Chapter 93

After some effort, the backyard finally returned to normal. However, Cloudy made some modifications. The plants Titus dug up were not entirely useless; she kept some bushes that bore sweet fruits and two small fruit trees, while the rest were piled up in a corner.

The bushes and fruit trees were planted in the farthest part of the backyard, away from her experimental fields. She managed to retrieve a small number of seeds, around 5 or so. Since they seemed salvageable, she replanted them.

The backyard's layout was gradually taking shape. A few days later, some of the bushes Titus brought back died, but miraculously, the rest survived and even sprouted new leaves. Perhaps Titus' approach was correct; starting from scratch might not be as effective as selecting ripe fruits from the wild to plant, which could shorten the cultivation time. However, starting from scratch was also necessary. She had plenty of time to research, so why not?

The news about the trap they set outside the settlement finally brought some good news. After many empty traps, they finally caught a male gray rat, but unfortunately, it died of stress the next day. Following Cloudy's advice to avoid touching the rats as much as possible, Titus still couldn't prevent its death. They ended up tearfully roasting it with spices and eating it.

The house was getting more cluttered with various chores and useless materials scattered around, almost tripping over some failed projects every few steps. This was all due to Cloudy's constant attempts to create useful tools. She had fallen into a strange and deadly cycle of "not having the right tools to make the right tools."

Normally, she would start to feel secretly anxious, but apart from tool-making and animal trapping, everything else in her life was going smoothly. The mothers had fully learned how to build warm shelters, so she didn't need to check on them every day. Most of the backyard plants were thriving.

Most importantly, the crushed and dried spices she made were very useful! Individually, they might not be exceptional, but when mixed together and spread on meat, the aroma attracted several locals. The taste of the spices was unique, somewhat like lemongrass but less intense, with a hint of sweetness and spiciness.

In modern times, this might be considered a poorly flavored dish, but here, in an era with only savages and giant insects, it was considered a top delicacy.

"Hmm..." Cloudy sat in the backyard, processing the freshly picked fruits. She crushed them in a mud bowl with her hands, then mixed them with fresh-tasting leaves. It resulted in a peculiar juice, sour and astringent, causing a tingling and swelling sensation on the tongue if consumed in excess. She didn't like it, but it was an accidental discovery. A few days ago, she was experimenting with a new fruit breakfast, and this combination turned out to be the worst of all, yet Titus's eyes widened after tasting it.

He kept exclaiming how delicious it was.
Furthermore, because it was a completely accidental mix, she also took some time to recall exactly what fruits she had added to the bowl.

"Titus!" After mixing it all up, Cloudy sat in place and called out loudly to Titus, who was still sleeping inside the house. "Titus! It's ready to eat!"

Coincidentally, as she shouted loudly, there were also shouts coming from the settlement. It sounded like joyful cheers, and the voices grew louder. Holding the earthen bowl, she stood up and walked towards the front door, craning her neck to look towards the street a bit closer to the center.

In the moment of craning her neck to look, Cloudy felt as if she had returned to the farm. During the Lunar New Year, when there was some commotion at someone else's house, the aunts and uncles sitting at the front door shelling peas would also look in the distance in the same way... This sense of familiarity with rural life has been growing stronger recently, maybe because she started farming and making tools, or perhaps because since she rescued Titus from the depths of the rainforest, she no longer thought about leaving the settlement, nor was she in a rush to do things for the settlement.

While looking out the door, Titus yawned and walked out from the house. "It's so noisy outside. What's going on?"

"I don't know." She handed the bowl to Titus. The wild man first groggily sniffed the contents of the bowl, then happily nudged Cloudy after smelling his favorite fruits mixed in. "This, it's delicious! Cloudy gave it to me?"

Cloudy smirked, her eyes still fixed on the settlement. "What's happening? What are they shouting about? I can't understand."

"Did you hear it? The noise over there is loud." She pointed in a direction very close to the settlement gate. "I can only hear them saying something... Come back? Can you hear clearly?"

Cloudy looked around and kept asking Titus for a while. After asking about three times without getting an answer, she remembered to tilt her head and see what Titus was doing, only to see him huffing and puffing while eating from the bowl.

"..." Can't you wait a moment before eating, Cloudy stared at Titus. She waited for him to finish eating and put down the bowl before continuing to ask, "Can you hear what they're saying?"

"I can." Titus bent down and placed the bowl by his feet. Just as Cloudy was about to ask why he had put it on the ground, in the next moment, Titus had already scooped her up horizontally.

"What's going on!?" She wasn't ready and was already placed on his shoulders, with the wind blowing in her face. Titus carried her in a flash to the settlement gate, where many excited locals had already gathered, the gate wide open, everyone raising their hands and running outside.

Titus led her through a zigzag path, avoiding others, and rushed out of the gate with ease. The bumps made her vision a bit blurry, but shortly after, Cloudy understood what was happening... A hundred meters away, she could see several figures slowly approaching the settlement, dragging or carrying many hunted animals.

The hunting team had returned, and they had a bountiful harvest!
After seeing those prey, Titus and others who rushed towards the hunters let out sharp cheers. Cloudy couldn't help but join in the excitement. The hunters brought back a huge prey, resembling some kind of adult herbivorous dinosaur. In addition, there were many medium-sized prey, all tied up with vines and dragged towards the settlement.

As they got closer to the group, everyone started helping to transport the prey. After setting her down, Titus went to help with the transportation of the largest prey. Cloudy, very conscientiously, followed the mothers who came after, helping to carry some smaller animals or gather items.

Everyone was very happy, even though the smell of the mixed prey bodies made Cloudy's eyes water. They couldn't help but join in the commotion. Especially when the two children who were participating in an external hunt for the first time returned safely. The two young children rode on top of the pile of prey, waving towards the direction of the settlement.

More and more people poured out of the settlement. Initially, everyone was there to help transport the prey, but gradually the roads became impassable due to the crowd, so most people simply stopped to chat. The hunters stood on top of the prey, loudly telling others how they "subdued" this huge beast.

"Titus! You're not dead! Come with us!" shouted the hunter at the front. "We've found an even bigger wild beast, and only you can kill it!"

Cloudy glanced at Titus and noticed he was looking at her too. It was obvious... he had a very proud expression, with his ears perked high and his eyes half closed. Without saying a word, Cloudy knew what that expression meant—

"I'm the best hunter, and I'm going to bring back a super big prey for you!"