A torrential rainstorm at sea, lightning and thunder, gigantic waves soaring sky-high.
Even with a big tiger heavy enough to weigh it down, the boat was still nearly flipped several times by the huge waves. Even if it didn’t flip temporarily, anything on board that wasn’t secured was swept away along with the surging water.
Song Xu, the lightest crew member, was almost swept away together with an empty coconut shell that had once held freshwater. At the moment she was thrown up from the boat, she felt like a bean being stir-fried in an iron pan, bouncing outward nonstop.
Fortunately, Wumu used his snake tail to bind her tightly, allowing her to narrowly escape disaster for the moment.
Raindrops and waves, each higher than the last, slammed into them. Song Xu was basically finished. Wumu felt the little squirrel he had bound seemed like a lump of slippery noodles, sliding downward nonstop, forcing him to unconsciously increase his strength.
The squirrel that shut down whenever thunder struck barely came back online, trembling as she stretched out one hand and said weakly while being violently shaken, “Too… tight…”
Wumu didn’t hear what she said, only felt her moving. So he wrapped around the mast several times, then turned his head toward her and used his head to block another sheet of crashing waves.
The big tiger clung tightly to the boat with all four limbs. She was also a big tiger who had experienced many sea storms and had some experience. Seeing Wumu wrapping Song Xu, and that the mast he was wrapped around was about to be broken by the waves, she roared at the two of them.
After roaring, she remembered she could speak, and shouted again, “Come here!”
Just at that moment, the mast snapped. The slippery big snake did not release his tail in time to bind onto a new fixed point—he was afraid that if he loosened it, he would loosen the little squirrel as well.
A wave crashed over. The boat tilted, and Wumu and Song Xu rolled along with the force toward the big tiger, who slapped them under her belly with a paw.
Her abdomen pressed tightly against the deck, pinning the two cubs beneath her, like a fluffy safety belt.
All the fur on her body had already been soaked through; only on her belly was there still a bit of dry fur.
Song Xu only felt herself being spun until she was dizzy, swaying back and forth and nearly strangled, and then suddenly falling into a dry, warm blanket. The terrifying roar of wind and waves and frightening noises outside instantly became much smaller, as though separated by a layer of something.
Half of Wumu’s body was pressed beneath the big tiger’s belly. Only then did he dare to loosen the little squirrel slightly. He hesitated about temporarily depositing the little squirrel with his mother, then was about to crawl out, but was shoved back in by the big tiger with one paw.
The tiger’s powerful claws gripped the boat tightly. She raised her large tiger head, staring straight ahead into the storm. Her two wet ears stood upright, looking both bedraggled and heroic.
Unfortunately, the wind and waves were still too great.
A wave even more violent and taller than before crashed down in an overwhelming manner, finally completely overturning their boat.
Tiger and boat together rolled several times in the waves, seawater pouring into ears and nostrils.
Wumu sensed something was wrong and swam out. This time, the big tiger couldn’t worry about him. Instead, Wumu became the safety belt, wrapping the big tiger around the waist together with the boat, waiting for the wave to pass.
In the slightly murky seawater, a golden-yellow tiger head emerged first. Then a corner of the boat also surfaced. After the huge wave passed, the tiger exerted herself to flip the boat back over and immediately checked whether the little squirrel she had pressed under her belly was still there.
Luckily, she was still there. Earlier under the sea, for a short while the big tiger had been separated from the boat, allowing seawater to wash over her belly. Fortunately, Song Xu reacted quickly and immediately grabbed the long fur on the tiger’s belly, drifting in the water for a moment before being successfully bound by Wumu together with the big tiger.
All three looked exceptionally miserable. The big tiger’s fur was completely soaked. She kept shaking her head and sneezing, as if she had choked on seawater. Wumu’s injury had not yet healed. The grass leaves smeared on his body had long since been washed away by the sea, and now the wounds were exposed, some beginning to bleed again.
Earlier, in order to secure things in the water, he had used a great deal of strength. Now that he had a chance to breathe, he lay on the boat, the rise and fall of his snake body obvious, as though panting.
As for the squirrel—there was no need to mention her. Right now, she was no different from a small mouse.
However, the immediate crisis was far from over. The sky was still overcast, the wind and waves at sea had not stopped, and visibly, more waves were chasing in from afar.
This boat charged out of the waves again and again, was overturned into the seawater again and again, and then flipped back.
Wave after wave crashed down. When it was over, there was no longer any sign of that tenacious little boat on the sea’s surface.
In the latter half of the night, the ravaged sea returned to calm. The rain stopped and the clouds dispersed. Brilliant stars appeared once more through the gaps in the clouds. In the distance, a sliver of dawn light emerged—an entirely new, gentle scene of rebirth.
The squirrel was hugging a string of empty coconut shells made into a swim ring, floating on the seawater. The head drooping over the shells suddenly lifted—she woke up.
Water rippled beneath her. She instinctively hugged the coconut shells tighter. Her just-awakened, bewildered eyes searched around. There was no sign of a boat, no tiger, and no snake.
Last night had been far too chaotic. She only remembered feeling like she had been thrown into a blender, spun around and around, and also like she had fallen into a washing machine, sometimes submerged, sometimes emerging. Later, dizzy and confused, she had been swept away by the seawater in the chaos, and in the end had only managed to grab onto a string of empty coconut shells that was about to slip off the side of the wooden boat.
Fortunately, she hadn’t died in the sea. Unfortunately, it seemed like she was the only one left here.
Above her was the blazing sun. Around her was seawater. And the island she was supposed to reach… Song Xu looked left and right, trying to stay calm as she rubbed her head and ears, rubbed her arms, rubbing off a layer of salt crystals.
Why had one island turned into two?
Right now, to her left, there was the faint outline of an island, and to her right, there was also an island. The island on the right looked especially close—she probably only needed to swim a few more thousand meters to reach it.
So where was she now? Which one was the island she was originally heading for? Where were Wumu and Heisen? Had they sunk, or had they also been blown onto an island?
Song Xu firmly believed that the snake’s swimming skills were excellent and he would definitely be able to get out of danger. The tiger had experience going out to sea, and could cling to the boat without letting go, so she wouldn’t drown. The two of them were definitely fine.
The one truly in trouble was her.
She must have been soaking in the sea for a long time. Even if she were a real squirrel, she would be swollen by now, let alone her—she felt like she was about to rot.
She had to get ashore.
Once she made up her mind, she stopped caring which island was the original destination and mustered her strength to swim toward the nearest one. Her two hind legs paddled the water with all their might. When she got tired, she climbed onto the coconut shells to rest for a bit.
Behind her trailed two enormous figures over ten meters long. They had round heads, long bodies, upright dorsal fins, and black-and-white coloring—two orcas. The two big fellows sneakily observed the slowly swimming squirrel ahead, making communication sounds only their kind could hear.
“What is that thing?”
“Obviously, it’s a beastman like us.”
“I know that, you idiot. I mean I’ve never seen this kind of beastman before.”
“Obviously, she doesn’t live in the sea. She can’t even swim.”
“I know she doesn’t live in the sea, you idiot! How could sea beastmen grow that kind of fur! I mean what kind of beastman is she!”
The brothers’ exchange caught the attention of other family members more than ten kilometers away. They were hunting, and had just finished when they heard the conversation, so they sent an inquiry across the sea: “What happened? What are you talking about?”
“There’s an unfamiliar beastman approaching our island,” one of the orca beastmen said.
The other orca beastmen immediately became excited. It had been a long time since any unfamiliar beastmen had come here. Only those demi-beastmen who sought transformation would come, and usually when they arrived, the changes on their bodies were already very obvious, making them irritable and aggressive. Every time such a demi-beastman mistakenly wandered in, it would lead to a fight with the orca family.
This time, they thought it was the same situation. A group of orcas rushed over aggressively, their battle-ready momentum so intense that even passing schools of fish fled far away.
Then, a group of orcas surrounded the squirrel.
“This is the beastman you said was invading our island? She doesn’t even look bigger than the fish I use to pick my teeth.” A ten-ton orca looked at the squirrel soaking in the water, speechless.
Her upper body had been dried by the sun, her fur fluffy. She looked like a puffed-up furball, making her seem bigger, but in the orcas’ eyes it made no difference.
An ultra-small little thing.
“I didn’t say invading, I only said unfamiliar beastman.”
“Then why didn’t you explain just now! Your brain isn’t even bigger than this beastman!”
“Don’t you think this tiny beastman is very cute? I wonder if I can touch her.”
When the orcas appeared, Song Xu tensed up for a moment, then discovered that they had started arguing with each other. She could also sense it—these were all beastmen, but perhaps the languages of land and ocean beastmen were not mutually intelligible, so she couldn’t understand the language they were using to quarrel.
“Hi? Hello, can you understand what I’m saying?” Song Xu asked.
“She spoke!” the orca who had called her cute exclaimed.
Song Xu: You spoke too! This sentence I can understand!
For the latter half of the journey to the island, Song Xu rode an orca-car. The speed was indeed extraordinarily fast, just not very stable, and she had to change cars frequently.
“I’ll do it! Let me do it!”
“Alright, it’s my turn, hurry up and switch, quickly throw her to me!”
“You damned big head, how can you snatch her!”
This group of orcas seemed to be treating her like a ball of yarn, scrambling to experience what it felt like to carry a land furball. Aside from that, the experience was pretty good—at least she didn’t need to exhaust herself paddling anymore. That had been too tiring.
Song Xu went ashore.
The island was covered entirely in gray reefs. Not a single green plant could be seen, only jagged, bizarre rocks. Many strange rocks jutted out of the water. Song Xu was noisily carried by the orcas past the reefs along the island’s outer edge and into the interior, to the orca tribe.
They were ocean beastmen, but when they transformed into beastman form, they would come to the island tribe to reproduce and live. This place was usually inaccessible to outsider beastmen. In the past, unfamiliar beastmen who approached had all been torn to shreds by these ferocious giants.
However, the squirrel beastman was simply too small, looking not threatening at all. The orca beastmen had never seen such a beastman before and were extremely curious about her. They didn’t think she posed any danger, and directly carried her to their main base.
Song Xu easily arrived at this place that outsiders had not set foot in for a long time, and accepted a string of empty coconut shells pushed over by another orca beastman.
She had originally wanted to hold it herself, but the enthusiastic big orca insisted on helping her carry it. As a result, he had played with it the whole way, and the coconut-shell life ring was almost played apart. When he handed it back to her, he still looked a little reluctant to part with it.
