Chapter 40

“If you could stay here a bit longer, when the shedding season comes, I’ll give you all the wool I comb out to line your nest!” the little lamb Qing Zao generously promised.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Song Xu said. “We’ll be leaving in a couple of days.”

Wu Mu had been unstable between his beast form and half-beastman form for a few days, but now he was starting to stabilize and no longer slept all day. Since both of them had rested well, it was time to leave.

Although Qing Zao had only known Song Xu for a few days, she was already very reluctant to part with her. She was lonelier than the other half-beastman, Cang Ji, and loved spending time with Song Xu. Cang Ji would often go home to help his mother with chores or explore the wilderness on his own, but Qing Zao would come to find Song Xu whenever she had time.

Hearing that Song Xu was leaving, the little lamb’s ears drooped immediately.

“Maybe I’ll come back. When I pass by here again, I’ll come to play with you,” Song Xu comforted her.

The little lamb’s ears perked up slightly, and she looked a bit more spirited. Qing Zao bleated twice, earnestly reminding, “Then you must come early, you must come early.”

“If you’re too late, I’m afraid you won’t find me.”

“Why wouldn’t I find you? Aren’t you always here?” Song Xu asked, puzzled.

“Of course not,” Qing Zao replied matter-of-factly. “I’m a half-beastman. I’ve already reached adulthood, and from now on, each year, I might completely lose my beastman form and become an ordinary little lamb. Many half-beastmen in our tribe have become like that, slowly changing into another form and never changing back. Then they leave with passing herds of horses, cattle, or sheep. I will be like that in the future.”

Other children might be born looking like beastman children or completely in beast form, but half-beastmen are usually born in a half-human, half-beast form.

When Qing Zao was young, children her age sometimes showed beastly traits in their beastman form due to lack of control. At that time, Qing Zao felt no different from others. But as everyone grew up, the other children could freely control their transformation into beastmen, while she still couldn’t fully transform into a beastman form. By the time she reached adulthood, with no hope of fully becoming a beastman, Qing Zao knew that she would eventually lose her memories of her family and friends and leave here forever, unlike others who would find a mate and continue living and reproducing here.

“Actually, I think it’s not so bad,” Qing Zao said with a naive and simple expression, even showing a bit of anticipation. “Becoming an ordinary little lamb, I will still eat the tenderest grass on the hillside and run in the meadow. And then, I will be just like the wild sheep in the herd, and I won’t be lonely anymore.”

The tribe never drove away or harmed half-beastmen, but they weren’t close to them either. It would be hard to let go later if they got too close. So, even before completely turning into an ordinary beast, she already had no friends.

“Oh no! If I turn into a little lamb when you return, how will you recognize me in the flock? We might miss each other!” Qing Zao suddenly realized this crucial problem and jumped twice on the spot, as if already imagining the scene where her friend couldn’t recognize her and left.

The talkative squirrel, for once, didn’t interrupt while Qing Zao was speaking and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing Qing Zao hopping around anxiously, Song Xu grabbed her and said, “Don’t worry; I have an idea.”

She took out a handful of colorful feathers from her animal skin bag, which she had collected as souvenirs from rivers, streams, various watersides, big trees, and abandoned bird nests. The brightly colored feathers from different birds were mixed together, looking vibrant and dazzling.

“I’ll string these together to make a necklace for you to wear around your neck. That way, if I see a little lamb with a colorful feather necklace on the road, I’ll know it’s you.”

“A necklace? Like the one around your waist? Great, great, I’ll have a necklace like yours!” The little lamb was overjoyed, bleating non-stop. She really jumped three feet high.

“So the question is, what kind of string should we use to tie the feathers securely?” Song Xu pondered.

A sound of clattering hooves approached, and the little horse Cang Ji ran over from a distance, “Qing Zao, what are you doing? Why are you jumping so high?”

As he spoke, he noticed that the new friend Song Xu was staring at his… butt? He didn’t understand but nervously took two steps back.

Song Xu smiled happily, “Horse tail’s hair; it will work.”

Horse tail hair is a good material for making silk and bamboo musical instrument strings. They should be strong enough if several strands are braided together to create a necklace.

Cang Ji offered his tail’s hair because friends helped each other. He had just eaten the sweet honeycomb his new friend had given him a few days ago, so a bit of tail hair was nothing, especially with Qing Zao staring at him.

Song Xu worked for a long time and finally made a beautiful, colorful feather necklace for the little lamb, a handmade custom piece. The necklace hung around her neck, with red, blue, yellow, and green feathers falling on her white fur, making it even more vibrant.

As the one who contributed the materials, Cang Ji also received a necklace, though it was smaller than Qing Zao’s. When Song Xu gave it to him, Cang Ji was too embarrassed to put it on at first, but on the way back to the tribe, he quickly wore it. Having friends was the happiest thing for them.