Chapter 242: Reversal

People, indeed, the more you pamper and spoil them, the more delicate they become!

After a whole morning of chaos, they finally made it through the day without incident.

What was puzzling was that on the other side of the trench, all of Yeli’s people had been withdrawn.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Though Sha Yi had doubts in her heart, she relaxed after remembering the task she had entrusted to Kapa.

Saina was also doing relatively well.

After applying the detoxifying herbal paste, he only lay down and slept for half a day. By the afternoon, he was already able to stand and walk around.

Just like when Xi Yi was stabbed by a bone spear, their physical constitutions were strong, and their recovery abilities were remarkable.

However, Saina didn’t come looking for her. In fact, he quickly moved out of the brick house she shared with Xi Yi. Even though his injuries weren’t fully healed, he didn’t say a word about it.

Perhaps he was afraid his presence would be awkward. So, after waking up, he and the few remaining people on his side found a quieter spot outside and settled there temporarily.

Times had changed, and so had everyone’s state of mind. Saina’s tactfulness and Jialuo’s restraint helped avoid many unresolved tensions.

Xi Yi, naturally, didn’t interfere with any of this either. He simply went about his usual routine, cooking food with the others.

As for Saina’s side, Tuge would occasionally check on him and take care of him. Originally, there had been friction between Tuge and Saina, but perhaps because Saina had taken a bone spear meant for Kapa, Tuge’s opinion of him changed. Of course, it might also have been an attempt to make up for Jialuo’s mistakes. Otherwise, Tuge wouldn’t have taken it so much to heart, nor would he have gone out of his way to deliver food to him.

Jialuo remained as clingy as ever, always scheming ways to stick to her, his shamelessness unchanged from before.

However, he no longer targeted Xi Yi at every turn, nor did he ostracize Saina.

For dinner, Sha Yi once again ate the dish Tuge had come up with—shrimp cooked with rice. After finishing, she went to sleep.

She didn’t sleep in the brick house she shared with Xi Yi. Due to the lingering smell of blood, they had temporarily given it to Saina and Tuge, while she and Xi Yi moved to Xigu’s place.

Having barely slept the previous night and exhausted from the day’s events, she was truly tired.

Xi Yi was the same.

Ever since Yeli arrived, he had been unsettled. Not to mention, the past few days had been filled with one thing after another. At some point, a peaceful night’s sleep had become a luxury.

Originally, they shouldn’t have had so many messy problems.

Thinking about it, even she found it hard to believe that in such an era, there could still be so much scheming and conflicts over the slightest disagreement.

Looking back, she even found it somewhat unbelievable, yet it also seemed entirely reasonable.

Just like in the beginning—before and at the start of the rainy season—she had lived peacefully with him. But later, problems gradually piled up.

Before the first conflict, she had always assumed everyone would treat others with the same pure heart as Xi Yi. But when problems arose, she realized that wasn’t the case.

What she had perceived as purity was merely the customary way of expression for people in ancient times.

Living together in a settlement—cohabiting—meant people from different places with different habits would never fully merge into one. Friction in daily life was inevitable.

Moreover, if not for the terrifying rainy season, they might not have chosen to live together in the first place.

This was the budding stage of communal living under natural conditions.

Then came Jialuo’s intrusion—an unexpected variable. Though there had been unpleasantness and even deep grudges, they eventually reconciled.

Yet because of this one person, Saina ended up leaving their group.

This could be considered the transition from fragmentation to unity.

Then there was Yeli, who migrated here with the sole intention of annexing smaller groups, securing the highest position for himself, and deciding the fate of others.

Analyzing it, Yeli was indeed ruthless, but this also aligned with the trajectory of historical development.

Only with ambition would people strive and create, leading to better days.

Otherwise, they would forever remain in a backward state, helpless against the harsh conditions of nature, paying the heaviest price.

Now, even without Yeli, they would still need to unite into a single entity. Living in separate groups would only lead to dwindling human numbers.

The formation of tribes was an inevitable product of survival, and the matriarchal and patriarchal systems would inevitably clash first.

Only the fittest would survive!

She only hoped this transformation wouldn’t be too cruel and would end sooner rather than later.

Having sorted out her thoughts, Sha Yi felt at ease. Nestled in the arms of the already sleeping man, she slowly drifted off.

In the middle of the night, Sha Yi was startled awake by a series of loud noises.

By then, Xi Yi was no longer by her side. Through the simple wooden window, she saw chaos outside the brick house, but she couldn’t make out the specifics.

Sitting in stunned silence for a moment, Sha Yi felt a growing unease.

Subconsciously, she suspected Yeli had stirred up trouble again, but she was reluctant to believe it.

Unless Kapa had failed in her task—but was that possible?

Before, just a handful of dry grass from Jialuo had been enough to disorient everyone in their new settlement’s cave. Would it really have no effect on Yeli’s people now?

Or had Yeli been wary of Kapa all along, preventing her from acting?

There were too many possibilities, too many uncertainties. After much deliberation, she still couldn’t figure out the reason. Frustrated, Sha Yi got up.

Just as she removed the door, she ran into Jialuo, who had been trying to break it down.

At that moment, his face was full of urgency. Seeing her, he grew even more impatient: “There’s trouble with Yeli’s side. It seems Kasan and Kapa have been captured by Yeli. And some of his people sneaked over here in the middle of the night—several of my people have already been taken.”

Her heart tightened in alarm. “What exactly happened? How do you know this?”

“Some of Manlun’s people were left in my group. Though I’ve been on guard, I was still too careless. Who knew they’d join forces tonight? I was counting on Kapa to succeed.” Jialuo frowned deeply. “Actually, it was Saina who alerted us. His people seem to have been keeping an eye on Yeli’s movements, but Tuge was still captured. I don’t know where they took him.”

“What about Xi Yi?” she asked anxiously. “Where is he?”

“He took some people to chase after Yeli and told me to inform you.” Despite trying to suppress his emotions, Jialuo’s face was filled with anger. “He wouldn’t let me go!”

Xi Yi was right not to let Jialuo go. He was impulsive, quick-tempered, and aggressive. While he could usually scheme a little, when it came to Tuge, he was completely irrational.

Tuge was his weakness, and with things going wrong again and again, Jialuo’s rage would be uncontrollable. Letting him go would only make things worse.

But if Tuge was captured, what about Saina?

To make it easier to care for Saina, Xi Yi had arranged for Tuge to stay with him. Now that Tuge was taken, where was the other person who had been in the same room?

Thinking this, she hurriedly asked, “Tuge was captured—have you seen Saina?”

“I haven’t—”

“I’m fine.” The half-spoken words were interrupted as another person stepped out slowly from behind Jialuo. “When they took Tuge, I happened to be outside and missed it. By the time I returned to the house, Tuge was already gone. I went out to look and ran into someone who had seen Yeli’s people.”

Under the firelight, Saina’s face still looked pale, though better than in the morning. At that moment, he was looking at her with concern.

“Tonight’s events are indeed strange.”

“Perhaps it’s not so strange. It’s very possible Yeli’s plans run deeper than we imagined. There might even be schemes we can’t guess.” Shaking his head, Saina didn’t entirely agree with her, but he hesitated to say more.

Sha Yi was puzzled.

Jialuo also noticed Saina’s expression but couldn’t hold back his impatience. “If you’ve got something to say, spit it out!”

“First, the task you entrusted to Kapa—she likely failed, or was discovered from the start.”

“How so?” Jialuo pressed.

“You only considered the possibility of Manlun’s people among your own, but forgot that Yeli has Manlun himself. That dry grass comes from your side—Manlun couldn’t have been unaware of it. Even if he didn’t know at first, once its effects became apparent, he would recognize it. He might even have an antidote. That’s the biggest issue.” Turning to Jialuo, Saina continued calmly, “Also, though you were cautious about the people around you, you were too hesitant and overlooked their determination to betray you. Such half-hearted caution is useless. You should’ve made a decision long ago, not now.”

Saina’s words left Jialuo’s face dark with anger.

But Saina wasn’t finished. Turning back, he looked at Sha Yi again. “I don’t know if you’ve considered this—though they took Tuge, it’s possible he wasn’t their real target. It might’ve been a stopgap measure, or a last resort.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know where Tuge was sleeping tonight.” Saina gave a faint smile. “That was originally your and Xi Yi’s house. I think their real target was you, but by chance, you had moved out that day.”

Sha Yi’s heart skipped a beat as she froze in realization.

Unconcerned with whether she understood, Saina pressed on: “You also need to consider—the trench is some distance from the houses. They couldn’t see clearly, and with so many similar houses, how did they identify the right one?”