Chapter 42

An old tree, weathered by the elements, stood on a relatively flat grassland. Its gnarled trunk was covered in green moss, and its branches stretched out too long to support the heavy leaves at the top, causing the middle of the trunk to droop down to the soil. The twisted shape of the trunk resembled a snake, which is why Song Xu liked this tree.

The trees here were spaced far apart, unlike in dense forests, where the canopies of neighboring trees touched. Large trees were rare, and their canopies grew freely and expansively without restraint.

In the mountains that Song Xu and Wu Mu had just passed through, although beastmen were rarely seen, their movements could always be detected, and traces of their lives were everywhere. The scents of different beastmen were also distinct.

But here, after a long journey, the traces of beastmen disappeared. It seemed that no one lived nearby, and few beastmen passed through.

After walking all day and looking back at the sunset, Song Xu felt lonely. In such places, she liked to find an old tree with a huge canopy to rest under, and Wumu would follow her, wrapping his body around the trunk.
At night, nocturnal birds like owls would perch on nearby branches. Song Xu could hear them hunting, catching mice scurrying under the tree. It was strange how mice were everywhere; their range was extensive.

Wu Mu would quiet his presence, and some ordinary small animals, not sensing the danger of a beastman, would boldly perch nearby, mistaking him for a branch.

A cat-like creature, much smaller than a leopard but larger than a typical cat, with round spots on its body—perhaps a wildcat? Song Xu didn’t know exactly what it was, only that she saw it agilely jumping on the trunk, catching a bird that was cooing on the branch.

After a flurry of wings, the cooing stopped. The small predator seemed to sense Song Xu’s gaze in the dark, turning to reveal a pair of glowing eyes before quickly disappearing with its prey.

Later, Song Xu encountered another one, slightly different from the last, with a longer tail and different markings. It failed to hunt in the tree and fell near the big snake and the squirrel.

The big snake was startled by the vibration of its landing on the branch and instinctively hissed. Frightened by the sudden appearance of the big snake in the dark, the creature sprayed a foul-smelling liquid from its scent glands.

The squirrel quickly hugged the big snake’s head, dodging most of it, and saw the culprit had already fled. Despite dodging quickly and only getting a little on her, the smell was still suffocating. Wu Mu didn’t look too comfortable either, not daring to flick his tongue with the stench on him.
They exchanged glances, realizing it was their own doing. Wu Mu shook his head and rubbed against the trunk, trying to get rid of the smell.

“Don’t rub, dear. You can’t get rid of it that way. Let’s find a pond to wash it off,” Song Xu said, pinching her nose.

Despite the unexpected encounter in the middle of the night, she could still laugh, and as they descended the tree to find a pond, she found it increasingly funny. The snake’s stunned reaction to being sprayed by an unfamiliar small animal was hilarious, and she couldn’t stop laughing.

Laughing, the big snake leaned against her. Song Xu suddenly realized, “Ah! Don’t rub it on me!”

The snake didn’t have such bad intentions; he just reminded her there was a pond ahead. They wandered through the wild at midnight, found a pond, washed off the stench, waited for the smell of grass to cover the odor, drank some water, and then found another big tree to sleep under.
Such sudden situations often occur while traveling, eating in the wind, and sleeping in the dew. Once, while they were sleeping, a group of bats arrived.

Bats always came in groups, hanging upside down on the trunk not far from Song Xu and Wu Mu, so when Song Xu opened her eyes, she saw clusters of black shadows and pairs of small eyes. With so many spectators suddenly watching, it was impossible to sleep.

That wasn’t the worst part. Bats would defecate while hanging there, and they wouldn’t fly away to avoid people; they would change position, head up, and spray.

Despite their small size, they were truly not to be trifled with. Song Xu dared to challenge a wolf pack but wouldn’t reason with these spraying warriors because there was no way to communicate.

The big snake and the squirrel had to find a new place to stay again in the middle of the night. Some noises were around, but Song Xu couldn’t always identify their sources. Wu Mu wasn’t interested in these sounds; he habitually placed his head next to Song Xu or on her stomach to keep track of her movements and prevent her from falling off the tree in her sleep.

Only when some clumsy animals accidentally landed near the squirrel at night and showed interest in her would the big snake suddenly come to life, opening his mouth wide to scare away the passing creatures. In other situations, he wouldn’t bother to move his tail even if birds landed on him and pecked at his scales.

At dawn, the world was shrouded in thick fog. The fog here differed from the forest fog, feeling more expansive and ethereal. Song Xu gazed at the outlines of trees in the mist, involuntarily recalling various horror movies she had seen. Usually, when the fog appeared, there would be monsters in it. In the white mist, there were faint, slender shadows and huge, indescribable creatures, possibly with countless twisted limbs and eyes, silently approaching. Her vivid imagination made Song Xu lift the big snake head beside her and burrow under it, like a child trying to hide under a blanket for safety.

The big snake woke up, not sensing any danger in the peaceful morning. Unsure of what the squirrel was afraid of, he indulgently pressed her down with his chin. He thought, just like her fear of thunder, she was probably scared of the fog, too. When the fog dissipated, so did Song Xu’s fear. She kicked the snake’s chin away and stretched on the tree trunk.

In the lingering mist, the shadow of a deer walked by. With elegant antlers, a few of them strolled on the grass like morning gentlemen, though it was unclear if they had had breakfast.

Soon, one of the deer became the big snake’s breakfast.

Some snakes excel at stealth; even a snake as big as Wu Mu could move silently through the grass and strike with deadly precision. Song Xu only realized he wasn’t on the tree trunk behind her when he had quietly and quickly bitten the deer.

Given the daily exercise and energy expenditure, Wu Mu now ate a bit more frequently than before. Most of their journey was monotonous, repeating the same routines. In any given area, most things remained unchanged, and only a few exciting things needed to be sought out.

“Mother! I found something interesting!” A young elephant ran over, raising its trunk and trumpeting.

The squirrel and the big snake were discovered as something interesting.

It had been two months since Song Xu and Wu Mu left the forest. The land they traversed was no longer lush green, occasionally revealing soil and rock colors. The bare land and sandy areas without vegetation were expanding, and small water sources like streams and puddles were decreasing and gradually disappearing. Following their path, only a large river remained visible.

Seeing traces of beastmen again, Song Xu was quite happy.

Living near the river were some larger beastmen, including elephants, rhinos, tortoises, and crocodiles living by the river. This tribe was quite a mix. Generally, tribes formed in three ways: groups of the same species living together, those with similar diets (herbivores or carnivores) gathering, or a mixed group with varying sizes and diets forming a tribe simply because they lived nearby. This place was clearly the last type, with mixed beastmen scents.

Song Xu and the snake had seen many beastmen avoiding them along their journey, so it was surprising to see a beastman not afraid of the snake and even approaching to look.

It made sense, though. The young elephant, though called ‘young,’ was so large that if the snake tried to swallow him, it would burst. Even in human form, this juvenile was about 1.9 meters tall.

The young beastman could not control his transformation. His ears resembled those of an elephant, making his large, wind-catching ears very noticeable.

Elephants are famously curious and playful, and since there are few natural enemies here, they are wary of strangers. This innocence is different from the naive charm of lambs; it’s fearless confidence due to their thick skin and strong bodies, plus the presence of powerful parents, making them unafraid of anything.

Song Xu chatted with the young elephant for a while before some adult beastmen from the nearby tribe arrived. These were also elephant beastmen, with the matriarchs being tall, nearly three meters high, broad-shouldered, and strong. Their skin, even in beastman form, had a leathery texture.

Looking at these towering figures, Song Xu felt a bit intimidated and appeared exceptionally well-behaved.

Among the elephant beastmen was a rhino beastman who came to see what was happening. “This little half-beastman is almost turning into a wild beast. How did he get here? There are no snake beastmen around here, and snakes are rarely seen,” the rhino beastman said.

Song Xu didn’t comment on the “almost turning into a wild beast” remark, simply saying, “We’re just passing through, heading to a farther place. We’re not looking for snake beastmen or snake groups.”

“Going farther? The road ahead isn’t easy.”

“It’s okay; we’ll take a detour if it’s difficult, ” Song Xu replied lightly, noticing their friendly attitude.

“Why are you going so far? I’ve never been that far!” the young elephant interjected, only to be pushed to the back by the adult beastmen.

“What kind of beastman are you? I’ve never seen your kind before,” one curious beastman asked, reaching out to touch her fur.

Song Xu held back the big snake’s opening mouth and answered, “I’m a squirrel beastman.” There were indeed no squirrels here, probably because it wasn’t suitable for them.

The eldest elephant beastman stopped the others from touching the squirrel, saying, “You can stay here for a while, but you can’t harm anyone in our tribe or get close to our settlement.” After this group of beastmen left, another group came, mostly elephant beastmen. It seemed curiosity wasn’t exclusive to the young elephant.

Even if the tribe hadn’t said so, Song Xu wouldn’t have entered their settlement. She was worried the big snake might get stepped on by these large beastmen.

They stopped upstream of the river.

“We’ll rest by this rock tonight,” Song Xu decided.

“Better find another place; I’m about to leave,” a voice said.

Song Xu stared at the snake’s unmoving mouth, suddenly realizing, “Who’s talking?!” She turned around in shock to see the rock she had chosen come to life. The large, stone-like shell turned into a carapace, and a giant over two meters tall stood before her. It was a tortoise beastman.

After glancing at them, the tortoise beastman slowly started to leave, then suddenly looked back at the tiger-tooth necklace hanging from Song Xu’s waist, showing a look of recognition. “This necklace looks familiar; it seems to belong to a tiger beastman.”