Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 11 Harvest Festival

Although Du Yi still retains human habits in his daily eating habits, as a snake, he still needs to do some things that snakes must do.

For example, shedding skin.

Du Yi wasn't quite sure how ordinary snakes shed their skin, but in his case, molting and hibernation seemed to be combined—each molt meant a long sleep, and heaven knew when he would wake up.

So after eating and drinking his fill, he went deep into the mountains and dug a huge pit for himself.

Although with his current massive physique, he has no natural enemies whatsoever, he still has the habit of finding a secluded place to sleep and covering himself with something.

So, after being covered in a lot of mud, Du Yi left only his two nostrils exposed to breathe.

"It seems like I've forgotten something? Oh well, if I can't remember, it means it's not important."

The tireless efforts of thousands of days and nights quickly turned into a deep sleep.

So, not long after lying down, Du Yi had already fallen asleep.

However, not long after Du Yi entered a deep sleep, the distant hillside was once again piled high with offerings.

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The annual harvest festival is the most important festival in Ignis.

This festival was established by the nineteenth leader of Ignivas, the Great Holy King Radiant One. On the coldest day of each year, the Great Holy King would bring a large number of offerings to the sacred mountain to sacrifice to the serpent god in the mountain—and the serpent god would drive the dangerous beasts out of the deep mountains.

It is said that decades ago, such events would have been called beast tides, and they even destroyed their former homes. But now, these events have become a time for mages to show off their skills. The ferocious beasts that were once only found deep in the mountains are now coming to the plains to fight them head-on. All they need to do is unleash fireballs to get a large harvest.

This is why this festival, which was originally used for sacrifice, is called the Harvest Festival.

Every harvest festival signifies a bountiful harvest.

However, this year's harvest festival was different from the past. The nineteenth leader had passed away, and the one presiding over the festival now was the twentieth leader, the one named the Fire Successor, who was the descendant of the nineteenth leader in his later years.

The people in the city had no particular thoughts about the successor to the Firebringer. After all, the successor had indeed shown that he was as strong and intelligent as the former Lightbringer, or even more intelligent. People felt that the Firebringer could inherit the Lightbringer's wisdom and lead the race to a better future.

Even the successor of the flame himself thought so.

"I will definitely inherit everything from my father, and I will definitely lead the tribe to glory!"

With this in mind, the Firebringer followed in his father's footsteps and, carrying a large number of offerings, entered the deep mountains alone.

"Only one person can enter the Holy Mountain." This is a tradition that has been passed down since the time of the Radiant Ones. Although no matter how strong a person is, the amount of things they can carry is ultimately limited, the Radiant Ones still insist on entering the mountain alone.

Of course, the Radiant One also gave his reasons. On the one hand, too many people were going into the mountains, which disturbed the Serpent God. On the other hand, it was also for the good of those people.

After all, the father of the Radiant One was scared to death; not everyone can withstand the impact of the Serpent God's enormous body.

As the successor of the Radiant Ones, the Firebringer naturally followed the same rules. Before coming here, he had already mastered the language of the gods and knew how to face the Serpent God. His father had also instructed him in this regard not to worship the Serpent God as a deity, as that would displease the Serpent God. It was better to treat the Serpent God as an elder in the neighborhood so that he could communicate with the Serpent God smoothly.

Everything will go smoothly, the Firebringer thought.

And so, just as the Lightbringers of old had done, the Firebringers lit their own campfires.

The burning bonfire emitted thick smoke that shot straight into the sky, a signal made with the serpent god; once the smoke rose, it was time for the sacrifice.

When the Serpent God descended, he would offer sacrifices and news brought back by explorers from afar—especially the latter. He remembered his father saying that the Serpent God truly needed information from afar, observations and understandings of the world. But this time, the Serpent God did not come.

At first, the Fire Chaser thought the Serpent God was far away. After waiting for most of the day, the Fire Chaser still thought the Serpent God was probably busy with other things. But after waiting for a whole day and night and the Serpent God still hadn't come, the Fire Chaser finally realized something was wrong.

"No way... Didn't Father say that as long as the smoke rises, the Serpent God will definitely appear?"

When the sun rose on the third day, the torchbearer was speechless with astonishment.

Three days and nights passed, but the serpent god still did not appear. On the contrary, the dried meat he carried had been completely eaten up—after all, the ritual was not supposed to last for three days in the first place, and even though he had made some preparations, he actually did not bring much food.

This scene reminded the torchbearer of his father.

The Fire Chaser had also heard the stories his father told him. Back then, his father had been starving for a very long time before he finally met the snake god.

So, after thinking for a moment, the Firebringer decisively cut off a piece of mammoth meat that was originally intended as a sacrifice.

He had heard his father, the one who shone, say that every time a sacrifice was made, the serpent god would treat him to a feast. The serpent god would use the offerings as ingredients to cook various delicious dishes to entertain the sacrificers. This meant that even if he cooked and ate some of the offerings in advance, it should be fine.

"Anyway, it's only a little bit earlier... the Snake God won't blame you."

The successor thought this way.

What was merely scraps for the Serpent God was a feast for the Fire Successor. A single piece of mammoth meat was enough to satisfy the Fire Successor, who had been starving for three days.

After having eaten his fill, the Firebringer finally had the energy to start thinking about how to deal with the current situation.

"The serpent god is unlikely to come... and even if he does, the harvest festival has already been postponed."

After eating and drinking their fill, the clever successor of the fire immediately assessed the current situation.

He would likely not be offended if he ate a few bites of the offerings, since the snake god would eventually turn them into a feast to entertain him.

But if there is no game during the harvest festival, the people in the city will definitely be dissatisfied. After all, the harvest festival is called the harvest festival because every household will have a catch. Now that the catch is less, how can he not be scolded?

"If we want to complete this hunt..."

Making up for this hunt is almost impossible, since he is neither a snake god nor does he have the ability to command all beasts.

"But what the tribe needs is the hunt, not the hunt itself."

The clever successor almost instinctively realized the key point.

Then, he turned his attention to the offerings beside him.

The moment the Firebringer saw these offerings, he had already thought of a solution, albeit a less-than-ideal one.

"The serpent god shouldn't blame me, after all, these offerings are insignificant to the serpent god."

Remembering his father's words of wisdom, the successor took a deep breath.

Immediately afterwards, he took all the remaining offerings down the sacred mountain.

(End of this chapter)