Uziel wanted to say that the four of them had just managed to get enough food to eat and probably couldn't take care of a baby.
Some families, when they gave birth to a baby girl and didn't want her, would leave her deep in the mountains. Uziel thought Paige must have seen one of those little cuties.
Although, he didn't think babies were cute at all.
There was only one wild horse. It looked like it had been separated from the herd.
It didn't dare go to the pond to drink water and just ate grass nearby to get moisture.
When Paige saw it was alone, she wanted even more to take it home.
In a time without cars, this would be a perfect way to get around.
From the village to the town, it took two hours to walk, but riding a horse would take less than half an hour.
In the future, she wouldn't have to waste time on the road anymore.
Paige slowly released her spiritual energy to connect with the wild horse.
The horse felt uneasy and neighed because it sensed a strange presence.
But it couldn't figure out where the feeling was coming from. It was like the presence was all around its body.
After it finally got used to it, Paige happily walked toward it.
Uziel nervously pulled on Paige. Wild horses had bad tempers and could kick people at any moment.
"Good baby, come home with big sister," Paige said gently as she walked over and stroked the horse's head, praising it.
The horse rubbed its head against Paige's palm obediently. So she was the one who gave off that comforting presence.
The energy she gave off was just so likable.
That evening, Paige managed to take down five wild boars and a wolf without a single fight.
The two of them returned home with a full load.
When Ely saw his big sister and Uziel each dragging a huge wild boar back, he was so shocked he almost screamed.
Then he got excited. The four of them started working nonstop through the night.
They boiled water, drained the blood, removed the hair, and cut the meat. Everything was done in an organized way.
The four of them had been busy all night. When the sky began to lighten, Ely finally noticed the wild horse standing nearby.
"Paige, Paige, look, there's a horse here!" Ely quietly ran to Paige's side and pointed at the wild horse.
"That's Seven. It came home with me yesterday," Paige glanced at Seven and replied casually.
Ely looked at Paige in shock.
It wasn't clear if he was shocked that Paige had somehow brought a horse back, or shocked that the horse wasn't tied up yet didn't run away, or shocked that…
Since they had a horse last night, why did they still drag the wild boar back themselves?
Isn't a horse supposed to carry things?
No man dislikes horses, and Ely was no exception.
He slowly moved toward the horse. Seeing that it didn't reject him, he carefully got closer.
When the horse snorted loudly and nervously stepped forward twice, Ely stopped.
It was still dark, so he had to get close to see the horse clearly. Once he saw it properly, he realized the problem.
This horse was way too skinny, and it even had wounds. No wonder his sister didn't dare to use it.
She was probably worried that putting the wild boar on it would kill the horse.
"Paige, this horse—Seven is hurt!" Ely said with concern.
"It's fine, just small wounds. It'll be better in a few days.
It's mostly just hungry. If you have time, try to find more grass for it to eat. After eating well and resting a few days, it'll be fine to ride."
It was cold, so it naturally ate less, and it also had to stay alert for all kinds of dangers.
Without its herd, it had to rely on its own alertness both day and night. After a while, that would wear down anyone.
It managed to survive this long only because it was fast.
It escaped death many times. The wounds on its body healed and got hurt again and again.
Honestly, its life was full of sad stories.
Then, it followed this two-legged creature who had shown it kindness and came home with her.
Because Paige said they could have enough food to eat.
Ely heard that and suddenly felt energized, even after a whole night of hard work. He picked up his basket and small hoe, then went nearby to dig for wild grass.
It was the middle of winter, and green leaves were really hard to find.
After digging for two hours, he only managed to fill one basket with different kinds of wild grass.
Ely slowly walked over to Seven and softly said, "Seven, Seven, I brought you some grass. If I give it to you, can I touch you?"
Seven didn't respond.
"If you don't answer, I'll take it as a yes. That means you can't take it back later," Ely said as he walked toward Seven.
Seven lifted its head and glanced at Ely. He stopped moving immediately and quickly held up the basket to show Seven.
"Look, I got you something tasty. Let me touch you, okay?"
Seven looked into the basket, stepped closer to Ely, and slowly started eating.
Ely wiped his palms on his clothes a couple of times, then carefully reached out and gently touched Seven's head.
"Ahhhh!!! I touched Seven!" Ely kept his word. He said he'd only touch once, and he did just that.
Satisfied, he hugged his hand and walked away.
The food, the pork stew, was ready. He could smell the delicious aroma.
His stomach growled loudly. He hadn't eaten all night and was starving.
"Go wash your hands and eat," Winn said when he saw Ely walking over with a silly grin.
"Oh!" Ely looked at his hand. He had just touched Seven and didn't really want to wash it.
He paused for a second, then ran quickly to the water basin and carefully washed his hands.
He could touch Seven anytime. Filling his stomach came first.
Everyone happily ate the pork stew, but Paige sat to the side with a frown, lost in thought.
Something was wrong. This power was strange.
Logically, she had used her powers quite a bit in the past couple of days. There should've been some improvement, but why did it feel like she was stuck?
Could it be because she lost her virginity before turning 20?
No, that didn't make sense. This body was naturally born, not genetically modified. There shouldn't be any hidden self-destructing genes.
Besides, it was because she lost her virginity that the power was released in the first place!
???
Released?
Could it be that in this life, she wasn't supposed to train to gain powers, but instead, she was meant to release them?
She wasn't sure yet. She needed to observe more.
While thinking about it, Paige ate three big bowls. The food in this world was just too delicious.
It must be because she saved humanity in her previous life and gained a lot of good karma. That's why the heavens gave her a chance to enjoy life.
After eating and drinking enough—and since last night had been so bloody—Paige wanted to take a bath.
No need to boil water.
There was no bathtub in the cave. Was she supposed to use a basin to slowly wash herself?
Paige went straight to the upstream part of the river, found a hidden spot, took off her clothes, and bathed in the river.
Paige dared to bathe in the river even though it was freezing cold. The other three, while tempted, didn't dare to try it.
With this weather, getting sick would be a huge problem.
So, each of them boiled a basin of water and did a quick wipe-down to clean off the dirt on their bodies.
When they slaughtered the pig earlier, they had moved all the cooking equipment to the riverside, so cleaning up afterward was easy—just rinse everything with river water.
The dirty water flowed downstream with the current.
The pig hair and other trash were buried in a pit.
The three of them looked at the mountain of pork piling up and grinned from ear to ear.
With so much food and meat, they didn't have to worry about this winter at all.
The pork was hanging all over the cave, clinking and clanking.
Because there wasn't enough salt, they had to use different ways to store the pork.
Some pieces were hung up to air-dry naturally, some were buried in the snow to freeze.
Some were placed over the fire to smoke, planning to make smoked meat.
As for the three little wild boars, they were still alive.
Under Paige's pressure with her mental power, they didn't dare to cause trouble and were curled up in the corner, whining softly.
Paige's idea was to keep them alive as long as possible, since they didn't lack meat right now.
Her space couldn't keep things fresh, and killing them all at once would be wasteful because they couldn't eat it all.
"You two go get some rest. Ely and I will go nearby to dig up some wild vegetables and collect firewood," Winn said when he saw Paige return, speaking to the other two.
Winn and Ely had gotten up in the middle of the night, while Uziel and the other had stayed up all night.
Now the house was full of meat, but there were no vegetables. Eating like this for too long wasn't good.
Also, there was now a horse and three little pigs that needed to be fed too.
"Alright, just look around nearby. Shout if anything happens," Uziel said with a yawn to Winn and Ely.
These past few days, following Paige everywhere, they had only picked up firewood on the first day and a bit more later. It was running low.
Not to mention they needed firewood to smoke meat. They needed a lot, and preferably semi-dry wood, which made more smoke when burned.
Inside the cave, two wooden boards were placed in a corner, each with clean, warm quilts on top.
Uziel quickly took off his cotton coat and slipped inside, stretching out comfortably.
It felt amazing.
In his whole life, he had never slept in such a warm bed.
There was a quilt underneath him and one covering him. It felt like luxury.
It was as if he was gently wrapped in a soft cloud. Every inch of his skin felt warm and comforted.
Uziel slowly relaxed, and his mind drifted peacefully into sleep.