It took a lot of strength to jam the forked stick into the hard earth. Tian’s fingers were thin, small, and mostly missing. What there was left had to strain as much as they could. His aim wasn’t great. The fork caught the adder, but not close enough to the head. The snake was still held by the noose, but after the first try, Tian didn’t feel like it was reliable. He could easily imagine it getting loose, whipping around and biting him with those long, thin fangs. Nothing for it- he would break the snake's spine behind the fork, and work his way up to the head if he needed to.
It was brutal, gory work. Tian didn’t even frown as the crunch of vertebrae spread along the pond banks. It wasn’t nearly as gorey as killing rats or foxes. Nothing to be upset about. The snake looks dead after the first bashing, but Tian didn’t take a chance on it. He pulled the forked stick out of the dirt, slid it over the grass to just behind the noose, pushed the noose forward with the fork, then repeated the bone crushing operation. This time he was sure the snake was dead. A final blow to crush the head, then it was time to hang up his prey.
Bark twine was quite simple to make, once you knew the type of tree it could be made from. Just knapp a rock until you got a sharp-enough edge, slice down the bark, scrape away the inner bark, then hammer it into fibers. Then you just started twisting. It took time, and it was boring, but Tian was used to all that. He figured he would need a lot of twine. So he had prepared a lot.
He tied up the new snake corpse next to the old, hanging the line from a high branch. It wouldn’t keep away birds or the most determined scavengers, but it was a lot better than nothing. Job done, he looked back towards the pond. Time for round Three. And a new bird. This one was exhausted, and no longer made a good lure.
Night had fallen. Tian stopped his hunt. He had gotten ten adders over the course of the day, but he still frowned fiercely as he built his fire. He had carefully climbed a tree branch that stretched over the edge of the pond and looked in. There were, at a guess, dozens of snakes in there still. Catching them one at a time was working, but much too slowly. And even though he had gotten good at catching them, it wasn’t risk free. He needed to change his strategy.
He mulled it over for a while, poking at the newly born fire with little twigs. If he had enough snakes, should he switch over to thinking of ways to collect lotuses? He could go up on that tree branch and try to haul them up with a noose. It might be a bit fiddly, but he should be able to throw the twine out far enough to snag at least one. Just to test if the method could work.
He ate roasted birds and some wild plants. It tasted great, the wonders of cooking still managing to transform the ordinary into the enchanting. He carefully extinguished the fire, and slept in a nest of leaves. He didn’t notice he had a little smile on his face. He thought, as his exhausted body welcomed sleep, that today had been really fun.
Morning came, and with it a fresh resolve. Tian twisted more bark together. The lotuses were far away from the branch he would be climbing out on, and he had to make sure the loop was big enough to fit over the leaves. Preparations done, he climbed onto the branch, and tossed his noose out.
He missed. He missed the second time too. The third time he got a bit of the loop on the leaves, but not around them. Fourth try was a miss again… It took twelve tries before he finally got the loop around the lotus.
He could see the snakes swimming around. They had clearly been irritated by the slapping and dragging of the rope in the water.
Tian started hauling. The noose tightened, and soon the whole plant started lifting up. Tian frowned. It was heavier than he expected. Worse, he could feel it was attached to something at the bottom of the pond. “Don’t lotuses float? What’s holding it down there?”
He kept a steady pull on the line, leaning back to lift with his back and waist as well as his arms. Tian’s hands might be weak. The rest of him wasn’t. He felt something tear and he jerked backward, clenching his legs around the branch to stop what would have been a lot worse than a nasty fall. The Lotus came up out of the pond, trailing a seemingly endless root behind it. Tian estimated that it was at least six feet long, and the bottom of it was torn off. It must extend even further under the water.
The water under the lotus started churning. Adders leapt up and sank their fangs into the lotus, not letting go for an instant. Others bit into the snakes biting into the lotus. Tian stifled a yelp and froze for a moment. There was no way he could haul up live adders. On the other hand, it had taken a damned long time to make this rope. He agonized about the decision for a second, then threw the rope into the water.
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He watched the snakes below, feeling more than a bit moody. It gave him a degree of vindictive satisfaction to watch the snakes biting each other. It seemed to only be happening in the area immediately around the ripped up lotus. Tian suddenly regretted being so decisive about throwing the whole rope away. It would be interesting to see what would happen if he launched the lotus into a different part of the pond.
A strange look stole across Tian’s face. It would be interesting to see that. Very interesting indeed.
It took hours to make another rope. Tian was hungry by the end of it, but ignored it. Partially because he was more used to being hungry than being full, and partially because he was dying to know if his guess was right. He climbed back up onto the branch, and tried to snag the next closest lotus. It took a frustrating fifteen tries, but he eventually snagged it. A happy side effect of his struggle was that all the snakes in the area were well and truly furious.
Tian hauled the lotus up as quickly as he dared. He felt the roots snag, then tear. This time, he simply let himself lie back on the branch, yanking the rope a few extra feet above the water in a fraction of a second. He didn’t stop hauling even for a second, trying to pull the lotus up before any snakes could make a move. A few did try to jump for it and missed. And then they turned on each other.
Tian brought the flower and roots up onto his branch. He figured the roots were probably the most crucial part of this, since they were the only ones that got really damaged. Still. Nothing wrong with experimenting. He had brought up a sharp rock this time for the sole purpose of cutting everything into chunks. Once the chunks were bruised and bashed against the tree branch, he threw them into the pond. He used the whole lotus, making sure he scattered everything as widely as he could.
The lotus smelled amazing. He was really tempted to just eat some of it. But he persevered. Snake meat tasted good too, and was quite filling.
He didn’t have to wait long to see the results. The water quickly started churning, the snakes twisting around each other, biting each other. Clearly feeling that it was “You die or I die!” with no other alternatives allowed. It was utter chaos for ten minutes, and then slowly settled down. Tian smiled. He still had his rope. He patiently fished up another lotus, then did it all over again. By the third time, there was no more thrashing in the pond.
Tian was cautious, naturally. Still. Waste not want not. He fished out as many snake corpses as he could find, hanging them high in the trees. Birds were already a problem, but it wasn’t too bad yet. He was very careful wading into the pond, repeatedly brainwashing himself that his breathing techniques could turn poison into medicine, so he would surely be fine if he was bitten by a snake. Fortunately, it never came to the test. He carefully retrieved twenty lotuses, roots intact, from the pond, as well as forty snakes.
“Is that enough, Grandpa?”
More than enough. Thanks to your clever thinking, this place is now considered “safe,” for a given value of safe. Well done! Very, very well done! Good discipline, good using your head. Both cautious and willing to take risks at the crucial moment. You really make this old man feel gratified, and that his time teaching you wasn’t wasted. I’m proud of you, Tian.
Tian felt Grandpa hug him, and it was all worth it. Everything was worth it. Hearing how happy and proud he was, feeling his approval, it was all absolutely worth it.
Because you did so well, we can REALLY cook on your first reforging. Which, unfortunately, to maximize my energy efficiency-
“You have mentioned energy a few times Grandpa-”
If I explain it, the energy costs would bankrupt me for the next few centuries. Just… think of it like food. You need a certain amount of food to have the energy to hunt or hike through the forest, right? Well I need ‘food’ too. And I can’t explain how I get it or how I use it, but I can tell you that the more I help you, the more “food” I consume. Which is why I find ways to help you help yourself.
Tian heard Grandpa laugh. His laugh was usually quite nice, but every now and then, Tian thought it was a bit creepy. This was one of those times.
Speaking of food, it’s time to cook Tian Soup. Dig a hole, good Grandson. Dig a nice big hole you can lie down in, with plenty of extra space around the sides. We will be butchering the snakes and we need to make sure their blood winds up in the pit. Be sure and save the gallbladders. I’ll show you what those are. Not strictly necessary for the soup, but a wonderful strengthening medicine in its own right. We will need the snake venom too, the flesh, the bones, practically everything.
“And the lotus roots?”
The whole lotus will be used.
“So how do we put it all together?”
Tian Soup is an interesting dish. No two are ever cooked exactly alike, and quite often it comes down to how the chef is feeling and what ingredients are available. You have made all sorts of medicines and things on this trip. You even ate a body refining treasure. And you know some excellent, if basic, breathing exercises. Put them together how you please.
“Grandpa…”
Figure it out, Tian. Really. This is going to be for the best. But be prepared. If you are doing it right, it’s going to hurt. Really hurt. Maybe the worst pain you have ever felt. Not forever, but it won’t be over quickly either. So you have a choice- Tian? Tian. Where are you going? Are you… you are already digging. Why are you already digging?
“I need to do this to get stronger right? It’s the only way to see the world, to eat cooked food, and to be safe from cats and rock throwers?” Tian didn’t stop his digging stick moving for even a second.
I mean… not the only way, strictly speaking, but as a practical matter, yes.
“So the choice is hurt and get stronger, or hurt and die as another piece of trash in the dump. Maybe I die either way in the end, but I’d much rather be strong than trash. So what’s pain compared to that?”