Chapter 70

After the small model of the fire bed was destroyed, Titus felt intense guilt and hastily rebuilt it, without considering whether the stones fit together, simply wanting to recreate what Cloudy had just made.

"It's not like this..." Cloudy squatted beside him, guiding Titus, "The stones need to be placed together properly, with minimal gaps."

Titus immediately dismantled it and started over.

In a few minutes, Titus deftly restored the collapsed stone pedestal: "Hmm... it doesn't look as good as the one Cloudy made before." Cloudy's work was more square and sturdy-looking.

"This will do." Cloudy began to fill the gaps between the stones with mud. After ensuring there were no major drafts in the fire bed, Cloudy lit a fire underneath. Once the stone platform had been heated by the fire for a while, Cloudy motioned for Titus to come closer.

"What should I do?" This time, Titus seemed visibly more nervous. "I can't sit on it, it will break."

"You don't need to sit on it. Just place your hand on top and see if it's hot." Cloudy quickly touched the stone platform with her fingers, finding it very hot, hot enough to cook meat.

The next move was up to Titus... Cloudy held her breath, watching as the wild man extended his large hand towards the fire bed. The action was quick, but due to her nervousness, Cloudy perceived it in slow motion in the flickering firelight.

First the fingertips, then the second knuckle. Titus' action of placing his hand was gentle, as if probing, until his palm covered the surface.

"Is it warm...?" Cloudy, seeing Titus' overly calm expression, began to feel a bit uneasy. Titus furrowed his brow as he touched the stone surface, as if it had no temperature at all. "Isn't it warm?"

"It's hot, but I don't think it's hot enough. Cloudy, you try?"

Due to Titus being too confident, Cloudy misjudged and covered her hand over the stone, only to be burned and scream, "It's very hot!!!"

She quickly withdrew her hand, but it was too late; her palm was visibly reddening. With tears in her eyes, she pressed her hand into the mud to cool it down. Although she was mentally prepared for the wild people's high heat tolerance, she didn't expect it to be this strong... The temperature of the stone hadn't reached its peak, but the burn she received must have been at least 60-70 degrees.

"Let me see your hand." Cloudy, feeling frustrated, sat on the ground and pulled Titus's hand over to examine it closely in the firelight. Titus obediently opened his palm for Cloudy to inspect.

Titus's hand was very large, almost twice the size of hers, with thick knuckles and long spaces between the joints. Every part of his palm was covered in thick calluses, hard and tough.
Dy held Titus's hand with both hands and started pinching everywhere, not even letting go of the gaps between his fingers.

"Newborns don't have such thick skin," Cloudy thought that newborns might not have the same heat resistance as Titus at this stage, so what worked for Titus might not necessarily work for a newborn. But she felt... using a newborn for an experiment seemed a bit unethical. What if they got burned?

Lost in thought, she forgot to put her right hand down, leaving it in the center of Titus's broad palm. Titus had just been pinched by her and was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. Now, seeing Cloudy motionless, he took the opportunity to close his palm and envelop her hand: "Cloudy's hands are soft."

Was this the right time to say this? Cloudy glanced sideways, "Titus... during the rainy season, where do you feel the coldest on your body?"

"Um... the coldest place? What do you mean?"

"It's where you first feel very cold on your body." Cloudy began pointing at herself, "For me, the coldest places are my hands and feet at first, and then my nose feels very cold too."

Titus's ears twitched, "Ears feel cold first." After saying that, he seemed to understand Cloudy's meaning, "Cloudy, do you want me to put my ears on the stone slab?"

"No...! Wait a moment!" Cloudy steadied Titus, who was already about to get up, and pulled her hand out to touch Titus's ears.

It seemed like the first time she formally touched Titus's ears like this. Before, when they slept together, she would occasionally touch them, but it was always accidental. As she touched his ears, she felt Titus flinch slightly because he wasn't used to it.

There were some fine hairs on the back of his ears, feeling somewhat thick and somewhat like hamster fur. The ear structure of Titus's kind resembled that of a deer, but with a part of the appearance of human ears, and most importantly... they were very soft.

After carefully touching them, she realized that Titus's ears were extremely soft! Completely different from his stone-like arms and body! Although a bit oily... the touch was still very pleasant. Cloudy couldn't help but rub them a bit harder, which made Titus make an uncomfortable sound.

"Have you finished looking, Cloudy? My ears feel uncomfortable." He made a chuckling sound in his throat, and the ear that Cloudy was pinching started instinctively flapping, "It's so itchy."

For the ears, it might be worth a try. Cloudy reluctantly let go, "You can use your ears, but I'm afraid it might be too hot for you."

Titus looked disbelieving, "It won't be, the temperature of the fire isn't that hot."

"Then wait for me..." Cloudy got up and walked into the room. A few minutes later, she came out with a small jar of water. If Titus got burned, she would urgently soak his ear in the jar of water. "Now, place your ear on it."
Titus, who received the instruction, half knelt in front of the fire pit, turned his head to slowly press his ear against it.

"..."

Titus's face wrinkled, his nose twitched, "Cloudy, such a strange feeling, huh?"

"What... what do you mean? What strange feeling?" She held the water jug, nervously watching Titus beside her. "Is it warm? Or not warm?"

"I feel a bit of pain in my ear."

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" Cloudy placed the jug on the fire pit, shouting as she grabbed Titus's shoulder and pulled his head off the fire pit. "If it hurts, get away from it!"

She leaned over to look at Titus's left ear, which was indeed turning red from the heat. "Are you an idiot!" She couldn't help but shout in her native language.

Titus blinked, not understanding the insult, "What's wrong?"

Cloudy quickly lifted the jug again, placing it next to Titus's head, soaking his red ears in the water, "It's hot, you've been burned!"

"Uh... really?" Titus's ear moved in the jug, he didn't actually feel much pain, just that his ear rarely had the chance to be so close to the flames. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, it just felt strange. "I don't feel burnt, just a bit sore, very strange."

In just a few words, Titus left Cloudy puzzled again. What does it mean to not feel burnt but feel sore? Is it warm or not warm after all? She began to feel that her fire pit plan might have gone awry, partly because she actually had no understanding of how to build a fire pit and had never experienced one herself.

Another part of the problem was her lack of understanding of Titus's race's physical structure; she only vaguely knew that they had a high heat tolerance.

"What should I do, Cloudy, am I helping?" Titus saw Cloudy silent again, thinking he had messed up something. "I can try with the other ear."

"Not today." Cloudy put down the jug, gently rubbing Titus's still red ears. "I need to think again; I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't get hurt! Let me try with the other ear."

"No more trying." Cloudy placed her palm on Titus's face, pushing him back to prevent him from hitting the fire pit. "It's time to sleep."

"Okay... but I still want to help Cloudy."

"I'll let you help me later when I figure it out." She casually rubbed Titus's prickly head. "Let's go inside."

"Oh..." Titus seemed a bit disappointed but obediently extinguished the fire and returned to the house with Cloudy.