The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 81

Chapter 81

Hua Shi’an had woken up early before the sky was light. He got dressed, went to wash up, and then returned to the tree hollow to fill his stomach. By the time he strolled to the camp, everyone in the tribe was up, including the yawning old men and the sleepy-eyed children.

He had already said his goodbyes last night, but he couldn’t stop the tribe members from getting up early to see him off. As soon as he arrived, they surrounded Hua Shi’an and the three beastmen, each saying a word, their reluctance mixed with worry.

Getting up early was for the journey. He couldn’t waste time. Amidst the chorus of “come back early,” Hua Shi’an squeezed out of the crowd and walked to the back basket. He and Yan Qiuyu both changed back to their beast forms and deftly squeezed into the back baskets.

The sky turned a fish-belly white. The back basket lifted into the air. Hua Shi’an nestled in the soft coir sheet roll, watching the tree shadows recede, watching the tribe gradually grow distant, watching the crowd of people on the grass shrink into black dots, and finally disappear completely.

The beastman’s strides were large. The back basket bobbed up and down, swaying left and right, much like a coin-operated rocking car at the entrance of a supermarket. It was so comfortable that Hua Shi’an started to feel sleepy as he was rocked. But when he closed his eyes and really wanted to sleep, he couldn’t.

His body was very sleepy, but his mind was very clear, his thoughts wandering uncontrollably.

Finding the lost tribe members was good news from any perspective. The tribe members would be found, reunited with their relatives and companions, and the tribe would also gain some manpower and increase its productivity.

But Hua Shi’an was very uneasy, a little worried. He was an outsider after all. If he found the tribe members of the Chipmunk Tribe, could he still keep his cover?

The original owner’s situation in the tribe was slightly better than Mo Huaishan’s. He was a sub-beastman with little presence, neither outstanding nor making mistakes, an honest sub-beastman. His parents had both died of illness when he was young, and the original owner had no relatives. But the Chipmunk Tribe was not large, and the tribe members who had lived with him day and night were very familiar with the original owner.

After half a year, the unremarkable sub-beastman in the tribe had become the Lord Priest.

Is that reasonable?

If he really found them, the tribe members who had watched “him” grow up would definitely find a flaw. What should he do then? It seemed he could only make something up, say that he had hit his head during the escape and his personality had changed drastically, and then cooperate with the previous story of the stranger, and try to fool them.

Hua Shi’an slapped his head with a paw and sighed heavily.

Of course, Hua Shi’an actually really wanted to find the tribe members of the Chipmunk Tribe. He had obtained the original owner’s memories, but not his emotions. He only had a vague impression of the tribe members, but the chipmunks… were really so cute. It was no exaggeration to say that they were the cutest of all squirrels.

Rocking and bumping, Hua Shi’an curled up in the coir sheet roll, feeling extremely comfortable, and finally fell into a deep sleep. And when he opened his eyes again, the surrounding light had suddenly dimmed, startling him so much that he almost thought he had slept until night.

The jungle was dim and deep. The tangled banyan trees and the tall and straight royal palms grew wildly. The canopies were held high, towering over all the trees, forming a natural green dome. The sunlight was blocked by the lush branches and leaves, and only a few stubborn glimmers of light fell down.

The air was filled with a damp water vapor, very stuffy, as if a wet towel were covering his mouth and nose, a kind of uncomfortable stuffiness. The bushes and vines on the road were lush and intertwined, weaving a large net. The two beastmen were clearing the way with their bone spears as they walked, their breathing rapid and heavy.

They had already entered the dense forest. Hua Shi’an was completely awake. He quickly sat up and looked around, holding onto the back of the basket.

This forest was a bit too magical. The area around the tribe had four distinct seasons, cold in winter and hot in summer, like the temperate regions on Earth. The mountainous area where they had collected honey was colder, like a plateau. And now this dense forest, no matter how Hua Shi’an looked at it, it looked like a tropical rainforest.

Royal palms, Parashorea chinensis, Mesua ferrea, Psychotria asiatica… the iconic plants of the rainforest were everywhere. The more Hua Shi’an looked, the more excited he became. Unconsciously, he climbed out of the back basket and lay on the beastman’s shoulder to take a closer look.

Exploring a new map, there were surprises at any time. After walking for a short distance, Hua Shi’an saw edible green olives. Not long after, he saw oil palms, whose fruits could be used to extract oil.

There were also many wild vegetables and fruits. The large fruit figs on the tree trunks, the plump and round rose myrtles, the mountain pepper leaves growing under the forest, the Sauropus androgynus and the curly-haired vegetables hidden in the bushes…

Until night fell, Hua Shi’an had seen no less than fifteen kinds of edible plants in the dense forest. He could pick some of the wild vegetables on the way, but unfortunately, most of the fruits were not yet ripe. He could only have the beastmen make a mark and come back later.

The beastmen’s pace was very fast. They had only stopped to drink water three times in the middle. In a whole day, they had gone deep into the dense forest. With Hua Shi’an’s pace, it would probably have taken him two whole days to get here.

It was dark. The thick and dense canopy blocked the light, and the forest was gloomy and deep, so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. They couldn’t go on. Hong Yong and Mo Huaishan stopped at the foot of a royal palm tree and, panting, took off their back baskets.

They were tired and hot. The beastmen’s foreheads were covered in sweat. While they were sitting down to rest, Hua Shi’an and Yan Qiuyu, who had been lying in the back baskets all day and were full of energy, came out, changed back to their human forms, one responsible for clearing the surrounding weeds, and the other for picking up firewood and starting a fire.

The dense forest was unusually humid. After a lot of effort, the fire finally lit up. The bamboo tube with clear water was placed on the fire to heat up. Hua Shi’an also took more than twenty sweet potatoes from his back basket and buried some of them under the withered branches and fallen leaves.

He hadn’t brought many sweet potatoes to begin with. Seeing him roast so many at once, Yan Qiuyu’s brow furrowed, and he quickly took out two bundles of wild vegetables from his back basket. “That’s too many, Lord Priest. There are still the wild vegetables we just picked. We don’t need to roast sweet potatoes. Just eating the wild vegetables is enough.”

The heavy back basket was on his back, and he had been walking non-stop. The consumption was even greater than when he was hunting. Wild vegetables were filling, but not satiating. After a day of high-intensity walking, if he only ate some wild vegetables, he would probably wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

Hong Yong and Mo Huaishan were leaning against a large tree, their breathing gradually calming down. The two of them were holding bamboo tubes and drinking water in small sips, without a word, but their gazes were firmly locked on the fire, so hungry they could almost eat a person.

Hua Shi’an lifted his chin slightly and gave Yan Qiuyu a meaningful look.

But to his surprise, Yan Qiuyu didn’t understand his meaning at all and even chased after him, asking, “What’s wrong? Are there not enough wild vegetables? Why don’t we mix some kudzu powder? I’m not very hungry.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Yong threw him a sharp look. “If you want to eat wild vegetables, then eat more. Shut your mouth. Do more work and talk less.”

“What do you mean, if I want to eat wild vegetables?” Yan Qiuyu pouted, poking the fire with a branch. “Who doesn’t want to eat sweet sweet potatoes? But this is only the first night. Didn’t you say we have to save our food?”

Hong Yong was so angry he laughed. He kicked him. “You’ve been lying in a back basket all day. It’s easy for you to talk. Our legs are about to break, and our stomachs are stuck to our backs. If we only eat this little bit of wild vegetables, we won’t even have the strength to get up tomorrow morning!”

“Alright, alright,” Hua Shi’an waved his hands, acting as a peacemaker. “We have to save our food, but as the saying goes, how can you have the strength to work if you’re not full? And the sweet potatoes are heavy anyway. We’ll roast them first and consider it a reduction of our burden. Don’t worry. The resources in this dense forest are richer than I expected. We won’t go hungry.”

It should have ended there, but Hong Yong was not willing to let Yan Qiuyu go. He snorted coldly and added, “It will be your turn tomorrow. I won’t be hungry then. We’ll just drink some water at night.”

Yan Qiuyu’s calm face cracked. He quickly moved to Hong Yong’s side and fawned, “Don’t, Brother Yong. I was wrong, I was wrong. Are your shoulders sore? Are your legs sore? I’ll rub them for you, I’ll pound them for you.”

He admitted his mistake and changed his ways. Yan Qiuyu diligently became a masseur. Perhaps he was too tired, but Hong Yong actually didn’t refuse. He leaned against the tree trunk and enjoyed Yan Qiuyu’s service, squinting his eyes in comfort.

The water would take a while to boil, and the sweet potatoes were not yet roasted. Hua Shi’an’s mind moved. He moved a little to the side and patted Mo Huaishan’s bent leg. “Straighten your leg. I’ll give you a massage too.”

A light sentence, but it was like a drop of water in a boiling pot of oil. The oil splattered everywhere.

Hong Yong, who had been enjoying his massage with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. He seemed to have misheard and looked at Hua Shi’an in disbelief. The diligent masseur froze, his eyes wide, his mouth agape, able to swallow an egg.

Mo Huaishan was also shocked by Hua Shi’an’s undisguised words. His lips opened and closed, but he couldn’t get a single word out for a long time.

Only Hua Shi’an was as composed as ever. He smiled and shrugged. “Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

“No, nothing.”

Hong Yong was the first to come to his senses. He pushed away Yan Qiuyu’s hand and quickly pushed him to the side. “My shoulders are not sore anymore. Qiuyu, you go. You go and give the big oaf a massage.”

He had pushed Yan Qiuyu awake. He quickly came to Mo Huaishan’s side and naturally pushed away Hua Shi’an’s hand. “Lord Priest, you rest. You, you, you cook. I’ll help him with the massage.”

“Why are you fighting over it? Why don’t you ask the person in question?” Hua Shi’an rested his chin on one hand, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted as he looked at Mo Huaishan with a half-smile. “Huaishan, you say, do you want Qiuyu to give you a massage, or do you want me to?”

It was clear that this was no longer a question of whether or not to get a massage. It was asking him to choose, whether or not to go public, whether or not to admit their relationship in front of others. Mo Huaishan understood Hua Shi’an’s subtext. His heart inexplicably skipped half a beat, and at the same time, he became nervous.

Is it too fast? Will it cut off Shi’an’s retreat? Will it…

Mo Huaishan hesitated for a long time. His heart beat faster and faster, and his cheeks became redder and redder. And when he looked up and met Hua Shi’an’s gaze, his anxious heart suddenly settled down, and his gaze gradually became firm. “Qiuyu, you rest. It’s better to let, let Shi’an help—”

“That’s not appropriate!”

“Mo Huaishan, you really dare!”

Yan Qiuyu and Hong Yong spoke almost at the same time, their faces more unsightly than the last, as if they were about to jump up from the ground in the next second and give him two punches.

He hadn’t finished speaking, but Hua Shi’an had gotten the answer he wanted.

He raised an eyebrow, turned to look at the two of them, and said nonchalantly, “There’s nothing inappropriate about it, and there’s nothing to be afraid of. Oh right, did I not tell you? Huaishan and I are together. We’ve also discussed it. After we find the lost tribe members, we’ll become mates.”