Chapter 56

All the way until the sun was about to set, Wenlong and Catherine decided to return to the cave to rest.

Looking back on the day, they not only hunted a beaver and skinned it for some pretty good materials, but also concocted twenty stamina potions, which was quite a bountiful harvest.

Actually, with the amount of bitter bugs and honey Wenlong had, he could have concocted more stamina potions, but after careful consideration, he decided to save some of the bitter bugs for future use.

"Twenty stamina potions, ten to sell and ten to keep for ourselves, should be enough for now... Also, the beaver's fur, because of the strong wind by the river, seems to have dried out quite a bit. We can lay it in the cave tonight..."

"Oh, right, on our way back, we can also pick some wild fruits and vegetables, and there seem to be some wild peppers we can pick for seasoning. After all, eating only roasted meat every day isn't good for the body; the nutrition is too单一. To become an excellent hunter, you need to have a good body, which is absolutely essential... meow."

"Vegetables? I love eggplants and cucumbers, but I don't like peppers..."

"Smack!" Wenlong jumped up and tapped Catherine on the head.

"If you can't even eat peppers, you can't become an excellent hunter! Meow!"

"Eh? What does becoming a hunter have to do with eating peppers?" Catherine was puzzled.

"You'll understand later, silly girl... meow."

Thus, Catherine and Wenlong packed all the materials from their hunt into the Nargacuga's skin, slung it over their shoulders, and walked back while chatting about how they would live in the cave in the future.

Because they stopped to gather some wild fruits and vegetables along the way, by the time they returned to the cave, the sun had already set, and it was time for dinner. So Wenlong prepared the dinner, while Catherine took care of setting up the bed.

Before this, what Wenlong and Catherine called their bed was just a slightly raised area made of stones and dirt, about twenty centimeters above the ground. It was only slightly different from the surrounding ground, essentially no different from the ground itself.

But when Catherine laid the beaver's fur on it, the bed finally looked like a real bed.

"Mr. Cat, I'm going to be the first to try it out!" Catherine said.

"Go ahead, the bed is for sleeping..."

Before Wenlong could finish his sentence, Catherine had already taken off her armor and lay down on it.

"Wow, Mr. Cat, the bed with the beaver's fur is so comfortable, even more comfortable than the beds in the inn in Mirard Village." Excited, Catherine couldn't help but roll around on the bed.

"Hmph, girls are always so easily excited... getting so worked up over a little thing, can't you be a bit more mature and steady? Well, we haven't slept well for a few days in the wild..." Seeing Catherine's excited state, Wenlong grumbled to himself.

But seeing that Wenlong was still focused on preparing dinner, Catherine said, "Mr. Cat, you should try it too, the bed is really comfortable!"

"I'll pass, the meat isn't done yet, and it might burn if I'm not careful, meow."

Although Wenlong said that, Catherine had already sneaked behind him and picked him up.

"It's fine, just for a moment, the meat won't burn..." Then Catherine carried Wenlong to the bed.

"Oh, oh, oh, so comfortable, indeed more comfortable than the inn's bed... meow!" The moment Wenlong touched the soft beaver fur, he also rolled around on the bed, completely forgetting how he had just criticized Catherine. After all, even though Wenlong knew that beaver fur made excellent bedding, he only truly felt its comfort after experiencing it himself.

After rolling around on the bed for a while, Wenlong suddenly thought of something and lay quietly on the beaver fur bed, staring blankly at the top of the cave.

"Is this the life I want? A more exciting hunting life compared to the 9-to-5 job in the city?"

"No supermarkets, no computers, no internet, no TV, no cell phones, all the things I thought I couldn't live without are gone... but I don't seem to miss them much..."

"I just wonder how my parents are doing, and my classmates and friends... Is the me on Earth dead, or in a coma, never to wake up?"

"Really, I've only been away for a few days, and I'm already thinking about these things..."

Thinking about this, Wenlong found himself feeling a bit melancholic.

"Hey, Mr. Cat, what's wrong? Are you thinking about something?" Catherine asked, noticing that Wenlong seemed a bit off.

"No, nothing..." Wenlong quickly denied it, then asked, "Oh, right, woman, do you regret leaving home? Meow?"

"Regret?"

"Uh, I mean, isn't home warmer than this cold cave? Isn't it easier to get food? Isn't it less tiring? And you have friends you've known for a long time, you can visit them whenever you want..."

"No way," Catherine said, "As long as Mr. Cat is here, I feel like nothing will go wrong, or if something does, we can solve it!"

"Am I that reliable?" Wenlong thought to himself.

"During that time when the wild boar attacked us, if it weren't for Mr. Cat, I almost died," Catherine continued, "After that, I felt that Mr. Cat is as gentle as my brother."

"Is that so? Why did no girl ever say that to me when I was human?" Wenlong grumbled to himself again.

"So, compared to the empty home I have now, a place with a brother-like Mr. Cat feels more like home, because Mr. Cat is my family. Even my brother would be happy if he knew I'm with Mr. Cat. And I think this cave is pretty good, there's a river in front, a large open space, and the cave is warm in winter and cool in summer..."

"Hehehe... Hahaha..." Wenlong suddenly laughed.

"Mr. Cat?"

Wenlong said loudly, "Of course, the place I chose, how could it be bad? We can fish in the river in front; we can plant some herbs and vegetables in that open space; with so many wildflowers on the mountain, we can raise bees; and we can dig for some minerals in the mountain, maybe even find some rare minerals. When we have money, we can build a big house by the mountain, and this cave can be used as a storage room for food, herbs, and animal skins and bones... I've been thinking about all this since the first day! Meow!"

"Oh, oh, Mr. Cat is the best!"

Suddenly, Wenlong felt that if he didn't have Catherine around to listen to his boasts, his life in this world would be much less fun.

Unconsciously, Wenlong's melancholy disappeared.