Chapter 65

Looking for water, Wu Mu glanced around.

While the snake and squirrel chatted as if no one else was around, the giant tiger had already left the boat and was sunbathing on a nearby reef.
Seeing that her cub was fine and in great condition, the once-agitated tiger instantly turned into a lazy big cat. She and the large orca in the water nearby curiously watched the snake and squirrel. As for the jellyfish, it was still persistently making courtship declarations to the tiger but was being ignored. The tiger no longer hit him but couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him.

Glancing at the giant tiger, Wu Mu turned his gaze to the squirrel and asked, “Water?”

Song Xu: “Wow, you speak so fluently now, no more stuttering! Oh, I don’t need water.”

Wu Mu couldn’t switch tones as smoothly as the squirrel in one sentence; he was still in the process of fully recovering. In fact, he was exhausted now. Since setting out to sea, he hadn’t rested properly for a moment and had undergone an intense transformation process. Now, he just wanted to curl up with the squirrel and sleep well.

The squirrel suggested on time, “Did you swim a long way to find me? Are you tired? How about we rest here for a bit?”

Although very tired, Wu Mu didn’t immediately agree to this proposal. The poisonous jellyfish beastman over there made him a bit wary. Why was he constantly provoking Hei Sen?

Everyone here knew what was happening, except for the newly arrived big snake. The relationship between parents and children in the beastman tribe wasn’t like what Song Xu imagined. Generally, children and parents went their separate ways after reaching adulthood and rarely interacted again, let alone interfered with each other’s choice of mates.

Song Xu whispered, “That jellyfish wants to court our mom.”

Understanding that the jellyfish was courting and seeing that Hei Sen wasn’t reacting strongly, Wu Mu nodded calmly. Song Xu jumped off the boat and extended her hand to him, “Come on, let’s get down and rest for a bit!”

Wu Mu lifted his foot and, unsurprisingly, tripped again, pressing the squirrel down with a squeak.

The squirrel, almost squashed, freed herself from the weight, and her first reaction was to laugh uncontrollably, “Hahaha, you can’t walk, can you? Hahaha!”

The big snake frowned, unhappily glaring at her exaggerated laughter, and instantly coiled around her.

The heavy pressure made the squirrel change her expression immediately, “I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have laughed. It’s normal that you can’t use your legs yet. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to use them either, really. I’ll teach you to walk and promise you’ll learn in thirty days with no tuition fee. If you don’t learn, I’ll carry you, I swear!”

Of course, she wouldn’t say that Snakey’s behavior of coiling around her when angry was adorable, hehe!

Not wanting to enter the tribe, Wu Mu coiled up on the outer reef, but he didn’t stay there long because his sleeping companion, the little squirrel, didn’t want to sleep at this time. She wanted to talk to the large orca by the water and watch the big tiger mom and her suitor. The snake didn’t want to let go of her, so they compromised. He transformed into his beast form, coiled his tail around Song Xu’s hand, and stretched out long on the reef.

The large orca grandma decided to return to her tribe. Song Xu bid her farewell, watching her return to the neighboring island. Looking at the jellyfish still courting, repeating the same few lines repeatedly without saying anything nice, it was no wonder the giant tiger was indifferent.

“I’ve prepared a mating ceremony. If you agree, we can hold it immediately. I’ve also prepared beautiful decorations for you to wear at the ceremony…”

Hearing this, Song Xu was surprised. She didn’t expect him to be so ceremonial. Speaking of decorations, Song Xu removed the tiger tooth necklace from her waist and returned it to its owner, “Hei Sen, this is your necklace. I’ll give it back to you. You can wear it now.”

The tiger pawed at it but didn’t take it, “I don’t want it. It’s yours now.”

Her beast form was too large, and although she was recovering, being in beastman form wasn’t as comfortable as being in beast form. Wearing a small beast tooth necklace was inconvenient.

After they finished talking, the jellyfish started repeating, “Let’s hold the mating ceremony today…”

“Jellyfish,” Song Xu interrupted, “Hei Sen won’t agree. Forced love doesn’t work. Don’t push it, or Hei Sen will tear you apart. Look at the new snake over there; his venom is no less potent than yours. We’re leaving, and you can’t stop us.”

The jellyfish protested, “I can…”

“But!” Song Xu made a turn, “The mating ceremony is already prepared; it would be a waste not to use it.”

The giant tiger glanced at her, and Song Xu, pulling at the snake tail wrapped around her wrist, loudly said, “Since we must hold a mating ceremony today, why not let me and my snake have it!”

Jellyfish: “?”

Wu Mu didn’t understand why, after just a short nap, he was suddenly dragged to this tribe and why a group of unfamiliar beastmen suddenly emerged from various places and started singing and dancing around them.

“Are we joining this tribe?” Wu Mu, who had missed important developments, was puzzled. In his memory, only by joining a tribe would one sing, dance, and share food with the tribe’s beastmen.

Song Xu: “Wow, you can say long sentences without inversion now! Oh, of course, we’re not joining this tribe, just participating in the mating ceremony.”

Wu Mu looked at Hei Sen, who was eating fish nearby, and the jellyfish beside her, “Hei Sen’s?”

Song Xu: “Ours, haha!”

Wu Mu: “?”

Song Xu: “That’s right, from today on, we are mates!”

Wu Mu: “Weren’t we already mates?”

Song Xu: “Really? I can’t remember…”

Wu Mu’s dark red pupils narrowed dangerously, “Hiss!”

Song Xu corrected herself, “I remember now, today is our anniversary, um, the second anniversary! Anyway, try this on; it’s a pearl, and it’s so pretty!”

The jellyfish, living on the island, had collected many pearls and made a decorative crown with coral, shells, and pearls. Initially intended for Hei Sen, it was now placed on – Wu Mu’s head.

No way, it was too big. Song Xu refused outright because it was too heavy for her neck!

Not understanding the current situation, Wu Mu had the mischievous Song Xu place the heavy crown on his head. He remembered how Song Xu used to like placing wildflower wreaths on his head. But he didn’t like this one and took it off immediately.

“You don’t like it either? Too heavy, right?” Song Xu took it and casually placed it on a nearby tribal child running by, letting her wear the beautiful big hat to play with her friends.

The unfamiliar beastmen on Jellyfish Island seemed quite happy, with a bunch of shells acting as the atmosphere group, clapping and playing music. Starfish beastmen lay all over the place, and many beastmen lay in their beast forms, making it hard for Song Xu to tell if they were fish caught for eating or nearby beastmen. Only when they were on the grill could she tell.

Everyone was happy except for the jellyfish tribe leader, whose mate ceremony inexplicably became someone else’s. Although he couldn’t hold the ceremony with his desired mate, he participated in a mating ceremony.

Song Xu taught everyone a popular square dance song, then retreated with Wu Mu to find a quiet corner to rest.

“This spot is good. It’s flat here. Come on, transform into your beastman form, and I’ll teach you to walk,” the squirrel coaxed the snake.

The big snake refused, coiling his head under his body. Song Xu forcefully lifted the snake’s head and untangled him, “Don’t avoid walking. Come on, you have to learn!”

In the end, as she wished, a long-legged man sat on the beach. He might have felt that being in beastman form without covering much of his body with scales was strange, or perhaps he thought his skin looked a bit fragile in beastman form, so he covered his upper body as well, unlike his casual half-beastman form.

Beastmen can control their “clothing” when they transform, like Song Xu’s little fur coat. When it’s hot, she reveals more; when it’s cold, she covers herself completely. Wu Mu’s snake scale outfit made him look like a cool, aloof special agent or perhaps a race car driver in a racing suit. In short, while Wu Mu sometimes didn’t understand her, he naturally understood her preferences.

Adult fantasies kept creeping out as Song Xu saw Wu Mu stand up with the help of a reef. She reached out and suddenly pushed him, instantly causing the big snake to sit back down.

He was angry, “I just stood up.”

Lying on top of him, Song Xu whimpered, “I stood up too!”

Wu Mu held her with one hand, puzzled, “You didn’t stand up?”

Song Xu glanced around secretly, then tugged at the snake’s waist and whispered, “Wu Mu, how about we go…”

She met the innocent eyes of the big snake.

Song Xu hesitated, “We go… we go, um, catch jellyfish!”

After saying that, she covered her forehead and fell to the side. Damn, why does the snake look so innocent even though he’s already an adult!

The snake didn’t understand why she wanted to catch jellyfish, but he took her anyway. Before going, he asked, “Catch the jellyfish chief?”

Song Xu waved her hand, “Not him. We won’t find him tonight anyway.”

After painfully catching jellyfish for half the night, the island quieted at dawn, and the beastmen were all asleep. Song Xu looked at the sky, fetched some fresh water from the island’s sinkhole, and announced, “Alright, let’s go!”

“Where’s Tiger Mommy?”

As she mentioned Tiger Mommy, she elegantly stepped out from behind a large reef, swishing her tail.

“All set?” Song Xu giggled and winked, and the giant tiger twitched her ears in response.

“Alright, let’s hurry and go.”

At dawn, a boat was pushed into the sea, and just like when they came, they sailed towards the coast.

“If I get the chance in the future, I want to build a bigger boat and sail further out to sea,” Song Xu said, lying by the side of the boat, watching the island fade away.

As the sun appeared over the sea, a large orca’s head emerged from the water.

“Grandma?” Song Xu was surprised.

“You’re heading back?” The orca nudged the wooden boat with her head.

“Yes, Grandma!”

“Let me escort you.”

“Sure! How did you know I was leaving?”

“Hunting nearby, I smelled your scent.”

The orca grandma escorted the squirrel for a day, even catching fish for her and preparing delicious deep-sea fish for Song Xu. When they reached the near shore, Song Xu persuaded her to go back.

“Isn’t it said that many flying primitive beasts like to hunt marine beastmen near the shore? It’s not safe for you alone. You better go back. I’ll definitely come to see you again in the future.”

She had heard similar words when she sent off her mother and sister, but she knew they wouldn’t return because the journey from their land to the sea was too far. The orca called out, staying in place and watching the waving squirrel leave. The last time she swam here to send someone off, she was still an immature little orca.