Chapter 45

Lu Yu dared not look up at the handsome face above, his eyes dodging and nibbling, “I’m just hypothetically speaking, if, if two people were together…”

Tai Lie said, “If you didn’t like me, there wouldn’t even be this ‘if’.”

Lu Yu felt his face burning as if it could steam eggs. Since this person already knew, why did he insist on making him say it out loud? How did he not realize earlier that Tai Lie wasn’t completely serious and straightforward, but rather a bit… what’s the word, scheming?

He took a deep breath.

Fine, if he wanted to hear it, then he would say it. It’s better to clear things up to solve the problem.

Lu Yu suddenly raised his head, “I—”

Boom!

Just as Lu Yu uttered a word, there was suddenly a deafening roar around him, and at the same time, the ground beneath his feet trembled.

Lu Yu was shocked.

What? An earthquake?!

His feet slipped, almost causing him to fall, but fortunately, Tai Lie reached out in time and grabbed his arm to support him.

Tai Lie frowned, watching as Lu Yu steadied himself and looked into the distance.

The earth was still shaking.

Lu Yu panicked, “What’s going on?!”

Could it really be an earthquake?! They had to inform everyone to quickly get to flat ground!

Lu Yu reached out his foot, feeling extremely anxious, “I’ll go—”

The sudden shaking ceased without warning.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

“Uh…” Lu Yu’s foot awkwardly hung in the air.

He quietly withdrew his foot and scratched his head. It must have been a small earthquake. Speaking of which, Tai Lie and the others might be quite scared, after all, they didn’t know the principles of earthquakes. Didn’t ancient people believe that earthquakes were caused by angry gods or dragons stirring?

Tai Lie said calmly, “It seems like the Great Drift is about to happen.”

Lu Yu asked, “Huh?”

Tai Lie explained, “There are always signs before the Great Drift. The earth will shake a bit. Don’t worry, this kind of shaking is brief and will pass quickly without any problems.”

Signs before the Great Drift?

Lu Yu was astonished. He had thought it was an earthquake, but he didn’t expect it to be related to the Great Drift. What exactly was this Great Drift, and why would it make the ground shake? Could it be that the land under his feet was really moving rapidly? That’s impossible…

Tai Lie furrowed his brow, “However, the premonition of this Great Drift seems more severe than before.”

Lu Yu asked, “More severe?”

Tai Lie nodded, “Yeah, previously it was just a slight shaking, not to the extent of knocking people over.”

Hearing Tai Lie’s words, Lu Yu’s eyebrows also furrowed. Unusual circumstances usually heralded something sinister.

Tai Lie relaxed his brow slightly, “But right now, that’s not the most important thing.”

Lu Yu’s eyes narrowed, “Is there something else unusual?”

Tai Lie replied, “We didn’t finish our conversation earlier.”

Lu Yu: …

After this interruption, the romantic atmosphere between the two was completely shattered. Lu Yu’s passionate brain cooled down.

Lu Yu paused for a moment, raised his head, and looked seriously at Tai Lie, “Tai Lie, I can’t be with you for the time being.”

Tai Lie’s face darkened, “You—”

Lu Yu pulled his arm out of Tai Lie’s large hand, “Give me some time, okay?”

He had made up his mind. He would observe for a while first. If they couldn’t be together and their feelings gradually faded, then so be it. But if they still couldn’t let go of each other, then they would forget everything else and live happily.

Of course, it would be best to find a solution to the lifespan issue during this time.

Tai Lie stared at him for a long while before finally nodding faintly, saying, “I said I’d listen to you.”

Lu Yu’s eyelashes trembled.

—

Hiding behind a nearby large tree, Shan Pu’s mouth was completely agape after listening to the whole conversation. He stuttered, “C-Chief, Chief and W-Witch, they…”

Le Shui glanced at him indifferently, “Is it like a piece of meat being placed in front of you, and only then do you realize it’s meat?”

Shan Pu was stunned, “Huh?”

Ignoring him, Le Shui continued solemnly, “Now, the important thing is Witch’s lifespan issue. We need to figure out a solution.”

Hearing him say this, Shan Pu closed his mouth, feeling despondent, “I really want Witch to stay with us longer, but… Witch is Witch, and there’s no way to solve the lifespan issue. What can we do?”

Just the thought of Witch leaving them decades later made him feel distressed. Although the time spent with Witch wasn’t particularly long, he already considered Witch as family.

Le Shui reached out to touch the scar on his face, determined, and said in a deep voice, “There is a way. Come here, I’ll tell you.”

Shan Pu stared blankly and leaned his ear closer.

Le Shui leaned in close to his ear and whispered his proposed solution…

Lu Yu returned to his wooden hut.

He pondered for a moment. If he wanted to increase his lifespan, he could only rely on the “game panel” as his cheat system. However, all the functions of his cheat system so far revolved around “gaming.” It seemed somewhat unlikely to use it to extend his lifespan.

But he decided to give it a try anyway.

With this in mind, Lu Yu opened the game panel.

Looking at the empty progress bar on the panel, he sighed.

The difficulty of leveling up seemed to increase exponentially. From activating the training ground function, he and Tai Lie had engaged in some “intimate” activities, and Tai Lie even gave him a massage last night. However, the progress bar remained stagnant like it was dead. He had to press his face against it to see even the slightest movement.

This trial wasn’t as easy as he thought.

—

Days passed by uneventfully.

During these days, they discussed with the valley people and decided to establish a valley tribe, simultaneously becoming a affiliated tribe of Matai tribe.

The so-called affiliated tribe would have a deputy chief to manage tribal affairs, but the chief would be Tai Lie.

What surprised Lu Yu was that when selecting the deputy chief of the tribe, the people from the valley unexpectedly chose him…

Lu Yu quickly waved his hand, “I can’t. The deputy chief should be someone from your side. What I mean is, after all, I’m still…”

Shu Tai walked out, supporting his grandfather with a wooden stick. The old man was the most knowledgeable among the people and usually organized work and resolved conflicts.

Lu Yu recognized him, his eyes lighting up as he walked over to support the other side of his arm, “Elder Shu, you’re very suitable to be the deputy chief.”

Elder Shu shook his head, smiling, “I’m old, just helping out is fine. I can’t handle anything else. Witch, there’s no pressure on this position. We don’t want to restrict you with this position. It’s just that everyone trusts and supports you. If you really don’t want to…”

Hearing him say this, Lu Yu had no more reasons to refuse and had to accept.

During these two days when he had more free time, besides teaching the valley people how to farm, he also paid attention to their skill learning progress.

Those learning pottery could now make bone and stone tools they didn’t know before, and they could also make pottery from clay.

Those learning sewing were still learning how to tan animal skins better and weave grass skirts and clothes from plants.

Those learning construction, besides ordinary grass huts, had begun learning to build elevated wooden houses and treehouses. Lu Yu temporarily had them focus on elevated wooden houses because treehouses weren’t suitable for their current situation and were only suitable for small tribes living in the jungle.

Those learning weapons, besides thorned wooden sticks, bone knives, and stone spears, had also learned to make wooden bows and arrows. Although they were still crude, Lu Yu was still happy. Many people in Matai were learning archery, and they would definitely consume a lot of bows and arrows in the future.

As for defense layout and transportation tools, there hadn’t been any concrete results yet.

Lu Yu took the arrows made by the valley people and returned to the village.

He originally didn’t want to take them for free, as it was the result of their labor, but the people from the valley insisted it was an offering, so Lu Yu thought about it and accepted it.

Consider it as tuition fees, and the two tribes were not so unfamiliar with each other now.

As soon as he entered the village, Lu Yu saw Xia Cao holding a stone pot.

Lu Yu walked over, joyfully saying, “Xia Cao, look at what I brought back!”

Xia Cao heard his voice, and first her body trembled, then she quickly covered the stone pot with papyrus leaves and placed it on the ground, turning to greet Lu Yu, “Witch, you’re back.”

Lu Yu tilted his head to look at the stone pot curiously and asked, “What’s that?”

Xia Cao hesitated for a moment and smiled, “Just some food residue. By the way, Witch, what did you bring back?”

Lu Yu didn’t pay any more attention to the stone pot and showed her the wooden bow and arrows, “These were made by the people from the valley. We’ll have bows and arrows in the future! Since you’re strong, you can ask them to use better wood and improve the bowstrings…”

Lu Yu spoke with relish.

Xia Cao looked at him seriously.

After Lu Yu spoke for a while and didn’t hear a response, he raised his head in confusion, “Xia Cao?”

Xia Cao snapped out of her thoughts and took the wooden bow, smiling, “They’re learning pretty quickly.”

Lu Yu nodded, “Yes.”

“Witch!” A Matai person ran over and stopped in front of the two, “Someone claiming to be from the Blackwater Tribe is looking for you!”

“The Blackwater Tribe?” Lu Yu raised an eyebrow and followed him.

Speaking of the Blackwater Tribe, Lu Yu had previously told Tai Lie that he wanted to send someone to the Beast Plains, but these past two days, the people of Matai had been learning the new projects in the training ground. Lu Yu wanted them to learn better, and they were still lacking some basic materials, so he hadn’t sent anyone yet.

But why did the Blackwater Tribe send someone first?

Lu Yu went to take a look and found that this person seemed to be one of the team members who had gone to the Beast Plains before.

The man smiled awkwardly, “Our chief asked me to bring you a message. First, many people in the Beast Plains still want to eat your roasted meat and ask when you’ll go again. Second, someone in the arena made a bet with obsidian, and they’re asking if you still need it. Third, the Great Drift is coming, and the layers in the Beast Plains will open up. They’re asking if you really won’t join in the fun.”

Lu Yu nodded, “I understand.”

The man didn’t say anything else and left.

Lu Yu pondered for a moment and said to Xia Cao, “I’m going to discuss this with Chief.”

“Okay.”

Lu Yu found Tai Lie.

He was chopping wood with the axe that the lion had dropped last time.

The wood, as thick as a washbasin, was easily chopped by his axe as if it were tofu.

Lu Yu’s steps faltered slightly.

These days, his communication with Tai Lie had been minimal, and Tai Lie hadn’t come to talk to him about those things again, but he hadn’t deliberately avoided them either. The two of them seemed to be like a true, pure Chief and witch.

Wasn’t this arrangement not bad?

Lu Yu tried his best to ignore the bitterness in his heart and deceive himself with comfort.

He put on a standard smile and walked over.

Tai Lie heard the footsteps, stopped chopping wood, turned around, and looked at Lu Yu who was approaching, “Is there something?”

Lu Yu took a step forward, “I…”

Suddenly, the earth shook!

Lu Yu’s feet slipped, and he lunged forward.

Tai Lie still held the iron axe in his hand and could only stretch out one hand to support him, but he only managed to grab his shoulder and didn’t hold him steady.

Lu Yu fell in front of Tai Lie, grabbing his animal skin skirt with one hand and propping himself up with the other hand on the ground, his nose right in front of Tai Lie’s “shocking” area…

Lu Yu looked utterly bewildered.

What made him even more bewildered was the voice of a certain big mouth that came from behind him.

“Chief, Witch, what are you two doing?!” Shan Pu shouted in surprise.