With enough wood gathered, the only thing left was
the roof
.
Fortunately, Mu Liang had already
carved grooves into the walls
, making it easier to set up the wooden beams.
Thanks to his
enhanced strength
, the entire process took
only ten minutes
.
“Mu Liang, I’ll handle laying the stone tiles! Just pass them up to me!”
Mino climbed onto the roof
agilely
, her
rabbit ears twitching with excitement
.
Mu Liang handed her a
brick
and
reminded
her:
“Be careful. Watch your footing.”
“Got it!”
Mino
cheerfully
arranged the stone tiles, already
daydreaming
about living in their new home.
By the time they had finished
half the roof
, the sky had
gone dark
.
They
lit a bonfire
in the courtyard for light and
continued working
.
An hour later—
The
roof was complete
.
Xiao Xuanwu used its ability to
fuse the stones together
, ensuring that
even heavy rain wouldn’t cause leaks
.
“We finally finished!”
Mino
jumped off
the roof,
eyes sparkling with excitement
.
She clenched her
small fists
, feeling a mix of
joy and accomplishment
.
The overwhelming
excitement from earlier
had settled into a
warm satisfaction
.
Mu Liang
patted her shoulder
.
“Let’s move in. Time to bring everything over.”
“Mm!”
Mino nodded
vigorously
.
Moving didn’t take long—
After all, she
didn’t have much
.
Her belongings included:
A pillow
A wooden bed board
Two wooden bowls
A wooden bucket
And…
The wooden door from her old hut.
Mino
insisted on taking it
and planned to
install it as her new bedroom door
.
It was a
sentimental piece
, a
symbol of her past life
.
Eventually, the only thing
left behind
was the
structure of the old hut itself
.
Everything else had been
moved
.
Mu Liang
stood at the doorway
, holding a torch.
He silently
watched
as Mino hugged her
pillow
, standing
motionless in the middle of the hut
.
But he didn’t
interrupt
her.
Mu Liang had
no illusions
about finding Mino’s sister.
But he understood—
Keeping
small pieces of their shared past
might bring her
some comfort
.
A moment later, Mino
bit her lip
, turned around, and said softly:
“Let’s go.”
She
clutched her pillow tightly
, her
expression unreadable
.
Who knew if she would ever return to this place again?
Mu Liang
didn’t say anything
.
At this moment,
words were meaningless
.
He simply walked
beside her
, leading her
back to Xiao Xuanwu
.
Even as the
hut disappeared from sight
, Mino
stole glances over her shoulder
several times.
But once they
arrived
at their new home—
Her
mood completely changed
.
Mino
beamed
, running in and out of her new
bedroom
,
examining every corner
.
She clutched her
pillow
and excitedly ran up to Mu Liang.
“This whole room is really mine?!”
Mu Liang
laughed
and nodded.
“Yes. You can decorate it however you like.”
“Hehe~~ Then I’m going to organize everything!”
Mino
giggled happily
and
dashed back inside
to start
setting up her space
.
Meanwhile, Mu Liang turned his attention to
the courtyard
.
They still needed a
proper firepit
for cooking.
His stomach
rumbled
, and he decided to
set it up immediately
.
The process was simple:
A square firepit
, identical to the one from the old hut.
A layer of soil
, followed by
a layer of sand
, for insulation.
A chimney system
, ensuring proper
ventilation
for smoke.
Once the chimney was
secured
, Mu Liang dusted off his hands.
He
grinned
.
“That’s done.”
Then, he chuckled to himself—
“Looks like ‘Earth Spike Burst’ has more uses than I thought.”
He set up
a cooking rack
, hung the
steel pot
, and started
boiling meat soup
.
At the same time, he
placed skewers of meat over the fire
to roast.
At that moment—
A small
nose
twitched in the doorway.
Mino
peeked out
, her
blue eyes wide with surprise
.
She stared at the
firepit
, then at the
simmering soup and roasting meat
.
Her
ears twitched in disbelief
.
Mu Liang smirked.
“Why are you just standing there? Aren’t you hungry?”
“Of course I’m hungry!”
Mino immediately ran over and sat
cross-legged
by the fire.
She
stared eagerly
at the
meat
, but then hesitated—
She wanted to remind Mu Liang to
ration their food
.
But—
When she looked up and saw his
dust-covered face
, she
swallowed her words
.
Instead, she simply asked:
“Is it ready yet?”
Mu Liang raised an eyebrow.
He had
expected
her to
lecture him
on
saving food
.
But instead—
She had
let it slide
.
He smiled.
“Meat soup takes time to absorb the flavors.”
Then, he flipped a skewer over the flames.
Mino hesitated for a moment, then asked:
“You said a group of scouts will come tomorrow, right?”
Mu Liang glanced at her.
“Yes.”
Mino bit her lip.
“So… how do we make it look like the villagers just left?”
Mu Liang turned a skewer, then asked:
“If you were a scout, how would you figure out when people left?”
He didn’t
give her the answer immediately
.
Instead, he wanted her to
think for herself
.
After all—
They were going to
survive together
in this world.
And she needed to
learn
the skills he knew.
Mino
pouted in concentration
, her
rabbit ears tangling together
as she
tried to think
.
She looked down at her
bare feet
and wiggled her toes.
Suddenly—
Her
eyes lit up
.
“Footprints!”
She
beamed
.
“You can tell when people left by looking at their footprints, right?!”
Mu Liang
nodded approvingly
.
“That’s correct. The depth and freshness of footprints can tell you how long ago someone passed by.”
But then, he added:
“However, there’s an even easier way.”
Mino’s
ears perked up
.
“What is it?”
Mu Liang smiled.
“The condition of charcoal and ash.”
He explained:
“By observing how long charcoal takes to burn out, and how long the ground beneath a fire remains warm, you can estimate how recently someone was here.”
Mino’s
eyes sparkled with understanding
.
“That makes sense!”
She
nodded eagerly
Even though she didn’t
fully grasp it yet
, she would
learn
.
Mu Liang handed her a
skewer of roasted meat
.
“Now, eat first. You’ll need energy to work tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
Mino took the skewer
absentmindedly
, still
deep in thought
.
“Snap!”
Mu Liang
flicked her forehead
.
“Ah! That hurt!”
Mino yelped
cutely
.
Mu Liang smirked.
“Focus on eating.”
He handed her a bowl of
hot soup
.
Mino
pouted
but accepted the bowl.
Even as she
sipped the soup
, she kept
thinking about what she had learned
.
Tomorrow, they would
put it to the test
.