Chapter 3

Song Xu pondered that she needed to find a place to live. The original owner lived in tree holes, so she could maintain this habit and find a tree hole to transition.

With so many trees around, Song Xu thought finding a temporary tree hole would be easy. She searched around the trees near the boulder and found a hole under a tree root, just big enough for her to squeeze in. When she poked her head in, she discovered a dirt hole at the bottom of the tree hole, and from inside came a series of panicked chirps, indicating that the tree hole already had occupants. She didn’t like these ground-level tree holes much and preferred a higher one for safety, especially since she now had tree-climbing skills. Naturally, she wanted to choose a high-level residence with good conditions.

Song Xu searched the trees, but although the nearby trees were large, the wood seemed particularly hard, so there were few tree holes, and she couldn’t dig one herself. Unlike the pine forest where the original owner used to live, where the tree trunks were easy to dig holes in. After much effort, she finally found a tree hole on a trunk. Before she could poke her head in, she saw three big-eyed, sparsely feathered baby birds inside, looking at her in horror and flapping around in the nest.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m not here to catch kids. You guys continue sleeping!” Although they were just ordinary little birds, Song Xu couldn’t bring herself to take over their nest, so she had to give up this prime location.

The few tree holes nearby were either too small or already occupied. Observing at the door of others’ homes even attracted warnings from big birds. These ordinary small animals were fiercer than the dangerous big snake in the stone cave. After a busy day, Song Xu couldn’t find a suitable empty tree hole and had to settle behind the stone cave with some large leaves as night fell.

Sitting by the stone wall, Song Xu watched the forest gradually darken. The novelty of feeling like she was playing a game and the excitement of encountering the big snake slowly cooled down. When she first entered this body, she was among a group of captured beastmen, with hundreds of people crowded together. At night, it didn’t seem so scary with many people around. During the escape, there was no time to be afraid, but now, alone and idle, the encroaching night became dangerous and terrifying.

In a state of being somewhat hungry but not very hungry, somewhat tired but not very tired, Song Xu felt like a child lost in an amusement park after playing all day, unable to find her way home, and fell into a state of confusion and unease. She hadn’t left this world for so long and hadn’t opened her eyes to see the familiar blackboard and classroom. Maybe she would have to stay here forever. Suddenly, sadness overwhelmed her, and she shed a few tears in the gloomy atmosphere of the sunset.

However, thinking of her terrible family relationships, the approaching college entrance exam, her poor grades, and the increasingly heavy study tasks, it didn’t seem so sad. At least she didn’t have to do test papers until midnight now.

Speaking of test papers, Song Xu, who hadn’t studied all day, instinctively felt a sense of guilt and anxiety. “No, no, I don’t have to study now. There are no textbooks here.” She muttered, hugging her arms.

“Whoo-whoo—whoo—” The sound of an owl in the forest announced the arrival of night. Song Xu piled some large leaves she had picked during the day on herself, leaving only a pair of round eyes peeking around.

It was too dark, with no light at all. In the original owner’s memory, Song Xu saw that the local beastmen were very accustomed to this darkness. Except for some nocturnal beastmen, most beastmen would return to their nests to rest as soon as it got dark. But Song Xu couldn’t do that. She really wanted a fire to keep her warm and boost her courage. She searched through the original owner’s memories and found that fire was also a rare thing in the tribe. In the original owner’s small tribe, the chief only used fire stones to start a fire on special days. At other times, their small tribe wouldn’t make fires, and the tribe members mainly ate plant fruits. Fire was more common in larger tribes, like the fierce beast tribe, where they were accustomed to using fire to roast meat.

Song Xu’s mind wandered as she leaned against the cold stone and dozed off, only to awaken suddenly. At night, the forest was full of nocturnal animals.

Song Xu suddenly felt shadows moving in the forest ahead, and soon after, she heard the cries of wild animals.

Young people’s courage fluctuates, sometimes as bold as a leopard, sometimes as timid as a mouse.

After struggling for a while, Song Xu, holding the pile of large leaves she had collected, groped her way into the snake cave she had briefly explored during the day. At least it was a place that sheltered from the wind and rain, not an open area. The snake living there seemed to have a good temper, not getting angry when she touched it during the day, so it should be okay to borrow his place to sleep now, right?

He seemed to be a beastman, too, although she hadn’t seen him in human form yet. Maybe they could get to know each other as fellow beastmen. Anyway, she didn’t want to stay outside alone!

Not going deep into the cave, Song Xu stopped at the spot she had reached during the day, set up her “bed” in the corner, and waited for a while. When the cave owner didn’t get angry, she comfortably transformed into her beast form.

A fluffy squirrel curled up on the pile of leaves. She lay there, stroking her fur, then hugged her fluffy tail, finding the texture quite nice. The smooth fur gave her a psychological sense of warmth.

The cave owner wasn’t hospitable, not making any sound to greet her. Even the big tail from the day was retracted. No matter how hard Song Xu looked, she couldn’t see anything in the dark corner, so she fell asleep with some regret.

Her high school biological clock woke her up suddenly at dawn. Her first reaction to not hearing the alarm was, “Oh no, I’m going to be late.” Seeing the light filtering through the rocks above, she remembered she wasn’t human anymore. The feeling of melancholy didn’t last long, as sleepiness made her fall back asleep. She woke up again to the sound of rustling nearby. When she opened her eyes this time, she saw a snake’s tail moving forward right in front of her. The part of the tail passing her should be the middle section, roughly as thick as her former waist. The tail was dark red overall, with symmetrical black patterns on the belly, delicate and beautiful.

Seeing only the tail tip yesterday, Song Xu was now fully awake. She sat up like a squirrel, watching the tail pass by her nonchalantly.

The big snake was out of the cave!

Song Xu pressed against the cave wall, watching the snake leave the cave completely, and carefully followed it out.

Outside the cave, she couldn’t see the snake in the forest ahead. Just as she felt a bit disappointed, she suddenly realized something and turned back to look.

The bright and pleasantly warm morning sunlight clearly illuminated the large snake coiled on the boulder. The thick, beautiful snake tail drooped over the moss-covered gray-green boulder. Following the dark red and black patterned tail upwards, Song Xu didn’t see a fierce snake head but rather a human waistline. Above the snake’s body was a human male torso. His flexible waist connected to the snake tail, and he leaned against a protrusion of the boulder, his slender arms placed under his head. His black hair was scattered messily over his back and arms, which were adorned with black patterns.

With his eyes closed, the young man’s face appeared pale under the messy hair. Compared to the hairy men Song Xu had seen since coming to this world, this half-snake man was as dangerously attractive as his snake form, refreshing her aesthetic sense like eye drops.

Song Xu stared dumbfounded at the sunbathing snake, her aesthetic sense overwhelmed by this animalistic and sinister beauty blend.

Her mind, filled with fragmented local squirrel knowledge, made her realize this was a half-beastman, a defective beastman.

Song Xu: “The Venus de Milo tells us that the beauty of art lies in its imperfections!”

Like in her country, where ancient legends depicted snake demons transforming into beautiful women, perhaps those named “Xu” were naturally snake enthusiasts.

T/N: She refers to Xu Xian, the male lead of Legend of the White Snake.

Song Xu looked up for a long time, her neck getting sore. She organized the common beastman language inherited from the original owner and shouted to the half-beastman above, “Hello, what’s your name?”

The snake half-beastman on the rock didn’t respond. Song Xu continued to speak enthusiastically from below. After her persistent greetings, the “unreachable” snake half-beastman finally opened his eyes, revealing dark red pupils. He raised his flexible upper body, propped his hands before him, and looked down at Song Xu, slightly parting his lips and flicking his tongue.

Song Xu: “…” Ahhh!

Song Xu: “… I stayed at your place yesterday, you know? I have nowhere to go. Can I stay at your place for a while?”

Wu Mu looked at her, seemingly thinking about something, but in reality, he was staring at this female beastman, listening to her stammering common beastman language and briefly dazing out. He hadn’t heard another beastman speak in a long time and was almost unable to understand the language.

Snakes are usually harmless and lazy when not feeling threatened, have a full stomach, and are at a suitable temperature.

Wu Mu didn’t try to understand Song Xu’s words. He just stretched his tail in the sunlight and lay back down, watching Song Xu in this position.

Song Xu’s courage swelled under the sun. Seeing Wu Mu looking at her, she climbed onto the rock. The rock was slanted, with no place to stand, so Song Xu lay there chatting.

“What’s your name? Why don’t you talk? Can’t you speak, or won’t you? My name is Song Xu, and my beast form is a squirrel. Although snakes seem to eat squirrels, we are both beastmen, so you shouldn’t eat your kind, right?”

Wu Mu couldn’t keep up with her speed. Watching her lying nearby, talking non-stop, he caught a few familiar words and repeated, “Squirrel… eat…”

Song Xu: “…No, you don’t want to eat!”