Chapter 87
“Rustle, rustle rustle—”
The night was deep and dark. The leaves and weeds swayed endlessly. The sound came from far to near, and a group of small, cute, and furry creatures, resembling rock squirrels, rushed out of the darkness one after another.
One, ten, thirty…
Densely packed, countless furry creatures approached from four different directions, in a pincer formation, quickly and swiftly surrounding the four outsiders.
Suddenly surrounded by a group of unknown creatures, the three beastmen were not flustered at all. Their tense nerves, which had been on edge due to the unknown, gradually relaxed, and they took deep breaths of fresh air. The reason was none other than—
The inconspicuous furry creatures blended in with the night. At first glance, they looked like dusty rats, very similar to the long-snouted rock squirrels, but they were only half, or even a third, the size of a rock squirrel.
Compared to the thigh-thick anaconda and the black bear, which was like a moving giant mountain, the small, cute, and harmless furry creatures in front of them looked completely non-threatening.
They looked so much like rock squirrels that Mo Huaishan couldn’t help but take a few more glances. He cast a meaningful look at Yan Qiuyu and said in a low voice, “They look like your beast form, but I feel that something is strange, and I can’t tell what’s different.”
“How do they look alike? Is there something wrong with your eyes!” Yan Qiuyu was not happy and retorted with a pout, “Our beast form is bigger, and our fur is smoother and more beautiful. They’re not the same at all, okay!”
Mo Huaishan: “They clearly look very similar.”
“Don’t compare us to wild beasts!”
Yan Qiuyu and Mo Huaishan started to discuss as if no one else were around. Hong Yong did not participate, but gripped his bone spear and stared at the approaching herd of beasts.
They look like rock squirrels, but they’re not rock squirrels. What kind of beast is this?
Why did they come out in a group and surround them?
As if he had guessed his thoughts, Hua Shi’an, who was protected by the beastmen in the middle, opened his thin lips and slowly uttered two words, “Tree shrews.”
“Tree shrews? You recognize them, Shi’an.”
The lost captain had found a lighthouse in the vast sea. Hong Yong suddenly turned to look at Hua Shi’an and quickly asked, “Then do you know their habits? What do they mean by surrounding us like this? Are they planning to attack us?”
A mere small beast was not to be feared, but the number was indeed a bit large. Different beasts had different habits. Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy, you can win a hundred battles.
Tree shrews were timid and easily frightened, even weaker than squirrels, with an attack power of almost zero. Even if this large group of tree shrews attacked together, the beastmen with bone spears could still beat them down.
But the question was… were they really beasts?
Tree shrews were not social animals and would not normally engage in such large-scale group activities. A guess had already formed in Hua Shi’an’s mind. He frowned uneasily, but before he could answer the question, the encirclement in front of him loosened.
As if they had received some kind of signal, the tree shrews on all fours moved to both sides in unison, voluntarily making way. At the same time, a larger, smoother-furred tree shrew leaped down from a tree and swaggered into the encirclement.
Whether it was their habits or their behavior, they had nothing to do with wild beasts.
Hua Shi’an’s guess became a fact at this moment. The tree shrew, with its head held high, was as if it had drunk a growth potion. Its body grew larger and larger as it moved, its fur shed, and its limbs grew. By the time it stopped in front of them, the small and cute tree shrew had turned into a middle-aged woman with long, flowing hair.
The woman was between thirty-five and forty years old. At first glance, she looked very young, but the area around her eyes was mottled with the traces of time. Her skin was on the darker side, a healthy wheat color. She looked like she exercised often, with strong limbs and a thick waist, sturdy but not bloated, exuding a wild and natural beauty.
If Hua Shi’an was not mistaken, she was a beastman.
But this beastman’s behavior was a bit strange. After changing into her human form, she did not stand up immediately, but remained on all fours like a beast, her brown eyes like a barbed spear, staring at them with vigilance and dissatisfaction.
Neither side spoke, and the scene was at a stalemate.
This didn’t seem to be a solution. Hua Shi’an’s brow furrowed slightly. Just as he was about to break the silence, the woman was one step ahead of him. “You, what people? Where from? Never seen.”
Her voice was exceptionally hoarse, as if there were sand in her throat. And her speech was incoherent, the word order reversed, and she spoke in short bursts, like a child who had just learned to speak.
A group of tree shrews was not to be feared, but a group of beastmen had to be considered.
It was best not to have a direct conflict. Hua Shi’an lowered his gaze to meet the beastman’s, neither servile nor overbearing, and answered “honestly,” “Sorry for straying into your territory. We are beastmen who live on the other side of the forest. We came here to look for someone, just passing through. If you mind, we will leave now.”
“Forest, other side, which side?”
It was clear that she was very interested in where they came from. The woman asked again.
But before Hua Shi’an could answer, she glanced at the back basket with the fruits and her eyes instantly lit up. “Coconuts, bananas! You, you came from the Black Bear Forest?”
She not only recognized these fruits, but she also called the black bear a black bear… Hua Shi’an was stunned for a moment and nodded uncertainly. “I guess so? We did encounter a black bear a couple of days ago.”
“How did you do it?”
The woman’s gaze swept over the three beastmen and finally settled on Hua Shi’an, murmuring in a low voice, “Entering the Black Bear Forest, you’ll be crippled if not dead. You encountered a black bear and you’re still alive, with only one person injured. How did you do it?”
“As you can see, we have three powerful beastmen. They are smart, brave, and skilled in battle. Of course, we drove the black bear away.” Hua Shi’an’s face was not red, and his heart was not beating fast as he boasted with a straight face.
Yan Qiuyu: Hmm? Brave and skilled in battle, drove the black bear away, us?
The other side had many people, so he couldn’t show any weakness. Hong Yong lifted his chin and chimed in, “That’s right. The black bear attacked us, and we drove it away.”
The four of them together were not even as big as a bear cub. Could they really drive away a black bear? The woman looked at them with a half-believing, half-doubting expression and suddenly chuckled. “If you’re so powerful, then what is your beast form? What animal?”
Hua Shi’an: “Is it important? We came out alive, didn’t we?”
That was true. The woman no longer asked and looked back at her companions.
Seeing that her companions were all staring at the fruits, she had a plan. She turned to Hua Shi’an and said, “You’ve strayed into our territory. You can leave if you want. The fruits in that basket, pick ten baskets and bring them over, and I won’t make things difficult for you. I’ll let you leave.”
“How many?” Following her finger to the back basket, Yan Qiuyu’s eyes widened. “Ten back baskets of fruit? We only have three back baskets in total. Where are we supposed to find ten back baskets? Why don’t you just rob us!”
Wasn’t she robbing them right now? The woman smiled. “You just came from the Black Bear Forest. You’re familiar with the way. you can go back and pick them. There are many fruit trees there, densely packed everywhere. Ten baskets, back baskets, are not hard to find.”
“Not hard to find, heh. Then why don’t you go and pick them yourselves?” The more Hong Yong spoke, the angrier he became. He glared at the woman through gritted teeth. “You’re a coward who’s afraid of death and doesn’t dare to enter the forest, so you’re just making things difficult for us here! We’re just passing through, and you’re asking for ten back baskets of fruit. Don’t go too far!”
He had long seen that Hua Shi’an was the one who truly held the power of speech. The woman treated Hong Yong’s words as a passing wind and turned to Hua Shi’an, gesturing with her chin. “Do you also think it’s too much? Then we can have a little less. How about eight baskets?”
She can even bargain?
Hua Shi’an raised an eyebrow and said unhurriedly, “It’s not a matter of a few baskets. The main thing is that we’re in a hurry to find someone and really don’t have time to go back and pick fruit. How about this? We’ll leave half of the fruit we have for you and let us go. Or you can have your tribe members help us, help us look for someone together. When we find the person, we’ll come back and pick fruit.”
The woman didn’t even think about it and directly refused, “No! We’re very busy. We don’t have time to help you look for someone. Half of the fruit is too little. I say, six baskets, no less.”
Six back baskets of fruit, two trips back and forth, would take a day or two.
If he didn’t want a conflict, he could actually agree. But Hua Shi’an stared at the woman, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted. “What if I don’t agree?”
He was still smiling even when he was surrounded, and he could still speak calmly. This group of people was not easy to deal with. The woman hesitated for a moment, but in just a moment, her gaze became more determined, and she shot up.
“You’re bold, but you don’t seem to understand the situation. You’re surrounded. There are more than a hundred of us. We could drown you with just our saliva. If I don’t give in, you definitely won’t be able to leave tonight!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the tree shrews on guard around them started to move.
They took small steps forward, as if to support the woman, squeaking and screaming, and constantly shrinking the encirclement.
Thinking that this was a group of people, Yan Qiuyu couldn’t help but feel nervous. He turned his head with a solemn expression and said to Hua Shi’an in a low voice, “There are too many of them, Lord Priest. Your injuries haven’t healed. If we fight, I’m afraid we won’t be able to protect you. Why don’t we—”
“We can’t compromise.” Hua Shi’an interrupted him, his deep eyes unblinking as he looked at the woman meaningfully. “Chief, you’re the one who needs to think clearly. If we go any further, we won’t be polite anymore. Is it worth it to let your tribe members take risks for a bite to eat?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman lifted her hand, and the slowly moving army of tree shrews stopped.
He had long expected that she wouldn’t make a move. Hua Shi’an smiled and murmured as if to himself, “The Black Bear Forest has black bears, and it’s very dangerous, that’s true. But black bears are very territorial. There won’t be too many bears in one forest.”
“If you’re lucky, you won’t even encounter one. If you’re unlucky and you do, you tree shrews have excellent climbing abilities. It shouldn’t be difficult to climb up a branch and avoid a black bear’s attack. But you don’t even dare to get close to the Black Bear Forest. I’m guessing… you’re weaker than I thought.”
As if his thoughts had been exposed, the woman’s shoulders trembled slightly, and a crack appeared on her calm face. She turned her head to avoid Hua Shi’an’s gaze. “What on earth are you trying to say?”
The smile in Hua Shi’an’s eyes deepened. “Your beast form is not strong at all. If you really wanted to scare people, you should have changed back to your human form. Why haven’t you changed yet? Are you worried that we’ll see that you’re the only strong beastman in the tribe? Are you worried that your sallow and emaciated, wind-blown tribe members have no deterrent effect?”
“You—”
The woman’s pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing became rapid from excitement.
Hua Shi’an continued to stab with his mouth, “I’m not entirely right. Perhaps it’s not that you don’t want to change, but that you haven’t changed back to your human form for too long and have long forgotten how.”
“You, who on earth are you? Why do you know about our tribe…” With his cards revealed, the woman could no longer pretend. Her shoulders suddenly sank, and she no longer had the thunderous momentum she had just now.
Is she admitting to Hua Shi’an’s words? Yan Qiuyu was stunned. He looked at Hua Shi’an in disbelief and asked the question that the woman hadn’t finished asking, “Lord Priest, how do you know all this? You, we, isn’t this our first time here?”
Hua Shi’an: “I guessed. She’s the biggest, and her fur is smooth. She’s also a powerful beastman in her human form. But her tribe members are thin and small, with dry fur, and some of them are even bristling. It’s obvious that they’re malnourished. I’m guessing that their lives are not easy, so they concentrated their resources to raise a powerful beastman to deter enemies.”
“Then why did you say they can’t change into their human form? The reason beastmen are called beastmen is because they can change between their beast and human forms. If they can’t change into their human form, wouldn’t they really become wild beasts?” the curious Hong Yong quickly asked.
Hua Shi’an looked up at the restless woman and sighed softly. “It’s obvious that this chief had a hard time adapting to her human form from the beginning.”
“Standing up to speak is more imposing, but she chose to lie on the ground like a beast. And the way she speaks is also very strange, a few words at a time. At first, I thought it was a personal habit, but as she spoke, she became more normal, more like she was slowly adapting.”
“You’re very smart.”
The woman gradually calmed down. Her brow briefly lifted and then fell heavily. The gaze she directed at Hua Shi’an was filled with a helpless, bitter smile. “Forget it. You can go. Leave our territory as soon as possible. Although our tribe is not strong, if you have any other ideas, we will fight to the death and will not let you leave safely!”
Even a cornered rabbit will bite. Hua Shi’an of course understood this principle.
He had no ideas, but he did have a question. Hua Shi’an called out to her, “Chief, your tribe is nearby, right? Have you always lived here?”
“What’s it to you? Why are you asking about this?” The woman was instantly on guard.
Hua Shi’an smiled. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not asking about your tribe. I just wanted to ask if you’ve seen any strange beastmen around here last autumn?”
“One or two, or a group?” The woman’s interest was piqued. She stopped, turned back to Hua Shi’an, and gestured with her chin. “Just say it. What kind of beastmen are you looking for?”
“We’re looking for pine—”
Before he could finish speaking, a messy and heavy sound of footsteps suddenly came from the bushes behind him. From the sound, at least a dozen or twenty people were rapidly approaching.
“They’re finally here!” The dejected woman’s face lit up with joy. With a gentle wave of her hand, the tree shrews that had pretended to disperse instantly surrounded them again.
As if she had plucked the fruit of victory, she walked back to the four of them and looked at Hua Shi’an with a triumphant smile. “You are indeed smart. You saw through us at a glance. But you didn’t expect that we have more than just these people. I let you go, but you didn’t. Now you have no chance.”
The sound of footsteps came from far to near. In just a few dozen seconds, a group of tall and sturdy figures appeared behind the encirclement under the night sky.
Through the hazy night, he saw the newcomers clearly. Hong Yong, who was holding his bone spear and was ready to attack at any moment, was as if struck by lightning. He stared with wide eyes, frozen in place, his lips trembling.
“G-Great Chief!”
The triumphant woman: “You… know each other?”
