Chapter 12

Accompanied by the distant chirping of birds, the sun gradually sank below the horizon. After emitting its final dazzling red light, the sky was gradually dyed by the starry night. However, the green slope of the night was not silent; nocturnal animals scurried around in search of food, and some strange-sounding insects emerged in abundance.

The moon gradually appeared and disappeared behind thin clouds, casting intermittent moonlight on the green slope. It was a night with relatively low visibility; usually, moonlight would be brighter. By this time, Cloudy would have normally retreated to her burrow to try to sleep, but tonight was different because Titus was still there. She didn't expect Titus to stay, but he truly didn't leave.

At that moment, Titus was sitting at the entrance of the cave, whittling a stick. What puzzled Cloudy was that the night seemed to have no effect on Titus; his speed at whittling the stick did not slow down.

Speaking of the stick, Cloudy eventually relented. Firstly, Titus was much larger than her, and she couldn't resist his persistence. Secondly, she thought about the numerous nocturnal animals around the green slope; it was better to have the fence done sooner rather than later.

Starting around 6 o'clock, Titus and Cloudy made rapid progress, whittling nearly 30 sticks. Cloudy hammered away, enclosing half of the cave entrance with the sticks. As Cloudy inserted the sticks into the soil, Titus also understood what she was trying to achieve.

It's worth mentioning that before the sun set, in addition to helping with the sticks, Titus kept teaching Cloudy to speak. The results... were somewhat significant? Cloudy almost grasped a few simple words, such as "bug," "attack," "sleep," and "important."

Nevertheless, this was quite impressive because although these words were short, they encompassed a multitude of contexts... a great deal of them.

Starting with "bug," besides referring to insects, it could also signify annoying things, sudden traps, a type of food, a not-so-good mood, and so on.

The term "attack" had a broader usage; in fact, almost all conflicts, negative situations, exciting moments could be described using the word "attack" in the local language.

"Sleep" could be used to describe comfort, coziness, endearment, and more; it was a relatively positive term. As for "important"... Cloudy hadn't learned it yet, she only remembered the meaning of 'important.'

Cloudy didn't know how long this language had been in existence or how many times it had evolved, but from what she had learned so far... perhaps it was a language that had recently formed.

"Isn't Titus going back to sleep?" Cloudy, feeling a mix of pride and guilt, spoke in the language she had just learned, "Already, night."

"Not going back," Titus raised the stick he had just whittled and tapped it, "Help Cloudy."

As he said that, Titus turned to Cloudy with a smile. It was at that moment Cloudy noticed that Titus' eyes seemed to shimmer in the moonlight, like a cat caught on a night camera... not as bright, and only visible from certain angles.
"Can't be? Cloudy looked puzzled, 'Can it be that Titus and his kind have night vision capabilities?' Thinking back to the unusual sight of Titus constantly blinking up at the sky as night fell, and now seemingly unaffected by the darkness...

'Titus... Can you see?' Cloudy hesitated, unsure if what she said made sense, 'Eyes.'

'?' Titus seemed a bit confused, 'What's wrong?'

'Eyes!' Cloudy covered her eyes, then released them, 'Eyes, night, work continues!'

'Work continues!' Titus happily raised his hand, 'Keeping the cave safe.'

Despite the language barrier, Cloudy persisted, though it felt like talking to a brick wall... After a moment of hesitation, Cloudy asked Titus why he hadn't gone back yet, receiving the same response as before - he wasn't going back.

After some time, Titus and Cloudy had sharpened and placed all the sticks outside the cave, but due to Cloudy's limited collection this morning, only a third of the fence was complete. Tomorrow, they would need to gather more sticks.

'Thank you!' Cloudy patted Titus on the arm, feeling delighted by the half-finished fence and the wooden door she had built herself. Plus, they had fish for dinner this afternoon!

It was a fulfilling day. Cloudy opened the door, half-crawled inside, and retrieved the fruit shell she used for water, handing it to Titus, 'Drink, water.'

The moonlight reflected on the water, casting a soft, starry glow on the simple bowl. Titus's eyes also shimmered in this faint light. The scene seemed odd to Cloudy, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what made it strange.

He bowed his head to drink from Cloudy's hand, not taking much, leaving most for her. Titus seemed content, moving to the side to tap each stick of the fence with his hand, as if checking their strength, or simply playing around.

'Cloudy,' Titus suddenly looked her way, 'Time to sleep.'

'Oh... indeed, it's time to sleep,' Cloudy glanced at the moon; it must be around 9 o'clock. Early for modern standards, but late for their physically demanding lifestyle. What to do? Titus was still here, showing no sign of leaving.

Cloudy felt uneasy, 'Titus, not going back?' Titus shook his head, pointing to a spot beside the cave, 'I sleep here, Cloudy goes inside.'

But why? Why stay here tonight? She knew Titus wouldn't do anything to harm her, she just wanted to understand why he chose to stay. It was something he had never done before."
"Cloudy, will die," Titus said firmly, with a hint of liveliness in his tone, leaving Cloudy somewhat speechless: "Why will I die?"

Titus didn't respond further, as if his patience had run out. He strode over, grabbed Cloudy, lifted her horizontally as if ringing a bell, and then stuffed her into the mouth of a cave. "Why are you doing this to me?!" Cloudy squealed as Titus haphazardly pushed her into the cave, feeling like a potato.

"What do you mean I will die?!" After being shoved inside, Cloudy struggled to maneuver in the dark cave, attempting to climb out and question Titus. But to her surprise, the savage... he closed the wooden door! It would have been fine if he had just covered the cave entrance normally, but he seemed to have wedged himself against the door, making it impossible for Cloudy to push it open.

"...Something doesn't seem right," Cloudy began to feel a bit panicked. What did Titus mean by what he just said - Cloudy will die? With so many nuances in their language, according to her previous understanding, Titus' statement implied, "Cloudy will die, so she cannot leave."

But what if the context was completely opposite? Cloudy's mind was already conjuring up a very unpleasant scenario, starting from that fish. Yes, that fish was already ominous enough.

In the pitch-black environment, Cloudy began to overthink... Yesterday, Titus' kinsmen came to see him. Titus seemed to be protecting her, but in the end, Titus compromised. After all, compared to an outsider, one's own kinfolk are more important, right? Her kinsmen wished for her to disappear from the vicinity, so what would be the quickest way to vanish?

Of course, it's a sacrificial offering!

However, Titus couldn't immediately act on it because they had spent some pleasant time together... or at least it seemed pleasant to her. So, Titus felt guilty but couldn't betray his own kin, hence he brought the best food he could find - dried fish meat. A whole fish, brought to her, a last supper of sorts.

He engaged her in activities to make her happy. Everything went smoothly for her, allowing her to spend her final moments joyfully, and then as night fell...

Why did it have to be nightfall? Cloudy was stuck in her own script, but she couldn't shake off the meaning behind Titus' words, "Cloudy will die." Language barriers can be truly frustrating! Cloudy began to pound on her small wooden door at the cave entrance.

"Cloudy?!" Titus's surprised voice came from outside the door. "What's wrong?"

"Let me out, don't kill me!" Cloudy started to ramble, "I don't want to die, I've been struggling to survive in the wilderness for a month, not to be sacrificed by savages!"

After her outburst, Cloudy felt a bit embarrassed. What if she had misunderstood? But in this situation... what was really going on?
"Cloudy, stay inside," Titus's voice came through the wooden door. "Don't be afraid. Coming out will lead to death."

Oops, got it wrong. How embarrassing. Cloudy buried her head in her arms at the entrance of the cave, feeling her cheeks flush. Luckily, Titus couldn't understand her language; it would have been even more embarrassing if he did...

"Cloudy, sleep."

"Leave the outside to me."

What could be happening? Will dangerous wild animals come to this side of the green slope tonight? Some wildlife documentaries do show such occurrences, where they migrate in groups during certain seasons at specific times. Cloudy retreated a bit into the cave, but if something really dangerous were to happen outside, what would Titus do? Even though he's strong... he couldn't possibly face wild animals alone with his bare hands.

Cloudy felt that no matter how hard she tried, there was still so much to learn and understand... too much. This whole world was entirely new to her. What could she do now? The door was locked by Titus, and he said coming out would lead to death...

Only option is to get some sleep!

She crawled back to the grass mat in the cave, adjusted herself a few times to find a somewhat comfortable position, and closed her eyes.

...

............

She was dreaming again, this time unusually not about her past life. She was with Titus by a clear river, not really fishing upon closer inspection, just playing in the water. The icy river water was filled with watermelons and canned cola.

"Cloudy, do you want to eat sour cabbage fish in golden soup tonight?" Titus asked in fluent Chinese, holding up the fish he just caught and waving it at Cloudy. "Or should I make you roasted fish from Wushan Mountain!"

"I want to eat both!" Cloudy shouted, waking up from her dream. And because she woke up so suddenly, she sat up and hit her head on the cave ceiling.

Cloudy lay back on the grass mat, holding her head. "That hurts..." After the pain subsided, Cloudy crawled towards the cave entrance. The wooden door opened smoothly, and outside...

Everything was normal.

The morning sunlight bathed the grass, and warm breeze brushed over the slope. Just like any other peaceful morning, Cloudy called for Titus as she emerged from the cave, but there was no response. She searched around the cave, which had no bushes or hiding spots, but she couldn't find Titus.

Did he go back in the middle of the night? Cloudy was puzzled. There were no signs of fighting or bloodstains around, and the fence was intact at the cave entrance.

But didn't Titus say... she would die if she came out? How strange. What really happened? Cloudy furrowed her brow and kept touching her chin. With her sleep quality, she would have woken up immediately if there had been a fierce fight outside the cave last night.

Where did Titus go? Did he really go back?
Titus is definitely not injured. Cloudy has searched all around the cave, but there are no traces of blood or any body parts.

Cloudy is momentarily indecisive. Should she worry about Titus' safety, or should she continue with her daily work? Besides collecting sticks to continue making fences today, she also needs to find a new fire starter... After deliberating for about half an hour, Cloudy selected the sharpest thorn from the unfinished fence and grabbed some food from the cave.

With both bone knives on her, she briskly walked towards the direction of the rainforest. After all, collecting sticks and fine fibers is something she can find everywhere, so why not go to the rainforest? Maybe she could also find Titus along the way.

However, halfway there, Cloudy started feeling a bit timid... She couldn't even explore the bushy area on the green slope smoothly; any random large insect could make her freeze in fear. Is the area near the rainforest too difficult? Can someone who hasn't even left the newbie village enter such a challenging dungeon?

What if she encounters something like a tyrannosaurus rex as soon as she enters? Do tyrannosaurus rex even exist in this era? Lost in her thoughts, Cloudy once again started walking briskly towards the rainforest. She felt more and more conflicted these days because of Titus.

Just like now, being afraid of death yet still charging towards the rainforest...