Chapter 37

Things happened too suddenly, and with her current mental state, there was simply no way for her to react normally.

She cried without caring about her runny nose and tears, howling like a wild monkey in anger and making inexplicable pleas, laughing with a twisted tone.

After this embarrassing four-part performance, Cloudy finally calmed down and entered the final stage: "Ah..." in a daze.

Titus was also scared out of his wits, holding her without knowing what to do. The two of them stood dumbfounded in the rainforest for about ten minutes.

"I'm sorry... I got too excited." After saying this, Cloudy realized that she hadn't spoken the local language for the past few days. Out of habit, her mother tongue slipped out, "I'm... excited... I'm sorry."

Forget about Wilson and Chuck, Cloudy completely forgot about her stone friends still waiting for her in the cave in that instant. Titus had really come back!

Listening to Cloudy speak normally again, Titus joyfully patted her back, as if comforting a child, and gently set Cloudy back on the ground. "Cloudy, what are you doing here?" He had originally gone straight to the cave entrance, planning to surprise Cloudy inside the cave. However, halfway there, he suddenly found Cloudy in the bushes.

Titus wanted to pounce on her directly, but then thought that it wouldn't be a surprising feeling. So he quietly followed Cloudy for a while, seizing the moment to lift her from behind. And then... he almost got speared through by a wooden spear, but luckily he reacted quickly.

Unexpectedly, even after blocking the wooden spear attack, Cloudy still managed to hit him twice. It seemed like Cloudy had become even more formidable after not seeing her for several days. Perhaps he had worried for nothing.

During the hunting season, Titus tried to keep his focus, but while waiting for prey, he couldn't help but think about Cloudy, worrying that she might not have enough to eat, or that she might be attacked while gathering things outside... At night, when resting, he would dream that he had finally returned to the cave hut, only to find a skull.

Several times he almost gave up, wanting to turn back midway to check on Cloudy's situation... He couldn't do that. Besides Cloudy, there were many people in the settlement waiting for food to survive during the rainy season, and his hunting teammates were also waiting for him to bring back the location and news of the prey.

He could only reduce his rest time, focusing even more intensely on hunting than before. Titus would go days without sleep, tracking the footprints and feces of large prey. Once he found the large prey, instead of noting the location to inform his teammates, he would prepare himself and proceed to hunt alone.

For the people in the settlement, Titus was considered one of the most outstanding pioneer hunters in the past two generations. However, even so, hunting large animals alone was still too strenuous. During this hunting expedition, Titus suffered injuries several times more than before. By the middle of the hunting season, he even had to stop.
Teammates and brothers were also very surprised, repeatedly advising Titus not to hunt alone for prey that was too large. But the benefits were also very clear. The harvest from this external hunt was already more than twice that of the previous team in the mid-term.

The teammates' advice did not have any effect. In the later stages, Titus still did as he pleased. Unless he found a group of animals, he would handle the solitary prey he found on his own. This also led to his external hunting period ending early. About 3 days ago, Titus had already left a signal for his teammates, returning from the external hunting area to the inner circle. The teammates only needed to transport the prey back to the settlement, and the final external hunt before the rainy season would be over.

There are about 7 or 8 sunsets left before the rainy season arrives. If he hurries back, he can still help Cloudy gather enough food to last through the rainy season.

"I'm not going back to the settlement. I'm here to find Cloudy." Because it had been a long time since they last met, he was worried about any changes in Cloudy. Now, it seems... apart from being more robust, there were no other changes. Most importantly, there were no wounds on Cloudy at all! This made him very happy. "Are you doing okay in the cave?"

"I'm fine!" After being put back on the ground, Cloudy finally had the chance to carefully examine Titus. He looked very dirty overall, with a rare smell on his body. His hair was messy and tied back. He had many more wounds on his body, but they had all been treated with herbal paste.

"Hmm..." Cloudy circled around Titus to his back, where there were also many wounds that had been treated. "Are the wounds okay?"

"No problem! I got a lot of injuries this time..." Titus turned around, lowered his head in front of Cloudy, and opened his mouth to show Cloudy. "Look, I lost a tooth."

On the upper right side of his teeth, the position of the canine tooth was empty. Combined with Titus's current expression, it was quite comical, and Cloudy couldn't help but laugh. "Why did your tooth fall out?"

"Because of biting the prey. Its skin was too tough." Titus closed his mouth and shook his head. This was an inevitable situation when dealing with large prey alone. "It will take a long time to grow back."

To think that teeth can grow back after falling out... What a strong constitution. Cloudy was still circling around Titus, and the feeling of unreality in her heart was slowly dissipating. "Are you tired? Let's hurry back to rest!" After saying that, she took Titus's hand and started leading him back towards the cave.

"Wait, Cloudy, what were you just doing? I saw you looking for something."

"I was setting up traps." Since they were already here, it was better to check the traps first. Cloudy began to demonstrate, lifting the camouflage leaves covering the cave to show Titus her deep pit trap. Unfortunately, there was no prey inside. "I don't catch prey often, so I only come to check it out every once in a while."

As soon as she finished speaking, Titus lay down on the ground, reaching into the trap to search the bottom, but couldn't quite...
The bait mixed with soil. He pinched a small amount and sniffed it under his nose: "Is it animal organs?"

She didn't expect Titus to start class as soon as he returned.

"The smell is strongest on the first day. It will be gone by the second day." Titus rubbed the bait between his fingers. "You can try another type, a mix of feces and organs. But even that won't last long, though the smell will be very strong on the first day, effective in attracting prey."

"Oh, I see..."

The third trap also yielded no results. Titus comforted Cloudy, "It's okay, Cloudy. I will help you gather enough food!"

"...So much food..."

Titus stood in front of the wooden house, feeling like this was no longer the familiar Cloudy's home he knew before, with many things he couldn't understand and a lot of food... even fish meat.

"Cloudy... so amazing."

Yes... yes! That's the phrase! Ah, she waited so long just for that phrase! With an abundance of food, there wasn't much to show off. Cloudy excitedly pulled Titus to the tool bench and showed him one by one, "I made many tools, this one is for cracking hard shells, that one can be used for handling fish bones. And..."

Cloudy held up a clay pot, showing Titus the tender sprouts she had grown, "I planted plants. And... containers."

Titus perked up his ears, his pupils narrowing, "Containers... what is this, a stone? Is it made of stone, chiseled out?" He reached out to poke it, but it was completely different from the stone bowls and basins in the settlement, something he had never seen before.

"It's made of soil and fire," Cloudy wobbled her clay pot. "I made a lot, Titus can take some back to the settlement." She pointed to a corner next to the tool bench, where some temporarily idle containers were piled up.

"And what is this?" Titus's gaze fell on the table, the two rather conspicuous stones caught his attention, with patterns he couldn't understand. "Is this a tool?"

"This is... my stone friends," Cloudy coughed twice, realizing after seeing Titus that her previous state was completely like that of a middle-aged person acting drunk. "Not important!"

"Stone friends...?" Titus looked at it for a while, still unable to grasp its meaning, and eventually placed it back on the table. "Cloudy, there are so many things here, it's overwhelming."

Stone kiln, water filter, drying rack, insect-repellent grass outside the wooden house, special buzzing tea, two swimming fish in the pond, planted plants... Cloudy showed Titus all the new things in the cave, amid continuous praises of "Cloudy is amazing!"
After the visit concluded, Cloudy led Titus to the table and pulled out a stone stool that had been hidden underneath: "This is for you..." Not knowing how to say stool, she gestured for Titus to sit down.

As Titus sat down, Cloudy realized... it was very uncomfortable, like an elephant on a small stool. Titus hunched over, hands on his knees, looking quite awkward. He raised his head, puzzled, and said to Cloudy, "This is... so short..."

Apologies, she wasn't thinking clearly at the time and ended up making a stool the same size as her own... Cloudy scratched her head in embarrassment and decided to make one that fit him better. Uncomfortable sitting, Titus had to stand up, asking, "Do you have other things to do today?"

"No, the work for today is done. Tonight, we'll eat... something delicious!" Cloudy rubbed her hands together, preparing to start a fire to impress Titus. "How long until you return to the settlement?"

"I'm not going back."

"Huh?"

Cloudy blinked a few times, "Not going back?"

The man in front of her stood with a serious expression, "I will stay with you for the rainy season. There is enough food at the settlement, my task is complete. Whether Rainy Season stays there or not, it doesn't matter to me."

"Really?"

"Really!"

They held hands, swaying up and down, "Cloudy alone, Rainy Season is too difficult. I worry! I had nightmares every day while hunting outside, dreaming that you were dead. I don't want that anymore."

After speaking, Titus let go of Cloudy's hand and happily walked towards the wooden house, "Sleeping together, we won't have nightmares anymore!"

Oh no... Cloudy frantically raised her hand to stop Titus from entering the wooden house, but it was too late.

From inside the house came Titus's cry, "Cloudy!! My bed is gone!!"