Bringing a System to the Beast World

Chapter 489 The meat doesn't taste good anymore?

The males felt a pang of guilt; they had returned late today in their efforts to hunt all the great elk, and their tribesmen must be starving.

"We're back from the hunt!"

Finally, some males continued to shout loudly.

This shout finally drew the attention of the tribespeople in the open space, but the next moment...
"Oh!"

"Go and wash it quickly."

"There are so many prey."

Instead of the expected cheers, adoration, and declarations of love, the bland greetings left the males utterly bewildered.

They're carrying meat! It's real meat!

But no matter how loudly they threw the large antlered deer off their shoulders, they no longer attracted a single glance from the females.

This little girl's feelings are somewhat complicated. A female's heart is like the bottom of the sea; does she no longer love the strong, sturdy deer?
Suddenly, a somewhat dejected male sniffed, then began to swallow hard, gulping, "This smell... how can it smell so good? What is this?"

As soon as he spoke, the males in the hunting party began to sniff, while Yuan Lang and Teng Kun had already gone to the river to wash off the blood and grime.

The orcs' keen sense of smell allowed them to detect the enticing aroma from some distance away. It was somewhat similar to the flatbreads they used to eat, but with a sweeter flavor.

"Boss, there were a lot of corn kernels on the open ground just now. Yue must have used those kernels to make delicious food."

Yuan Lang's eyes held a hint of a smile. Only he knew that the aroma he had just smelled must have come from food made by Yue using cornmeal.

Thinking of this, he quickened his pace in washing his body, while Teng Kun, to save time, had already transformed into his beast form and started rolling around in the river.

Looking at Teng Kun rolling around in the river, Yuan Lang inexplicably recalled a sentence Yue had once said: "Taking a bath is all about rocking."

Thinking this, the disgust on her face was impossible to hide, and she even silently moved her feet further away from the tiger.

Meanwhile, in the open space of the tribe, some tribesmen finally noticed the amount of prey brought back by the hunting team. The carcasses of large-horned deer, which looked like small mountains, were piled up there, and there were even several large-horned deer mothers and their cubs with their necks tied, struggling and crying out.

As Ayun busily peeled the fruit from his hands, he chuckled as he looked at the pile of prey. Their gathering team had gotten the most fruit today; he wondered if they would be able to get half a giant deer.

If everyone could get half a deer, they would all have enough meat to eat their fill.

Around her, there were clearly many other tribesmen who shared the same thoughts. Looking at the small mountain of fruit in front of them and the prey of the hunting party, their wrinkles stretched into smiles.

But more than the prey they could get their hands on, they were looking forward to the food the shaman was making in the cave, a smell they had never smelled before.

After storing some of the harvested fruit in the cave, the rest were peeled by the tribesmen. In order to have delicious food, Teng Qian and Ying Yan handed over the task of crushing the corn kernels to several orc warriors.

"These corn kernels need to be completely crushed into the shape shown in our basin."

Teng Qian swung his slightly sore arms, and before leaving, his eyes rolled around. He turned back to the orc warriors and said, "Do a good job. Maybe the shaman will see that the corn kernels you've pounded are very good and will share some delicious food with you."

With the carrot and stick approach, the orc warriors instantly became incredibly energetic, howling and taking turns pounding on each other.

Upon seeing this, Teng Qian and Ying Yan, who had walked some distance away, couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "They really have drive!"

As the two arrived at the cave entrance, the aroma wafting out became even stronger. They swallowed hard and quickly went inside.

"Moon, are these pancakes made with that cornmeal from earlier?"

Teng Qian stared in astonishment at the cornbread that had filled a stone basin, each palm-sized golden-yellow pancake emitting a rich aroma.

Wu Yue scooped a pancake out of the pot and placed it in a bowl, then gave one to each of them: "Try it, this pancake tastes absolutely delicious."

I thought the seeds of this fruit would be exactly the same as corn, but I didn't expect that when the fruit is ground into powder, it retains the sweet taste of cornmeal but is not as coarse as cornmeal and is very delicate and delicious.

Teng Qian chuckled as he took the pancake she offered, chewed it down in three bites, and swallowed it with increasing gleam and longing in his eyes.

"This is...this is so delicious!"

Needless to say, Yingyan, who was standing to the side, had the best food he had ever eaten, which was from the Snow Tiger Tribe.

"Let's go and build two more stoves."

Wu Yue gave the order without even looking up.

She just wanted to test whether the food made from cornmeal tasted good, but she didn't want to do hard labor for the entire tribe.

Setting up the stove was a simple task, completed in just a few breaths by the two orc warriors. However, the next moment, seeing Wu Yue take out two stone slabs they had previously used for grilling meat from a basket on her back, the two of them felt rather miserable.

Good grief, he escaped the job of crushing cornmeal, but in the end he was still conscripted.

Making these simple cornbread pancakes requires almost no skill; you just need to make sure they don't burn.

Outside, the orc warriors were huffing and puffing as they worked hard to produce cornmeal, while inside the cave, two orc warriors were making cornbread with wrinkled faces.

When Yuan Lang and Teng Kun returned to the cave, the three of them had already made more than a dozen basins of golden corn cakes, and the aroma filled the entire cave.

"Let's keep some for ourselves and share the rest with them."

Wu Yue glanced at the remaining food. Although all the fruits she had brought back today had been ground into cornmeal, it wasn't enough for each member of the tribe to have one, but half a piece per person would be about right.

When several orc warriors led their people out of the cave carrying basins of golden food, the open space was quiet, with only the sound of swallowing saliva audible.

"Is that really for us to eat?"

A member of a small tribe asked nervously, "With such beautiful colors and enticing aromas, isn't this kind of delicious food only available to shamans and orc warriors?"

Only when the still slightly warm cakes were placed in their hands did everyone believe that they actually had the chance to eat the same food as the shaman.

The food didn't have the bloody smell of raw meat, nor the bitterness of wild vegetable dumplings; instead, it carried a mysterious aroma that made their mouths water.

Cornbread and meat were the food for the winning gathering and hunting teams, while the losing teams, even while eating wild vegetable dumplings, were secretly pleased. They had never dared to dream of such a life of plenty before.

After eating, the group did not leave, but remained in place under the organization of several orc warriors.

Standing in front of the open space, Wu Yue and Yuan Lang looked at their satisfied tribespeople and asked, "Was the food good today?"

The tribespeople shouted excitedly, "Delicious!"

"Would you like to have this kind of food to eat in the future?"

Everyone's eyes were red with envy; who wouldn't want to eat such delicious food every day?
He immediately shouted even louder, "Yes!"

"The food we are eating today is called corn tortilla, and I believe many people in our tribe can guess what it is made of."

Wu Yue pointed to the mountain of fruit shells piled up on the open ground: "They are made from the kind of fruit you collected today."

As you've all seen, the process involves extracting the contents of the corn kernels, grinding them into powder, and then you can make delicious corn tortillas.

Teng Qian, standing to the side, twitched his lips violently. The thought of cornstarch was a nightmare. He would rather go hunting than stand there making a 'bang bang bang' noise.

He never wanted to see stone troughs and wooden sticks again.

On the other hand, Yingyan was completely the opposite; he was even more excited than the tribesmen on the open ground.

Although I am with Teng Qian and the others now, in the end, I am a member of the Flying Eagle Tribe, while Wu Yue and Yuan Lang are from the same tribe.

Wu Yue didn't hide the fruit she found from me, and even taught me how to make cornmeal. As long as I find this fruit tree in the polar forest, the Flying Eagle Tribe will also have this fruit to eat in the future.

When they were eating, he felt full after eating only a dozen or so cornbreads.

"My people!"

Wu Yue's voice interrupted Ying Yan's rambling.

"When you go out in the future, you should remember the places where these fruit trees exist. If anyone knows of any territories nearby with a large number of these fruit trees, we will make those territories ours."

Surrounded by small and medium-sized tribes, each with its own noble shamans and powerful orc warriors, the tribespeople were not afraid of those tribes refusing to submit.

After the mobilization meeting, everyone returned to their residences with great enthusiasm.

Several orc warriors went to the place where the tribesmen who stayed behind were making mud bricks. The mud bricks were piled up on the open ground and were almost dry after a day of drying.

The sturdy and beautiful houses and delicious food warmed everyone's hearts.

Meanwhile, in a naturally formed cave in the forest, several gaunt, skeletal-looking people sat around a fire, with some wilted wild vegetables and cracked wild fruits beside them.

This food was already quite plentiful for a community of homeless people like theirs.

But there was no joy on their faces. The gray-haired female kept wiping away tears with her dry, dark, claw-like hands: "I just found some dry grass around the cave, thinking that it would keep the cubs warm when they sleep at night. Who knew that little Ayu would disappear? Waaah!"

The female cried sadly. Ayu was her and her partner's first cub, and it always followed her around, helping her gather firewood or find food in the surrounding area.

Their nomadic settlements are not accepted by the surrounding tribes, but they are able to exchange what they have collected for goods in some tribes. Even when they are short of food, they can do things in the tribes in exchange for some food.

Because they have no territory, they can only settle in barren places that no tribe is willing to occupy.

That winter, more than half of their tribesmen in their small settlement died of hunger. Their family was lucky to survive, but the food in the settlement had run out.

So early in the morning, the males went to work in the surrounding tribes, hoping to get some food, as they had not eaten for three days.

The females were lucky enough to find some edible wild vegetables and fruits nearby.

But when they weren't paying attention, the big cub Ayu disappeared. When the males returned from their work and found out that Ayu was missing, they all went out to search for him, but now it was almost dark and no one had returned.

The female was filled with sorrow. In the dangerous forest, even adult males could easily lose their lives; her own offspring were likely already long gone.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she became, and tears streamed down her cheeks, washing away the dirt and leaving two clear streaks on her face.

Just then, a series of chaotic footsteps came from outside the small cave, accompanied by the voices of males.

Her eyes lit up instantly, and she stood up and walked outside.

Unlike before, her eyes didn't immediately turn to her partner. Instead, she searched around them, but to her disappointment, the small figure she was worried about wasn't in the crowd.

"Ayu!"

The female let out a mournful cry, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

A figure rushed out from the crowd. A thin, dark-skinned male quickly stepped forward, picked up the female, sighed deeply, and carried her into the cave.

“Gan, Ayu is missing. We can’t go any further, or it will be too dangerous.”

The speaker was a somewhat older, unmarried male with a furrowed brow and a heart full of worry.

The tribe in the settlement was already small, and the cubs were the hope of the settlement. Now, one of the cubs was gone, and it was a male who was able to go out hunting, gathering, and even doing things. This made him feel very sad.

But the settlement has more than just Ayu, the young cub; they also have to protect the other members of their tribe and cannot allow all the males to go out and search.

The orc named Gan was filled with grief, and he knew in his heart that a little cub had probably died after being in the forest for so long.

He nodded with a sorrowful expression: "I know, Chief."

The people in the cave looked at the unconscious female and her male partner holding her, as well as the small figure nestled beside them, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

The joy of receiving food today has vanished.

"Father? Mother? Chief?"

(End of this chapter)