After dinner, the sky had turned completely dark. Sam yawned, sleepiness washing over him in waves. It was strange—he seemed to have become far more prone to drowsiness lately.
He curled up on his grass bed, watching Xuan finish off the leftover beast meat he'd left uneaten. In truth, Xuan rarely ate meals with him; if he got hungry while out hunting, he'd just catch something and eat it on the spot. He only brought back cleaned meat to roast for Sam, and since Sam's appetite was so small, he always ended up polishing off whatever Sam couldn't finish.
Sam had protested once, insisting his appetite was perfectly normal—it was just that *beastmen* ate way too much. But Xuan had just laughed it off.
Slowly, Sam's eyes unfocused, his mind growing fuzzy. Within minutes, he'd drifted off to sleep. Xuan glanced over at the sleeping sub-beast, then tidied up the cave, stoked the fire down to embers, and covered Sam with a layer of dry grass to keep him warm before stepping outside.
He gathered a handful of medicinal herbs, crushed them into a paste, and spread it over the shadow beast's corpse to preserve it. Then he returned to the cave entrance, shifted back into his panther form, licked his healing wounds gently, and curled up to stand guard for the night.
The next morning, Xuan's eyes snapped open the moment the first ray of sunlight hit his face. The large panther stretched lazily, glanced at Sam, who was still fast asleep in the cave, flicked his tail, then padded off toward the stream to drink.
By the time Xuan returned, carrying water in a large leaf and a fresh slab of beast meat, Sam was awake, sitting at the cave entrance yawning, his eyes heavy with sleep as he fought to stay alert.
This was the earliest he'd woken up in days. He'd asked the system to rouse him on time that morning, determined not to sleep until noon again. He'd only just started noticing how abnormally sleepy he'd been lately—before, he'd been too stressed from his sudden transmigration and Xuan's absence to pay much attention. Now that they were finally ready to head to the tribe, and he'd relaxed a little, the excessive drowsiness had become impossible to ignore. It was clearly not normal.
He'd planned to ask the system about it later, but since the system hadn't mentioned anything about it yet, he figured it wasn't anything serious. After all, the system was bound to him—it wouldn't let him sicken or die without warning. He decided to wait until they reached the tribe to investigate further.
He mumbled a greeting to Xuan, splashed some stream water on his face to wake himself up, then ate two berries for breakfast while Xuan packed up their things. By the time Sam finished, Xuan had everything ready, standing beside the shadow beast's bound corpse, waiting for him.
"Let's head out," Xuan said, patting the shadow beast's body, then shifted into his panther form. His black fur was still marred by the scars from his battle, but after a day's rest, his wounds had clearly improved a great deal. Sam marveled again at beastmen's incredible regenerative abilities—if he'd gotten injuries like that back on Earth, he'd have been dead before he even reached the hospital.
The small canteens and the berries Xuan had picked were already tucked inside the woven sack, with a thick layer of dry grass lining the bottom for cushioning. Sam climbed in and tested it out—it was surprisingly comfortable.
Xuan hoisted the shadow beast's corpse onto his back, and Sam scrambled out to help him secure it with vines before climbing back into the sack. He felt the bag lift off the ground, adjusted himself to a comfortable position, peeked out through a gap, and called out to Xuan.
"Let's go!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Xuan bolted forward, bounding through the forest at breakneck speed. Sam jostled around a little inside the sack, but compared to being carried by the scruff of his neck, this was infinitely more comfortable.
They hadn't been traveling long, though, when waves of drowsiness crashed over Sam again. He slapped his cheeks hard, forcing himself to stay awake. This was *not* normal. He quickly called up the system in his mind.
*"System, what's wrong with me? This sleepiness is way too extreme."*
*"Host's body is undergoing adaptation to this world's environment."*
*"Huh? Does that mean I'll develop some kind of superpower or something?"* Sam's sleepiness vanished instantly, replaced by alarm.
*"Negative. All living creatures in this world possess far greater physical strength and stamina than those in the host's original world. The system is only providing auxiliary adaptation and enhancement to help the host survive in this world. New abilities would require physical modification, which is not part of the system's initial functions and must be unlocked later via system upgrades."*
*"Oh, thank goodness,"* Sam sighed in relief, but still added a warning. *"And don't you dare modify my body without asking first—no matter what upgrades you unlock later."*
*"All physical modifications will require the host's explicit consent. Host has no need to worry."*
Reassured by the system's promise, Sam finally relaxed completely, shifting into a more comfortable position in the sack. Sleepiness washed over him once more, his consciousness growing fuzzy.
*"System… how long will this last?"* he mumbled, just before drifting off to sleep.
*"Approximately one month,"* the system replied, its voice fading into the darkness of his mind.
...…
The next time Sam woke up, Xuan had stopped moving. He pushed the sack open and peeked out—the sky was already a deep shade of afternoon blue. Xuan was sitting nearby, tending to a crackling fire and roasting strips of beast meat, with several leaf-wrapped packages laid out beside him. Sam climbed out of the sack and walked over, pointing at the packages curiously.
"What are these?"
"Roasted meat," Xuan replied, glancing up at him with a faint, sheepish smile. "I wrapped them in leaves so you can take them with you in the sack and eat whenever you're hungry. I've never traveled with a sub-beast before, so I didn't think to prepare food in advance. I just planned to hunt whenever we got hungry, but I forgot you sub-beasts need to eat at regular intervals every day—unlike us beastmen, who can eat a full meal in beast form and go without food for a day or two." He paused, his ears twitching slightly with embarrassment. "I want to get back to the tribe as soon as possible."
Sam nodded in understanding. Hunting wasn't a hassle for Xuan, but if he had to stop twice or three times a day to hunt and roast meat just to feed him, their journey would be delayed by days. Preparing food that could last Sam a day or two at a time would let them sync up their schedules perfectly—saving a lot of time. But then a thought occurred to him: *How did Xuan even manage to hunt while carrying both him and the shadow beast's corpse?*
"Don't worry about me," Sam said, waving a hand. "I want to get to the tribe as soon as possible too. Besides, there are plenty of berries in the sack—I can just eat those if I get hungry."
After eating a skewer of roasted meat and drinking some water, Sam sat down on the ground to rest, then called up the system in his mind.
*"System, run an exploration scan. See if there are any useful herbs nearby."*
*"Initiating exploration...Scan complete. Small patch of hemostatic grass detected 36 meters behind the host. Blackthorn grass detected 20 meters to the host's right."*
Sam's eyes lit up at the mention of blackthorn grass—he'd never heard of it before and was instantly curious about what it did. He stood up and headed toward the direction of the blackthorn grass, with Xuan following close behind, his curiosity piqued.
"Where are you going?" Xuan asked.
"I thought I saw some herbs I recognized over there," Sam replied, pointing toward the blackthorn grass. "I want to check them out."
"Oh? Can I come with you?" Xuan asked, clearly excited.
"Of course!" Sam said, smiling. "You can even learn to recognize these herbs—then you can pick them yourself when you're out hunting in the future."
Xuan's face lit up at the thought, his mouth opening as if he wanted to say something, but he just nodded firmly instead, a serious expression on his face as he followed Sam closely.
They soon reached the patch of blackthorn grass—a cluster of unassuming dark green plants with small, soft black thorns on their leaves, looking rather menacing. Sam wrapped his hand in a large leaf to avoid the thorns, plucked a stalk, and activated the system's identification function.
*"Initiating identification...Identification complete. Blackthorn Grass: Toxic herb. Pricking the skin with its thorns induces powerful anesthesia with no side effects. However, due to its small size and soft thorns, it is nearly useless in its natural state, and its effects are unknown to most. The juice extracted by crushing the grass also has anesthetic properties; the strength and duration of the effect vary with dosage."*
Sam sucked in a sharp breath. *This is natural anesthetic!* It was an absolute treasure—useful for self-defense, hunting, medical treatment… and, *ahem*, even for ambushing unsuspecting enemies.
He carefully stowed the blackthorn grass away, then turned to find Xuan staring at him with eager, curious eyes.
"This is called blackthorn grass," Sam said, putting on a calm expression. "It's toxic."
The moment the word "toxic" left his mouth, Xuan took two quick steps back, his eyes widening in shock as he stared alternately at Sam and the blackthorn grass.
Sam laughed at his reaction and quickly explained, "It's not a lethal poison. If the thorns prick your skin, it'll make your body go numb and limp—you won't be able to move a muscle for a while, but you'll recover completely after a bit."
Xuan relaxed slightly after hearing the explanation, stepping forward to examine the blackthorn grass closely. He nodded thoughtfully, a serious look on his face. "That's true, but being paralyzed in the wilderness with no one around to help you is still dangerous—it could get you killed. Besides, the grass is too small, and the thorns are too soft to pierce even a beastman's human-form skin, let alone our beast-form fur. But it would be extremely dangerous for sub-beasts. If we had something sharp to pierce a beast's defenses, then coated it with this toxin… it would be a huge help in hunting."
Sam was impressed—Xuan had instantly spotted the herb's biggest flaw and come up with a solution. He quickly added, "The juice from the crushed grass has the same anesthetic effect. We can coat it on sharp weapons like spears or claws."
Xuan's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously. "When we get back to the tribe, I'll catch some small beasts to test it out!"
"Let's go check out the other spot too," Sam said, pointing in the direction of the hemostatic grass. "I saw some there—didn't you say you wanted to bring some back to the tribe?"
Xuan nodded eagerly and followed him. Together, they picked every stalk of hemostatic grass in the patch, then Sam climbed back into the woven sack. Xuan shifted into his panther form, picked up the sack in his jaws, and continued their journey to the tribe at a run.
This time, Xuan didn't stop traveling at all—not even when night fell—until the evening of the second day.
On the evening of the third day, Xuan finally stopped to hunt again. This time, Sam was awake, and he got to witness firsthand how Xuan hunted while carrying both him and the shadow beast's corpse.
It wasn't so much "hunting" as it was a one-sided slaughter. As they ran through the forest, Xuan spotted a beast about the size of a calf. Without slowing down, he veered off course, pounced, and swatted the beast to the ground with a single paw. He pinned it under his weight, carefully set the sack containing Sam down beside him, then killed the beast cleanly—all in less than ten seconds. The beast barely even had time to struggle.
Sam stared in disbelief. Was hunting a beast that size *really* that easy? Back on Earth, he'd have struggled just to catch a chicken! This was the true power of a beastman.
He sat in the sack, watching Xuan shift into his human form and expertly skin and gut the beast. To a city kid like Sam, the sight was gory and brutal, and his face turned pale. But he forced himself to watch—watching Xuan's claws lengthen into sharp blades as he butchered the corpse, cutting off the choicest cuts of meat and laying them on a leaf, then shifting back into his panther form to drag the rest of the carcass under a tree and devour it raw.
*Savage*, *bloody*—those were the words that flashed through Sam's mind. In that moment, he finally grasped the true nature of the world he'd been thrown into—a primitive, unforgiving place, utterly unlike his own. The creatures here were far stronger and more ferocious than anything he'd ever known. He finally understood what it meant to be a beastman—*half human, half beast*.
But he also knew this was a reality he had to face, no matter how brutal or terrifying it was. He couldn't just close his eyes and pretend it didn't exist.
He clenched his fists tightly inside the sack, forcing himself to watch the entire process. Xuan ate quickly—within minutes, the calf-sized beast was reduced to nothing but bones and scraps. Xuan dug a hole with his paws, buried the remains, then sat down on his haunches and began licking his paws and muzzle clean, his movements gentle and meticulous—like a well-behaved house cat, with no trace of the ferocity he'd shown just moments before.
When he was done cleaning up, he shifted back into his human form, lit a fire, and began roasting meat for Sam.
Sam took the skewer of roasted meat but didn't take a bite. Xuan noticed his pale face and furrowed his brows in concern.
"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?"
"I'm fine," Sam replied, forcing a smile. "I think I just got dizzy from sleeping too much. I'll feel better after sitting for a while."
Looking into Xuan's worried eyes, Sam suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over him. For all their physical differences, the beastmen of this world were no different from humans in terms of their emotions. Xuan was still Xuan—the same kind, loyal friend who'd protected him all this time. This was just how beastmen survived in this world.
Understanding this didn't make the memory of the gory hunt any less unsettling, though. Sam took two token bites of the meat, then set it aside.
"I slept so much today that I'm not really hungry," he said. "Can you wrap it up for me? I'll eat it later when I'm hungry."
"Sure—just remember to eat it when you get hungry," Xuan said, then shifted back into his panther form, ready to continue their journey.
The five-day trip passed neither quickly nor slowly. For Sam, who spent most of his time sleeping in the sack, it wasn't particularly tedious—though he did end up with a stiff back and sore muscles from lying down for so long.
They were now very close to the Azure Mountain Tribe. Over the past two days, Sam had gradually grown accustomed to the beastmen's way of life. Whenever he was awake, he'd peek out of the sack to take in the sights of the forest.
Thanks to the system's exploration function, he'd collected more hemostatic grass and blackthorn grass along the way, and even discovered a new type of herb called *Blood-Generating Grass*. When eaten, it accelerated the body's blood production, and when combined with hemostatic grass, it worked wonders—able to save even someone who'd lost a critical amount of blood, as long as they still had a pulse.
Sam felt Xuan's pace slow down, and he assumed they were stopping to rest again. He pushed the sack open and climbed out—but this time, Xuan set the sack down gently on the ground and looked at him, his emerald eyes warm with anticipation.
"We're almost at the tribe," Xuan said, his voice soft with excitement. "Just a little further—you can rest properly once we get there."
Sam nodded, climbed back into the sack, and Xuan picked it up in his jaws, continuing forward at a slower, more cautious pace.