Chapter 38

As Song Xu and Wu Mu passed through the forest and grassland, they indeed entered a tribal territory. The tribe mainly consisted of horse beastmen, with some deer and cattle beastmen. They were herbivorous or omnivorous beastmen, rarely carnivorous, mostly peaceful, and the tribe had about a few hundred inhabitants.

The tribe’s settlement was built in a jujube forest. A centaur named Cang Ji galloped from the grassland, startling the nearby beastmen who were grazing slowly in their beast forms. The cattle, horses, deer, and sheep raised their heads to look.

“What’s wrong? Why are you running so fast?”

“It’s Huang Zao’s Cang Ji, right? He went out running again and hasn’t returned. Huang Zao was looking for him this morning.”

Cang Ji ran to the center, where the doors were much higher than others because a half-beast child like him couldn’t fully transform into a beast. The door frames were raised to make it easier for him to enter and exit. Seeing his mother by the fire pit, he immediately said, “I just saw a squirrel beastman in the small thorn forest, and there was a snake half-beastman with her. It’s very dangerous!”

Huang Zao, who was sharpening weapons, didn’t stop her work and replied helplessly, “We noticed them this morning. I went to check with some tribesmen. Their route is towards the Great Dark Mountain, so they shouldn’t come to the tribe. I wanted to tell you not to go to the small thorn forest these days because it’s dangerous, but I couldn’t find you.”

Cang Ji kneeled, moved his ears, and guiltily grabbed the bone arrows beside his mother, helping to sharpen them, “I’ve been sleeping in the small thorn forest these days.”

Unlike many tribes, their tribe didn’t reject or drive away half-beastmen. For some reason, their tribe always had half-beastmen, sometimes several at a time. When these half-beastmen lost their sanity and fully transformed into beasts, they would forget their loved ones and follow wild horse herds or run alone without harming the tribesmen or needing to be driven away.

The tribesmen had a good attitude towards half-beastmen, but as one of the only two half-beastmen in the tribe, Cang Ji often felt out of place. He preferred wandering alone on the outskirts of the territory rather than facing the various looks in the tribe and usually staying out for days. When encountering danger, he returned immediately to inform his mother and alert the tribe. Hearing his mother’s words, he felt slightly relieved but didn’t leave, staying on guard. They were peaceful, herbivorous beastmen, but that didn’t mean they were weak. On the contrary, their tribe was the largest in the area, united, and even the nearby wolf beastmen didn’t dare cross the border to harass them. They didn’t harm other beastmen but weren’t afraid of being attacked.

Song Xu was still curious about the rare horse half-beastman and returned to the forest where she had encountered the centaur. This time, she looked carefully and recognized jujube, walnut, and hawthorn trees among the trees. The low hawthorn trees had just started to bloom, with clusters of small white flowers. Song Xu found a dried hawthorn from last year at the base of the trees, confirming they were hawthorn trees.

Looking at the flowers, Song Xu thought of the taste of candied hawthorn, sweet and sour, and her mouth watered. She also found a small hut in the forest. It was very small, only a few square meters, made of branches tied to tree forks. The roof was made of bundled dry grass and leaves, and the gaps in the wood were carefully filled with mud. The hut had no door, and the door frame was tall. Song Xu peeked inside and saw freshly dried grass on the ground, a stone pot, simple tools, and various small items, indicating someone often stayed there, probably the centaur who had run away in fright.

After looking around, she returned to Wu Mu and told him about her discovery.

Lying on the ground, Wu Mu sat up and looked towards the distant grassland and mountains, “We should continue.”

Song Xu smiled and pushed him back down, “I want to play here a bit longer. You rest for a while.”

Wu Mu, maintaining his half-beast form since leaving the wolf territory, appeared tired and weary. While Song Xu explored, he could only rest on the grass. She thought he needed more rest.

But Wu Mu, hearing her words, had a hint of sadness in his eyes, “I want to take you further, to see more.” They hadn’t traveled far or seen much, far from the world tour Song Xu often talked about. She mentioned deserts and snow-capped mountains they hadn’t seen yet, and he feared time was running out.

Song Xu refused, “No, I want to stay here until you feel better, then we’ll move on.” She then ran around carefree.

Wu Mu had no choice but to continue resting. He fell asleep, and Song Xu returned with a bunch of wildflowers. She stood still momentarily, then plucked the stems and placed the flowers all over his head. Spring was wonderful, with gentle breezes and fragrant flowers. Even with the snake sleeping silently, it felt less lonely than in winter.

They stayed here for a while, not because Song Xu didn’t want to leave but because the snake suddenly fell into a deep sleep in his beast form, turning back into his snake-like oval head.

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to stay here for a while.” Song Xu thought, hoping that the nearby friends wouldn’t come to drive them away.

Last time, she saw that the half-beast didn’t return and bring a large group of people, so she figured there would be no trouble now. Since the snake was sleeping soundly and didn’t rush to take her to a safer place before falling asleep, it indirectly confirmed that this area was relatively safe.

However, what troubled Song Xu more was the weather. When it was sunny, they could find a random grassy spot to lie down, but when it rained, it turned into a puddle, making it hard to find a place to shelter from the rain.

Song Xu looked at the gloomy sky and decided to build a small shelter in the woods where she had seen a small house. Building a temporary rain shelter was a task, but for Song Xu, it was also a game, and she enjoyed doing it. She had carefully observed the craftsmanship of the centaur’s small hut and imitated it by using branches to build a frame. The trees here were small, with thin trunks, and the squirrel beastmen’s tree-chewing skills were more effective than an axe. The clever little squirrel always managed to learn how to “play” without a teacher, and she quickly built a simple grass roof. It couldn’t block the wind, but it was enough to keep out a few showers.

Cold wind blew across the grassland, and rain was about to fall. Cang Ji quietly went to the small forest to see if the two strangers were still there and saw a female squirrel beastman slowly dragging a big snake into the forest.

Cang Ji was worried that these two might damage or occupy his small forest, as he had built it himself. He was also curious about what had happened to the snake half-beast and felt a bit sympathetic. Because the small female beastman was struggling to move the huge, heavy snake, it looked too difficult for her. A few raindrops fell on his cheek, and Cang Ji hesitated whether to go over and help.

Song Xu didn’t notice the little horse hesitating and watching from afar. She hummed a boatman’s song, feeling like she was pulling a boat on the shore. She had felt the weight of the big snake back in winter, and now, it seemed that the snake had gained a bit of weight, making it even harder to drag him. The key was that the distance was too far, like a ten-thousand-mile journey, and the rain was about to start. The place where they were and the simple shelter she had made were still quite a distance apart.

The little squirrel fell on her butt, feeling that she couldn’t pull anymore, and lay on the snake, trying to wake him up.

“Wake up, it’s raining! Wake up, we need to go!” As expected, there was no response.

Snakes don’t have external ears; they have inner ears and auditory bones. The auditory bones and inner ear are connected, making snakes more sensitive to ground vibrations than to sounds traveling through the air. Because snakes slither on the ground, using their bellies to make contact, vibrations from far away can accurately reach their inner ears. In a sense, snakes are more sensitive to vibrations than to sounds.

Song Xu pounded the ground with her fists, making a thumping sound right next to the snake’s head, and stomped her feet, jumping up and down. The sleeping snake suddenly lifted his head, cautiously flicking his tongue.

Song Xu thought she had really woken him up and was pleasantly surprised. “It really worked! But why didn’t it work the last two times?”

She didn’t notice that when the snake first lifted his head from the ground, he wasn’t looking in her direction but towards a distant hillside. There, a little horse named Cang Ji, who had been hesitating for a long time about whether to come and help, had just decided to take a few steps forward. Seeing that the big snake had woken up, he quickly stopped and hid himself in a nearby bush.

The snake turned his head towards Song Xu. It seemed that Song Xu was always this happy every time he woke up. She hugged his head and jumped twice, then cheerfully told him, “I made a rain shelter in that forest over there. Let’s go, we won’t get wet!”

The rain suddenly intensified. The snake coiled around the proud little squirrel, dragging his heavy body towards the small thorn forest.

Song Xu held onto his tail, guiding him, “It’s up ahead, near the hawthorn trees. Do you know hawthorn? It’s a type of fruit you can eat. Have you ever tried it? It’s very sour. If we get the chance, I’ll definitely let you taste it!”

Song Xu’s small shelter was quite far from another small house in the forest. Wu Mu passed by that small house, paused for a moment, and took a few more glances. Song Xu turned her head back, “Don’t envy other people’s houses. I’ll make one for you too. Although I’ve only made the roof for now, I’ll build the walls tomorrow.”

Wu Mu didn’t envy others’ houses; he preferred the simple shelter made by the little squirrel. Although some raindrops still got inside, she had lined it with fresh grass, which smelled very nice, and the nearby hawthorn flowers had an indescribable fragrance. After working for a long time, the little squirrel was exhausted and fell asleep, sprawled out. The snake habitually rested his chin on her belly, feeling the vibrations from her body.