Chapter 55

Cloudy had been observing all along, while the two individuals had been lingering nearby, occasionally rummaging in the water and sometimes starting to climb up the trees. The locals were tall, standing in the water without it reaching beyond their shoulders. This made Cloudy a bit envious.

Their skin tone was similar to Titus, appearing a healthy light brown, with one of them possibly slightly darker. Their physique wasn't as robust as Titus, and Cloudy began recalling all the locals she had seen, including the mothers with newborns she had encountered during the rainy season.

At first glance, the newborns resembled little monkeys, wrinkled and wrapped in animal skins, not much different from human infants. The mothers... especially the Matriarch, tended to be on the heavier side, but not the soft, flabby kind that comes from consuming a lot of fried or sugary foods. It was more like... she wasn't sure how to describe it precisely, just hefty yet sturdy.

The mothers were also quite tall, at least taller than Cloudy; the shortest one she had seen indoors that night was probably around six feet tall.

As for hunters like Titus, they were all robust and tall, with darker skin tones. Cloudy speculated that the skin color wasn't natural but rather a result of constant exposure to the sun while hunting outside. Titus's buttocks were slightly lighter in color compared to his limbs and upper body.

She also wanted to grow to over two meters... being just over one and a half meters tall in the rainforest was practically disabled. While making comparisons, Cloudy was contemplating whether to quietly leave the area now or wait for them to depart. Whichever she chose, Cloudy felt there was a possibility of being discovered; those who ventured out during the rainy season were undoubtedly hunters, indicating strong tracking abilities.

But what were they searching for exactly? Cloudy could hear the two individuals constantly making noises, either splashing in the water or climbing trees. She peeked slightly from behind the tangle of vines, looking towards where they were busy.

The taller figure was standing in the water, hands raised high, muttering something in their mouth, probably saying "a little more, a little more." The other person was perched on a slanted tree, tossing something downwards, roughly the size of their fist. Due to the swift throwing motion, Cloudy couldn't discern the color or exact shape.

Something to collect! Cloudy's eyes lit up, as she also glanced up at the tree she was hiding in, but couldn't make out anything significant.

Plop, plop, the sound of objects falling into the water began to echo frequently, and the two wild individuals even let out very cheerful cheers.

"Bring this back, child, they will like it!"

"Perhaps there's something on that tree over there."

Suddenly, Cloudy swiftly retreated into the tangle of vines because when the person on the tree mentioned "over there," the direction they pointed was not far behind her. If these two individuals decided to move in her direction, the likelihood of her being discovered would be quite high... in reality, staying motionless buried in the tangle of vines was...
The best thing is to play with the heartbeat too much.

She could feel her own rapid heartbeat now. If she encountered two big bugs outside, she could still rush up to fight to the death for an hour and eat roasted bug meat directly at night. But now she was facing two savages, and she wasn't sure which tribe they belonged to, whether their attitude was friendly or not... If she rushed out, she would probably be stomped to death.

"Let's go and take a look."

The sound of splashing water as the person in the tree jumped into the water. They should be coming towards this direction. Cloudy's back was now almost perfectly camouflaged with the vine tangle, she wished she could instantly blend into the tree or vines, sweat already covering her forehead.

I'm sorry, I never had faith before, but now I'm starting to pray devoutly, will it work...

Nature won't help, as soon as the two savages entered, one of them stopped. Cloudy could hear them whispering to each other softly, then the sound of splashing water disappeared.

This indicated that the two had sensed something lurking around, so they switched to a hunting or stealth mode, Cloudy knew this... no matter how alert she was, as long as Titus didn't want to be found by her, he wouldn't make a sound, making it as easy for a hunter as breathing.

Run away, or stay hidden? Unfortunately, just as Cloudy was considering, one of the tall savages had already appeared within her field of vision. He was climbing up the tree root, making big movements but not emitting any sound.

Hold your breath, eyes wide open. She slowly moved her right hand from her belt, slowly unsheathing her bone knife, gripping it tightly.

Don't tremble, don't tremble... Cloudy felt herself on the brink of collapse. She wanted to scream, wanted to raise the knife and rush out, but more than anything, she regretted why she chose today to explore, when she had agreed with Titus to meet inside the cave! Was she an idiot!

At this moment, Cloudy only had the vision of her left eye, her right eye blocked by leaves. In her current field of vision, she first saw a bit of the savage's shoulder, then a third of his profile, and finally his entire back exposed on a tree root about 30 meters away from Cloudy's hiding spot in the settlement. They were now stepping on the same tree root, if that savage turned around, he would probably discover her hidden in the vine tangle.

"Over here."

Before she could react, Cloudy felt her neck tighten, and she was pulled out of the vine tangle.

It was another savage, who happened to climb up from the right side of her blind spot, and he discovered Cloudy hiding in the vine tangle, reaching out to pull her out. The other savage who heard the sound also turned around.

"What is this?" Looking at the strange creature caught in his hand, with a single pupil, the whole person looked as frail as a useless thing abandoned by the tribe. But just as the local was still examining the "prey" in his hand, a strong tug came from the wrist.
Intense pain.

He had to let go of his hand, the bone-made weapon deeply embedded in his wrist, almost halfway in. Blood was gushing out, causing excruciating pain that made the local groan... And after letting go, the strange creature seemed to go wild, rapidly shooting off in the opposite direction.

"Escaped!" The injured local immediately clutched the wound tightly with his hand. Another person nearby had already started to step forward, chasing after.

Cloudy breathed heavily, swiftly removing the spear and roots from her back as she landed, throwing them aside at a speed even she couldn't believe. After dropping what was on her back, she pushed off with her legs, leaping towards another tree root.

She tightly gripped the second bone knife at her waist, having only stabbed one person's wrist, they would surely both come chasing after her.

Run away? Where to run? Cloudy's gaze locked onto the direction she came from, wondering the likelihood of not stumbling while sprinting on these rows of tree roots... but she couldn't think that much now. She dashed towards the direction of the raft at her fastest speed.

Not daring to look back or lose focus, she concentrated solely on the path, trying to take each step as large as possible, each step landing as precisely on the tree roots as she could.

If it were on flat ground, her chance of escaping would be zero, but the terrain here was complex, giving her a chance... This was the first time she had tried to run at full speed since the end of the rainy season, perhaps from swimming every day or doing physical labor, she now felt incredibly agile, able to leap over two tree roots with a single effort.

But this speed wasn't enough; she could hear the pursuing footsteps behind her, heavy yet swift. If she slowed down even a bit, she would surely be caught again. Thinking of the worst, she might be killed immediately because she had indeed just stabbed someone... a living person, not a bug or a fish, but a person.

With no time to endure moral consequences, Cloudy tensed every muscle in her body, deciding not to escape towards the raft because that side was all water, and once on the raft, she would definitely have a gap of about ten seconds to grab a pole. Even if she got on the raft, her paddling speed probably wouldn't match the swimming speed of the locals behind her.

She had seen Titus swim; that guy was like a bullet in the water.

No time, absolutely no time. The escape route was also wrong. Cloudy's breathing became irregular; would it be useful now to stop and beg for mercy? Thinking carefully, the person who had grabbed her and pulled her out didn't show strong aggression, just observing her... she had acted with the knife out of sheer stress...

One tends to make mistakes when in a hurry, like now. Cloudy's left foot didn't land securely on the tree root, slipping slightly forward, getting stuck in the gap between the tree roots, causing her body to lose balance and lean to the right. This haphazard escape plan failed; Cloudy lay on the tree root, struggling in despair.
Like a yellow weasel caught in a trap.

"Please, don't hurt me...!"

She could see the wild man catching up behind her, just two steps away. Seeing her immobilized, he stopped running and leaped onto the tree root trapping her, peering down at her. His eyes, the same heavy pupils as Titus's, sent shivers down her spine.

"I-I'm just... scared! I was just... looking for food..." Cloudy almost screamed, her voice breaking, as she tried to free her left foot from the crevice. But the root was resilient, the more she panicked, the tighter it held her. "Please."

"Which settlement are you from?" The local man crouched down, his face round with a lot of beard surprisingly, looking much older than Titus. "You hurt my companion."

"Up there, up there!!!" The shout came from behind the two, the man with the injured wrist. But his warning came too late, as the local interrogating Cloudy hadn't even had time to look up before warm liquid splattered out, drenching Cloudy.

Was it stomped on directly or smashed with a hand? Before the stranger in front could speak or react, his head had already deformed and split open.

Cloudy's mind went blank, wanting to close her eyes, but... the one delivering the fatal blow was Titus, who suddenly jumped down from above. His hands stained crimson, he didn't even greet her, like a wild beast, he pounced straight at the fleeing person.