The fat man nervously walked forward, holding his knife horizontally, while carefully observing the surrounding environment.

Sensing-wise, this place was more suitable for human habitation than a tropical rainforest, but the fat man felt that this "suitable" feeling was strange.

There were bird calls in the woods, but the fat man didn't see any birds. The trees and plants here grew robustly, but the fat man didn't see any water sources.

Moreover, the trees here weren't as tall as those in the rainforest. The fat man could see the entire canopy at a glance, without any obstructions, so he could clearly see if there were people or other creatures lurking in the trees.

The fat man stepped on the dry branches and fallen leaves, making "creak" "creak" sounds. The "creak" sounds echoed in the fat man's ears. This abruptness in the silence intensified the fat man's fear.

The leaves on the trees ahead swayed, as if the wind was blowing the leaves, but the fat man didn't feel the coolness of the wind. The sweat on his forehead slid down his cheeks.

"Something's wrong."

If the swaying of the leaves wasn't due to the wind, then it might be caused by animals or—people.

Although he knew there might be danger ahead, the fat man swallowed and calmed his nervous mood slightly, continuing to walk forward.

Creak—creak—creak...

Just as the fat man was about to take the next step, a large hand suddenly stretched out from the tall grass on his side, pulling the fat man into the overgrown grass that was taller than a person.

The fat man originally had the ability to resist, but this force came too suddenly, and he didn't react, and was pulled in all at once.

When the fat man thought it was dangerous and was about to resist, a white man with a wild-man-like face covered in brown hair and beard made a gesture not to speak, signaling the fat man to be quiet.

A wild man? The fat man wondered.

The fat man didn't resist. He followed the wild man's instructions, clenching his teeth and not making a sound.

The wild man stared at the road the fat man had just walked on, his expression very serious.

The fat man didn't know where the wild man in front of him came from, nor did he know what had happened. Most importantly, he didn't understand why the wild man in front of him was so nervous.

The fat man looked through the dense grass following the wild man's gaze. Everything was fine on the road. The swaying branches had now stopped moving.

"What's wrong with this weirdo?" the fat man muttered.

The wild man seemed to hear the fat man's complaint. He picked up a very small stone from the ground and threw it at a tree opposite them.

The stone was very small, and the speed of the throw was very fast. After bouncing several times between different trees, it finally landed in the place where the fat man was about to move forward.

"Thud"—

The pebble landed, and the leaves on the tree in front of it trembled violently. A black shadow suddenly jumped down from the tree, landing in front of the pebble.

Only after the black shadow stood still did the fat man realize it was an ape-man.

The ape-man in front of him had already mastered the method of making and using weapons. It was wearing vine armor-like equipment and holding a stone spear in its hand. The spearhead was made of stone, and the handle was made of split wood.

After a while, two more ape-men came down from the tree, also wearing vine armor and holding weapons. One of the ape-men held a stone axe, and the other held a stone sickle.

The three ape-men were surprised at the stone that had attracted their attention. Judging from their menacing appearances, they seemed to be annoyed by the loss of their prey.

The ape-man holding the stone spear should be the leader of the other two ape-men. He gestured to the other two ape-men with "ao wu" "ao wu" sounds.

The other two ape-men also responded.

"Eh?"

The fat man felt very familiar when he saw the scene in front of him. He suddenly remembered the way Ruo Yi taught him to communicate with the people of the A Yi tribe.

The gestures of the ape-men were somewhat similar to the gestures used in the tribe, but their gestures were much simpler than those used in the tribe, and the fat man could understand them.

The leading ape-man was questioning the other two ape-men about where the "prey" had gone just now. The other two ape-men shook their heads, indicating that they hadn't paid attention, but only heard the sound, and then saw the leading ape-man come down from the tree.

The leading ape-man was very irritable, and he hit the heads of the other two ape-men hard with his hands to show punishment.

After the punishment, the three ape-men left the scene together.

Seeing the ape-men leave, the wild man breathed a sigh of relief, recovering from his nervous mood.

Although the wild man's face was covered with beard, and his face was unclear, and his clothes were ragged, the fat man could still feel that he was not very old, probably in his thirties.

The wild man wore shorts woven from fine vines and highly resilient leaves, and a tattered robe of unknown material on his body, but judging from the craftsmanship, this man seemed quite smart.

In any case, this wild man had just saved the fat man out of kindness, and was kind to the fat man.

The fat man made gestures to the wild man for a long time, expressing his gratitude, but the wild man scratched his head, frowned, and didn't know what the fat man meant.

The wild man looked up and down at the fat man's clothes, and then his lips began to tremble up and down. Perhaps he hadn't opened his mouth to speak for too long. The wild man's lips opened and closed several times before finally squeezing out a less fluent sentence: "Can...you—spea(k)—e(ng)li(sh)—"

Although the wild man's words were neither complete nor fluent, the fat man still understood.

The fat man didn't expect to meet a wild man who could speak English here, which really surprised him.

"yes,i_can."

The fat man replied in surprise.