Catching Crabs

The next morning, the sound of birds and insects woke Jiang Xuan from his sleep.

He opened his sleepy eyes and saw that the others were awake too, so he greeted them and went to the stream to wash his face.

The stream was very clear and the water was relatively shallow. Some fish the size of fingers swam in the water.

After sleeping for the entire night, Jiang Xuan was feeling hungry. Everything he saw was food to him.

However, these small fish were very slippery. It was not easy to catch them unless they spent a long time making a fish cage.

"Crash…"

Jiang Xuan washed his face with the cold stream water and woke up immediately.

It occurred to him that there were not only fish in the stream, but also some creatures that were easier to catch.

Like crabs.

It was autumn, and the crabs were at their best, full of roe and fat.

Thinking of the delicious taste of crabs, Jiang Xuan's eyes lit up. Immediately he picked up a wooden stick and started searching among the rocks by the stream.

These rocks were very big and scattered on both sides of the stream. Jiang Xuan knew that crabs liked to hide under the rocks. If he saw crabs, he could poke them out with the wooden stick.

Chi Shao walked over curiously. "Xuan, what are you doing?"

"Looking for crabs."

"What's a crab?"

Chi Shao was a little confused. The people of the Deer Tribe mainly hunted in the forest and occasionally ate fish. However, they usually stabbed fish by the stream with their spears and never went into the water. Naturally, they did not know about crabs.

At this moment, Jiang Xuan was poking a big crab under a big rock with his wooden stick. The big crab ran out immediately from under the rock and tried to escape in a panic.

Jiang Xuan quickly pressed down on its shell with the wooden stick. He reached out from behind the crab and grabbed its four legs together before lifting the big crab up.

There was a technique for catching crabs.

Its two large pincers were very powerful, but it could only clamp the things in front of it. On its left, right, and back, it was helpless.

"It's this!"

Jiang Xuan was very surprised because this crab was as big as a soup bowl. If it was in his previous life, such a big crab would be a rare item.

"This is a crab? It looks fierce. Is it edible?"

Chi Shao picked up a wooden stick and placed it on the crab's pincers. With a crack, the wooden stick was neatly broken.

"Of course it's edible. Previously, an uncle in the tribe took me to the water to catch crabs. We can roast them."

In order to make Chi Shao believe that crabs could be eaten, Jiang Xuan had to lie.

Chi Shao nodded. She did not doubt Jiang Xuan's words, nor did she ask who brought him there.

Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star also came over. They looked at Jiang Xuan carrying such a big crab with admiration.

Hook Vine said, "Xuan, you're amazing!"

Stone Loach nodded vigorously at the side. This prey called 'crab' looked very fierce, but Jiang Xuan caught it so easily.

South Star was even more eager. "Xuan, can you let me hold it?"

"Of course, but be careful not to get caught by it!"

South Star glanced at the broken stick and immediately nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.

"Never put your hands in front of a crab when you're catching it. Grab it from behind or from the side. Yes, that's it."

South Star held the crab according to Jiang Xuan's instructions. The crab waved its huge pincers left and right, but it could not clamp his hands. South Star smiled happily.

"Let me hold it."

"I want it too."

Hook Vine and Stone Loach took turns to try catching the big crab. It was a novel experience.

Jiang Xuan said, "Crabs like to hide under the rocks in the stream. You can go and look for them, but it's best to take a wooden stick. If you see a crab, hold it down with the wooden stick to prevent your hands from being caught.

Catch a few more and we'll have a full meal. Then we'll have the strength to build a house."

"Okay, we'll go too."

Chi Shao, Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star each found a wooden stick. Then they imitated Jiang Xuan and poked around the big rocks beside the stream.

This place was deserted, and these crabs had never been caught before. Not only were they big, but their numbers were also astonishing.

Before long, they had caught a dozen large crabs.

Jiang Xuan tied these crabs with flexible thin vines and strung them together.

Interestingly, as long as more than two crabs were together, they would use their pincers to clamp each other's pincers or legs, and they would not let go easily.

It would be extremely difficult for them to escape like this.

Jiang Xuan and the others happily brought the big crabs back to the bamboo shed.

Chi Shao pointed at the big crabs and asked, "Xuan, how do you eat crabs?"

Hook Vine and the other two also looked at Jiang Xuan. These crabs were covered in hard shells, and they did not know where to start.

"It's simple. Throw them into the fire and roast them first." Jiang Xuan was very confident in roasting crabs because he had roasted a lot of crabs in his previous life.

Jiang Xuan first stoked a fire, then dug a space in the middle of the fire and threw all the big crabs in before continuing to add firewood.s

The flames burned fiercely. Before long, the shells of the big crabs gradually turned from green-gray to an appetizing red under the high temperature.

However, there might be parasites in the crabs. They were big, so Jiang Xuan had to make sure that they were completely roasted before eating them.

Jiang Xuan used a wooden stick to push the charcoal onto the crabs and covered them.

After a long time, the shells of the big crabs were burned black, but they did not turn into charcoal. The crab meat inside was still intact.

Jiang Xuan confirmed that the big crabs were already cooked, then he dug them out from the fire.

Jiang Xuan said, "Sister, lend me your stone knife."

Chi Shao pulled the stone knife from her waist and handed it to Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan pushed the largest crab to the side. After it cooled down a little, he broke its pincers and legs and placed them aside.

Then he used the stone knife to pry open the crab's hepatopancreas and cut it off. This thing was inedible.

After that he used the stone knife to pry open the crab shell and removed the rest of the crab's innards. He took them out one by one and told them that they could not be eaten. They might be poisoned if they ate them.

Upon hearing that they would be poisoned, the four of them became nervous and firmly remembered the parts of a crab that could not be eaten.

"Alright, the rest can be eaten."

The big crab was steaming hot. It was brimming with roe and the meat was white and fragrant.

Jiang Xuan scraped the crab roe into the crab shell, peeled a bamboo piece, and handed it to Chi Shao. "Sister, try it first."

Chi Shao took the crab shell and used a bamboo piece to pick up some crab roe and put it into her mouth. The delicious taste bloomed at the tip of her tongue, and her eyes lit up.

"Delicious!"

Chi Shao praised the taste and then started eating. Hook Vine and the others drooled.

Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "This meat is also very delicious."

He cut open the big crab and distributed the meat to the salivating Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star.

The three of them ate the crab meat and felt that they had never tasted something so delicious.

Then Jiang Xuan used a stone to break open the pincers and crab legs and took out the crab meat inside to eat.

As for the rest of the crabs, Jiang Xuan got Chi Shao, Hook Vine, and the others to take turns with them. He instructed them from the side.

After Chi Shao and the three youths broke down a few crabs, they knew the steps by heart. They could also precisely pick out the parts that could not be eaten.

After they had broken down the crabs, they didn't care whether it was crab roe or crab meat. They just brought it to their mouths and ate it. If they couldn't eat it, they smashed it with a rock and ate it very quickly.

Before long, they had eaten a dozen large crabs.

Hook Vine smashed open the last crab pincer and stuffed the crab meat into his mouth. "It's delicious, but there are too many shells and too little meat. It's gone before I'm full."

Everyone nodded. There was indeed too little crab meat.

Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "This thing is not a staple food in the first place. Let's eat something else. If we eat too many crabs a day, our stomachs will hurt."

Hook Vine and the others felt that it was a pity. Why couldn't they eat more of such delicious food?

However, they did not dare to risk a stomach ache by catching more crabs to eat. They had to wait for another time before eating crabs again.

They ate some wild fruits and plant roots. After filling their stomachs, they began to build a house.

The bamboo shed was too simple. If they wanted to live here for a long time, they had to build a house that could really shelter them from the wind and rain.