A Guide to - 6

Unedited chapter


6. The Kind Person is a Snake


After receiving a pile of firewood the next day, Shu Shu inhaled the familiar smell on the firewood. He happily send off some delicious roasted stem tubers in return. Afterwards, he took some of his strong braided grass ropes and went out to collect soft hays.

These days, Shu Shu had dug three more small holes in the big cave where he lived. Two of them were used to store food, and the other one was for him to live in.

The hole he had chosen to live in was not big; he had to crawl to get inside, but he liked it this way.

After he had done with the dig, Shu Shu had used fire to bake that one hole for several days. Now he’s pondering whether he should fill the entire cave with hays, so that in the winter he could squeeze into the hays—it certainly would be very nice and warm.

Shu Shu walked here and there to collect weeds, and he soon collected quite a lot of them in just a short while. Most of these grasses were not dry, but so long as he put them out in the sun for two days, they would be dry.

It’s a pity that he did not find any cotton tree nearby. If his cave had been stuffed full of cotton, then it would surely have been very, very comfortable.

Thinking this way, Shu Shu once again yearned for human society. He remembered that cotton was very cheap for humans. At that time, his owner had cleaned up his cage every few days, and each time, his owner would replace the cotton in his small nest with clean, new one.

If only he had a big pile of cotton now!

Looking at the verdant and lush forest surrounding him, Shu Shu sighed and resignedly continued to collect weeds.

This kind of weed was abundant in the forest. Shu Shu soon collected enough weeds and then tied them up together with some grass ropes. Carrying the bundle on his back, he walked back home.

He could put many, many things in his food pouches, but to put things into his food pouches, he had to first stuff them into his mouth. Things like chestnuts, he was willing to stuff his mouth with them, but dirt-smeared stem tubers, weeds, and so on... just forget about it, OK?

“I’m a little…, no, a young boy, carrying a schoolbag on my back and going to school, not afraid of the shining sun and not afraid of the raging wind and rain, afraid of the teacher scolding me for being lazy, if I don’t learn then I will have no face to see my parents....” Shu Shu hummed a song quietly while walking home.
 
When he had not turned into a human yet, he had not been able to speak and also had not dared to speak. He could finally speak now, and yet the only person around was himself.... In that case, he could only keep babbling to himself.

Shu Shu had become accustomed to walking in the forest. He walked very fast, just walking and walking, when suddenly all the hair on his ears and body stood up. There was a tingling sensation on his scalp.

He was no stranger at all to this sort of situation. Formerly, he had just been a small hamster. He had even lived in the wild for quite some time, and he had often felt like this. This meant that a predator was staring at him.

Danger! Shu Shu didn't want to run, but he broke into a run right away. He had just taken a step when he felt a burst of strong wind accompanied by a rank odor behind his body.

Shu Shu hurriedly threw away the big bundle of weeds he was carrying on his back and continued to run forward without looking back.

According to his accumulated experience over the past few hundred years, at a moment like this, rather than wasting time to look back, it was better off to keep on running and running a little bit more away.

Unfortunately, although he had been cultivating, he only had a little bit of spiritual power in his body. At this time, it was useless, and it also couldn’t make him run a little faster....

Could it be that he was really going to die here and now? Shu Shu clenched his teeth; he didn't understand why suddenly there was a bold predator in the originally safe area.

No, this area could not be regarded as particularly safe. He had come across a huge snake before. Was it the huge snake that was chasing after him now?

This kind of thought flashed through Shu Shu’s mind. Then he suddenly felt that the danger was near.

He instinctively threw himself forward and rolled to the side while curling his body.

The forest ground was covered with soft leaves, but there were also many bushes with long, sharp thorns. When Shu Shu was rolling, he felt that his body was getting slashed and scratched by the surrounding bushes. This was it, this time he would finally see what had been chasing after him.

It was clearly not the snake he had seen before. Rather, it was a beast that looked like a tiger but was much, much larger than a tiger. The giant tiger did not immediately attack him, but it was advancing towards him, ready to pounce on him.

Oh, no! Shu Shu saw this scene and only felt that his heart was going to stop. If he was just a small hamster, he might still have the chance to get under the bushes and slip away. But he was a human now. This body was already not suited to live in the forest, and a human’s movements were not agile enough!

With great difficulty, he cultivated to an adult. His final, sole achievement was just making himself bigger so he could make a beast eat its fill....

Shu Shu felt that he would be scared to “death” again. His hands and feet were stiff and could not be moved; everything around him seemed to slow down. Eventually, he could only stare blankly as the giant tiger advancing towards him opened its bloody mouth wide open like a sacrificial bowl....

When Shu Shu’s palpitating heart was about to stop, a snake’s tail suddenly appeared in front of him and lashed toward the giant tiger's mouth.

The snake's tail and the tiger's mouth met head-on. A loud “thump” was heard, and blood immediately began to bloom.

The huge snake collapsed, its scales were missing, while the giant tiger opened his mouth and spat out a tooth. Following that, there was no need to say anything. The two giant creatures fought against each other.

The huge snake firmly wrapped its body round the giant tiger, and its big mouth went toward the giant tiger's neck to bite. The giant tiger was not to be outdone, it struggled to tear at the huge snake’s body.

As they tangled and fought each other, the area got damaged. Even big trees with thick trunks would break easily when getting knocked against. It was not long before the surrounding area was in a mess.

Shu Shu was beside a cluster of bushes, rigid with fear. He couldn’t move at all; his hands and feet didn’t seem like his own. Watching those two giant creatures fight, several times he thought that they would crush him down. However, those two beasts actually fought farther and farther away....

The snake seemed to be dragging the tiger away from his side? Also, was the snake the huge snake that had previously scared him to apparent death but had not harmed him?

Shu Shu's brain was awfully sluggish. He was somewhat uncertain whether he was thinking correctly or wrongly, so he might as well not think about it. He slowly tried to circulate the meager, pitiful spiritual power within his body, eager to restore his mobility as quickly as possible. But unfortunately, the more he was worrying, the more he could not do it. Ultimately, he could only lie there and stare blankly at the two giant creatures tearing at each other.

After the two giant creatures fought for a while, the outcome of the battle could eventually be predicted. The huge snake was more resourceful. It constricted the giant tiger to death, even with so many wounds on its body—dying.

It was also at this time Shu Shu discovered that he could finally move.

With his hands and feet still stiff, he slowly got up and slowly crawled away. After crawling for a while, he suddenly felt something was amiss—he smelled the scent of the kind person!

That kind person was here?

Shu Shu stopped moving, clenched his teeth, and crawled back towards the two giant creatures, hoping to find the kind person.

The giant tiger was already dead, and the huge snake was lying there motionless, but the snake’s body still slightly rose and fell. Probably sensing Shu Shu's approach, its eyes moved and looked at Shu Shu.

Shu Shu kneeled on the ground, shivering from head to toe. His teeth chattered, his ears were all pricked up, and his claws also sprouted out. He was ready to flee at any time, but even then, he still bent his body downwards and sniffed. He was seeking the scent of the kind person, someone who was able to make him feel good.

The next second, Shu Shu's eyes widened in surprise.

The kind person's scent was very strong, and it actually came from the huge snake’s body!

How was that possible?!

Shu Shu looked at the snake, and his entire body trembled even more violently. After staring blankly, he finally came to himself. He felt that it actually made sense.

When he had met the snake for the first time, the snake had not harmed him at all. Instead, it had quickly let him go. And just now... the tiger had wanted to eat him, and the snake had saved him.

The snake had been perfectly all right, no reason to fight the tiger. There was no other reason besides to save him. And in order to save him, the snake had his flesh lacerated, and apparently, it was going to die.

Shu Shu looked at the so many missing scales of the huge snake. His entire body kept shivering, and his tears unconsciously fell.

He was extremely afraid of this huge snake, but he also felt that he could not abandon his savior no matter what.

The snake had always been at his side, and he had never sensed any "danger". It might be assumed that this snake had never thought of eating him. In fact, it had been giving him quite a lot of preys….

Shu Shu was still trembling, but he abruptly wiped his tears away. Supporting himself by holding onto the tree beside him, he stood up, turned around, and ran away at once.

After seeing Shu Shu run away, Edgar lowered his head and rested it on the dead body of the giant tiger that had been constricted to death by himself. He didn’t know what to feel.

He somewhat felt a sense of loss, but he also felt that he had done the right thing.

When he had been a crown prince, although the sub-beastmen had welcomed him quite pleasantly, but the vast majority of the sub-beastmen still had not liked his icy cold beast type. To persuade them to change their opinion now that he was no longer a beastman and had become a real beast....?

Who could like a beast? The sub-beastmen always deeply loathed the fallen beasts who had lost their beast core and turned into beasts....

What's more, the little sub-beastman didn’t even know that he had once been a beastman. He reckoned that in the sub-beastman eyes, he was just a snake.

Edgar hurt terribly from head to toe, and his beating heart also hurt.

With his previous strength, he could totally have killed this giant tiger easily, but it was different now.

He had self-detonated, not to say his beast core, even his body had been seriously hurt. Now his strength was not even one-tenth of his former strength. Under such circumstances, even if he could win against the giant tiger, he would inevitably pay a high price.

Of course, the injuries that had been improving got even more serious this time.

Fortunately, by sensing the smell of him and the giant tiger, those beasts should not dare to come. He could take a good rest, and there would not be any danger to the little sub-beastman for the time being….

Edgar lay on his stomach on the ground, slowly recovering his physical strength. At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of the little sub-beastman’s footsteps.

Raising his head unbelievingly, Edgar saw the little sub-beastman come back, holding medicinal herbs on his hand.

Because of him raising his head, the little sub-beastman who was clutching the medicinal herbs got scared; looking deathly pale, he took a few steps back. His eyes were brimming with tears; he trembled and stopped moving.  He looked like he was going to faint at any time.

Edgar saw him like this and couldn't help but smile. However, snake couldn't show a smiling expression....

Afraid of scaring the little sub-beastman, Edgar dropped his head, and then he watched the trembling little sub-beastman. Taking a roundabout route and arriving at his rear, the little guy approached him solemnly and cautiously while muttering to him in a language he couldn't understand.

"Don't eat me, don't eat me. I do not taste good at all…." Shu Shu kept chanting while hastily putting the medicinal herbs in his mouth. He chewed them several times before throwing them on the wounds on the huge snake’s body.

TL's note:

I translated 碗口大的树木 (wǎn kǒu dà de shù mù) as big trees with thick trunk. I'm not sure if it's right or not since 碗口 are translated as bowl/cup and mouth.

ETA: Thanks to Winnie Chen for clarifying that the words above mean "a tree trunk as wide as the opening of a bowl". IMO, since the size of a bowl isn't standard, I'll just keep my translation of "thick trunk". 

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A Guide to - 5

Unedited chapter.


5. Striving to Cultivate


Shu Shu picked a lot of wild flowers that had bloomed after the rain, and he also picked some pretty blades of weeds. He placed the wild flowers and the weeds on top of the stem tubers, then he lifted the stem tubers up onto his back and continued to walk forward.

The sky was clear, and there was a kind person around taking care of him…. Shu Shu's mood was very good despite the heavy burden on his back….

“A chicken on the left hand, a duck on the right hand, and a fat baby on the back…. *squeak, squeak* Oh, my! This fat baby is so heavy, my, oh, my!” casually singing, eyes on his cave that was getting nearer and nearer, Shu Shu smiled even more brightly.
 
Edgar followed behind. He looked at the little sub-beastman’s naked body from head to toe, and it was full of scars—both horizontal and vertical—and he could not help but feel sorry for the little guy.

Although these wounds were all superficial wound, but it must have been really painful to get so many wounds. In spite of everything, this guy was still in the mood to sing a song.... Furthermore, it seemed that he was completely unable to make sense of the language that this little sub-beastman was speaking in?

Besides the beastman’s common language, he was also proficient in several other languages. But unfortunately, he was unable to make sense of what the little sub-beastman was singing. Edgar was depressed.

Seeing that Shu Shu got into the cave and concealed the cave mouth properly, he decided it’s unlikely that there would be another danger. Only then Edgar unhurriedly left.

Actually, when he had seen the little sub-beastman trudge forward while carrying such a big load on his back, he had intended to help him, but he obviously knew how afraid of him the little sub-beastman was….

Thinking of the wounds on the little sub-beastman’s body, Edgar went into the forest and began to make use of his rich experience surviving in the wild to look for healing medicinal herbs.

Having been turned into a snake, it was really inconvenient to do anything. Edgar expended so much effort to dig out the herbs. He carefully kept them in his mouth and once again came to the entrance of the cave where the little sub-beastman resided in.

The little sub-beastman’s cave mouth was blocked off, and there was also no smell of him in the vicinity of the cave mouth. He was definitely inside the cave. Edgar approached and put the medicinal herbs at the cave mouth. When he was about to leave, he found at the cave mouth a large bunch of wild flowers tied with grass rope placed in the area where the little sub-beastman usually put his food delivery.

Indeed, they were the wild flowers picked by the little sub-beastman before, and they were tied together in a bundle with the weeds, creating an irregular arrangement with charming effect. It looked so beautiful…. Was this a present for him?

When Edgar had seen the little sub-beastman picking flowers, he had thought that the little guy was going to decorate his cave. After all, all sub-beastmen really liked flowers. To his surprise, he had been wrong....

Carefully picking up the bunch of flowers on the ground with his mouth, Edgar cheerfully left.

Not long after, Shu Shu found those medicinal herbs. He brought them back to the cave, then he put some of them in his mouth and started to chew.... It tasted so weird, ah!

Did that kind person deliberately mess with him? Shu Shu spat out the medicinal herbs in his mouth; his eyes were brimming with tears. Such unpalatable thing; as if he would eat it!

Why on earth did that person give him such unpalatable thing, ah! Cautiously looking at the pile of medicinal herbs, Shu Shu depressedly lay down on his stomach beside it.

On the other hand, Edgar also remembered one thing—the little sub-beastman, would he know if those were medicinal herbs?

Frowning and thinking for a moment, Edgar put down the bunch of flowers and then went out to catch a rabbit. He used his teeth to make a cut on the rabbit’s body, then he applied the medicinal herbs on the cut. Without the slightest hesitation, he proceeded to break the rabbit’s legs and put the rabbit at the entrance of little sub-beastman’s cave

After leaving the rabbit behind, Edgar started to get a bit nervous again. The rabbit was very cute; it was very likely that the sub-beastman would like it. What was he going to do if the little sub-beastman thought that he’s very cruel to the rabbit?

Thinking this way, Edgar wished to go back and take the rabbit back with him, and—concerning the demo for the little sub-beastman—exchange it with some other animals! However, before he could act, the little sub-beastman heard the rabbit's movements and came out of the cave.

Looking at the rabbit, Shu Shu finally knew what the grass was used for.

He happily chewed those medicinal herbs and then applied them on his wounds. He put on his roasted-dry grass skirt, and then, carrying the rabbit in his hand, he went to the river bank—to kill rabbit.

Thinking that rabbit was cute and therefore no killing rabbit, this way of thinking wouldn’t cross Shu Shu’s mind! A big rabbit like that, what was cute about it? That time in the pet shop, there had been some rabbits, and they had eaten up a group of hamsters’ one-day portion of food!

Shu Shu killed and skinned the rabbit at the river bank, then he washed it clean before returning to his cave. Following the previous method, he was going to make beggar’s rabbit.

Actually, he really wanted a pot, but unfortunately, he did not find any stone resembling a pot. It’s no problem for him to use his claws to tear open a prey’s skin and flesh, but it’s impossible if he wanted to carve a stone into a desired shape....

As usual, half of the rabbit was placed near the cave mouth for that kind person. Shu Shu then once again sorted out his foodstuffs.

The weather was cold, so the stem tubers had to be frozen properly. It’s important to wrap them with grass and then bury them in the mud to preserve them. The chestnuts were preserved similarly in the cave’s cellar, while the dried meat had to be kept in airy room....

Sniffing the food, there were some that didn’t smell quite right; they were picked out and thrown away. Shu Shu was very busy, and he finally went to sleep very late.

Shu Shu's next days were not too bad, quite comfortable even.

Every morning he went out to collect food and firewood to prepare to get through the winter. In the afternoon he would receive a prey from the kind person. Then he would deal with the prey and tidy up the cave….

That kind person was indeed very, very good. Later, besides giving him prey, they also gave him firewood.

Since he had arrived at this place, Shu Shu all along had been a little anxious. But after running into that kind person, he now dared to feel at ease.

What a pity that he had never known who that kind person was....

Time passed very quickly; unwittingly, it had already been one month since Shu Shu had come across that kind person.

He and that kind person had even more tacit understandings as the weather turned even colder. Fortunately, Shu Shu had already collected enough food; he was not worried of the arrival of winter.

It was also at this time Shu Shu discovered that this area was actually quite safe. Indeed, there had not been any dangerous beast at all; even that group of monkeys that had beaten him was gone.

Here was a really good area! Shu Shu had always been cautious before, not daring to run around recklessly, but now he had a lot of courage. Going out every day, he would first run several laps to warm his body while thinking about other things.

Even at night, he would go out and run a few laps, and then he would start to cultivate.

That’s right, it was indeed to cultivate.

When Shu Shu had just arrived in this place, he had been very scared and on edge all the time. He had been unable to sleep well, and naturally, he also had not dared to rashly cultivate. Moreover, at that time, he had just unexpectedly turned into a human. Even the spiritual power within his body that he had painstakingly cultivated for a year had gone. He had been really stupid, too, not knowing how he should continue cultivating his ability properly.

Anyway, these days he had sufficient food, and there’s meat to eat everyday—keeping his whole body shiny and smooth. Also, there was no danger outside. In that case, he returned to and resumed the matter of cultivating.

He had to cultivate properly and got rid of his ears and tail as soon as possible. Only in this way and only then could he blend into human society, and afterwards, he would be able to get hot (spicy) drink!

There was also that kind person.... If he turned into a human, maybe that person would be willing to meet him!

After several days of cultivating in the cave, Shu Shu changed the cultivating location. Every night, he would go out to run a few laps, and then he would climb into a hole—that he had dug himself—on top of a small hill and cultivate.

As a daemon spirit, it was vital to absorb the sun and moon's brilliance to cultivate, and the result of cultivating at night was much better than during the day.

In the first few days of cultivating, Shu Shu didn’t feel anything at all, but after practicing for a long time, a stream of heat once again  emerged and circulated in his body. At the same time, he also discovered that the spiritual power of this place was surprisingly very, very abundant!

At that time, when he had accidentally swallowed the red bead, it had brought along a complete set of daemon-cultivation method. Shu Shu had already finished practicing daemon-to-human transformation. Now he was searching out and practicing the cultivation method following the daemon-to-human transformation.

He was actually not very adept at this cultivation business, but the red bead was inside his body. If he practiced wrong, it would remind him; therefore, he actually had not blundered excessively. That was precisely why his practice had been slow. He didn't know how the lightning tribulation could have happened; it had even brought him to this place.

Sitting at the top of the hill, Shu Shu closed his eyes and began cultivating again.

Edgar’s coiled body was hiding in the underbrush a short distance away, dozing off. He occasionally woke up when he heard some sound of activity. He would raise his head vigilantly and survey the surroundings, then he would take a glance at the sitting-upright little sub-beastman.

He had been the crown prince of the Beastman Empire, handsome and powerful. In the past, he had always run away from those sub-beastmen who had chased after him. He really had not expected that one day he would silently keep watch and protect a little sub-beastman....

Thinking of this, Edgar once again remembered the matter beforehand.

Three months ago, he had brought some people to explore a newly-discovered planet. In the end, he did not know what had happened. The communication device on his body had suddenly broken down, and he had also encountered some large and powerful animals on that planet and gotten besieged by them.

The Beastman Empire now was not the same as before—when the emperor had been in charge of everything—even the existence of the imperial family was mostly a symbol. However, the beastmen of the imperial family were still the most powerful beastmen of the empire.

Many, many years ago, they had relied on their own strength to become the sovereign king of Beastman Empire. Even if the beastmen had later moved away from their own planet and entered the interstellar space, they had still relied on their own strength to reign over the Beastman Empire.

The reason why at the time he had turned into a prototype was because he had just finished reshaping the mech into a beast form to carry on fighting those huge, incomparable animals.

Those animals had been very strong, but he had been stronger, and normally, he definitely could run away. Against reason, those animals had continuously chased after him. Also, more and more animals had begun to besiege him.

He had vaguely become aware that the command had probably been tricked, but the situation at that time had not allowed him to think too much; the only thought allowed on his mind had been to exhaust every means to escape. However, he had still been unable to escape.

Knowing that it had been impossible to stay alive, he had opted for being heartless. By directly self-detonating his beast core, he had intended to take those beasts down with himself

He had believed that he would certainly die. He had not expected that in the end, he had not died. Instead, he had arrived in this place….

When he had just woken up, Edgar had thought that he might as well have died rather than turning into a beast. But now, he was actually glad that he had continued to live, otherwise, that little sub-beastman probably would not be able to stay alive.

Looking at the little sub-beastman who was sitting still and expressionlessly on the top of the hill and not knowing what he was up to, Edgar only felt that his mind had become peaceful.

There should be beastmen who lived on this planet. Once he recovered from his injuries, he would not be worried about all kinds of beasts in this place. Then he could try to seek help from the people on this planet. In any case, the little sub-beastman was not allowed to stay in the forest forever….

Furthermore, about his situation.... Although he couldn’t go back, but he had to inform his parents of his own situation right now.

Edgar was thinking about things when he saw the little sub-beastman suddenly sneeze. After that, he stood up on the top of the hill, and trembling, he then quickly ran down into the cave to hide.

Running outside on such a cold day just wrapped in a grass skirt, as if not afraid of freezing.... Edgar shook his snake head and decided to get some more firewood for the little sub-beastman.

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A Guide to - 4

Unedited chapter


4. Someone is a Very Good Person


Shu Shu was afraid that the fowl would need a long cooking time to be done. He waited for nearly two hours before poking the fire and pulling the lump of mud out of it. Then he waited again for a short while before knocking the lump of mud open.

When the mud was knocked open, an enticing smell emerged and spread out. The smell of fowl meat mixed with the fragrance and sweetness of chestnuts, making people wish they could devour the whole fowl already…. Shu Shu had his eyes on the fowl meat in front of him, and he was moved to tears.

He hadn't eaten meat for a long time!

Before, he had been very well-behaved and quite close to his owner. He had also known to go to the toilet on the fixed area—because cleaning the toilet was especially disgusting. Therefore, all his owners had basically treated him very well. In addition to cereals, he also had been fed with lightly cooked meat and boiled eggs. But after he had arrived in this place, he had never eaten meat again!

Shu Shu was afraid to burn his tongue, so he waited for the fowl meat to cool down a little before tearing a small piece and putting it into his mouth. Following this, his eyes immediately lit up.

It's really good and delicious!

Shu Shu ate a few more bites, then he suddenly heard some sound of activity coming from the cave mouth.

Once again, he ran to the cave mouth. There, he found a completely clean wild boar that had been skinned and washed. Furthermore, there’s a familiar smell on it.

That kind person gave him a prey again! A very big one, with lots of meat!

It’s just…. What's with all the bumps and bite scars on the wild boar’s entire body and also the torn belly with intestines spilling out? Has that kind person never learned dealing with prey?

Shu Shu looked outside; the rain was still falling, and there was no sign of stopping. He was even more touched—that kind person had caught a prey in this kind of weather and delivered it to him. They had even helped him skinning and washing it clean. Indeed, this one was a super-duper great person!

Shu Shu had been raised by people for many years before. He totally did not think that there was anything wrong with accepting what others gave him. Without further ado, he cheerfully dragged the wild boar back into his cave. Subsequently, he started pondering.

After eating something delicious, he had to show his appreciation. This way, his owner would give him even more next time. If he didn’t show any appreciation at all, his owner would think that he didn't like it. Next time, he wouldn’t get anything at all!

Even though presently he didn’t know who had sent him those things, but he obviously couldn’t just freeload off other people; he had to show his appreciation.

Shu Shu mulled it over, then he ran back into the cave and tore off half of the beggar’s fowl along with half of the chestnuts in the fowl's cavity. He used some leaves to properly wrap it up, then he put the parcel beside the stone at the cave mouth where it’s unlikely to get drenched by rain.

The fowl was quite big; half of it was enough for him to eat. He totally could give the remaining half to that kind person.

Shu Shu waited at the cave mouth for a while; he wanted to wait until that kind person came. However, he had waited for a long time, but that kind person still didn't come.

Did that person leave? Or did they not want to see him?

Somewhat, Shu Shu didn't understand. He could only leave the fowl meat behind and make his way back into the cave.

Once Shu Shu got into the cave, a snake quickly came over and took the leaf-wrapped parcel that Shu Shu had left behind.

Edgar quickly returned to his cave, which was nearby. After he had gotten seriously injured and plummeted to this place, he had never eaten cooked food anymore. Now, he stared at the fowl meat for a long while, and then he slowly ate it.

However, he had already turned into a beast, and surprisingly, he’s somewhat not used to eating cooked food now.

Edgar finished eating the fowl meat and coiled his body to rest inside the cave.

Shu Shu went back to the cave mouth after a while and found that the fowl meat he had put there was already gone. He returned into the cave in a good mood and continued to sort out the pockmarked wild boar.

The pig's exterior was particularly bad, as if it had been bitten by something, but Shu Shu actually didn’t care about it at all.

He had never cooked before, and now, there wasn’t even a pot or a pan. How would this greenhorn deal with the wild boar properly?

After thinking about it for a while, Shu Shu finally got hold of a stone slab, then he used two stones placed in the bonfire to support the slab. After that, he used his claws to strip the wild boar meat into thin slices and then he put the meat slices on top of the slab to roast. Later, he threaded the roasted slices on a rattan skewer and hung it above the other bonfire. He was trying to use the bonfire’s heat to turn the meat slices into dried meat.

At this moment, Shu Shu was really glad that he liked to collect all kinds of things and to decorate his cave as well. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t be able to turn the small wild boar into dried meat in a short time. The remaining half of the boar was small, and he was going to use the same method of making beggar’s fowl to make beggar’s pork.

The pork was cut into pieces, then it was wrapped in leaves together with chestnuts. After that, he packed mud around it and placed it beside the bonfire to slowly roast. After a few hours of cooking, the meat inside was done.

As for not adding salt and seasoning..., Shu Shu has always eaten his food without salt. The natural flavor has already made him very satisfied.

There were two bonfires in the cave; originally, they’re for warming the damp and cold cave, not for roasting. Nestling in the haystacks, Shu Shu slept peacefully.

It’s not because he had eaten meat; it’s because in this side of forest, he was not alone. Although that kind person refused to show their face, but they would send him things!

The next day at noon, Shu Shu once again saw a skinned and pockmarked prey when he came to the cave mouth. And so, he put half of the food he had made at the cave mouth, setting it aside for that kind person.

That kind person refused to show his face to him. In reality, as soon as he walked away, the roasted pork and chestnuts quickly disappeared. Unfortunately, that person did not leave any footprints, nor did they leave any strong odor, making Shu Shu absolutely unable to find them.

After a total of four days of rain pouring down from the sky, the weather suddenly turned very cold. But it was finally clear, and Shu Shu had already made a lot of dried meat.

As a matter of fact, the dried meat he had made was exactly dried meat in every sense of the word. After the meat had been cooked and dried out, the firewood flavor was very unpleasant. It was very hard and very difficult to bite into.... But who was Shu Shu, ah; it was nothing for a hamster spirit who liked to grind their teeth on sticks! This kind of dried meat was not liked by others, but he liked it very much.

He added the dried meat into the stockpile in his storeroom. After checking his food reserves, Shu Shu decided to leave the cave and go out to look for food again.

In the past few days, that kind person had been giving him prey every day, but he should not always rely on others.

Dressing himself by wrapping the grass skirt on his body, Shu Shu left his cave. He planned to continue collecting chestnuts.

Chestnut was quite big; it had a sweet and distinct taste when eaten raw, and it was delicious when cooked thoroughly. In addition, it was very easy to eat his fill since he really, really liked chestnut.

When Shu Shu arrived at the chestnut forest he frequently visited, a group of monkeys was already there eating chestnuts.

Prior to today, it had been windy and rainy, and the chestnuts had all been blown over and fallen off the tree. Shu Shu had to be very careful, so as not to step on the thorny chestnuts. Those monkeys had thick hair on their body, so they did not need to be afraid of it;  it's even okay for them to roll about on the ground.

Shu Shu enviously looked at the hair on those monkeys’ body, and then he looked at his bare, smooth arms, and he couldn’t help but sigh. His current body was really too vulnerable to injuries.

Also, when he had had fur, he had still felt slightly cold in winter. Now that he had no fur, how could he pass the winter, ah….

Those monkeys were eating chestnuts happily, and they simply had no time to pay attention to Shu Shu. Shu Shu was not far away from them, collecting chestnuts.

The outer shell of the chestnut that had fallen onto the ground was already split open, and Shu Shu effortlessly pried it open. After extracting the chestnut, he promptly stuffed it into his mouth. With more and more food in his food pouches, his mood also became better and better;  a smile was showing on his face.

However, his body suddenly felt cold at this time. Then without warning, so many chestnuts were smashing into his body.

Shu Shu cried out and raised his head. At once, he saw above him a monkey bouncing vivaciously on the branch. In the wake of the monkey's movements—because it had rained for a few days and the raindrops had accumulated on the tree—raindrops and chestnuts fell on him. He was fully hit on his head and across his whole face.

The chestnut’s outer shell had sharp spikes, and they cut into Shu Shu's body, causing several lacerations. He wasn’t really hurt, but that monkey was still hopping around on the branch, looking proud of itself.

Shu Shu was so angry he promptly picked up a chestnut and threw it at that monkey. As a result, that monkey also took a chestnut and threw it at him! The monkey next to it immediately followed suit!

Shu Shu was no match for this group of monkeys; lest he was hit and injured, he hurriedly fled with his arms around his head. It didn’t take long for him to ran far away.

The monkeys drove off a different type of unusually strange creature and gaily continued to peel off the chestnuts to eat. At this moment, they suddenly heard something was moving beside them, and then a huge snake appeared in front of them.

This snake was very, very big. His tail advanced towards a chestnut tree next to him and pulled at it. The tree shook up violently, and one said monkey that wanted to jump to this tree immediately fell down. Then, not waiting until it touched the ground, that snake tail flashed out and grabbed it....

The group of monkeys was suddenly thrown into disorder. The monkeys ran away screeching, but there were some monkeys that ran too slow and got caught by the snake tail to become the winning prizes....

Edgar taught that group of monkeys a lesson, beating them and driving them out. Then, slithering, he followed the smell of the little sub-beastman. Soon, he saw that the little sub-beastman was digging some plant's roots with his claws.

The little sub-beastman had been attacked by those monkeys, so there were multiple traces of blood on his body. His hair and grass skirt were also wet with water droplets. He looked quite a sorry sight, but there was still a smile on his face; apparently, he was rather pleased with his food gathering.

Edgar lay prone in the underbrush, and he looked quite distressed.

From childhood, he had been taught that he had to protect the sub-beastmen. The sub-beastmen of capital star were very much pampered; some who were not less weaker than beastmen had a career. However, they really didn’t have to painstakingly look for their own food like this....

This kind of plant has many stem tubers, and the little sub-beastman did not need to dig for long before getting a pile of them. Edgar was positively curious as to how the little sub-beastman would bring back the stem tubers. Then he saw the little guy nonchalantly take off his grass skirt, use it to hold the stem tubers, and turn his back to start walking toward the cave.

Edgar：“……”

Once again, he saw the little sub-beastman’s butt and the very short tail on top of it. Of course, he also, at long last, saw the sub-beastman’s delicate, light pink rootlet in front…*cough, cough*!

Shu Shu as a hamster spirit, although he believed it was important to conduct himself, but eventually, he didn’t take being naked too seriously. After all, hundreds of years ago, he had never worn clothes.

This grass skirt he wore was mainly to protect him from the cold, and also to protect some of his important parts. Now the grass skirt was already soaked and no longer keeping him warm. Anyway, he almost arrived at his own cave, and not wearing anything is not wearing anything....

Shu Shu had collected quite a lot of stem tubers; the burden on his back was very heavy, and inevitably, he was panting as he walked. Walking and walking, and then he suddenly put down the stem tubers and looked at a clump of wild flowers nearby.

In the past four days, that kind person had caught him a good deal of preys—adding a pile of dried meat to his stockpile—but he only gave back a little of his sloppily-cooked food, and even using the stuff given by them to cook it.... Shu Shu was pondering, he should give a present of his own to that kind person.

Many people liked flowers; he was going to give a bunch of fresh flowers to that kind person too!

TL's note:

1. Sub beastman now becomes sub-beastman.

2. I corrected the mistranslated sentences on ch. 3. They are on paragraph four and five from the bottom.

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A Guide to - 3

Unedited chapter


3. Someone Sends a Prey


As the weather turned cold, Shu Shu weaved the grass skirt a bit longer this time. In the end, he weaved a piece of grass blanket that was more than a meter in length and width.

The grass blanket was wrapped around his body and secured with a grass rope. This time, Shu Shu got the idea to wrap the grass skirt around his chest so it covered his whole body and could protect him better from the wind. Of course, this grass blanket also had some flaws. The sun-dried grass was very soft to touch when he piled it up inside his nest, but once he weaved it together, it somewhat became prickly.

Previously, Shu Shu had had fur on his body and had not been afraid of getting pricked. But nowadays, this grass skirt has made a lot of small holes on his body. Fortunately, he was not that delicate, so he could endure it.

Having done with the grass blanket and wondering if it was already afternoon, Shu Shu once again pushed open the blockade at the cave mouth, intending to go out. However, he unexpectedly discovered that it was drizzling outside. The drizzle quickly became heavy rain.

It's raining.

In the past two months, Shu Shu had encountered rain several times. He had stopped going out then and just kept on digging into a small crack at the cave mouth while constantly paying attention to the situation outside.

The rain was trickling down, drip drip drip, sometimes big, sometimes small, but it didn’t stop. Feeling the heavy wetness in the air, Shu Shu was a bit fretful.

The rain apparently wouldn’t stop in a while. If it kept on raining, then he could not go out to find food!

Although it would take some time for winter to come, he always liked to stockpile food. In case the food was not enough, then he would feel uneasy….

Shu Shu’s dug out cave was not big at all. He could stand straight inside the cave, but he couldn’t run to ease the anxiety in his heart here. Ultimately, he could only go around in circle fretfully, then go to the cave mouth from time to time to take a look outside.

If only there was a running wheel!

As time went by, the sky slowly became dark, and the rain was still falling. Shu Shu bit his lip, and then he blocked up the cave mouth again and got into his grass-lined nest.

As a new day arrived, Shu Shu ran to the doorway and hurriedly opened a small hole to look outside. He’s hoping he could see a clear and boundless sky, but it was still raining outside.

Shu Shu's ears drooped a little; even the whole person was spiritless. But soon, he looked outside the hole again with precaution.

There’s a smell that was not his own.

What animal had come to his cave mouth? Shu Shu stuck his head out to check. He didn't expect to see that not far from the underbrush, there was a prone, soaking wet… fowl? That should be a pheasant, right? It’s multi-colored, but it’s actually bigger than the fowls that humans raised….

Shu Shu looked at the fowl and immediately drooled. His former owner had fed him boiled chicken breast before; it was so fragrant! Of course, the most fragrant was the fried chicken that his owner had eaten, but unfortunately, his owner had not let him eat it.

How could a fowl suddenly appear here? Shu Shu stared at the fowl for a while and finally decided that he didn’t care where the fowl had come from. He’s going to grab it to eat first!

Shu Shu scuttled out and pounced on the fowl only to find that its wings and legs were broken, making it unable to move a single step. And the wings and legs seemed to have been broken deliberately?

As a hamster with only a few hundred years of experience surviving in the wild, Shu Shu was certain that this fowl couldn't be stupid enough to mess with itself like this.

Moreover, there’s a smell on the fowl’s body that did not belong to the fowl.

Someone had captured this fowl and hurt it, and in the end, still let it escape? Or maybe that person had deliberately released the fowl outside his cave, giving it to him as a present? Shu Shu rolled his eyes and swiftly brought the fowl into his cave.

Shu Shu’s goal has always been to cultivate and turn into a human. Thus, he also demanded himself to try hard to use human standards. Not speaking about other things, but at least he didn’t eat insects and worms as staple food.

Since he didn’t eat insects and worms, it’s only natural that this fowl had to be cooked before he ate it.... Unfortunately, he had never cooked any food....

Since Shu Shu had arrived in this forest, he had been eating all kinds of fruit. He was used to eating raw nuts, even if their aroma wasn’t as good as the aroma that came out of roasted nuts. As a matter of fact, he could accept it, so he had never made a fire until now....

Shu Shu thought about giving it a go and decided to try the hand drill fire starting method—he’d had an owner who really liked to watch wilderness survival program. He’d also learned a bit from TV the method of starting a fire.

Although Shu Shu couldn’t use his magical power now, but in any case he was still a daemon spirit. He didn’t have other skills, but there were still his inbornr claws. Extending his hands out in a flash, he watched his claws sprout out from his hands. Shu Shu spread several enormous leaves on the ground and started to deal with the fowl.

He wrung the fowl's neck, skinned it, and then cut open its belly to scoop out all the viscera. After Shu Shu was done with all this, he used the big leaves on the ground to wrap the fowl’s skin, feathers, and other refuse. Then he took off his grass skirt and rushed into the rain naked.

It was windy and rainy outside, and it was very cold, but fortunately, Shu Shu was a daemon spirit, he could tolerate it.

Running very quickly to the river bank, Shu Shu washed the fowl, and threw all the fowl’s skin, feathers, and so on into the river. These things had a smell, if placed in the hole, it was liable to attract some predators, better to just throw it away.

He really didn't want to wake up at night to see a big snake crawling along his side following the smell of blood!

Shu Shu ran out to the river very quickly and ran back very quickly too, however, his body was still soaking wet. He did not care about this though. From a distance, Edgar saw the little sub-beastman’s naked body running to the river bank to wash the fowl, and it’s like he’s being struck by lightning.

His beast core was shattered and he had turned into a snake; it was inconvenient to deal with prey, but he didn’t dare bringing back dead prey in case the little sub-beastman was afraid to eat it, so he’d chosen to send a live fowl. He did not expect that because of this live fowl, he unexpectedly could see this kind of scene in the end….

It turned out that the sub-beastman’s body was white and tender, and the short short little tail was even more cute....

Edgar coiled up his entire snake body then released it, then he repeated it several times. After a while, he finally moved away. Not long after, he once again returned to Shu Shu’s cave mouth, then he put down a small, square box that he’d held with his mouth.

Done with his task, he quickly left. The little sub-beastman was quite afraid of him, he couldn't let the little guy see him.

Shu Shu was now trying hard to drill wood to make fire.

When he’d watched people drilling wood to make fire on TV, it had looked very simple, but when it was his turn.... He had drilled the wood for a long time, but there was still no spark coming out.

How could that be, ah?

Shu Shu was sour, his attempt to light a fire didn’t succeed at all. He’s depressed that this method didn’t work in the least. He stopped working for the time being and went to the cave mouth to look outside one more time.

Once again, there’s something at the cave mouth; it was a very small metal box.

There was no such thing here before, which meant that someone had also delivered this small metal box.... Shu Shu looked around, but he didn’t see anyone. He hesitated a bit, but in the end, he still picked up the small metal box.

There was a smell on the small metal box that was the same as the one on the fowl’s body. It’s possible that it was delivered by one person. But, who would gift him things? In this forest, were there other people?

That person should not have evil intention to him, otherwise he would not have given him those things. Anyway, the fowl was for eating, what was the use of this small metal box then?

Also, this small metal box should be a human gadget, right? Was it actually a human like himself who had given him a couple of things?

Could it be... that there was an individual like himself who saw him and liked him so much that they sent him gifts?

Shu Shu laughed, showing two small dimples. On TV, so many  people liked daemon spirit; it was not strange at all that someone liked him now. It went without saying that Shu Shu was indeed loved by all, ah. Those owners who had kept him before had also liked him very much!

Shu Shu looked left and right but saw no one. He was a bit disappointed, but nevertheless he happily brought back the small metal box into his cave.

Sitting next to the log used for drilling wood to make fire, Shu Shu began to fiddle with the small metal box on his hand. He did not know where he pressed, but the small metal box on his hand suddenly produced a small flame.

Shu Shu jumped with fright and unconsciously threw away the small metal box. After throwing it, he suddenly realized—this was a lighter, ah!

That person knew that he had no food, so they gave him a fowl. They knew that he could not start a fire, so they gave him a lighter. They’re indeed a good person!

The lighter's flame was already extinguished. Shu Shu picked up the lighter and used it to ignite the firewood in front of him, then he put the firewood into the pit he had dug.

This lighter was very, very handy. Just light it for a moment, and the wood would catch fire right away. Feeling satisfied, Shu Shu hid the lighter, then he took out the fowl.

He stuffed the fowl’s cavity with peeled chestnuts, wrapped the whole fowl with leaves, and then covered the exterior with a layer of mud. After that, he put the mud-covered fowl into the bonfire; he was going to eat beggar’s fowl.

No pan to cook the fowl, and it’s said that roasting it would likely result in one burnt fowl. Still, beggar’s fowl was pretty good. There was mud as the barrier; it was unlikely that it’d turn into charcoal.... Shu Shu stared at the burning lump of mud, incessantly salivating.

On the other hand, a certain snake had just caught a small wild boar, and he was struggling to skin the wild boar with his teeth.

The sub-beastman should not deal with bloody prey, even if he could handle it better. It's just that... serpentine beastman had no claws, so it was really troublesome to handle prey.

Edgar spent a lot of effort to deal with the small wild boar properly. Finally, he took it along with him into the river, then he swam a few laps to wash it clean. After that, he slithered towards Shu Shu's cave.

TL's note:

1. 鸡 (jī) can be translated as fowl or chicken, and I chose fowl because I don't think that there's a chicken, which I understand is a type of domesticated fowl, in a jungle on an alien planet.
2. 叫化鸡 (jiàohuā jī) = Beggar's Chicken = beggar's fowl

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A Guide to - 2

Unedited chapter



2. Fallen Beast Edgar


Shu Shu was standing on a branch, constantly plucking the fruits of the tree.

After peeling the thorny outer shell of the fruit, as soon as the ping-pong ball-sized chestnut was on his hand, Shu Shu stuffed it into his mouth, then another one, then another one again.... His mouth was like a bottomless pit, he could cram in ten chestnuts in the blink of an eye.

This was Shu Shu's natural skill.

Hamsters had food pouch on their cheeks. When he had just been an ordinary hamster, he had been able to put a lot of food in it. Later, he began to cultivate and he could put more and more things in. You couldn’t see it from outside, and he also didn’t feel the weight.

By now, he could already put hundreds of catties of food in his food pouches!

Shu Shu kept stuffing his mouth with chestnuts. Although he couldn't use magical power now, but his natural skill was still there, and he depended on it. He finally collected enough food.

There were many more chestnuts ahead! Eyes bright, Shu Shu slowly crawled forwards onto a small branch, picking chestnuts and carrying on with stuffing his mouth… stuffing and stuffing. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong.

A small, dark green snake as thick as a finger was wound around the branch in front of Shu Shu. The snake was staring at Shu Shu coldly, then it extend its body forward and forward.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!" Shu Shuke couldn't stop himself from screaming the place down. His shrieks made all the little animals in this part of forest to suddenly disperse and flee in chaos.

Shu Shu jumped from one tree to another. He was just like those little animals, fleeing in haste back to his cave. Unexpectedly, at this moment, the underbrush beside him was swaying and shaking, and then, a snake head that must have been bigger than his own head came out of the underbrush.

This was the biggest snake he had ever seen in his life!

In this world, there’s actually such a huge snake!
   
How scary, ah ah ah ah!

Seeing the huge snake, Shu Shu screamed again, but the sound didn’t come out. His eyes rolled back and he fell face first onto the ground, motionless and stiff.

Edgar quickly moved his body toward Shu Shu's face and examined Shu Shu anxiously. After he’d unexpectedly discovered that a little sub-beastman was living in this area, he drove out the more dangerous animals in this area. He wouldn’t let this little sub-beastman get hurt; what's wrong with him?

The little sub-beastman was stiff all over and he’s not breathing. Was he... dead?

Edgar's huge snake body trembled. The whole man... no, the whole snake was chilled.

After his beast core had been shattered, he had not been able to turn into human form anymore, and he had become a fallen beast rejected by people. Afterwards, he had accidentally found this little sub-beastman, and in any case, he now had a reason to keep on living. He wanted to protect this little sub-beastman until others found this little guy, but now this little guy died in front of him….

Edgar's body trembled, only to feel the energy in his body that had become chaotic because of the nonexistent beast core constraint got even more chaotic. He hasn’t completely recovered from his injury, and the wound still ached dully. He gradually loosened up and calmed down, then he used his body to envelop the little sub beast.

He stuck his tongue out to feel the atmosphere around him and the condition of the sub-beastman.

There was no danger at all in the vicinity. Although there were some living animals, but they all weren’t deadly. For example, the small green snake above his head was a non-venomous snake, and it’s one of the favorite food of sub-beastmen.

As for the condition of this little sub-beastman..., there’s no wound at all on his entire body.

Since it’s like this, how could the little sub-beastman…. Edgar really liked this big-eyed little sub-beastman, and he really didn't wish for him to wander aimlessly in the forest and struggle hard to survive only for him to die like this.

Edgar used his big head to rub against the little sub-beastman a couple of times, and then he felt the little sub-beastman, who was being enveloped by him, suddenly move.

The little guy was not dead! Edgar suddenly became aware of the situation, but at the same time, he also remembered one thing.

On the basis of this little sub-beastman being able to stuff his mouth with so much food, it seemed that he had food pouches, which meant that he ought to be a sub-beastman of hamster descent.

And both the beastman and sub-beastman of hamster descent apparently could play dead?

Did this little sub-beastman play dead after being scared? What had scared him then?

Edgar's snake body once again stiffened.

There’s nothing dangerous here. Even if the little sub-beastman had shrieked before, but he hadn’t been scared to "death". So, was this because of him?

Nowadays, he was a beastman who couldn’t protect sub-beastmen. His beast core had been shattered and he had become a fallen beast. Later on, he would gradually forget everything when he had been a beastman. Then he would turned into a beast that harmed sub-beastmen.

Shu Shu has just regained consciousness, and he felt his body was being enwrapped by something. This ice-cold, sticky, greasy feeling… was it a snake? With this in mind, Shu Shu immediately got goosebumps and felt the hair on his whole body standing up.

That snake was here! No, the snake was not only here, it had also wrapped itself around him, and it was... going to eat him!

At the end of his rope, Shu Shu dimly recalled his past experiences of running into snake and being chased by it. He was really really afraid of this type of animal. But for him thinking that snakes were very scary, he wouldn't have given up living in the wild—where spiritual influence was abundant, fitting for cultivation—and run away to the city to be someone’s house pet.

He had believed that after he turned into a human, the snakes wouldn’t be able to do anything to him. He did not expect that in the end, he met with a snake that could swallow him down in one gulp.

Why was this world so cruel?

Shu Shu's whole body shuddered. He wanted to mobilize his magical power to escape, but he simply couldn’t gather and summon even a tiny bit of it. His legs were weak, no strength at all.

He was screwed. He’d just turned into a human, and now he would become someone else's food.

Shu Shu absolutely didn’t dare to open his eyes. With his eyes closed, he’s waiting for death to come. But, unexpectedly, the huge snake that was wrapped around him actually let him go.

After a while, Shu Shu finally dared to open his eyes to make sure that the huge snake has really gone. He immediately jumped up and ran at lightning speed to the cave where he lived.

Edgar was hiding not far away, observing everything that had just happened. He was just about to leave when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

The fleeing little sub-beastman was actually bare-bottomed! The two round white flesh were jiggling in the wake of the little sub-beastman running. On top of that, there’s also a cute short little tail.

It was not until the little sub-beastman disappeared before him that Edgar came to himself. At the same time, he faintly felt that his scales were somewhat uncomfortable. He looked over, and sure enough, he saw a small grass skirt hanging on his scales.

He finally saw a naked sub-beastman, and not only that, but he had also rubbed against that sub-beastman’s whole body repeatedly.... He should be glad that the sub-beastman did not know that he was a beastman, shouldn’t he?

No, he was no longer a beastman, he’s just a beast, nothing more....

The cave where Shu Shu lives was located not far from the left side of a boulder embedded on the mountain wall.

The boulder obstructed half of the cave mouth, then he added on some shelters. Most people couldn't see that there was a cave here. This cave, Shu Shu had spent a month digging it out from the front to the rear. In the beginning of the month, he’d only had a hole in the tree for his home.

Running back into the cave, Shu Shu took a headlong dive onto the hays that he’d gathered and strewn inside the cave himself.

Sniffing at the interior of the cave, there’s only the smell of himself. Rubbing and rubbing against the pile of grass, Shu Shu's heart finally calmed down.

He did not expect that there would be such a huge snake in the mountain! Shu Shu's furry ears pricked up and his scalp felt numb.

Later on, how could he manage with a huge snake outside, ah? How could he go out and find food? Shu Shu put his face into a small hole that he’d painstakingly dug out just for storing food. Then he used his hands to push on his cheeks and right away, his mouth began to spit out chestnuts one by one.

The time for collecting chestnuts today had not been long. Shu Shu had collected a total of about 20 catties of chestnuts. He piled them up properly and also inspected all his other food thoroughly.

He originally planned to sun-dry the food he had previously collected this afternoon. But now…, there’s a snake outside, ah!

Taking out some food that couldn’t be stored for long and nibbling on it,  Shu Shu, laden with grief, ran around inside his cave, and finally went directly to his grass nest and fell asleep.

Shu Shu did not go out for a full three days and saw that his food was getting less and less. He took a deep breath and set his mind to go out.

However, he just went past the cave mouth and at once, he was hit by the cold, making him shiver. A gale was blowing outside!

Shu Shu subconsciously retreated into the cave, and then he frowned looking at his naked body. Where had his covering gone?!

The grass skirt didn’t keep him warm at all, but he could not make anything else. Shu Shu once again got into his grass nest, and then began weaving together the grass on hand with a skill learned from the bird building its nest, though he didn’t remember when and where.

Outside the cave, didn’t know whether it's because of the extreme cold or what, but Edgar's body was stiff.

That little sub-beastman, just now, had came out of his cave naked! His body was naked!

It took a while for Edgar to return to normal, and he was somewhat uneasy when he recalled the image of the little sub-beastman shivering with cold and going back into the cave.

The sub-beastman should be held carefully in the hollow of his hands*. Some sub-beastmen in the central star even wore different clothes every day, but this little sub-beastman surprisingly didn’t have any clothes, and no underwear either….


The  huge snake slowly drew back and quietly left.

TL's note:
*held carefully in the hollow of his hands.


I almost translated it as "held in the palm of his hand", which has a totally different meaning.

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A Guide to - 1

Unedited chapter


1. Hamster Spirit Shu Shu


Gass planet was a small, remote planet in the Beastman Empire. Its technology was behind, but the environment here was very good, and the coverage rate of land vegetation reached 90%. Because of this, lots of beastmen who didn’t like the city life would choose to live here. It also had the largest nursing home in the whole empire, inhabited by many unmarried old beastmen.

More than a year has passed since beastmen migrated to Gass planet. But because the location of the planet was so remote, the total number of residents was no more than a million. In fact, they only occupied a small corner of Gass planet.

Beside the settlements that have been opened up, the rest of Gass planet was covered by vegetation. Lush, primeval forests and oceans surrounded this small planet. Looking down from the sky, you could see that the entire planet was made of green and blue; its beauty would take your breath away.

This was a beautiful and vibrant place. Today, above an area in the primeval forest of Gass planet, space suddenly twisted. At first, only a small area was distorted. Later, the range became bigger and bigger. Gradually, a space vortex several kilometers in diameter appeared, and a broken, tattered mech suddenly fell out of it and into the lake.

After a while, a bolt of lightning suddenly came out of this space crack. Along with it, a small hamster no bigger than the hand’s palm also fell out.

The most magical thing was that after this little hamster fell to the ground, he turned into a naked man!

The sky soon became calm. A bird standing on a branch was looking at the calm sky and chirping loudly, but after discovering the lack of air in the atmosphere, it got scared. Right away, it spread its wings and flew up. It was happy to fly in the sky.

Everything was not the same as before.


Two months later.

The forest that was made up of huge trees was almost boundless. All kinds of known and unknown flowers and plants were spread out on the ground, scarcely any area on the ground was left to walk on.

This was a primeval forest where no one lived, but today, one person was slowly walking in the forest.

It was a round-faced teenager who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. He had short black hair, a pair of bright, limpid, jet-black eyes, and baby fat on his face. He looked very cute, but there were some weird things—among the hair on his head, two furry ears popped out. It could be seen that he clearly didn’t belong to human race.

Shu Shu wrapped several layers of leaves on his feet, he also wrapped a short, simple grass skirt around his waist. He was walking step-by-step, deeper and deeper into the woods, his round eyes kept looking around. He was prepared to jump and run away at any time.

It has been two months since he had arrived at this place, but he still couldn’t figure out where this was. After all, his geography knowledge wasn’t very good. He only knew that there should be some people living nearby.

Although he had not met anyone in the past two months, he had seen an airplane flying straight up in the sky. That airplane model looked strange though.

When he saw the plane, Shu Shu unconsciously wanted to call for help, but he soon gave up the idea.

He simply couldn’t let other people see him. No way! His current appearance was too strange….

Taking a look at himself,  his hands and feet belonged to human race, but then he touched the furry ears on his head and thought of the short tail above his butt, and Shu Shu could not help but sigh deeply.

Did you think you could turn into a human as long as you survived the lightning tribulation? He had waited for a long time for this day, always hoping to become a human so he could be together with his owner as equals, find a job to make money, and then eat whatever he wanted to eat.

And the result?

Didn’t know how it came about, that horrid lightning tribulation had struck him and sent him into a forest nowhere and with no explanation. It had even turned his appearance into half-man half-mouse!

His appearance was like this now, other people could see and knew right away that he was a daemon spirit! How could he ask for help?

If he was captured by humans, he certainly would be sent to research institute! It was said that the place was extremely dreadful!

He couldn’t turn into a human being and also couldn’t explain about himself. What's more sad was that he didn’t know what's going on. He couldn’t do anything about it, but, to his surprise, he also couldn’t use his daemon power or turn back into a hamster.

To think that trying to find an owner and let himself be a house pet was out of the question now, Shu Shu could not help but feel sad.

Yes, Shu Shu was just a daemon spirit, a hamster spirit.

He did not know how he’d become a daemon spirit. At that time, he had just been a wild hamster. One day, he had gone out looking for food and carelessly eaten a red bead, then after that he’d suddenly had memories.

At that time, he had just been born less than a month before, but he had already begun to live independently. Prior to that, all day long he had only thought of eating and sleeping. He had recognized and not fight with his own male and female siblings just because their smell had been similar to his. In that single instant, he’d suddenly understood so much; he’d become aware that his self had been very much insignificant. Inside his mind suddenly had emerged… cultivation method?

Of course, in the end, he’d just been a hamster, so following that event, his life had been no different from that of other hamsters. He’d strived to collect grass seeds and to dig up bugs and worms from the ground to eat. At two-month-old, he had begun to look for a female mouse.

However, something had happened this time.

His mother, who had given birth to him, brought him up, and also given birth to two nests of total 12 siblings, had died.

Hamsters bred in rapid speed. Sometimes, just two weeks after birth, the female mouse could regenerate a nest. This way of reproducing was very damaging to the female mouse’s body, that’s why his mother had died so early.

All other hamsters lived the same life. His younger brothers and sisters soon became independent, and his father bared his fangs to him to drive him away from his mother…. At that moment, he suddenly felt that he could not go on like this.

At that time, instead of trying to find a female hamster to have baby hamster with, he had begun to cultivate.

Hamster's life span was only a little over a year. When he had been cultivating, the fellow hamsters at his side had changed batch after batch. Sometimes he saw a familiar-looking hamster and he wanted to say hello, but when he sniffed at it, the smell was wrong. Then he calculated the time... it might have been his great great great great great great-grandson.

This mouse was as lonely as the snow.

Hamster's daily life was not easy. Even if they could scratch with two claws, at most they could only scratch those small bugs and worms, while other animals, whether it’s a cat or an eagle or an owl, pretty much considered them as a fat dinner.

Of course, the most awful was the snake.

Anything else, you could still escape, but snakes.... These guys could even crawl into their holes!

Several times he had sensed danger and roused from his sleep only to find himself in front of a snake with its mouth opened wide trying to swallow him.... It was absolutely his most hated animal!

Hamsters were always others' plate of Chinese food, but he discovered that he could become more vigilant through cultivation. While hiding from predators, he’s thinking of letting the surrounding hamsters cultivate, too, so in the future, he would have some company who were the same type as himself.

Unfortunately, his hard work over a long long time was totally useless, even his approach was considered as him wanting to grab their territory and attack them. Contrariwise, the female mice in estrus would come near him, but they’re too “vicious”, and he could only leave them behind and flee.

As a daemon spirit who absorbed the sun and moon’s brilliance to make progress in his cultivation, before he succeeded in cultivating, he was better off not looking for a mate, so as to avoid discharging his Yang essence and making things more difficult for him to inch forward….

Couldn’t do anything about it since hamster’s aptitude for cultivation was indeed very bad!

He, a short-lived and small-sized hamster who wanted to step into the cultivation path, had millions of times more difficulties compared to humans. The earth’s spiritual influence was extremely thin; if he didn’t pay the slightest attention to it, even if he got a gargantuan gold finger, then he’s afraid that his fate was only to die an untimely death.

Of course, even if he paid attention to it, he was still out of luck….

Shu Shu couldn't help but sigh and recall what had happened before.

At that time, he had been living in his owner’s house for a year and a half. He’d planned to fake his death, let his owner throw him away, and then sneak into a pet shop to look for a new owner.

He had been cultivating for so many years. Although his magical power had been inadequate, but this objective could have still been achieved.

Seeing his "stiff limbs" lying on the floor of the cage, his owner had taken him out of his cage, put him in a small paper box, and thrown the box away. In the end, he’d just crawled out of the paper box and cleaned himself up while planning to go to the pet shop when he’d suddenly discovered that the long long long awaited lightning tribulation had finally come.

Of course this thunder tribulation couldn’t make human become immortal. It could only make him turn into a human, that’s all. He didn’t hope to become immortal; as long as he could turn into a human, he was already satisfied!

He really wanted to eat those human foods.

He ran to area outside the city and completely concentrated his attention to welcome the lightning tribulation. Then he was struck by lightning; his fur, from head to toe, disappeared and emitted burnt smell. After that... he knew nothing.

Looking at the surrounding trees, Shu Shu sighed.

He obviously had been in the grove on the outskirts of the city! Why had he suddenly turned up in the big forest then? If it were not for him having a lifetime of experience surviving in the wild, with sensitive nose that could always find all kinds of nuts and seeds, he might have been starved to death.

You know what, he’s becoming a man, no changing back, and he was going to eat so many things every day!

As for abstaining from eating cereals... he didn't even have magical power now, how could he still talk about abstaining?

Shu Shu walked a little further, then he looked towards a tree on his side and skillfully climbed the tree.

This kind of tree was very common here, it could bear fruit similar to chestnut. Shu Shu has been collecting them recently, he planned to store several thousands catties inside his cave.

Looking at the tree full of chestnuts, Shu Shu smiled, his eyes shining as bright as the full moon. So long as he saw food, his mood would be very good.

If this continued, he definitely would be able to store lots and lots of food. Even if winter came, he didn’t need to be afraid!

Wrapping his soft waist with woven grass that came out of his grass skirt, Shu Shu skillfully began to climb the tree.

In the underbrush below the tree, a long body thicker than Shu shu's waist, a big snake with length of more than ten meters was slowly approaching. By chance, it finally saw a certain hamster spirit climbing the tree. And the view under his skirt. Immediately, it couldn’t bear to look straight above his head.

TL's notes:
1. 妖 (yāo) is translated as goblin/witch/devil/monster/phantom/demon, but I chose to translate it as daemon for more positive meaning.
2. 亚 (yà) can be translated as Asia/Asian/second/next to/inferior/sub-, I chose sub because in the beastman world, there's no female, only (dominant) beastman and sub beastman. It's like alpha and omega in Western shifter story.

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