RPS – Chapter 81 Li Feng Fainted?

Time flew by, and eventually, both Li and Bu recovered from their internal injuries. How could one tell? Well, they no longer felt any discomfort when coughing or moving around. Even their heart and lungs no longer ached. Especially during those energetic nighttime activities on the bed — sometimes lasting all night with a pretty intense workload — the outcome was delightful: both of them were now strong and vigorous, with no sign of their past injuries.

Once they’d healed, they pulled along the now-recovered Ka to go hunting with them. They had spent more than half a year recuperating, and by the time they resumed hunting, it was already May. The weather was mild — not too cold, not too hot — and with spring’s arrival following a long winter of rest and recovery, it was the most active season for flora and fauna. Vegetation was lush, prey abundant. That said, hunting wasn’t as easy as before. The animals had gotten smarter — once bitten, twice shy — and were increasingly wary of traps, carefully avoiding them. Tricking them was no longer simple.

Though there were many mountains nearby, the tribespeople didn’t dare venture too deep for fear of danger, which meant the animals around had been thoroughly frightened — many fled, others hid. Still, it wasn’t completely barren; there were just fewer animals than before, but still enough for the tribe to get by. Moreover, spring brought many edible plants. They didn’t rely solely on meat. Especially with the knowledge Li Feng had passed down, the tribe learned about many edible plants. Wild fruits were a given — anything that bore edible fruit was never wasted. Plus, there were mushrooms and black fungus. After each rain, idle tribespeople would head into nearby woods to collect them and often returned with quite a haul.

As for Li Feng’s family, other than Li and Bu who went hunting, Li Feng and Nuo — oh wait, he’s Bu Nuo now — were in charge of managing the household, much like the women. After all, someone had to stay home. Ever since Li Feng discovered green onions, garlic, and cilantro while out in the wild, he’d taken a special interest in exploring the mountains. Nuo too, though Nuo was more driven by a sense of adventure and curiosity. Every time Li Feng found something, it was always useful and — more importantly — delicious. And Nuo loved to eat. Li Feng’s cooking was excellent, after all.

Since nearby mountains had been “swept clean” by the tribe’s hunters and the tribe itself was based nearby, meaning lots of human activity, wild animals naturally avoided the area. They had no interest in getting close to humans who’d mastered fire. As a result, there were no large or dangerous predators near the mountains — unless you went deep inside, which Li Feng and the others didn’t dare to do. So, at most, they wandered around the edges. That’s exactly what Li Feng and Nuo were doing now — casually roaming the outskirts in hopes of finding something useful or tasty. They couldn’t bring the kids — Bao Bao, Mo, and Lu — since they were still too young to go up the mountain. So Li Feng and Nuo had to go alone while the others stayed behind to take care of the children.

At first, when Bao Bao saw Li Feng leaving without him, he started bawling. He didn’t know where Daddy was going, only that he didn’t want to be left behind. He wanted to be carried. It had been a long time, and Li Feng was usually the one carrying him. Bao Bao loved being in Daddy’s arms and always giggled happily when cuddled. Now, Li Feng was leaving without him. Naturally, as a small child, he became scared and aggrieved, crying miserably. Li Feng, already at the door, rushed back in when he heard the crying. He picked up the sobbing Bao Bao and gently comforted him until the tears stopped. But as soon as Li Feng left again, Bao Bao would wail all over again. After going back and forth several times, Li Feng couldn’t bear to leave him in tears. Fortunately, Bao Bao eventually cried himself tired. After coaxing him to sleep, Nuo quickly dragged Li Feng out — any longer and the sun would be setting.

Li Feng and Nuo had been out wandering for quite a while. Other than gathering some wild vegetables, picking a few ripe fruits, and collecting some mushrooms, they hadn’t found anything particularly interesting. There were plenty of wildflowers, grasses, and strange trees, but Li Feng was only interested in edible things. He wasn’t very knowledgeable about other plants, especially those that might have gone extinct in his previous world — so he didn’t pay them any mind. After all, trees were just trees, and none were particularly beautiful or unique enough to catch his attention. Plus, they couldn’t bring them back, so he didn’t bother.

He tugged Nuo to sit on a clean, flat patch of grass. Plucking at blades of grass, he occasionally stuck one in his mouth out of sheer boredom. They hadn’t found anything exciting despite venturing out again and again. The nearby safe areas were nearly all explored. “How about we go deeper into the mountains next time?” Li Feng suggested, giving Nuo a nudge. He doubted they’d find anything new nearby.

“You serious? It’s dangerous in there. Don’t take such risks! If we go, we have to wait for Li and the others to come with us.” Nuo quickly stopped him. This wasn’t something to joke about. Even the bravest warriors in the tribe didn’t dare go deep into the forest unless food supplies ran out — wild beasts roamed there, and they were no match against them.

“I know. I was just saying… I wouldn’t really go. I’m not that reckless. But man, looking at these treasure mountains and not being able to touch them — it’s torture!” The mountain was huge, stretching across multiple peaks, and he hadn’t even seen the end of it. Their tribe only occupied a tiny portion at the foot of the mountain. Even just wandering around the outer area, he’d already found so much. Who knew what might be hiding deeper inside? Maybe ginseng, lingzhi, or other rare treasures! But alas, they could only look, not touch.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get a chance one day,” Nuo patted his shoulder to comfort him. He too wanted to go, but reality was too harsh — so close, yet out of reach.

Li Feng half-closed his eyes to rest, gazing at a nearby hillside. Suddenly—”Huh?” He stood up and walked toward something.

Nuo, curious, followed him. He saw Li Feng stop at a patch of shrubs — in front of them were clusters of young saplings, already waist-high or taller. Some had flower buds, seemingly about to bloom.

“What is it?” Nuo noticed Li Feng’s delight and guessed it might be something good.

“Hm… If I’m not mistaken, this is something really useful! I can finally get rid of these heavy animal skins and stop looking like a savage!” Li Feng laughed loudly, hands on his hips. Finally, all this effort hadn’t been in vain! The heavens were helping him out. Could this be… the protagonist’s halo at work?

Nuo watched Li Feng bouncing around like a madman. Though Li Feng hadn’t said what it was, it must be something great — otherwise he wouldn’t be acting like this. Still… couldn’t he say what it was first before going off the rails? He always left people guessing with half-finished sentences. But he didn’t want to interrupt either — once interrupted, an excited Li Feng would go even crazier. It had been a long time since Nuo saw Li Feng like this, hair flying, bouncing and twirling on the slope. He dared not break the mood.

He figured he’d just ask once the excitement passed — but Li Feng didn’t stop. In fact, his actions grew stranger. At first he was hopping around, then he suddenly froze up, slowly walking toward Nuo like a stiff zombie. Nuo was startled — what was going on? Why did Li Feng look so… stiff?

But the most terrifying part came next.

Li Feng suddenly stopped, gave a double shake, then grabbed his crotch dramatically while thrusting his hips forward several times, one arm pointing at Nuo in mid-air. Nuo was stunned — what on earth was Li Feng doing!?

Had Nuo lived in the modern world, he would’ve known — Li Feng was dancing the most iconic moves of MJ: the robot dance and the infamous crotch grab. Of course, thanks to the grass, he couldn’t perform the moonwalk (not that he could anyway).

You see, Li Feng — a self-proclaimed ultimate otaku — had one true passion: the King of Pop, MJ. And the only sport he ever liked or willingly practiced? Dancing to MJ’s music. All kinds of dance moves.

But he was shy — never danced in front of others. He thought his clumsy imitations were an insult to his idol, a blasphemy. MJ was like a god to him. Truth be told, he had zero talent for dancing or sports.

He only practiced locked away in his room, doors tightly shut. Never in front of others — what if real fans saw him and beat him up? Before transmigrating, nobody knew he could dance, let alone mimic MJ. But now, in a moment of excitement, he forgot Nuo was standing right there. Not that Nuo understood what he was seeing — to him, Li Feng just looked completely nuts. Especially that crotch grab — so lewd!

With Li Feng wearing nothing but an animal-skin skirt, that move… yeah.

Nuo widened his eyes and facepalmed. “Li Feng… are you… done being crazy yet? Or done… dancing?”

Still twitching unnaturally, Li Feng stiffly turned his neck with a loud crack-crack sound. “What…?”

Was he dreaming? What had he just done!?

He had never danced in front of anyone before. And this time, overwhelmed by excitement, he’d completely lost himself. He wanted to die from embarrassment.

Don’t even ask how he knew his dancing was bad — he once recorded himself dancing in his room. Even he found it awful — jerky, awkward, like a broken robot. Still, thinking maybe he was just being too hard on himself, he blurred out his face and uploaded it online.

Within an hour, he was crowned with the title: “The most… unlike MJ impersonation… ever (ellipsis endlessly included).”

Yet somehow, some people admired his courage and love for his idol. Scared out of his mind, he deleted the video within the hour and never showed his dancing again — only secretly jumping around at home when no one was watching.

“What was that thing you just found?” Nuo directly ignored Li Feng’s bizarre behavior earlier. Wasn’t that just a bout of madness? He was more curious about what Li Feng had discovered.

Li Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been so nervous earlier he could hardly breathe. If Nuo had asked about it, he’d have been completely humiliated. After all, dancing was the one thing he was worst at. Thankfully, thankfully, Nuo didn’t know what kind of dance he had performed and hadn’t seen the original version. Otherwise, he might have beaten him with a stick. It had been a truly wild performance!

“Hehe, it’s flax! We can use it to weave clothes. That means we won’t have to wear animal hides anymore. And it’s really comfortable on the skin—light, soft, and beautiful. Way better than those rough animal skins! And you don’t know—this flax…” Afraid that Nuo might bring up what had just happened, Li Feng quickly pulled him into a long-winded explanation, detailing all sorts of flax clothing ideas and future garment designs, going on and on about styles and trends. Nuo listened with a twitching eye; he didn’t understand a word but wasn’t given a chance to interrupt.

“So why aren’t we taking some back now?” Nuo finally found an opening to speak, quickly interjecting as Li Feng was already leading him down the mountain.

“No need. It won’t be fully grown until July. Look at how much is here—we can come back and harvest it later. Then we’ll have proper clothes to wear!” The flax hadn’t even bloomed yet, let alone matured. It would take a while still.

“Ah, that’s a pity. I thought we could wear that outfit you talked about in a few days.”

“Don’t rush, it won’t be long. We’ll come back after we harvest the wheat—it’ll be perfect timing.” Li Feng had calculated it all.

Though a little disappointed, Nuo couldn’t do anything about it. Finding something useful was already a win, even if it wasn’t edible. He’d thought it was food at first—turned out it was for clothes. But could clothes really replace animal hides? And how exactly would you turn that into something that looked like animal skin?

Li Feng didn’t care what Nuo thought. He just wanted to hurry home so Nuo would forget his earlier embarrassment. Besides, he missed the baby. The older the baby got, the more he missed him. It wasn’t like when the baby had just been born—now, only a day away and he was full of worry. Had the baby eaten? Was he hungry? Did he poop? Pee? Could Mo and the others comfort him if he woke up and didn’t see Li Feng? Just imagining the baby lying on the bed, big eyes searching for him and then bursting into tears when he couldn’t find him, made Li Feng’s heart ache. He picked up the pace even more.

Their basket was still filled with wild vegetables, mushrooms, and even edible roots and tubers like something similar to yam or burdock. Li Feng had tested them on animals first and found no problems. He guessed they were ancient forms or ancestors of yams and burdock. Whatever they were, they were edible and crunchy—tastier than the ones in his previous life and not astringent at all. The brown-skinned roots were tender and white inside and had a unique flavor when stir-fried. He also picked a lot of young leaves from Chinese toon trees, which tasted best in cold dishes. If only he had tofu. But without it, cold yam or his homemade salted eggs weren’t bad either. It was just too bad he hadn’t found lime—so no century eggs.

Actually, the mountains had a lot of edible varieties. Li Feng even found several eggs—though their household didn’t lack eggs, since he saw them, he picked them. He always left a few behind to avoid causing extinction. Now, both his and Nuo’s baskets were full of miscellaneous edibles. That’s why they went out even if they didn’t find something specific—there was always something useful.

Since that trip down the mountain, Li Feng and Nuo hadn’t gone up again. First, there was a lot to do at home—the wheat was almost ready to harvest, and they had to prepare. Second, Li Feng really couldn’t bear to be away from the baby. The day he came back, the baby cried so hard he nearly lost his voice. He even refused to drink Mo’s milk, only sipping a little bit. It broke Li Feng’s heart. He figured there wasn’t any point in going deeper into the mountains anyway—might as well stay home. There was always something to do around the house, and the busy chores made the day pass quickly.

There was another incident too—Li Feng had thought Nuo had forgotten about the mountain dance since he hadn’t mentioned it. But surprise! During dinner, Nuo ended up blurting it out while excitedly recounting the discovery of the flax. He just happened to describe Li Feng’s dancing in a bit too much detail—probably because that part had left the deepest impression on him.

As a result, Li Feng was teased by Li, Bu, and the mischievous trio Mo, Lu, and Ka, who had come over for dinner. They all wanted him to perform again. Li Feng flatly refused. But Nuo said the dance looked really cool and that he wanted to learn it. Since they had time, why not treat it as a bit of fun?

Li Feng knew Nuo was just teasing him with the compliments, but the second part stirred his heart. Ha! What if everyone in this primitive society danced MJ-style? That would be a sight! Sure, he wasn’t a great dancer, but maybe others could be! Especially someone like Li—tall, strong, with a perfectly proportioned body. Those powerful moves would look amazing on him. Once they learned the dance, he’d have Li perform for him. That’d be some spiritual comfort—he hadn’t seen any idol performances since coming here, let alone had any entertainment. Why didn’t he think of this before?

No more hesitating—Li Feng started teaching Li daily whenever they had time, either in their room or in secluded forest spots. Li was athletic and a quick learner. He actually picked it up really well, which greatly satisfied Li Feng. Especially with that lean, muscular build—it made Li Feng want to reach out and touch him. Sometimes he couldn’t help it… and of course, that ended with things getting quite heated.

After over a month of teaching, the busiest time finally arrived. (Haha, were you expecting me to say Li was ready to perform?) The wheat had ripened, and the weather was scorching. Everyone preferred to stay in the cool house or under the shade of trees. But staying inside too long got stuffy, so they all gathered under the willow tree in the courtyard. There were plenty of fruit trees too. Li Feng laid down a reed mat, and adults and kids all liked to nap or lounge on it.

Lately, Li Feng had been oddly lazy—always sleepy, and especially fond of dozing under the shade. Sometimes he napped for a long time. At least he knew not to sleep on the ground too long to avoid catching cold or getting joint pain. He usually just rested briefly. But in the past few days, he had become increasingly drowsy. Several times, Li had to carry him inside because he’d fallen asleep without waking up. Li Feng didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just the usual seasonal fatigue—spring tiredness, autumn laziness, and summer drowsiness. Besides, Li never let him sleep at night. All that nighttime exercise left him exhausted!

But then, on the day they were preparing to harvest the wheat, Li Feng suddenly fainted. The sun was blazing, and the golden wheat fields shimmered with heat. Without scythes, they could only use shell blades, which weren’t sharp, so progress was slow. Li Feng felt sluggish and overheated. The sun felt unusually piercing. Farming without proper tools was such a chore.

He’d been bending over for a long time, and his back was stiff and sore. His stomach also hurt a bit—maybe from catching cold while napping on the ground. Just as he straightened up to stretch, his vision went white and he collapsed backward. He had fainted.

Li was terrified. He’d been keeping a close eye on Li Feng—he’d lost his appetite lately, barely eating even the delicious meals Li cooked. This was very unlike him. Li Feng used to eat a lot, especially during family meals. He’d always been the first to grab food.

Now he was getting thinner. Li was worried but Li Feng kept insisting he was fine. He wasn’t hurt and couldn’t explain the fatigue. They’d tried to stop him from harvesting, but Li Feng insisted. Everyone else was working, how could he sit around?

No one expected him to faint before they’d even harvested much. Everyone panicked—Mo and Lu clutched the baby, pacing in anxiety. The baby kept calling “Daddy, Daddy…” wanting Li Feng to play with him. But no one responded, and he looked so pitiful, his little mouth trembling, ready to cry.

Nuo quickly picked him up and comforted him, “Be good, baby. Daddy will wake up soon and play with you. Don’t disturb him now, okay? Uncle Nuo will play with you instead!” Then he tickled the baby’s armpits, making him giggle and laugh again.

Li gently laid Li Feng on the bed, stroking his face, his handsome features full of worry and heartache. What was wrong with him? There had been no injuries, no trips outside, and Li Feng had been enthusiastic during their nightly “exercise.” Li knew Li Feng’s body inside and out—there were no injuries at all.

Still, he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. All he could do was hold Li Feng’s hand tightly, afraid of missing any change. Bu had gone to fetch water—maybe it was the heat, and some water would help. At least it wouldn’t hurt.

Everyone else’s eyes were full of worry—only the baby was still giggling, calling “Daddy” joyfully…