Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 616 - 615: The Startled Nuwa

Looking at the tiny crawfish scattering messily on the ground, waving their claws around, all covered in fiery red, and some even smeared with mud, she simply couldn’t associate them with anything that looked appetizing.

Nuwa’s gaze held skepticism as she turned to face Chen Nuo, curious to see his reaction.

Witnessing such a chaotic scene of strange insects crawling everywhere, she couldn’t bring herself to praise it against her true feelings. Instead, she decided to first observe Chen Nuo’s mood; perhaps Chen Nuo himself hadn’t seen such a scene before and didn’t know what to say at the moment.

When she saw the expression on Chen Nuo’s face, she instantly dropped her own thoughts.

Excitement gleamed in Chen Nuo’s eyes as he beheld the wriggling creatures, as thrilled as if a plate of delicacies sat before him.

Nuwa’s mouth opened and then closed, ultimately unable to voice what she was thinking.

Just two days later, the number of tiny crawfish had seemingly grown even larger than before; with no natural predators, they roamed the village unrestrained, each with an air of arrogance.

The shells of the little crawfish were a dark red color, their hues unevenly distributed, patches of black barely hinting at the red beneath.

Coupled with the wide pit Tian Peng and Sun Wukong had dug, one could easily feel as if these creatures were crawling out from hell on a sinister mission.

Nuwa didn’t find the sight of the tiny crawfish appetizing—only frightening. Fortunately, her self-control was strong enough to prevent any screams from escaping her lips.

Chen Nuo, on the other hand, was quite happy. Nuwa was just relieved that Xuan Feng wasn’t present. Otherwise, she might have lost control and cried out, disturbing Chen Nuo’s good mood.

Despite her composure, Nuwa couldn’t help herself and asked, "Shopkeeper Chen, you say these can be eaten, but how exactly do you eat them?"

"Oh, there are many ways to eat them."

"The common methods include spicy, garlic paste, thirteen spices, and those who prefer something lighter can enjoy them steamed. Not only can they be cooked, but you can also extract their meat to make various kinds of delicious dishes," said Chen Nuo without taking his eyes off the landscape teeming with tiny crawfish.

Caught up in his exhilaration, he failed to notice Nuwa’s state as he thought she genuinely wanted his advice. He casually picked up a crawfish from the ground and began to introduce it to her.

"Look, this kind is the freshest and most vigorous, not only offering a great texture but also fresh crawfish like these having little to no fishy taste," he explained.

"If they’re frozen, it’s a different story. Flash freezing is mostly used, but after freezing and thawing, the texture will definitely not be the same as the fresh ones."

Nuwa wasn’t quite able to comprehend what Chen Nuo was telling her, but it was rare for him to talk to her so extensively.

Feigning understanding, she listened intently to Chen Nuo’s explanation, scrutinizing the crawfish in her hand as if she was deeply interested in his words.

Seeing how attentively Nuwa was listening, Chen Nuo thought she was truly interested and continued to explain.

"You see, this type of tiny crawfish may look similar to Boston lobsters, but they are not the same species. When categorized, they are more like Australian lobsters, both belonging to the mantis shrimp family," he shared with increasing detail and earnestness.

At first, Nuwa could understand a bit, but as the conversation progressed, she became completely lost.

What were Boston lobsters? What were Australian lobsters?

Nuwa listened, confused, but she couldn’t directly tell Chen Nuo that she didn’t understand. She could only pretend to listen seriously to his explanation.

After a while, Chen Nuo felt his own excitement growing as he spoke, wondering if he was going off-topic. Could Nuwa really understand what he was saying about Australian lobsters and the like?

Meeting Nuwa’s gaze, he smiled apologetically, "You probably didn’t understand what I just said, did you?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Sorry, I got a bit excited seeing the mountains full of ingredients just now. I intended to give you a simple explanation, but the more I talked, the more excited I became, and eventually, I was just talking to myself."

Nuwa indeed didn’t understand, but as Chen Nuo was explaining, they stood very close to each other, which she enjoyed quite a lot. In fact, she wished they could stay like that a bit longer.

"It’s alright, Shopkeeper Chen, I think I did understand a bit," Nuwa said.

Even though Nuwa said that, Chen Nuo knew that he indeed had said quite a lot just now.

In his hand, he still held the small crayfish he had picked up from the ground, which was very lively, constantly looking for an opportunity to escape from Chen Nuo’s grasp. Unfortunately, all its efforts were in vain.

"If you don’t find me annoying, then that’s great," Chen Nuo said.

"Shopkeeper Chen, you mentioned collecting all these things. How are you going to do it?"

"These creatures obviously haven’t achieved enlightenment; they act purely on instinct. It doesn’t seem like an easy task for Shopkeeper Chen to collect them all."

Nuwa glanced at the small crayfish, then quickly turned her head away. No, she simply couldn’t bear to look directly at them. Just one more glance made her feel uncomfortable all over.

"Indeed, it’s not an easy task," Chen Nuo nodded, but he had a Formation, Spells, and Magic Artifacts at his disposal. It was only small crayfish, after all—he could manage.

"Shopkeeper Chen, what are you going to do now?" Nuwa watched Chen Nuo’s movements, seeming to understand what he was planning to do. It appeared that a Formation would be necessary.

Chen Nuo found a spot to start drawing the Formation.

When he was setting up the Formation in the back mountain, he had already prepared a connecting Formation. Once the Formation here was complete, both places would be instantly connected, and the small crayfish entering on this side would appear directly in the back mountain.

But looking at the huge number of small crayfish, Nuwa still had many doubts in her mind.

"Shopkeeper Chen, will the pit dug in the back mountain be big enough? The number of small crayfish is so huge it definitely won’t be sufficient. Their number is so staggeringly large that it might fill up in no time at all."

Chen Nuo was of course aware of this, but he just smiled and shook his head, then casually picked a branch and stuck it in the center of the Formation.

Nuwa didn’t quite understand Chen Nuo’s intentions. Weren’t they supposed to set up a Formation? What was he doing with a branch? Could it be the branch was also part of the Formation?

Although she found it strange, she didn’t show it outright, instead observing Chen Nuo’s every move. She decided she would ask after he finished, if she still didn’t understand.

Her confusion didn’t last long, as Nuwa soon came to understand what Chen Nuo was trying to do.

He placed a piece of meat on the branch, and the meat had a very strong smell, though it was unclear what it was made of.

The small crayfish, attracted by the smell, started moving towards the direction of the meat. Unfortunately for them, the meat was positioned right in the center of the Formation, so as soon as they climbed towards it, they were instantly dropped into the Formation.

"So that’s the method," Nuwa exclaimed admiringly. The method was indeed effective; it didn’t waste the meat and still lured the small crayfish.

"This should do the trick," Chen Nuo said. "Let’s go back."

"What?" Nuwa was taken aback. She looked back at the small crayfish still crawling towards the Formation, then at Chen Nuo, "But Shopkeeper Chen, weren’t you going to eradicate these small crayfish?"

"Yes, I am," he replied.

"But there are still so many of them left. Isn’t it unfinished? Why are we leaving now?"