The Plant Master Becomes A Mute Sub-Beast: Farming And Laying Eggs

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: The Potted Plant

The merchant caravan stayed at the Fang tribe for one more night, then set off for the Cinder tribe.

Before their departure, a small Sub-Beast, about six or seven years old, parted the crowd, squeezed to the front, and said to Kaelen and Sane:

"Thank you for saving my Papa. I don’t have anything precious, only this pot of red flowers that I have cared for a long time to give to you. I wish you a safe journey."

Kaelen stared intently at the potted plant in the boy’s hands, looking for so long that the boy’s arms holding the pot began to ache. Perhaps thinking that the two captains looked down on his gift, the boy dejectedly lowered his hands.

Just as the boy wanted to apologize, his hands suddenly felt light. Kaelen had bent down, accepting that wooden potted plant, and softly said his thanks. He squatted down to ask the little Sub-Beast:

"This plant is not suited to be grown in this climate, how did you do it?"

The little Sub-Beast blushed, replying shyly: "It is indeed very hard to keep alive. I planted five of them, but only this one survived. I placed it in a hidden corner near the cave entrance, then watered it with warm water once every three days. When the Snow season arrives, I will place it near my bed, that way the heat radiating from the charcoal fire won’t let it freeze to death."

Kaelen smiled, rubbing the boy’s head: "You did very well. This is a return gift from me."

Kaelen took an ivory hairpin out from the pouch at his waist; on it was mounted a purified Fire-attribute magic core.

The little Sub-Beast looked at the beautiful hairpin before his eyes, frantically waving his hands: "No, no, no, I cannot accept this. This was originally my thank-you gift, how could I make you give a return gift?!"

Kaelen smiled, placed the potted plant on the ground, then gently pinned the ivory hairpin into the boy’s hair bun. He patted the little Sub-Beast’s shoulder and said:

"The thing you gave me is far more valuable than you think. This is something you deserve, so accept it with peace of mind."

The little Sub-Beast sniffled: "Thank you, Sir Cael."

Kaelen rubbed the boy’s head, held the potted plant, and stood up, turning to look at the boy’s two fathers and Chief Braeden:

"After Crimson’s agricultural production squad arrives, let the boy follow them to learn. In the future, he might be an outstanding Master Planter."

Even though the little Sub-Beast’s two fathers didn’t understand what a Master Planter profession was, their son receiving the recognition of a highly respected Priest disciple still made them overjoyed, repeatedly bowing their heads in gratitude.

The Crimson group resumed their journey. The children gathered around the potted plant to examine it; Finnick and Ryder were even made to sneeze continuously by the pungent smell of the red fruits. Ryder covered his nose:

"Papa, what is this thing? It smells worse than wild onions!"

Chloe poked her head out to look and said: "I’ve seen this before, its fruits have many colors. There are green, yellow, orange, and red ones. But it’s poisonous, just getting it on the skin will cause a burning sensation immediately."

The children were instantly terrified and backed away.

Kaelen burst into laughter: "It’s not a poisonous fruit, it’s edible. The name of this thing is chili pepper!"

Sane turned his head to look closely, saying with a bit of disbelief: "Is this the bright red sauce that burns the mouth when eaten, which you used to eat in your illusion?"

Kaelen nodded: "That’s exactly it. The things I ate were chili sauce, chili salt, and chili oil. And this is its original form. If added directly to food or fish sauce, I can only eat a few small slices."

Indeed, the thing the little Sub-Beast gave Kaelen was a bird’s eye chili plant, with clusters of bright red fruits arranged alternately, looking incredibly eye-catching. Near the base, there were also a few mature fruits that had turned a plum purple color.

Kaelen took scissors out of his chest, cut off all the ripe red fruits, leaving behind the ones that were still green or slightly tinged with red. He said to Sane:

"I need to extract the chili seeds. This thing will irritate the Snake clan and the Big Cat family, you should carry the children to sit in the front cart for now."

Sane hurriedly picked the little ones up and jumped over to Aaron’s cart to hitch a ride.

Kaelen put on animal skin gloves, held the chili stems, used the scissors to cut lengthwise along the flesh, and carefully separated the chili seeds inside. While extracting the chili seeds, he had to be careful not to touch the flesh, nor let the essential oils in the chili splatter onto his skin, eyes, or nose; otherwise, he would suffer chili burns.

Chili burns cause prolonged pain and burning sensations no different from fire burns; in severe cases, they can cause skin ulceration and blindness.

After extracting all the chili seeds, Kaelen spread them evenly onto a tray, then placed them outside the shaded area of the ox cart’s canopy, utilizing the near-noon sunlight to dry the seeds. For the remaining flesh, Kaelen planned to wait until they set up camp to dry it, using it to make chili powder and chili oil.

As for the chili sauce, there were two methods. The first method was unfeasible because they didn’t have tomatoes.

The second method was precisely fermentation. This method had to wait until they returned to the tribe to be done, because he currently didn’t bring enough ingredients and fermentation tools.

During the process of Kaelen extracting the chili seeds, the chili smell drifting from his cart made the beastman warriors on both sides sneeze continuously. They were all secretly wondering if the High Priest was concocting a poison.

After finishing the extraction of the chili seeds, the corners of Kaelen’s eyes were also slightly red. He hurriedly lifted all the animal skin curtains covering the four walls and also took down the partition screen to let the pungent smell dissipate. At this moment, the number of sneezing people increased by a few more.

The journey to Cinder required two days. That evening, everyone set up camp in an empty clearing beside the stone road.

Kaelen asked Sane to build him an earthen tripod stove far away from the camping area and downwind from them. Then, he took out gas masks, handing one to Sane and taking one for himself. Once prepared, he began drying the chilies using the deep iron pan the merchant caravan brought along.

First, he spread a layer of coarse salt at the bottom of the pan, heating it over a large fire until the salt was hot. Next, he pulled out some firewood to leave only a simmering low heat, poured the chilies into the pan, and stirred them evenly and continuously. A few curious warriors intended to approach, but were instantly made to sneeze continuously by the pungent smell in the air, their tears and snot running messily.

Seeing them run back crying, Aaron smirked mockingly: "I told you not to go over there. Didn’t you see that both the High Priest and the Chief had to wear gas masks?"

A warrior wiped his tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears flowed out. He shouted despairingly:

"I know it now, the High Priest crafted this drug to target the enemy; as long as they cry non-stop, their vision will be blurred. We can just ride the momentum and charge forward!"

Finnick, who was sprawling on the ground teasing Chloe, snifforted upon hearing this: "You’re thinking too much, my Papa is just making food."

The whole group instantly entered a state of high alert: "Could it be that the Chief and the High Priest are too desperate and no longer want to live, so they’re conveniently taking the whole tribe to be buried with them?"

Aaron burst into laughter: "Does anyone intending to poison people concoct the poison right in front of them? You guys should form a theatrical troupe like the High Priest once said, who knows, you might just become famous across the continent."

The children laughed until they tumbled left and right. The warriors embarrassedly rubbed their noses, feeling they truly overthought things. Then, with a bit of anticipation, they said:

"Every dish coming from the High Priest’s hands is a delicacy. I wonder what he intends to make this time?"

"What he is making, we’ll know in a bit. Alright, stop chatting. Hurry up and finish pitching the tents."

Sane and Kaelen knew nothing of the matters at the campsite; they were solely focused on drying the chilies. Under the heat of the fire and salt, the chilies gradually shrank and became crispy.

Kaelen used his hands to snap a chili as a test. Seeing that the water inside had completely dried up, he began to use a slotted spoon to filter the chilies out separately.

This time going out, he had brought along a medium-sized stone mortar and two small ones, originally intending to trade them, but now he changed his mind and kept the medium one to make chili powder. One-third of the dried chilies were stored away for cooking; the remaining two-thirds were ground into powder, half used to make chili oil, and the other half for chili salt.

After grinding those chilies, Kaelen took half and put it into a large ceramic basin, mixing it with salt, sugar, and fish sauce. Next, he drizzled in a tablespoon of melted pork fat at room temperature. This cold oil layer acted as a protective barrier to prevent the chili flakes from thermal shock and burning when boiling oil was poured in.

He put about 250ml of melted pork fat and all of the shallots, garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, and Sima seeds into the pan while the fat was still cold. He simmered it slowly for about 8 to 10 minutes. Soaking in warm oil helped the herbs release their maximum aroma without burning too quickly.

When he saw the shallots and garlic turn a dark golden brown and the oil emitting a rich fragrance, he used a sieve to scoop out all the spice residues and discard them, keeping only the clear oil.

He turned off the stove, letting the oil cool down for about 1 minute (the standard temperature is around 170–180°C).

Batch 1: Pour 1/3 of the oil into the chili bowl; the mixture will boil up vigorously and take on a bright red color. Use a spoon to stir evenly.

Batch 2: After 30 seconds, pour in another 1/3 of the oil to extract the pungent heat from the chili seeds.

Batch 3: Pour the remaining oil in to blend all the flavors together.

Only after waiting for the mixture to cool completely could it be stored in a ceramic jar.

As for the chili salt, he crushed the salt previously used to dry the chilies and set it aside. Dried shrimp and garlic were added and crushed so the mixture was moderately mashed, not a mushy paste like porridge. He put all the crushed mixtures, including salt, dried shrimp, garlic, and chili powder, into a bowl and mixed them evenly with a bit of sugar. He let it sit for about fifteen minutes for the mixture to absorb the color and aroma.

Heating the pan over medium heat, he poured the newly mixed batch in and used a wooden spatula to stir continuously. Seeing a lot of steam evaporating, he immediately lowered the fire to the minimum level, continuing to stir for another twenty minutes.

At this point, the salt grains would gradually dry up, loosen, and turn a glossy pink-orange color.

After turning off the stove, he still continued to stir for another 2-3 minutes because the pan’s hot bottom could burn the salt. Letting the salt cool completely until it no longer felt warm to the touch, he then transferred it into a ceramic jar.

By the time everything was finished, the chef squad at the campsite had finished cooking the noodles and was preparing to call them back to eat. Kaelen and Sane packed up their things and brought their finished products back.

Kaelen placed the jar of chili oil on the table, saying:

"Everyone take two drops each to test whether you can eat spicy food or not; after that, those who can’t eat it can leave it, and those who can should put a small spoonful into your noodles, mix it well, and eat."

He then reached out to scoop up Finnick, who was creeping close to the chili oil jar, and said: "You cannot, children under two years old should not eat spicy food."

Ryder asked timidly: "Can I eat it?"

Kaelen nodded: "You can, but you must test your reaction first; if you can’t bear it, you shouldn’t eat it."

A chef immediately took a spoon, distributing a few drops clinging to the tip of the spoon to everyone. Once distributed, everyone then tasted it. Experiencing such a taste bud-stimulating thing for the first time, the majority of the people couldn’t handle it and had to slurp a mouthful of noodle broth to alleviate it.

A few people couldn’t accept it, feeling an indescribable burning sensation on their tongues, and dared not touch it a second time. But there were some who, after drinking the noodle broth, actually liked this flavor.

"High Priest, I feel I can eat it. Just now when I tasted the oil... ah, the chili oil, I felt the noodle broth seemed tastier."

"I feel the same!"

"Me too!"

Kaelen nodded, waiting for everyone to give their comments before telling the kitchen to divide the chili oil into three small jars, handing them to everyone to use themselves. For the first time, they couldn’t eat much, limited to only one small spoonful per person.

Ryder buried his head in his bowl of noodles, slurping loudly. Every now and then, he opened his mouth, drawing in breaths due to the spiciness in his mouth, then continued to grab noodles to eat. It seemed this little brat could handle spicy food.

Kaelen also scooped half a spoonful for himself. Oh well, he liked eating spicy food but couldn’t eat it too spicy; he could only add a little bit to satisfy his craving. Sane didn’t touch it at all.

Previously in Kaelen’s illusion, he had foolishly tried eating it; at that time, he truly wanted to chop his tongue right off.

A beastman finished eating his noodles, rubbed the sweat on his nose, and said:

"High Priest, in the future when cooking food, can you add this thing in?"

Kaelen took a sip of broth before leisurely replying: "If you want to eat it, add it to your own portion; it cannot be added while cooking. Some people can’t eat spicy food, some eat a little spice, and some eat a lot of spice. If chili is added in, who gets to eat and who doesn’t?"

The beastman smiled awkwardly.