As inhabitants of this planet, everyone can automatically sense whether the person opposite them is an ordinary animal or a beastman.
The creature that had just run past Hu Li was a beast-shaped cub.
Hu Li abruptly stood up from the small wooden stool and wobbled towards the direction the little black lion had run off in. Aside from petting his own fox family, he had never seen any other beastmen in animal form.
Judging by the size of the beast-shaped creature, it was probably a little older than his older brother.
Perhaps driven by his eagerness to see the furry creature, this was actually the smoothest Hu Li had ever walked. Moreover, he walked steadily and quickly, feeling like he could almost run.
After walking about several dozen meters, Hu Li passed another thatched hut. He glanced back at his own house and saw his mother was still cleaning inside.
It wasn’t far, so it should be fine. Hu Li continued walking forward with his head down, and faintly heard the voices of a group of children.
“Monster! Calamity! Get out of our tribe!”
“Yesterday, Ah Shu only glanced at this calamity and then tripped and fell!”
“Anyone who runs into him is bound to have a bad time!”
“I think he’s a reincarnated evil beast!”
Hu Li continued walking, and frowned as he listened to these absurd remarks.
Who were they talking about, the little black lion?
When he turned the corner of the wooden house, he immediately saw the scene before him.
Four or five children had cornered the little black lion who was much larger than them, and the little black lion stood motionless as they threw stones at him.
“Stop…it!” Hu Li strode over angrily, and taking advantage of their momentary lapse in attention, spread his arms to block the little black lion.
Who could tolerate these brats bullying a fluffy creature!
The children were startled by the sudden appearance of the little dumpling.
Looking at the cub before them, they thought he really did look like a round dumpling. He was wrapped in a thick, fluffy animal coat, looking incredibly warm and cuddly.
These children had all been watching the commotion at the entrance before and knew that the little dumpling belonged to the new family.
“You…what are you doing? This black lion is a jinx! It killed his father and mother! You’d better stay away from him!” The leader of the children, seeing the small, fair-skinned, and adorable Hu Li, tried his best to persuade him not to play with the black lion.
Hu Li wanted to say that jinxes were just superstition, and that it was wrong for a young child to bully his friend! However, the sentence was too long. His mind had already finished thinking about it, but his still-unfluent mouth couldn’t keep up.
Hu Li had just uttered the word “you” when he heard a shout from not far away:
“Xue Tuan! Where did you go?”
It was his mother’s voice.
Soon after, clear footsteps sounded, and the children heard them.
Knowing that adult beastmen were coming to find them, the children immediately took off running, and abandoned the little black lion.
The footsteps came again, and Rong Shan turned around the thatched hut, immediately spotting Xue Tuan in the corner. Seeing the cub safe and sound, his tense nerves relaxed.
Rong Shan hurried over, and was about to scold his cub for running around when he caught a glimpse of another beast-shaped cub hiding in the corner.
Rong Shan’s first thought was: His good cub has made a new friend so quickly?
“Xue Tuan, why didn’t you tell mother before running off?” Rong Shan walked over quietly. He placed his hands on Xue Tuan’s shoulders, secretly looking the little cub up and down.
Hu Li wanted to explain, but there was too much to say. He opened his mouth, then decided to give up for the time being. He simply called out “Mother” and looked at Rong Shan with wide, innocent eyes.
“Did you make a new friend?” Rong Shan patted his little darling’s head, then looked at the little black lion in the corner. If Xue Tuan had made a new friend, Rong Shan would be happy for him.
Since it was hard to explain right now, Hu Li nodded in agreement with Rong Shan.
The little black lion, seeing an adult arrive, stood up to leave. However, the little ball of fur was blocking the corner, and he didn’t dare push the cub away.
The little black lion’s name was Chong Yan. He had been fostered by an elder at the age of five, and the two had been living together for six years. The tribe members all called him a jinx, saying he’d killed his parents. They called him a monster, saying that if he touched anyone, their hand would turn blue with pain.
Even though the elder said he wasn’t a monster or a jinx, over time, he stopped liking to interact with others.
As for why he didn’t fight back when others bullied him, it wasn’t because Chong Yan was afraid of them. Mainly, his size was considered small compared to others his age. To avoid causing trouble for the elder, he always disdained to fight them. A few stones meant nothing to him.
While the little black lion Chong Yan was lost in thought, and wondering how to get out, he suddenly felt something soft touch him.
The little black lion shuddered in fright. No one except the elder would touch him unintentionally.
He looked down and saw the fragile little cub patting him with its soft little hands.
Rong Shan smiled as he saw his cub brushing the pebbles off the little black lion. His cub especially loved touching the fur of the animal-shaped beasts. This was something the family had recently discovered.
Now, Xue Tuan probably liked its fluffy coat and wanted to play with it.
Rong Shan didn’t know what had happened earlier, and only assumed the two of them had wandered off to play. He was about to lead them to a spot closer to the thatched hut when the little black lion suddenly found an opening, ignored them, and darted away, running off into the distance.
Rong Shan and his cub were left standing there, looking at each other in bewilderment: What happened?
Rong Shan looked disappointed. He had thought Xue Tuan could play with his new friend.
Hu Li, on the other hand, didn’t mind. If the cub didn’t want to stay with them, so be it. There was no need to force it.
Rong Shan led Hu Li back to the thatched hut. Afraid that Xue Tuan would run off again, he went inside and took out a rattan ball, handing it to Hu Li: “Don’t run around. Play around here, okay?”
“Okay,” Xue Tuan obediently replied. Rong Shan bent down and kissed Xue Tuan’s cheek before turning back to busy himself in the thatched hut.
Hu Li stood alone, looking at the round ball in his hand. It was made by his father who had painstakingly wound it from some kind of plant fiber. He and his brother usually used it as a game, kicking it around as a form of exercise.
Now he was all alone. Was he supposed to kick it against a tree? Then he’d have to retrieve it—how troublesome…
Strengthening exercise was important, of course, but sometimes he just wanted to slack off.
For the sake of his healthy growth, Hu Li had no choice but to accept this method of training.
He placed the ball on the ground, using a tree not far ahead as a goal, and kicked it…
The rattan ball grazed perfectly past the tree trunk…
Hu Li was speechless. He felt like his brain understood, but his body wasn’t cooperating. Hu Li ran over to retrieve the ball, returned to his previous position, and decided to continue his efforts.
After kicking the ball around with all his might for a few rounds, Xue Tuan suddenly heard the sound of pebbles rolling behind him.
?
Hu Li turned around and saw a dark figure quickly dart behind a tree, but clearly, the figure was wider than the tree and didn’t block his view at all.
Hu Li ran to the tree with the rattan ball in his arms and stared wide-eyed at the little black lion hiding behind it.
The little black lion, Chong Yan, stared intently at Hu Li with its amber eyes, neither speaking nor making any movement.
Since neither of them moved, Xue Tuan could now properly admire the little black lion’s appearance.
Although the little black lion was currently only in cub form, its strong and powerful limbs already hinted at its imposing adult size. Its fur was deep black, thick and smooth, reflecting a faint sheen in the sunlight.
Upon closer inspection, Hu Li noticed a small tuft of dark red fur on the little black lion’s forehead. It was like a flame and very distinctive. “What a beautiful little lion,” Hu Li thought to himself.
Seeing that the little lion’s fur, still dusty from being brushed off, wasn’t completely clean, Hu Li volunteered to reach out and touch it again, explaining, “It’s a little… dirty.”
The little black lion froze instantly when the little ball of fur suddenly reached out again, and was too afraid to move.
The little ball of fur’s voice was soft, like…like the clouds in the sky? The little black lion didn’t know what he was saying. It was just an instinctive thought.
Judging from the actions, he roughly understood that the little ball of fur was helping him brush off the dust? But…he looked again and again, and couldn’t seem to see any dirt on his body?
Meanwhile, Hu Li was thoroughly enjoying stroking the little black lion’s fur back, the feeling was wonderful.
The little black lion saw that the little ball of fur thought one hand wasn’t enough, so it used two. Was he really that dirty?
Mainly, he had never been petted like this before it was a little itchy, but…it felt quite comfortable.
He stretched comfortably, but as soon as he moved, he turned his head and saw that the little dumpling had stopped. Why hadn’t it continued?
Hu Li pretended to have finished brushing the dust off the little black lion, then casually bent down to pick up the rattan ball and offered,
“Want to play together?”
Seeing that the little black lion wasn’t reacting, Hu Li deliberately ran a few steps away and kicked the ball towards it.
The little black lion stared blankly at the ball slowly rolling towards it, raised its paw to hold it down, and looked at Hu Li with a puzzled expression. Then, under Hu Li’s expectant gaze, the little black lion imitated his earlier action, and gently pushed the ball back with its paw.
The little dumpling opposite him smiled broadly as it watched the ball roll towards him. Chong Yan was playing “kick ball” with the little dumpling. This was the first time he had ever played with someone else.
Before long, Hu Li was panting heavily, while the little black lion opposite him remained completely unfazed. Sigh, you really can’t compare people. “Take a break,” Hu Li said, returning to his small wooden stool. He sat for a while, then felt a little thirsty and got up to ask his mother for water.
Soon, Hu Li returned with two wooden cups. He drank from one and handed the other to the little black lion.
Logically, the little black lion should have transformed into human form to accept the cup but…
Hu Li felt his arm getting tired from holding it up. He tilted his head, puzzled, and looked at the little black lion. Why wasn’t he transforming?
Meanwhile, the little black lion, Chong Yan, looked at the little dumpling in front of him with bright, sparkling eyes. He didn’t know how to explain his inability to transform into human form…
Author’s Note:
Both will return to normal later, don’t worry~