Becoming a Leader in a Primitive Otherworld - Chapter 24

Upon hearing this, Xie Yu’s mind flashed through a series of images. From Yun Nai’s half-concealed movements, she drew a conclusion: No wonder she’s been ignoring me lately. It’s because I didn’t tell her about this.

She had completely forgotten that she herself had been avoiding Yun Nai.

Regardless, Yun Nai was the Priest, and it was perfectly reasonable for her to want to know such things. With this thought, Xie Yu felt much better. She had been worried she had given herself away.

“Ke is going to the Great Market this summer to buy a slave from the Snake Tribe,” Xie Yu explained openly, then leaned closer, trying to ingratiate herself. “What would you like me to buy for you? If you can’t go, I’ll bring back anything you want.”

She positioned herself perfectly, close enough to advance but still able to retreat. Unfortunately, her precautions were useless, as Yun Nai had no intention of attacking—at least for now.

Yun Nai feigned drowsiness. “I know. I want to sleep now.”

Xie Yu swiftly and silently groped her way to the bed and lay down. She stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, counting sheep. By the time she reached seven hundred and thirty-six, she still wasn’t even slightly sleepy.

Beside her, there was no movement, only Yun Nai’s soft breathing.

“Priest?” she called softly, but no one answered. She then murmured in a small, aggrieved voice, “Ignoring me.”

Still no response.

She must be asleep, Xie Yu thought, silently turning her head to look. Having been in the dark for so long, her eyes had adjusted enough to make out Yun Nai’s face.

A feast for the eyes, she mused, like a delectable pastry.

After a long moment, Xie Yu realized something was wrong. She had always thought Yun Nai was as beautiful as a celestial being, capable of captivating fish and causing geese to fall from the sky.

She sighed deeply, mentally reviewing all the beauties she had encountered in both her past and present lives.

Yet only Yun Nai, Yun Nai, Yun Nai filled her mind. The others were like clouds drifting overhead as Xie Yu fished in a river—she rarely bothered to look up.

But if that cloud were Yun Nai in disguise… Damn it, she realized belatedly, I think I’ve actually fallen for Yun Nai.

Having never been in love in either of her two lives, Xie Yu hurriedly closed her eyes, trying to hypnotize herself to sleep.

The next morning, before dawn even broke, Xie Yu deliberately woke up earlier than Yun Nai. She slipped out the door with dark circles under her eyes, knowing Yun Nai would ask questions if she saw her looking so disheveled.

For now, she didn’t want Yun Nai to see her in such a state.

The cool morning breeze swept away some of her fatigue.

“Chief, where did you go last night?” Ke asked, her voice both concerned and teasing, hitting Xie Yu right where it hurt. “You look like you haven’t slept a wink. Did the Priest kick you out of bed?”

“I didn’t,” Xie Yu quickly denied. “We’re fine.”

Ke shrugged, reminded her to prepare gifts, and then left to go hunting.

Xie Yu went to find the construction team to craft farming tools, planning to transplant auxiliary materials and wild vegetables from the small grove across the river on a large scale when the time was right.

If they got lucky and found seeds for rice or wheat, they could start planting, but those were still just a distant hope.

The Tribe’s tools, like hoes and sickles, were mostly made from polished stones and animal bones, and stones were abundant along the riverbank.

They walked upstream along the riverbank, carrying baskets on their backs, carefully selecting stones that closely resembled the shapes of the tools they needed to make.

Crafting stone tools wasn’t difficult, but it required immense patience. The hardness of the stone meant that shaping it into the desired form would take more than just a day or two.

After roughing out the basic shape, they still needed to polish and sharpen the edges to make them more effective.

Bone tools were common in the Tribe, such as bone needles. To make them, bones were carefully polished and hardened over fire. The Tribespeople used these needles and thin vines to sew animal hides together, but the resulting hides weren’t very warm due to the numerous gaps and crude stitching. It was not uncommon for someone to freeze to death.

“Look, you can see the tall watchtower from here,” one of them pointed toward the watchtower at the edge of the settlement.

A guard stood on the watchtower, a bow hanging beside him. The rotation of guards was no longer limited to the strongest warriors; during the day, nearly everyone took a shift, while at night, more capable individuals were assigned to remain vigilant.

“The watchtower looks like a giraffe,” Gan suddenly remarked, “stretching its neck to watch us.”

They chattered as they gathered stones, the time passing quickly. Before they knew it, they had collected enough and were about to begin the extremely patient process of grinding the stones into tools.

This process wasn’t particularly short or long, but it was far from easy.

Xie Yu left them to grind the stones themselves while she tried her hand at weaving vine shoes. She gathered bark and supple vines, planning to use the rabbit hide she had skinned earlier for the leather parts.

For every day they spent grinding stones, Xie Yu spent a day weaving.

After several days, she held out the pair of crude vine shoes, placing them before Yun Nai and staring at her expectantly.

Yun Nai saw the longing for praise in Xie Yu’s eyes, but when she looked at the pair of irregular, uniquely crafted rattan shoes, her lips twitched. Her initial assessment had been correct: Xie Yu’s craftsmanship was indeed lacking.

As the shoes passed from Xie Yu’s hands to Yun Nai’s, their fingertips inevitably brushed.

Yun Nai felt the brief touch of thin calluses. Under Xie Yu’s flickering gaze, she nodded and praised, “I really like them. They’re beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful too,” Xie Yu blurted out, her response unusually swift. “Beautiful shoes for a beautiful person.”

Having grown accustomed to speaking plainly with her tribespeople, Xie Yu’s words had become increasingly direct.

Yun Nai raised an eyebrow, lifting her gaze to meet Xie Yu’s directly. “Then why have you been avoiding me lately?”

The two sentences seemed unrelated, yet Xie Yu miraculously understood the connection: Yun Nai was asking why, if she found her beautiful, Xie Yu hadn’t been looking at her more often, instead choosing to avoid her.

“Really?” Xie Yu decided to play dumb, the most useful tactic in the moment.

Yun Nai nodded, carefully putting away the ugly rattan shoes.

Xie Yu mumbled vaguely, “I guess I’ve just been too busy.”

“Rejected.”

The words sounded slightly cold to Xie Yu’s ears.

She usually dismissed others in the Tribe with the same tone, but she never expected Yun Nai to use it on her.

The scene resembled a domestic dispute caused by a busy partner neglecting their other half. Xie Yu felt she had accurately defined Yun Nai’s role—she was, after all, her partner.

While Xie Yu was lost in her thoughts, Yun Nai had already approached her. Xie Yu circled her eyes with a finger. “Look at my dark circles. All from being so busy.”

“Panda.”

“Hmm,” Xie Yu replied. “Panda wants to transplant all the forest ingredients and wild vegetables across the river soon. I’m worried some might not know how. Could you teach me?”

She truly needed her.