The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 5

Chapter 5

Early in the morning, before the sky was even light, Hua Shi’an was woken by the noise. The beastmen were up early, washing up, receiving their food. The sounds of peeling chestnuts and chewing echoed in the quiet tree hollow.

His mind was awake, but his body hadn’t fully roused. Hua Shi’an lay on the ground, resting with his eyes closed. To his surprise, when he opened them again, the tribe members who had finished breakfast were already preparing to go out.

Not taking him again? Hua Shi’an shot up from the ground and, before the tribe members left, found Chief Mu distributing food in a corner of the entrance.

After the beastmen heading out to work received their food, there weren’t many wild vegetables and fruits left for the others. But as soon as Hua Shi’an walked over, Chief Mu immediately pulled out a handful of purslane from behind him, along with a large, full bag of chestnuts wrapped in leaves.

It was a generous portion, clearly saved for him. Hua Shi’an nodded his thanks. “Thank you, Chief.”

“What’s there to thank? We have you to thank for being able to fill our stomachs now,” Chief Mu said, his face wreathed in smiles. He handed the food to Hua Shi’an with extra enthusiasm and added, “For the time being, you should just stay in the tree hollow and help us identify fruits. As for food, you’ll get the same portion as a beastman.”

Almost without thinking, Hua Shi’an shook his head. “Chief, I don’t want to stay in the tree hollow all the time. I’d still like to go out with the tribe to find food.”

Not expecting him to volunteer to go out, Chief Mu was stunned for two seconds before waving his hand. “No, that’s not right. You’re the only one in the tribe who can distinguish between wild vegetables and fruits. You have to stay in the tree hollow so you can identify any new fruits they bring back in time.”

“There’s no conflict. If I go out with the tribe and we find edible fruits, we can just pick them and bring them back, which is even more convenient. If we split up, the plants brought back by other teams can be set aside for me to identify when I return,” Hua Shi’an analyzed logically.

Chief Mu shook his head as he listened, lowering his voice to persuade him, “An, this isn’t the Clear Sky Forest. We haven’t even familiarized ourselves with the area yet, and it’s dangerous to go out looking for food. You are the tribe’s only hope. If something happens to you, what will the tribe do? What will the other tribe members do?”

Hua Shi’an chuckled. “You can’t put it that way. In rebuilding the tribe, everyone is a source of hope. Right now, we’re living hand-to-mouth and are short on manpower. Since I’m able-bodied, I should be contributing to the tribe, not staying in the tree hollow enjoying the treatment of an injured person.”

“This, this…”

Chief Mu looked troubled, clearly hesitant. He stammered for a long time without being able to form a complete sentence.

Hua Shi’an struck while the iron was hot, adding, “Danger is everywhere. If a fierce beast attacks, we’ll be in danger in the tree hollow too. It might even be safer to go out, at least with strong beastmen accompanying us.”

“You have a point.”

His only concern dispelled, Chief Mu sighed helplessly. He gestured toward the inside of the tree hollow and called out, “Yong, come here for a moment.”

The bustling tree hollow fell silent for a moment as the tall, sturdy beastman walked over.

The distance wasn’t far, and Yong soon stood beside him. Chief Mu patted his arm and, pointing at Hua Shi’an, said solemnly, “An will go out with you. You can rest assured and gather any food he says is edible. You are the strongest warrior of our Red Pine Tribe. I’m entrusting An to you. You must protect him well.”

Yong glanced at Hua Shi’an out of the corner of his eye and gave a slight nod. “Got it.”

With that, he turned his head and gestured to Hua Shi’an with his chin. “Get ready to leave.”

It was just going out to find food; it didn’t matter which team he was in. Hua Shi’an grunted in acknowledgment. Just as he was about to follow the beastman toward the entrance, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten and turned back to remind the chief about making tools.

The Squirrel Tribe already knew how to use stone tools. When Hua Shi’an mentioned things like stone pots and stone axes, Chief Mu immediately nodded, saying he would take people to gather stones as soon as possible.

After dawdling for a while, the sky gradually brightened. The spirited beastmen walked out of the tree hollow and, facing the rising sun, plunged into the jungle.

Hua Shi’an’s inclusion had disrupted the plan, so Yong made a temporary adjustment.

Yesterday’s four teams became two. The large group, led by the beastman Lang, would continue to the same patch of woods from yesterday to gather chestnut burrs and purslane. Meanwhile, the beastman Yong would lead a small team of five deeper into the forest, taking Hua Shi’an to find new sources of food.

After parting ways with the main group at a fork in the road, the large contingent was reduced to just five people, and it suddenly felt much quieter. The key was that four of the five were from the Red Pine Tribe, with Hua Shi’an being the sole member from the Chipmunk Tribe.

Why does this feel like a field trip with strangers?

Hua Shi’an popped a peeled chestnut into his mouth and let out a low chuckle.

“An.”

A clear female voice sounded from behind. Hua Shi’an turned to see that the person calling him was the girl from yesterday morning’s team. She seemed to be the beastman Jian’s older sister, named… Lan?

Having just passed through a thicket half a person’s height, Hua Shi’an slowed his pace to let her catch up and responded softly, “Hm? What is it?”

Seemingly a bit embarrassed, the sub-beastman pursed her lips and smiled, stammering, “I, I saw you and Shan sitting together eating last night. Did, did you know each other before?”

“We didn’t know each other before. He saved me on the night of the escape, that’s how we met,” Hua Shi’an answered truthfully.

Lan said, “Oh,” drawing out the sound. “He saved you. That does sound like something the big oaf would do.”

This was the second time he had heard that nickname. Hua Shi’an was genuinely curious and couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you call him the big oaf? That’s not a very nice name.”

Lan: “Don’t you think he’s a bit simple and clumsy?”

Hua Shi’an thought for a moment and shook his head. “Not really. He seems quite normal.”

“You’ll know after spending more time with him. It’s not that he’s stupid, just that his mind isn’t very quick. He can’t tell good from bad. Sometimes when people are bullying him, he thinks they’re playing with him.” Lan sighed as she spoke. “He’s a pitiful beastman, but An, I have to warn you, it’s best not to get too close to him.”

Speak of the devil. Hua Shi’an’s interest was piqued. “Why is that?”

“Because…”

Lan glanced over the weeds at the beastman walking ahead and deliberately lowered her voice. “He is an ill omen. His father is from our tribe, and his mother is from another clan. It’s not unheard of to find a mate from another clan, but other people’s cubs either take after the father or the mother. He’s different; he takes after both.”

“Huh?” Hua Shi’an’s brain stalled for a moment before he recovered. “What do you mean? A cross… a hybrid?”

“A hybrid? That’s a fitting term.”

Lan grew more animated as she spoke, gossiping with Hua Shi’an as they walked. “His beast form looks like both his father and his mother. It’s very ugly and strange, quite scary. The Lord Priest once said that he’s like the demons lurking in the forest, an ill omen who will bring disaster to those who get close to him.”

“What are his father’s and mother’s beast forms?” Hua Shi’an asked.

An image was already forming in his mind. Hua Shi’an first thought of the offspring of a horse and a donkey, a mule; then he thought of a video he had seen on a short-video app, the offspring of a Labrador and a Husky—a Huskador.

Lan: “His father is a Pallas’s squirrel from our tribe, and his mother, I think, was called a… leopard, a leopard!”

The offspring of a Pallas’s squirrel and a leopard? How abstract. Hua Shi’an had a hard time imagining it.

But a beastman was still a human in their final form. Even if their beast form was a bit ugly or abstract, that was no reason to slander someone as an ill omen, right? This beastman had it rough.

Having figured out the reason, Hua Shi’an didn’t ask any more questions. But Lan seemed not to have had her fill, muttering all the way, “You shouldn’t get too close to him, and don’t talk to him much. He’s already of age, and no sub-beastman will choose him as a mate. You have to be careful, careful that he doesn’t take a liking to you.”

Hua Shi’an chuckled lightly. “Mm, thank you for the warning. I’ll remember.”

“Did you guys hear that? What’s that sound?”

The three beastmen scouting ahead suddenly stopped and craned their necks to look around.

Without the sound of messy footsteps and with no one speaking, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. Hua Shi’an pricked up his ears and heard a rustling sound, like the wind blowing through leaves.

The surrounding bushes were motionless, and there was no wind in the forest. Listening more carefully, the sound seemed to be—

“Over there! Let’s go, let’s go and see.”

The beastman Yong pointed in a direction and, without another word, suddenly dashed off.

The other two beastmen immediately followed. Hua Shi’an and Lan exchanged a glance and trotted to keep up with the beastmen.

The rustling sound turned into a rushing sound. Seeing the increasingly bright and abundant light through the gaps in the trees, Hua Shi’an finally heard it clearly. It wasn’t the wind; it was the sound of water, the sound of flowing water!

Emerging from a thicket taller than a person, a wide, lush, green meadow came into view. The redwood trees stopped at the edge of the meadow, leaving the entire area open and unobstructed, like a pure green ocean basking in the sunlight.

Walking forward on the soft grass, they saw a winding stream that, affected by the heavy rain, had turned into a rushing creek. The post-rain water was murky, its bottom invisible. The smell of earth and grass was even stronger, a unique scent of nature.

He hadn’t expected there to be a creek hidden in the forest. Hua Shi’an stood on the bank, stunned.

Human survival is inseparable from water. This creek was a godsend. He was already contemplating building houses and farming on the grassy bank. But Yong, who had only glanced at the river, said, “Let’s go. Nothing to see here.”

“Wait,” Hua Shi’an called out to him. “We’re just leaving?”

Yong turned back to him and spread his hands in confusion. “What else? There’s no food here.”

“It’s not about the food,” Hua Shi’an patiently explained. “I think that with a water source and a wide, flat open space here, maybe we should consider moving here to live.”

“Move here? Are you crazy!” the beastman Jian retorted, then continued, “Didn’t your father and mother ever tell you to stay away from open spaces without trees?”

The goshawks circling in the sky were the natural enemies of squirrels. Therefore, an open space without the cover of trees was definitely not a place squirrel beastmen would choose to live. They could be snatched away at any moment if they transformed back into their beast forms. It was too dangerous; who would want to live in constant fear every day?

But times had changed. Hua Shi’an looked down at the soft grass beneath his feet, breathed in the exceptionally fresh air, and murmured in a low voice, “Have you forgotten? This isn’t the Clear Sky Forest. This is the Giant Tree Forest—the Beastman Forbidden Zone.”

The one-track-minded Jian didn’t understand and subconsciously retorted, “So what if it’s the Giant Tree—”

“The Giant Tree Forest!”

The more quick-witted Yong understood immediately. He abruptly raised his head and looked around the meadow, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. “That’s right, this is the Giant Tree Forest, the forest that even goshawks fly around. They don’t dare to come in. They won’t be a threat to us anymore!”

“Oh, right,” Jian also realized and burst out laughing.

Standing to the side, Lan’s face lit up with joy as she analyzed seriously, “If there’s no threat from the goshawks, we really can move here. It’s close to a water source, and there’s such a large meadow. Can I really live in such a spacious and beautiful place?”

“Don’t get too excited yet,” Yong said, having calmed down. He swept his gaze over the meadow and the river, then slowly turned to Hua Shi’an. “It’s too empty. There isn’t even a tree hollow to shelter from the wind and rain. Where would we live if we moved here?”