Day Ninety, Change

The rain stopped much sooner than I expected, lasting only a single day. However, the sky did not clear up and remained overcast. Yet, this had its silver lining as the weather was not nearly as hot, feeling quite cool and pleasant instead.

Even so, I found myself rather disgruntled today. Several incidents left a very poor impression on me, causing me to question my own decisions for the very first time.

The first issue was that they all went out today without calling me, nor did they bother to tell me where they were going or what they were doing. I had stayed up late chatting with them yesterday, which meant I went to bed quite late as well. Consequently, I slept deeply this morning and had no idea where they had gone.

I could not quite figure out whether they simply did not want to trouble me or if they never truly considered me one of their own. After all, once I confirmed they had no malicious intentions toward me, I had regarded them as comrades—partners with whom I could work hard and strive together.

Yet every time, they seemed determined to exclude me from their affairs. How was this any different from the solitary life I lived before?

Of course, had it been just this single incident, I might have dismissed it as my own overactive imagination. But there was something even more bizarre: the drinks and cigarettes left near the entrance of the upper treehouse had diminished in quantity... Truthfully, I did not care overly much about these items; had they simply asked, I would have generously given them away, just as I shared my drinks with them when they first arrived.

I never expected them to take things stealthily. No matter how one looked at it, these were hard-earned supplies that I had acquired entirely on my own. What difference was there between taking them without a word and outright theft? Or perhaps they were simply accustomed to acting this way? Yet, judging by Brother Qian and the others, none of them seemed like that kind of person. Midakang, however, was quite likely to do such a thing, seeing as he had always been a reclusive individual who disliked communicating with others.

In my experience, people like him generally possessed an extremely strong sense of pride. He was probably afraid of being refused if he asked me for them directly—an outcome he simply could not accept—so he chose to take them quietly. Aside from him, none of the others I had interacted with seemed capable of stealing.

The accumulation of these events left me genuinely annoyed. We had agreed to start digging traps the moment the rain stopped, yet not a single one of them was anywhere to be found, and even the axes and knives had been taken away.

Still, I was not going to sit around foolishly waiting for them. The tile blanks underneath the shed had not dried; instead, a significant amount of rainwater had splashed onto them during the storm, pitting their surfaces and noticeably lowering their quality. There was no way to fix them now. It was impossible to add more soil on top or attempt to smooth them out, especially since the surfaces had already dried considerably and could no longer be leveled.

What bothered me even more was the pit I had dug for firewood. Being situated near the edge, it had filled with a considerable amount of water, which was quite a headache. It was at least a shin-deep puddle—an awkward depth where bailing it out would be a hassle requiring me to climb down, yet leaving it meant the water would ruin the tiles when I fired them. Upon reflection, however, the tile blanks were still wet and would take quite a while to dry anyway, so there was no immediate urgency. I simply grabbed some dry firewood and tossed it into the pit. If the tile blanks dried completely by tomorrow, much of the moisture would be absorbed, and the earth would slowly soak up the rest. By then, I wouldn't need to worry about it.

If possible, I would have liked to move the tile blanks out of the shed, as it was far too damp inside. The wind outside was quite brisk; leaving them to blow in the wind for a day would surely speed up the drying process. Unfortunately, the moment I tried to move the first tile blank, it snapped directly in half. Such half-dried blanks were exceptionally fragile and completely unsuited for transport. With no other choice, I had to leave them right where they were to dry.

I also inspected the courtyard fence from end to end, and it remained fully intact. Although wild boars occasionally wandered near, none had breached the yard since I killed that massive one. Otherwise, repairing those fences yet again would have been an endless annoyance.

While inspecting the fence, I stumbled upon a pleasant surprise: several vines had sprouted along the barrier. Though still very small, they had already begun climbing the woodwork. This was undoubtedly a good thing. Vines grew rapidly, and perhaps within a month, they would cover the entire fence. It seemed I ought to plant more vines around the perimeter, as they formed the simplest and most natural barrier.

Such vine seedlings would be sprouting in abundance in the post-rain forest, making them easy to gather. Although my knife and axe had been taken away, I still had my Swiss Army knife. While the efficiency would be lower, I could still dig some up. Given the current size of the courtyard, I would need at least ten more vines, but since the yard was destined for expansion, I only needed to dig up three for now and plant them by the fence behind my treehouse.

The post-rain forest was still choked with standing water, splashing generously with every step. Countless tiny insects fluttered about everywhere. What gave me the most headache, however, was what lay beneath the rotting leaves... all sorts of creatures. With my very first step, I nearly trod on a venomous snake; its vibrant colors and triangular head gave me a tremendous fright, and I yanked my foot back just in time. There were also multi-colored frogs, lizards, centipedes, and various other creatures hiding beneath the fallen foliage. The further I went, the more alarmed I became, forcing me to tread with the utmost caution.

Looking at the hard-earned vine seedlings in my hand, I couldn't help but sigh with emotion! To get these few seedlings, I had ventured so dangerously close to peril... By the time I finished planting them, it was nearly noon, and I was starving. Yet there was still no sign of the others, nor any word from them.

Our previously stored pork and other provisions had all been eaten, leaving me with practically no ingredients. I thought about eating some fruit to tide me over, but Blackie seemed to be in a mood and refused to eat the fruit. Instead, it clamped its jaws onto my trouser leg and kept trying to drag me down to the lower level of the treehouse. I naturally understood its intent—it was probably holding out for a better meal...

Softening at the sight of its behavior, I decided to whip up a bowl of lard-mixed rice. To be honest, I wanted to eat it myself, too... Blackie had thoroughly enjoyed the lard-mixed rice last time, licking the small basin completely clean.

Lightning was now able to scamper around everywhere, its four little legs growing quite strong. Although its teeth were not yet sharp enough to eat such heavy food, it enjoyed munching on fruit quite happily. Yet it was a rather picky eater, generally consuming only the sweetest part of the fruit and discarding the rest on the ground... I was utterly speechless.

I had witnessed its kin devour a snake at incredible speed last time. Logically speaking, it should grow up to be a meat-eater as well, right? Watching Lightning happily gnaw on a piece of fruit nearby, I fell into deep thought. Surely I wouldn't end up raising this little fellow into a strict fruitarian, would I? No, I had to find an opportunity to get a snake and let it have a taste...