Chapter 71

Titus felt that since Cloudy arrived at the settlement, his life had changed. Most of the time, he didn't think much, but these days, he found himself thinking about many strange things.

For example, today, after training the newborns outside to return home, Cloudy was already asleep in bed. Why? What had Cloudy been doing all day since leaving the settlement to be so tired? They used to sleep together and chat before bed, even playing a game Cloudy taught him, called "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in Cloudy's language.

Furthermore, Cloudy no longer ate with him. Whenever he brought food from outside, Cloudy would say she had already eaten with the Matriarch and the others. Why? Did she no longer want to eat with him? When they lived in Green Slope and the caves, they used to sit together for meals every day.

Titus knew he had begged Cloudy to come to the settlement to help care for the newborns, but the changes in his life were too much for him... and he didn't like it!

Early this morning, he was called out by other hunters, not for training the newborns, but to prepare for an upcoming hunting expedition. In five sunsets, he would be leaving for the hunt. The food in the settlement had been scarce these days, and the resources to gather or hunt around were diminishing.

After the end of the rainy season, there were many preparations for the first hunting expedition, but the number of people would be reduced, with many hunters staying in the settlement to prevent other settlements from raiding during the food shortage.

This was also a concern for Titus. He wanted to be one of the hunters staying back in the settlement, but based on his abilities, he had to go out hunting. Titus really wanted to discuss this with Cloudy, but every time he came home these days, Cloudy was already fast asleep.

"..." Titus shrugged his shoulders, sitting on the edge of the bed. He could see things in the dark without the need for firelight, so he could clearly see Cloudy sprawled out on the bed, mouth wide open, even snoring heavily, looking sound asleep.

Cloudy had been in the settlement for 18 sunsets now, and she had adapted well... thanks to the people in the settlement, under the Matriarch's orders, not disturbing Cloudy excessively, even though they were all curious or somewhat repelled.

"Cloudy..." Titus whispered, seeing no response from the deeply sleeping figure, he lowered his head closer to Cloudy. "Cloudy."

"Mmm... Mom..."

Titus didn't understand what Cloudy was saying, and he knew she was still asleep. He reached out and gently poked Cloudy's cheek, "Cloudy, Cloudy."

Cloudy, in her slumber, furrowed her brow, smacked her lips, and her hand, like a soft insect, half-raised and swayed a few times, "I... go back..."
Seeing Cloudy like this, Titus's depressed mood disappeared. He lay down, made room for Cloudy, and reached out to hold her. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, Cloudy slapped him in the face: "…!?!"

"It's hot...! Hot!" Cloudy looked even more distressed as the slaps kept coming.

...

......

"..." Why am I so tired? Cloudy opened her eyes, remembering that she had gone to bed early last night, so early that the sun hadn't completely disappeared yet. Titus hadn't come home either; he had just laid in bed, unconscious. As Cloudy's brain cleared slightly, she immediately identified the "reason" she hadn't slept well last night.

Titus, sleeping beside her, clung to her like a crab, making it unbearably hot, waking up covered in sweat.

She really wanted air conditioning!!

Because she moved around a lot after getting up, the wild man beside her slowly opened his eyes: "Are you awake?" He yawned, "Cloudy, you didn't wait for me again last night, you just went to sleep."

"I was so tired yesterday!" Cloudy patted Titus's big arm, asking him to move away. "But, Titus, I succeeded."

"What did you succeed in?" The wild man, still in a daze, rubbed his eyes slowly and released Cloudy. "What did you do yesterday, Cloudy?"

It wasn't just yesterday; she hadn't stopped in the past few days. After planning carefully, she sought help from the Matriarch and built her "Super Warm Nursery Room No. 1" on the open space northwest of the settlement... Because Titus had been busy those days, she hadn't found the opportunity to introduce it to him in detail.

"Is Titus also going outside the settlement this morning?" Cloudy rubbed her hands together, the fatigue from lack of sleep disappearing as she thought about her masterpiece. She was now very eager to show off to Titus, "If my plan is a complete success, Titus won't have to worry about the rainy season or newborns anymore!"

"Really?" Titus widened his eyes. "Cloudy, you came up with a good idea so quickly?" He hadn't realized that Cloudy had been busy with this for the past few days. Thinking about it, Titus suddenly felt very guilty; clearly Cloudy had been busy too, yet he had been upset that she didn't wait for him to go to sleep first...

"Do you remember the fire I put in the pile of stones a few days ago that made your ears hurt?" Cloudy started excitedly gesturing with her hands, "I and the Matriarch, we made a bigger one together!"

"Made it together with the Matriarch...?" Titus frowned, "Why didn't you ask me for help, Cloudy?"

"Because you were preparing for the external hunt, and every morning I woke up, I saw..."
"Wait, you're already gone." Cloudy didn't notice Titus's emotions and continued enthusiastically, "I had others try it too..."

"Others?" Titus raised his voice. "Cloudy, do you know other people now?"

Having just woken up in the morning, her body functions were sluggish in every aspect. Just as she had been excited about her breeding room plan, Titus's interruption made her realize that the sensitive wild man seemed a bit upset.

Since arriving at the settlement, Titus had disliked her knowing other people, fearing she might find others more capable and not need him anymore. Firstly, this was baseless; even if she knew more capable individuals, Cloudy would always prioritize Titus.

"Cloudy could have told me first; I could have helped too!" Titus was very displeased. "I'm better than the others. Whatever Cloudy asks me to do, I'll surely do it quickly!"

Sure enough, things were getting awkward. In the past, she might have been flustered, but after living with Titus for so long, this kind of thing...

"I don't know them; I just wanted to help Titus." Cloudy said, placing her hand on Titus's forearm. "Titus is the best. If you're free today, can you help?"

"Yes!" Titus beamed. "I can come over later today and find the others."

...So simple. Cloudy couldn't help but think, but lately, she was starting to feel caught up in Titus's strange obsession, which was a form of possessiveness. However, now wasn't the time to sort out emotional issues; she had to focus on the hearth and the breeding room!

However, the feasibility of what Cloudy and the Matriarch had built was still unknown because the breeding room was only in its initial stages with the help of the locals and hadn't been operational yet. "Do you want to go and see it? We can eat first and then take you there."

In recent days, Cloudy had been eating the fruit salad she had concocted herself in the mornings, which Titus clearly didn't enjoy. He nibbled on some dried fish from the shelf at home before hastily ushering Cloudy out.

The breeding room was constructed to the northwest, adjacent to the storage room and water tank, which had previously stored some broken settlement items. Due to Cloudy's requisition of the land, everything had been cleared out. When Cloudy and Titus arrived at the breeding room, there were two other mothers there.

Wowben was there too, looking very happy to see Cloudy. "Cloudy! Are we continuing this today?"

"Yes, Titus is here to help too." Cloudy glanced at Titus and noticed he didn't seem to have any resistance towards Wowben, which made her curious.
Titus pulled Titus over and whispered, "Hey, do you dislike me?"

"I don't dislike you. Heyben is not useful. He can't compare to me. And Cloudy is not powerful either."

"Wow, you're really straightforward."

Heyben ran to Cloudy's side and showed him the "brick" in his hand. "Cloudy taught us to make this, and it has been successful many times! This morning, I and others checked, and we burned about ten hard pieces."

"What is this?" Titus naturally reached out and took the brick that Heyben was about to hand to Cloudy, inspecting it closely. "A stone?"

"It's made of mud, not stone," Cloudy explained. She had recently taught Matriarch how to make various shapes of pottery using fire and clay, including bricks. The first time they built the hearth, the gaps between the stones were too large, so she thought of trying to burn bricks to control their shape better.

Surprisingly, she succeeded in making a few! Currently, the output of bricks is about 20, with around 5 successful ones. Interestingly, after Cloudy taught Matriarch this technique, she gained two more red dots on her chest. Her status among the tribe's mothers suddenly rose.

"We will use this to build houses for newborns." Cloudy took the brick and led Heyben and Titus to the model of the nursery. From the outside, it didn't quite look like a house, with a four-square footprint and a height of about 1.7 meters, only accessible by Cloudy.

For now, the building material is stone. Once it's confirmed that the house can provide warmth, Cloudy will start using bricks to make the official nursery.

"But this is so small, I can't get in." Titus stood in front of the model, wanting to go inside but was stopped by Cloudy. "Don't go in! You'll damage the house. We're just experimenting now!"

"Really?" Titus couldn't see anything special about the house; to him, it was no different from the other houses in the settlement.

Cloudy nodded at Heyben, and the young mother immediately understood. She gestured for Titus to stand where she was, then removed a stone from the wall of the house. "This wall is two sides together, with space in the middle."

"...Space, then what?"

Cloudy picked up a wooden stick from the ground and inserted it into the wall hole. "The wall is hollow. The empty space inside is used for the fire, so all four walls of the house will be warm, and the floor of the house will also be treated."

Titus quickly understood what was happening and looked at Cloudy with admiration. "Cloudy, you're amazing..."

"Cloudy is especially skilled."
"The untimely excitement from Wow standing beside interrupted Titus, 'We had a fire yesterday, and it was very warm inside!' Titus began to grimace, and Cloudy quickly laughed and held Titus's hand, 'But after lighting the fire, the room will be filled with smoke and need ventilation.' Didn't we just say Wow was useless? How come getting one word in made you unhappy!"