Lily Clark definitely knew how disgusting this stuff was. That innocent, curious look on her face was purely because she wanted to see if he would throw up after taking a sip!

Walter Baker's burning gaze lingered on the girl's Lily Clark face for quite a while before he noticed Edward Baker's look of resistance, and hurriedly urged him to drink the herbal medicine:

"You were unconscious before, and it was Chief Brian Baker who forced this medicine down your throat; Lily Clark and I went into the forest early this morning and finally managed to gather some fresh herbs. Hurry up and drink it..."

Edward Baker was highly suspicious that the locals used this same medicine for every illness, no matter what.

It was just like some stubborn and superstitious old folks back home, who would drink a pinch of incense ash dissolved in water for any ailment, thinking it could cure everything, and then just leave the rest to fate.

To drink or not to drink?

If he didn't, would the old chief Brian Baker feel insulted and then the tribe would throw a grand cannibal feast in his honor?

If he did?

His gut told him that even the girl Lily Clark thought he might throw up after the very first sip.

Struggling internally, Edward Baker thought that he was indeed feeling much better than when he first woke up. Anyway, it wouldn't kill him, and he couldn't get kicked out of the tribe before John Foster made it back to "collect his body," right?

He took the medicine bowl, pinched his nose, and swallowed the thick, green soup—which he didn't even dare to compare to anything for fear of disgusting the reader—down into his stomach.

It took quite a while for Edward Baker to suppress his nausea and not throw up.

Seeing Walter Baker breathe a sigh of relief, looking so gratified, Edward Baker almost splashed the leftover dregs from the broken bowl onto his face.

Although Walter Baker was just a driver hired by the local branch office in Degulamo, he had graduated from Ogun University, which was a higher education level than Edward Baker, who had dropped out of high school. How could he have so little scientific literacy or rationality?

Or was he just so smitten with the old chief's granddaughter that he'd lost all sense of direction?

And another thing, the old chief Brian Baker was said to be the most powerful and wealthy man for miles around, yet the medicine he gave guests was served in a rough clay bowl?

Wasn't the gold mine the chief's private property?

Shouldn't there at least be a few gold bowls to show off the chief's status?

When Edward Baker drank the herbal soup, the Yoruba girl Lily Clark was so excited her eyebrows danced, but Edward Baker had a strong feeling she was just gloating.

Only the joy of schadenfreude could be so pure.

What a joke.

Edward Baker thought to himself that he had never been a sentimental person, so why was he having such a strong gut feeling? Had being bitten by a snake somehow changed his psychology?

Or maybe...

Edward Baker quickly pulled aside the shroud-like sheet to take a look, and finally breathed a sigh of relief—he was still as robust as ever, nothing had mysteriously disappeared.

So what if he was a woman psychologically? There were so many effeminate men in society, and no one seemed to discriminate against them.

……

……

After seeing Edward Baker drink the herbal medicine, Walter Baker told him to lie down and rest, while he and the Yoruba girl Lily Clark sat nearby chatting.

Edward Baker's intuition told him that there was a burning desire in Walter Baker's eyes to strip Lily Clark's long dress off right then and there.

Of course, in Kanem, whether Yoruba or Hausa, most people were passionate and uninhibited.

You didn't even need intuition—Walter Baker sitting next to Lily Clark was practically writing "simp" on his own face.

Lily Clark didn't seem to have much resistance to Walter Baker's sweet talk; or maybe the village was just too isolated, and there were rarely any outsiders. Lily Clark, having taken over the job of caring for the sick guest, was happy to do nothing else and just stay here chatting with them.

Listening to Lily Clark and Walter Baker chat, Edward Baker learned that the old chief Brian Baker was not only the tribal leader of Iboku village, but also the shaman for several nearby tribes, responsible for a temple near the village.

The tribal shaman was basically a priest or pastor.

Although it sounded just like a charlatan back home, in Kanem, this West African country, the traditional power of ethnic tribes was extremely strong. The various tribal chiefs and shamans held very high status and great power.

For example, almost all tribal affairs, big or small, were basically decided by the old chief Brian Baker.

The tribal land, including the forests along both banks of the creek and the gold mine Edward Baker had visited earlier, theoretically all belonged to the old chief Brian Baker personally.

Villagers merely lived on this land—they could build houses, farm, and hunt in the forest, but they had no ownership.

As for the chief taking wives and concubines—the Yoruba men could marry up to eleven wives, and the bride price was just two cows.

This was something Edward Baker had known for a long time.

If it weren't for the local women's chocolate-colored skin, thick lips, and less-than-stellar hygiene, Edward Baker thought that if he could be a chief in Africa, his life would be complete.

Maybe it was because Lily Clark and her parents were Christians, or maybe deep down she wasn't really devout, but when Edward Baker asked her, she didn't know much about the so-called Snake God cult or its beliefs.

Of course, Iboku definitely held a very special place in the traditional tribal religions.