The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 24

Chapter 24

“Thump thump, thump thump thump—”

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, someone suddenly knocked on the bamboo door of his hollow.

His ankle throbbed with every movement. Hua Shi’an really didn’t want to get up and open the door, so he propped himself up on the coir sheets, leaned his back against the wall of the hollow, and replied softly, “It’s not locked, just come in.”

With a creak, the bamboo door was opened, and a waft of warm, sweet-smelling air drifted into the tree hollow. Chief Mu, holding chestnuts in his left hand and a bamboo tube in his right, with something seemingly tucked under his arm, scrambled into the tree hollow.

“Oh my, so many things, I almost couldn’t carry them all in one trip.”

Chief Mu ducked into the tree hollow, panting as he sat down at the entrance. Like Doraemon, he placed the things he had brought beside Hua Shi’an one by one. “Freshly roasted chestnuts, eat them while they’re hot. We didn’t cook mushrooms tonight, only vegetable soup. The bamboo tube is new, no one has used it.”

“And this,” Chief Mu mysteriously pulled out a coir skirt and held it up flat in front of Hua Shi’an. “Ju Ming asked me to give this to you. He said the one he wove before was a bit shabby. This is the best one he’s made. He hopes you won’t mind and will make do with it.”

The steaming food and the long-awaited coir skirt were right beside him, but Hua Shi’an had no heart to examine them. Because by the half-open bamboo door, three pairs of watery eyes were shining. Looking closely through the night, three furry squirrels were peeking in.

Ah, I almost forgot, the beastman tribe…

The tribe members were not purely human; they had another form—squirrels.

His body was uncooperative, and he had never been up close with small animals before. Looking at the peeking squirrels, Hua Shi’an’s hand inexplicably started to itch. He was very curious, what did that fluffy, soft fur, which looked like cotton candy, feel like?

After waiting for a long time without a response, Chief Mu followed Hua Shi’an’s gaze and his face darkened. “Go, go, what are you three doing here? This is a sub-beastman’s tree hollow, not a place you can just enter.”

“It’s okay,” Hua Shi’an said subconsciously, then regretted it. To not seem so eager, he slowed his tone. “Their beast form is fine. Let them come in.”

Chief Mu hesitated for a moment, then turned to the squirrels peeking at the entrance. “Either come in or leave. Don’t be sneaky, like a thief.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the three little squirrels entered the tree hollow in an orderly fashion.

The leader was a red-bellied squirrel with a lustrous, dark brown coat. As its name suggested, the fur on its chest, belly, and the inside of its limbs was reddish-brown. Its ears were small and round, and its tail, larger than its body, was held up behind it like a feather duster.

It was smaller than Hua Shi’an had imagined. From what Chief Mu said, this should be a beastman, but its size… was equivalent to a kitten, small enough to be held in one hand.

A grayish, mouse-like rock squirrel followed closely behind. Before Hua Shi’an could get a good look, a black, multicolored giant squirrel, resembling a small dog, swaggered in, dragging its slender tail.

So many guests had arrived at once, but the tree hollow didn’t feel crowded at all, because the guests were so small. Even the largest giant squirrel was no bigger than an adult fat cat.

Seeing him staring at the squirrels, Chief Mu thought Hua Shi’an couldn’t recognize them and chuckled, stroking his chin. “Can the Lord Priest recognize who is who? They rarely change back to their beast form. You probably haven’t seen them before, right?”

At these words, the three squirrels very cooperatively stood beside Chief Mu, waiting for Hua Shi’an to identify them.

He had indeed never seen them before, but Hua Shi’an had a vague guess. After sizing up the three little squirrels again, he softly uttered three names, “Hong Yong, Yan, Yan Zhile? The other one should be Ju Qifeng?”

He guessed two out of three correctly. The rock squirrel, who had been wrongly guessed, was not happy. It stood up on its hind legs like a human, opened its small mouth, and chirped twice.

Chief Mu laughed. “Not Yan Zhile. He’s also a beastman. You even gave him his name, Yan Qiuyu.”

Not dwelling on this for too long, Hua Shi’an nodded to show he understood and then voiced his question, “What’s going on with them? Why did they decide to change back to their beast form today? And several of them at once.”

“Slap,” Chief Mu slapped his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Lord Priest, there’s something wrong with those pine nuts you brought back! After they tasted them, they said they had an uncontrollable impulse, they were so excited, and one by one, they all wanted to change back to their beast form.”

“Changing back to their beast form is one thing, but those younger beastmen and sub-beastmen went completely crazy, completely losing their minds and turning into beasts. They won’t eat, they won’t sleep, and many of them are still climbing trees right now!”

Hua Shi’an’s eyelids twitched, and he was completely bewildered.

It can’t be, right? Aren’t pine nuts one of squirrels’ favorite foods? How could they lose their minds after eating them? Could the pine nuts have mutated?

Fearing that he had done a good deed with bad consequences, Hua Shi’an was visibly flustered. He propped himself up on the wall of the hollow, trying to stand up, and said anxiously, “Is it that serious? No, no, I have to go out and see. I must throw away those harmful pine nuts.”

“Hey, don’t move, Lord Priest! Be careful of your foot!”

The flustered one had changed from Hua Shi’an to Chief Mu. Worried that Hua Shi’an’s ankle injury would worsen, he hurried forward to support him, and in his haste, he even bumped his head on the ceiling of the hollow.

But Hua Shi’an was adamant. Using his arm as a crutch, he insisted on going out. Chief Mu broke out in a cold sweat and quickly explained and soothed him, “I was just kidding, just kidding. It’s not that serious. Lord Priest, you should rest and recover. Don’t move around.”

“Oh, so you were teasing me.”

Although he said that, there was no surprise on Hua Shi’an’s face. A flicker of regret flashed in his downcast eyes. He stopped insisting on going out and sat down again, leaning against the wall of the hollow.

A group of squirrels scurrying up trees, running and rolling on the grass…

What a pity, I didn’t get to see it.

Thinking he had been scared, Chief Mu didn’t dare to joke anymore. He patted Hua Shi’an’s shoulder and explained the cause and effect, “Don’t worry, Lord Priest. I was really just kidding just now. The pine nuts you brought back are a good thing. Not only are they edible, but they’re also particularly delicious! The tribe members all love them.”

As if to echo Chief Mu’s words, the three little squirrels in the corner all nodded.

“But,” Chief Mu continued, “it’s true that they changed back to their beast form because of the pine nuts. I’ve tried them myself. There’s a strange feeling after eating them, a special kind of excitement, a special kind of thrill, like, like…”

Like a cat that has sniffed catnip, Hua Shi’an completed the sentence for Chief Mu in his mind.

Squirrels couldn’t resist pine nuts, and that was no different in another world. But for them to have a “reversion” phenomenon after eating pine nuts, as if they had sniffed catnip, was something Hua Shi’an had not expected.

After failing to come up with a “like” for a long time, Chief Mu stopped struggling and grinned with unconcealed joy. “Anyway, I can feel that pine nuts are the most suitable food for us right now. It’s a good thing I’m old. If I were younger, I’d probably be climbing trees right now too.”

“I won’t disturb you any longer, Lord Priest. The chestnuts are getting cold. You should eat and rest early, and take good care of your injury. It just so happens that the chestnuts are all picked. We’ll go pick pine cones early tomorrow morning. Huaishan said there’s a huge pine nut forest. We have to hurry and pick some more.”

Hua Shi’an nodded and added a reminder, “Cut some bamboo and take it with you. There aren’t many pine cones on the ground; most of them are on the trees. Those pine trees are tall and straight, not easy to climb. Try using bamboo to knock them down.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hua Shi’an regretted it. The moment he finished, Chief Mu and the three little squirrels looked at him in surprise, their eyes seeming to say: Not easy to climb? Why don’t you take another look at our beast form?

Fortunately, it was late. Chief Mu didn’t say much more. He waved to him and led the little squirrels out of the tree hollow.

Once the bamboo door was closed, the tree hollow instantly became quiet.

His stomach was growling, but Hua Shi’an wasn’t in a hurry to eat. He pricked up his ears and listened to the sounds outside the tree hollow. It wasn’t until the footsteps faded from near to far and could no longer be heard that he closed his eyes. The person in the tree hollow instantly disappeared, leaving behind a brown-furred chipmunk wearing a grass skirt.

If I can’t pet other squirrels, I’ll just have to pet myself.