Chapter 4

It turned out that the woman's actions were a gesture of gratitude to the gods for providing food? Completing that ritual meant it was time to eat?

Emily watched with interest as the excited crowd gathered around the barbecue, her face adorned with a radiant smile.

But Mo didn't rush over; he still held Emily's hand tightly, his face adorned with a cheerful and dazzling smile, as he calmly walked towards the barbecue.

The people roasting meat were busy dividing up the cooked meat and distributing it to the crowd, while those receiving the meat ran joyfully to their friends and family, either boldly or cautiously offering them the barbecue.

The relationships between people in this tribe are really good! Emily thought to herself.

The unknown porridge Mo brought her in the bamboo tube wasn't filling at all, let alone for any of the taller, heavier, and stronger men and women in the tribe.

Yet, despite the relatively small pieces of barbecue they received, they hesitated to give it to their loved ones, not keeping any for themselves. Their expressions as they watched their loved ones devour the barbecue looked more satisfied than if they had eaten it themselves!

Some people's loved ones gladly accepted the barbecue, while others turned away, causing the givers to look very sad. Some even burst into tears on the spot, while others left the bonfire party with low spirits.

The most interesting thing was the woman who had danced hand in hand with her earlier, who bore some resemblance to Mo. She stood before four young men, each of whom handed her a piece of barbecue with anticipation and nervousness.

The woman smiled as she looked at each of the four young men in front of her, extending her hand to accept a piece of barbecue from one of them. The man's face lit up as if the whole world had suddenly bloomed with flowers, emitting a hearty and triumphant laugh.

But the other three men instantly wilted like frostbitten eggplants, dejectedly casting a mournful glance at the woman before envy and jealousy overcame them, and they left with lowered heads.

Emily was watching with great interest when the fragrant smell of barbecue wafted into her nose. Turning her head, she saw the tall and muscular woman, "An," from earlier, offering her barbecue to Mo. Her beautiful, deep eyes exuded confidence and certainty.

But Mo turned away, still holding Emily's hand without letting go. Emily had no choice but to follow him as he moved, and Mo smiled slightly at her as he led her directly to where the barbecue was being distributed.

Emily stole a glance at An, only to see her standing still, staring at Mo's back with a wounded expression. Her face alternated between pale and red, and when Emily turned to look at her, An's gaze turned venomous, like that of a poisonous snake.

Meanwhile, two men standing beside her unconsciously handed her their barbecue, but she seemed not to notice.

Emily felt a chill from An's gaze and quickly looked away.

Mo handed her a piece of wild boar meat, and just as Emily was about to go and get one herself, she saw Mo feeding her the barbecue right to her mouth, grinning with his bright white teeth and gazing at her with intense eyes.

Emily noticed that there was still plenty of barbecue left, probably enough to share with everyone here.

And since she hadn't eaten enough earlier, the barbecue in front of her looked golden and tempting. Just like those kind-hearted people who gave away their barbecue to others, they looked as if they had lost the whole world when the recipients didn't accept.

She was afraid of upsetting Mo if she didn't accept his kindness.

Without much thought, regardless of whether Mo understood her words or not, she smiled gratefully and carefully took the barbecue, starting to eat.

Seeing this, Mo exclaimed excitedly, jumping up in place like a madman. His sudden frenzy almost made Emily drop the barbecue from her hand.

After a moment of confusion, Emily gave Mo a forced smile and an eye roll, then continued to eat her barbecue.

The barbecue didn't taste as good as it smelled, with only a faint saltiness and no other seasonings. For Emily, who was accustomed to various flavors of barbecue like modern Orleans, traditional cumin, black pepper, and soy sauce, she ate it just to fill her stomach, regardless of the lackluster taste.

Then An, like a whirlwind, passed by Emily and approached Mo, her piercing soprano ringing in Emily's ears.

Emily frowned uncomfortably at An, only to see that An's eyes were fixed solely on Mo. The barbecue she hadn't given away earlier was still in her hands as she continued to hold it out to Mo, excitedly saying something, but Mo once again ignored An.

Emily couldn't quite understand what these people were thinking. There were still plenty of pieces of wild boar meat left at the barbecue area!

Why didn't An eat the barbecue herself?

Mo could just go back and get more barbecue for himself!

Was it really necessary to make a fuss over such a small matter?

Emily pondered.

Wait, did each person only have one chance to get barbecue?

Mo gave her his share of barbecue, so did that mean he wouldn't have another chance? How could she live with that guilt?

Although she was an outsider, seeing how friendly these people were, they probably wouldn't mind sharing a piece of barbecue, right?

So, while chewing on her own barbecue, Emily took Mo by the hand and walked over to the barbecue area, ready to share a piece of barbecue with An. That way, Mo could accept An's barbecue without any worries, and there wouldn't be any further disputes over who got to eat the barbecue.

Despite not speaking the language here, she gestured to the meat, Mo, An, and herself for a while, looking at the confused expression on the face of the man distributing the barbecue, Emily felt a million wild horses galloping through her mind.

She had a talent for languages and came from a good family. Her parents often took her abroad for vacations, so besides her native language, she had no problem conversing in Japanese, Korean, English, and French. However, in this place, none of the five languages she knew were of any use!

Mo muttered something to the man distributing the barbecue, and the man suddenly seemed to understand, readily giving Emily a piece of barbecue.

Emily thanked the man profusely, leaving him even more confused as he looked at her with eyes that resembled those of zoo visitors watching monkeys.

But that wasn't the point.

Emily got her barbecue and subconsciously thanked Mo for explaining, then thanked him again, raising the barbecue to offer it to An.

However, Mo grinned and simply took (snatched?) the barbecue from her hand, took a bite with satisfaction, then lifted it up towards An.

Emily was a bit baffled. She wanted to give the barbecue to An!

In the afternoon, it was obvious that An and Mo had argued because of her, but when she went to Mo's place, there was no trace of femininity, indicating that their relationship wasn't what she had previously thought.

Initially, she had been wanting to escape, but because of this bonfire party and the people who graciously shared the barbecue, she found herself considering staying in this tribe for the first time.

Therefore, she hoped to resolve the conflict between An and Mo, though she wasn't yet sure what the conflict was about.

Emily smiled outwardly but inwardly disagreed with Mo's actions.

Mo gave her his barbecue, she intended to give her barbecue to An, and then Mo would accept An's barbecue. This seemed to align with the tribe's friendly and accommodating style, and everyone would be happy, right?

But Mo simply took the barbecue from her hand, clearly intending not to accept the barbecue from An.

As she watched An shoot her resentful glares and heard her swear at Mo before storming off in frustration, Emily realized with great dismay that the conflict hadn't been resolved. Instead, it had deepened because of the barbecue incident!

Yet Mo seemed unfazed. Holding his barbecue, he led Emily towards the elderly woman sitting on the cushion.

Only now did Emily notice the large stone jar in front of the woman, with some thin bamboo tubes behind her. People who had finished eating barbecue were queuing up there, and the woman was scooping water from the jar into each bamboo tube, her benevolent smile making Emily feel warm inside.

Having danced for so long and eaten barbecue afterward, Emily felt a bit greasy and thirsty. She picked up a bamboo tube and drank the water inside without much thought. The water had a faint scent of some grass, similar to the herbal teas she used to drink back home in the summer to cool off.

Seeing Emily finish her drink, Mo couldn't contain his excitement. He also drank from the bamboo tube and then returned them to their place.

Suddenly, Emily was startled by a loud "snap!" She turned to see the woman who resembled Mo being attacked by the person from whom she had accepted the barbecue, with no one around trying to intervene. Instead, they were all chanting rhythmically in excitement.

What was going on?

Before Emily could figure it out, she was embraced by Mo.

Mo was nearly two meters tall, and as he hugged her, her face pressed against his hot, bare chest, her body close to his.

Emily didn't understand why Mo suddenly acted so abruptly, hugging her in public like this. But as her body pressed against his abdomen, she felt something hard poking her, and her mind exploded.

This impulsive guy was at it again!

She had just thought Mo was pretty nice, for giving her barbecue, completely forgetting about his dangerous and aggressive nature!

Emily pushed Mo away as if she had been shocked, then grabbed a bamboo tube from the collection point and fiercely swung it at him.

Mo didn't dodge or evade, but smiled pleasantly, reaching out to gently stroke Emily's flushed and angry face...

Emily, infuriated, grabbed his hand and bit it.

Hearing the familiar rhythmic chanting of "Oh! Oh! Oh!" from the surroundings, Emily's intuition told her something was amiss. She let go of Mo's hand and stepped back.

Oh, right, the woman who resembled Mo, they were chanting at her before!

Emily looked in that direction, but the place was now empty.

Before she could think further, she was suddenly hoisted onto Mo's shoulder, her waist pressed against his shoulder, legs in front of him, head down, facing Mo's back.

Mo chuckled heartily as he carried her towards his house. Emily panicked, vigorously pounding and scratching Mo's back, demanding he put her down.

Unfortunately, Mo only held her legs more firmly to prevent her from falling and paid no heed to her frantic pounding and scratching, unaffected even in his walking pace.

Amidst the crowd's cheering, Mo carried Emily back to his house under the dim light.

Emily's efforts to resist by pounding and scratching were futile; she couldn't stop Mo's strides. Emily felt both angry and anxious.

Perhaps due to the blood rushing to her head, Emily felt her face starting to heat up. By the time Mo placed her on the bed made of soft grass, she realized something was off.

She felt hot all over, her body weakening, and had the urge to strip off her fox fur and clothes to cool down.

Originally, some parts of their skin were in direct contact, and when Mo put her down, she felt a fleeting sense of reluctance!

The barbecue or the water in the bamboo tubes must have been tampered with, definitely spiked with some kind of "excitement" drug!

The room was darker than outside, and Emily only saw a tall dark figure rushing towards her. With a start, she rolled over and, in terror, yelled, "Don't come near me!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Emily wished she could bite off her tongue.

What was with that seductive voice?

It didn't sound like resistance at all; it was clearly an invitation to accept and reject! Ridiculous! How could such words spill from her mouth!

With the man's deep and pleased laughter, Emily was tightly embraced by him. Emily exclaimed in shock, once again feeling embarrassed by her sultry voice.

When the man had rescued Emily from the river during the day, she had smelled a pleasant hint of mint on him. Now, as the drug took effect, she found his scent even more intoxicating. His touch on her skin relieved the heat, making her feel so comfortable.

As the man removed the white fox fur, Emily, though physically weak, still retained her senses and tried to resist. However, as the drug's effects intensified, Emily's consciousness began to blur.

With impaired vision in the darkness, her other senses became even more acute and sensitive.

Instinctively, she clung to the man's neck with her hands, wrapped her legs around his waist, closed her eyes in the darkness, and pursed her lips, actively seeking the man's warm lips.

The man let out a hoarse sigh and urgently removed the clothes from both of them, taking the lead in guiding Emily's movements until they soared together in ecstasy...

Once... twice... and again... one more time... Listening to Emily's hoarse voice, the man reluctantly restrained his desire to continue.

This delicate woman was probably unable to withstand his demands.

Emily rolled over, resting her head on the man's arm. She murmured something, and the man used his other hand to cover Emily with the white fox fur, pulling her into his embrace. With a satisfied smile on his lips, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.