Although Wu Tianzhen and Fatty often said things like "Little Brother needs to eat this" and "Little Brother needs to eat that," Zhang Qiling rarely showed his preferences.
Now that Little Zhang had actually opened his mouth to say something was delicious, they had to get it right away!
The stone platform that had just been used to support half a buttock was elegantly transformed into a cooking station. Fatty, with a look of paternal affection, slapped the unfortunate dog-head eel, which Wu Tianzhen had kicked unconscious, onto it, sharpening his knife and preparing to showcase his culinary skills.
"It's a shame we didn't bring any seasonings. How about I make Little Brother a steamed fish head with chili!"
Zhang Qiling was somewhat curious about Fatty's culinary skills, so he quietly moved a little closer, holding his knife. It was clear that he had already forgotten the poisoning from the cilantro chicken buttock years ago, as he looked at the dog-head eel on the stone platform with a hint of anticipation.
"...That won't do. I think even if you brought the entire seasoning store here, you still couldn't make a steamed fish head with chili," Wu Tianzhen said from the side, lifting the dog's head that Fatty had chopped off with one hand, and posing a soul-questioning query.
"At most, you could make a chopped dog head."
Thinking about it, Wu Tianzhen, who had always liked dogs, suddenly felt a strange sense of pity for this peculiar, scaly creature.
He carefully placed the head to the side and bowed respectfully with his hands clasped.
By this time, Fatty had already scraped off the fish scales and was about to gut it. But the moment he inserted the knife, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Wait, wait, wait," he stopped his actions, freezing like a statue. After a long pause, Fatty's face showed a constipated expression. "Fatty just thought of a big problem."
"None of us brothers, I assume, brought a gas stove, right?"
"What the heck... did you hit your head when you slipped just now? How big is a gas stove? Wouldn't carrying that thing be like carrying a turtle shell?"
Wu Tianzhen quipped a few words, but gradually, his voice of complaint grew softer.
Wu Tianzhen: ...
...Right, they hadn't brought a gas stove. So even though this dog-head eel had sincerely offered its head, they couldn't cook it?
Before, they could gather straw or wood chips to start a fire. But now, submerged in water, even their own inner flames were almost extinguished. Where could they find anything to start a bonfire for grilling?
The two good brothers exchanged glances, seeing the sentiment of "I can't do it" in each other's eyes. But then they glanced at Little Zhang—
As it turned out, Little Zhang was looking intently at the dog-head eel, as if he firmly believed in their earlier boast of preparing a feast.
Fatty and Wu Tianzhen: ...
"Uh, if we can't, how about we just make sashimi..." After a moment of silence, Wu Tianzhen suggested.
Fatty didn't comment on the suggestion. He just raised his knife with a solemn expression, trying his best to cut out slices as thin as cicada wings, a final struggle to prove his ability and skill.
Then, with one cut, a "crunch" sound came from within, as if hitting something hard.
"What the hell is going on? Is this dog-head eel trying to be trendy with an outer softness and inner strength?!"
Fatty was still marveling, but Zhang Qiling, standing beside him, looked serious and stepped forward to take the knife that was still stuck in the dog-head eel's belly.
With a flash of the blade, the dog-head eel's belly was instantly cut open. A grayish-white mass slowly emerged from the lower part, with dark, empty cavities distributed above, displaying a sinister aura.
...Inside the dog-head eel's belly, there was a small human skull!
"...A child." Zhang Qiling's knife tip flicked, and the entire human head was lifted out. The bone had not fully developed, suggesting the child was no older than five when it was eaten.
There was a clear bite mark on the skull, piercing through the bone. It was enormous, almost encircling the skull, and was likely the fatal wound.
"Damn it, this damned place is truly inhumane!" Fatty spat, completely losing his appetite for the dog-head eel.
But just then, Wu Tianzhen suddenly spoke:
"I think something is wrong," he said, reaching out to turn the skull over, exposing the bite mark. "This wound... the tooth that pierced his skull was estimated to be over six centimeters long. Look, the penetrating wound even reached the other side of the skull."
"I took a closer look just now. The dog-head eel doesn't have very long teeth, so—"
"What bit him?"
"Is it possible that thing is still alive?"
Hearing his analysis, Fatty slowly looked at the skull and, imagining the size of the thing that bit him, his face twitched. He decisively began packing his backpack.
"Holy crap, hurry, hurry, hurry, let's go!" He quickly stuffed everything back. "If it were anyone else, I'd definitely say that after so many years, even if a Tyrannosaurus Rex bit him, he'd probably have turned into fertilizer by now."
"But if it's what you, the King of the Evil Sea, have said, then forget it. Even a rabbit would definitely be a super-mutated, big-mouthed, sharp-toothed, long-lived rabbit!"
To be honest, Fatty's words were somewhat insulting, but Wu Tianzhen thought about it and inexplicably felt a sense of calm.
He sighed and stepped forward, but "crunch" – he slipped, almost performing a New Year's bow prematurely.
Zhang Qiling instinctively reached out to stop the slipping Wu Tianzhen, and then a black shadow flashed before his eyes!
He leaned back slightly to dodge it, only to realize the black shadow was the backpack Wu Tianzhen was carrying. Little Wu had flailed in fright, almost smashing his ten-pound bag into Zhang Qiling's face.
Zhang Qiling: ... (The handsome youth was speechless)
Now it was Fatty's turn to mock. He let out his three-hundred-pound laugh arrogantly: "Hoo! Young Master Tianzhen, be careful, don't let this Forbidden Land bottom you out!"
Hearing these all-too-familiar words, Wu Tianzhen's entire confusion turned into self-imposed silence.
He "humph"-ed, and cautiously yet aggressively took a step forward, walking with the momentum of a thousand troops in a place that seemed even more slippery than before.
The slipperiness of the ground didn't affect Zhang Qiling much. However, after both Wu Tianzhen and Fatty had slipped once, he felt a faint sense of alarm.
The situation underwater was unclear, and even if he dove in, he couldn't see anything. Zhang Qiling felt it slightly, only to find that the bottom was indeed extremely smooth, more like some kind of tile than stone.
...The change in the ground seemed to have started from the waterfall.
Just as Zhang Qiling was thinking, Wu Tianzhen's exclamation came from ahead again.
In the distant darkness, countless faint, shimmering bluish-green lights floated slowly in the air like ghostly figures.