Chapter 2: Chapter 2
To be fair, this man had finely chiseled features, deep-set eyes, a high-bridged nose, and a face like a perfectly sculpted work of art. When his face was expressionless, he exuded an imposing aura without being angry, but when he smiled, it made the sky suddenly seem brighter. His looks were enough to outshine a crowd of pretty boys and tall, handsome oppas.
And his skin was a healthy wheat color. His bare upper body boasted perfect chest muscles akin to those of a bodybuilding champion seen on TV, with eight-pack abs resembling chocolate. What's more, this man was nearly six feet tall, with a pair of long legs that were also proportionally well-built and powerful. Despite Emily finding herself in an unfamiliar time and place, she couldn't help but admit that this man exuded a strong masculine aura with every move he made, radiating ultimate sexiness from within.
Even though Emily was superficially inclined, even though she came from an open-minded society, deep down she was still traditional and conservative. She wasn't open-minded enough to engage in intimacy with a stranger, no matter how handsome or hormone-inducing he might be.
"Ahh—don't come near me! I'll hit you!" Emily screamed loudly, trying to sound tough, her heart pounding wildly.
The man stood still, murmuring a few words in a calm tone, but Emily couldn't understand a single word!
He pointed at Emily, then pointed at a white fox fur hanging on the wall, and said a few more words in his incomprehensible language. Emily remained nervous, staring at him, utterly bewildered.
Seeing Emily's cracked lips, the man frowned slightly, turned around, picked up a bamboo tube from the wall, drank some water from it, then pointed at the bamboo tube, gesturing for Emily to drink.
Emily remained unmoved, still staring at the man intently.
After a brief stare-off, the man didn't press the issue further. He turned around, strode out of the room with his long legs, and closed the door behind him.
Emily nervously approached the door, listening carefully for any sounds outside. She quietly opened the bamboo door a crack and saw that there was indeed no one outside. Emily tried pushing the bamboo door open a bit more and found that the man hadn't locked it.
She wasn't tied up, nor was she confined. Although the man had acted impulsively, he hadn't made any overly aggressive moves towards her. What was going on?
Did this mean she had some personal freedom?
Wasn't this man going to eat her?
Or did he mean to "eat" her?
Emily's heart settled slightly.
However, looking through the bamboo door at the various round semi-subterranean houses in the distance and the tall, muscular men and women moving between them, and then at her own slender arms and legs, coupled with the language barrier, any sense of relief Emily had felt was instantly suppressed.
So thirsty! After hesitating for a moment, Emily still took the bamboo tube the man had drunk from earlier and gulped down the water. Now was not the time to be picky about whether it had been purified or not. But the water tasted slightly sweet, untainted by industrial pollution, which was quite good.
The man hadn't violated her. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She'd wait until nightfall to find another opportunity to escape!
Before Emily could finish surveying the room for anything else that could provide her with security, the man's voice sounded outside the door, accompanied by two knocks on the bamboo door.
Emily held the wooden stick defensively, wary, and saw the man open the door and walk in.
Seeing that Emily was still wearing the strange, damp clothes, the man furrowed his brow...
The man muttered a few words again, pointing to the well-preserved white fox fur hanging on the wall, then gestured towards Emily's wet clothes. This time, Emily finally understood the man's meaning. It turned out he wanted her to take off her wet clothes and put on the white fox fur. She nodded at the man, eliciting another dazzling smile from him.
The man walked to the door, pointing at the wooden latch, leaving Emily puzzled. He then walked out again, prompting Emily to realize that he probably wanted her to latch the door.
It seemed that this man meant no harm. Emily breathed a deep sigh of relief and latched the bamboo door.
Having been tense and fearful all along, Emily now felt relieved, but she also felt the discomfort of the cold, wet clothes clinging to her body.
There were no windows in the room, and the light came in through the gap between the two layers of the roof.
With the bamboo door securely latched, Emily hesitated for a moment before taking down the white fox fur from the wall. She took off her short-sleeved t-shirt, leaving her innerwear untouched, and draped the white fox fur over herself. Her shorts were still damp, but with no other coverings available, Emily chose to keep them on.
The sunlight outside was just right, so drying her clothes should be quick. However, Emily didn't dare to go outside with just the fox fur on. Instead, she wrung out her short-sleeved t-shirt by the drain in the room until it was dry, then hung it on a bamboo pole.
The fox fur wasn't easy to secure. Emily had to hold it with one hand, which was inconvenient. Moreover, if the man called "Mo" returned, she would be defenseless.
She couldn't stay at this man's house for long. Although the man hadn't done anything inappropriate to her so far, Emily had a gut feeling that staying around this man, exuding male hormones, was very dangerous.
She needed to leave as soon as possible!
In addition to temporarily securing the fox fur, she also needed to prepare for escaping at night!
The fox fur provided excellent insulation, making Emily feel hot and sweaty quickly. After some thought, she wrapped the fox fur around her body from under her armpits, tucking the excess parts inside. This temporarily secured the fur and allowed her shoulders to be exposed, providing some relief from the heat, and freeing up her hands.
There were several stones by the door. Emily picked up a few and placed them next to the "nest" for easy access.
Sitting back in the "nest," with the long wooden stick used for self-defense placed by her side, Emily occasionally glanced warily at the door. She pulled out some evenly thick strands of grass from the "nest" and twisted them into thicker ropes.
As the grass was running out, Emily connected new ones to continue twisting. Seeing that the length was probably enough to tie up the man, she quietly hid the thick rope at the bottom of the "nest" under the remaining grass.
At that moment, a "ding—" sounded in her mind, followed by a mechanical and emotionless voice: "Congratulations, Master, for making a simple grass rope. You have earned 10 copper coins, 1 experience point, and triggered the crafting system newbie mission—Weaving a Rush Cushion."
Emily was startled by this sudden sound but then felt somewhat excited. Although she had crossed over to this inexplicable place, with the system in hand, she should be able to avoid danger and thrive, right?
"System, what are copper coins used for? What are experience points used for? I heard the system implanted when I woke up, why is it only triggering now?"
The system remained silent.
"System, hello? Dear system? Hellooo? Open sesame?"
After multiple attempts, the system still didn't respond, leaving Emily almost thinking that the mechanical sound just now was her imagination.
Emily was at her wit's end. What kind of luck was this, encountering a system that couldn't interact with her?
She closed her eyes and calmed her mind, visualizing a virtual projection screen appearing in her mind, displaying information in a simple format.
In the center of the screen was a large circle with the words "Crafting System" written inside. Below this circle was a line of small text stating: "Gold coins: 0, Silver coins: 0, Copper coins: 10, No redeemable items."
Clicking on the words "Crafting System" in her consciousness, she entered a more detailed page.
Crafting System Level: 0 Experience Points: 1 Current Task: Weave a Rush Cushion Required Materials: Rush Grass Completion Rewards: 100 Copper coins, 10 Experience Points, Newbie Gift Pack Crafting Method: ...
Emily's eyes lit up. A newbie gift pack? What could be in it?
She had played online games before, where leveling up and defeating monsters usually rewarded players with weapons and clothing. If the system gave her a knife, she would feel more confident about escaping at night.
Excited as she was, Emily didn't forget her predicament. She needed to tie up the man and escape at night, so she had to make more simple grass ropes!
Ignoring the incessant growling of her stomach signaling mealtime, she didn't know when the man would return, so she had to finish making these grass ropes before he came back.
Just as she had made three ropes, she heard Mo's voice outside the door. Emily quickly hid the ropes she was working on in the soft grass, stood up immediately, and tightly gripped the wooden stick, assuming a defensive stance, while also ensuring the stones were at her feet.
Although the man hadn't made any inappropriate moves towards her before, his presence and aura were too strong. For Emily, the moment he entered the room, a sense of threat emerged.
The bamboo door was tapped twice, then opened, and the tall figure of Mo walked in, holding two thick bamboo tubes in his hands.
At a glance, the man saw a fearful and cautious woman wrapped in a strange manner.
Two thin black straps on Emily's snow-white delicate shoulders accentuated her porcelain-like fair skin, with her slender arms and graceful swan-like neck and elegant collarbones. It made his breath hitch.
Especially paired with her fearful and cautious expression and those watery big eyes, even though he prided himself on his self-control, he couldn't help but gulp down some saliva with difficulty.
The man cautiously approached step by step, but Emily, trying to suppress her trembling, still took a step back.
Seeing Emily's appearance, the man felt a little helpless. He leaned the two long bamboo tubes against the wall and muttered something to Emily again, then pointed to the long bamboo tubes.
Then the man sat down a little further away from Emily, showing his white teeth, smiling "friendly" at her.
Emily couldn't understand what the man was saying, but from his body language, he seemed to be asking her to look at the two bamboo tubes.
Emily had no curiosity at all. She stood still in place, heavily guarded against the man.
She didn't believe the man was genuinely "friendly"; it felt more like "coating the bullet with sugar."
The man smiled for a while, his handsome face somewhat stiffening. Seeing the petite and pretty woman still holding the wooden stick and staring at him with vigilance, he simply stood up and walked to the two bamboo tubes, picking one up.
Emily kept her eyes on the man and then noticed that each bamboo tube had a pair of straight bamboo pieces inside—clearly chopsticks.
Was there food in the bamboo tubes?
Emily only felt her stomach growling even louder.
The man took the chopsticks out and sat back on the wooden stump beside the stone table, once again flashing a "friendly" smile at Emily before digging into the food in the bamboo tube.
The food scraped out of the bamboo tube appeared to be golden-yellow grains the size of mung beans, mixed with chopped green vegetable leaves.
Seemingly a mixture of vegetables, corn, and rice steamed in the bamboo tube, to Emily, who had eaten the eight major cuisines of her country and various styles of foreign cuisine in the 21st century, this kind of food seemed utterly perfunctory!
However... Emily couldn't help but swallow her saliva... It was a normal physiological reaction; she couldn't blame herself, sobbing... Mom, I'm so hungry!
Even so, Emily resisted the temptation of the food.
Who knew if there was anything fishy in it? She didn't dare to take the risk!
The man ate for about ten minutes, which was the most agonizing time for Emily. To describe it as 'each second felt like a year' would not be an exaggeration. The man's physique and muscles posed a great threat to her, so she had to keep her eyes glued to him for her peace of mind.
But her stomach kept protesting. Every time the man glanced at her, looking like he was enjoying the food immensely, she couldn't help but salivate continuously, which was truly torturous.
Once the man finished the food in his bamboo tube, he pointed to the other one and muttered something to Emily again, then gestured towards the door, taking the empty bamboo tube with him as he left.
Emily understood that he was telling her to eat and indicating that he was leaving.
But... she forced herself to swallow her saliva. She had to hold back!
If she couldn't resist, she might lose not only her chastity but also her life, sobbing...
The constant high alertness and intermittent hunger made Emily feel exhausted.
When the man pointed outside, Emily felt that he meant to leave for quite some time.
She used the wooden stick to block the door from the inside, then lay sideways against the soft grass, closed her eyes while gripping the stick, too afraid to fall asleep, just resting her eyes.
But she, who usually used various vehicles for transportation and rarely walked more than five thousand steps on flat roads every day, had walked on rough and uneven paths for so long today, coupled with the scare she had, so when she suddenly relaxed, she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
When the bamboo door was knocked, Emily woke up in a daze, looking at the rudimentary room in front of her, taking several seconds to react.
Seeing that the bamboo door wasn't pushed open and hearing Mo muttering something, presumably asking her to open the door, she felt extremely conflicted.
Should she open the door for the man?
Psychologically, she was unwilling to open the door. The man's height of nearly two meters and his stiff muscles made her feel extremely weak compared to him.
After a few hours, the man hadn't done anything inappropriate to her, and this was someone's home. It seemed inappropriate for her to occupy it like this.
Most importantly, if the man were to forcefully enter the house, could that wooden stick on the other door stop him? Even if it could, Emily herself didn't believe it.
And it might even anger the man...
She gripped the wooden stick tightly, cautiously walked to the door, took out the wooden stick from the other door, tossed it aside, then quickly ran back to the pile of soft grass.
The man was holding a bamboo basket filled with wild fruits, some red and some green.
Seeing Emily's cautious and guarded appearance, he still flashed his trademark smile, pointing to the fruits in the basket.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone