition. Adana has too much womanly benevolence!
Only by snatching away the ingredients they worked hard to obtain can their possibilities be reduced. Sequence 1 is a ticking time bomb after all; we cannot ignore him!"
"But on Adana's side..."
"Idiot, as long as the result is good, Adana will only have praise for us. The others will also view us as role models. This is beneficial for our future development!"
The ponytailed man, Cato, rebuked him angrily, then narrowed his eyes to look at the fish in the campsite, as well as the rough but large shrimp cage placed beside the fish.
The river presented a scene of calm and peace.
'Now!'
Such a thought surfaced in Cato's mind. He had just leaned his body out from the grass and was preparing to take a step...
However, a sharp long spear shot out from the river, speeding precisely toward his direction. It scared him so much he nearly went limp, and he could only stop his steps dead.
He was certain that if he had been just a little bit further forward, his head would have been pierced by this long spear, causing him to lose his life and fall into the Uninterrupted Hell.
There was a gap of merely a few centimeters in between.
"Martial Artist..."
Two words were spat out from his throat with difficulty. The gaze he used to look at Okabe carried horror; evidently, he hadn't expected that this fellow who grew up in the city was a Martial Artist!
Judging by the flight precision of the long spear, the opponent's strength was definitely not low—at least much stronger than him. How was this possible? He came from a primitive tribe, and even in their tribe, he was a warrior!
One must know that to adapt to the cruel survival environment of the wild, people of their tribe would train their bodies under the leadership of the clan elders from a young age to resist attacks from wild beasts.
It could be said that for guys who grew up in this kind of environment, their physical constitution was basically several times that of ordinary people. Yet now, he was actually crushed by a city dweller...
"I'll give you five seconds. Either get the hell out of my territory now, or leave your lives here."
Okabe's figure emerged from the river water.
He looked at the terrified Cato with a chilly gaze, his icy words causing the man to shiver.
The reason he chose to strike at this moment was mainly to intimidate, to prevent these guys from failing to interfere with him and then going to interfere with Soma and the others instead.
Cato's face turned deathly pale under Okabe's icy gaze.
He could clearly feel that the aura radiating from this Chinese youth before him was completely different from the peacefulness during their earlier confrontation!
At this moment, he was like an unsheathed treasure sword, his sharp imposing manner lunging straight at them!
"You..."
Cato's throat was a bit dry. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty and rasped, "You dare to kill people?"
"This is the jungle. There are no cameras, no teachers, only the purest survival of the fittest."
Okabe's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Isn't this exactly the law of the jungle you guys worship? I can make you part of this law at any time."
The tall, thin man was already scared weak in the knees. Now, his body went cold, and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Although they grew up in the forest and were skilled in hunting and wilderness survival, they had never truly crossed swords with a Martial Artist, nor had they ever been threatened so blatantly.
Why did they come here!!?
"We're going! We're going right now!"
The tall, thin man almost screamed the words. Unknown where the strength emerged from in his body, he grabbed Cato's arm and was about to run back.
Cato gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at Okabe, but ultimately, he didn't dare to gamble on whether the other party would truly strike to kill. He turned around and disappeared quickly into the woods with his companion.
Only when the figures of the two had completely vanished from his field of vision did Okabe slowly walk up from the river.
He pulled out the long spear stuck in the ground and checked the spear tip slightly. Cracks had appeared in the stone part; he estimated it would be completely scrapped after another few uses.
"Need to prepare weapons in advance."
Okabe murmured to himself. He glanced at the fish placed in the camp and began to think about the upcoming plan.
The appearance of those two just now—he didn't know if it was an individual action or authorized by Adana. If it was the former, he could pretend it didn't happen; if it was the latter, he needed to take precautions.
"Okabe-kun!"
Just at this moment, Megumi Tadokoro ran out from the forest panting for breath. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Okabe standing there, and she subsequently came before him holding wild vegetables and mushrooms.
"I-I found a lot of ingredients! Look, these are wild onions, this is bracken, and I also found wood ear mushrooms on a withered tree!"
"Ah! O... Okabe-kun, you..."
She placed the vegetables in her arms on the grass and picked them up one by one, excitedly displaying her harvest, her voice even rising quite a bit.
However, the moment she snapped back from her excitement and saw Okabe's appearance clearly, her face suddenly turned completely red.
At this moment, Okabe was wearing only a pair of boxer briefs. And because he had just come out of the water, they looked exceptionally form-fitting, causing her to subconsciously swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"Don't mind it. I went into the river to catch fish just now, so I took off my clothes. Turn around, I'll get changed."
"Ah, okay..."
Detecting Megumi Tadokoro's subtle gaze, Okabe's face also blushed slightly.
He still forced himself to act calm as he asked Megumi Tadokoro to turn around. He took off the boxers, then put on the clothes and trousers he had taken off earlier. Next, he took the removed boxers to the river water to wash them clean and went to a tree branch to the side to hang them up to dry.
Megumi Tadokoro stood to the side.
The sound of Okabe putting on clothes reached her ears.
The blush on her cheeks had not yet faded. To prevent her imagination from running wild, she hurriedly knelt on the ground, pretending to organize the wild vegetables she had just picked, but her heart was beating wildly.
"Speaking of which, when I came back just now, I seemed to hear some movement at the campsite, but it became very quiet after I returned. Did something happen? Okabe-kun."
She asked softly, attempting to divert her attention.
"It was people from Adana's team. They snuck over, seemingly wanting to steal the ingredients we collected, but I've already chased them away."
After hanging up the washed shorts, Okabe walked to the campfire pit and squatted down, starting to use the lighter Soma Yukihira left behind and some dry grass to build a fire.
"Stealing ingredients?! How despicable!"
Megumi Tadokoro turned around anxiously, a look of indignation surfacing on her face: "How could they..."
"Those guys dared to openly claim the place we found was theirs; is there anything they wouldn't dare to do?
I've already taught those two guys who tried to steal ingredients a lesson. They shouldn't come back for a short while. Speaking of which, where did Takumi go? Why didn't he come back with you?"
Looking at the indignant Megumi Tadokoro, Okabe comforted her softly. Thinking of how Takumi had gone out with her but now only she had returned, he opened his mouth to ask.
"We found a patch of wild onions on the slope to the west. He said he wanted to pick some more, so he let me bring back the current harvest first. It's this stuff."
Megumi Tadokoro came back to her senses. As she spoke, she placed the neatly organized wild onions in front of Okabe.
The overall plant was on the small side. The leaves were hollow, shaped like thin triangular prisms, and relatively slender. The root part looked somewhat like a mini garlic head, and below that were the root hairs.
Wild onions were generally more abundant in spring, though they existed in other seasons too. Finding them in the forest was truly lucky.
"I see. Wild onions are out-and-out good stuff, the King of Spring Wild Vegetables. With these, we can actually construct the basic model of the dish."
He glanced at the fish and shrimp collected earlier in the river, as well as the various wild vegetables brought by Megumi Tadokoro, and the most important wild onions.
Okabe threw the dry grass ignited by the lighter into the hay pile prepared earlier, while cupping his hands like a trumpet to blow air into it. The flames soon rose up.
They currently possessed one rabbit, over a dozen fish and some shrimp, and some wild vegetables. However, relying solely on these to make a good dish was almost an impossible task.
'Currently speaking, a main flavor is missing. The reason high-grade cuisine leaves a deep impression is because a certain flavor is exceptionally prominent.'
Such a thought surfaced in Okabe's mind. Subsequently, he looked at Megumi Tadokoro and said, "You've stayed in the forest for so long; did you see any plants that were relatively special, but you weren't sure about them so you didn't pick them in the end?"
"Special but uncertain plants... Now that you mention it, there are indeed a few things in my memory."
Megumi Tadokoro tilted her head slightly:
"Near the rock face to the north, I saw some bushes blooming with small pale yellow flowers. Their leaves gave off a faint camphor scent.
Besides that, on the shallow shoal upstream of the stream, there were plants growing that looked like water dropwort but with rounder leaves.
I tasted a bit of a tender tip. It had a very intense spicy taste, not quite like wasabi. Because I didn't know if it was poisonous, I spat it out immediately after tasting it."
"Pale yellow small flowers, camphor scent... listening to your description, it might be some kind of wild pepper or a variant of Japanese prickly ash. As for that one looking like water dropwort, could it be a plant of the Persicaria genus? Or perhaps wild horseradish?"
Okabe voiced his guess.
During his three years at Ryōzanpaku, he had read quite a few medical books while following Kensei Ma. Inside were descriptions of various spices and medicinal herbs, which were very similar to what Megumi Tadokoro said.
"I'm not sure either..."
Megumi Tadokoro was a bit embarrassed: "Actually, I wanted to pick them at the time, but Takumi said those plants smelled too weird and didn't recommend collecting them, so we didn't touch them."
"Take me to see them."
Okabe stood up decisively and explained to Megumi Tadokoro: "Plants with special tastes can often become the finishing touch of a dish. Especially those of the spicy family; they can remove fishy odors and enhance freshness, while also constructing a brand new layer of taste."
"So, is our next goal to search for spicy-family plants?"
Hearing Okabe's narration, Megumi Tadokoro revealed a thoughtful expression. The plants she saw in the forest surfaced in her mind; if those could be utilized...
"We'll focus on finding spicy-flavored vegetation. If we can't find any, we'll consider other flavor types. The range of choices we possess right now isn't large."
Okabe's expression was serious.
While speaking, he had already arrived in front of Megumi Tadokoro, waiting for her to set off and lead the way.
Megumi Tadokoro, however, turned her gaze to the fire that had just been started not far away and said, "But the fire was just lit. What if it goes out after we leave..."
"It doesn't matter. Takumi will be back soon. When he returns and sees this scene, he'll understand. Even if worst comes to worst, there's still Soma and the others; they're almost at the agreed time too."
"Okay, I'll take you there..."
According to what Megumi Tadokoro said just now, Takumi had stayed on the mountain covered with wild onions to collect more, so he would be back before long.
If it really didn't work out, they could just light the fire again when they returned.
As for the ingredients in the base, after his intimidation just now, even if someone lent Cato a hundred guts, he estimated the guy wouldn't dare to return.
As for encountering other students.
There was that possibility, but the probability wasn't high.
After all, this forest was very large. Everyone dispersed in all directions; it would already be quite good to encounter one or two teams on average in an area.
Some places were even empty of people.
Don't look at the fact that a full 100 people came; putting them into this primitive forest was no different from splashing a basin of water into a river—at most, it would stir up a few ripples.
After leaving the camp, the two passed through the bushes one after another, advancing toward the depths of the forest.
The light in the forest appeared even dimmer than by the riverside. Leaves blocked the sunlight, and the air was humid, mixed with the complex scents of soil, rotting leaves, and various plants.
Occasionally, movement came from the woods as small animals shuttled through the bushes, but Okabe didn't intend to pay them any mind. His attention was all on Megumi Tadokoro.
Or rather, on the direction she was guiding.
"It's this area."
Suddenly, Megumi Tadokoro slowed her steps and raised her hand to point at a shaded rock face: "It's that bush. Inside, it's full of small yellow flowers."
Okabe looked in the direction of her finger.
At the bottom of the moss-covered rock face, some dark green shrubs were indeed climbing, dotted with specks of small pale yellow flowers, exquisite in form.
Okabe immediately stepped forward to inspect them. Subsequently, he smelled a clear and stimulating fragrance, similar to camphor, yet also mixed with a lemon freshness—very unique.
"This is Mountain Litsea, a type of wild pepper, and also a medicinal herb. It has the effects of dispelling cold, relieving pain, strengthening the stomach, eliminating bloating, and treating cold pain in the heart and stomach."
Looking at the plant before him, although there were no fruits, Okabe still recognized its identity. Years ago, he had seen it in a medical book; it possessed very many efficacies.
However, there was a problem now.
That was, this plant was mostly flowers; there were basically no mature fruits. Clearly, it was already late summer; logically speaking, they should have started to mature.
"Let's look around the vicinity. The maturation time of Mountain Litsea is in July and August. This plant not being mature should just be a special case; there is a high probability of mature Mountain Litsea nearby."
Okabe said to Megumi Tadokoro. Since they found one here, there surely must be others around, as the spread range of seeds is limited.
"Then I'll search toward this side. Okabe-kun, you go to the other side."
Hearing Okabe's words, Megumi Tadokoro nodded slightly and went toward the left-hand side of the Mountain Litsea, while Okabe chose the right-hand direction.
Five or six minutes later.
"Okabe-kun, there are mature Mountain Litsea here!"
Megumi Tadokoro's excited voice rang out in the forest. After hearing it, Okabe immediately rushed over, and subsequently saw a branch tip full of green fruits. He immediately stepped forward to pick them.
"Take these with us, then go to that creek area. It's getting late; let's resolve the battle as quickly as possible."
At this moment, there were at most three hours left until dark. After obtaining the Mountain Litsea, the most important thing remaining was that aquatic plant.
He wondered if it could satisfy him.
"Okay, put these here with me."
Megumi Tadokoro nodded slightly, organizing the Mountain Litsea and hugging them in her arms, not caring in the slightest if her clothes would get dirty because of it. She didn't even notice that her face was stained with mud spots.
"There's something on your face."
Megumi Tadokoro not noticing didn't mean Okabe didn't notice. He reached out his hand and scraped it across the young girl's face, only retracting his hand after flicking off the muddy water spots.
"Sorry, I just wanted to scrape off the dirt, I didn't have any thoughts of taking advantage of you."
Retracting his hand, Okabe quickly realized something was wrong. He seemed to have unconsciously done an intimate action to Megumi Tadokoro. Immediately, his face turned completely red and he shifted his gaze away.
"No need to explain, I know! Let's go quickly. The stream is just about three hundred meters to our left; it will probably only take five minutes to get there."
Megumi Tadokoro's face was already thoroughly red. At this moment, she buried her head, not daring to make eye contact with Okabe. At the same time, she silently increased her speed, arriving at the destination in less than three minutes.
The river here was relatively turbulent, the sound of water surging.
Clumps of plants as Megumi Tadokoro described grew on the shoal. The leaves were round, the stems were hollow, and the appearance was indeed similar to water dropwort.
Okabe squatted down, picked a tender leaf, and put it into his mouth, tasting it with a look of anticipation.
In an instant, a sharp and clear spicy sensation exploded on the tip of his tongue, followed by a strange cooling sensation similar to mint, and then a faint astringency.
He savored it carefully, his furrowed brows gradually relaxing.
"It's not water pepper, nor is it horseradish... This level of spiciness is very special—first rushing, then cooling, and finally, there's actually a faint returning sweetness."
Okabe picked another small section of the stem and chewed it: "It carries a numbing sensation and a small amount of bitterness after chewing. High probability it's non-toxic; I'll do a small experiment later to test it."
Moreover, unknown if it was because it was an aquatic plant, the taste was very suitable for pairing with fish. This was the first time he had seen this kind of spice!
Spitting out the stem in his mouth, a look of joy appeared on Okabe's face.
Paired with the Mountain Litsea obtained just now, the two could compose a very rich flavor. Thus, the flavor profile of this dish was also thoroughly finalized by him.
Numbing-Pepper and Spicy!
____
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