Neighbors in forbidden land

Chapter 9

By the time Yimi and I walked to the open space where I lay down every day, the sun had already slowly set with our steps.

The light of the sun will change its color with time, just like the sky will change its color with the sun, just like the sea water will change its color with our swaying.

The slowly setting sun above the skyline casts an orange glow on the desolate land.This color is very similar to Yimi's hair, as if adding a gleam of light, covering Yimi's body.

After hearing my words, Yimi stopped in her tracks.

This is where I usually stay.

A piece of ground that is quite sunken because I often lie here, and there are no plants here.

I killed them all by accident.

To be trampled to death by my foot, or to be blown off by my tail in its entirety.

There are only traces of my stay here, the huge pit pressed out by my body, and the blurred footprints left in the pit.

Others, nothing.

"Are you here? Hey... I'm really curious what kind of place you usually live in, Xiao Hei. Is there a small wooden house? Ah, maybe it's made of stones?" Yimi stretched out a finger and tapped her own face, said with a slight smile.

"...No? So is it made of vines? Just like my clothes?" Yimi said while gently shaking the hem of her cloak.

"..."

There is no such thing as what Yimi said and thought.

"So where do you sleep at night, Xiao Hei?"

I don't sleep at night, I lie here, listening to the wind blowing in the night, watching the rain falling in the night, guarding them growing in the night, those plants that are no longer there.

"... Take the sky as your quilt, and the earth as your bed..." After a long time, Yimi sighed, and slowly uttered these words.

Although I don't quite understand what Yimi said, I still feel that I should be able to nod this time.

Although she can't see it.

"Then where do I rest at night?"

Yimi is a human being.

fragile humans.

Maybe it is more fragile than these plants on the ground.

She needs food, she needs food, she needs a place to live like other humans.

So... There is no way for her to live like me.

There are too many places to pay attention to, and there are too many things I don't know.

So where I live... I think about it...

Although she said that a house for human habitation can be built with wood and stone, but such a thing is impossible to do with my pair of dexterous claws.

So what I can do is...

"Xiao Hei? Are you still there?"

"Well... it's fine to be here."

As long as I remain silent for a little longer, Yimi will not be able to judge where I am.

I'm different from human beings, I don't need to breathe, so as long as I don't move, and communicate with her in Yimi's head through consciousness, if she doesn't touch me or see me... But then again, the residence...

I suddenly remembered something.

Remember the words a long time ago, human beings did not build houses from the very beginning.

Humans at that time were...

"Huh? Where?"

"Is that so..." Yimi slowly turned to the left, and then took a step.

During the time Yimi walked forward, her shadow and I were stretched longer and longer under the reflection of the sun that was gradually setting towards the skyline.

"Huh...Xiao Hei? What time is it?"

I can only roughly judge the time of day by the position of the sun.

"I think so too..." Yimi sighed softly, then bypassed the pit in front of her, and continued to pace forward, "Then where is the sun now..."

"Is it almost night... Xiao Hei, where is the place you mentioned... Has it arrived yet..."

Yimi's voice became weaker and weaker, and every step forward seemed to be very strenuous, and her body would shake as if she was about to fall down at any time.

Are you tired...

I don't get tired, but Yimi, who is human, does.

"It's okay...Xiao Hei, please tell me where the place you mentioned is first."

But Yimi didn't look like "all right" as she said.

"Then... hold on..." Yimi gritted her teeth and stepped forward step by step.

In front of me, it is a mountain, and it can be regarded as a mountain higher than mine, about a hundred meters away.

In fact, it is not far from the very high mountain where I write my diary, and it is only a few steps away for me.

But for Yimi, this distance will take many, many steps.

"Xiao Hei...is it here..." The wobbly Yimi could hardly even stand still.

"Okay...then I turned around and you pay attention to yourself...hey..."

Yimi slowly sat down on the spot with her legs together, and waved her hands with her back to the front.

"Hurry up, hurry back... Phew... I'm exhausted... My legs hurt... My feet hurt..."

Seeing that Yimi, who no longer cared about it, sat directly on the ground, I listened to her and took a step closer to the mountain.

Remember that humans who have not built houses in the past also lived in caves.

The mountain in front of me does not have a place that can be called a cave.

Then dig one.

I lowered my paws, pierced into the bottom of the mountain in front of me, and with a slight twist, I dug a hole at the bottom of the mountain, and then threw the dug out rocks and soil aside.

After repeated light digging a few times in this way, a cave came out.

Fortunately, I didn't use too much force, otherwise the mountain may collapse directly... I should be able to live in this way... I lay down, put my black hole-like eyes to the entrance of the cave that was dug out, and confirmed Look at the size of the space inside.

It doesn't look too small...should be enough for Yimi to live in.

I turned around and returned to Yimi's side one step at a time:

"Okay...well——" Yimi gritted her teeth, stood up with her hands supporting her trembling body, "then continue...Xiao Hei, you should stand behind me..."

As if he didn't even have the strength to answer, Yimi turned around unsteadily, and walked towards the cave I dug step by step.

Under my command step by step, Yimi finally stepped into the cave I dug.

Then he sat sideways on the ground as if he had collapsed, propped the ground with one hand, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the other hand, his chest heaving continuously.

"Finally... it's here... I'm really exhausted today... I've never walked so much before..."

Seeing Yimi finally relaxed, I couldn't help shaking my tail.

"Where is this place..." Yimi calmed her breathing, and gently picked up a small piece of gravel with her hands, "The ground is full of stones and dirt...It's so rough..."

"Cave? Cave... No wonder the smell of soil is so strong..."

There's a smell... I can't smell it after all, so I don't know for sure.

"Little black?"

"I'm thirsty, get some water, remember not to get sea water..." Yimi, who finally recovered a little, asked me to find water, but she still didn't forget to remind me not to do anything wrong.

No matter how I say it, I won’t look for seawater again, eh.

It is obviously impossible for Yimi, who is already exhausted, to spend a lot of time with me back to drink water, but how I will get the water back is another problem.

"Over there...if only we could dig a ditch to bring the water over there..."

"Ah, I want to live here anyway, right? As long as we can dig a river from there all the way to this side, we can bring the water in, so we don't have to go back and forth... But no matter how you think about it, it's impossible... Only Xiao Hei If you are alone."

Is there such a method?

did not expect.

This is indeed a good way.

"...Come back soon."

I took one last look at Yimi who was resting safely in the cave, and turned around to go to the hole I dug before.

In fact, it's only a few steps. It takes a lot of time to follow Yimi's words, but it takes only a few steps to reach mine.

Of course, there is another reason...there has gradually become a lake, which is much larger than when we left before, and the clear and transparent water is now covered with a faint orange glow.I stuck a claw tip into the ground and dug a dent from the "lake", and the water flooded over the dent I dug.

Oh oh, then there is no problem, this is the river ditch that Yimi mentioned, right?

I continued to use the tip of my claws to draw a ditch on the ground leading directly to the cave, and watched the water in the "lake" move along the direction of my claws.

Is this the reason why humans can survive to this day?

Even if the environment is difficult, you can also think of ways to change the environment.

"Xiao Hei, you moved so fast, did you get the water back?" Yimi was still sitting in the cave, arranging her long light orange hair with her hands.

"No way? Blackie, you...alone?"

Although I knew she couldn't see it, I nodded.

"How is this possible...how can it be so fast to dig a ditch from here to there...magic?" Yimi stopped the movement of her hands, but asked as if she couldn't believe what I said.

I seem to have done another thing that ordinary humans can't do without magic.

My strength is indeed... great.

"Great strength...the reason why you dig so fast?" Yimi still seemed unwilling to believe it.

Halfway through, I realized that Yimi couldn’t see me, and I hurriedly changed my words.

"Is that so..." Yimi slowly got up from the ground, patted the ashes on her body and cloak, and walked out of the cave step by step.

When Yimi's feet touched the water overflowing from the ditch, the expression on her face changed slightly.

Then she crouched down slowly and reached into the ditch I had dug.

"It's so cold..."

"Well... I can't see that you move so fast, Xiao Hei, so let me praise you—"

I scratched my head with my paws, I'm pretty good at that kind of thing.

After all... that's all I can do.

You can only do this well.

"—But... I said I could dig a ditch and you dug a ditch. Why are you so stupid?"

is there any problem?

"What about 'ah'? You just dig a ditch to come here and it will be flooded for a while? You must dig a ditch back to ensure the water circulation?"

In my case, I will never think about the next step.

"I'm really convinced, Xiao Hei, you're so stupid, okay... If you don't hurry up, the water will almost drown my feet!"

So I continued to extend the tip of my claws along the end of the dug ditch, turned around and led the water back into the lake again.

Finally, before the night fell, I followed Yimi's instructions to make repairs, and finally ensured the water supply at the entrance of the cave. "But...if I'm the only one without your help..."