The child screamed like he had seen a ghost and ran away, but he tripped over a vine and fell forward uncontrollably.
Just as he was about to fall face-first into the ground, a pair of arms caught him steadily.
It was Tanya who used the vine to trip him, and she quickly gave Miles a look to help the child.
Miles helped the kid stand up and said seriously, "Children shouldn't say things carelessly. We are not bad people."
The kid was still scared, but he realized that if Miles hadn't helped, he would have been badly hurt. It didn't seem like something a bad person would do.
"But only bad people get kicked out of the tribe," the child said.
His thinking was simple, and kids in primitive tribes thought even more simply.
Miles patted the child's head and asked, "Have you seen Bogart?"
The kid had always admired Miles. Now that he saw Miles might not be a bad guy, he quickly pointed to a nearby grove and said, "He went into the woods with Hora just now."
It was already getting dark, and they went into the woods?
If they hadn't run into this kid, they probably would've stormed into the Xiaohe tribe and found nothing, wasting time.
Tanya couldn't help rubbing the kid's head. "Thanks, Rocky."
Rocky looked up in a daze. He thought Tanya looked different now. She used to be quiet and never smiled, but now when she smiled, she looked really nice.
But her eyes were still cold. It was strange.
Before he could think more, Tanya and Miles had already walked into the woods.
Miles had the same thought as Rocky. "You look good when you smile."
Tanya glanced at him, confused.
Miles said, "What are you wondering about?"
"You grew up with Tanya and her sisters. Now she's dead, and you're not sad?" Tanya couldn't help but ask.
Actually, if it were her, she wouldn't be sad for more than two hours even if a friend died. In the apocalypse, with zombies, viruses, and monsters everywhere, companions died every day. People got used to life and death.
But people in this time shouldn't be so numb to it, right?
Miles looked at her deeply and said, "I believe it was arranged by the goddess."
Oh right, she forgot. This was a time when gods were everything.
Once they entered the woods, they both went quiet. But as they walked further, things got awkward.
They heard sounds. Sounds that only happened when a man and woman were doing something very private. Sounds that made people blush and feel hot just hearing them.
Miles didn't feel too embarrassed since he was a man. But he was worried about Tanya.
Because of her wind and wood powers, Tanya could hear and smell much better than Miles. Now she was so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole and hide.
She only came here to settle a score. Who told her she'd have to watch this kind of live show?
In the woods, the couple was so into each other they didn't notice they were being watched. They showed no signs of stopping.
Tanya didn't have time to wait, so she quietly used her power.
A vine suddenly wrapped around Hora's ankle. Hora, lost in the moment, suddenly froze. "Ah!"
She let out a short scream. "S-snake…"
Bogart was confused. He had cleared this area. How could there be a snake?
But since it was the wild, anything could happen.
Another vine wrapped around Hora's waist. Hora thought it was another snake and freaked out, wildly punching and kicking Bogart.
Once they realized it was just a vine, they both let out a long sigh. It was a false alarm.
But their mood was gone. They couldn't keep going.
Bogart was annoyed and tried to coax her to come to his place at night. Hora panicked. "Maya will kill me!"
"Keep your voice down. No one will know," Bogart whispered.
Tanya, standing not far away, finally couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, jerk."
The two froze. They just said no one would find out, and now they were caught.
Hora was so nervous she didn't recognize the voice. She quickly grabbed some fur to cover herself and hid behind a tree. But the vine was still on her, and she fumbled to get it off.
She looked a complete mess. Bogart didn't even care.
He stared at the newcomer, his surprise flashing in his eyes.
"You're surprised we're not dead, right?" Tanya asked calmly.
She wasn't embarrassed at all about catching them doing that.
In her mind, if they were bold enough to do that in the open, they shouldn't be shy about being caught.
If they didn't care, why should she?
Besides, she didn't have time. She wanted to settle this quickly and go back for dinner.
Seeing her act so casually, even Miles looked awkward. He had to take a deep breath to relax and return to normal. Then he glared at Bogart. "You teamed up with the stray beastmen and harmed others. I'm taking you to the tribe leader!"
Tanya thought to herself, no way he'd admit it. These primitive people are too naive.
Sure enough, Bogart laughed loudly. "Miles, it's you and Tanya who teamed up with beastmen! You were kicked out of the tribe. The whole Xiaohe village saw it! You have no right to go to the tribal center."
"You're right," Tanya said, looking at the sky. She wondered if the three kids would wait for her to eat the roast rabbit.
There were rabbits in the apocalypse too, but they were huge mutant ones. The meat was tough and didn't taste good.
She wondered if the rabbits in this world were tender and delicious.
Thinking about that, she wanted to finish this fast. She walked closer to Bogart and said, "You're right. I didn't plan to take you to the tribal center."
Bogart thought she was scared and sneered. He turned to leave.
"But that doesn't stop me from beating you up today." Tanya moved fast and grabbed his arm. Her move was sharp and clean. In just a few seconds, she dislocated his right arm.
Bogart cried out in pain and glared at her like she was a demon. "You really are a devil!"
"I think I'm more like an angel."
Tanya raised a vine, tied him up easily, and threw the end of the vine to Miles. "Hang him at the entrance of Xiaohe village."
Miles, who hadn't done much, was happy to help. He dragged Bogart away and found a tall, strong tree in a very visible spot. Then he hung him up.
Tanya added, "Hang him upside down. He did something wrong. He doesn't deserve to be comfortable."