Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

After watching the child finish eating, Li Xingzhi was eager to find out what had happened, because the unknown was the most frightening thing. He asked the child a few questions, but the child knew nothing about them.

Finally, Li Xingzhi learned some things through a combination of guesswork and deduction. For example, it was around the Zhenguan era, the original owner of this body was called Ya Zi Ge, the child was called Gou Dan Er, and so on.

He was still a little weak, so he stopped thinking about it and rested for another fifteen minutes. Once he had regained some strength, he stood up and prepared to go and find out what was going on.

Aside from a few pottery jars, there wasn't much else to see in the dilapidated temple. Behind the temple was a small earthen slope, covered with trees and bamboo. A short distance from the temple was a dirt road, unobstructed and frequently used by passersby. Continuing along the road, a small town came into view, enclosed by a wall. To the left of the road was a small lake, clearly where Gou Dan had fetched water. The grass along the lake was a yellowish-green, indicating late summer to early autumn.

Li Xingzhi walked to the lakeside, startling several birds. He searched around further but found no bird eggs or anything else edible.

After walking a short distance around the lake, Li Xingzhi was pleasantly surprised to see a vibrant green plant, over a meter and a half tall, growing from the mud on the lakeshore. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a bamboo shoot! He wondered if it was edible yet. He parted the weeds, preparing to harvest some. This plant was very tender, had cooling and detoxifying properties, and was sweet and crisp even when eaten raw.

Li Xingzhi was happily handling the bamboo shoots when he suddenly felt something strange under his feet. He reached down and touched it, only to find something the size of a dish with a head sticking out, as if it wanted to bite his hand.

"Ding—Player has captured a turtle and gained 1 experience point."

He heard the system's voice, checked his experience points, and sure enough, he had increased them by a little.

However, what pleased him even more was the turtle in his hand; his broken body needed these things right now.

Since I've discovered such a wonderful thing, I'm truly blessed!

He didn't look at him anymore—his thin body couldn't withstand any more torment.

Li Xingzhi, carrying two bamboo shoots and a large turtle he had stolen, swayed back home. As he approached the small temple, Little Dog Egg was already peeking out from the entrance.

"Look what I caught!" Li Xingzhi tossed him a bamboo shoot and said. Little Dog Egg's eyes lit up when he saw the bamboo shoot, and he started gnawing on it as soon as he heard Li Xingzhi's voice. Only then did he look at Li Xingzhi's other hand.

"Turtle!" Little Dog Egg said in his clear, childlike voice, "Brother Ya Zi, why are you catching a turtle?"

"Eat!" Li Xingzhi gave him a strange look.

"Can I eat this?" Little Dog Egg asked in his unique, childish yet clear voice as he nibbled on a bamboo shoot.

Li Xingzhi assumed he had never eaten it before and didn't pay much attention. He asked Xiao Gou Dan to start a fire while he went to wash the earthenware pot.

He brought back several earthenware pots of water, and while he was at it, he gathered some wild grass to remove the fishy smell, and also picked some wild vegetables; by this time, Gou Dan had already started the fire, and Li Xingzhi placed the largest earthenware pot on the fire to boil water.

Li Xingzhi cleaned the turtle and placed it on a large blue stone. He then found a sharp shard of pottery and a sturdy little stick. He placed the stick in front of the turtle's head, and the turtle's head snapped out and bit the stick, startling the little dog, Dan, who was standing nearby. Li Xingzhi held the stick with one hand and used the sharp shard of pottery in the other to forcefully slash the turtle's neck. Blood gushed out into a small pottery jar that had been prepared beforehand.

"Ding—Player kills a turtle, gaining 2 experience points." Li Xingzhi ignored the system's voice. This amount of experience was really useless, but it was better than nothing.

After shaking it twice and seeing that the turtle's blood had all drained, Li Xingzhi put the turtle into a ceramic pot with boiling water.

Li Xingzhi picked up the small earthenware jar containing turtle blood, smelled it, and noticed a fishy odor. He then tore off two medicinal herbs to remove the fishy smell and put them inside. Seeing that it was good, he pinched his nose and drank more than half of the wild turtle blood.

"What a tonic!" Li Xingzhi exclaimed inwardly. Of course, Li Xingzhi would never have resorted to eating raw turtle blood unless absolutely necessary.

Li Xingzhi frowned, looked at the remaining half of the turtle blood, called over Xiao Gou Dan, pinched his nose and forced it down his throat.

"Don't vomit!" Seeing the little dog Egg frowning and looking like he was about to throw up, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Brother Ya Zi!" Little Dog Egg frowned, turtle blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, looking just like a cute little vampire.

"Alright, Gou Dan, Brother Ya Zi won't hurt you." Li Xingzhi patted Gou Dan's head and comforted him.

After drinking the turtle blood, Li Xingzhi took the scalded turtle out of the earthenware pot, let it cool, and then used a sharp piece of pottery to gently scrape off the black grime all over the turtle's body. He then cleaned the turtle thoroughly. Next, he used the pottery shard to cut open the turtle from under its skirt along the perimeter, lifted the shell, and removed the internal organs. Finally, he washed it with clean water, chopped off the tips of the four claws and the tail sheath, removed the yellow fat attached to the four feet, and then put the turtle meat into a clean large earthenware pot. He added some herbs to remove the fishy smell and chopped bamboo shoots, then covered the turtle with the shell, added water to cover the shell, and simmered it over a low flame!

Before long, the aroma of turtle meat and the fresh scent of bamboo shoots mingled and wafted from the large earthenware pot. Little Dog Egg, sitting beside it, had his eyes wide open, his nose twitching like a puppy's. He kept swallowing, and Li Xingzhi couldn't help but swallow softly as well. After waiting another fifteen minutes, until the turtle meat was tender and the aroma of bamboo shoots had blended together, Li Xingzhi finally extinguished the fire.

"Ding—Player has created a level 3 dish and gained 8 experience points."

Hearing the system notification, Li Xingzhi felt a surge of excitement; he had finally found a good way to accumulate experience.

As the earthenware jars gradually cooled, Little Dog Egg was already waiting, holding one small earthenware jar in each hand.

Li Xingzhi gently used a twig to remove the turtle shell, and a delicate fragrance filled the entire small temple, making it seem more vibrant, and even the Buddha statue in the center appeared less ferocious.

The little dog, Egg, inhaled deeply, as if it wanted to absorb all the aroma into its belly. Li Xingzhi took the earthenware pot from Egg's hand, first filling it to the brim with meat broth, then pouring the rest into his own small earthenware pot.

Li Xingzhi took a delicious bite, feeling as happy as an immortal. Who would have thought that a wild giant turtle, which would be priceless in later generations, could be enjoyed so well here, even by someone like him who couldn't even get a meal?

Li Xingzhi was enjoying his delicious meal when the little kid next to him suddenly pounced on him, crying loudly with snot and tears streaming down his face.

"Little puppy, why are you crying?"

"Brother Ya Zi—I just... I haven't eaten this well and been this full in a long time," Gou Dan said, sobbing. "I miss my dad and my mom."

Having only been here for a day, Li Xingzhi found himself missing his parents. A mix of guilt, self-reproach, and bittersweet emotions welled up inside him, and he forced himself to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.

“Dog Egg, I don’t have parents anymore either. From now on, it’ll just be the two of us relying on each other. You’ll be my little brother from now on. As long as I have food to eat, you’ll never go hungry,” Li Xingzhi said.

Li Xingzhi secretly made a vow in his heart.