Chapter 39

A squirrel beastman and a snake beastman stayed for a few days at the edge of their tribe’s territory in a small thorn forest. This was a rare event in the Wild Hoof Tribe, and everyone was talking about it, though only a few went to see it.

“I heard it’s a big snake. Several chiefs in the tribe said it’s quite dangerous, so we should go over there.”

“Anyway, it’s a place where people from the tribe often go, so let’s avoid it for now.”

The beastmen of the Wild Hoof Tribe preferred to spend their time leisurely grazing or chasing the opposite sex. After all, it was spring, and most animals in nature were agitated, with too much energy to care about other things.

Qing Zao, who was immune to this kind of agitation in the tribe, was very curious about those two outsiders. She knew the small thorn forest was Cang Ji’s secret residence, and she had been there before. Now that two strange beastmen were living there, and she noticed that Cang Ji often went there, she became even more curious.

Qing Zao and Cang Ji were the only two half-beastmen of their generation still living in the tribe. She was younger than Cang Ji and was a lamb beastman. Her lower body was that of a lamb with white fur, connected to a humanoid upper body, which was also almost entirely covered in white fur. She had two small, curled horns on her head, with lamb ears below them.

Qing Zao avoided the people on the grassland and quietly went to the small thorn forest. She had the habit of a little lamb, hopping as she walked. She was running so happily that she didn’t notice the faint scent of the squirrel beastman she had never seen before. She plunged into the grass where Song Xu often dug for sweet grass stems and stared at the little squirrel.

Qing Zao realized that this was the strange beastman and bleated in fright, turning around and running away in a panic.

Song Xu was digging in her beast form. The small, cute squirrel was much smaller than the lamb, yet she still managed to scare her away. Song Xu immediately transformed into a beastman and chased after her, “Wait, friend, stop first, don’t be afraid!”

When she said stop, Qing Zao obediently stopped. She timidly and curiously looked back from the grass, her big black eyes round and her sheep ears twitching under her horns.

What a cute little lamb! Song Xu smiled and handed over the grass stem in her hand, “Do you want to eat the grass stem? It’s sweet!”

Feeling her friendliness, the little lamb Qing Zao took a few steps back. It was like a little lamb who had experienced the darkness of society encountering someone offering food, happily accepting the stranger’s gift.

In her beastman form, Song Xu was as tall as the little lamb. Watching her nibble on the grass stem while sneaking glances at her, looking both shy and curious, she couldn’t resist patting the little lamb’s head. Her hair was as fluffy and curly as the fur on her body, and it felt very nice to touch.

Seeing the little lamb’s docile appearance, Song Xu imagined herself feeding sheep on a farm. At this moment, Song Xu suddenly felt that what she had said a few days before was so right. How could she eat lamb?

Little lambs were so cute. That wolf beastman was right; she would never eat lamb again!

“Hi, I’m Song Xu, a squirrel beastman from a faraway forest. I plan to go further and stay here for a few days. What’s your name?”

“Qing Zao, I grew up here and haven’t been to other places,” Qing Zao said softly. It was clear she was very curious, but she didn’t ask anything directly. Instead, she said, “I know where there are more and better sweet grass stems, just over there.”

She pointed to the distance and ran over with her light little hooves, quickly bringing back a bunch of thicker grass stems and handing them to Song Xu, “There are many more.”

It was a whole process of a child making friends.

“Thank you, you’re really friendly!” Song Xu sincerely praised, “And you’re so cute; with your white and soft fur, it feels very nice.”

Qing Zao had never been praised like this before. Although everyone in the tribe was so hostile to half-beastmen, half-beastmen were always popular. Her short tail couldn’t help but wag behind her, and she asked softly, “Are there other half-beastmen…?”

Song Xu understood, “Oh, the half-beastman snake is resting.”

The little lamb asked, “Do you dislike half-beastmen?”

Song Xu replied, “I love half-beastmen!”

The little lamb suddenly jumped up happily, hopping around Song Xu in a circle. Encouraged by Song Xu’s compliments, she quickly opened up, chatting away like a chatterbox squirrel, getting more familiar with each conversation.

Like yesterday, Cang Ji quietly lurked on the hillside near the small thorn forest, watching the two strange beastmen. He had been coming to check every day for the past few days but never got close. Today, like the previous days, he could only see a squirrel beastman playing and busying herself on the grassland. But as he watched, he saw a white figure on the grass, like a white cloud that had fallen on the grass.

It was Qing Zao, happily running around the squirrel beastman, occasionally letting out bleating laughter. Suddenly, she stopped and let a long-tailed little squirrel climb onto her back, then hopped around with it on her back.

Cang Ji:?
What, Qing Zao seemed very familiar with that strange beastman?

The little horse on the hillside was puzzled and tormented. He waited until Qing Zao said goodbye to the squirrel before he immediately went to block her.

“It’s too dangerous. How can you get close to strange beastmen?”

Qing Zao was startled by the little horse’s sudden appearance, shaking her ears as she explained, “But Song Xu is very nice; she’s not dangerous at all.”

“And there’s a snake beastman, he’s very dangerous!”

“I haven’t played with the snake.”

“You can’t get too close to strangers; don’t do this next time,” Cang Ji warned.

The little lamb looked at him innocently, then suddenly hopped away.

Cang Ji thought she had listened, but he saw the silly little white lamb playing on the grass with the squirrel again the next day. After playing for a while, the squirrel beastman led the little white lamb toward the small thorn forest.

Cang Ji thought this might be a dangerous signal—that the squirrel beastman might be trying to lure Qing Zao into the small thorn forest to feed her to the snake beastman. When he was young, Cang Ji heard terrifying stories from passing strangers about beastmen who lost control and ate their own kind, which once made him very afraid. He had secretly observed the snake beastman, whose thick and long body could probably eat several little lambs in one meal.

Cang Ji nervously followed them, seeing the squirrel lead the little lamb to a spot about ten meters away from a simple little shed. He overheard their conversation.

The squirrel asked, “See that? That’s Wu Mu.”

The little lamb obediently replied, “I see, a big snake.”

The squirrel said, “You can only look from here. If you get closer, he’ll wake up.”

The little lamb said, “I’ve already seen it up close. Your home is very simple.”

The squirrel replied, “We’re only staying here for a few days. We don’t need a big house.”

It was indeed a simple shed, quite low, with walls made of hastily arranged branches, barely providing shelter from the wind and rain. The sound of Cang Ji approaching caught the attention of Song Xu and Qing Zao. Two pairs of eyes looked at him simultaneously, one innocent, the other shining brightly.

“A centaur!”

Cang Ji knew he was there to stop Qing Zao from getting close to the strange beastmen, but somehow he ended up grazing on the hillside with them. It seemed to start with the squirrel beastman’s compliments. She was so sincere, not looking like a bad person at all. Her statements about knowing someone’s name made them no longer strangers, and having mutual friends meant they could be friends made sense to Cang Ji. He was directly persuaded by these simple words and not only gave his name but also shared his stored hawthorn fruit with her.

“Although it’s sour, this taste is really nostalgic…” Song Xu chewed on the hawthorn fruit, wrinkling her face from the sourness but still unwilling to spit it out.

“If only we had some honey to eat with it, but unfortunately, we don’t have any.” Song Xu said regretfully.

Cang Ji instinctively replied, “I know there’s a big beehive in the thorn forest, but it’s on a very high branch, and we can’t reach it.”

“A very high branch?” the squirrel repeated.

Little horses and little lambs can’t climb trees, but squirrels are tree-climbing experts, easily scaling vertical trunks.

Wu Mu woke up and, upon opening his eyes, saw the squirrel lying head-to-head with him, cheeks bulging as if eating something. His forked tongue touched the reddish-brown fur, and Wu Mu suddenly transformed back into his half-beastman form. His coiled upper body stretched out, and his gathered black hair spread out, revealing the snake scales on his neck.

Song Xu also instantly transformed back into her beastman form, excitedly saying, “You’re awake; open your mouth; I have something for you to eat!”

She was about to share another strange-tasting thing. Wu Mu, not fully awake, opened his mouth, and Song Xu quickly stuffed several dried hawthorn fruits into it. A sour taste shot straight to his brain, making his mouth water uncontrollably.

Although snakes have taste buds, snake beastmen have a different taste system from humans. Because of this, Wu Mu had tasted many strange flavors since meeting Song Xu. Supporting himself with one hand on the ground, Wu Mu tried to spit it out, but Song Xu seized the moment to throw a piece of honeycomb into his mouth, holding it shut. “Chew quickly, it’s sweet!”

With Song Xu’s reminder, the honey from the honeycomb mixed with the sour hawthorn creates a unique sweet and sour taste. Once the overly sour taste was neutralized, the light fragrance of the hawthorn became clear.

Waking up to such a stimulus, Wu Mu became fully alert faster than ever. He then noticed that Song Xu’s cheek was swollen—no wonder her face seemed a bit puffy in her beast form.

Wu Mu: “Your face?”

Squirrel chewing the honeycomb: “Got stung by a bee; I was careless.”

She quickly fled the scene when she climbed the tree to cut the honeycomb with a long branch and bone knife. The honeycomb fell to the ground, and she escaped without the bees seeing her. She was even proud of her series of maneuvers. But later, when everything calmed down, Song Xu went to pick up the honeycomb. The sight of the honey dripping out was too tempting, so she took a bite. Who knew there was a bee under the honeycomb, which stung her immediately.

So, the more relaxed you get, the more likely you are to mess up.

Wu Mu looked at her swollen cheek and noticed her little nest was lined with soft white wool.

Wu Mu: “Wool?”

Song Xu: “It’s wool my friend gave me to line my nest, combed from her body. It’s just enough to make a small cushion, so I used it for myself.”

After all, he often used her head as a pillow when sleeping, so in a way, it was like she gave him a pillow.