Seeing that the stick in Miles's hand was really going to hit them, Village Chief Owen stepped back first to protect himself.
"Tanya, we already apologized and accepted you back to the village. Don't…"
Village Chief Owen was used to acting proud. He almost let out a threat, but remembered the punishment from the goddess, so he quickly changed his words. "You better think carefully."
No one from Tanya's group answered him. Only the phoenix by the bamboo house flapped its wings lazily a few times.
The weather was too hot and meat couldn't be kept long. Tanya told Star to prepare the meat, and she stored all of it in her space.
Miles went to knead the clay. Tanya taught Star how to stew mushrooms with meat. Soon, the smell of food spread far and wide near the bamboo house. Even the phoenix flapped its wings more, tempted by the scent.
After the four of them ate and drank enough, they gave some leaves to the phoenix and worked together to knead the clay. Once the clay was sticky enough, Tanya started shaping the pottery.
She made one clay pot for stewing, one clay pan for stir-frying, one wide-mouthed pot for boiling water, and several clay jars and bowls in different sizes.
After finishing all of them, she placed the pottery in a cool place to dry. Then she followed the instructions in her illustrated guide to build a kiln for firing the pottery.
Star couldn't hold back anymore and asked, "Sister, what are we doing?"
"Making pottery. If we fire them successfully, we won't need these wooden things anymore."
Wooden bowls and pots could be used, but they were still made of wood and didn't feel clean. After a few uses, Tanya got tired of them.
She told Star and Moon, "Stay home and watch the fire. Don't let it go out, and don't open the kiln. Understand?"
Star nodded again and again, promising to do it.
Tanya went into the forest with Miles. He hunted while she gathered plants.
Since Miles knew Tanya could protect herself, he walked a bit further away from her.
Tanya followed the tips from the guide and found several types of wild vegetables. Along the way, she also collected a lot of plant water, storing it in bamboo containers. When she felt thirsty, she drank that water.
The only thing that made her feel disappointed was not finding any rare species. The guide's rewards were either nothing or just points. Luckily, points could still be used later, so she accepted it.
She kept walking until she saw a patch of red fruit ahead. Only then did she realize she had unknowingly entered the deep part of the forest. But she didn't care. She felt excited.
Chili peppers?
In this primitive world, plants looked different from what she had seen in books before, so she wasn't completely sure.
But she wasn't worried. She had her plant guide.
She quickly picked one and had the plant guide check it.
[Chili Pepper. Nightshade family. Edible and medicinal. Rarity: two stars. Reward: one set of feminine hygiene products.]
Tanya laughed. She almost forgot she was a woman.
Every woman has her period. Without pads, she would go crazy.
She collected all the chili peppers and stored them in her space. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly sensed a strange presence behind her. It was getting closer.
She turned quickly and saw a middle-aged man holding a spear, wearing a skirt made of animal skin. He looked at her curiously. "Little female, what are you doing here?"
Tanya searched her memory. This was Shaman Leon from Little River Village.
He had gone to the central tribe before. Was he back now?
Shaman Leon noticed the way she looked at him and felt surprised. Tanya didn't seem like the shy and timid girl from before.
"Were you picking this demon fruit just now? Why did you pick it?"
Tanya was still holding one chili pepper, so she couldn't deny it. She casually said, "I thought it looked pretty. I picked it for fun."
Shaman Leon reached out to grab the basket of chili peppers on her back. Tanya quickly dodged and threw the one in her hand to him. "You want to play with it too, shaman? Here."
She turned and left. When she was sure he wasn't following her, she quietly changed direction and went to find Miles.
Miles had just returned from hunting. He had good luck today and caught a wild ox. When he saw her, he looked her up and down. Seeing she was safe, he smiled. "Let's go home."
"Okay." Tanya looked at the ox he was carrying and started thinking about making a bow and arrows.
"What did you find today?" Miles glanced at the basket on her back. Inside were some green plants and also some red demon fruits.
"This is called chili pepper. It's a spice for cooking."
Tanya felt really happy after finding chili peppers.
Miles noticed that walking next to her, he could feel a soft breeze. But if he stepped away, it disappeared. It felt strange. The breeze was comfortable, completely different from the sharp wind that killed Bogart at the village entrance that night.
When they got back to the bamboo house, they found Star and Moon were not home.
"Where are they?"
Tanya thought something was wrong. The two kids were always obedient. She told them to stay and watch the fire. They wouldn't sneak off to play.
"Maybe they went nearby to collect something?" Miles put down the wild ox and checked both bamboo houses. When he confirmed they weren't home, he went outside to look.
The fire in the kiln was still burning, so the two kids hadn't been gone long. Tanya quickly used her wind power to sense the area.
Someone had been there. A lot of people. One of them was Maya.
Her face turned cold. She called out to Miles. "They were taken to Little River Village."
Miles's face became fierce, and he clenched his fists. "It's them again. What do they want this time?"
He only cared about Little River Village because they saved Tanya's father. He didn't trust the rest of them.
"Let's go. I want to see what they're up to." Tanya's face was cold too. Little River Village had pushed her too many times. She didn't mind giving them a serious warning.
With her wind power, Tanya quickly followed Star's scent and found them by the river near the village entrance.
Star and Moon were surrounded by several men. Maya stood with her arms crossed, threatening, "If you don't tell the truth, I'll throw you in the river to feed the fish."
"You wouldn't dare. My sister and Miles will come. Aren't you scared of them? Aren't you scared the goddess will punish you?"
Maya clearly remembered what happened to Bogart and the scar on her face. It made her even more angry.
"You're both bad luck. Even if I kill you, the goddess won't punish me. Bogart was just unlucky and got caught by your sister. It had nothing to do with the goddess. She's a devil, a beast. The goddess would never protect her."
She was shouting happily, but then a cold wind blew over her. She didn't know why, but her back suddenly felt cold. She froze in fear, her eyes wide, and didn't dare say another word.