"I finally understand the importance of translators now," Bai Mu muttered, massaging his temples. He stared helplessly at the elderly woman performing what looked like a shamanic trance dance in front of him. This elder definitely held a high status in the village. A necklace strung with animal teeth hung around her neck, a red-dyed shawl was draped over her shoulders, and a feather-adorned hat rested on her head. Despite the deep wrinkles lining her face, her posture was remarkably straight, and her muscles were full. At a glance, it was obvious she was a priestess, shaman, or sothing similar.
In nomadic tribes like this, a woman's status was no lower than a man's. She was likely the highest-ranking individual among these villagers.
In ancient tis, people believed that dancing was a way to communicate with the gods. However, Bai Mu couldn't glean anything resembling a language from the elder's movents. Even though she swung her arms vigorously right in front of him, to him, it was rely an obscure folk dance he had never seen before. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the dance was quite wild and brimming with a sense of raw power, but that didn't help bridge any actual understanding between them.
At this mont, Bai Mu truly wished the elder was a mushroom. That way, he could just use "mushroom language" to communicate with her.
Trying to comprehend the language of these villagers in such a short ti was a hopeless endeavor. Still, they didn't seem completely ignorant. At the very least, as natives of this world, their survival experience vastly outstripped his own.
Since he had already saved them, he might as well see it through to the end. Who knows, perhaps he would even earn a title like "Friend of the Tribe" when the Script concluded. He glanced back at the burning village. The place was clearly uninhabitable now. The structures were made of dry, highly flammable materials, and the houses built from straw and wood were already consud by a raging inferno. One of the glaring flaws of such thatched cottages was how easily fire could spread. Besides, even if the village was still livable, Bai Mu didn't think staying there was a good idea.
This village was situated on a wide-open grassy plain, making the thatched huts visible from a great distance. As a human settlent, this was an advantage, allowing hunters and foragers to easily find their way back ho. However, it also made it incredibly easy for the Mountain Evil Gods to spot their targets.
Judging by that massive wild boar, these creatures flew into a frenzied rage at the re sight of humans. The targets hunted by the Mountain Evil Gods likely weren't just the Players participating in the Script, but every human within the entire region.
This situation was actually quite similar to the apocalypse Bai Mu had previously endured. Based on his experience, the best strategy was to keep a low profile, find a secluded hiding spot, and stock up on plenty of ammunition, weapons, and food.
Unfortunately, he was completely unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain and had no idea where a suitable hiding place might be.
Just as he was pondering their next move, the elder finally finished her dance.
In truth, Bai Mu's attention had drifted away from her halfway through. Seeing his utterly impassive reaction, a look of confusion flickered across the elder's face.
She had probably realized that her dance was entirely ineffective at communicating with him. She looked down at the pictures Bai Mu had drawn in the mud, deep in thought. Then, as if a sudden realization hit her, she turned around and babbled sothing to the two sisters. A mont later, the young won stepped in front of Bai Mu, bent slightly, extended their hands toward a certain direction, and took a few steps forward.
'Are they telling to follow them?' Bai Mu wondered.
It seed they wanted to show him sothing. Taking Xiao Wei by the hand, Bai Mu followed their lead as they climbed up a grassy hillside. The sisters pointed toward the west. Bai Mu followed their line of sight, gazing far off into the distance. Although he had previously scouted the surroundings using the vision of a Guard Mushroom, its visual chanics were vastly different from a human's and lacked any telescopic capability. Anything even slightly far away rendered as a blurry mosaic. However, anything within its imdiate range was incredibly sharp, much like a high-definition cara filming up close.
He hadn't been able to see the situation to the west earlier. Piercing the veil of night to see that far wasn't an easy task. But his vision was far superior to that of an ordinary person. After focusing his eyes, he managed to peer through the hazy darkness and spot exactly what the young won wanted him to see.
The direction they were pointing at revealed a sprawling forest zone. It was a remarkably vast woodland that seed to stretch endlessly over rolling mountain ranges. Yet, under the pale moonlight, Bai Mu saw that this forest wasn't bathed in a tranquil, lush green. Instead, it was a withered, sickly dark brown. The entire woodland looked as though it had suffered an apocalyptic drought, utterly devoid of life. Its color was reminiscent of rust—startlingly similar to the hide of that giant wild boar.
One of the young won reached into the folds of her clothes near her chest and pulled out a piece of animal hide, followed by a small pouch. Inside the pouch was a white powder. Bai Mu caught the faint scent of gravel; it was so sort of pignt ground from natural ores.
In this village, the people used it to draw totems. The wolf-tooth patterns painted on their faces were created using this very powder. One girl unfurled the animal hide, while the other dipped her finger into the powder and clumsily imitated the drawing style Bai Mu had used earlier to sketch a pig on the leather.
The pig's snout was highly stylized—just a circle with two dots inside. Bai Mu had used a modern, cartoonish drawing technique. The pig the young woman drew, however, was incredibly lopsided and undeniably comical. Paired with her deadpan, serious expression, the sheer absurdity of it made it all the more hilarious.
Naturally, Bai Mu didn't laugh. He was an absolute professional when it ca to stifling laughter. Surviving in a world where the slightest sound could summon a horde of Zombies was no walk in the park. No matter how funny the situation unfolding before him was, he could maintain a perfectly stony expression.
The young woman pointed at the pig snout on the hide, then pointed back toward the forest. Her aning was impossible to misunderstand. She was trying to tell him that the maddened, giant wild boar had co running straight out of that woodland.
A highly ominous thought suddenly popped into Bai Mu's head. 'Could it be that monsters like that giant wild boar are swarming all over that forest?'
'Could the term Mountain Evil God just be a blanket na for monsters like Zombies and goblins?'
He could barely make out shadowy figures moving within the forest, but the distance was far too great for him to clearly discern what exactly those silhouettes were.
However, judging from what he was seeing right now, this Script was definitely not going to end with him just dealing with a few overgrown pigs.
He watched as those dark figures moved toward the edge of the forest in alarming numbers. Assuming that the giant wild boar had only reached this village first because it happened to be a fast runner, the implication of those approaching shadows was glaringly obvious.
Truthfully, there didn't even need to be that many shadows. If just one more giant wild boar showed up, Bai Mu wouldn't be able to handle it.
Because he had unleashed a Perfect-grade magic spell, the special effect of the Book of the Witch was now on a massive ten-day cooldown. Relying solely on a Cherry Bomb, he wasn't entirely confident he could blow up another giant wild boar even if he drained his stamina to absolute zero.
And there was no need to even ntion the fate of these villagers if they encountered another Mountain Evil God. To a monster like that, slaughtering ordinary humans was as effortless as crushing ants beneath its hooves. He quickly realized that they couldn't afford to linger in this area for another second. Even if he wanted to investigate the overarching plot of the Script, he had to carefully consider if he even had the capability to do so. Surviving was, without a shadow of a doubt, the highest priority.
With that in mind, their escape route beca incredibly clear. Fleeing to the west was undoubtedly a death sentence, so Bai Mu turned his gaze toward the east.
At the very least, everything in the east appeared perfectly normal. There were no massive stretches of withered earth, nor were there any ominous, looming shadows.
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