Chapter 61: Seeking Shelter

By the campfire, Lin Heng used a stick to push the Beggar’s Chicken out of the ashes. The yellow clay on the outside was already cracked and dry, indicating that it was ready.

After airing it for a while, he brought the whole clay ball to the creek, smashed it open, and peeled off the leaves, revealing the fragrant Beggar’s Chicken.

Compared to direct roasting, this method made the chicken more tender and juicy. One had a special wild pepper aroma, while the other had a sweet scent of wild raspberries.

“Come, try it!”

Lin Heng tore off a piece of the pepper-flavored pigeon meat, dipped it in chili powder, and handed it to Xiulan.

“It’s delicious, the meat is so tender, it’s so fragrant!”

Xiulan’s eyes lit up as she enjoyed the flavor. For her, just eating pigeon meat was a treat, but the tenderness of this meat was simply divine.

Lin Heng also took a piece and couldn’t help but praise it: “This milk pigeon is extraordinary.”

The pepper-flavored one was perfect for dipping in chili, while the other, with a raspberry flavor, needed no seasoning—just tear it apart and eat. The tender meat melted in the mouth, complemented by the subtle sweetness of raspberries.

“It’s a pity Xiaoxia isn’t here, she’d love this.”

As Xiulan ate the pigeon meat, she thought of their daughter.

In an era where food was scarce, and people barely managed to fill their stomachs, a meal like this could bring tears of gratitude.

“It’s fine, I’ll catch one for her when we head back,” Lin Heng chuckled. He smiled foolishly at the sight of his wife’s satisfied expression.

“By the way, are you planning to stay here tonight?”

Xiulan turned and asked, still sitting with her feet in the water, holding a piece of meat to feed her husband.

She had noticed Lin Heng’s intentions when she left in the afternoon but hadn’t asked.

“Yes, it rained yesterday, and it won’t rain today. The weather won’t be cold tonight, so I thought I’d stay here and see if I can hunt something bigger.”

Lin Heng nodded. The temperature was over 30°C during the day, and at night, a sheltered spot wouldn’t be too cold.

In this remote gorge, he figured larger prey might appear at night. Few people visited this place in this season, so he decided to take advantage of it, hoping for a surprise.

“Then we should find a cave or something before dark,” Xiulan said.

“Definitely, we have about two and a half hours until sunset. Finish the pigeon, and then we can head out.”

Lin Heng nodded.

Xiulan ate a bite, then handed the rest of the pigeon to Lin Heng, saying crisply, “Here, I can’t eat any more.”

Lin Heng glanced at her and said, “Hurry up, I don’t believe you.”

Xiulan looked a little helpless, tearing off a small piece, then shoved a large chunk toward Lin Heng’s mouth. “Open up!”

“Last piece.”

Under her earnest gaze, Lin Heng reluctantly opened his mouth and then stood up and ran off.

Xiulan gave him an innocent look, then finished the remaining half of the pigeon herself. She only worried that Lin Heng hadn’t eaten enough—after all, who could fail to finish such a small pigeon in this era?

“Woof woof~~”

Xiong Ba lazily got up from a rock, seemingly signaling that they hadn’t saved any for him.

After finishing the meal, Lin Heng and Xiulan walked upstream to find a place to rest for the night in the gorge.

“We can build a wooden house here for the winter. If we have nothing to do, we can stay for a couple of days,” Lin Heng said, admiring the beautiful scenery of the gorge.

“Forget it, we don’t have any trees here. Others will probably take over,” Xiulan shook her head, thinking it was a bad idea.

“True!”

Lin Heng sighed, momentarily letting go of that dream.

“Hey, look, there’s a lion’s mane mushroom!”

Suddenly, Xiulan exclaimed, discovering a fist-sized mushroom under a fallen tree.

“Really?”

Lin Heng turned around, and Xiulan had already picked it up. It was snow-white with tiny spines covering the surface.

“This place is a treasure! We found Lingzhi on the north slope, and now we find lion’s mane mushrooms in the south.”

Xiulan exclaimed. Lion’s mane mushroom is one of China’s famous wild delicacies, with the saying “Mountain delicacies like lion’s mane, ocean delicacies like bird’s nest.”

Its market price is slightly lower than matsutake mushrooms—wet mushrooms cost about two yuan per pound, and dried ones cost eight yuan. While not as rare as Lingzhi, it’s still highly valued.

“Quick, let’s look for more!”

Xiulan urged. Lion’s mane mushrooms appear in the spring and autumn, and in suitable environments, they are fairly abundant.

“I found another one! This one’s at least a pound!”

Lin Heng took a few steps and found another one, the size of a ball, its spines already turning yellow.

“This place must have been picked by someone before. Look here.”

Xiulan pointed to the ground, where there were signs of decayed lion’s mane mushrooms.

“That’s normal. Lion’s mane mushrooms are harvested in spring, so someone probably came by half a month ago. Let’s see if there are any left.”

Lin Heng wasn’t surprised by this.

Lion’s mane mushrooms are so white that you can spot them from a distance, unlike Lingzhi, which is dark red and hard to see unless you’re close.

After searching around, the two found a few more hidden lion’s mane mushrooms on fallen trees, but the ones on the trunks had already been harvested.

“Not bad, we’ve gathered about four or five pounds,” Xiulan said, smiling. This was an unexpected delight.

“Come fall, we’ll come earlier and probably gather a lot more.”

Lin Heng nodded, then pointed to a triangular cave ahead, grinning. “We found our shelter too.”

The cave, formed by two cliffs, was about three meters deep and five square meters in area.

“Others have probably stayed here before, but we can clean it up and rest.”

Xiulan nodded. The cave entrance had a thorny barrier, and inside, pine needles had been spread. There were also traces of fire.

“Right.”

Lin Heng went in first, using a stick to turn over the pine needles to check for bugs or scorpions. Only when he was sure it was safe did he gesture for Xiulan to come in.

After a quick cleanup, Xiulan spread out some plastic sheets to use as a bed for the night.

Lin Heng chopped some firethorn branches to refurbish the thorny fence, then gathered firewood in case it rained and they needed a fire.

After a brief arrangement, their shelter was set up, and they were sure they could stay the night without any issues.

“Alright, let’s go back and bring our stuff,” Lin Heng said to Xiulan.

The mushrooms they had picked in the morning were all processed by Xiulan and were now drying in the sun, likely half-dried by now. The shelter wasn’t far, only about 500 meters away.

“By the way, where’s Xiong Ba?”

Xiulan suddenly asked.

“Hey? Where’s that stupid dog?”

Lin Heng just realized that the dog hadn’t followed them.

(End of Chapter)