Dogtooth cautiously maintained the expression on his face. "Our tribe is doing very well. You should know that our Earth Tribe does not like living in caves. We normally live underground, so when we discovered the danger, we promptly went underground and suffered no losses."
Ye Xi smirked. "Is that so? But I see how shrivelled your stomach is! If a Warrior like you is so hungry, the others must have starved to death, right?"
Dogtooth almost broke out in a cold sweat. "Our tribe likes to store food, so we managed to endure it this time. But I like to eat fresh meat, not the jerky stored by our tribe, which is why I'm this hungry."
Hisss.
Scaly's black body began to slither up Ye Xi's leg. Ye Xi stroked it on the head, and Scaly docilely looked up.
Ye Xi stroked its head for a while before he grinned at Dogtooth. "Then you're quite the picky eater, not like my little snake… It will eat anything." The last four words were spoken very softly, and he profoundly inspected Dogtooth's body.
Dogtooth's hair stood on end, and he dryly laughed.
"But it eats too much. I just fed it quite a lot recently, and it's already coming to find me for something to eat. Then you happen to deliver yourself to me…" Ye Xi stopped, stared at Dogtooth, and bizarrely laughed.
A bead of cold sweat slid down Dogtooth's forehead.
The fragrance of food drifted over, and Dogtooth, who had not eaten for several days, suddenly turned his head in its direction.
Awl was coming over with a skewer of insect meat.
Ye Xi took the insect meat skewer, squatted down, and moved the fragrant insect meat closer to Dogtooth. "You want to eat it?"
Dogtooth stared with red eyes at the skewer as he swallowed his drool.
Hunger had already pushed him to the verge of madness. Their Earth Tribe did not have such abundant food stores as Mud Mountain, and they had eaten all of their reserves ten-some days ago. They could only eat people, the people of the tribe! But there still wasn't enough! He was hungry!
"If you really want to eat, tell me."
Ye Xi held the food high overhead as he stared at him. "Tell me… the true situation of your tribe."
…
The Warriors were truly too tired. It was only on the morning of the next day that they began to wake up and emerge from the cave.
After sleeping, Plate felt like he was bursting with energy, but his stomach was hungry. Massaging his belly, he commented, "So hungry."
Courage glanced at the jungle and found it silent, not even the chirping of a bird to be heard. "It seems we'll have to go hungry for a few days."
A smiling Awl came over with two skewers of roasted insect meat. "Here! Does it smell good?"
Plate's and Courage's eyes flew open.
The insect meat was milky white, but the outside had been cooked to an appetizing golden yellow.
The aroma hovered around their noses, and Plate couldn't help but snatch a skewer. "What meat is this? Where did you get this food?"
"Why so many questions? Are you going to eat it or not?"
"I'll eat! I'll eat!"
What were they afraid of? In any case, Awl wouldn't give them anything poisonous.
While sheltering in the cave over the last few days, though the Warriors were prioritized for food, the tribe was suffering from a food shortage, so they could not eat as freely as they wished.
They were starving after their sleep, and with such appetizing food offered to them, how could they not eat it?
The two wolfed the food down.
Awl giggled to himself as he watched them finish.
"You wanted to know what meat it was, right? It's insect meat." Afraid that the two still didn't understand what was going on, Awl kindly added, "The insects from the insect flood. The black ones that bleed black water when you cut at them."
Plate and Courage froze.
They had just eaten… insect meat?
Disgust instantly welled up, and Courage retched as he pointed at Awl. "You brat…"
Plate was so revolted that he wanted to beat Awl.
Awl chuckled as he fled.
Ye Xi, amused by their reaction, walked over and said, "What does it matter that it's insect meat? Did it not taste good?"
Plate and Courage exchanged a glance. It wasn't that it tasted bad. The idea was just revolting. This was insect meat! Just thinking about the savage appearances of those insects made them want to vomit.
Ye Xi stopped smiling and firmly said, "You should be able to sense that the creatures of the jungle have yet to return."
Now that they were discussing serious business, Courage turned somber. "You've looked through the jungle? Was there not even a single rabbit?"
Ye Xi nodded. "They've all been frightened off by the insect flood. It will probably be a few days until they come back."
At this moment, a deep and familiar voice came from behind him.
"The tribe's cellar is empty. The members of the tribe have already gone hungry for three days. They can't continue like this."
They all turned to see the chief.
After a night of rest, the chief seemed much more energetic.
A smattering of footsteps came from behind him as the Warriors began to walk out of the cave.
Ye Xi looked at these familiar faces and chuckled. "Don't worry about food. We can eat insect meat."
"Insect meat?!" all the Warriors besides Plate and Courage blurted out in shock.
The chief had only heard about them discussing the creatures in the jungle, not the part about the insect meat. Now that he was hearing Ye Xi talk about it, he was stunned.
Ye Xi glanced at Plate and Courage and said, "They just ate insect meat.
"The taste wasn't bad, right?"
Courage and Plate bitterly smiled.
Courage: "The taste really was okay… if you hadn't said that it was insect meat."
Ye Xi sternly said, "There is no game to be found in the jungle, and even the edible plants and fruits have been spoiled by the insects. These are unusual times, so everyone should just eat insect meat for now."
The Warriors all turned grim.
Courage and Plate began to wonder whether they were being too picky. Since Ye Xi and Awl had eaten the insect meat, as had the other members of the tribe, how could they be so picky about what they ate?
The chief spoke up. "Ye Xi is right. Since the insect meat is edible, we'll eat insect meat. The people of Mud Mountain are not that squeamish." Thinking of something, the chief worriedly asked Ye Xi, "How long can the insect meat last?"
"If we're conservative, it should be good for five or six days."
The chief nodded. "Good. Five or six days should be long enough for the creatures to return."
"There's one other matter."
Ye Xi brought up how a Warrior of the Earth Tribe had been captured yesterday, including the information he had obtained from Dogtooth.
…
After Calm Bulrush finished listening, he savagely laughed. "The Earth Tribe is rather bold to dare think about attacking our Mud Mountain!"
The Earth Tribe was a little weaker than Mud Mountain. In coming to probe Mud Mountain this time, it certainly harbored ill intentions.
Carving coldly laughed. "They've probably gone mad from hunger. They still need to be strong enough if they want to eat us!"
Butcher clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked, the scar on his face seeming even more terrifying from his rage.
The Earth Tribe's designs on Mud Mountain had infuriated all the Warriors!
Ye Xi continued, "He said that they apparently wanted to attack the Tiger Tribe, but to their surprise, the Tiger Tribe's cave had collapsed, and all the members of the Tiger Tribe had either been buried or eaten. The only thing left was a few bones."
Everyone couldn't help but sigh upon hearing that the Tiger Tribe had been wiped out by the insects.
The Tiger Tribe was a weaker tribe, and its weakness meant that it occupied a somewhat smaller cave.
They had been wiped out because their mountain had not been able to withstand the insect flood and had been brought down by the surge.
They once more counted themselves fortunate that their cave was tough and sturdy. Otherwise, they would all be resting inside an insect's stomach.
The chief ordered, "Butcher, go and see what the situation of the Earth Tribe is. If the Earth Tribe isn't faring well…"
A savage gleam appeared in his eyes.