Chapter 12

Holding the torch while sweeping the floor was somewhat difficult, as she was afraid the sparks from the torch would burn her hair.

Looking around, searching for a place to place the torch, she found that the curved arm of the stone statue seemed suitable.

So, standing on tiptoe, she placed the torch on the curved elbow of the stone statue. However, she didn't notice her balance, and with a cry of alarm, the torch fell down, sparks scattering everywhere before being covered by dust and gradually extinguishing.

Suddenly, she was plunged into darkness again, and her cry of alarm echoed back from different passages, irregular and dissonant.

Emily, who had already ceased to be afraid, heard from the echoes the same irregular and dissonant footsteps, as if many people were running towards her. Her heart couldn't help but tense up, and she instinctively hid behind the stone statue, afraid to light the lighter.

"Emily, where are you?" Male's anxious voice came from not far away.

"Emily,where are you?..." The echo rushed in again, deafening, but Emily didn't mind, she even felt excited.

"Male, I'm here!" Emily replied excitedly, forgetting to ask the translation from the system, and speaking in her native language, her voice sharp and rapid.

It seemed that the footsteps and echoes were not from many people, but just Male's.

Emily hesitated whether to light the lighter.

Although Male had become her companion, seeing the banana leaves used by the Bājiāo tribe in the painting was to strike fire, if she took out a modern lighter, crude as it was, it didn't seem like an item from this era.

How should she explain it?

Would Male think she was a demon?

Emily's gaze fell on the staff held by the stone statue.

With the thick dust here and no one stepping foot here for hundreds of years, could her knife, lighter, and whatever the system might give her in the future all be attributed to this stone statue?

Looking at the stone statue with a stern face and the action of raising the staff, which was so similar to the moon and Maple Granny, it should not be a demon or an evil cult.

Considering An and Huang Ye's concern about the lucky star and the disaster star, she believed that this tribe worshipped spirits. Therefore, if she were to stay in the Nuwa tribe for a long time and use the system...

These thoughts flashed through Emily's mind, and she quickly decided on a reasonable explanation for her actions afterward.

She quickly buried the lighter and knife in the thick dust, then placed them on the ground in front of the stone statue. She then quickly knelt devoutly in front of the stone statue, her hands clasped together.

"Emily!" Male rushed in, picked up Emily and rolled on the spot, shielding her behind him, then quickly stood up, facing... the stone statue, "Who are you?"

Emily felt indescribable.

She wanted to laugh. Male clearly also regarded the stone statue as a real person.

But she couldn't laugh.

In the darkness, Male considered the stone statue to be a person who was harmful to her and immediately protected her with his own body. This uncouth primitive man always managed to touch the softest part of her heart, making her feel warm inside.

"Male, it's just a stone statue," Emily said softly, while at the same time, her hands gently hugged Male from behind, her voice choked, "How did you come here?"

Having stayed in this dark place for who knows how long, she was both tired and hungry. Although she had done psychological exercises for herself, there was no danger here, but darkness always naturally made people nervous.

Holding onto Male's warm body was like a lost child suddenly seeing their parents, wanting to cry out loud in grievance.

Feeling Emily's trembling, Male felt deeply distressed. At the same time, he was delighted by the initiative shown by the young woman. He turned around and pulled Emily into his embrace, comforting her softly, "It's okay, I'm here."

Male's broad chest and gentle voice provided a great sense of security. Emily relaxed completely and nestled quietly in Male's arms, listening to his strong heartbeat.

"What place is this? Why is it so big and so dark, it's like a maze. I'm so hungry," Emily hesitated for a moment before asking somewhat sheepishly after a few minutes.

She felt she might have been a bit overdramatic just now. After all, she had been exploring in the darkness alone, and when Male suddenly appeared, she had actually leaned on him like a helpless child, as if she had developed a sense of dependence on this man.

"This is the forbidden area of the Nuwa tribe," Male's tone was somewhat gloomy. He hadn't expected Huang Ye to dare to leave Emily in this forbidden place. "I'll take you out first and then explain."

"Wait a minute!" Emily placed the lighter in Male's palm, looking at him with innocent eyes and a face of innocence, "I just found this thing in front of this statue. I've never seen it before. Can you see what it is?"

Following the faint light, Male looked at his palm and then frowned at the item in his hand, his strong fingers exploring the small lighter.

In the darkness, Emily's heart rose to her throat. She was really afraid that Male would accidentally crush the only lighter.

Fortunately, although Male's fingers were thick, they were very skillful and gentle.

He quickly found the place to press, tentatively pressed it...

In the next moment, a warm flame burst from the lighter, surprising Male slightly. His hand shook slightly, almost throwing the thing away.

Suppressing a smile, Emily pretended not to see Male startled by the sudden flame, and said with admiration, "Wow! Male, you're amazing, you can actually light a fire!"

Praised by his little companion, Male felt quite happy, especially since he had been startled by this unseen item just now, while his little companion hadn't noticed at all and instead looked up to him with admiration.

While silently reproaching himself for not remaining completely calm, Male raised the lighter in his hand, "It wasn't me who lit it, it's this thing you found that's the firestarter."

Emily quickly picked up the torch from the ground and approached the lighter in Male's hand, lighting it.

Seeing that Male hadn't extinguished the flame on the lighter, Emily felt very anxious.

She had used this kind of lighter to set off fireworks during festivals. If the quality was not good, it would deform and become unusable if it burned for too long. She was really afraid that this lighter was of poor quality.

After all, like medicine, this lighter was also a three-no product.

"Now that the torch is lit, can we put away the firestarter?" Emily blinked her eyes and looked at Male with anticipation.

Male felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by Emily's clear eyes, coughed lightly, and tried to release the finger he had pressed down earlier. The flame went out...

So that's how you put away the firestarter! Male felt somewhat embarrassed, but he was still pleased to have obtained this "firestarter" and began to survey this place he had never set foot in before while holding the torch.

With just one glance, he was stunned, "This statue looks like the statue of Nuwa!"

As soon as Emily heard the statue of Nuwa, she quickly cast her eyes to the legs of the statue. She had previously thought it was covered by a skirt, but now she realized that, like the legendary Nuwa, the statue of Nuwa in the Nuwa tribe had a human upper body and a snake lower body!

Male looked solemnly at the statue, increasingly confident in his speculation.

Stepping back a few paces, he held a torch in his left hand and pressed his right palm against his left chest, bowing deeply to the statue, "Oh Nuwa, true goddess above, I am your humble subject Male. By chance, I have come here. Is there any guidance you can offer?"

Although it could be inferred that ancient humans revered deities, seeing Male's performance finally eased Emily's heart. Both the knife and the lighter now had explanations. With the guidance of Nuwa, she could pass off some of her actions.

She mimicked Male's gesture, standing beside him and bowing to the statue of Nuwa. She thought to herself, "Oh Nuwa, true goddess, I just knelt before you, showing even more sincerity than your subjects. Borrowing your name to help your people live better, since you are so wise and powerful, you shouldn't mind, right?"

After Male's inquiry, the statue did not respond, remaining solemn and dignified.

Emily whispered, "Male, look at all this dust around here. Let's help clean up the statue of Nuwa!"

Male glanced around and nodded in agreement, "You must be very hungry. Let's go out first, and we can come back with brooms to clean up tomorrow."

In the darkness, Emily's eyes darted around. The night was long, and there were many dreams. She pondered to herself, though the knife might not be anything special in the future, it was unique and valuable here. What if someone else came in tomorrow, and the knife fell into their hands? She trusted Male, but what about Granny Feng? She couldn't be sure of the old woman's intentions. If the knife ended up in her hands, it wouldn't be good for her. Would she end up at a loss?

Emily grabbed Male's arm firmly, her tone resolute, "No, since we've seen the statue of Nuwa, we're connected to her. How can we bear to let her statue be surrounded by dust? Even if it's just one more night, we can't allow it!"

Male was already worried about Emily starving, but since she insisted, he didn't hesitate. He pushed Emily towards the corridor they came from, then lit another torch and handed it to Emily, passing her the lighter as well. With one hand holding the torch, Male picked up something from the ground that could pass as a broom and began to sweep.

Emily kept her eyes on Male, especially when he reached the area near the statue. She became more nervous.

"Huh?" Male quickly noticed something in front of the statue and reached out to grab it.

"Hey—" Emily tried to stop him, but it was too late.

With a grab, Male cut his palm on the blade, blood immediately dripping down. Though not very deep, the blood flowed quickly like raindrops. He didn't make a sound, instead comforting Emily.

Feeling regretful, Emily hurried over and took Male's injured hand to inspect it. She blamed herself internally, why did she think of burying the knife in the dust? She could have placed it on the statue's bent elbow!

Male looked tenderly at Emily, his heart melting into a puddle of water. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Emily picked up the small knife, pretending to be puzzled, "What's this? A knife? Why isn't it made of stone or bamboo? Just like the firestarter, I've never seen one before!"

Male, worried she might hurt herself, cautioned, "Be careful, this knife is very sharp."

Although made of different materials from stone tools, the shape and sharpness, as demonstrated by the cut on his hand, indicated it was indeed a knife.

Emily was somewhat concerned that Male might not want to take the knife back because he had injured himself with it. She lowered her head, not letting Male see her expression, pondering how to convince him or take the knife herself.

But then she noticed a dim red light shining from a partially cleared spot on the ground. She widened her eyes, staring at it. Unlike the torchlight, this light was somewhat bluish, but with a dark red hue.

Emily was truly stunned this time, her fingertips trembling as she pointed at the spot on the ground, "Male, look, what, what is this?"

Following Emily's finger, Male was also surprised. He reached out with his uninjured hand, brushing away the dust from the spot on the ground, revealing an ancient scroll made of animal hide.

The scroll depicted the image of Nuwa, very similar to the statue in front of them, but the image on the scroll was more detailed.

Excitedly, Male threw the torch aside, knelt down, and carefully placed the animal hide scroll on the clean ground, bowing three times to it, "Thank you, true goddess Nuwa, for allowing the tribe's totem to return to the Nuwa Tribe!"

So... this mysterious animal hide scroll is the totem of the Nuwa Tribe? It seems to have been lost for a long time?

Emily pondered, feeling that something was amiss.

Oh, right! This totem didn't glow before! So what made it glow now?

After three devout bows, Male carefully picked up the scroll, intending to put it away and continue cleaning.

Another drop of blood fell from the cut on his hand, landing on the animal hide totem, making the red light even more dazzling.

"MaleMaleMale..." Emily felt her tongue tied, unable to articulate clearly, "Blood, your blood! Light! Glowing!"

Although she felt her words were incomprehensible, Male instantly understood.

He once again placed the animal hide totem on the ground, placed his injured hand on top of it, watching as the blood dripped onto the totem, the red light becoming brighter and brighter.

Male slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Emily heard the mechanical voice of the system in her mind without any fluctuation, "Congratulations, master, your partner has triggered the power of bloodline. Strength and agility will greatly increase!"

Bloodline power?! How fantastical! Emily looked at Male's handsome features in three dimensions, wanting to pinch herself. Perhaps she hadn't crossed over; she was just dreaming strangely in her pink bed?

Indeed, she did just that, pinching her thigh hard, sucking in a breath at the pain.

Indeed, it's as fantastical as that! So compared to this so-called bloodline power, what are a small knife and a lighter? Nothing! Nuwa, true goddess, you're the one taking the blame for this!