Monster Hunter: Farm Story Begins with Pokémon

He took a big sip of water to clear the bloody taste from his mouth.

Lingling doesn’t know what went wrong. Didn’t it seem like cooking was very easy for everyone before?

"Which link went wrong?"

The princess murmured very quietly.

Seeing that the other party was still determined to cook, Bai Zhen's frugal virtue deep in his bones couldn't help but revive.

Bai Zhen said: "Did you collect some red seeds during the day?"

Bai Zhen suddenly spoke again, which made the princess very strange. She asked, "Yes, why are you asking this?"

"Take out the red seeds now."

The princess was unexpectedly obedient. She didn't ask Bai Zhen and thought Bai Zhen wanted to exchange the red seeds.

She took out an iron box from her backpack, opened the sliding cover, and inside, on the soft satin cloth lay five seeds, each half the size of a palm.

"Do you want this seed?" the princess asked Bai Zhen puzzledly.

Bai Zhen explained: "Why do I need that seed? I'll teach you how to cook."

"You want to teach me how to cook?" Lingling looked at Bai Zhen in shock, her eyes full of distrust.

It feels like the big bad wolf who wanted to eat you the last second suddenly says, "I'm here to protect you."

It is inevitable that people will be suspicious.

"It's okay if you don't want it. Just stay a little further away from me when you cook. I can't stand seeing others wasting food."

Seeing that Bai Zhen really didn't seem to have any hostility, Lingling asked again uncertainly: "Do you really just want to teach me how to cook?"

"I have no grudge against you, so there is no need to harm you."

Bai Zhen was speaking the truth. He had no direct conflict of interest with the princess.

He just wanted the princess to give up and not cause trouble for the final battle, that's all.

But if this princess can really protect herself and not cause trouble for others, or stay in a safe camp afterwards, Bai Zhen will not be too harsh on her.

At least judging from her performance today, this seemingly pampered princess is not here just for fun. She indeed came here after serious consideration.

Of course Bai Zhen still didn’t think that the other party could play any role in the final battle.

If there is no hatred, then why are you targeting me so much?

Lingling still couldn't understand what Bai Zhen was thinking, but she had to admit that Bai Zhen's cooking skills were indeed the best.

The grilled fish she had yesterday was the best she had ever eaten! Barely any!

"Then I'll leave it to you?" Lingling asked with a questioning tone.

Bai Zhen didn't waste any words and gave the other party a direct order: "Take out a red seed now, and then use a knife to slowly cut open the depression of the seed, and then find a container to take out the oil inside. Be careful, this oil is very flammable, and it will explode if it encounters a little fire."

Lingling followed Bai Zhen's instructions and carefully took out the oil from the red seeds.

She looked at the slightly turbid oil in the small bowl in her hand and wondered what Bai Zhen was going to do.

Bai Zhen continued to instruct, "Take out a piece of the burning coal you just used, scrape off the outermost grayish-white part, and cut the unburned part into small pieces and put them into the oil."

Lingling did as she was told immediately. Looking at the coal that had sunk to the bottom of the river, she asked curiously, "What are they doing?"

"When making cooking oil, the oil in the red seeds is very flammable and turbid. If you use it directly for cooking, the food will become unpalatable and the cooking process will become very dangerous. However, if you use the unburned parts of the coal as activated carbon to absorb the impurities, then the oil can barely be used as cooking oil."

"So that's how it is!" Lingling memorized this knowledge carefully. This was knowledge she had never known before.

"The next step is to process the meat."

Bai Zhen asked Lingling to rinse the blood off the meat with clean water, which completed the first step.

If it's just a simple dish, just grease the sword and grill it.

But since he is in charge, Bai Zhen will not allow defective products to appear in his hands.

Bai Zhen asked Ling Ling: "What materials did you collect today? Take them all out and let me see."

Lingling poured out all the materials she had collected today from her luggage.

Thanks to the princess's first adventure, she collected almost everything she saw, and the types of materials and ingredients are quite diverse.

After taking a quick look at the roughly thirty or forty kinds of ingredients, I finally selected some that could be eaten and used as seasonings.

"Now cut open the root of the [Volcanic Hot Spring Cactus] and take out all the juice from the root."

"This?!" Lingling picked up the two fist-sized hot spring cacti and confirmed with Bai Zhen again and again, "Isn't this something poisonous? Can it really be used to cook?"

She misjudged the plant today, which led to similar poisoning symptoms. She finally got better after drinking a bottle of antidote.

Bai Zhen explained: "Of course the juice is poisonous if you drink it alone, but if you add the pulp, the poison in the juice can be eliminated. Then use the red lotus stone at hand to grind it into powder and put it in to absorb it. Then the water will become sweet."

“Is it really that magical?”

Lingling didn't believe it and tried it according to Bai Zhen's instructions.

After mixing it up, she dipped a little juice with her finger and put it in her mouth to taste it.

Sure enough, after this slight processing, the originally very astringent juice became slightly sweet.

"The taste has really improved!" Lingling felt a little unbelievable. She didn't expect that with just a little processing, the originally toxic and astringent juice could become like sugar water.

"The last part is the volcanic mint you collected. Crush it and add it in. Stir thoroughly to allow the 'menthol' in it to fully dissolve. Then boil it over a fire and dry out all the juice."

Lingling did as Bai Zhen said, and after a while, the juice turned into a sticky red sauce.

Lingling sniffed the sticky red sauce and a foul, pungent smell rushed straight into her brain. She pinched her nose and said in disgust, "Can this really be used to cook? Why does it smell so bad?"

"Now comes the last step. You slice the meat of the Flame Dragon evenly, marinate it in this sauce for fifteen minutes, and then fry it on the stone slab."

Bai Zhen didn't let Lingling ruin his double swords. He asked Lingling to find a smooth stone slab nearby and put it on the grill to serve as a baking tray.

After the meat was marinated, Lingling looked at the red tenderloin and smelled the pungent smell of spices. She didn't think this kind of thing could be delicious.

With a hesitant attitude, she followed Bai Zhen's instructions and smeared a layer of oil on the stone slab. When the oil temperature rose, she put the meat on the stone slab and fried it.

The tenderloin is tender and can be fried in just two or three minutes.

During the cooking process, Lingling was surprised to find that the sauce mixed with oil unexpectedly became very fragrant!

When the first piece of meat was cooked, Lingling, who was already starving, couldn't wait to taste her own creation.

As soon as the tenderloin entered my mouth, the strong mint flavor I had imagined did not appear, but instead gave me a refreshing taste.

When you chew the meat carefully, you can taste a slightly sweet flavor in the fried meat. When paired with the already tender tenderloin, you can’t imagine how delicious it is!

Lingling's beautiful eyes widened with disbelief: "Did I really do this myself?!"

Lingling couldn't believe that she could make such delicious food for the first time, and all the ingredients were harvested from the wild.

She was already extremely hungry, so she immediately fried the two pounds of pork tenderloin she had pickled and swallowed it whole.

After the meal, she rubbed her belly contentedly. All the fatigue from the day was completely relieved at this moment.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten anything delicious that day, the food at this moment seems so delicious.

If she were to rank the delicacies she has eaten so far, taking into account the sense of accomplishment of making them herself and the emotional bonus of not having eaten decent food for more than 40 hours, the taste of the meat would rank second.

Lingling looked at Bai Zhen again.

Now when she sees Bai Zhen eating delicious food, she no longer feels greedy or envious.

"I didn't expect that he didn't lie to me and was really teaching me how to cook. Did I misunderstand him? He wanted me to quit the mission because he thought it was too dangerous?"

Lingling opened her mouth and was about to say thank you.

Bai Zhen suddenly spoke first: "I didn't expect you to use up all the water for cooking."

After Bai Zhen's reminder, Lingling realized that she had not even a drop of water left for two days.

Bai Zhen: "It's still at least a day's journey to the next water point. If you plan to give up, you can tell me and I will give you enough water and send you back safely."

After saying that, Bai Zhen went back to the tent to prepare dinner for the other companions.

Lingling held her water bag in her hand, her body trembling slightly.

"It's over. All the water is gone."

She had not paid attention to the amount of water she used before, because she wanted to eat something delicious, so she just drank it all up.

When there was water before, she didn't feel thirsty, but now that the water is gone, she feels extremely thirsty.

She sat on the ground, hugged her legs with her hands, buried her head between her thighs, and her mood was visibly depressed.

"I thought I misunderstood him! It was all an illusion! This guy is truly the most annoying person in the world!"

Feelings of annoyance and regret spread in her heart. After being depressed for a while, Lingling finally raised her head with tears in her eyes.

"I want to drink water and take a bath."

At this moment, she began to retreat again.

Drinking water is actually okay, but not being able to take a shower is really a bit unbearable for her. Her hair is now a bit greasy.

At first she was still blaming Bai Zhen, wondering if Bai Zhen had deliberately tempted her to use the water.

But if you think about it carefully, even if anyone is to blame, it's not Bai Zhen's fault.

Bai Zhen simply taught her how to cook using existing ingredients.

She was in control of how much water to use. Originally, it would have been enough to repeatedly use a small basin of water to clean the blood, but she insisted on using more clean water.

No one can be blamed for this.

"Ah~" Lingling sighed deeply, then took a deep breath and soon cheered herself up again. "We won't have the chance to take risks again. How can we back down here? If there's no water, we'll have to find a way."

Lingling actively thought about how to get some water.

Suddenly, she thought of what Bai Zhen had asked her to do not long ago, using unburned coal to purify impurities in the oil.

If burning coal can purify impurities in oil, can it purify the blood in water?

She would not be able to drink the turbid water directly no matter what, but if it could be purified, she would be able to drink it even if it had a little taste.

Thinking of this, she immediately used burning charcoal to purify the basin of blood.

After finishing all this, she went into the tent and prepared to rest.

During the day's hunting, she wanted to give up several times, but she persevered in the end.

She had spent almost four-fifths of the day on the dragon's back, and her waist was almost broken. In addition, she did not get enough rest last night. All these factors combined made her extremely tired.

As soon as she touched the bed, she fell into a deep sleep even though it was very hot that night.

The next day, when Bai Zhen got up, he thought the princess would choose to withdraw.

But to his surprise, the princess not only did not quit, but also solved the water problem.

She used activated carbon to absorb all the small amount of blood in the water last night. After obtaining clear water, she boiled it to disinfect it and killed all the bacteria in it.

After all this, she indeed got very clean drinking water, and there was no problem for her to last until tonight.

Noticing that Bai Zhen had gotten up, Ling Ling said smugly, "It seems that your plan to make me quit has failed."

Lingling thought Bai Zhen would be unwilling, or show some dissatisfaction.

But Bai Zhen just nodded calmly, and even praised him generously, saying, "Your mind works pretty quickly. Keep up the good work."

Lingling couldn't utter some sarcastic words, which made her feel like she had punched cotton.

She looked at Bai Zhen's busy figure and murmured in dissatisfaction: "What? If you really want to drive me back, then at least show some reluctance. If you are so frank, don't I look like a fool?"

Boringly filling the water into the water bag.

Lingling began to pack her luggage.

With yesterday's experience, she packed up her tent much faster and did not waste everyone's time. She set off with everyone on time.

The third day's itinerary was a little more dangerous than the second day.

On this day, everyone was still moving forward in the volcano. In addition, because this place was relatively close to the volcanic eruption area where volcanoes frequently erupt, the terrain changed very frequently.

Maybe there was a stable passage here half a month ago, but when you come here again half a month later, the passage was blocked by cooled lava rock. This kind of thing happens from time to time.

Less than an hour after they set out on the journey, they encountered a lower-level Flame Dragon.

The hunters and warriors stepped forward to fight. Bai Zhen was still at the back, holding the line like he had been in the previous two days, with nothing he could do.

Ling Ling, who was also free, saw Bai Zhen, who was bored, so she rode her Crown Striker to the side of the Boom Dragon and asked, "You are a bit timid as a master hunter. Everyone is fighting, but you are hiding at the back."

Bai Zhen glanced at Lingling, who was no longer afraid of the Honglong. He silently controlled the Honglong to block the retreat of the Yan Gelong.

Lingling saw Bai Zhen "running away" and immediately followed him, continuing to curiously ask: "By the way, do you have any deal with those hunters? Why can you keep the materials of the monsters you hunt, but they have to give you a share of the monsters they hunt?"

Now almost all the warriors and hunters are aware of the inside story of the transaction, but Her Royal Highness the Princess still seems confused.

Bai Zhen didn't know whether she really didn't understand or was just pretending not to understand.

But Bai Zhen still abided by the contract and tried not to talk too much to the princess.

Then he still wants to abide by the contract, but others may not think so.

Ever since Lingling camped next to his tent last night, the agreement between Bai Zhen and the hunter leader had been unilaterally cancelled.

The opponent successfully defeated the lower-level Flame Dragon within a few minutes.

When distributing the materials, the leader of the hunters kept all the materials for himself and did not give Bai Zhen any.

Bai Zhen also understood what the other party meant.

He originally wanted to make some extra money in a few days.

Earning 100 million in a few days is more than the income from the farm.

One million is enough to buy a level 100 skill of rarity 1, and it is more than enough.

But now, since the other party has unilaterally torn up the agreement, it’s no wonder that he came to steal the prey.

It just so happens that Honglong still needs to level up.