Chapter 52

Song Xu witnessed a fight between Wu Mu and Hei Sen. The giant tiger had guarded her for a day and finally got hungry, deciding to hunt for food, taking Song Xu along. Naturally, Wu Mu followed, hoping to escape with the squirrel while the tiger was busy fighting. However, he was caught in the act.

Like a parent catching their daughter with a naughty boy, the giant tiger abandoned the half-finished fight and pounced back. Wu Mu had just reached Song Xu when he heard her call his name. Before he could respond, he heard Hei Sen’s roar and got angry, wrapping himself around the tiger without hesitation. The long snake coiled around the giant tiger like a rope, restricting its movements. The frustrated tiger rolled on the ground, kicking up sand.

After a while, the snake couldn’t really squeeze hard enough to strangle the tiger, especially since it was so large. Eventually, Wu Mu ended up on the losing side, becoming a battered snake under the tiger’s paw.

Song Xu could only watch from the side, unable to intervene in the battle between these two giants. Getting too close would likely result in her being accidentally squashed. Besides, despite its fierce appearance, the tiger didn’t seem to be using its full strength.

True to its feline nature, the tiger batted at the snake with its paws like a tabby cat playing with a string or stick. Given Wu Mu’s current state, a stick seemed more accurate. As the fight continued, the tiger seemed to find a familiar rhythm and sensation, showing a puzzled look. It batted at the snake several times and then sniffed him closely.

Song Xu thought, “Could it be that the tiger finally recognized him?”

Soon, however, the tiger lost interest in the snake, turned back, and bit Song Xu, taking her to hunt elsewhere.

The tiger quickly found a small herbivorous beast, ate most of it, and then pushed Song Xu towards the carcass, growling to urge her to eat.

Song Xu’s mother had been a gentle person who never spoke harshly and had passed away early due to illness. She had never experienced such a forceful display of maternal love and couldn’t bring herself to eat the bloody carcass.

Tiger mom, being tiger mom, saw that Song Xu wasn’t eating and, after some growling, directly pushed her onto the meat.

Song Xu pretended to be dead on the meat, refusing to eat. With two already acting foolishly, they’d be the “Three Happy Fools,” a truly joyful family if she joined in.

The tiger paced nearby, anxiously tearing off a small piece of meat and throwing it on Song Xu’s head.

“Roar!”

The tiger mom was experiencing the experience of feeding a child who didn’t want to eat. She wished she had hands to stuff the meat in, but the cub was too small, and one paw would cover her completely. It must be because she didn’t eat that she was so small.

Wu Mu caught up, seeing Song Xu lying on the carcass with a piece of meat on her head, and hissed angrily at the tiger.

“Hiss… Hiss!”

The tiger chased the snake away to fight again, and Song Xu took the opportunity to get up. She quickly gathered leaves, fruits, and roots to eat, feeding herself as fast as she could. When the tiger returned, it no longer tried to make her eat the carcass, instead carrying her back to its usual spot.

Song Xu nestled between the tiger’s paws and licked once, had accepted being mistaken for a tiger cub. Filled with guilt and affection for the snake, she petted the tiger’s fur.

Cats are known for grooming themselves and paying attention to their appearance, and the giant tiger was no exception. She spent a lot of time cleaning her thick fur, which became fluffy and soft after being licked and groomed. The tiger was proud of her dense fur but worried about the little cub she had found. The cub’s fur was sparse and thin, and a single lick was enough to clean it. She couldn’t even find a direction to groom properly, and the cub didn’t eat meat. How could such a cub grow big?
While grooming herself, the tiger noticed the big snake reappearing in the distance.

After several fights, a growing doubt lingered in her not-so-bright mind: why did that snake’s scent seem so familiar?

At night, Song Xu slept sprawled out, covered in tiger fur. Suddenly, she felt a chill and opened her eyes to see the giant tiger, who had been her blanket, standing up. The tiger quietly approached Wu Mu’s resting place, sniffing him curiously.

Song Xu observed the situation and saw the tiger return, looking particularly conflicted. She had left before Wu Mu reached adulthood, and his scent had changed somewhat after maturing. The tiger found parts of Wu Mu’s scent familiar but also detected unfamiliar, dangerous smells on his bare body.

Resting on the little squirrel filled with Wu Mu’s scent, Hei Sen had a dream, recalling a small fragment. In a winter tribe, a cold little snake curled up under a tiger, which used its thick fur to keep the snake warm. When spring came, the snake woke up but was still a bit confused and couldn’t recognize anyone. When the tiger needed to go out, it straightened the coiled snake, wrapped it around its neck, and hid it in its warm fur, taking it along. Because of a dream she couldn’t fully understand, the giant tiger felt inexplicable emotions, leading her to check on the big snake in the middle of the night. Perhaps she didn’t even know what she was thinking, just as she didn’t understand why she insisted on staying by the sea, always gazing at the distant island.

Song Xu couldn’t sleep and leaned against the tiger’s head, saying, “Hei Sen, haven’t you remembered who Wu Mu is yet?”

“He’s your child. Look, your names are from the same series: Hei Sen, Wu Mu. Why would you give him such a name?”

In the beastmen world, names were given casually, but giving a child a name similar to one’s own showed great affection.

“Wu Mu has been waiting for you in the forest outside the tribe. You’ve been away too long.”

“When we heard the news about you on the way, he listened very carefully. He was so happy to see you alive.”

Although he doesn’t look pleased now.

“Remember him soon, at least… before he completely loses his mind.”
Song Xu tugged at the tiger’s whiskers.

When she woke up, Song Xu found the situation had changed again. Previously, the tiger would drive the snake away whenever it tried to approach, likely because a mother tiger with cubs was more aggressive, fearing that other dangerous animals might harm her cub. So Wu Mu had to keep a certain distance while watching them. Now, the tiger still didn’t allow him to get too close, but she also didn’t let him leave too far. The snake often got caught and fought by the tiger, consuming a lot of energy. Unable to hold on, he remembered Song Xu’s words and, instead of eating primitive beasts, had to dive into the sea to catch fish.

The giant tiger lay by the sea, becoming anxious when she noticed the snake had left her sight and dived into the water. She stood up and roared at the sea.

Having just eaten two fish, Wu Mu heard the tiger’s roar and thought something was wrong. He surfaced, only to have his head immediately bitten by the big tiger.

Dragged back to the shore by the tiger, Wu Mu experienced the same treatment as Song Xu, with his neck caught between the tiger’s teeth. Half of the tiger’s body was soaked, making her fur heavy and uncomfortable. She quickly shook off the water while roaring at the snake.

Wu Mu, still hungry, saw the little squirrel sleeping peacefully on a large leaf by the shore. He wanted to return to the sea to catch more fish, but the tiger dragged him back again. It seemed the tiger finally acknowledged that this hairless creature was also her child, dragging the wet snake to her sandy nest.

Wu Mu initially wanted to break free but stopped when he saw Song Xu nearby. He transformed into his half-beast form and stiffly reached out to nudge Song Xu.

Song Xu woke up, saw him beside her, and noticed the giant tiger squatting nearby. She beamed a bright smile at him and gave him a hug. “Congratulations! Your relationship has improved!”

“So, did Hei Sen recognize you?”

Wu Mu was unsure. “No, recognize, maybe?”

Song Xu reassured him, “Don’t worry about it. Things are moving in a good direction. She might remember tomorrow.”

After being separated for so long, Wu Mu clung to Song Xu. She lay on his cool body, sighing contentedly, “Ah, this feels nice.”

The fur is excellent, but it gets really hot in this heat, especially with the sun blazing during the day.

Seeing the two very different cubs snuggling together, the giant tiger got up and soon returned with a primitive beast, dropping it in front of them with a thud.

Song Xu’s smile quickly faded. She hid under the snake’s body, pushing him to deal with it. The big tiger was frustrated by the two cubs who refused to eat meat, feeling that her life had become much more troublesome. The bigger one wouldn’t eat, tying himself into a knot so tightly that the tiger couldn’t even pull his head out. The smaller one was even more outrageous, wrapped up by the bigger one, making it impossible for the tiger even to touch her tail.

When the tiger tried to groom them, the bigger one would hide the smaller one, leaving her to lick the bigger one, which felt like licking a tree trunk—no fun at all. The bigger one kept dodging, but the more she licked, the more familiar it felt. She had another dream, which was also set in winter. The tiger lay on a mat, lazily licking her cub. After a while, she opened her eyes to find she had been licking a stick. Her cub was coiled around another stick, and upon seeing her awake, it used its tail to push the stick closer to her head. The hairless cub never liked being licked from childhood to adulthood.