Chapter 46

Recently, there have been frequent stalking incidents in the Gobi Desert, with all victims being lizard beastmen. According to an anonymous lizard beastman, he encountered two suspects on a moonlit night: a small female beastman and a big snake-like half-beastman. They followed him across two rocky beaches before finally leaving at dawn when the female beastman shook her head. The victim believed she was evaluating whether he was edible, and he was spared because he was old and tough-skinned. Another victim who was also stalked said he fought with the suspects but was overpowered. He only remembered being thrown by the snake-like half-beastman and waking up in a rock crevice with a stone placed above him for shade.

No casualties have been reported, but the stalking incidents have left the lizard community in fear, prompting them to travel in groups for safety.

Further updates will be provided by our reporter on the scene.

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“Strange, are the lizards here all social animals? Why have I been seeing groups of lizard beastmen lately?” Song Xu saw a dozen lizard beastmen aggressively crossing a sand dune in the distance, reminiscent of early gangster movies where the boss leads a group of suited underlings through the streets.

She shared her guess with the big snake beside her: “Could they be going to a fight? The scale of this gang fight is quite large. This place has a lot of aggressive folks.”

Song Xu had stopped observing the lizard beastmen in the past few days. There weren’t many types of lizard beastmen in this area, and she had seen them all. Most were wild men with gray faces, which gradually made her lose interest. Additionally, the snake often got into conflicts with them, like two drunk men on a northeastern street, ready to start a fistfight at any moment. Song Xu was tired of trying to mediate.
After losing interest, they began to avoid the aggressive beastmen. Water sources were scarce in this area, so Song Xu had to use her previous knowledge to find water from some plants.

Different places have unique living habits due to their environments. Passing by a large tree with smooth bark but many scars and scabs on the lower part of the trunk, Song Xu knew it was a public water source. Using a beast tooth knife, she cut the trunk, and clear sap oozed out. She used leaves to collect the water.

With a greenish taste, the sap moistened her dry lips and throat, and upon careful tasting, it seemed to have a slight sweetness. Song Xu drank a sip herself and then gave some to the snake. After quenching her thirst, she focused on collecting sap for Wu Mu. Wu Mu also learned to collect sap like her. He had never known such desolate places without water sources before and was trying this method to quench his thirst for the first time. While he was anxiously searching for water, the squirrel saw the tree and confidently asserted that it contained drinkable sap, which surprised him.
Song Xu occasionally cut down spiky plants, peeled off the thick skin and outer thorns, and ate the inner flesh, sharing it with him. The astringent green flesh was something Wu Mu had never tasted before. He didn’t like the taste but had to eat it when there was no water source. At these times, the squirrel would gnaw on a piece of flesh and laugh at his difficulty swallowing, which was quite mean.

“I wonder if we can find an oasis. If we could meet a beastman and ask, that would be great. The locals should know, right?” Song Xu explained to Wu Mu what an oasis was.

For some reason, they had recently seen groups of lizard beastmen, but now there wasn’t a single beastman in sight. After talking about it for a while, Song Xu and Wu Mu actually encountered a group of beastmen the next day. The tall animals carrying loads on their backs walking on the sand dunes looked just like the most common desert scenery photos.

“Wild camels!” Song Xu cheered.

“Beastmen,” Wu Mu said. He had never seen camels before, so he took a closer look at these creatures that Song Xu had mentioned.

To avoid scaring the camel beastmen away and failing to ask for directions, Wu Mu stopped at a distance while Song Xu went ahead to inquire. The camel beastmen noticed the big snake half-beastman not far away but didn’t seem too alarmed.

The leader, an old beastman named Yuan Qiu, had traveled to many places with her team and was quite knowledgeable. She carefully observed Song Xu and found that she was a squirrel beastman. This was unusual, as no squirrel beastmen lived in this area, and none would come here.

“Oasis? We’re heading there. You can follow us,” Yuan Qiu said calmly. Her eyes were large, with long eyelashes, and her beast form carried many items, such as animal skins and stones. Song Xu didn’t look closely but noticed they had many large water bottles made from hard fruit shells.

Song Xu called the snake to follow and walked beside Yuan Qiu’s hooves, chatting with her.

“We’re returning from trading with other tribes. Our area is quite barren and lacks many things, so I often lead some of my people to other tribes to trade. What about you? You don’t seem to be from around here. Where are you heading?”

“I don’t know, just moving forward,” Song Xu replied cheerfully, encouraged by the friendly attitude. “Oh, we might be looking for a tiger beastman.”

“Tiger beastman? Oh… I think I saw a tiger beastman around here a few years ago. We don’t have tigers here, so many of my people saw a tiger for the first time. It left a deep impression on me,” Yuan Qiu recalled.

A tiger? Could it be Wu Mu’s mother again?

Song Xu quickly pulled out the tiger tooth necklace from her waist fur. “Look at this. Was the tiger beastman named Hei Sen and wearing this tiger tooth necklace?”

Yuan Qiu thought for a moment, unable to remember clearly. “I think so, but maybe not. My memory isn’t great, and I’m getting old.”

A deep male voice came from the silent camel beastman team behind them. “Yes, her name was Hei Sen, and she wore a tiger tooth necklace.”

Yuan Qiu glanced back and suddenly laughed. “Yes, Bai Sha would remember better than me. You should ask him. He was the one who found the person and even asked if they could be his partner, but was rejected.”

Song Xu:?

The squirrel perked up, ears standing, looking back eagerly: “Which one? Which one is Bai Sha? Let me see!”

A tall camel beastman was pushed out of the team by his companions. With two large humps and carrying more items than Yuan Qiu, he still looked relaxed. His brownish-yellow fur covered his body, and his face looked somewhat like a sheep, quite innocent. He glanced reproachfully at his companions who pushed him out, then lowered his head and said to the squirrel who had run over, “That was several years ago.”

“Please tell me as much as you remember. Thank you very much!” Song Xu was filled with joy at hearing the story.

Bai Sha said, “I found her under a nearby bare rock. She had fainted from thirst and hunger. I gave her some water, and she woke up and bit me. She seemed so hungry that she mistook me for a regular camel.” He showed a shallow scar on his leg.

Song Xu thought: Why is it that whenever I hear news about the tiger mother from other beastmen, it’s always about her eating beastmen? Although she never succeeds. Wu Mu’s mother really eats wherever she goes. While Wu Mu fights beastmen, she sees beastmen and wants to bite them. Truly a tiger.

“Many beastmen from other places come here and can’t adapt, so it’s not the first time we’ve found a fainted beastman. It happens often,” Bai Sha said.

Because they often find unfamiliar beastmen, the camel beastmen are calm when they see strangers. Indeed, seeing a lot makes one less surprised.

“She was lost. After waking up, she followed us for a while. She was very strong and even helped us drive away a group of beastmen who tried to rob us.” At this point, the big camel’s tone fluctuated, indicating that the event left a deep impression on him and that the tiger mother was indeed impressive.

The group that often came to rob them was a mixed tribe of beastmen. The camels were not good at fighting and used to run away, entering the desert’s depths to shake off their pursuers. But that time, the majestic big cat charged in and single-handedly dealt with over twenty beastmen.
Some were knocked into the air by the big tiger, some were trampled into the sand, and some had their bellies bitten open. Only a few robbers returned, and they didn’t dare come near for a long time.

Bai Sha still remembered the tiger with orange fur and black stripes, blood on her mouth, her teeth gleaming coldly, walking back step by step, leaving flower-like paw prints in the sand.

“She liked to climb up the bare rocks to sleep. It was so high, but she climbed up easily,” the big camel continued. “She also liked running in the sand. She loved these dunes.” So he thought she liked it here and would stay, but she refused without hesitation.

“I have things to do. I’m leaving,” she said. After learning how to navigate, she quickly left.

Song Xu: “Wow—”

The big camel quickly finished the story and hid back in the team, using his companions to shield himself, looking embarrassed. Song Xu heard a few camels laughing, indicating everyone knew about this story.

After hearing the story, Song Xu ran to the big snake, who was already waiting impatiently, to share the story of the mother tiger.

The simple description from the big camel became a squirrel’s adaptation when it reached the snake. The tiger heroine, stranded in a small desert tribe, was saved from thirst and hunger. She escorted the caravan to repay the favor, bravely fought off robbers, won the young caravan member’s heart, and left gracefully after the deed, leaving behind a lovesick admirer.

“At that time, with the setting sun, she was covered in the enemy’s blood, her eyes cold, walking towards Bai Sha, asking, ‘Are you okay?’ In the world’s silence, Bai Sha clearly heard his heart beating…” Song Xu narrated enthusiastically, with gestures and sound effects.

Wu Mu listened and felt something was off. Why did Song Xu’s story sound like she was watching and even knew what Hei Sen said?