Chapter 7

Chapter 5: The First Great Thief in the New World

Yunchuan followed the woman, pondering for a long time, and finally decided to follow her into the cave to search.

He found a scorched centipede in a crevice in the rock. The centipede was large, about half a foot long, half of it charred, the other half still vividly alive.

The woman, delighted by her son's gift, kissed Yunchuan's clean face, then pinched off the centipede's head, raised her head, and swallowed the entire centipede, as if it were a noodle.

That night, the cave was brightly lit, and no one slept. Everyone was searching for food.

Only Yunchuan, who had eaten his fill, slept soundly.

The dry grass beneath him was new, with no bugs to disturb him, no centipedes or scorpions to harm him, and no venomous snakes to eye his succulent flesh.

This was almost the most peaceful sleep he had since arriving in this new world.

He woke up very late. If it weren't for the intense hunger that forced him to wake up, he would have refused to get up.

After waking up, he found that he not only had water to drink but also some high-protein roasted meat as a side dish.

Everyone stayed in the cave, and outside, a heavy rain was pouring down.

Even the greediest chief did not issue an order to search for food.

Since there was nothing to do, people continued to search for any leftover food from the night before, but no matter how hard they tried, the remaining insects in the cave were not enough for everyone, not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

Yunchuan waited for a long time but did not receive any food. The people in the cave seemed very peaceful, either lying down or quietly resting against the rock walls.

It seemed there would be no more food.

Yunchuan "oohed" and "aahed" to the mother in front of him, hoping to obtain some useful information or learn their language through this method.

To his surprise, the mother also tried to communicate with Yunchuan using "oohs" and "aahs"...

The mother was too naive...

Yunchuan had to pay attention to the interactions between the adults. As a result, he heard many single words with strange and difficult-to-imitate intonations.

From the cooking utensils, Yunchuan knew that this tribe had entered the earthenware period, had learned to raise livestock, use fire, and make clothing from plant fibers. Therefore, the light of civilization should have already appeared.

However, their language was very limited, using only simple single sounds to express meanings. When it came to more complex things, they preferred to express them through a song-like language.

When they sang, they danced, but the dancing was not literal; it was more of a form of body language.

This was good.

The intelligent Yunchuan quickly understood something from the dance of a man who was flattering the mother—he had once killed a bear.

The mother lifted the hungry Yunchuan and pointed him at the man who claimed to have killed a bear.

The man, reluctantly, tried to push Yunchuan aside, as his goal was the well-nourished mother, not the chubby child in front of him.

The mother stubbornly placed Yunchuan between them, clearly indicating that he must be fed before she would allow the man to approach her.

So, the man, gritting his teeth, took a small roasted centipede from a small basket hanging from his leather skirt.

Yunchuan handed it to the mother, who, smiling, turned her head and ate the meat in one go. Then, Yunchuan extended his chubby hand to the man again.

The man took out another one, but Yunchuan did not eat it, so it went to the mother again. Yunchuan's chubby hand extended once more...

Until the man took out two finger-thick roasted insects, Yunchuan finally ate them.

The insects were really delicious, and Yunchuan reached out his hand again, but the man's basket was already empty.

Seeing that the man's basket was empty, the mother carried Yunchuan deeper into the crowd.

The man, frustrated, squatted on the ground and shook his basket, hoping to find more food inside.

The mother's seating place was very strategic, surrounded by women holding children. When the mother returned, another woman immediately took her place with her child.

These women were very quick learners. When a man approached, they placed their children between them... and the man's offerings were quickly eaten by the children.

The children did not continue to ask for more food!

This indicated that the transaction was complete.

The hungry woman was carried away by the man, and the mother laughed loudly, holding Yunchuan tightly, afraid that someone might take him away.

Yunchuan walked steadily, a significant improvement!

He even felt that his limbs had grown larger in the past two days!

This was abnormal, but Yunchuan was full of hope.

Outside the cave, lightning and thunder raged.

Each thunderclap made the people in the cave cover their ears, especially when lightning struck a pine tree at the cave entrance and split it in two. They all knelt down and worshiped the burning pine tree in the rain.

Perhaps their worship had an effect, as the burning pine tree, which formed a torch, was extinguished by the heavy rain, but they worshiped even more fervently.

Soon, Yunchuan noticed something strange. These people, including the mother, were extremely devout during their worship, almost entering a mystical mental state, losing their perception of the outside world.

To the point that they did not even notice Yunchuan stealing their food.

Yunchuan filled the mother's basket with stolen food and ate seven or eight of the roasted insects in one go.

He did not take from just one person's basket but from everyone's, accumulating a lot of food.

After the worship ended, these people looked very tired and began to eat, but they did not seem to notice that their food had decreased.

Not only did these people not notice the decrease in food, but the mother also did not seem to notice that her basket was suddenly full. She was just very happy, extremely happy.

At this point, Yunchuan suddenly realized that he might be the first thief in this tribe.

And possibly the first thief in this era.

There might be many bandits in this world, but thieves? He was probably the only one!

On the first day of rain, Yunchuan was very happy, and the second day was also good. On the third day, when the chief began to have animals slaughtered, everyone started to wail...

Yunchuan was very confused.

The calf he knew escaped because it was too small, and the chief only killed a sheep.

The sheep died a terrible death.

It was killed by stones...

The scene of people crying while dividing the sheep's meat was incomprehensible to Yunchuan.

The sheep was used to the fullest extent; every edible part of its body was carefully placed in the earthen pot.

Yunchuan did not want to get close to the pot of internal organs, as he did not think these people could cook the sheep's intestines into a delicious soup.

However, the mother lifted him close to the pot, making him think she might throw him into the soup, as his plump body looked more appetizing than the skinny sheep.

The mother was proud; raising a fat son like Yunchuan was her glory. The other children in the tribe were all thin, with protruding bellies and visible ribs, large heads, while Yunchuan had a large head, a fat body, and was full of meat, which was the image of a healthy animal offspring.

Yunchuan understood the mother's thoughts. The strong men in the tribe were the hope of the tribe, as only strong men could bring back more prey and feed the entire tribe.

The chief, for the first time, looked at Yunchuan, took him from the mother, and felt his fat body with his large hands. After examining his prominent male characteristics, he returned Yunchuan to the mother.

The men sitting around the earthen pot made room for the mother to sit with Yunchuan.

After the sheep became mutton, everyone became happy. They threw handfuls of dried vegetables into the pot until it was full.

The smell of the dried vegetables and sheep's internal organs was very strong, but the people sitting around the pot did not seem to mind. They stared at the pot until the chief took some grayish-brown powder from a leather bag and added it to the pot, making the food even more appealing.

Seeing Yunchuan staring at the bag, the chief took some powder and smeared it on Yunchuan's lips.

Yunchuan carefully tasted it; it was salt.

However, from the color, the salt contained a lot of impurities, especially the grayish salt, which might contain some harmful elements.

A skinny sheep was not enough for the entire tribe of three hundred people, and each person only got a taste of the bland meat broth.

Yunchuan gave his share of the meat to the mother. He saw clearly that the meat broth still contained half-formed sheep droppings.

Therefore, he decided to feed the mother first and then eat the mother's leftovers.

Yunchuan was quick in handling the meat, more skilled than the mother and even the chief, as he used chopsticks instead of their hands to scoop meat from the hot pot.

Even the toughest skin could not withstand boiling water.

So, Yunchuan always found meat in the pot and fed it to the mother, who ate very happily. After burning her hands a few times, she happily opened her mouth, waiting for her son to feed her.

The chief, seeing this, did not stop Yunchuan's "robbery" and prevented others from trying to take food from Yunchuan.

He even made two sticks like Yunchuan's and tried to scoop food from the hot pot. He was clumsy at first but, after a few attempts, he happily used the sticks to pick up some dried vegetables.

The chief was the smartest person in the tribe and bore the responsibility of the tribe's evolution. His every word and