Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 21 Second Contact

Seeing that the two savages had eaten the meat, Du Yi took them back to the mountains, just as he had done with the Radiant Ones.

The language barrier wasn't a big deal for Du Yi; it was just a matter of learning it again.

Furthermore, Du Yi had already realized that the savage was clearly speaking the same language as him, but the other party's language must have undergone some changes, resulting in completely different pronunciations and intonations.

"It must be a change brought about by time... How long have I actually slept?"

Du Yi couldn't help but sigh.

Since it's the same language, it'll be much easier to learn. You know, it didn't take him long to learn the language of the Lightbringers back then, even though the two sides couldn't understand each other at all. As for now, he just needs to modify his old pronunciations and language structures to suit the current situation.

Of course, just like he did back then, he wouldn't learn these things for nothing; at the very least, he would be provided with food and lodging.

However, Du Yi soon encountered some troublesome problems with food.

"What about the prey in the mountains?"

Du Yi, who was about to start cooking, was puzzled.

Du Yi originally planned to make some mammoth dishes, since it was his favorite among all the ingredients—not because the other ingredients were lacking in taste and texture, but because the mammoth was simply too perfect.

First of all, this thing is big enough, which is an absolute advantage. Its huge size means enough meat, and it is also a herd animal, which means that as long as Du Yi hunts a herd of elephants, even with his current huge size, he can have a good meal.

On this basis, the taste of mammoths is also impeccable. The meat of these wild mammoths is quite firm, yet has beautiful fat marbling. They only need to be simply cooked over an open flame to release an enticing aroma.

Of course, Du Yi's favorite is the mammoth bone. Inside the thick bones is bone marrow full of energy. As the flames gradually heat the bone marrow into a viscous paste, no additional seasoning is needed. The wonderful taste of the ingredients themselves is enough to make people forget everything and become intoxicated by it.

Furthermore, mammoths have a unique advantage.

That is, this thing has no natural enemies.

Having no natural predators means that no one will compete with him for them. Even if the mammoths in the mountains are almost hunted down, as long as he stops chasing and killing them for a while, a new batch of mammoths will always emerge.

"So, I've been sleeping for so long, there should be quite a few new mammoths growing out by now, right?"

The thought of the herd of mammoths he had hunted recently filled Du Yi with anticipation.

That was definitely the highest quality mammoth he had ever eaten. The juicy, smooth texture was unlike anything that could grow in the wild. Clearly, during his molting period, mammoths had gradually evolved into a breed of exceptional quality.

However, it seems there's a problem in the mountains right now.

Two days and nights had passed, and Du Yi had already circled the mountains twice, but he hadn't seen a single mammoth—you see, in order not to scare away his prey, he had even deliberately concealed his tracks, always moving close to the ground, rarely even raising his head.

But he still didn't see a single mammoth. It was as if those mammoths that used to run happily in the mountains had completely disappeared.

"It doesn't make sense..."

Du Yi climbed all the way to the top of the mountain and looked down at the scenery below. But he still didn't see a single mammoth.

Something seems a little off. The mammoths in this mountainous area shouldn't have gone extinct. After all, he has always been very careful about the population's reproduction to ensure that there are mammoths to eat every time he wakes up. He would never do something like draining the pond to catch all the fish. And judging from the current resources in the mountains, the things that mammoths like to eat are still there, and even rock berries are everywhere. It's impossible for the mammoths to migrate because they run out of food.

"Should we look for something else?"

After thinking for a moment, Du Yi could only settle for second best for the time being.

If mammoths aren't an option, saber-toothed tigers are actually a good alternative. Although they aren't as big as mammoths and their meat quality is slightly inferior, the amount of meat is still quite sufficient. And most importantly, there are many more of these than mammoths. If you can find a few more, you can have a good meal.

But after two more days and nights, Du Yi was shocked to find that the saber-toothed tigers that used to be everywhere were now almost nowhere to be found.

"what happened?"

Du Yi was increasingly puzzled; it seemed that some strange changes were taking place in the mountains.

After searching for four days without finding any prey, Du Yi had no choice but to return home for the time being. Since he had eaten a lot of mammoths before, he wasn't very hungry. This is where the advantage of snakes in digestion comes into play. They can eat a lot at once and then go for a long time without getting hungry after eating so much.

But just because he wasn't hungry didn't mean the two savages wouldn't be hungry. If he didn't go back soon, those two savages would probably become two corpses.

"A proper meal is out of the question, so how about some seasonings to tide us over?"

With that in mind, Du Yi casually took some berries and beehives back with him.

This amount of food wasn't even enough for him to roast meat once, but considering the size of those two savages, it was enough to choke them to death.

"I hope they won't be malnourished."

Du Yi felt quite ashamed for not being able to arrange the meals properly.

Fortunately, when Du Yi returned, the two savages had found berries to eat on their own. Seeing that the two savages could eat vegetarian food, Du Yi was somewhat relieved.

He still needs to learn the current language from these two savages, so he can't let them die like this.

So, after leaving the berries for the two savages, Du Yi began to try to get them to start by naming the berries, just as he had done with the Radiant Ones years before.

Fortunately, these two savages were also intelligent. Du Yi only used body language to teach them for half a day, and the two bruised and swollen savages understood what he meant.

Under Du Yi's diligent and highly efficient learning, he was able to communicate with the two savages in just half a day.

It was at this moment that Du Yi learned the reason why the prey in the mountains had disappeared.

"What? You mean all the mammoths in the mountains have been stolen?"

Upon hearing this from a savage, Du Yi immediately frowned.

(End of this chapter)