“Divine Envoy! Divine Envoy!”
A sharp voice rang out from behind. Before he had time to turn his head, a figure darted in a flash to stand before Yang Yi.
A brilliant smile bloomed across the face. The dimples made the person before his eyes seem harmless and a little cute, spreading the cheer so that those around also lifted their smiles.
“Divine Envoy, did you come especially to see me?”
Hong’s eyes shone brightly, filled with expectation, making it hard for anyone to bear dimming the starlight within them.
Yang Yi neither confirmed nor denied, but diverted the topic and said:
“I heard that your performance has been quite good lately. Not only are you capable, but you also follow the rules well, even teaching others. You’ve earned the title of Model Soldier.”
“Divine Envoy, you really do care about me!” Hong was overjoyed, showing off the red stone hanging on his neck.
“Divine Envoy, look, this is my medal! I already have three of them. Everyone says this is the first time someone has managed to get three so quickly.”
On the red stone were carved stars and fire. It was a symbol of honor. Whoever performed well would receive such a reward.
The stone was no bigger than a pinky finger, with a hole deliberately left in the middle to make it easy to string together.
This could be obtained by those who usually performed better, serving as a way to encourage everyone.
Now, in the Spark Tribe, the most beautiful ornament in people’s eyes was this red stone.
Its fiery color and exquisite carvings were not only pretty and unique, but also represented immense honor.
If it was for great contributions, then it would be exchanged for a dagger produced by the tribe itself, replacing the time-limited daggers Yang Yi had previously taken out from the space.
However, there were still people willing to trade the tribe’s permanent daggers for Yang Yi’s temporary ones. To them, having once owned it was already a form of honor. After all, this was something brought by the God!
“Keep it up.” Yang Yi smiled as he encouraged.
Hong’s face flushed red: “Divine Envoy, I will definitely become the greatest in the tribe for your sake!”
Yang Yi was caught between laughter and tears. Although he had always been admired by everyone, no one had ever been as direct and fervent as Hong.
For some reason, he always felt something was a bit off. Yang Yi could only take it as the people here being overly passionate.
“Not for me. Do it for yourself.”
“That’s not the same!” Hong’s gaze burned with intensity. “I want to become the most powerful warrior in the tribe, and forever stand by your side!”
“You having such courage and determination is very admirable.” Yang Yi praised, though he couldn’t shake the feeling that something about what Hong said was strange.
Hong’s eyes grew even brighter. Excitedly, he rushed up to Yang Yi, almost pressing right against him, which made Little White at the side instantly fly up, unceremoniously jabbing at Hong.
But Hong had no intention of dodging at all, forcefully enduring it, and even grabbed Yang Yi’s hand: “Divine Envoy, you agreed?!”
“Let go.” Yang Yi felt pain from the grip. He couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Sensing Yang Yi’s discomfort, Little White’s attacks grew fiercer, using all its strength.
Hong originally hadn’t wanted to bother with Little White, but at this moment, he had no choice but to release Yang Yi’s hand to avoid the attacks. Yet he didn’t dare fight back, treating it as a test from the Divine Envoy!
Everyone in the tribe knew that Little White was the Divine Envoy’s pet, raised by his side with an extraordinary status.
Though Little White wasn’t big, once it truly went wild, it was extremely ferocious. Even level one warriors would feel intimidated.
Although Hong was a level three peak warrior, enduring such attacks still brought him immense pain.
“Little White, stop.” Yang Yi called out.
Only then did Little White reluctantly stop, stretching out its neck to “Gwa-gaa—” at Hong in warning.
Hong spat out the goose feathers from his mouth and said with a grin, “Divine Envoy, your pet is really cute.”
This skill of speaking blatant nonsense with open eyes was truly unmatched.
“Just like you.”
That one sentence forcibly made Yang Yi swallow back the words that were about to leave his lips, leaving him not even knowing what he ought to say.
The corner of Yang Yi’s mouth twitched, goosebumps rising on his arms. Ever since he’d entered elementary school, no one had praised him like this.
And now, to actually be spoken to like this by a grown man was utterly uncomfortable.
What man would ever say to another man, “You’re very cute”?
Especially with eyes looking at him like that. It was practically burning.
Many people in the tribe, when they looked at him, had eyes filled with fervor. But why did this gaze, the more he looked at it, the more it sent chills down his spine?
Even Yang Yi, as slow as he could be, sensed that something was wrong.
He wanted to say something, but found it hard to put into words, his expression looking very unpleasant.
Hong keenly noticed something: “Divine Envoy, just now you promised me!”
“What did I promise you?”
“You promised me… ah—who ambushed me?!”
Hong was directly kicked flying, sliding over ten meters on the ground before finally stopping.
When Yang Yi looked, he saw it was Hei Lie who had acted.
“Weren’t you at the training grounds?” Yang Yi asked curiously.
Hei Lie gave a cold snort, his sharp gaze shooting toward Hong. His attitude was openly hostile.
Hong climbed up from the ground. Upon seeing Hei Lie, he weighed the gap between them. Though unwilling, he knew full well he couldn’t win.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been kicked so solidly just now, completely defenseless, with the taste of blood filling his throat.
That kick just now already signified his defeat.
“Divine Envoy, I will definitely make myself stronger! You must wait for me!” Hong clenched his fists tightly, his eyes resolute.
With a desolate turn, he walked away, lifting the bamboo bucket not far off, continuing to receive his punishment.
As for Hong’s punishment, it was publicly announced and criticized, making clear that leniency was given only because he had just joined the tribe and confessed honestly. If anyone else dared to do the same, they would be severely punished without exception.
In addition to the verbal criticism, he was also punished by being sent to clean out the latrines.
Now, with the addition of the Green Python Tribe’s laborers, the tribe had more than four thousand people in total.
Ever since the last harvest, everyone’s food had been better than before. Basically, two meals a day, and sometimes even an extra one to make it three.
The waste produced each day was also greater than before. The work of cleaning out the latrines became more frequent.
In the height of summer, this job became even filthier. Although there was no such thing as occupational discrimination within the tribe, the fact that the work was both dirty and stinky was something that couldn’t be changed. So the tribe often used this task to punish those who made small mistakes.
The corner of Yang Yi’s mouth twitched. He really didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling at that moment.
He must have misunderstood, right?
It had to be that.
“He… should just admire me too much. Haha, my charm really is powerful.” Yang Yi gave a dry laugh.
“Better to just drive this guy out!” Hei Lie’s expression was very unsightly.
Yang Yi directly rejected the suggestion: “There’s no need to be so harsh. He hasn’t really done anything, nor has he offended me.”
“He harbors ill intentions toward you!”
“……”
“You mean what I think you mean?” Yang Yi’s eyes widened.
Hei Lie gave him a deep look: “He’s asking to pair with you.”
“……”
What the hell! Pair my ass!
As a homebody who had long been immersed in the internet, Yang Yi was not unfamiliar with what gay relationships were.
Back when he played games, there had even been men who confessed to him. But in reality, this was the very first time.
Especially after coming to this world, he had always been busy with production and construction. His whole being was immersed in work.
Here, he both felt that everything was real, yet at the same time, because of the unusual experiences and different environment, it all also carried a sense of unreality. Because of this, he had never once considered personal matters.
All of his heart and mind had been devoted to building.
And now he was actually confessed to?
And by a boy at that…
It was simply too sudden, catching him completely off guard.
In the tribe, Yang Yi was a being close to a god, so people mostly felt worship toward him, never developing other kinds of feelings, thinking that would be like offending a deity.
Yang Yi himself had never shown the slightest hint in that direction, as though he had no such needs at all. Everyone just assumed that was how the Divine Envoy was.
Only a rash newcomer like Hong would act so unrestrained, giving Yang Yi such a fierce shock.
“We’re both men.” Yang Yi managed to force out that sentence after a long while.
No wonder Hei Lie was so repulsed by Hong. Many men simply couldn’t accept homosexuality.
Yang Yi, however, didn’t feel anything particular about it, treating it with complete calm. He had even met such people online before and had become friends with them.
They were only different in sexual orientation from ordinary people. In every other way, they were the same.
Of course, the kind who were clearly gay yet still married women to deceive them—those fraudulent GAYs—he absolutely could not stand.
Even in modern society, there were many who didn’t understand, so in this primitive era, it would be all the harder to accept.
After all, here, pairing was mostly for the sake of reproduction. As for feelings or love, some people did talk about them, but for the most part, things still stayed at the level of instinct.
“Without having to consider children, it’s even less troublesome!” Hei Lie’s expression was so dark it seemed like ink could drip from it.
Yang Yi was stunned: “You’re not against men being with men?”
Hei Lie looked utterly baffled: “Why would I be against it?”
Yang Yi felt as though he had been overlooking something all along.
Back when the tribe didn’t have so many rules, it wasn’t rare for people to be intimate without regard for time or place, right in full view of others.
Everyone was used to it, never feeling shy about it, nor treating it as taboo.
Yang Yi, however, still found it an eyesore and couldn’t get used to such behavior. Fortunately, in the daytime, everyone was busy, so there were rarely people doing those things.
Most of the time, it was only at night, when there was no work to be done, that they had the leisure for such matters.
Every night, Yang Yi tried his best not to go out, afraid of running into a pair because that would really be awkward.
The others felt nothing of it and could even spare the time to greet him, while he would instead turn beet red, unable to decide whether to respond or not.
It seemed… once he had run into a pair where both of their builds were very tall?
At the time, Yang Yi hadn’t paid attention and just took a detour. Now that he thought about it carefully, it really did seem like they were two men!
So, such situations did exist.
Judging from Hei Lie’s attitude now, people here were very tolerant toward men being with men, and didn’t think much of it.
Yang Yi thought about how there wasn’t really a habit of fixed partners here. Even now, the number of people formally registered as couples was still a small proportion. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so hard to understand their acceptance of homosexuality.
“Ah, I forgot that in your world being with the same sex is opposed.”
Hei Lie’s earlier anger shifted into melancholy, his mood sinking low.
“The mainstream way of thinking is like that, but there are still many people who understand such behavior.”
Seeing him like this, Yang Yi couldn’t help but explain.
“People like me don’t really care, as long as it doesn’t harm others, and as long as individual choices are respected.”
Hei Lie’s eyes immediately lit up, like a big wolfdog: “Really?”
Before Yang Yi could reply, Hei Lie’s thick brows suddenly shot up: “No wonder you wanted to agree to that kid’s mating request!”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” Yang Yi almost spat blood. “I never even thought in that direction. I’ve only known him for a few days. It’s far too ridiculous.”
“Really?” Hei Lie looked doubtful, but the slight upward curl of his lips revealed his true feelings at the moment.
“If I were actually interested in him, would he still need to compete for the title of strongest warrior? I’d have already dragged him back with me, no way I’d waste time hemming and hawing.” Yang Yi rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Hei Lie’s mouth immediately split into a wide grin, showing all teeth and no eyes.
Yang Yi instantly realized and shuddered all over.
“Damn it, I must be crazy to actually answer this lunatic’s question so seriously!”
Thank you for the translation ❤️