Chapter 210: Shock—You’re Fake Nan Xun, Right?
Chu Xue was carrying a large bundle wrapped in beast hide in her hands. She shot Nan Xun a look, and the two of them immediately stepped aside to whisper.
“A Xi, these are all the things from your stone cave. That cave has already been given to someone else, so I packed everything from inside ahead of time. There shouldn’t be a single thing missing.”
As she spoke, she asked a little uncertainly, “A Xi, I saw a man’s beast-skin apron in there. Does that belong to the cannibal tribe’s chieftain? And the one you mentioned before… the person you like… could it also be—”
Chu Xue didn’t finish the sentence. She glanced toward A-Mang standing in the distance.
Nan Xun nodded. “Chu Xue, help me keep it a secret, okay?”
“So it’s really true!” Chu Xue was shocked. “Then wasn’t this man doing it on purpose back then? His target was you from the very beginning!”
Nan Xun chuckled. “That’s right.”
She gave Chu Xue a huge bear hug. “I won’t be coming back anymore. You and A Yu should live well together—have kids early, and when the time comes, let them call me godmother.”
They were speaking their hometown’s common language, so they weren’t afraid of others overhearing.
Chu Xue glared at her in embarrassment and annoyance. “Go have your own kids.”
Nan Xun left with A-Mang, now carrying the large bundle Chu Xue had brought.
Watching Nan Xun’s retreating figure, Chu Xue couldn’t help burying her face in A Yu’s arms and sobbing softly.
She thought that in the future, she would probably never meet another older sister as good as A Xi.
On the way back, A-Mang seemed to sense that Nan Xun’s mood was low. He didn’t say anything, simply stayed quietly by her side.
“A-Mang,” Nan Xun suddenly called out to him. “From now on, you’re my only family.”
A-Mang abruptly tightened his grip on her hand, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “A Xi, I’ll always be good to you.”
A few days later, they returned to the cannibal tribe. Thinking that this would likely be the place she’d live for the rest of her life, Nan Xun felt a surge of motivation. When she said goodbye to Chu Xue, she had specifically asked whether things like pottery, salt, and bamboo backpacks could be introduced to the cannibal tribe. Chu Xue smiled and agreed, adding only that weapons and traps were not allowed.
During the day, when the men went out hunting, Nan Xun led the women of the tribe to look for new bamboo groves and salt stones, and taught them how to gather wild vegetables and sweet potatoes.
There were many people in the tribe who were skilled with their hands. After bamboo was found, Nan Xun didn’t do the work herself. She simply explained the general shapes of bamboo baskets and backpacks, and those with nimble hands quickly made them.
After discovering a new source of clay, Nan Xun called several half-grown boys from the tribe to dig clay together.
These boys, around ten years old, were at the age of competitiveness, but tribal rules required them to be at least twelve before joining hunts. Stuck in the tribe all day, they were restless.
Nan Xun gave them work to do: digging clay and building kilns.
The women followed Nan Xun in making pottery. The prepared clay was shaped into bowls and jars, then placed into the kilns the children had built for firing.
Everyone—young and old—waited with wide, bright eyes for the finished products to come out of the kiln. Aside from a few bowls that cracked slightly, the rest turned out quite well.
The first batch of finished pottery made the women and children cheer with joy.
Nan Xun loved this feeling of mobilizing the entire tribe. It made everyone feel useful, as if they could all contribute something to the tribe.
Little Eight was especially astonished. “I think I might be seeing a fake Nan Xun. Why did you suddenly become so hardworking? Shouldn’t you be lying on the beast hide A-Mang spread out for you, basking in the sun and eating fruit or something?”
Faced with Little Eight’s roundabout mockery, Nan Xun didn’t argue back. Instead, she explained gently, “Because this is A-Mang’s tribe. If I do more, he’ll have fewer things to worry about.”
Little Eight let out a groan. “Stop, stop, my teeth are going sour.”
Nan Xun offered a very good suggestion. “Little Eight, I think you could go into seclusion or something. Isn’t the spiritual energy in this world abundant? What a waste not to use it.”
Little Eight snorted. “You think my master’s Stellar Space is just for show? If the spiritual energy outside is denser than inside the space, it’ll naturally flow in. Hmph, all this talk—don’t you just find me in the way of you two? Always sneaking off for wild sex. Shameful.”
Nan Xun: …
Little Eight talked a big game, but it really did go into seclusion to cultivate—just a short one, ten days or half a month or so. After that, it planned to go out for a stroll, then continue cultivating again.
And Little Eight was truly a beast that kept its word. When it said it would let Nan Xun come on vacation, it meant it. Even after discovering that A-Mang might be a villainous big boss with an evil intent value of 100, it never mentioned anything about eliminating that evil intent. Still, that didn’t stop it from secretly checking the big boss’s evil intent from time to time.
When A-Mang and the men returned with abundant hunting spoils, they were greeted by the sight of everyone in the tribe—young and old—working.
Elderly women with nimble hands were weaving bamboo backpacks. The rest were gathered together shaping pottery. Children guarded the kilns; their darkened skin was flushed red from the heat, yet their faces were filled with excitement and joy.
All the men froze in place.
A little girl happily handed the pottery bowl she had made to her father. The man touched her head with a gratified smile.
A-Mang walked over to Nan Xun, his eyes burning as he looked at her. “A Xi, did you have everyone do all this?”
Nan Xun explained, “We went out to pick fruit today and happened to find clay, so I encouraged everyone to make pottery. The kilns were built by the children, and the pottery was shaped by the women.”
After a pause, she smiled. “A-Mang, from now on we can use pottery to hold water and food. We can also make fruit wine and pickle vegetables. When you have time, can you make me a big ceramic jar? Then we can use it to store water and won’t have to walk so far to the river every day.”
A-Mang suddenly lifted her straight off the ground, holding her high as he said excitedly, “A Xi, I like you so much! Whatever you say goes—I’ll make you a huge jar right away!”
Nan Xun wrapped her arms around his neck, embarrassed. “It’s already dark. Tomorrow, come back early and help me make it. For now, go take care of the tribe and roast some meat.”
The delighted tribespeople lit bonfires, singing and dancing.
The woman named A Xiang was the best singer and dancer in the tribe, and she was quite pretty. When Nan Xun noticed her throwing flirtatious glances at A-Mang for the fifth time, she snapped.
Damn it—you already have a man, and you’re still eyeing my man?
Nan Xun sprang to her feet, startling A-Mang, who was grilling meat nearby. “A Xi, what’s wrong?”
Nan Xun looked down at him. The anger in her eyes faded slightly, and she suddenly asked with a smile, “A-Mang, do you think A Xiang dances well?”
