Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 53 - Chapter 53

To Zhang Liu’s dismay, he watched for a long time, but the two girls did not make any further moves.

Qin Ruoshang and Anya exchanged a glance, then let go of each other’s hands and sat by the fire, whispering softly.

Occasionally, they burst into two clear, crisp laughs.

Though very pleasant to hear…but it was quite boring.

Deliberately stomping his feet, Zhang Liu spoke to the two who turned to look at him, “I’m back…”

“See? I knew Zhang Liu would be like this! You better eat less later!” Qin Rushuang looked at Zhang Liu’s blank expression, smiled, and said, “I understand him better, right?”

“Ahhh! Zhang Liu, you big idiot!” Anya wailed, clutching her head with a deeply regretful expression.

“Uh?” Zhang Liu stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do for a moment.

He was very curious too—what exactly had the two of them been talking about just now?

It seemed related to himself?

“When you were carrying the sheep and hiding behind the rocks, Qin Ruoshang saw you. She even bet with me on whether you’d deliberately make a sound to come back,” Anya said irritably. “You’re such a guy, you don’t even know how to sneak around properly, huh?”

Zhang Liu was speechless.

At the same time, he felt even more embarrassed—he didn’t even know how to peep, and he was discovered directly…

And they even used it as betting material.

“Eh, Qin Ruoshang, do you want to go up first and avoid this?” Zhang Liu walked over to them and shifted the sheep from being carried on his back to resting on his shoulder. He looked at Qin Ruoshang, whose face was already somewhat pale, and coaxed in a low voice, “I’ll cut it off and ask you to come down after I’m done.”

“No need!” Qin Ruoshang stepped up next to Zhang Liu and said, “I can handle it!”

Zhang Liu was a little surprised by her firm attitude. Just as he was about to continue persuading her, Anya spoke up: “Zhang Liu, Qin Ruoshang told me earlier that this is something she must go through in the future.”

“Uh… actually, maybe not,” Zhang Liu smiled as he lifted the sheep high in the air, letting Qin Ruoshang and Anya work together to hang it on the frame. “I thought it over last night, and I doubt we’ll get a second sheep anytime soon.”

“What do you mean?” After hanging the sheep, Anya squatted nearby and started grinding down a metal blade that had dulled, while Qin Ruoshang stood next to Zhang Liu, curiously asking, “Why won’t there be a second sheep?”

“Last night’s situation clearly showed that the sheep here have never seen humans before,” Zhang Liu stroked his chin and explained, “So they mistook me—who has no claws or fangs—as something they could fend off, and came over to forcefully drink water. This water source must have always been theirs, and after we occupied it, they were just holding out!”

“Oh! So that’s why they queued up like that last night?” Anya blew on the metal blade to cool it down, making a ‘pfft pfft’ sound, then looked up to continue Zhang Liu’s explanation, “Then can’t we set traps to catch more?”

“Please, their leader got taken out and hung here ready to be roasted. Any sheep would know we’re not easy to mess with by now,” Zhang Liu said with a helpless look. “If I were a sheep, I definitely wouldn’t come back. Without the coincidence yesterday, we couldn’t have caught one on flat ground.”

“I see,” Qin Ruoshang nodded slightly, her expression becoming complicated.

Compared to being disgusted by seeing corpses, she was more unwilling to be without meat.

The warm roasted innards she had just eaten gave her an unprecedented sense of strength.

She even felt that the faint pain in her lower abdomen was now warmed and soothed by the hot food.

“By the way, Zhang Liu, what about the sheep’s testicles?” Anya quickly finished grinding the metal blade and handed it to Zhang Liu. Then, noticing this sheep was missing its big head and also a smaller head, she smiled and teased, “Did you secretly eat them?”

“I left them outside. There’s not much meat there, and it’d make everyone awkward,” Zhang Liu caught the metal blade and explained to Anya, “I put them with the sheep’s head. Maybe we can use them later as bait once they rot.”

“Is that so? I was planning to let you use them to replenish your energy.” Anya turned and looked at the blushing Qin Ruoshang with a teasing smile. “Looks like Zhang Liu’s out of luck.”

“…” Zhang Liu was speechless as Anya went full throttle with the teasing. He then began skinning the sheep down from its neck.

Seeing the snowy white fat and crimson muscles exposed, Anya felt a bit excited.

But Qin Rushuang, next to her, began to tremble and swallow.

Not because she was hungry, but trying to suppress retching sounds.

“If you’re feeling unwell, you should go up first,” Anya said, reaching out to help Zhang Liu pull the sheep’s leg. She looked at Qin Ruoshang, whose face had turned pale, and said, “Don’t push yourself. Zhang Liu already said we might not have another sheep to eat later.”

“I’m fine! I can do it!” Qin Ruoshang glanced at Zhang Liu’s face, summoning inner strength to stand up straight. She also reached out to grab the other sheep leg.

The cold touch made Qin Ruoshang shiver all over.

But she held onto the sheep’s hoof tightly and refused to let go.

Zhang Liu looked at Qin Ruoshang but didn’t say more, only speeding up his work.

At this point, any comfort was useless—the best solution was to get it over with quickly.

But skinning a sheep was really troublesome.

On TV, peeling animal skins was as easy as peeling a banana, sliding off half the body in one go.

But now, Zhang Liu had to carefully cut open seams with a metal blade, then pull hard to peel off a section.

Cut the seam, pull hard again.

This was just the easier belly and back parts.

For the sheep’s leg joints, after cutting several openings, he gave up and made a circular cut around the lower leg, bypassing the hoof.

Luckily, the sheep was hung on the “hanging rack” Anya had made. With the help of the two girls supporting him, Zhang Liu had enough strength to work.

If he were alone, he doubted whether he could finish skinning by nightfall.

“Phew…” With a hard tug, Zhang Liu peeled the skin off from the tail end, exhaling heavily and smiling happily.

To him, this was more than just sheep skin—it was an important piece of gear for tomorrow’s exploration.

However, the sheep skin felt nothing like the soft sheepskin cotton jacket that your parents bought you as a child. It was more like grabbing a thick, tough rubber sheet.

Could this really be used as a backpack?

Though hesitant, Zhang Liu had no time to think further.

He knew that compared to processing the skin, he should prioritize handling the fully exposed meat in the hot air.