Chapter 49

 

Lu Yu had a smile on his face, but his words seemed to be squeezed out of his throat, “Chief, do you know there’s a kind of beast called a peacock?”

Tai Lie didn’t know why they had just been talking about bathing, but suddenly it jumped to this topic. However, he felt that since Lu Yu brought it up, there must be a reason. He frowned and asked, “I don’t know. What’s special about this beast?”

Lu Yu still smiled gently, “This kind of beast, during mating, particularly likes to spread its long tail feathers behind.”

Just like you, now, aren’t you just like a male peacock, you bastard!

Tai Lie relaxed his brows slightly and uttered a faint “I see.”

What did he understands?

Tai Lie said, “If you like, I can bring one back for you.”

Lu Yu: …

“I don’t like it, there’s no need for you to specifically go find one,” Tai Lie replied.

Tai Lie said, “Okay, then about bathing…”

“Wait!” Lu Yu interrupted him, blushing, “We don’t have that kind of relationship yet. Do you think it’s appropriate for us to bathe together?”

“It’s inappropriate?” Tai Lie’s expression was ambiguous, “Lu Yu, then why did you ask me to bathe with you before?”

Of course, it was for intimacy! Well, besides that, at that time he thought Tai Lie was okay and wanted to cultivate some brotherly feelings…

Who knew how they ended up bending each other while trying to foster that!

Lu Yu pursed his lips, “That was then, this is now.”

But, speaking of which, bathing together now should also increase mutual affection…

No, no.

Lu Yu hurriedly stopped his dangerous thoughts, exhaled a warm breath, and spoke very quickly, “We don’t need to talk about this, I’m leaving first.”

After saying that, he jogged away.

—

The tribe had been peaceful for two days.

Lu Yu arranged for two of the Matai people who had gone with them to the Beast Plains last time to go there again.

There were mainly two purposes: one was to ask Mao Pu about those special materials, and the other was to investigate the specific details of the Great Drift. Such as the exact time of the Great Drift, who would come, and how to trade if there were any needs, and so on.

The old man had also mentioned before that the first sign of the Great Drift would probably appear more than thirty days before the Great Drift. So Lu Yu wasn’t in a hurry.

What mattered now was the development of the tribe.

These two days, Lu Yu had already received a lot of learning outcomes from the Valley People. There were decent pottery, lightweight and sturdy grass-woven clothes, cleaner and odorless animal skin skirts, ordinary weapons, and wooden bows specifically made for the strong Matai people.

After all, because the weather was getting hotter, animal skin skirts that were made of leather and some couldn’t bear to wear them. So, including the Matai people, everyone switched to grass-woven clothes.

When making grass-woven clothes, Lu Yu went over to “guide” them. The Valley People originally planned to make grass skirts, but Lu Yu changed them into vests and shorts.

Lu Yu said solemnly, “This is for the sake of the girls.” Of course, some men who strut around like peacocks all day also need to cover up a bit.

Shan Pu tugged at the vest on his body. Although the woven grass was soft and cool, he was still a bit uncomfortable. “Witch, can I not wear this?”

Lu Yu sternly replied, like a strict parent making a child wear warmer clothes, “No, everyone has to wear it. This grass can cover up odors and protect against mosquitoes and insects. Wearing it is for your own good.”

Shan Pu felt aggrieved. “Alright.”

Xia Cao walked up to Lu Yu. “Witch, I want to go hunting with Shan Pu today!”

Lu Yu was taken aback. Xia Cao held a new wooden bow, her eyes shining with the common fighting spirit of the Matai tribe.

Lu Yu smiled and said, “No problem! We’ve done enough work in the village.”

In fact, the Matai women here used to be warriors too. Although now, for the development of the tribe, they stayed in the village to do some collecting, guarding, and organizing work, they also wanted to go out hunting to bring back meat for the tribe.

After some thought, Lu Yu went to discuss with Tai Lie. Actually, they could incorporate some Matai women into the hunting team and rotate them.

After the upgrade of the tribe, the defense of the two-meter-high stone wall was still quite solid, and there were watchtowers to observe the surroundings at any time, so there was no need for so many people to guard the village.

Going out hunting not only brought back more prey but also allowed them to practice what they had learned in the Dream Training Grounds, killing two birds with one stone.

Tai Lie decisively agreed.

When this news was told to the Matai women, everyone was very happy.

Lu Yu watched them cheer and raise their wooden bows, suddenly remembering something.

He called Xia Cao over. “Xia Cao, besides the animals on the ground, perhaps you can also look at the ones in the sky.”

Xia Cao was puzzled. “In the sky?”

Lu Yu nodded. “Yes, the animals in the sky, like the Tiger-Head Eagles. They’re perfect for you to use your bow and arrows.”

He had guessed before when the Wolf King have the blueprint for [Red Medicine] because he once saw the blueprint of [C-grade Armor-Piercing Arrows] from the leader of the Tiger-Head Eagles.

They were still using ordinary stone arrows made by the Valley People. After all, they were arrowheads made of stone, and some thick-skinned beasts couldn’t be penetrated. If they had armor-piercing arrows, it would be completely different, and the combat effectiveness of the archery team would definitely be greatly enhanced.

Xia Cao solemnly replied, “Alright.”

—

In addition to clothing, utensils, and weapons, what pleased and surprised Lu Yu was that there was significant progress in learning about city defense construction.

The Valley People who learned about city defense had manufactured wooden fences, but these wooden fences were not only stronger and sturdier, but also had many sharp wooden spikes on top, adding an extra layer of attack power. If small or medium-sized beasts tried to barge through, they would probably get stabbed all over before knocking down the fence.

Not only wooden fences, but they also started to learn how to build stone walls.

As for learning about transportation tools, there hadn’t been much progress yet.

Lu Yu had also visited this project. What was currently being taught was how to make dragging carts. The most difficult part for the Valley People to learn was mainly the manufacture of wheels.

After all, the Dream Training Grounds were dreams. They learned well in the dreams, but their memories would become vague when they woke up, so learning something that required attention to detail naturally became more difficult.

Lu Yu was not in a hurry and comforted them to take it slowly.

On this clear morning, the Matai hunting team finished breakfast and prepared to go hunting.

Lu Yu thought for a moment and said to the hunting team, “Today, I’ll go out with you guys.”

The crowd was suddenly startled. They hadn’t forgotten the last time Witch went hunting with them and was carried away by a lion. Although Witch eventually returned, the fear and panic among them made them reluctant to experience it again.

They all tried to persuade him.

“Witch, we have enough people for hunting!”

“Yes, yes, you should stay in the village. It’s too dangerous outside.”

“We’ll bring back plenty of meat. You don’t need to worry about the meat!”

Seeing their worried expressions, Lu Yu smiled reassuringly. Actually, he didn’t want to go out either, but the power potion dropped by the one-horned deer earlier gave him some ideas. He thought maybe some beasts might drop life pills or something similar.

And now his navigation function could be used. He checked it last night and found that besides weapons and armor, there was another [Other] navigation target that he had never used before. Presumably, this “Other” referred to things like storage rings or small red pills.

But the probability of finding beasts while hunting was too low, and it would affect their efficiency if they went out specifically to find unfamiliar beasts just to listen to him.

Lu Yu assured them, “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful this time. I can lead you to find the beasts.”

Considering the one-horned deer, perhaps the target beasts weren’t so ferocious? Well, the storage ring dropped from a particularly powerful mammoth, so he never know.

But then again, last time being carried away by the lion wasn’t his fault. There were special circumstances, and that lion must have had some way to find him. Not every beast was like that lion.

Although Lu Yu spoke confidently, the Matai people were still reluctant. However, they were accustomed to following Lu Yu’s opinions, and when he became firm, although they were anxious, they couldn’t come up with any words to stop him and could only look to their Chief for help.

Tai Lie asked in a deep voice, “Do you really have to go?”

Lu Yu nodded calmly. “Yes, maybe one of you can come with me.”

He had already figured it out. Even if it came to a critical moment, he could take a bite of lion meat, teleport away first, and then light a signal fire to inform Tai Lie and the others.

If only the navigation system had a map function or a fixed-point navigation function. Lu Yu thought to himself.

Actually, maybe the navigation system would have these functions after another upgrade, but upgrading required raising Cha Zhe’s favorability. However, now that he knew that “kissing” was considered an “intimate behavior” by the system, he was even less inclined to try to increase Cha Zhe’s favorability.

Forget it, let’s put that aside for now. The important thing now is the current situation.

Lu Yu lifted his head, looking at Tai Lie, anxiously awaiting his response. Given Tai Lie’s indifferent attitude towards him… and his dominance, it was highly unlikely that he would agree to let him go…

Tai Lie calmly said, “Follow me, get ready to depart.”

“Oh, okay… Huh?” Lu Yu subconsciously replied, then realized and froze. Tai Lie just agreed like that?

The Matai people around, who had hoped Tai Lie would stop Witch from joining, were now shocked too. Wasn’t the Chief most concerned about Witch’s safety? How come he agreed so readily now?

Just as the crowd was about to say something else, Tai Lie gestured to stop them. “Hunting team, let’s go. The rest of you go back to work. Shan Pu, you’re coming with me today.”

“Yes!” Shan Pu replied loudly.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Tai Lie’s stern voice, Lu Yu snapped out of his daze and quickly checked the items in his ring to ensure he had everything he needed, especially the red pill, grass clothes, and lion meat.

After checking, Lu Yu opened the navigation system on the game panel and selected the [Other] option. The range was relatively far, and the animals around here had already been mapped out by Tai Lie and his team. There was nothing special, and the drop rate of items brought back would likely be very low.

Once selected, the panel responded quickly.

A faint transparent arrow guided Lu Yu in the direction.

During this period, Lu Yu had been training his physical fitness in the dream training ground, and it was quite effective. Although he couldn’t match the Matai people with their exceptional physical attributes, he wouldn’t be too much of a drag. After quickly walking for a few hours, he could still keep up.

As they walked, the group arrived at a riverbank in the jungle.

The riverbanks on both sides were thick with thorny grass, the river wasn’t very wide, and the water wasn’t clear, looking quite muddy. It was impossible to see what was in the water.

Lu Yu was surprised to see that the arrow was pointing directly at this river. Could it be that their prey this time was aquatic animals? Could it be…

Before Lu Yu could voice his guess, the previously calm river suddenly churned.

Lu Yu quickly shifted his gaze and caught a glimpse of a thick, rough, dark brown tail passing by.

Even if he hadn’t seen the whole thing, Lu Yu knew what their target was this time.

Crocodiles.

Lu Yu frowned. This was an extremely ferocious reptile, with its huge jaws capable of easily biting off limbs. And while it might move somewhat slowly on land, it was extremely agile in the water. Lu Yu stopped at the riverbank, staring at the spot where the water had just moved, his expression not looking too good.

Shan Pu stepped forward and asked, “Witch, is the beast we’re trying to catch the one we just saw?”

Lu Yu nodded. “That’s a crocodile. Do you guys know about this kind of beast?”

Shan Pu shrugged. “Yeah, we know, but we’ve never caught one. It doesn’t look very tasty, Witch, have you eaten it? Is it delicious?”

Definitely a foodie attribute.

Perhaps his relaxed demeanor infected Lu Yu, who couldn’t help but smile. “I haven’t eaten it either.” Crocodiles are protected animals in modern times, and he abides by the rules, only using ingredients permitted by the country.

However, this was the primitive society now, talking about protecting animals was just ridiculous.

Confidently, Lu Yu said, “I’ll make it taste really good.” Being called chef Lu wasn’t for nothing.

Excitedly, Shan Pu pulled out his small dagger. “Then I’ll go catch it!”

Lu Yu quickly stopped him. “Don’t be hasty. None of you have hunted crocodiles before. You lack experience. Fighting in water is different from on land. Let’s discuss first.”

Saying that, he looked at Tai Lie.

Tai Lie nodded slightly. “Okay.”

As for fighting with beasts, Lu Yu couldn’t offer much advice, so he could only stand aside and listen. But he had his own mission.

Lu Yu stared at the river without turning away.

The crocodile just now moved too quickly, and he didn’t have time to search with the panel open. Now he needed to figure out the viciousness level and drop items of this crocodile, and ideally, he also needed to know how many crocodiles were in this river.

After staring for a while, another crocodile finally surfaced.

Lu Yu was surprised. From the head alone, this crocodile was much bigger than those in modern times…

He couldn’t think too much about it now; he quickly locked onto it with the aperture.

The panel provided information about this crocodile.

Lu Yu’s eyes widened suddenly.