Chapter 26

On the way back, Wei Shan kept looking at the tiger-tooth necklace. This was Hei Sen’s necklace, with four tiger teeth, all of which were Hei Sen’s baby teeth, still carrying her scent. It was found in the stomach of a primitive beast, and they guessed that Hei Sen might have been eaten by the beast, leaving only the necklace inside. Holding the tiger-tooth necklace, he felt like it was burning in his hand.

Wei Shan thought of Wu Mu. If Hei Sen was really dead, this was the only thing she left behind, and it should be given to Wu Mu.

After Hei Sen left, Wei Shan had thought of visiting Wu Mu over the years, but he worried that the scent of a Fierce Beastman would make Wu Mu feel threatened, stimulating his fighting instincts and causing the unstable half-beastman to lose his sanity faster. So he gave up the idea.

This time, Wei Shan remembered the squirrel beastman who had secretly watched them. Maybe he could give the necklace to Wu Mu’s mate. He decided and announced a change in their route, taking a shorter path to bring them closer to Wu Mu’s habitat. He could leave the group temporarily to deliver something.

No one objected to the sudden change in route. After half a day’s journey, Wei Shan announced a rest. The beastmen put down their weapons, ropes, and meat chunks, sitting down to rest. Many of them were injured, and carrying the meat chunks of the primitive beast, along with a live one they had captured, made their pace much slower than when they came. Shi You was dissatisfied.

“We’ve rested twice already. Shouldn’t we hurry back to the tribe?” Shi You, still resentful after being scolded by Wei Shan, complained about every decision he made.

Knowing his prideful nature, his companions ignored his complaints and urged him to rest. Shi You continued to watch Wei Shan, seeing him instruct two beastmen before walking alone into the forest. Suspecting Wei Shan was up to something, he followed.

Following the scent to the cave’s vicinity, Wei Shan wandered around. He wouldn’t dare get so close if he didn’t know Wu Mu was hibernating. Any closer, and his scent would alert Wu Mu.

How could he call out the squirrel beastman?

Coincidentally, it had just snowed, and Song Xu was sitting by the door watching the snow. She was still thinking about the fact that there were dinosaurs in this world, drawing dinosaurs on the ground with a twig. Suddenly, the wind shifted, and she caught a faint scent of blood.

Wei Shan’s scent was so strong that it drew Song Xu out. Holding a weapon, she cautiously peeked out from the cave and saw a figure waving at her from a distance.

Song Xu recognized him as the leader of the beastman group. Realizing his identity, she looked around for any other beastmen lying in the ambush but saw only him.

“Wu Mu’s mate, I am Wei Shan. I came to give you something.” Wei Shan threw the tiger tooth necklace to the cave entrance. “This is Hei Sen’s necklace, found in the stomach of a primitive beast.”

Song Xu didn’t move, watching him. “What’s your relationship with Wu Mu?” She didn’t believe he would come alone to deliver something without a reason.

“I am Hei Sen’s brother.”

Song Xu understood, thinking he was Wu Mu’s uncle. But in beastman society, there was no term for uncle; everyone called each other by name.

She stepped forward, picked up the necklace, and smiled sweetly. “I’ll give it to Wu Mu. Anything else?”

Wei Shan had come not only to deliver the necklace but also to ask about Wu Mu’s condition.

Song Xu: “Wumu is doing well, both physically and mentally.”

Beastmen are generally straightforward and not good at small talk.

Wei Shan was satisfied with the answer and waved his hand to leave. Seeing him about to leave, Song Xu stepped forward and asked a few more questions: “Wei Shan, you just said this necklace belonged to Wu Mu’s mother. How did it end up in the stomach of a primitive beast?”

Wei Shan stopped: “Hei Sen left the tribe to find a way to turn Wu Mu into a beastman. Before she left, she told me she was going west to find the fallen moon. I don’t know where she went, but there are many powerful primitive beasts in the far west… She hasn’t returned for so long; she might have encountered some accident.”

“This tiger tooth necklace was her favorite thing. Give it to Wu Mu and tell him that Hei Sen might not come back.”

In the distant forest, Shi You watched Wei Shan and Song Xu talking. He remembered this squirrel beastman, a weak female beastman who had deceived him. He didn’t expect her to be alive and well in Wu Mu’s territory. He couldn’t catch this cunning female back then and was threatened by Wu Mu to leave. He still remembers this incident.

Shi You was a few years younger than Wu Mu. When he was young, he attacked Wu Mu but was almost strangled to death by a snake tail. He was so scared that he never dared to provoke Wu Mu again, so he avoided him as he grew up.

The lion’s golden-brown eyes swept over Wei Shan and Song Xu and turned to the snow-covered stone cave, suddenly showing a predatory gleam. It was winter, and snake beastmen hibernate, making this their most vulnerable time.

Shi You returned to the temporary camp where his companions rested and approached the still-living primitive beast. Its mottled wounds had stopped bleeding, but its wings were tightly bound, dragging on the ground. Seeing him approach, the beast suddenly swung its head at him, showing its ferocity.

“You still have some strength.” Shi You cut the rope binding its wings.

“Roar!” The suddenly spread wings woke the resting beastmen.

Someone shouted in surprise: “Oh no, it broke free!”

“Catch it quickly!”

“I’ll distract it!” Shi You bravely rushed out from the corner, spear in hand, stabbing the injured primitive beast and enraging it again, leading it into the forest.

The furious primitive beast rampaged through the forest. The beastmen didn’t have time to take out their prepared ropes and nets before it flew low in a certain direction.

Song Xu was asking Wei Shan about Hei Sen outside the stone cave. She rarely had a local beastman she could communicate with smoothly, so she asked a few more questions. As they were talking, Wei Shan suddenly looked up and asked, “What’s that noise?”

The wind and forest roared, and the primitive beast’s ferocious head and jagged mouth appeared before them.

“How did it break free and come here?!”

In the blink of an eye, the rampaging primitive beast charged into the clearing, landing on the stone cave made of huge rocks. With a roar, a corner of the stone collapsed.

Song Xu saw her long-made cabinet and collected nuts being crushed by the primitive beast, her scalp tingling: “Snake! Snake!”

The corner where the snake slept was right next to it, and it would definitely be awakened!

Wei Shan didn’t have his special weapon and no other beastmen to help. He could only transform into his beast form to attack the primitive beast’s belly, trying to lure it away. He had just transformed into a tiger and tried to bite the primitive beast’s weakest belly when a snake tail wrapped around the primitive beast from the broken stone cave.

Song Xu saw it too. She had just taken two steps forward when she saw the snake beastman slither out of the cave and into the wound on the primitive beast’s belly — Into it?

Wei Shan retreated to Song Xu’s side and watched the scene. They heard the primitive beast’s continuous painful roars, struggling to fly but unable to. Its belly heaved, and they could see the snake’s tail writhing inside. Soon, the primitive beast stopped moving, its wings drooping on the chaotic rocks. At this moment, a group of beastmen hurried over.

“What… happened?”

“Is the primitive beast dead? Drag it away.”

Wei Shan spoke up, “Don’t go over there. Wu Mu is inside its belly.”

No one moved. Song Xu was the first to run towards the ferocious and huge primitive beast. Without hesitation, she stepped on the broken stones, jumped up, found the wound on the beast’s belly, and reached inside.

The smell of blood was overwhelming. She fumbled for a while and pulled out a blood-covered snake tail from the wound.

All the beastmen stared blankly at her actions until the big snake suddenly raised its head and aggressively moved toward Song Xu.

“Get away from him!” A large tiger pounced over, grabbed Song Xu, and pulled her aside.

The big snake coiled on the primitive beast’s corpse had blood-red eyes and made hissing sounds at the chaotic surroundings.

“He’s been triggered into a frenzy!” Wei Shan said heavily.

Song Xu said, “He was just woken up from hibernation. It’s a bit of a stress reaction.”

At this moment, Shi You stepped forward and loudly said, “I remember Wu Mu is a half-beastman, right? Has he lost his mind?”

A half-beastman who loses their mind must be killed, but no one responds to him.

Wei Shan avoided the stones and the primitive beast’s corpse, where Wu Mu was coiled, and walked towards Shi You, “How did this primitive beast break free and come here? Weren’t you watching it?”

Shi You’s back stiffened from Wei Shan’s fierce look, but he stubbornly said, “I fell asleep; I don’t know how it broke free. The most important thing now is to deal with this half-beastman.”

Wei Shan punched him into the crowd and pounced again, but several beastmen stopped him. Shi You wiped the blood from his mouth and provocatively said, “Are you trying to break the tribe’s rules?”

They were noisy, and no one paid attention to Song Xu. She had already cautiously approached the blood-red-eyed big snake.

“Wu Mu…”

The big snake made a terrifying hissing sound, and she squatted down, waiting for him to get used to the distance.

“Wu Mu’s situation is special. After this winter, if he is confirmed to have completely lost his mind in the spring, I will deal with it. This is not your concern now.”

Wei Shan suppressed Shi You’s protest with his fist. Despite his dissatisfaction, Shi You couldn’t challenge Wei Shan’s authority in this group. The group was about to leave, not even planning to take the primitive beast with little meat left.

Wei Shan hesitated and looked at Song Xu. Although he said Wu Mu hadn’t lost his mind, he was worried that Wu Mu might eat his mate in this situation. It had happened before.

“Do you want to come with us? Go to the Fierce Beast Tribe and come back to find Wu Mu in the spring.” Wei Shan asked.
Song Xu waved him off, her eyes fixed on the big snake hissing before her.