Chapter 88
After half a year, the relatives who had “died” in the disaster suddenly appeared before his eyes, and an irrepressible joy welled up in his heart. Feeling shy as he got closer to home, Yan Qiuyu was petrified on the spot, not daring to approach, his reddish-purple eyes filled with tears.
“Qiu, is that you, Qiu?”
A hoarse and trembling female voice came from the crowd. Yan Qiuyu could no longer hold back. He threw down his bone spear and rushed into the crowd, burying his head in the arms of the tall woman who was walking towards him, crying like a child.
“Mother… I knew it, I knew you must still be alive!”
“Qiu, Qiu…”
After a long separation, the mother and son hugged each other tightly, crying with joy.
The joy of recovery enveloped this land. The sturdy middle-aged man was overjoyed. He led more than a dozen people and quickly walked over, stopping in front of Hong Yong with unconcealed excitement.
Gratified, relieved, the Great Chief, with his graying temples and his past glory still visible, had a complicated expression in his eyes. It was as if he had a lot to say, but in the end, he raised his hand and patted Hong Yong’s shoulder, and a thousand words turned into a silent sigh.
“Good lads, it’s good that you’re alive, it’s good that you’re alive.”
They were closer than relatives. The calm and composed captain of the hunting team looked up at the Great Chief, a rare vulnerability and grievance in his eyes, his eyes quietly turning red.
The reminiscing and pleasantries would have to wait. No one didn’t want to be reunited with their relatives. Looking around and seeing only four people, the tribe members, whose hopes had been rekindled, instantly became anxious and hurriedly chased after Hong Yong and Mo Huaishan, asking:
“Why are there only four of you? Yong, have you seen my Lan and Jian?”
“And my son, Shi. Is he with you?”
“Shan, have you seen my mother, Ye?”
“My sub-beastman, Le. Have you seen him?”
…
A dozen or twenty people, a dozen or twenty mouths, each asking a question. The night forest was as noisy as a marketplace. Hong Yong and Mo Huaishan were overwhelmed. In the end, the Great Chief stepped forward to maintain order, telling people to sit down at the foot of a tree and ask one by one.
How they had escaped, and how they had run deep into the forest. Hua Shi’an was very interested in their journey. Just as he was about to go over and listen, a soft call suddenly came from his side, “An, are you An?”
What was meant to be, was meant to be. Hua Shi’an’s eyes lifted slightly, and a male beastman, only a little taller than him and with a baby face, came into view.
Dou, a beastman from the Chipmunk Tribe, one of the tribe members that the original owner had a relatively deep impression of. Although they were not close, he had taken good care of the original owner in the tribe before, and they were even distantly related.
After a long separation, how would the original owner face his tribe members? Hua Shi’an began to recall, but before he could recall anything, the beastman Dou, seeing his appearance clearly through the night, put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a big hug.
“It’s really you! That’s great, that’s great. You’re still alive!”
A change from his usual indifference, the not-so-close beastman was like he had grabbed a life-saving straw. He trembled with excitement, his arms like iron chains, tightly wrapped around Hua Shi’an.
It was strange. Perhaps it was because he had the original owner’s memories, but Hua Shi’an did not resist being suddenly hugged by an unfamiliar person. He raised his right hand and hugged the beastman back, patting his back twice and saying softly, “I’m still alive. We’re all still alive. What about the others? Are there any other tribe members with you?”
“No more. My father and mother, the chief, and our tribe members are all gone… everyone is gone. I almost thought I was the only one left. It’s good, it’s good that you’re still alive.” The beastman sniffled, his voice gradually becoming choked.
He was really the only one left.
Hua Shi’an was stunned for a moment, an indescribable feeling welling up in his heart.
In the time he was dazed, the beastman slowly recovered.
He let go of Hua Shi’an, wiped his tears, and looked him up and down. A trace of relief appeared in his grief-stricken eyes. “You’ve changed so much. You’re not the same as before. How did you escape that night? Have you been with Brother Yong and the others all this time? Just the four of you? And what’s with the injury on your arm?”
A pile of questions came at him, and he didn’t know which one to answer first.
The night was still long. Hua Shi’an didn’t plan to join the fun. He pulled the only remaining beastman from the Chipmunk Tribe and sat down on the spot, saying unhurriedly, “I was almost caught by a goshawk that night. Later, Shan from the Red Pine Tribe saved me, and we fled into the giant… overnight.”
He was idle anyway. Hua Shi’an briefly recounted their experience and the current situation of the tribe to Dou.
Dou was a sentimental person. He had just wiped his tears, and when he heard that there were still more than fifty people alive in the tribe, he lowered his head and sobbed, murmuring, “That’s good, that’s good. If only our tribe members were still alive, even, even just a few more would be fine…”
He had never seen the beastman like this in his memory. Hua Shi’an patted his arm and comforted him softly, “Let the past be the past. We can’t control disasters. Thinking about it won’t change the outcome, it will only make you sad. It’s better to cheer up and look forward.”
“Although we rarely interacted before, our Squirrel Tribe has always been a collective. They are also our tribe members.” Hua Shi’an lifted his chin slightly and looked at the crowd of people at the foot of the tree. “We get along very well now, eating and living together, and working together.”
“With our joint efforts, the tribe’s life is slowly getting better. We have tree hollows to shelter from the wind and rain, and endless food. A few days ago, when we had some free time, we even reclaimed a field in front of our doors and planted our own crops. Oh right, there’s also a river in front of our doors, with fish and shrimp in it. You’ve definitely never seen it. I’ll cook some for you when we get back.”
“Food.” Dou heard the keyword. He didn’t even bother to wipe his tears and suddenly looked up at Hua Shi’an. “The wild vegetables and fruits in the Giant Tree Forest are different from those outside. How, how did you find food? Did you also try them one by one?”
“This…” Hua Shi’an touched his nose and coughed a little deliberately. “It’s a long story. We’ll talk about this later. Let’s talk about you first. How many people are there in your group? Just these? By the way, you fled into the Giant Tree Forest on the same night. How did you miss us, and how did you end up deep in the forest?”
Dou wiped his tears and sighed softly. “There are more than just these people. There are thirty-six of us in total. There are a few injured and children, and a few sub-beastmen are resting and didn’t come with us.”
“As for how we got here, it’s a bit of bad luck.”
“I was too tired to sleep during the day. I was sleeping very soundly that night. When the mudslide came down, I didn’t run away at all and was swept away directly. It was the Great Chief who saved me. He and Qing dragged me out of the raging mud regardless of the danger, and I managed to survive.”
“The goshawks were flying in the sky, and the mud was rolling on the ground. Our tribe members… were struggling and crying for help. The Great Chief refused to leave. We found a high ground and started to save people. I still can’t forget that scene. Countless hands reached out to me. The mud was too slippery. I had grabbed many of them, but, but I just couldn’t save them.”
Tears fell with a “pat pat.” The beastman’s shoulders trembled violently, his eyes filled with self-reproach and annoyance.
He had started from the beginning, but this beginning was too much. He had made himself sad again. Hua Shi’an also felt uneasy, but he was not good at comforting people. He could only pat his shoulder and urge him to continue to change the subject.
After calming his breathing and composing himself, Dou got to the point.
They had pulled people from the mudslide and snatched them from the goshawks’ talons. Under the leadership of the Great Chief, the more than a dozen survivors had turned into more than forty. But the mud had already spread to the Endless Prairie, and their retreat was cut off. They could only flee to higher ground while avoiding the goshawks’ attacks.
Although they had eventually fled into the Giant Tree Forest, the different time and direction meant that they had completely missed the other team’s tracks and had regrettably passed each other by.
One wave had not yet subsided when another rose. They had struggled and fled into the Giant Tree Forest, exhausted in body and mind. But before they could even catch their breath, they had strayed into a wild beast’s territory and had come face to face with a herd of beasts.
The black-furred, tusked wild beasts were five parts similar to black bears and were extremely aggressive. They attacked without hesitation upon seeing people. And the tribe members, who had just escaped a disaster, were already exhausted. Faced with a group of ferocious wild beasts, they could only run, run for their lives.
Fortunately, the wild beasts were fierce but did not chase them relentlessly. They were probably just defending their territory. But they were in an unfamiliar place and had run around like headless flies to avoid the beasts’ attacks. By the time they stopped, they had completely lost their way.
Everyone knew that they shouldn’t go deep into the forest rashly. But as far as the eye could see, there were only weeds and trees. They couldn’t tell which side was the edge of the forest and which was the deep forest. And to make matters worse, when they were exhausted and wanted to find something to eat, they found that they didn’t recognize a single plant in the Giant Tree Forest.
“There was nothing we could do. We had to eat when we were hungry. We could only pick the wild vegetables and fruits that looked edible and try them one by one.”
As he spoke, his eyes turned red again. Dou held back his tears and sniffled, taking a deep breath. “Do you know, An? There were originally more than forty of us. Those few tribe members with minor injuries could have survived. It was to help us find edible food that they died from eating poisonous fruits and grasses.”
Hua Shi’an moved the weeds at his feet and couldn’t help but sigh. “They exchanged their lives for food for their tribe. They are very great, very amazing.”
Dou sighed. “That’s right. If they hadn’t stepped up, we wouldn’t have been able to get here smoothly.”
After burying their companions and setting off again, the group of people searched for food as they walked, leaving marks along the way, intending to find a place to settle down. But the mysterious and ancient forest was full of crises. Either there was too little edible food, or they could always hear strange howls.
They kept walking, through the dense forest and into the Black Bear Forest. The densely packed, colorful fruits on the trees made them stop. They had originally planned to settle down in the Black Bear Forest, but before they could even get comfortable, they were attacked by a black bear that very night.
At the cost of the lives of two beastmen, they had successfully escaped. And then, on this land under their feet, they had encountered the Tree Shrew Tribe, which was very similar to squirrels. The chief of the Tree Shrew Tribe, Fei, had kindly taken them in, given them trees to settle down in, and the two tribes had shared a piece of land.
Fei, the woman who had asked them for a toll just now?
Hua Shi’an raised an eyebrow and asked, “She blocked the road and threatened us, and asked us for things. Would she kindly take you in?”
“She did let us live here, but…”
The tree shrews had long since dispersed, and the woman had not left. She was sitting at the foot of a tree, listening to the Great Chief and the others speak. Dou looked up at her and said in a low voice, “There are conditions. She said that we can live here and look for food in our own area, but every ten days, we have to give them a portion of our food.”
