Chapter 78

"Let me out, Wahben? Wahben, are you outside!" Cloudy stuck to the stone door like a gecko, shouting loudly, "Let me out! I won't run away, trust me!"

After shouting, she pressed her ear against the stone door to listen to the sounds outside... There were whispers, but she couldn't make out the exact words: "Let me out, I'm not a mother of the settlement! Why are you keeping me locked up?" Cloudy switched to a pleading tone, if she wasn't genuinely angry right now and unable to fake tears, she could have been even more pitiful.

Unfortunately, whether she yelled or pleaded, it had little effect on the guards outside the door, which remained unmoved.

What to do? Should she really sit here and wait for them to bring back news about Titus? Cloudy sat down where she was, crossed her legs, and began to contemplate. The Matriarch's words were mostly correct; rushing out to save Titus would undoubtedly be suicidal...

She now somewhat understood the role of a burden in a bad movie, even though she had no strengths of her own, she still worried and felt the need to accompany the protagonist into danger... Wasn't that what she was now? As long as her eyes didn't see Titus, her legs would instinctively walk towards the settlement.

Feeling anxious, longing to find Titus, if she were still living in the cave, she would have already armed herself and rushed out. She wasn't a very rational person by nature. As Cloudy thought about it, she grew angry again, climbing to the door to start a new round of yelling.

At this point, her voice was completely hoarse, sounding like she had aged decades, the drastic change in her voice even made the guards outside a bit scared. Finally, a voice came from outside the stone door, "Cloudy, please stop, wait for them." It was Wahben's voice, sounding very anxious.

"Wahben, let me out, I won't run away."

"The Matriarch ordered us to keep you locked up... We can't let you out."

The Matriarch's command was absolute. After much thought, Cloudy decided not to make things difficult for Wahben and the others. If they really let her out, she didn't know what kind of punishment the mothers would face. But how could she escape from the stone house built by the locals?

Taking advantage of the light coming in through the cracks in the stone house at this moment, Cloudy began to wander inside. The room was relatively small compared to others, about 30 square meters, originally used to store hay and firewood. However, due to the rapid consumption of resources in recent days, the items inside had been almost emptied, leaving only a few seemingly moldy damp wooden sticks and a few dried plants she couldn't name.

Hitting the walls with stones would surely be heard by someone. Digging the ground... Cloudy looked at the stones covering the ground and felt that digging wasn't a good idea. She spent about thirty minutes carefully inspecting every nook and cranny in the stone house, as if playing an escape room game.

The ground
There was no breakthrough with the walls, so Cloudy could only shift her gaze to the ceiling. The roof, built to accommodate the height of the locals, was constructed very high, about 5 meters off the ground. The ceiling was made of wood and animal skins... The escape route was slowly forming in Cloudy's mind.

She needed to confirm if the stone house was completely guarded. It was easy to check as there were many cracks in the stone walls on all sides. The guarding arrangement consisted of two guards at the front and one at the back. Not too tightly guarded, fortunately.

The escape plan was simple: climb up, lift the roof, jump down, and quietly flee. Cloudy peeked through the cracks at the outside light. It was nearing sunset; she would act when it got darker.

"They're back, aren't they?" Matriarch and a few guards stood at the entrance of the settlement. It was dark, with no activity in the distant rainforest. Today was undoubtedly a disastrous day for the settlement, but it was within the expectations of Matriarch and the other hunters.

The previous rainy season had lower temperatures than usual, causing significant losses not only to their settlement but to others as well. The recovery of prey in the surrounding area was slow after the rainy season, and food reserves were critically low. When they heard about animal groups around the settlement, they anticipated possible conflicts, but the capture of Titus was unexpected.

Titus often clashed with hunters from other settlements, always ending in Titus's victory. This time, it was too sudden...

"There might not be any results today. Should we send others to continue tracking?" The guard next to Matriarch was discussing, "The external hunt is about to begin. What should we do?"

Matriarch gazed at the dense rainforest in the distance, where there was no distinction between day and night for the locals. Every leaf and branch in the rainforest was clear to Matriarch's eyes, yet she could only see trees and grass, with no sign of Titus and the others appearing as expected. "We won't send others. Prepare to continue the external hunt."

Matriarch slowly turned her massive body and walked back into the settlement. "Close the gate, leave someone on guard. Notify us immediately if they return."

Tonight, besides the hunters, everyone else in the settlement would gather to sleep in the nearby houses. The hunters and guards would remain vigilant outside throughout the night, a precaution after an attack, lasting for three sunsets to ensure there were no lurking threats before returning to their usual routine.

Before returning to the main house, she had to personally bring out Cloudy. The temporary confinement room for Cloudy was near the main house.

Regarding Cloudy, she hadn't expected the small creature Titus brought back from outside to be so dependent on him and so useful to the settlement... It puzzled her. She still remembered the first time she saw Cloudy...
When Dy was brought back by several hunters from outside, she was a mess, dirty and thrown on the ground, wearing strange clothing, with her terrifying eyes wide open and trembling all over.

The people in the settlement had never seen anything like her before. Without discussion, they immediately decided to throw this monster out to fend for herself. Little did they know that in the end... this little creature would become so close to Titus, even saving him during the rainy season.

Matriarch was deeply worried. Titus and Cloudy were undoubtedly very important figures in the settlement, and now both of them were facing issues. She had no good solution and could only hope that the three people looking for Titus would bring good news.

"Matriarch!" Wahben, who was guarding the stone house, could already see them approaching from afar. She waved and greeted them, "Can we let Cloudy out now? She's very unhappy inside!"

"Let her out, take her to the longhouse," Matriarch said, as she stood with her hands behind her back, ready to catch Cloudy in case she tried to escape from inside.

The stone door slowly opened, but... there was nothing inside. Matriarch stood in silence at the entrance, while the gatekeeper stood dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond to the situation.

Matriarch walked in and looked up at a small hole in the ceiling, sighing heavily, "Can't you even keep an eye on Cloudy?"

"Should... should we send people to track her down? I'll go find her right away!" Wahben started to panic, scratching his head. "No, wait, but Cloudy was talking in there not long ago! She couldn't have gone far, we can still find her."

"No," Matriarch shook her head. "She's clever. In her eyes, Titus is more important than anything else. Even if we lock her up today, she'll find a way to escape."

Moreover, they couldn't afford to send more people out searching. Tonight, all the hunters had to be highly vigilant to protect the mothers and newborns.

And so, as night fell, she began to act. For her, slipping out through the ceiling was effortless, considering she had been jumping around in the 20-meter-high trees.

With everyone gathered together to sleep tonight, there was no one in other parts of the settlement. The hunters were all at the main gate, so she just needed to climb over the west wall.

Cloudy made her way outside the settlement without any obstacles and crouched under the wall, briefly recalling the argument among the hunters in the longhouse.

At that time, she was too despondent to pay attention, so now it was a bit difficult to recall... Did they say that Titus was captured in the southwest corner? Was it the southwest corner relative to the main gate, or to where the fight took place?

As she pondered, her hands were not idle. There were many stones fixed under the wall, and she began to search for a suitable one.
Stones for defense, Cloudy unexpectedly found some broken bones besides the stones, presumably mixed in while transporting the stones, and she pocketed them all.

After finishing her collection, Cloudy decided to use the southwest of the Fighting Center as a reference point. She remembered the first hunter who informed her that Titus had been taken away, roughly pointing in a direction as he spoke.

No problem, Cloudy stood up and looked at the dark rainforest not far away. Tonight, she would first find a place to stay in the rainforest and head out when daylight broke.

Thinking optimistically, what if Titus was brought back by someone in the early morning? Cloudy wasn't going to give up on positive thinking. She was going to enter the rainforest alone at night; too much negativity would only affect her speed and decision-making.

As long as she believed Titus would be fine, that would be enough. Since the enemies chose to kidnap Titus, it meant they needed a heavy bargaining chip in their hands to trade for something.

Most likely food resources. If she could just trade food to get Titus back, she had better things to offer.

Without hesitation, Cloudy strode towards the rainforest, feeling a bit regretful on the way for not going home first to pack some things, like charcoal. If she could make a torch now, she could travel at night...

She had advanced about a kilometer in the rainforest in the dark. Because it was too dark, Cloudy didn't dare to run forward; running straight ahead in the dark would be impossible. She crouched down and felt her way forward, so this kilometer took a lot of time.

Feeling a bit afraid that continuing to feel her way forward would make her lose her direction, Cloudy stopped to observe her surroundings. She decided to stay here temporarily tonight, using the scattered branches and leaves around to make a makeshift tent.