Learning 'Foreign Languages' is Important

It was already night here, but Bai Yang hadn't been awake long. Even as fond of sleep as he was, he felt no drowsiness now.

The so-called long night stretched on, sleepless and restless. He felt that if he didn't do something, he'd be wasting time and wasting life—and that was shameful!

Then, he looked at the blushing beauty beside him and smiled, a smile with all the makings of a villain...

Walking over to the bed, Bai Yang sat down, lifted the thick, unknown fur blanket, patted the spot next to him, and gestured for the girl to come over.

Shame is the true mark of human civilization. Faced with Bai Yang's blatant 'hint,' even though the beauty had already prepared herself, her face flushed crimson. Though their languages didn't match, those watery eyes and that shy, blushing face could hardly be an expression of anger, right?

Swinging her long legs and swaying her waist, the girl sat down beside Bai Yang. She didn't dare look at him, her head slightly lowered, her whole body seemingly trembling faintly. At any rate, Bai Yang could already hear her breathing becoming erratic.

"I just wanted to use the night without wasting time, to have you teach me to speak your language. What are you nervous about?"

Bai Yang looked at her, so close, and felt speechless inside...

The girl, realizing he wasn't going to pounce on her as she'd imagined, glanced at Bai Yang curiously, only to see him looking back at her with a puzzled expression...

The atmosphere suddenly grew awkward.

Bai Yang wasn't stupid, of course. If a girl was acting like 'do whatever you want with me,' and he didn't get it, then he'd truly be an idiot.

But the problem was, he really couldn't bring himself to do it. She was a beautiful woman, no doubt—long legs, slender waist, perky backside, full chest, naturally gorgeous, and about one meter seven tall—but judging by her face, she was at most fifteen or sixteen. Could he really go through with it?

Besides, he had zero communication with her. He didn't even know her name. What would it mean to do something with her? Even if you went to a 'hair salon' to solve a problem, you'd at least exchange a few words with the person. Here, they'd only met twice, hadn't spoken a single sentence, and doing something like that—Bai Yang just couldn't bring himself to do it...

After a long bout of babbling explanation and nearly an hour of frantic gesturing, Bai Yang finally made her understand that he wanted to learn to speak their language from her.

Heart so tired. Trying to express anything remotely complex without a shared language or a translator was truly difficult...

Understanding Bai Yang's intent, the girl looked relieved, yet even more so, she felt a pang of disappointment and a hint of resentment!

"What kind of customs do they have here? Why are the girls so direct and bold? Don't their parents keep an eye on them?"

Seeing the look in her eyes, Bai Yang was utterly speechless inside.

What followed was a painful learning experience. Bai Yang felt like he'd regressed to infancy—he didn't understand what she said, he didn't understand what she meant, and the local language had extremely strange, tongue-twisting pronunciations. The process was agonizing.

"Back in the day, under Mom's stick, I even passed the college entrance exam. I refuse to believe I can't learn one of your 'foreign languages'!"

Gritting his teeth, Bai Yang studied with intense focus.

After all, he was an adult, with self-control far beyond that of a restless child. And since language was key to exploring this world, he couldn't afford to be careless. Once he got serious, his efficiency improved considerably.

In one night, he managed to remember and barely pronounce over a dozen words or phrases. But he had no idea what most of them meant—clearly, she wasn't a very good teacher...

When the sky outside began to lighten, Bai Yang secretly pulled out his phone and glanced at it. He saw that sixteen or seventeen hours had passed.

"I spent all that time remembering just over a dozen sounds I don't even know the meaning of? I remember back when I memorized English vocabulary, I could cram over a hundred words in one night, right?"

Well, that wasn't a fair comparison. This was an entirely new civilization, the 'teacher' had no systematic teaching experience, and they couldn't even communicate. Remembering over a dozen pronunciations was already decent—if he didn't forget them later...

What Bai Yang didn't know was that over a dozen people had waited in the trees outside his room all night, hearing none of the sounds they'd expected. One by one, they left in disappointment as dawn broke...

Despite over ten hours of tedious study, Bai Yang found he still wasn't sleepy at all.

On the other hand, after a whole night of 'communication,' the girl had become much more natural around him. But she kept throwing him resentful glances that made Bai Yang want to scream...

After daybreak, the girl left. Not long after, she returned, carrying a small wooden tray. On the tray were roasted meat, a wooden bowl, chopsticks, and a small knife.

"Why is it always roasted meat? Can't we eat something else?"

Speechless inside, Bai Yang faced the girl's pitiful expression—one that clearly said 'if you don't let me feed you, I'll cry right in front of you'—and once again had to play the part of the lord being hand-fed...

After the meal, Bai Yang was drawn by a chorus of shouts. He pushed open the window and looked outside, curiously observing.

On the flat ground below, several dozen half-grown boys stood in a crooked formation, mimicking the movements of a burly man at the front. With every motion, they let out a shout.

"Are they practicing martial arts?"

The thought struck Bai Yang as odd, especially seeing those half-grown boys, all muscle, throwing punches and kicks with such vigor. The feeling only grew stronger.

Bai Yang noticed that while the boys practiced their punches, several dozen big, muscular men also appeared at the edges, busy with their own activities. Some twirled millstone-sized stone locks with flashy flair, others pounded their fists against a big tree with booming thuds, some wielded large blades and long staffs with fierce momentum, and still others drew bows and shot arrows with piercing whistles...

"What the hell, did I end up in a martial arts world? Is everyone here training in martial arts?"

Bai Yang felt his brain couldn't keep up. Then he decided he absolutely needed to get a comprehensive understanding of the lifestyle here.

About two hours later, the crowd on the ground scattered. Soon, groups of two or three burly men picked up their weapons and left the village, heading into the jungle. Bai Yang guessed they were going hunting.

Turning to the girl, who had been following him the whole time without leaving, he spent a good while gesturing and babbling like a madman before finally making her understand that he wanted her to take him around the village.

The girl happily led Bai Yang downstairs, chattering and pointing things out as she introduced them. Her voice was pleasant, but Bai Yang had no idea what she was saying.

It was a simple, busy village. Hunters returning from the hunt would bring back prey and then hastily leave again. The half-grown boys, under the guidance of rough-handed women, would process the kills.

Their method of processing was straightforward: they skinned the animals, rubbed the hides with wood ash, and laid them out to dry in the sun. Well, the drying spot was up in the treetops above the village...

As for the meat, their treatment was even cruder. They didn't use salt at all. Instead, they smoked it over a fire made from some kind of wood Bai Yang didn't recognize, turning it black and dripping with oil, giving off a strange fragrance. Then they hung it in the trees to dry, making it look like the branches bore not leaves but chunks of meat.

Some women were gathering fruits Bai Yang didn't recognize from the jungle not far from the village. Watching closely, he saw them mix the fruits in a fixed ratio with some unknown plants, seal them in black clay jars, and set them out in the sun. This reminded Bai Yang of the wine that had knocked him out with a single bowl...

A bunch of mud-covered little kids, naked as the day they were born, were pounding some unknown plants by the river with the elderly. Bai Yang actually guessed they were extracting plant fibers to weave cloth!

All sorts of things like this—simple and natural. Everywhere Bai Yang went, the villagers gave him friendly smiles and babbled something he couldn't understand. He always smiled and nodded.

In truth, he had no clue what they were saying...

After a full circuit, Bai Yang had a rough understanding of the lifestyle here.

Overall, this was a simple, primitive village that relied almost entirely on hunting, with little to no farming. Their productivity in other areas was extremely low—at least, Bai Yang hadn't seen any sign of industry here. The most common utensils were rough clay pottery and wooden items, and he doubted the villagers even made those themselves!

Yet Bai Yang was certain this was no primitive, barbaric civilization. The weapons carried by the hunters who went out to hunt were proof enough of that.

"What kind of world is this? Personal strength is off the charts, but productivity is abysmal. They're simple, but 'savage' is a more fitting word. Until I fully grasp the language here, I'd better not rashly step out of this village to explore the wider world..."

After some observation, Bai Yang set himself a short-term goal: to master the local language as quickly as possible!