"Just feeling drowsy and drifting in and out of consciousness, she found that most men would go out hunting during the day, while only women remained in the tribe. They sewed animal skins, rubbed bone tools with stones, gathered berries, or gathered together to chat. Everyone revealed their dangling breasts and looked at the tied-up Annie with strange gazes, as if she were the outsider, the monster.
It was another night, and the cool evening breeze slightly comforted her sun-scorched body. She felt her face must be sunburnt, itchy, and very painful. But the worst thing was the lack of water. She hadn't had water for two days, and if she didn't drink soon, she feared she wouldn't survive tonight.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she was on the verge of falling into a coma. Her vision was pitch black, her body was weak, and she could almost not feel her body.
If she fell asleep this way, would she return to the castle and be with her father and mother again? Could she go back to being a noblewoman like before?
She had hallucinations again. She was back in the castle, holding hands with Miss Laura, her governess, as they secretly went horseback riding together. The wind in the mountain gorge blew on her face, the sun was warm, and the grass was lush and green.
Her mother's shadow appeared again. She seemed to be turned sideways and said to her, "I wish it could stay this way forever."
At that time, she didn't understand and asked, "Why can't it stay this way? What will change in the future?"
Her mother smiled and didn't say anything more.
The images gradually faded in color, and Miss Laura's face became increasingly indistinct, while her mother's figure gradually became blurry as well.
Perhaps if she fell asleep, she would see them again...
But reason told her that she couldn't fall asleep. If she slept like this, she would never wake up again!
In the struggle between these two ideas, she constantly rose and fell in the darkness. One moment it was the stinky smell in the air, and the next moment it was the fragrant osmanthus blossoms in the Changyang Palace.
Suddenly, she heard someone patting her.
She struggled to open her eyes and found a little girl with an animal ear standing in front of her. In her hand was a large green fruit that seemed to contain some kind of liquid.
The little girl whispered something to her, and although Annie couldn't understand what she said, she understood the meaning. The little girl wanted to give her this liquid from the large fruit to drink. She lowered her head, and the little girl handed her the fruit around her mouth and carefully fed her. The liquid went down her throat and滋润her parched body that had been thirsty for two days. She felt that it was even more delicious than nectar or ambrosia.
After she finished drinking, the little girl whispered something else, but Annie still couldn't understand. However, she guessed that it might be something like "Don't tell anyone" or so. She was incredibly grateful for this little girl's timely assistance. Without it, she wouldn't have survived tonight. She saved her life.
"Thank you," said Annie even though she knew the little girl wouldn't understand.
Sure enough, a look of confusion passed over the little girl's face but quickly returned to normal. She took the empty large fruit shell and quietly slipped into a tent somewhere and disappeared without a trace like she never even existed.
After drinking the juice from the fruit, Annie finally regained her vitality. She felt much better physically. She stood for a while and then leaned against the wooden post to fall asleep deeply.
Days passed again like this, until one night, the little girl came again to secretly give her fruit to drink and feed her as before. Through this experience with the little girl, Annie learned what "drink" meant in their language. It seemed like the little girl also understood what "thank you" meant because they were able to communicate with each other without words. The little girl smiled at Annie and said something different from yesterday before quickly running back to the tent again. Annie memorized these words carefully and stored them in her mind for later use."
On the third day, no one came to untie her. However, the situation was much better than the first day, and she had more energy to observe the primitive orc tribe.
After three days of observation, she was surprised to find that there was no fixed concept of "couples" in this tribe. If a man liked a woman, he would simply remove his animal skin and have sex with her. The women did not resist too much, and if they encountered a tall and powerful warrior, they would even rush to have sex with him, without any sense of morality or loyalty.
Not only that, the men and women of this Orc tribe have no sense of shame. At night, they directly begin to do shameful things outside the tent. Several times, Annie saw them, and she wanted to gouge out her eyes and tear out her ears. She secretly cursed these men and women a thousand times for their shamelessness.
Under such a system, the children born by women usually do not know who their fathers are and are raised by the tribe collectively. The men who hunted the prey during the day need to hand it over to the leader, who will distribute it to ensure that everyone can get food. Strong men will get more, and women who have many children will also get more.
In this tribe, the leader has absolute authority, and the women worship the leader and the strong and brave warriors. Being favored by the leader and having children with the leader is something every woman in the tribe dreams of.
The chief is old and doesn't need to go hunting with the men during the day, so he stays in the tribe.
Anne has encountered several times that women have volunteered to go to the chief's tent to recommend themselves for a pillow. If they stay in the tent for a long time, it means that they have succeeded. If they are quickly thrown out, it means that the chief does not like them. She can see that the chief in this tribe, just like her father in his vast territory, has the supreme status, and women are all eager to follow them.
Perhaps, the women in this tribe find it strange that she is not willing to sleep with the chief.
In the afternoon of the third day, she saw the leader go to the clearing where the women were chatting together. When he arrived, the women greeted him with berries, but he folded his hands and wore a serious expression. After saying something, a young woman stood up and followed the leader with joy.
The woman was very young, with a full chest and smooth skin. The elderly chief pulled her and couldn't wait to enter the tent. He directly pressed her down at the foot of a tent, and the woman happily cooperated with all the movements of the chief, making sounds that made people blush and their hearts beat faster.
All of this fell into Anne's eyes.