Chapter Twelve: Finally, There’s Meat to Eat

On the third day after traversing into another world, Jia Zhengjin was clearing away mushroom corpses beside his stone house. Once again, a host of mushrooms had appeared during the night, only to stumble into the wooden spike traps he’d set around his home. This left Jia Zhengjin utterly exasperated, for these mushrooms were all poisonous and served no purpose other than making mushroom headdresses!

It would be acceptable if they were edible, but he doubted his stomach had any resistance to their toxins. The traps had been damaged considerably, and he would have to waste a lot of wood to repair them.

As he was cleaning up, he unexpectedly discovered a giant centipede, five or six meters long, lying beneath the mushroom corpses. Its body had been pierced by the spikes, and it was unmistakably dead.

“Thank goodness for the spikes! If this centipede had gotten into the house, I would’ve been in real trouble!” Jia Zhengjin was startled and hurried over to inspect it. Searching the corpse, he found a poison sac and a strange fiber.

The poison sac was filled with deadly toxins; applying it to arrows or weapons could paralyze the target. The strange fiber was incredibly tough and could be used with a loom to make fine cloth.

“What a find!” Jia Zhengjin's eyes lit up. The poison sac could coat weapons, making it easier to kill paralyzed enemies, and the fiber could be woven into high-quality garments. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a loom yet and couldn’t make one at the moment.

“Owooo~!” Suddenly, from inside the house, the little dog-headed humanoid began to bark, likely hungry from not having breakfast.

“Stop that, Little Grey!” After crafting new wooden spike traps around the house and disposing of the mushroom and centipede remains, Jia Zhengjin picked up his stone spear and called out, “I haven’t eaten either! I’m about to go hunting by the river. Wait just a bit, and there’ll be food soon!”

Of course, the dog-headed creature couldn’t understand him and kept barking energetically inside the house.

Jia Zhengjin headed to the river, crouched down, and observed carefully. The water was crystal clear, revealing dense aquatic plants and strange fish darting among the weeds and stones.

He thrust his spear at a fat, hefty fish with a splash, but, as expected, it easily slipped away. He tried several more times, but the outcome was the same. The river fish were far too swift to be caught with a stone spear.

“What a pity I haven’t unlocked the net or fish trap skill books, nor do I have any skill points to use. Otherwise, I could easily craft a net or trap and catch a feast without effort!” Jia Zhengjin sighed, resigned to searching for slower-moving creatures in the river.

Luck was with him: before long, he spotted an unusually clumsy-looking fish with what seemed to be a lamp hanging from its head.

The fish swam along leisurely, utterly unbothered. Even when he tossed a stone at it, the fish barely reacted, continuing its slow course.

“Breakfast! My breakfast! Hahaha!” Jia Zhengjin's eyes sparkled as he eagerly dropped the spear, waded into the water, and grabbed the big fish with both hands.

He suspected this fish was so foolish it couldn’t possibly escape, and indeed, he caught it easily and hauled it out of the water.

A feast! This plump fish would be enough for two meals! Overjoyed, Jia Zhengjin marveled that such silly fish existed in this world—how adorable!

But his joy turned to disaster in an instant. He had forgotten how unpredictable the creatures of this world could be!

The moment the bumbling fish left the water, the “lamp” on its head emitted a powerful electric current. Jia Zhengjin, thrilled and hugging his catch, was instantly paralyzed and convulsed violently, his hands releasing the fish by reflex.

Splash! The fish slid back into the river, resuming its lazy swim.

Jia Zhengjin, pitch-black from the shock, collapsed on the shore and twitched uncontrollably.

Half an hour later, he finally regained consciousness, but the fish was long gone, leaving only the static crackling on him as proof it hadn’t been a dream.

“An electric fish!” He managed to recover and shouted angrily at the river, “One day, I’ll catch you and use you as a generator!”

Alas, the fast fish were impossible to catch, and the slow ones could electrocute him. If he hadn’t been lucky that no dangerous beasts showed up, he would’ve been eaten during the half hour he lay unconscious!

He was much more cautious now, not daring to try catching fish with his bare hands again. Who knew what other special abilities these strange fish might have besides electricity?

But the rumbling in his stomach drove him to keep searching for food. After two days of eating coconuts, he was desperate for a change of flavor!

Sitting by the river, he pondered quietly, when suddenly inspiration struck.

He remembered the poison sac he had just found on the giant centipede. If applying it to weapons could paralyze enemies, would pouring it into the water have the same effect?

No sooner thought than done!

Jia Zhengjin immediately summoned the poison sac from his virtual backpack and dropped it on the ground, carefully splitting it with his stone spear—he dared not touch it directly. The spear tip was soon coated in a poisonous green sheen. Carefully, he dipped it into the river and stirred gently.

The poison worked marvelously—within moments, several fish near the spot began thrashing, and seconds later, they floated belly-up, motionless.

“Haha! So simple!” Overjoyed, Jia Zhengjin used his spear to skewer the floating fish one by one and hauled them ashore.

The effect was remarkable: the paralyzed fish didn’t struggle at all and let him catch them with ease.

One poison sac yielded five or six big fish—a great bargain. The other fish were unaffected, likely because the poison had been diluted in the water, so only those nearby at the start were affected.

“Hahaha! Fish for today—what a treat!” Jia Zhengjin cheerfully took out his knife, scaled the fish, buried the innards in the soil, washed the fish clean, and brought them back to the house to roast over the campfire.

With no pot, roasting was his only cooking method for now. There was no salt or seasoning either—he wondered if the fish would taste bland.

But no matter what, he was eating meat today!

He would have to make pots and find seasonings sooner or later, but for now, he had to make do.

“Owooo~” The little dog-headed creature, likely drawn by the smell of roasting fish, poked its head out from a crevice, no longer howling, and simply watched the fish with longing as drool dripped down its chin.