Xia Chuan frowned and opened his eyes, feeling his throat dry and sore, and his head a bit heavy.

He blinked a few times, trying to sit up, but felt something heavy around his waist. Glancing down, he realized it was Shen Lan's arm.

They had actually maintained this posture and slept through the entire night! His right arm, which he used as a pillow behind his head, was so numb that it almost lost all sensation, as if it was no longer a part of his body.

He slightly lifted his head and pulled out his arm, flexing it a few times to slowly relieve the numbness, but did not make any bigger movements because Shen Lan's breathing behind him was still very even, seemingly not awake yet.

However, as soon as he moved, Shen Lan's voice resonated heavily against the back of his head: "Awake?" Just from his tone, it didn't seem like he was startled awake, but had been up for quite a while already, just remaining still.

Xia Chuan made an "Mm" sound, then lifted his head to look outside through the gaps between the broad leaves in front of the door: "What's going on out there?"

His voice sounded dry and hoarse as soon as he spoke, his throat feeling scratchy and painful, and his words carrying a nasal tone, as if he caught a cold from sleeping.

Fortunately, he slept on the inside next to the wall, with Shen Lan tightly holding him all night and shielding him from the wind. Otherwise, freezing in the cold and damp for an entire night, who knows if he would have developed a fever.

But even if Xia Chuan had a large gash directly on his body, he wouldn't make a fuss about it, let alone a minor cold. He just rubbed his brow and directly ignored the discomfort in his body.

Since they were both awake, naturally they couldn't continue lazing in bed, especially with the clamor outside growing louder and louder.

Shen Lan sat up with a shrug and said, "I can hear what they're saying, but the intonation sounds a lot like bird calls."

Xia Chuan: "..."

In other words, even if he could hear it, what's the damn point!

"How long have they been up?" Xia Chuan got up and stretched his muscles and bones, asking.

"Not long, they just gathered and said a few words when you woke up." Shen Lan answered while moving the wooden branches and broad leaves blocking the door, bending down to exit. Xia Chuan followed closely behind.

These primitive residents followed nature closely, rising at sunrise and resting at sunset. Last night, as soon as it got dark, one by one they quieted down. Now, most of them were up, and the sky had just begun to brighten.

As soon as the two stood up straight at the doorway, they saw Laura leading Allen walking over.

"Oh? You're awake already? The first day I arrived here, I slept until they finished a round of morning hunting." Seeing them come out, Laura greeted them, then pointed to a clay pot placed tightly against the wall next to the house, reminding: "The water inside was just refilled this morning."

Shen Lan nodded, "No wonder I heard the sound of pouring water outside in the morning."

Laura smiled, "Here, the men are mainly responsible for hunting and guarding, while the women are mainly responsible for daily tasks, such as making stone arrows and knives, crafting pots from clay strips, gathering broad leaves to mend houses and such. The water is also fetched from the river and filled for each household by designated people every morning. But if you run out, you'll have to go to the river to get it yourself."

"What's the situation over there?" Xia Chuan raised his hand and pointed to the circle of people some distance away, asking Laura.

Laura shook her head, "I don't know, I also just woke up a little while ago and was about to go take a look. I'll head over first, you two freshen up."

"By the way, where is that river you mentioned?" Before Laura could leave, Xia Chuan asked another question. After all, Shen Lan would feel very uncomfortable if he didn't soak in water for a long time.

Laura pointed west, "There's also a gate opened on that side of the wall. Go out from there, down the slope, and walk a short distance to reach it. Oh right, there are watchtowers at both the front and back gates here, with people taking turns keeping watch. Except for hunting, if you go out alone, let them know. If you're going to the river to bathe, just point down the slope to them and they'll understand."

Shen Lan looked her up and down, scratched his cheek, and said with a pained expression, "How do you know so much, by listening to their bird language?"

Laura laughed at his expression that was hard to describe in words, "Don't forget, I was a pet doctor before coming here. I've heard more than just bird language. Some owners couldn't even clearly explain their pet's problems, so I could only infer the cause from the pet's symptoms. The people here can at least express themselves through body language, much easier to understand."

After giving a general explanation, Laura took Allen and left first. Little Allen had probably just recovered from his fever and didn't have much energy, listlessly not saying anything the whole time, only obediently waving to Xia Chuan and Shen Lan as they left.

Xia Chuan and Shen Lan walked over to the clay pot and took a look. Just as Laura said, this pot was made by stacking clay coils round and round to form the shape and then firing it. However, both the crafting and firing methods were quite crude and simple. So in their eyes, this pot was barely usable. With this quality, it probably wouldn't last long before cracking and breaking. But for this era where they had nothing, being able to come up with this method was already quite remarkable.

The water in the pot had been sitting there for a while, but it looked very clean.

The two couldn't be too picky, so they scooped water from the pot to wash up. Shen Lan took a mouthful of water, frowned and froze for a moment, then spat it out with a "Puh--".

Xia Chuan stepped aside to avoid it and glanced at him, "...Are you a whale, spraying everywhere?"

Shen Lan had a disgusted look, "It tastes like mud dregs."

Xia Chuan: "..." Only then did he remember that he himself didn't care about taste as long as it was edible. Shen Lan was the exact opposite, not caring about appearance, only flavor, including water... But his sense of taste was bizarre to the extreme. He could even swallow seawater, yet he disdained this that only had a bit of an earthy taste to this extent.

But this was just to rinse his mouth, not making him drink it, so despite his disgust, Shen Lan still endured it in the end.

After freshening up a bit, the two also walked towards the crowd. Laura also hadn't changed into the animal skin clothing, so her modern attire stood out especially in the crowd. They walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder, asking, "What's going on?"

Walking closer, they saw the group of people gesticulating animatedly around a house, arguing about something unknown. Among them, a young man with messy long hair tied into a braid at the back of his head using a flexible grass stem stood in the middle, his head slightly lowered. He had a long, narrow wound on his right leg, making it a bit difficult for him to stand steadily.

Laura pointed at the house they were surrounding and said, "That's where they store their prey. They had just hunted the second day after I arrived, eating some of it and storing the rest in this house, which should have been enough for another two days. But when they woke up this morning, it was empty. Last night, this young man with the braid was on guard duty at the watchtower. He's injured, so he didn't go hunting with them recently and was assigned to guard the watchtower instead."

Shen Lan glanced at her, then at the people inside gesticulating and speaking gibberish, and was instantly filled with admiration.

He and Xia Chuan stood out like cranes among chickens in this group of primitive people. Even without standing at the front, they could see the ground around the house over the heads of the others. Xia Chuan swept his gaze and noticed claw marks on the walls of the house and some drag marks on the ground, indicating that a wild animal had snuck into the enclosure last night and stolen their stored food.

"A repeat offender," Xia Chuan pointed his chin at the house and said nonchalantly, "It even remembers the door. It's not a fierce beast either; otherwise, it would hunt for its own food and wouldn't risk getting caught to steal."

Shen Lan looked at him with an expression that said, "You can even tell that?"

"But none of this is important right now. What's important is that there's no food," Xia Chuan continued.

These words immediately hit Shen Lan's sore spot. This overlord's lifelong joy was probably in eating, and being without food was absolutely unacceptable.

As the three of them talked, the group of primitive people seemed to have argued out a result. They temporarily abandoned the now-empty storage house, gathered their stone knives and arrows, and set out to get more food with a fierce momentum. The young man with the braid limped a few steps, as if wanting to go with them, but stopped dejectedly after glancing at his leg.

The leader, however, slowed down a step. Before leaving, he patted the young man's shoulder, called out what sounded like his name, "Aegon," and then said a long string of gibberish while pointing at the watchtower. He patted the young man's back a couple of times in encouragement before walking over to Xia Chuan and the others.

He stood in front of Xia Chuan and Shen Lan, shaking his bow and arrow while speaking gibberish and pointing at the group of men walking out the door, seemingly inviting them to join the hunt.

Xia Chuan glanced at Shen Lan and knew what he was thinking. For him, running out of food was a top priority, and these primitive people had at least given them a place to stay, so it was only right to repay them a little. However, for Shen Lan, hunting in the forest probably wasn't as comfortable as hunting in the sea.

Sure enough, Shen Lan turned to Xia Chuan and said, "Let's go to the sea?"

A nearly 1.9-meter-tall man with handsome and sharp features said these words with an expression and tone no different from a child asking, "Can I play with that toy?"

Xia Chuan stared at him for a few seconds, then turned his head with a subtle expression to catch up with the group, waving his hand at Shen Lan without looking back and saying, "Let's go."

Shen Lan immediately followed, trotting behind him.

Only the leader was left standing there, looking at their retreating figures in a daze, then at the bow and arrow in his hand, and muttered a string of gibberish. It most likely meant, "These two aren't even bringing weapons, what the hell are they going to hunt?!"

Meanwhile, Laura was also looking at Xia Chuan and Shen Lan's retreating figures in a daze, feeling that the scene of one waving his hand and the other trotting behind was all too familiar... She saw it several times a day at her pet hospital.