Chapter 5

On stormy nights, Song Xu would pile her blankets and pillows into a mountain and hide underneath it. This time, she did the same, but instead of soft blankets and pillows, she was under a snake’s heavy, solid tail. She curled Wu Mu’s tail into a ball, and when the thunder subsided a bit, she dared to peek out, almost flattened by the heavy tail into a pancake. She listened to the sounds outside, poking most of her body out from under the snake’s tail, and rubbed herself, trying to inflate her flattened self.

Adjusting to the dim environment, Song Xu saw a blurry outline in front of her, and her paw touched cool, slippery hair. Of course, it wasn’t hers; it was the snake’s. His upper body was bent and lying nearby, and from this position, it seemed she was near his mouth.

Song Xu couldn’t help but marvel at the snake’s good temper. Earlier, she had been so scared that she lost her senses, randomly pawing at his tail, pushing and shoving it, and he just let her move it as if he were dead.

Just as she praised his good temper, Wu Mu opened his eyes in the dark. A dangerous hissing sound and two tiny red light bulbs were glowing, making the squirrel’s fur stand on end. Fortunately, he looked at her for a while without any intention of having a midnight snack, just moving his body to change his sleeping position.

Song Xu dashed into the circle that Wu Mu’s tail had created as the thunder outside began to rumble again, disregarding the squirrel’s innate fear of snakes. His tail formed a circle this time, and hiding in the middle felt even safer.

In her sleep, Song Xu felt like a ball, sometimes flattened by a heavy object, sometimes rolled and kneaded by a rolling pin. When she woke up, she found one of her paws and tail still pressed under the snake’s tail, and her position had moved from the corner to the edge of the stone wall.

Last night, this male snake beastman might have treated her like a small stone, rolling and kneading her as he moved his tail in his sleep. The sun was already high outside, and bright light shone into the stone cave through various gaps, making the usually dim cave a bit brighter.

Song Xu carefully jumped over the piled-up snake tail and walked to the cave entrance, instantly dazzled by the bright light. Apart from a few broken branches on the ground, last night’s storm left no other traces.

After a night of heavy rain, the forest looked greener. The moss on the ground soaked up water, and all the greenery was translucent and bright in the sunlight, fresh and dripping. As for her… Song Xu looked at her muddy, no longer smooth fur, almost turning into a mud squirrel. Unable to bear it, she transformed into her beastman form, and the fur that turned into a beast skin on her body lost its usual luster. Since coming to this world, she hadn’t taken a bath. The beastmen here were not used to bathing, just like cats and dogs at home wouldn’t bathe every day. They had a different way of maintaining their fur compared to humans.

Song Xu grimaced as she peeled off the mud clumps on her body: “But I can’t go without a bath now!”

She had collected water from a small stream in a rock crevice in the forest for the past few days. The small stream provided a trickle of water, enough to fill a handful after a while, but it was obviously too small to wash a squirrel of her size. She needed to find a larger water source as a fixed bathing spot.

After living nearby for a few days, Song Xu was no longer as afraid of the forest as she was at first. She climbed to the top of a tall tree to look for possible water sources. Perhaps relying on her usual luck or the animal’s natural sensitivity to water sources, she found a small wetland south of the giant stone cave.

The wetland was not close to the giant stone cave, and by the time Song Xu found it, it was already afternoon. This wetland seemed to be one of the public drinking spots for various animals in the forest. Large patches of aquatic plants covered the muddy banks, which displayed signs of animal trample. In the footprints of unknown animals, groups of black tadpoles had just grown hind legs. It wouldn’t be long before they evolved into noisy summer night singers, starting their croaking songs.

Song Xu found a clean spot, picked up the soft water plants swaying in the water, and rolled them into a ball to wipe the mud off her body. After rolling around wet on the ground all night, wiping wasn’t enough; she needed to soak in the water to wash.

Strangely, bathing in the wild in her beastman form felt awkward, but bathing in her squirrel form had no psychological pressure at all. While scrubbing her tail and paws, a few long-legged water birds flew nearby to catch fish. Some were all white with long beaks, and others had white necks and black backs. Song Xu stretched her neck to see if they had any catches.

Their long beaks, like clamps, easily picked up small fish from the water. In the deeper water in the center of the water body, schools of small fish flashed their silver backs, making Song Xu crave grilled fish. Because of her movements while washing her feet by the water plants, curious small fish swam over, hiding in the water plants. Eager to catch them, Song Xu threw away the water plants she was using to scrub and pounced on the fish.

With green algae on her head, Song Xu threw a small fish the size of her palm onto the shore. Watching its tail thrash wildly, her excitement slowly cooled. Ah, she caught the fish, but how to eat it? Raw?

She managed to get a meal in this wetland and even developed some new recipes. In her country’s mythology, there was a story of Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs. What she is doing now is quite similar, and she can even feel the sentiments of ancient people facing nature: eat! When hungry, anything can be eaten!

This lush, breezy wetland was much livelier than the forest, with a constant stream of small animals visiting. Various birds inhabit the water’s edge, though Song Xu couldn’t recognize them. She had already seen several large bird nests in the bushes by the water.

Song Xu: I want to eat bird eggs.

She also saw a larger animal for the first time here—a giant lizard over a meter long, mostly buried in mud, blending in with its surroundings. She didn’t notice it until a rhinoceros came to drink water and startled it. Song Xu then realized a giant lizard was hiding there. She didn’t like lizards as much as snakes but had some knowledge about them. However, she couldn’t identify this giant lizard. After observing the lizard, she looked at the rhinoceros drinking water… It had a horn on its head, so it should be a rhinoceros, right? She knew even less about rhinoceroses. They were large, with thick, wrinkled skin, looking quite formidable. She wondered if the big snake usually ate rhinoceroses.

Besides the rhinoceros, there were deer with spiral horns drinking water… or maybe they were antelopes or something else; Song Xu still couldn’t tell. Watching them lick the water, she wondered if the big snake ate such animals. If it did, would those sharp horns easily tear its stomach?

After drying her fur completely and fluffing it up, Song Xu decided to end her nature documentary viewing and return before dark. On her way back, she was attracted by a fallen dead tree in the forest. The trunk was smooth and sturdy.

Song Xu walked around the dead tree and thought it would be perfect to place it as a play branch in the big snake’s cave. The cave was empty, lacking enrichment devices to improve the living environment.

Song Xu struggled to drag the large branch back. Fortunately, the fallen tree was not far from the stone cave. Even so, she was exhausted by the time she returned. Getting the branch into the cave became a new problem. The entrance was not big enough, and the branch was too large. After much effort, the branch got stuck at the entrance, neither going in nor coming out.

Song Xu glanced at the cave, feeling a bit guilty. It seemed she had blocked the big snake’s door. Wu Mu woke up and noticed the large branch blocking the entrance. Song Xu slipped to the side, watching him look at the branch and then drag it inside with his long tail. The stuck trunk instantly made cracking sounds, and most of it was dragged into the cave.

Compared to Song Xu’s strenuous effort, Wu Mu did it effortlessly. His strength was terrifying. With the small problem solved, Song Xu watched Wu Mu wrap his tail around the branch, thinking snakes liked branches. As for whether Wu Mu really liked the branch, after wrapping his tail around it and exerting a little force, all the branches made cracking sounds. The entangled snake tail loosened, and the large branch turned into pieces, some crushed into powder, scattering wood chips everywhere.

Song Xu: Hmm… now it’s suitable for firewood. There’s no need to chop.

After shredding the tree, Wu Mu lost interest and left the cave, leaving a mess behind. Song Xu had to clean up the scattered wood chips and branches. She kicked them into a corner to avoid obstruction. In the corner, there was a grayish thing that Song Xu initially thought was a stone. After accidentally kicking it, she found it was soft. Curious, she lifted it and exclaimed. It was a rough animal skin bag covered in thick dust, making Song Xu mistake it for a stone.

Dragging the bag to a bright spot, Song Xu opened it with the excitement of opening a treasure chest. Inside were a large stone bowl, a knife made of animal teeth, some small pieces of leather with unknown uses, a large white stone crystal, and, to Song Xu’s delight, two black flints! These were tools for making fire!

Holding the two flints, Song Xu danced joyfully: “Ah, I can eat cooked food now!!!”

She looked at the branch and wood chips beside her, thinking it was a coincidence that the firewood was ready.