The Pan Family Three Brothers

Lin Feng walked ahead, clearing the way. Da Qing and After Three Rounds of Drinks carried the thoroughly dead wild deer behind him.

Lin Feng had already drained the wild deer's blood, and the wound pierced by the Stone Spear had been treated as well. It was no longer bleeding.

Bringing a trail of blood back to the valley was hardly a wise idea.

Some ferocious beast might follow the blood trail and break into the valley.

After walking for more than ten minutes,

Lin Feng suddenly stopped and stared cautiously ahead.

He raised the Stone Spear in his hand to his shoulder, ready to throw it at any moment.

"Who's there?"

Lin Feng called softly toward a patch of shrubs about a meter tall.

Just now, he had seen a pair of eyes peek out from the bushes. Before he could make out what they looked like, they had pulled back.

"Lin Feng!"

A voice came from the grass, sounding pleasantly surprised.

Immediately afterward, three figures crawled out of the shrubs one after another.

Da Qing and After Three Rounds of Drinks stared curiously at the three men.

A new NPC?

There's a storyline!

The two widened their eyes, afraid of missing any details from the cutscene.

Seeing the three familiar faces, Lin Feng lowered the Stone Spear in his hand.

"Why are you here?"

Lin Feng asked curiously.

All three of them were from the Baimu Tribe.

The Baimu Tribe was the largest Human Race tribe on the island—or at least in the eastern part of the island—with a population of three to four hundred.

The tribe chief had even made connections with the Red Feather Tribe, the strongest race in the east of the island. As long as they offered some tribute, they could receive the Red Feather Tribe's protection.

The Red Feather Tribe was the strongest race in the eastern part of the island.

Lin Feng knew people from the Baimu Tribe because when he had first crossed over into the Savage World, he had lived there.

He had only left later because he could no longer endure Chief Baimu Sheng's exploitation of the tribespeople.

What puzzled him was that the Baimu Tribe was nowhere nearby. Why had its hunters come all the way here?

These three men from the Baimu Tribe were brothers. From eldest to youngest, they were Pan Xiong, Pan Hu, and Pan Lang.

Using animal names as names was nothing unusual among Human Race tribes. There were plenty of people named Bear or Tiger.

Back when Lin Feng had lived in the Baimu Tribe, he had been neighbors with the Pan Family Three Brothers. They had taught him many basic hunting skills.

"The chief has ordered every household to hand over at least three hundred jin of prey as tribute to the Red Feather Tribe. Everyone is busy hunting, and there's hardly any prey left near the tribe, so we could only come farther out to try our luck."

Pan Xiong spoke with a bitter expression.

Whenever tribute had to be offered to the Red Feather Tribe, it was the hardest time for the tribe.

The Red Feather Tribe had a huge appetite. If the tribute was too little, they would not even look at it.

Without the Red Feather Tribe's protection, life for the Baimu Tribe would become much harder.

"Lin Feng, your tribe isn't nearby either, right? Why have you come all the way here?"

Pan Hu asked curiously.

At the same time, he glanced at the two players behind Lin Feng and the wild deer they were carrying.

A trace of envy flashed through his eyes.

That's quite a haul!

"Our tribe was attacked by Jackalmen a few days ago. Our original settlement was destroyed, so we moved nearby."

Lin Feng explained.

The Pan Family Three Brothers were shocked.

"Jackalmen? There are Jackalmen in the eastern part of the island?"

"I've never heard of that!"

The Jackalmen had a terrible reputation.

They were a group of cruel, bloodthirsty creatures. More importantly, their average strength far surpassed that of the Human Race.

It took three ordinary Human Race men working together to defeat one Jackalman.

"Maybe they migrated from the south or north. I'm not sure." Lin Feng shook his head. "In any case, be careful when you hunt. If you run into those things, stay far away."

Lin Feng offered the warning out of kindness.

The Pan Family Three Brothers were all excellent hunters, physically much stronger than ordinary Human Race members. They might be able to handle one or two Jackalmen together, but if they encountered more than two, they would be finished.

The Baimu Tribe was protected by the Red Feather Tribe. No matter how vicious the Jackalmen were, they generally would not dare attack the tribe.

But if they encountered them outside, the Jackalmen would have no such reservations.

"Understood." Pan Xiong nodded. "When I return, I'll tell the chief about this and have him warn everyone to be careful."

"Lin Feng, your losses must have been quite serious after being attacked by the Jackalmen, right? If things really don't work out, why not come join our Baimu Tribe?"

Pan Lang, who had remained silent until now, suddenly suggested.

As the youngest of the Pan Family Three Brothers, Pan Lang was somewhat introverted and rarely spoke.

"That's right. Although the chief is a little harsh on us, it's still much safer than wandering around like you are."

Pan Xiong agreed.

Lin Feng naturally understood their good intentions.

Without the system, joining the Baimu Tribe truly would have been his best option.

Now?

There was no need at all!

Perhaps before long, the Baimu Tribe would come to seek refuge with him instead.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I think things are pretty good right now."

Lin Feng smiled.

After bidding farewell to the Pan Family Three Brothers, Lin Feng returned to the valley with the two players.

"Da Qing, could you understand what the chief and those three NPCs were saying just now?"

While walking, After Three Rounds of Drinks asked.

"There weren't even subtitles. How the hell was anyone supposed to understand?"

Da Qing complained.

When Lin Feng had been chatting with the Pan Family Three Brothers, they had both thought they had triggered a cutscene. They had listened so intently that they barely dared blink.

But the four NPCs had chattered away for ages, and they had not understood a single word.

The NPCs' language in the game was different from the language of Blue Star!

Blue Star's common language was a global language derived from Xia Country's language and used throughout the world.

But although the NPCs' language sounded similar to Xia Country's language in both syllables and tones, they could not understand a single word.

"What's wrong with this game's designers? Why create a new language? Wouldn't it be better to just use Xia Country's language?"

After Three Rounds of Drinks muttered.

"Maybe that's part of the hundred-percent realism. After all, how could another world's language possibly be exactly the same as Blue Star's? I just don't know whether the NPCs' language is merely meaningless syllables or whether the game company really designed a whole new language."

Chen Qing analyzed.

"Design an entirely new language? That can't be possible, can it?"

After Three Rounds of Drinks was skeptical of the latter possibility.

Every language, whether simple or complex, was the crystallization of human wisdom and the product of long-term development.

Creating a language out of thin air seemed unrealistic no matter how he thought about it.

"Of course it would be impossible in any other game, but this game might be different." Da Qing said. "They already made a game with a hundred-percent realism. Designing a language wouldn't be that strange, would it?"

Compared to the black technology of a game with a hundred-percent realism, he actually felt that creating a language would be much easier.

"Come to think of it, why does the chief know Xia Country's language?"

After Three Rounds of Drinks raised a question.

"The chief is the beginner guide. If we couldn't even communicate with him, how would we play? I'm guessing all functional NPCs in the same faction know Xia Country's language."

Da Qing said.

Walking ahead, Lin Feng could not help smiling as he listened to Da Qing and After Three Rounds of Drinks discuss it.

The Savage World's language truly was different from Blue Star's language, and there was nothing he could do about that.

He himself had lived in the Savage World for several years and learned gradually before finally mastering its language.

But he did not think that was a bad thing.

It was possible that some genius player might eventually learn the Savage World's language after playing for long enough, but that would take at least a year or two.

Of course, there was another possibility.

Through the system, he could grant Blue Star's language to the living beings of the Savage World, allowing them to directly master Blue Star's language.

But just as Da Qing had said, he would only grant it to functional NPCs in the same faction.

If everyone outside was unable to communicate while only NPCs from the same faction could converse normally, it would better strengthen the players' sense of belonging and identification with the tribe.