Chapter 8

Moon had a cheerful personality, and although Banana didn't speak much, she was gentle in nature. Emily got along with them very well, even learning a few simple words from them.

Banana's house was adjacent to the mountains, with a newer grass-roofed hut beside it, which Male had built for Moon upon her adulthood. The structure and interior facilities of Banana and Male's houses were basically the same.

Before Moon reached adulthood, she had always lived in the same house with Banana. Similarly, before Male reached adulthood, he had lived with Big Mountain. Five years ago, Big Mountain had built his own house and moved out, to avoid interfering with Male's search for a mate.

Big Mountain and Male only returned home at night, so the three of them ate together at noon.

Since they hadn't done heavy physical labor, the meals were just enough for the three of them, and they were very simple. It was just wild vegetables and some tuber-like foods boiled together with corn, without any salt or oil added. But Emily ate very seriously.

In modern supermarkets, there are all kinds of grains and ready-made seasonings, and cooking with rice cookers or gas stoves is very convenient, and you can easily make tasty food without much effort.

However, in the environment of Nuwa Tribe, Emily witnessed firsthand that cooking a meal was not easy—or rather, she observed. She realized more clearly that making a fire was not a simple task. It took several attempts to ignite the soft and dry grass and leaves by striking two small stones together.

However, igniting the grass and leaves was not the key to solving all problems. The grass and leaves burned quickly, requiring constant addition of more fuel, and there was no extra time, so they had to figure out a way to ignite larger pieces of wood. Watching Banana skillfully make fire, Emily estimated that her chance of successfully making fire was only forty percent.

And then there were the utensils and tableware they used: the pot was made of stone, the bowls were made of stone, the basin was made of stone, and there were also wooden buckets, wooden basins, bamboo tubes... The only thing that seemed familiar to her might be the wooden spoons...

Emily sighed inwardly. If it weren't for accidentally becoming Male's mate last night, plus her ignorance of their language, could she really survive in such social conditions if she rashly fled?

Emily had been thinking about completing the novice tasks as soon as possible, weaving the rush cushion so that she could quickly obtain the unknown novice gift. After finishing the meal and cleaning up the dishes, she pulled Moon and Banana and pointed in the direction of Male's house.

Moon and Banana both understood the meaning conveyed by their body language, and they smiled at each other, their eyes full of joy—Male's wife wanted to go home!

The three of them came to Male's house together.

The sun was scorching hot, and the rush grass only needed about two or three hours to dry completely.

"Lady, do you want to use fragrant grass to make a mattress?" Banana was a little surprised to see the rush grass drying on the roof.

These were fragrant rush grass, with a faint fragrance. It was originally used as raw material for making spices. The Nuwa people called it fragrant grass, which was quite fitting.

Emily shook her head. She didn't know why everyone in the friendly Nuwa tribe, except Moon, referred to her as "Lady". Although she could understand but couldn't answer, the feeling of being unable to express herself clearly with language made her uncomfortable. She paused for a moment and answered in the Nuwa tribe language she had just learned, "No."

Although unable to express it clearly in words, her woven rush cushion made them understand after seeing it.

Moon and Banana's house also had mattresses, but like Male's house, they were just piled up haphazardly and not woven into shape.

Perhaps a mattress woven from rush grass would be softer and more comfortable, but Emily was not used to it and felt like it resembled an animal's nest rather than a human bed.

Since she was going to live here for the long term, she was determined to change this. But for now, her task was to weave the rush cushion and complete the novice task to receive the reward.

Following the system's instructions, Emily gathered the rush grass, twisted it into bundles, and then began to braid it. The process was very simple, and Banana and Moon followed along to learn.

In no time, a long braid of rush grass was woven. Then, Emily began to coil it round and round, using tough rush grass cores to secure each wrapped section.

Soon, the outline of a small rush cushion emerged, leaving Moon and Banana stunned.

After her initial surprise, Moon quickly burst into laughter. "I knew you were the lucky star bestowed upon us by Nuwa herself, Sister-in-law! You can even make sacred cushions!"

Emily, focusing on weaving the rush cushion, looked somewhat puzzled at Moon's words. A simple rush cushion like this was called a sacred cushion here? Didn't they know how to make them? Didn't the old woman with the cane sit on a rush cushion last night?

Banana suddenly stuttered, "Ma... Madam, can you teach me?"

Emily looked at Banana's nervous yet hopeful eyes and nodded, taking the large braid she had made and starting to coil it into a circle, then securing it with thin yet sturdy rush grass, and continuing with the next coil.

The method was indeed very simple, and soon Banana and Moon learned it. Emily picked up her own semi-finished product to continue weaving, while Moon and Banana happily sat on their rush cushions, occasionally stealing glances at Emily with admiration and gratitude in their eyes.

Emily couldn't help but feel amused and perplexed. What had she gotten herself into?

Despite Moon and Banana being by her side, she couldn't wait to find out what was in the novice gift pack. The novice gift pack appeared as a wrapped gift box image, with two options below: "Accept" and "Destroy".

In this situation, who would choose to destroy it?

Emily decisively chose to accept it, and then two options appeared again: "Put in Warehouse" and "Put in Parcel".

Warehouse? Parcel? What's the difference? Emily quietly asked the system, but the system remained silent as usual, offering no response.

As she pondered the difference between warehouse and parcel, and hesitated over which option to choose, she worried that once she put it in the warehouse or parcel, she might not be able to retrieve it. After all, she still didn't know what was in the novice gift pack! She suddenly found herself in a dilemma of choice.

At this moment, the system's voice sounded again: "Selection timed out, automatically put into parcel."

In her mind, a screen resembling a game interface suddenly appeared, displaying several rows of lockers similar to those in a supermarket. However, unlike regular lockers, these ones were unlocked, revealing their contents at a glance.

The first five lockers held items. In the first locker were two bottles of cold medicine. Emily instinctively checked for manufacturer and expiration date information, but found none. The second locker also contained medication: two boxes of antibiotics, similarly lacking manufacturer details.

Emily felt somewhat helpless. Though these medicines were likely standard supplies, the absence of any production information made her hesitant to use them.

Finally, in the third locker, she found what she was looking for—a sharp-looking knife with a blade barely twenty centimeters long. While such knives were common in modern times, in this tribe where tools were mostly made of stone and bamboo, Emily was particularly excited by it.

The contents of the fourth locker surprised her even more: a lighter! This type of cheap, transparent lighter was common in tobacco shops, costing only a dollar or two and lacking even a brand label. But for Emily, who couldn't use flint to start a fire, this was an incredible stroke of luck!

The fifth locker contained lush greenery, but upon opening it, nothing was visible. Simultaneously, a mechanical voice from the system spoke: "Basic space activated, daily tasks can be completed to accumulate experience and coins, and space can be upgraded."

A foggy chaos suddenly appeared in Emily's mind, with a small clear area visible within it.

Although only one square meter in size, this excited Emily greatly! The system mentioned a basic space that could be upgraded, although she wasn't sure what the daily tasks entailed.

She didn't rush to enter it, lest she startled Moon and Banana by suddenly disappearing. Emily calmed herself and slowly opened her eyes, only to see the enlarged faces of Moon and Banana.

As soon as Emily opened her eyes, the three of them were startled by each other's sudden movements, instinctively recoiling before bursting into laughter simultaneously.

!

Basho felt a bit embarrassed, while the Moon was casual, saying, "Sister-in-law, how come your skin is so fair and delicate?" They thought Emily had already fallen asleep, so they leaned against her unconsciously. Seeing her smooth skin, they couldn't help but envy.

Praised, Emily felt happy, but when asked about modern skincare routines, she couldn't express it in the language of the Wa tribe.

Just then, there was a sudden commotion outside. Moon and Basho rushed out, and Emily followed. Villagers surrounded several sturdy men, asking questions. They were covered in wounds, supporting each other. One of them was severely injured, even being carried on someone's back.

One man had a string of prey hanging from him, three rabbits and several wild chickens. There was a horrifying wound on his chest, about ten centimeters long, appearing to be from a blunt object. Though the wound was long, there wasn't much bleeding, indicating it wasn't too deep.

The tribe's people discussed anxiously. Emily quickly understood that the people of the Wa tribe had been ambushed by the Leopard tribe while returning from their hunt.

Due to the large number of opponents, although they all fought bravely, they were still heavily injured, and some of the prey was also taken away.

Emily's face turned pale. She couldn't believe that conflicts between tribes would occur just for food. It was the first time she truly felt the harshness of survival in this world.

Male glanced at Emily, who looked worried, and gave her a slight smile to reassure her that he was okay.

Raising his hand, Male silenced the commotion.

"Let's all return home and rest for now. Starting tomorrow, no one from the Wa tribe shall hunt alone in the mountains. We must go in groups!" Male's voice, though not loud, was firm. The people of the tribe all looked serious, deferring to him.

At this moment, Emily faintly understood why everyone in the tribe called her "Madam". It seemed Male was the leader of this tribe.

The injured were taken back to the village. Male accompanied them, and Emily followed with Moon and Basho.

The injured were laid on beds of grass inside a house. Emily noticed that there were no external wounds on him, but a lot of blood was flowing from the back of his head, and he was unconscious, indicating a severe head injury.

Someone had already gone to fetch Maple Granny, but she hadn't returned from the Bear tribe yet. However, soon Yellow Leaf arrived, carrying a small bamboo basket.

Despite her fragile appearance, Yellow Leaf didn't engage in any conversation upon entering. She immediately examined the injured person, found the head wound, and carefully applied medicine from a bamboo tube onto it. She then covered the wound with leaves Emily didn't recognize, and finally secured it with two thin ropes.

Was this how head wounds were treated? Emily was surprised, but upon reflection, she realized that the conditions and medical resources here were vastly different from modern times. Handling wounds might have to be this rough.

Yellow Leaf spoke softly to Male, "I've done my best. Maple Granny can examine him thoroughly when she returns."

Emily pondered silently, wondering when Maple Granny would return.

Yellow Leaf added, "But it's already late. Maple Granny won't be back until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I'm afraid his condition might worsen."

Seeing the unconscious injured person, Emily frowned. Head injuries were already dangerous, and delaying treatment overnight could worsen his condition.

However, she wasn't a doctor, and she only had a few basic medicines from the newcomer's kit. She didn't have much confidence in healing the injured person. It seemed like there was little she could do to help.

"But, Madam, if you can bring back the dead like you did with Chi, perhaps there's a way to heal him too," Yellow Leaf said, still appearing fragile but with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, as if she saw Emily as a savior.

Male, hearing this, looked at Emily with surprise. "Emily, did you bring Chi back to life?"