Chapter 11

Male's expression had already returned to normal, and Emily's heart settled back into place. She had always thought it was just her imagination; Male, as the leader of the tribe, a tall and sturdy man, how could he possibly act cute and spoiled!

"Maple Granny is the sage of the Nuwa tribe and also our priestess. Fifteen years ago, the Nuwa tribe encountered a great catastrophe, almost facing extinction. It was Maple Granny who led us back to the former land of Nuwa and settled here. She once studied medicine with the holy woman of the Nuwa tribe. Her medical skills are not inferior to the holy woman's, and even surpass those of the shaman of the Bear tribe. Emily, if you can inherit her medical skills, the entire Nuwa tribe will respect you." Male reached out his rough hand and lightly stroked Emily's dark and smooth hair, his little partner's hair felt really comfortable to touch.

Emily subconsciously took a step back. "Don't touch me!" What's with the touching? Are you petting an animal? Without even a comb, could her hair be so smooth that easily?

"What happened to the Nuwa tribe fifteen years ago?" Male and the Moon siblings had no parents, neither did Banana and Big Mountain. Moreover, the older people in this tribe didn't seem to be very strong, and there were mostly women. Emily had been curious for a long time, but her intuition told her that it was not a good thing to inquire about.

Now that Male mentioned the great catastrophe that the Nuwa tribe encountered fifteen years ago, almost leading to its extinction, Emily connected these two things. No wonder she always felt that there were fewer older people in the Nuwa tribe.

"The Bear tribe besieged the Nuwa tribe. It's not something that can be explained in a few words. Let's first go find Maple Granny, and I'll tell you more later." Mentioning the great catastrophe fifteen years ago, Male's expression was slightly dim, but then he firmly held Emily's hand. "Emily, rest assured, I won't let the events of fifteen years ago happen again! I won't let you and the tribe fall into such a situation again!"

Emily was a little confused. Male didn't say what exactly happened fifteen years ago, but since it was almost the extinction of the tribe, it was obviously not a good thing.

But the firm and sincere look in the eyes of the man in front of her made her feel warm inside. She suddenly felt a sense of security being by this man's side.

Passing around the giant mulberry tree, behind it was Maple Granny's house. Almost all the children aged 12 to 14 were there, standing in front of Maple Granny's thatched hut. They were surrounded by a circle of tribal people, some excited, some envious.

There were still quite a few children of suitable age, nearly twenty. Male just watched from the side, respecting and trusting Maple Granny, not participating in the decision.

Maple Granny eventually selected four smart and observant children, two boys and two girls.

After the selection, the others could leave, and Maple Granny wanted to briefly explain the rules to these four children and Emily. Meanwhile, Male was worried about the hunters who went out today being attacked by the Leopard tribe again, so he wanted to go into the mountains to meet up with them.

Being smart and observant, including Emily, the five of them had already passed the test. But staying calm and composed in the face of adversity was the most basic, so today they would first train and test their ability to deal with unexpected events.

Huangye led each person to different places.

Emily was the last one, watching the four children being taken away anxiously, she didn't know what would happen next.

Originally, she should have felt uneasy, but Emily felt calm about anything unexpected happening to her, even after crossing from a modern metropolis to this primitive tribe that was almost as backward as the Stone Age. Therefore, she remained calm.

"The lady is much more stable than these children, but the lady's body is weak..." Maple Granny frowned, pondering, and soon seemed to have made up her mind.

"That way! There's not much danger." Emily smiled gratefully, not showing off her strength. Of course, it was best if there was no danger. She had seen wild boars—though they were the carcasses brought back by Male and the others from hunting—and heard the howls of unknown beasts in the mountains. As someone with no combat skills, she had no confidence in dealing with these wild animals.

"No hurry, have some water first." Maple Granny smiled kindly, a glint of cunning flashing in her eyes, unnoticed by Emily.

Huangye handed her a cup made of bamboo, and she took it without suspicion and drank.

But as her body quickly weakened and her vision darkened, just before fainting, a thought flashed through her mind: "Uh oh, I've been tricked."

When Emily woke up, it was pitch black. She felt her eyes covered, but her hands were free. She reached up to untie the animal skin strap covering her eyes.

When she saw her situation, she couldn't help but feel bewildered.

Where was this? Wasn't it just sunny outside? Why was it so dark here? Had she been unconscious for a long time?

And what was that faint blue glow?

"Hey!" Emily tentatively called out, but the echo came back from all directions. Upon closer listening, she could hear faint sounds in the darkness, like the rustling of wind or murmurs, which seemed even more eerie.

"Hello, is anyone there?" Emily asked again.

"Hello, hello, is anyone anyone there there... " Countless echoes reverberated from all directions, converging into a chaotic noise, emitting different tones simultaneously, as if countless people were speaking at once.

In this pitch-black space, Emily felt her scalp tingling and her spine chilling. Subconsciously, she took out the small knife and lighter given to her by the system after completing her novice task, holding the knife for self-defense in her right hand and lighting the lighter in her left for illumination.

Though the flame of the lighter was weak, it dispelled the darkness for a moment. Emily quickly surveyed her surroundings in the dim light, but her heart sank even further.

This seemed like a cave, not the spacious area she had imagined. She was at the intersection of several narrow passageways, with a space of only about three to four square meters.

The ground and walls of the passageways looked dry, with no signs of snakes, insects, or rodents. Emily recalled some information she had learned before—where there were predators, small animals generally stayed away.

Emily swallowed a mouthful of saliva difficultly, trying to ease her inner tension. Nervousness and fear would only affect her actions and judgment, providing no help in changing her current situation.

The fuel of the lighter was limited, so Emily couldn't keep it lit all the time. And there was nothing here, not even a torch to light.

She observed the flame for a moment and found it wasn't flickering, as if in a completely windless environment.

Fear would be magnified countless times in the darkness, and she couldn't make a sound to dispel it because the echoes were even more unsettling. Moreover, if there really were predators in this cave, sounds would more easily startle them.

With the position of the knife in her right hand unchanged, her mind raced in the darkness. Was this really just Maple Granny's test for her? Or did Maple Granny, protecting someone or herself, under the guise of a test, easily dispose of her?

Whether it's true or not, Maple Granny will eventually have to explain to Male, so even if this is a life-threatening place, there's still a chance of survival.

Moreover, according to Maple Granny, there's no danger here. Even if that's not entirely true, Maple Granny wouldn't turn against Male, the current leader of the Nuwa Tribe, after working so hard for the tribe.

So as the location where Maple Granny is testing her, although it's dark and there are many forks, there shouldn't be any major danger here. At most, it's just a warning from Maple Granny. She can't lose her composure and let people look down on her!

Emily calmed down, feeling considerably more at ease, and the sense of fear suddenly disappeared.

Judging by her hunger level, this place isn't far from the Nuwa Tribe, and it might even be inside the tribe.

Generally, deep caves are prone to lack of oxygen, and even some toxic gases, but she didn't feel the air thinning here, and the lighter could still ignite. This further convinced her that despite its frightening appearance, there wasn't actually any danger here.

But what was Maple Granny's intention in placing her here? Was it for her to find a safe exit among so many forks? Or was it to spend enough time in the darkness without being scared out of her wits?

Staying put would obviously be safer, but Emily couldn't help but think of the "Haunted House" attraction in amusement parks, which sparked her curiosity about this place.

With so many branching passageways, Emily decided to explore, believing that this must be Maple Granny's purpose.

After turning off the lighter and allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness for a few minutes, the faint glow projected on the walls of the passageway no longer seemed as frightening to Emily. In fact, it felt rather comforting.

Emily groped her way towards one of the passageways and used the sharp knife to draw a small circle on the wall, inside of which she carved the Arabic numeral 1.

This passageway could only accommodate one person at a time, and the eerie blue fluorescence gradually shifted to a dismal green, making it look even more intimidating.

But Emily, who had prepared herself mentally, regarded this as nothing more than colorful garden lights from the 21st century. She felt no fear and occasionally lit the lighter to observe the terrain and see if there was anything suitable for making torches.

Soon, she came across left and right forks in the passageway again.

Emily frowned, turned around, drew a circle, and wrote 10 inside it. Then she went to the left passageway, only to find another circle with a 10 written inside it. It turned out that passageways 11 and 12 were connected, and she had circled back.

Since this passageway was a dead end, she had to go back.

Upon returning, she drew a schematic diagram below the circle marked 1, dividing it into 11 and 12, with a curved line connecting 11 and 12.

Next, she used the same method to record the second passageway. Although this passageway had more forks, it eventually circled back.

Then the third passageway... the fourth passageway...

Emily's stomach had been growling for a long time, and her feet were starting to ache. Even marking the walls with the knife made her arms feel sore. However, there were still two passageways ahead of her...

Emily sighed, rested in place for a while, and then headed towards the next passageway without looking back. This passageway had many forks.

When she was getting dizzy from all the left and right turns, she finally reached a spacious area. However, in the dim light, Emily could vaguely see a towering figure wielding a stick coming towards her.

"Ah!" Emily exclaimed, backing away.

Emily exclaimed as she stepped back, instinctively swiping her knife forward with her right hand.

Echoes reverberated from all directions, as eerie as ever, yet the figure in front of her remained motionless.

Emily felt her heart pounding in her chest as if it were about to leap out. Shaking, she used her trembling left hand to ignite the lighter, and upon seeing her surroundings, she couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Indeed, there was a tall figure holding a stick in front of her, but it was just an unmoving stone statue. The dim light and her recent arrival had caused her to mistake it for an attacking figure.

With her heart finally calming down, Emily found some torches in the corner. She picked one up, lit it with the lighter, and began to carefully inspect the area.

This place could accommodate several hundred people and seemed to be a naturally formed cave, albeit with some artificial leveling of the ground. Unlike the rough surfaces of the other passageways, this area was as smooth as the small square where they danced during the Bite-Bite Festival.

The towering stone statue, covered in dust and cobwebs, vaguely resembled a robust woman holding... a staff?

The gesture seemed familiar to Emily, reminiscent of Maple Granny's stance during the Bite-Bite Festival.

She had found the staff peculiar at the time, and now, seeing the stone statue, she realized that it wasn't just any staff, but a magical staff.

Maple Granny was the priestess of the Nuwa Tribe, so could this stone statue also represent a priestess of the tribe?

Given that they had erected a statue, it seemed that this person held a high status in the Nuwa Tribe! They should have been venerated by the people of the tribe!

Then why was this place so desolate? Like it hadn't been visited in over a hundred years?

Curious, Emily picked up one of the torches that hadn't been lit and began sweeping away the cobwebs and dust from the stone statue.

"Cough, cough, cough..." The dust was too much, causing Emily to cough uncontrollably.

Emily stopped her actions, realizing that it wasn't appropriate to spontaneously clean up the dirty environment, considering that she was currently trapped in this labyrinth-like place.

She scorned herself for this behavior and then continued to search for a way out with the torch in hand. Although this place seemed abandoned for a long time, judging by its spaciousness and the torches in the corners, it could be inferred that it once accommodated many worshippers.

Most importantly, she hadn't seen any traces of cleaning or such accumulation of dust in other areas she had passed through. So why was there so much dust here?

The exit shouldn't be far now!

Overwhelmed with joy, Emily put down the torch she had been using as a broom and headed towards the widest passageway she could see.

After a dozen steps, Emily reluctantly turned back. If she didn't clean up and leave this place, seeing it so dirty and chaotic would make her feel uneasy, unable to sleep or eat!

So much for being a perfectionist!

Emily resigned herself to the task, holding her breath as she swept the dust off the stone statue. Once the dust was cleared, the stone statue revealed its original appearance.

With prominent eyebrows and eyes, a strong nose, and thin lips, the statue wasn't exactly lifelike, but for the Stone Age, it was quite remarkable.

Her expression was solemn, one hand holding the staff high, while the other was casually bent at her abdomen.

Emily couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect and bowed deeply to the statue. Then, she began to sweep the dust off the ground, bending over to clean up the ashes.