Chapter 112: Anthropomorphized Animals
In the perilous southern forest, many fierce beasts lived. At the first rays of morning sunlight, these dormant predators emerged from their nests and began hunting.
The hamster family lived in a hollow old tree, and young Hamster Han Min, who had already taken on family responsibilities, needed to go out and forage.
Originally, they had lived peacefully on the northern plains, but after offending the most respected leader there—a fierce tiger—they had been driven south.
Han Min ate a bit of food, said goodbye to his grandfather, took his gear, and prepared to head out.
Grandpa Han leaned against a small branch that served as a recliner and saw Han Min holding a chestnut shell, preparing to wear it on his back.
“Where’s your little penguin?” Grandpa asked.
Han Min pouted: “It got caught on a branch and got damaged. It hasn’t been repaired yet.”
The forest was full of wild beasts, so Han Min needed either a formidable appearance or some form of intimidation to survive. In the southern forest, no one had ever seen a penguin, so he wore his little penguin coat every time he went out to keep others from approaching.
Yesterday, however, the coat had accidentally been snagged by a tree branch. Luckily, it happened near home, so no one noticed.
Without the penguin coat repaired, he improvised with a spiky chestnut shell, hoping it would have a similar intimidating effect.
Han Min reassured his grandfather not to worry. The snow-white little hamster strapped on the chestnut shell and quietly joined a hunting group of beasts.
He ran with them, hoping to find food. But he was still too small, so he had to not only run to keep up but also avoid being stepped on by other wild animals.
One pig accidentally stepped on the chestnut shell and squealed in pain. Han Min was unharmed but panicked, quickly fleeing with the shell strapped to his back.
The chestnut shell seemed like a decent prop—
Just as he thought that, his foot slipped, and he tumbled down the hillside.
Han Min landed on his back, expression blank. The chestnut shell turned out to be terrible; it had stuck to the fur of a large animal, like a burdock burr.
He stretched his arms and legs, trying to get off, struggling for a long time. The spines of the chestnut shell only stuck more firmly to the animal’s fur.
Exhausted, he glanced up and realized the fur pattern resembled a feline…
A cat! The little hamster shivered in fear. With a breath, a ghostly puff of white almost shot from his mouth.
He tried to minimize his presence and sincerely prayed that the cat was herbivorous.
He dared not move, pretending to be a burr, quietly clinging to the cat’s back, waiting for a chance to slip off when the cat rubbed against a tree out of discomfort.
Out of sight, the fierce tiger glanced back at him, squinting, trying to suppress a laugh, his whiskers twitching.
After a while, Han Min felt the big cat stop. Gathering courage, he poked the chestnut shell into it, jabbing twice to alert the animal.
As he hoped, the cat walked to a tree, stretched its front legs with a big yawn, and then lay down to rest.
The long tail swung forward, brushing Han Min lightly. The tail dropped and swung again several times. Annoyed, Han Min finally reached out and grabbed the tail.
A slightly deep voice asked: “What are you doing?”
Han Min, stuck to the cat’s back, could not see its face and didn’t dare answer.
“WHAT are you doing?” the voice repeated.
“It… it came itself, this little caterpillar,” Han Min said, touching the not-so-soft tail.
Caterpillar? The cat frowned. Han Min continued: “I’ve grabbed your tail, and I’m wearing a chestnut shell. It’s sharp, so you can’t eat me… for now.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. If you want to eat me, you have to put me down first and then take me to that river over there to wash.”
“That’s too far.”
“Yeah…” The little hamster lowered his head, pinched his belly, and sucked in his stomach. “I’m not much meat, not worth the trip.”
The big cat merely rested on the ground, showing no intention of eating him. Han Min relaxed slightly.
After a while, the cat asked: “What are you out here for?”
“Foraging.”
The cat was blunt: “So you’re the ‘forage’ in ‘foraging’?”
Han Min poked it: “If I didn’t come out, there’d be nothing to eat at home.”
The cat turned its head and stared, about to ask something, but Han Min diverted: “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for a friend.”
“Did you find them?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good.” Han Min felt a twinge of sadness. “All my friends are on the northern plains.”
The cat offered deliberately: “I can deliver messages for you on my way back.”
Han Min’s eyes lit up: “Thank you! There’s a family, the Liu Rabbits, my teacher and senior brother. Please give them a message… just say—”
“And?”
“The Black Panther Wei family. Wei Gui is a good friend. Also, the tabby Fu Rang…”
He clenched his teeth, hesitated: “And?”
“Well…” Han Min thought. “…Fu Xun, a slightly fat big orange cat with a mark on its forehead—”
Before he could finish, he was yanked down.
The “big orange cat” purred discontentedly: “Who’s that?”
Han Min finally looked at its face and saw a “?” (king) mark on its forehead—the same as Fu Xun’s.
So—
“Fu Dog, you lost weight! A true cat metamorphosis! But…” He pointed to the spot he had been on; some fur had stuck to his chestnut shell.
“You’re bald now.”
Little hamster Han Min vaguely remembered that Fu Xun had been a small orange cat when he was young, then had grown into a large one.
Han Min had thought the mark on his forehead was just a pattern because the orange cat hadn’t seemed very formidable; he wasn’t afraid at all.
Now, reappearing, Fu Xun had become a massive tiger, big enough to crush him with a paw—or rather, as large as a tiger’s paw.
With Fu Xun guiding him, even foraging became easy.
Clinging to the tiger’s neck fur, he walked among beasts parting the way, experiencing a full “fox borrowing tiger’s might.”
Fu Xun provided him with piles of small hazelnuts, stacked twice as high as Han Min.
Han Min looked up in awe: “Wow, a mountain of hazelnuts.”
Fu Xun asked: “Where do you live?”
The little hamster stuffed his cheeks with hazelnuts, grabbed the tiger’s leg fur, and climbed up: “Oh, I’ll take you there.”
Their family lived in a hollow old tree, which was massive for a hamster, like a three-story residence. For a tiger, it was just a scratching post.
They stopped in front of the small door, unsure what to say.
The hamster slid off: “I can’t invite you in. I’ll have Grandpa come out to meet you.”
Unable to host Fu Xun or let him stay overnight, he settled outside for the night.
At night, the forest stars shone brightly. Fu Xun crouched outside the treehouse. Through the bark, faint light glowed from inside where Han Min was reading a story aloud to his family.
Then he heard Grandpa Han’s cane hit the ground as Han Min helped him to bed.
After a while, the small door creaked open. Han Min peeked out holding wood shavings: “Are you asleep?”
Fu Xun’s eyes glowed faintly. Han Min shivered: “I know… you’re not asleep. I’ll come keep you company.”
He closed the door. Fu Xun reached out, pulled him over.
The tiger fur wasn’t very soft, but it was warm. Han Min carefully laid down the shavings and made a nest, lying down with his back to Fu Xun.
Fu Xun’s eyes darkened. Suddenly, he jabbed the hamster’s rear, and Han Min bounced away.
Months later, the hamster family returned to the northern plains.
Han Min met a group of fluffy friends, always gathered together, nudging and touching each other like a line of plush balls.
Liu Rabbits’ Liu Ting and senior brother, Chu Qingque’s Chu Yu and Xie Yan, and Wen Shanque’s Wen Yan.
One day, they chatted, and Chu Yu said: “The king can shapeshift now.”
The king was Fu Xun. Han Min casually asked: “Really?”
“Yes. He learned years ago, but I haven’t seen him much.”
Before he finished, a tiger paw swooped from above, grabbed Han Min by the scruff, and carried him off.
Han Min, confused, was taken directly to the tiger’s den.
Fu Xun placed him on a higher stone. Before Han Min could react, he nudged his face with his nose. Han Min sneezed.
He had a cold. The tiger wanted to groom him the animal way.
Seeing the huge mouth open, Han Min tried to escape but was pinned by a paw. The paw pressed down firmly, testing him.
“Show me your human form.”
“King, I can’t!” Han Min shook his head. “Shapeshifting is hard; not everyone can do it.”
“I know you can. Do it.”
Han Min tucked in his neck. He had learned from his teacher but had pretended not to know to avoid trouble. How did Fu Xun know?
He stiffened: “King, I really can’t.”
Fu Xun’s paw extended a sharp claw, digging into the ground beside Han Min’s head, shattering stones.
Han Min panicked: “I can! I can! Just wait, King, I’ll do it.”
He concentrated, recited the incantation two or three times: “Don’t rush… almost there.”
The white smoke cleared, and the pinned hamster transformed into a boy.
Fu Xun also shifted into human form, tugging at Han Min’s little penguin coat dissatisfied: “Why are you wearing clothes?”
Han Min looked him over: “I wanted to ask why you aren’t wearing any!”
He pushed Fu Xun’s hand away, stood up, and Fu Xun flicked his tail: “Tail still here.”
Han Min covered the short tail, jumped far away, standing on the stone bed: “I said I couldn’t, yet you forced me to transform.”
Author’s Note:
Their size difference makes it impossible to become human naturally—trouble always arises with the chubby ones.
