Chapter 68

The way back was not the same as the way they came. On this new path, Song Xu did not encounter the people she had met before. At first, she tried to find familiar scenery along the way but eventually realized it was futile. She had to give up and focus on the new things in front of her.

A few months after they left the seaside, Wu Mu, who once needed to learn to walk, could now run skillfully and speak much more fluently, although how much he spoke still depended on whether Song Xu teased him that day.

Without deliberately seeking a path, Song Xu saw familiar terrain for the first time. The continuous mountains and forests, beyond which lay vast fields where she had once met two half-beast friends.

In these continuous mountains and forests, the big snake had left many terrifying legends among the small beastmen living there. Now, as they returned, the green forests had turned into a scene of autumn. They crossed the autumn-colored forests and arrived at the fields.

In the small thorny forest with jujube and hawthorn trees, there was the simple house Song Xu had built before. Such a simple house should have fallen apart after a few storms, but Song Xu guessed that someone must have repaired it after they left. Now, it was still standing, able to shelter from the wind and rain.

However, it seemed that no one had been there for a long time.

Song Xu only glanced at the house twice before heading towards the nearby tribe. She had told the little lamb Qing Zao that if she passed by again, she would definitely come to say hello.

On the hillside near the tribe, Song Xu first saw a flock of sheep. It was an ordinary wild sheep flock with a black shadow, seemingly a canine, wandering at the edge. Like a warrior guarding the flock, the figure walked with the sheep on the grass. Noticing two unfamiliar beastmen approaching, the black dog with long, pointed ears transformed into a beastman and stood up, looking at them from the hillside.

“Hello!” Song Xu shouted from a distance, “I want to ask if Qing Zao and Cang Ji are in your tribe?”

After she finished shouting, she saw a little lamb with a colorful feather necklace emerge from the wild sheep flock behind the black dog beastman. The feather necklace had lost its original bright colors, probably faded by wind and rain, now dull and inconspicuous.

Song Xu’s steps paused, and the smile on her face froze. The little lamb was grazing, making soft bleating sounds, carefree like clouds moving in the sky.

“Qing Zao has completely turned into a wild sheep,” the black dog beastman said, looking at the lamb with the feather necklace. “Are you the friend who gave her the feather necklace?”

Song Xu: “Why so quickly… She hasn’t been an adult for long.”

Wu Mu had resisted turning completely into a beast for several years. She thought other half-beastmen wouldn’t turn completely into beasts so quickly, either.

“Some half-beastmen don’t want to become beasts and will maintain their half-beast form longer. Some look forward to becoming beasts, and their transformation is faster,” the black dog beastman explained.

“Has Qing Zao stayed here since turning into a wild sheep?” Song Xu asked from the hillside.

“I thought she would leave for a farther wild sheep flock, but she ended up staying here,” the black dog beastman said.

Perhaps the little lamb who said she wanted to become a wild sheep and have companions had always had a deep attachment to this place and didn’t want to leave.

“Who are you?”

“Her mother.” The black dog beastman transformed into a black dog and walked at the edge of the flock. She didn’t get close to the little lamb with the feather necklace, but when the lamb wandered nearby, she would occasionally come over. The calm black dog would lick the fluffy little lamb several times and then watch her hop back to the flock.

Strangely, when they confirmed Qing Zao was a half-beastman, they seemed to have a tacit understanding not to get close to each other. But when Qing Zao truly became a beast, her mother came here every day to help maintain order in the flock and drive away predators.

“And what about Cang Ji? Do you know what happened to him?”

“Cang Ji transformed faster than Qing Zao. On a stormy night, he turned into a wild horse and left the tribe, never to return,” the black dog replied calmly.

She was neither hostile nor enthusiastic towards Song Xu. After answering, she followed the flock to another hillside.

The wind blew through the wild grass, brushing against their calves, and dark clouds hung low as if it would rain.

Song Xu, gazing at the flock, was picked up by Wu Mu, who carried her towards the flock: “Let’s go play.”

Song Xu kicked her legs: “That’s not possible.”

Wu Mu’s tone was cold, leaving no room for argument: “It is possible.”

Song Xu argued back: “Definitely not.”

As soon as the big snake approached the squirrel, the flock ran away.

Song Xu laughed: “See, it’s not possible.”

She meant that the snake’s scent scared the flock, causing them to flee as soon as he got close.

“Let’s stay here for a few days,” Song Xu said, tapping Wu Mu’s chest with the back of her head. “I’ll play with my friends for a few days before we leave.”

They returned to the small, thorny forest house Song Xu had built. After crawling inside, they cleaned up a bit. Moving aside the piled-up dry grass, Song Xu found a pile of wool underneath. It seemed that after she left, her friends had secretly prepared a gift for her.

Song Xu pounced onto the soft pile of wool.

“Are you tired and want to sleep?” Wu Mu asked.

“Are you asleep?” Wu Mu asked again.

Not hearing a response, he transformed into his half-beast form and swam over, wrapping his motionless partner in his tail. The tail squeezed inward, wrapping her and the large wool bundle together.

Outside, it started to rain, with the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the forest. Wu Mu rarely saw Song Xu unhappy; she usually recovered quickly. So he patiently circled her, waiting, but she still hadn’t recovered as night fell.

Wu Mu suddenly noticed the bushes behind the rain shelter, full of small red berries. He got up and swam over. The red hawthorn berries, wet with rain, fell with a plop next to Song Xu’s head. She smelled the fresh, sweet, and sour scent of hawthorn and sat up with a start: “The hawthorn is ripe!”

Seeing her speak again, Wu Mu rested his head on her belly with relief. Song Xu held the snake’s head and gnawed on the freshly picked red hawthorn.

“This is too sour. How can it be so sour…” It was so sour that she wanted to cry.

The next day was a sunny day with excellent sunlight. Song Xu let the big snake sleep in the grass and quietly approached the wild sheep on the hillside with fresh grass stems.

The black dog was also there today, sleeping beside the wild sheep.

Song Xu sneaked to the edge and whispered, “Qing Zao! Qing Zao! I came to play with you!”

The little lambs couldn’t understand her words; they probably all thought she was greeting them, so bleating sounds rose one after another. Song Xu had to sneak into the flock, find the lamb with the necklace, and lure her with the grass stems.

The easily deceived little lamb was effortlessly lured to the side by her, fed with a bunch of grass stems and tender leaves.

“…I saw the sea. Do you know what the sea looks like…”

“Baa baa.”

“…The island in the sea, that sinkhole…”

“Baa baa.”

After Song Xu finished chatting and was about to leave, the little lamb, who had been munching on grass, lifted its head and nibbled off a piece of grass stuck to her. It nudged her, and Song Xu smiled and patted its head: “Thank you.”

The black dog, acting as a shepherd dog, did not chase away Song Xu, even though she came to play with the lamb for several days in a row. Even when a squirrel ran around on the lamb’s back, it didn’t react.

After staying there for a few days, Song Xu left again with the big snake. The little lamb didn’t know her friend was leaving again; it happily ate grass with its companions. The faded feather necklace was taken off and replaced with a beautiful little seashell.

Leaving the wilderness, the road back to the tribe became clearer. Song Xu turned in another direction and suddenly said, “Actually, there’s nothing much to do back there. Why don’t we go somewhere else? We haven’t been to that side yet.”

WuMu agreed; he didn’t necessarily have to return to the beast tribe.
The two of them temporarily changed direction and headed towards a new path.

It was still similar to mountains and waters. Most of the time, they followed Song Xu’s mood. She used branches to point the way, and Wu Mu said nothing, only followed her like a child on a school trip led by a teacher. This child occasionally rebelled, unwilling to follow Song Xu’s chosen path, leading her on a detour.

Song Xu always thought he was avoiding dangerous beasts. Until one time, she was really curious why Wu Mu was taking a detour and dragged him forward.

Near a stream, she saw a snake beastman.

Song Xu instantly understood: So that’s why.

She thought he was avoiding beasts, but it turned out he was explicitly avoiding snake beastmen. No wonder she hadn’t seen any snake beastmen along the way; they were being avoided. It seemed Wu Mu was well aware of her fondness for snakes.

The big snake beside her remained aloof, showing no change in expression despite his thoughts being discovered. He seriously asked her, “Do you want to be his mate?”

Song Xu guessed that if she nodded, Wu Mu would immediately go and beat up the innocent passerby snake, driving him out of her sight. In the beastman world, mate snatching is that straightforward.

“Of course not. You are the most beautiful snake! You are unique, no snake can compare!” Song Xu quickly turned back, deciding never to be curious about what was on the path Wu Mu didn’t want to take again.

Flirting with her partner at the expense of innocent passersby is very unethical!

In the beastman world, mates are rarely fixed. Song Xu also wondered if Wu Mu wanted a less noisy and troublesome mate or a stronger one like his mother.

“Wu Mu, do you want another mate?”

“Mate, it’s you.”

“Others, lions, tigers, wolves, or another snake?”

“Mate, you.”

“How strange, your taste is so weird, haha! Have you really never thought about it?”

“Hiss!”

Being scolded, Wu Mu would bite when angry, and Song Xu instantly shut up.

Song Xu found that no matter how many sweet words she said, coaxing the snake to circle around her, the next time they encountered a snake beastman on their journey, Wu Mu would still quickly drive the other away.

Watching them leave, Song Xu thought of a classic meme: a man walking with his girlfriend, but his eyes are on a passing beauty. However, she didn’t even look at other snakes twice, not even noticing their patterns.

Sitting on a rock with a deep expression, waiting for Wu Mu to return, Song Xu took a bite of the dried hawthorn she brought back from the thorny forest.

Sour, so sour! So sour it made her want to laugh.