Chapter 7

Song Xu had been in this world for over ten days, mostly in the big snake’s stone cave. The snake rarely left the cave except to bask in the sun and take care of personal hygiene. Song Xu had never seen it eat.

One morning, Song Xu sighed deeply, holding her growling stomach, resigned to getting up and searching for food for the day.

Usually, at this time, the snake, Wu Mu, would still be curled up in the corner, motionless like a fake snake. But today, he moved and left the cave before her.

Curious, Song Xu wondered where he was going at this hour. It was a cloudy day, and the forest was shrouded in a layer of white mist. The damp forest often had mist in the mornings and evenings, but today’s mist was particularly thick. Song Xu followed the snake, wanting to see where he was headed.

Wu Mu moved quickly, his tail as thick as an adult’s waist, gliding silently over the damp moss. Song Xu struggled to keep up, using all her strength to avoid being left behind.

The little squirrel was furious: “So what if you have long legs!”

The snake was over twenty meters long, a measurement Song Xu had painstakingly taken inch by inch while he slept, getting the most accurate value compared to her initial estimate.

The snake remained still during her measurements, emboldening Song Xu to touch it more. Occasionally, the snake moved slightly to avoid her touch, but he never hissed at her.

Only once, when he was truly annoyed, did he crawl into a small hole above the stone cave to hide. That was when Song Xu discovered the small hiding spot.

The snake’s massive body blocked the hole completely, leaving only a part of its tail hanging out like a long vine against the stone wall.

Despite its fierce appearance, it was so cute and docile. Feeling unusually brave, the little squirrel thought: “What am I afraid of? At most, it will carry me in its mouth and eventually spit me out!”

She not only completed the measurements but did it twice for accuracy.

Song Xu ran through the trees, leaving a bit of her scent as a marker. The forest was so vast and similar in many places that it was easy to get lost without these markers. After running for a long time, they arrived at an unfamiliar waterside.

It looked like a section of a river, larger than the wetland Song Xu had found before. The banks were lined with fallen trees, their roots exposed and forming a complex network in the water.

There were many water birds by the shore. Song Xu saw at least a hundred nests in one tree, possibly a gathering place for a waterbird family.

By now, Song Xu understood why the snake was here. It was definitely here for a buffet.

Wu Mu’s arrival did not disturb the animals who drank the water. He coiled around a tree while Song Xu stayed on a nearby branch, nervously watching the snake hunt.

From her position, she couldn’t see the snake’s entire body, only his tail hidden among the leaves. So, she turned her attention to the larger animals by the water, guessing what the snake would eat today.

Would it be the deer grazing across the river or the animal resembling a wild ox, half-submerged in the water? Or perhaps it was the wild boar with its piglets by the river?

Before Song Xu could finish counting the animals drinking by the waterside, Wu Mu had already started his hunt. He moved so quickly, clearly not suffering from indecision. He chose the nearest and largest wild ox.

That wild ox was probably the leader of its herd, with muscles bulging on its back, clearly stronger than its companions. Unfortunately, it encountered a terrifying big snake. The wild ox’s impressive strength was no match for the big snake. The snake’s tail caught it, and its four hooves flailing helplessly in the air. Its horns twisted desperately but couldn’t harm the predator, and it could only let out cries of fear and pain as the tail slowly tightened around it.

Song Xu even felt like she heard the sound of the wild ox’s ribs breaking under the immense pressure of the snake’s tail… Of course, that was just her imagination.

But the wild ox’s bones did break, and its bulging body was visibly crushed in parts.

Watching the snake’s tail constrict the wild ox, Song Xu hugged her furry tail, feeling as if her bones were starting to ache. She realized how terrifying the snake’s strength was, knowing that he didn’t even seem to exert much effort when he caught the wild ox. It was her first time seeing the snake hunt and his full beast form.

The previously communicative, beautiful face had now turned into a massive snake head, exuding a fierce predator’s overwhelmingly oppressive aura, especially when he opened his mouth and slowly swallowed the helpless wild ox… If Song Xu had seen this complete version of the snake from the start, she probably wouldn’t have dared to approach him repeatedly and boldly touch him.

However, after eating, the snake looked a bit funny. The wild ox wasn’t digested quickly, so there was a bulge in his stomach, making the rest of his tail look thin in comparison.

Song Xu thought: If he turned back into his half-beast form now, wouldn’t it look like it was pregnant… Oh no, why does that sound appealing? Something’s wrong with me!

The other animals by the waterside had already fled in fear from the snake’s hunting commotion, leaving the area quiet. The snake rested nearby, placing his head on a rock.

Song Xu thought he might be sleeping, but the snake in the beast form didn’t blink like humans. She stared at his red eyes for a while but couldn’t tell if he was asleep.

Patting her cheeks to snap out of the daze from the hunt, Song Xu decided to find some food nearby. With the water birds scared away, she could collect some bird eggs. It had been long since she had eaten eggs, and she wanted some.

Large beasts have their hunting methods, and small animals have their food-finding techniques. Now more adept as a squirrel, Song Xu quickly gathered a few bird eggs. Collecting bird eggs felt like a chicken farmer gathering eggs. Walking to the nests and seeing eggs everywhere brought a sense of joy from the harvest.

Today, she could have boiled eggs, fried eggs, egg drop soup, and maybe even find some greens to make soup. Eggs were fragile and hard to carry, so she needed to use a squirrel’s secret weapon to transport them safely—the cheek pouch. The cheek pouch in a squirrel’s mouth was spacious, like a pocket for storing food. As a shape-shifting squirrel beastman, her cheek pouch was even larger.

After washing the bird eggs and placing them in her cheek pouch, Song Xu patted her chubby cheeks and continued hopping around to find more food, like seeds under trees, which were also edible for squirrels.

Most of Song Xu’s squirrel-food-finding techniques were inherited from the original owner. These valuable skills prevented Song Xu from going hungry in the forest.

Song Xu was so focused on finding food that when she turned around, she realized the big snake, who had been resting there earlier, was gone.

Returning to the stone cave, she found the snake lying down in his corner. Song Xu glanced at him, then took out the stone bowl she had seen earlier and set it on her makeshift stove, starting a fire to boil water. She divided the eggs she had found: two for egg soup, two to be roasted, and two for boiled eggs to eat in the afternoon.

She busied herself, and when the water in the stone bowl boiled, she cracked the eggs into it and stirred.

“Boiling water in a stone bowl is so slow. If only I had an iron pot or even a clay pot,” she said, adding the tender sprouts, seeds, and flowers she had found into the egg soup and some salt.

As she rubbed her paws, waiting for the soup to be ready, she suddenly realized she didn’t have a spoon to drink the soup. Making a spoon was simple enough. She took a piece of a tree branch and used her beast tooth knife and claws to carve and scrape it into a spoon shape. However, she found that using her teeth to gnaw the wood was more convenient than using a knife and claws. Her teeth had been feeling itchy lately, and gnawing on the wooden spoon felt quite satisfying. She quickly made two spoons, which, although not very pretty, were good enough for drinking soup.

Impatiently, she took a sip of the soup and was moved to tears, muttering to herself, “Am I a culinary genius? How can it taste so good!”

Nowadays, kids rarely cook, and Song Xu is no exception. She seldom entered the kitchen, as her aunt always prepared and served her meals in the dining room or her room. She had never tried cooking before.

She drank sip after sip, and when she was full, she looked at the remaining half pot of soup, feeling troubled. Due to her inexperience, she had added too much water. Maybe her roommate would like to share some food? Song Xu carried the stone pot to the corner.

As usual, Wu Mu was resting with his head on a large rock. He had reverted to his half-beast form, and Song Xu noticed with regret that his stomach was only slightly bulging. Do beastmen digest that quickly?

“I made some soup. It’s delicious. Do you want to try it?” Having just witnessed his hunting scene, Song Xu was a bit more cautious, asking softly at the back of his head instead of pulling him directly.

Wu Mu didn’t respond, so Song Xu whispered, “Big Brother, wake up and drink some soup. Big Brother, drink the soup, drink the soup, Big Brother.”

He turned to look at her, flicking his tongue. Song Xu quickly placed the stone pot under his chin, dipping his tongue into the soup.

Wu Mu: “…Hiss.”

He opened his mouth, looking fierce as if he wanted to hiss at her. Song Xu quickly scooped a spoonful of soup and put it into his mouth. Seeing that he didn’t close his mouth, she manually held his jaw shut and eagerly asked, “How is it? Does it taste good?”

Wu Mu quickly flicked his tongue out from between his lips, and Song Xu thought his expression looked like someone who had tasted something they didn’t like and instinctively stuck out their tongue. He swiftly moved his chin away from her hand and retreated to the small stone hole above, hiding his upper body.