Chapter 44

Lu Yu remembered that when he arrived here, it was early June in modern time. The weather here was similar to the modern weather. If the time was synchronized, it would be August now. Although it wasn’t unbearably hot, it was definitely warmer than when he first arrived.

But now, Lu Yu felt a cool breeze surrounding him, gradually cooling down his previously warm heart.

The issue of lifespan, he really had to consider it.

“Witch, why are you standing here?!” The two people who were chatting just now noticed Lu Yu standing nearby, one of them asked in confusion.

Lu Yu was snapped back to reality by their shout. He took a breath and forced a smile, “I just came back from the valley.”

The two rushed to Lu Yu’s side, one of them raised his hand, as if to show off, “I know, I know! Witch, you went to teach them how to plant… plant rice, right?”

Lu Yu replied, “Yeah.”

The person continued, “I heard that this kind of rice can produce a lot of food, which can be stored. We won’t have to worry about winter.”

His companion exclaimed, “Wow, that’s great! Shouldn’t we also plant some?”

“But that’s not meat…”

“Um, well, I still prefer eating meat… It would be great if we could grow meat too.”

Lu Yu listened to their conversation, suppressing the thoughts that troubled him. He couldn’t help but laugh, “Meat can’t be grown, but…”

Lu Yu paused for a moment.

Actually, meat couldn’t be grown, but it could be raised. Although most of the wild animals here were fierce and unsuitable for breeding, there were some relatively docile herbivores, such as wood antelopes, blue deer… and even smaller ones like wild rabbits.

If instead of catching and eating these animals, they were raised, the meat supply would greatly increase.

However, Lu Yu also knew that raising animals required knowledge, especially when it came to raising wild animals. He had learned about farming, but not about animal husbandry. Nevertheless, even without formal training, he could give it a try.

If successful, mastering the skill of animal husbandry could not only provide meat from herbivores but also possibly consider raising medium-sized wild animals. This would not only provide meat but also a steady supply of treasure chests…

“Witch, what’s wrong?” The two people noticed Lu Yu suddenly zoning out and couldn’t help but ask.

Lu Yu lifted his head, “I’m thinking, maybe we can raise some rabbits in the future.”

The two were puzzled, “Raise rabbits?”

Lu Yu smiled and didn’t elaborate further on that, “I’ll go prepare food for everyone first.”

Upon hearing about food, the two perked up, “Oh right, Witch, I’ll find some fruits for you…”

—

Tonight, in addition to grilling meat, Lu Yu also made a dessert using honey and apples, caramelized apples.

Actually, caramelized apples should be made with white sugar, but Lu Yu hadn’t found materials to make sugar yet, so he had to use honey as a substitute. There was a reason for this honey.

One night, during a campfire chat, Lu Yu mentioned honey by chance. Unexpectedly, the next day, Tai Lie, who went hunting, brought it back for him. He remembered Tai Lie’s expression when he gave him the honey, as if he had picked it up from the ground while walking. But in reality, Tai Lie had several bruises on his back from collecting honey, and to save resources, he didn’t even eat healing pill…

Just because of his words.

Lu Yu tightened his grip on the wooden shovel.

As a result of this tight grip, he lowered his head, looking at the tool in his hand, and thought that even this shovel was made by Tai Lie according to his description. Although it was rough…

Lu Yu sat aside, eating the caramelized apples dryly. The apples, which should have been sweet, didn’t taste like much to him.

Xia Cao keenly noticed his condition, holding her own food, she sat beside him, and carefully asked, “Witch, what’s wrong? Your complexion doesn’t look good…”

Lu Yu swallowed the apple, “Xia Cao, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Witch, you can ask me anything.”

Lu Yu, holding two small wooden sticks he used as chopsticks, tapped the apple repeatedly, “Can members of the Matai tribe intermarry with other tribes?”

Without hesitation, Xia Cao affirmed, “Yes, we can.”

Lu Yu had already guessed that it should be possible, otherwise Xia Cao wouldn’t have arranged for him and Tai Lie. But what he wanted to ask wasn’t about that.

He put down the apple he had been poking with his makeshift chopsticks, “With your long lifespan, wouldn’t marrying someone from another tribe mean watching your partner…”

Xia Cao was briefly stunned, then fell silent for a moment, her voice lowering, “That’s why we don’t usually marry outside our tribe.”

She remembered something.

It was a long time ago when she was still a little girl. She had seen a sister from her tribe marry a slave who had sought refuge in Matai. They were so deeply in love, and every day, she could hear the sister’s cheerful singing. But the man quickly aged, his waist bent, and his hair started turning white.

The sister was still so young, she didn’t mind the man’s aging, but the man couldn’t bear it himself. He wanted to leave. The sister tried to keep him with tears, but what good was keeping him when people age and die?

Faced with death, no matter how many tears the sister shed, she couldn’t keep him.

Xia Cao said, “Although the Matai don’t have rules against marrying outside the tribe, we have a rule against intentional suicide. Every Matai person must strive to live.”

But it was this rule that made that sister shed all her tears and still couldn’t follow the man. Later, on that night ten years ago, she rushed to the front, killed many enemies, and finally “killed” herself…

Thinking about it, Xia Cao already understood what Lu Yu meant. She knew what kind of person Chief was. If Chief and Witch were together, and Witch left…

Chief would go mad.

He would go mad for thousands of years.

Xia Cao’s voice choked, “Witch, I’m sorry, I didn’t clarify this with you beforehand…”

Perhaps Witch’s extraordinary performance had made her forget that his body was still like that of an ordinary person.

Lu Yu shook his head, “It’s not your fault. Emotions don’t stop just because there’s a warning.”

Lu Yu stuffed the last piece of apple into his mouth, stood up, brushed the dust off his animal-hide skirt, and said, “Okay, I’ll go tidy up the cooking area.”

Xia Cao looked at him worriedly, “Witch…”

Lu Yu smiled at her, “It’s okay.” With that, he left.

Xia Cao watched his back and bit her lower lip.

She couldn’t let Witch die so soon, she couldn’t let Witch repeat that sister’s tragedy. She must find a way to increase Witch’s lifespan!

Lu Yu carefully washed the used stone pots, stone bowls, and wooden spatulas with clean water.

“I heard you were looking for me?” Tai Lie’s voice came from behind.

Lu Yu stiffened for a moment, didn’t turn around, and continued cleaning. “No, not really.”

Tai Lie frowned, “Cheng Ping said you were waiting for me at noon—”

Lu Yu interrupted him, “Oh, that, it’s like this, I want to discuss something with you.”

Lu Yu wiped his hands with a leaf, turned around, and said, “I need more new materials to upgrade the village. I was thinking, should we send someone to the Beast Plains to ask that old man?”

Tai Lie stared at his expression, “Is that what you wanted to say?”

Lu Yu nodded, his expression unchanged, “Yes, just this. To be on the safe side, it’s better to let Mao Pu go ask. Just asking for the source is enough, don’t go to the arena…”

Tai Lie lowered his gaze slightly and nodded slightly, “Okay, I understand. I’ll arrange it.”

“Yeah, one more thing,” Lu Yu suddenly remembered, “Today, I went to the valley, and the people there expressed their desire to join us or establish a tribe affiliated with us. What do you think?”

There’s quite a difference between the two, one is to fully become one of them, the other is an affiliated relationship.

Tai Lie replied, “They can’t join, but they can become an affiliated tribe.”

Lu Yu understood his concern, “Got it.”

He put away the cleaned utensils. “Chief, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave now.”

“Wait.” Tai Lie called out to him.

Lu Yu pursed his lips. “Chief, is there something else?”

Tai Lie said, “Why didn’t you call my name?”

After calling his name once before, Lu Yu rarely addressed Tai Lie as “Chief” anymore, but today he did.

Lu Yu raised his head and smiled. “Since Xia Cao and the others call you Chief, I naturally want to do the same.”

Tai Lie frowned. “Lu Yu…”

Lu Yu didn’t say anything else. He turned to leave, took a couple of steps, then stopped abruptly. He gritted his teeth, put down the utensils in his hand with a bang, and turned back around.

“Forget it, I don’t want to keep everything to myself, making both of us feel awkward. Let’s just clear things up.”

Lu Yu raised his head, his eyes intense, and said loudly, “I want to ask you, do you really like me?”

Shan Pu, who was about to walk over, widened his eyes suddenly. He was about to shout, but was covered by Le Shui beside him and dragged behind a tree.

Tai Lie didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Lu Yu continued, “Do you know that I only have an ordinary person’s body, and I can only live for a few more decades?”

Tai Lie’s eyes darkened. “I know.”

Lu Yu was a little angry. “Have you ever thought about what you would do if we were together, and I grew old and died?”

Tai Lie stared at him intensely. “Do you want to be with me?”

Lu Yu was stunned. “Uh…?”

Tai Lie approached him, asking each word distinctly, “Do you… have feelings for me?”

Huh?!!!

Lu Yu turned his head away, his ears turning red. He scratched his face. “Uh, um…”

Tai Lie wasn’t going to let him off. “Speak.”

“What do you want me to say?” Lu Yu was a little annoyed and embarrassed.

This guy! He was just talking about getting old and dying, why did he have to make things awkward!

He… he wasn’t ready to confess yet! The location, time, and setting weren’t right at all!

Tai Lie pursed his lips and suddenly reached out his right hand, grabbing his arm, and threw him against a big tree, pressing him down.

He didn’t use much force, afraid of hurting Lu Yu, so he even used his hand to support the back of his head.

Lu Yu blinked, finding himself leaning against the tree.

He looked utterly confused.

What’s going on, tree, tree thud?

Lu Yu couldn’t help but ridicule in his heart, isn’t this too melodramatic and cheesy… But the next moment, all his ridicule vanished.

A body full of male hormones and perfect proportions pressed against him, its owner looking handsome and manly, staring at him with deep affectionate eyes, and asked with a magnetic voice full of thousands of volts, “Tell me, do you like me?”

Lu Yu swallowed hard, his heart racing at two hundred beats per minute.

Who could resist this…