Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Author: A Bowl of Dukang

Summary:

Summary:

"I just want to eat something that tastes good." - Du Yi after turning into a snake

"The Lord of Plenty's simple declaration, 'I just want something easy to eat,' profoundly reveals that food philosophy is the driving force behind the advancement of civilization. From the first campfires of ancient Homo sapiens to the modern civilization's focus on food, human civilization has regarded food as a core dimension of understanding the world. This ancient wisdom of 'the unity of Tao and instrument' not only solves the crisis of alienation in the predicament of modernization, but also constructs a civilization development paradigm of 'harmony between man and nature', providing ideological enlightenment for the construction of a human community." - "The Lord of Plenty's Dietary Perspective: Empowering the Path to a Strong Civilization with Dietary Science"

Chapter 1 Eating is the most important thing in life

Eating is the most important thing in life.

As the morning light pierced through the mist, thirteen antelopes began grazing on the grasses and sedges on the ground. Their steps seemed leisurely, but they ate quickly and hurriedly. The grass leaves, rich in sap, were chewed and crushed as soon as they entered their mouths, and under the action of saliva, they were transformed into absorbable nutrients.

Finding a suitable pasture is no easy task, and they can't wait to feast.

This also made the saber-toothed tiger, which was not far away, happy.

The massive saber-toothed tiger was lying in wait downwind in the distance. This experienced beast knew very well that if it pounced, the small antelopes would scatter and disappear without a trace, merely by smelling its scent and hearing its voice.

That's why it chose to ambush near the bushes.

This lush grassland is the perfect bait.

Sheep will definitely eat grass.

And it will surely have sheep to eat it.

The saber-toothed tiger pounced.

Even though the energy from the sun-frozen grass blades had been transformed into lightning-fast kinetic energy for these antelopes, the charging saber-toothed tiger still managed to pounce on and kill an antelope in the first instant.

When the sharp, curved claws pierced the antelope's shoulder blade, the saber-toothed tiger, who had been busy all morning, finally had its first meal.

However, despite its voracious appetite, the saber-toothed tiger, as a top predator, did not eat just any kind of meat. It would only consume the soft belly meat of its prey and the soft, fatty meat on the torso. This was not a waste, but rather to protect its teeth—excessive biting of hard muscle could cause microcracks in the tooth roots and even affect the act of eating itself.

Fortunately, the sheep in front of it is plump enough, and it may be able to have a good meal.

Smelling the aroma of fresh meat, the saber-toothed tiger couldn't resist indulging in a hearty meal.

This also made Du Yi, who had transformed into a giant snake not far away, happy.

Du Yi couldn't remember exactly how he turned into a snake. He only remembered that it was a dark and windy night when he suddenly felt his body, which had been weak due to his serious illness, become full of strength. But just as he was about to raise his arm to see how big his biceps were, he suddenly discovered that his arm was gone.

Not only were his arms gone, but his legs were gone too; his entire body had become a long, thin strip.

It only took Du Yi two minutes to accept the fact that he had turned into a snake.

After all, this wasn't a bad thing for Du Yi. He felt healthy again after a long time, no longer had to lie in a hospital bed, and could do whatever he wanted, except for being a little hungry.

But the most troublesome thing is that I'm a little hungry.

"What are the snake's hunting methods again?"

Du Yi had absolutely no idea about this kind of thing.

However, hunting ultimately comes down to one basic method: chasing after the prey, killing it, and eating it—no matter what kind of hunting it is, it will eventually come down to this step.

But after several attempts, Du Yi found that he couldn't do it.

It's not that we can't beat them, it's that we can't catch them.

Its current body is so enormous that even elephants look like giant rats in front of it. If it were to pounce like that, the weak saber-toothed tigers and elephants wouldn't even need to see it with their own eyes. Just by smelling its scent or hearing its voice, they would flee in terror and never be seen again.

That's why Du Yi chose to ambush near the sheep.

These plump antelopes in front of us are the best bait.

Those carnivores will definitely come and eat the sheep.

And he will definitely get to eat meat.

Du Yi raised its long tail and lifted up a huge rock.

Before the saber-toothed tiger in the distance could even begin to devour the mutton, its skull was smashed by a spinning, flying boulder.

When the saber-toothed tiger, its brains splattered, fell to the ground, Du Yi, who had been busy all morning, finally had his first meal.

However, despite his love of food, Du Yi, as a civilized person, doesn't eat everything. Although snakes are supposed to swallow their prey whole, Du Yi surprisingly adheres to certain principles typical of civilized people.

First of all, while he can eat, he must go into the water. It's not that Du Yi is overly picky about food, but rather that these wild animals may not have defecated before he hunted them. Just thinking about the scene of him eating them makes him feel nauseous.

As for the other one, it is essential to eat cooked food.

This wasn't even an attempt to prevent parasites; it was simply that he wanted to eat cooked food. Although he wasn't against eating raw food like sashimi, now that he had become a snake, eating cooked food had become his last line of defense as a civilized person.

As for the cooked food itself, it wasn't that difficult to make. After carefully setting aside the collected dry wood, Du Yi used his long tail to pick up a rock and lashed it hard at another rock.

This was no ordinary method of starting a fire; it was more akin to pure brute force creating a miracle. The heavy rocks spun like tops under the powerful whip of the long tail, and the two boulders collided multiple times in just a short while, soon sparks flying and igniting the dry grass and wood.

Meanwhile, Du Yi threw the saber-toothed tiger and antelope, which had their internal organs removed, along with the mammoth fat he had left behind, and some things that looked like hay and branches, into the fire.

"With limited resources, these are the only things we can use for seasoning."

Yes, even after turning into a snake, Du Yi still has quite high standards when it comes to taste.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, the aroma of meat quickly wafted out. Sensing that it was not a burnt smell, but a fragrant aroma of roasted food, Du Yi nodded in satisfaction.

After dozens of trials, he finally found a relatively suitable formula.

At least this amount of meat is at least edible.

But just as Du Yi was about to try it, he suddenly sensed a gaze from afar, watching his direction.

"What are you looking at!"

Du Yi, whose meal had been interrupted, immediately glared back fiercely.

He can't stand being spied on while eating, nor can he stand it when he's not eating—if there's really something to say, he should just come out and talk to him openly, what's the point of hiding in the dark and spying?

As Du Yi bared his fangs, a tiny, insect-like figure in the distance was terrified and fled in panic, its movements as swift as a monkey.

"Wild monkeys?"

Seeing that the figure disappeared from sight in just a moment, Du Yi stopped caring about it.

He didn't need to worry about such tiny monkeys; he should hurry up and taste them first, otherwise the flavor might change in a while.

Just as Du Yi was enjoying the delicious barbecue, the monkey-like figure in the distance finally stopped its frantic run, hidden by a pile of rocks.

The figure was covered in animal skins, with thick fur, and every move he made exuded primal wildness.

But when he smelled the aroma of meat wafting from afar and recalled the towering flames just now, the savage's eyes lit up.

Back in his tribe, the savage was still pondering the giant snake's earlier actions. He even unconsciously picked up two stones and kept banging them together.

Under constant impact, the two stones gradually shattered into stone fragments, and even into stone powder.

The bright Mars shimmered again and again under the impact.

The wild man only came to his senses when a spark ignited the grassy nest he used for sleeping.

As the fire grew larger and larger, the other savages in the tribe were terrified. They knew that fire only appeared during storms and when there was lightning and thunder—but now, right in front of them, one of their companions had set the grass nest ablaze simply by clapping his hands!

This is... what kind of power?

Their ignorance prevented these savages from understanding how this was done.

Only the savage who did all this knew clearly the origin of it all.

"god!"

Recalling the image of the giant snake, the savage clapped his hands once more.

Under the firelight, sparks flew everywhere.

"This is power from God!"

Chapter 2: Palms Clasped Together Is Not an Apology

Time flies and years pass by.

Du Yi had no idea how long he had been living in the mountains. After all, he didn't have a calendar to keep track of time. Although he had tried to record the changing of day and night by drawing lines, this simple calendar method ultimately failed after he shed his skin several times and missed a few check-ins.

Each time Du Yi sheds his skin, he sleeps for a long time, and when he wakes up again, everything around him has changed—he can only tell from the tree rings and the soil that buried him that a long time has passed.

But Du Yi couldn't figure out exactly how much time had passed.

However, this didn't bother Du Yi. He was always the type to accept things as they are. Now that he had woken up, the first thing he did, besides getting rid of the old skin on his body, was to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, the mountain was surprisingly rich in resources. Even with Du Yi's appetite, he hadn't completely devoured the mountain after eating for so long. This surprised Du Yi, because he had prepared to go to a distant place to find food after this area was eaten up. But who would have thought that new prey would keep appearing in this mountain?

"It's like it refreshes automatically?"

While it's a good thing that prey comes to you automatically, this strange situation is indeed quite puzzling to Du Yi.

You have to understand, these prey aren't stupid. They have at least the most basic survival instincts. Just by smelling his scent or hearing his voice, they would scatter and flee. How could they possibly come to him willingly?

Fortunately, he soon found the answer.

He discovered it while he was sleeping. Although he was awake, he was still a little groggy, so he didn't immediately shake off the dirt that had buried him in the ground, as he usually did. It was at this moment that he saw several savages running towards him from a distance.

The savages were dressed in neatly sewn animal skins, exuding a fierce aura. In front of them, three mammoths were being chased in a panic, rushing into the mountains.

"how did you do that?"

Du Yi was stunned. No matter how you look at it, the situation should be reversed. Three mammoths were not big to him, but they were huge to these savages. Three mammoths in a relatively open area, let alone a few savages, even dozens of savages would probably be swept away and left with nothing.

Right now, it's the three mammoths that are being chased and running around in circles.

"To be able to do this much... it seems like we've already reached a certain level of civilization."

Du Yi couldn't help but nod in approval.

It was at this moment that the terrified mammoths prepared to fight to the death.

The mammoths suddenly turned their heads, their massive heads drooping, their sharp tusks like spears, pointing directly at the pursuing savages.

Given the mammoth's size, if it were to charge, those few savages would probably be crushed into mincemeat on the spot.

But at that very moment, the leader of the savages suddenly raised his palms and slapped them together!

"boom--"

With the clapping of his hands, a large burst of flames exploded out of thin air, the blazing flames coalescing into a fireball that slammed into the head of the leading mammoth!

"hold head high--"

The mammoth, which was charging forward, roared to the sky. Large swathes of its massive head were charred black from the explosion, and its momentum came to an abrupt halt, as it once again fled in a disheveled manner.

As for the other two mammoths, they were no different. Faced with the fireballs blasted by the savages, the massive mammoths had no ability to put up any resistance.

But the savages did not continue the pursuit; they merely drove the mammoths into a berry bush before leaping away and scattering in all directions.

Du Yi recognized those berries. These rock berries, rich in juice, tasted quite sweet even to him. Such a sugary food would naturally be a delicious meal for these three mammoths.

So, tempted by the food, the three mammoths gradually calmed down and began to focus on eating the berries.

Du Yi, who was observing all of this, roughly understood the intentions of these savages.

"It does look like they're going to raise these mammoths... But is it appropriate for you to keep elephants where I sleep?"

Faced with three mammoths offered to him, the starving Du Yi certainly wouldn't refuse, knowing that the three mammoths would surely be scared away when he got up anyway.

Since we're already here, there's no need to run around.

After a brief chase, the three mammoths were all knocked to the ground by the snake's tail, and then their internal organs were removed and they were roasted in the fire.

Du Yi, of course, did not forget to add spices; he always had high standards for the quality of food.

After devouring three mammoths, Du Yi, full and satisfied, gazed up at the starry sky. Although the amount of meat from the three mammoths was only enough to fill him up halfway with his current size, the large intake of nutrients still helped him recover from the grogginess of just waking up.

"I should have stopped those savages. At least I could have asked them where we were and what day it was."

Du Yi thought to himself.

Du Yi was also very interested in the ability to conjure fireballs with a clap of his hands.

Fortunately, it's not too late to think of this now. Those savages have no intention of concealing their tracks, so he can follow the trails they left behind to find their settlement.

"Hopefully, I won't scare them to death the moment I show my face."