Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 4 Newcomers Replace Old Ones

The first attempt ended in failure.

Looking at the savages fleeing in panic, Du Yi felt quite regretful. He had spent most of the day preparing this delicious meal, but clearly, his enormous body was still too intimidating, so much so that the savages didn't even dare to get close to him.

"On the contrary, it scared these people away."

Looking at the elaborate dishes he had specially prepared hanging on his body, Du Yi felt even more regretful.

If these savages don't want to eat, then he'll have to eat it himself. Fortunately, the food he makes tastes pretty good, so eating it while it's hot isn't a waste.

"As for these savages... let's think of another way."

As Du Yi ate the still-warm dishes, he thought to himself.

Getting the information you want without scaring these savages to death is quite a troublesome thing.

However, Du Yi wasn't in a hurry. After all, so much time had passed, so he could take his time to plan. Maybe those savages would be interested in his dishes and come back to him.
Du Yi has considerable confidence in his craftsmanship.

So he decided to ignore it for the time being, since he couldn't come up with any good ideas anyway. He figured he might as well take advantage of the fact that he had just woken up and see if there were any newly grown plants around that could be used as seasonings.

We also need to stock up on firewood; his cooking method uses too much wood.

Day and night passed in turn, and Du Yi continued his work of stockpiling supplies. In his spare time, he sometimes thought about whether he should try to contact those savages in another way. Although those savages had gone far away, he still remembered their previous tracks, so it would be easy to find them if he wanted to.

However, to Du Yi's surprise, before he could even search for them, the savages arrived first.

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"I will carry on my father's legacy!"

As he received the spear that symbolized the patriarch of the Ignivas family, the nineteenth patriarch, the Radiant One, spoke these words.

As for his father, the eighteenth Ignivas chieftain, after leading the group to a safe plain and watching his people rebuild their village, he fell seriously ill and soon passed away.

Some say it was due to the hidden injuries left by that heroic rearguard action, while others say it was due to excessive spellcasting that drained the leader's body.

But as the nineteenth leader, as that person's son, the Radiant One knew very well that it was not like that at all.

His father was scared to death.

“This is a calamity left by our ancestors… Our ancestors stole the power of the gods.”

The Radiant One remembered that his father, on his deathbed, had held his hand and said these words to him in front of all his people.

"Our ancestors stole the power of the gods and angered the gods in the deep mountains. That's why the gods have punished us and caused our family to suffer such misfortune... After I die, you must remember to show our sincerity to the gods and gain their forgiveness."

"Also, don't be sad, child. I'm just going to reunite with your grandfather, who is also my father, underground."

After saying all this, the eighteenth patriarch of the Ignivas clan even held the Radiant One's hand tightly and instructed his successor to be sure to gain the gods' forgiveness and never think of challenging the gods' majesty.

Fortunately, the Radiant Ones are not the reckless type.

As the nineteenth patriarch of the Ignivas clan, the Radiant One is young, but quite cautious and calm.

Just recalling the terrifying beast tide, he already knew that the god in the mountains was not something the Ignivas family could handle at present.

At least, it's not something they can deal with head-on.

"Should we seek the gods' forgiveness...?" The Radiant One pondered for a moment and quickly came up with a good idea.

That is, to offer tribute.

Just as it's best to visit someone with gifts if you want them to forgive you, it's natural to offer something to the gods if you want them to see the sincerity of the Ignivas family.

Fortunately, his father had told him what the gods looked like before he died, which at least gave him some idea of ​​what kind of offerings to prepare.

"Preparing some food first is definitely the right thing to do... Didn't Father say that the serpent god once used bones as decorations?"

Recalling the words left by the previous chieftain, the Radiant One began his preparations.

Five mammoths were slaughtered by the mages, their enormous bones were removed, and their flesh was taken as tribute, along with the processed skeletons, and dragged to the location of the holy mountain.

Yes, the sacred mountain.

Although that mountain originally had no name, now that it is known that gods dwell there, it has naturally become a sacred mountain.

In order to attract the attention of the mountain gods, the Radiant One even directed his able-bodied men to build a tall altar with stones and mud, and all the offerings were placed on the altar, just waiting for the gods to come and take them.

To attract the attention of the gods, they even lit bonfires, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky, visible from a great distance.

However, the gods showed no intention of coming over.

Three days and three nights passed, and the legendary colossal serpent god did not appear at all, nor did it even bother to come and take a look.

This also made the mages who had followed the Radiant Ones anxious.

"Should we... go back first?"

A mage offered his own idea.

"Let's go back first and think of another way. Maybe we should try a different time, or perhaps we should offer some different tributes..."

"You guys go back first, I'll stay here."

The Radiant One gave these instructions to his subordinates.

“This is out of piety towards the gods. We want to prove our sincerity. If we don’t even have the courage to face the gods, how can we possibly communicate with them? You should go back to the village.”

Faced with the dissuasion of his subordinate mages, the Radiant One spoke with reason and evidence.

But what he thought in his heart and what he said were completely different things.

As a leader, it was indeed wrong to risk his life, but as a father's son, he should at least see with his own eyes what caused his father's death.

Therefore, in order to avenge this blood feud, the Radiant One secretly poisoned the offerings.

This was the only way he could fight against that god, and the only way he could take revenge. But considering that the terrifying god was a serpent god, he couldn't be sure whether the poison would be effective.

That's why he chose to stay here; he wanted to watch the sacrifices being devoured, even if it meant his death.

However, after waiting for three more days, the snake god still did not come.

(End of this chapter)