Chapter 28

Cloudy felt that she wanted to truly understand these locals, and there was still a long way to go... Of course, she didn't consider herself the "Matriarch" that Titus mentioned. What exactly does the term "Matriarch" mean? Has she always interpreted this word in isolation?

Feeling too confused, even as it was getting dark, she kept asking Titus for a while.

After sorting through Titus's answers, she found herself even more interested in this culture. She had very little knowledge of ancient settlement cultures, so was this like a field study for her? If she could go back to modern times, could she make a name for herself by writing a paper based on this information?

The so-called "Matriarch," as Cloudy understood it, is not simply a "woman responsible for reproduction and overseeing the settlement" as she had initially thought. In the settlement, even gender concepts are very blurred. For example, in Cloudy's eyes, Titus is one hundred percent male, but in the settlement, Titus is a "hunter." There are only differences in roles, not in gender.

So, regardless of physical gender, as long as someone is strong, agile, and can bring back food and supplies for the tribe, they will be classified as a "hunter," and there are also "guards."

In Titus's view, "Mothers" are more like doctors and builders. It's not just one person who has the ability to create or use herbs to heal the wounded and ensure the survival of newborns, they are called "Mothers." The Matriarch is the leader of the mothers and the most influential person in the entire settlement.

Newborns are all sent to the residence of the Matriarch and the mothers, strictly nurtured and protected. The Matriarch and mothers are not responsible for hunting and fighting, so they are slightly less robust compared to the hunters.

In Titus's eyes, Cloudy may lack combat skills, but she has the ability to create, so he believes her position in the previous tribe might have been a "Mother." Cloudy initially misunderstood Titus's mention of "Matriarch" simply because she misheard, as the pronunciation of Matriarch and Mother only differs by one syllable.

And what about the thing on her chest? Cloudy gestured in an attempt to understand, only managing to confuse Titus further: "Mother... on the chest, there will be a marking. Cloudy only has two? More markings mean a higher position as a Mother."

So, did Titus mistake her two points for markings, thinking that "Mothers" have many nursing locations, when in fact it's about multiple markings on the chest, like tattoos? Besides the Mother's matters, Cloudy was also curious about the term "egg" that Titus used to describe newborns.

"Titus, do newborns come out of eggs? Hard shells... like birds?"
"No, it's soft," Titus is a hunter, so he rarely gets close to newborns. He has only seen the mother and Matriarch handle the newborns a few times from a distance. "They are wrapped in a layer, looking small and moist."

Is it the afterbirth? Cloudy feels she has unintentionally learned a lot of the local language again. "Is everyone's physique determined by nature?"

Titus shakes his head. "I don't understand, what do you mean?"

"Was Titus born a hunter?"

This question led to a long silence. As the sky gradually darkened, Cloudy couldn't see Titus's expression clearly. "Titus?"

"I don't know," Titus's voice was somewhat soft, as if not too pleased. Cloudy naturally noticed because his tone was too obvious. She was a bit nervous. "Did my question upset you?"

"Yes, it did. I don't like this approach."

"What approach?"

Titus didn't answer. He couldn't understand why Cloudy didn't even know these basic things. "No one has ever asked such questions before. I can't understand." She seemed completely clueless about the mother and newborns.

"Cloudy, nothing at all?"

"...I work in an office. Is that okay?" However, seeing Titus unhappy, she decided not to ask the hunter any more questions, even though she found what Titus said quite intriguing, like reading a picture book from childhood. "Are there any other positions in the settlement?"

"Mother, hunter, guard, child."

"Nothing else?"

Titus shook his head. "Nothing else."

"What about companions? Isn't that a position?"

"No, companions can be hunters or guards. The mother will choose suitable companions."

It's like a simple yet efficient primitive society, isn't it? The mother is responsible for healthcare, management, and planning. The hunter is responsible for food and potential conflicts, while the guard watches over the flame and settlement, and patrols within the territory. There might be some further subdivisions based on this foundation, right?

Titus went on to talk about trivial matters within the settlement, such as festival celebrations, allocation of flames, and food distribution... The most solemn festival in Titus's settlement is to celebrate the birth of newborns.

However, this birth is different from Cloudy's understanding of birth. In her worldview, birth is when a child is born from a mother. For Titus and them, it's a bit more brutal... After all, the overall living environment of the settlement is like that, and newborns are very difficult to survive. After being born, newborns are immediately cared for by the Matriarch and mother. Only those who survive for some time are considered born.

This grand festival is not fixed; it is held immediately upon the birth of a newborn to praise the child's vitality.
The children who die young will be sent back to the "fire," and these two things will happen simultaneously.

Food will be distributed evenly, never too little or too much, except for the wounded.

"So if you sneak things out, you'll be punished..." Cloudy felt guilty. "After this, don't bring me food."

"I will!" Titus didn't care much, anyway, it was his own food. Except for that fish... but no one noticed, so that was enough.

The allocation of fire needs to be decided by the Matriarch, and there are specific guards for it. Normally, everyone doesn't get to see the fire. Cloudy wanted to know more about the fire, but unfortunately, the day had already darkened completely, and Titus had to leave the cave.

"I will come back tomorrow. Cloudy, stay safe." Titus crouched at the cave entrance and reminded Cloudy, then he squeezed his body, like a fat eel, to crawl out of the cave and leave.

"Stay safe on your way home!" Cloudy also crouched at the cave entrance and shouted outside until she couldn't hear Titus's echo anymore, then she ran back to the wooden house on the hill.

After the moon came out, the visibility inside the cave was quite satisfactory, at least not pitch black. Today, Cloudy had to sleep in the unfinished wooden house, the ground was slightly damp, lying directly on it would be uncomfortable the next day. After thinking for a while, Cloudy removed a piece of animal skin covering the roof and laid it on the ground to make do for the night. She took out her down jacket and used it as a pillow.

So comfortable.

Cloudy sighed, finally bathed, her body no longer sticky, and although her hair was still wet, it didn't smell oily. She stretched out on the animal skin, not stuffy or crowded... much better than the small cave on the green slope.

It felt unbelievable that she had been here for two months. Cloudy reached out to the side and pulled out her already broken phone, the feeling of holding this high-tech product in her hand now felt very strange, her palm now more familiar with the touch of wood and stone.

If her parents could see her now, would they praise her for being very diligent, or scold her for not working and studying hard enough? Oh well, thinking about these things was useless, they couldn't see her anyway. She sighed and put the phone back beside her, before going to sleep, Cloudy recalled her conversation with Titus, not to study the social culture of the settlement, but to review the local language. These days, communicating with Titus had become smoother, and if she didn't understand something, a little explanation from him would make her immediately understand.

If she hadn't crossed over to this place, Cloudy wouldn't have known she had such a strong language learning ability... as she thought, drowsiness slowly invaded her mind. This was the first time she didn't need to tightly close her eyes and force herself to sleep, nor did she need to be on edge for wild animal invasions.

She didn't wake up in the middle of the night or dream. When she opened her eyes again, the entire cave had
Waking up to a dimly lit environment, Cloudy, who had just emerged from her slumber, felt a bit disoriented. Her deep sleep had left her brain struggling to boot up instantly, finding herself still inside the green cave on the hillside.

"Why is it so bright? Did someone turn on the light?" she wondered as she rubbed her eyes and glanced upwards. The sunlight streaming in from outside the courtyard made her instantly alert. Yes, she had found herself a fantastic hideout!

Stretching comfortably as she sat up, Cloudy decided to freshen up by the water basin before changing into the nearby dried tank top and shorts. It had been a while since she felt this clean... Examining her arms, she found not a speck of dirt. Daily cleansing like this felt like a luxury.

Feeling refreshed and energized, Cloudy hopped out of bed, feeling lighter after some random exercise moves. She grabbed her bone club and exited the cave, following Titus' advice from yesterday to gather some fruits in the vicinity, stocking up for about two days before moving on to other tasks.

She planned to postpone building the wooden hut for now and focus on collecting fire-making tools, starting with a fire starter. Being deep in the rainforest meant most plants held high water content, making it challenging to find dry fire starters. She began by picking tender new vines or sprouts emerging from the ground, drying them on rocks. Selecting the perfect wooden stick for drilling fire was also a meticulous task.

After these chores, Cloudy estimated it was nearly... She gazed sternly at the sky beyond the treetops, hindered by the vegetation covering the cave entrance, making it hard to discern the time. Perhaps it was already noon?

With food and fire tools ready, Cloudy circled the cave, collecting large, flat stones and arranging them in a concave shape next to the wooden hut. She piled smaller stones on top, sealing it with a leaf.

A small makeshift stone kiln was now complete, with a fist-deep hollow at the bottom for the dry fire starter.

She clasped her hands together, offering a prayer to the stone kiln, hoping it would bring her the flame of hope: "I'm counting on you." In her mind, she envisioned grilling fish, meat, and insects - anything that would become delicious when cooked over the fire.

Cloudy clicked her tongue, realizing she had spoken in her native language. Lately, she found herself speaking the wild language often, sometimes blending it with her native tongue. Would she eventually abandon her mother tongue completely?

"...Is it still possible to go back?" She murmured to the stone kiln, "I really miss takeout."

Reflecting, she considered the fruits Titus brought her yesterday - did they count as takeout? What about the fish and other food... weren't they all takeout?

This was like something out of a textbook.
Cloudy is finding it hard to transition from luxury to frugality.

She really wants to eat fish. Cloudy lies limp on the ground, swinging her arms and legs, thinking about catching fish with Titus next time!

After being lazy on the ground for a while, Cloudy slowly gets up to continue building her wooden house. With Titus's help, she finished the wooden walls yesterday. Today, she plans to fill the gaps at the base of the walls with mud and leaves to make the walls more sturdy. She prefers not to seal the upper part with mud to allow a bit of airflow.

Filling the gaps isn't difficult, but preparing the mud and leaves is. Cloudy doesn't want to keep digging up topsoil, so she has to make multiple trips down below to bring up the mud. She misses her deceased large insect shell; if it were still alive, she could use it to transport the mud instead of carrying it up with leaves.

Collecting leaves from outside is also necessary. The bushes near the cave entrance have been almost stripped bare by Cloudy and Titus after yesterday's activities. Cloudy realizes she needs to go further away to gather more leaves and branches; otherwise, it will be too obvious that they've been collecting in the same spot.

After a busy day, Cloudy is tired. She relaxes a bit, feeling lazy now that she has a safe base. Her mindset is calmer, and she feels like lounging on the makeshift animal skin bed or washing some fruit by the water pool. Today feels like a vacation day for her.

However, Cloudy knows she can't relax too much. She pushes herself to finish the last side of the wooden house, standing back to admire her handiwork. Only the roof and a door are left to complete the house.

With time still on her side, Cloudy considers making a more comfortable bed. She had a great night's sleep on the grass bed last night and thinks a thicker grass mattress would be even better. She plans to show it off to Titus when he arrives. Excited, she starts preparing for the new bed.

Making the bed is simple; no need for a frame. Cloudy gathers plenty of soft tree leaves and piles them up with other soft materials. She puts extra effort into collecting various soft tree leaves, bundling them with flexible vines into five bundles. Each bundle is shaped into a somewhat rounded rectangle. She places the five bundles in the corner of the wooden house against the wall.

This makeshift bed is ready. Cloudy adds more large, flat tree leaves on top, then layers the animal skin on it. Finally, she picks up a nearby down jacket pillow and places it on the bed.
Lying down and trying it out, it felt perfect. Could just go to sleep right away.

Cloudy lay on the bed, face against the pillow, feeling so comfortable that she didn't want to get up. No matter where you are, having a bed really brings out the laziness in people!

Today, she collected tools for living, laid out walls, built a small stone kiln, and even made a bed... felt like she had done enough work for the day. Cloudy lay in her grass mat bed, staring at the empty wooden roof of the hut, lost in thought. Maybe she should work on the roof tomorrow? She squirmed on the bed like a bug.

Until finally, responsibility overcame laziness. Since there was still plenty of time left, she shouldn't slack off. She could always go to bed early after finishing her tasks. With that in mind, Cloudy got up from the bed, ready to start repairing the wooden roof of the hut. For now, one side of the roof was temporarily covered with animal hide, but now she needed to replace it all with leaves.

Actually, she could continue using animal hide for the roof. But for Cloudy, using such precious hides as a roof seemed like a waste. Besides, in the rainy season, animal hide wouldn't keep the rain out either! Leaves seemed more practical.

Wait... Cloudy stared at the roof of the wooden hut from outside, it was too high for her to reach. The beams were all put up by Titus.

Cloudy threw the leaves towards the roof a few times, but couldn't get the positioning right. She didn't dare climb up the wooden wall, as the hut's structure wasn't stable enough to support her weight. What to do? She paced around in circles, finally deciding to go down and find some stones to stand on.

Cloudy looked somewhat bewildered towards the direction of the cave entrance. It was already afternoon, and Titus still hadn't arrived. Thinking about this, Cloudy felt a bit nervous. Was Titus facing some punishment? Or did he get attacked by wild animals on his way back last night?

Even after Cloudy managed to roughly set up half of the roof with leaves, Titus still hadn't shown up. This made Cloudy distracted; she was used to Titus appearing suddenly in front of her every day. What was happening today? Was something going on in the settlement? Was he not coming because of being attacked by wild animals?

Titus was so skilled, he wouldn't be attacked by wild animals. Due to worrying too much about Titus, Cloudy lost interest in finishing the other half of the roof. She nibbled on her nails, pacing back and forth in front of the wooden hut, wondering if he just didn't have time to come today. That must be it.

As the sun set and moonlight appeared once again, Titus still hadn't arrived. Cloudy didn't know if she was worried or disappointed. She even wanted Titus to sleep on the grass mat bed she had carefully made...

It was a bit of a mess. Cloudy realized that her good mood from finishing the wooden walls and grass mat bed had vanished just because she hadn't seen Titus.