TFBAT – Chapter 8

However, Hu Jin was still in his beast form.

A sense of unease welled up in his heart—because the structure of that part of a tiger was rather complicated.

Yet to this day, Hu Jin had never seen Chi Yuyang’s beast form.

Tigers were solitary animals, and thus there were very few cases of tigers pairing with other races. He truly had no idea how Chi Yuyang’s species went about mating.

The girl in his arms seemed a bit more delicate compared to the females of the tiger clan, but her features were exceedingly fine.

As a straightforward male tiger, Hu Jin didn’t know how to describe Chi Yuyang’s appearance—only that she was far cuter than any female he had ever seen before.

After spending a few days together, he realized that his wife’s personality wasn’t as weak as she outwardly appeared, and she was quite different from most females he had met. Because of this, he felt he ought to respect her wishes even more.

Considering that he still couldn’t communicate with her, and not wanting to force himself on her like a brutish tiger, he could only hope that he would soon return to human form.

The approaching winter was the best season for mating and raising cubs, and if they missed it, they would have to wait another year.

Thinking of this, Hu Jin felt a wave of sadness.

Chi Yuyang, of course, couldn’t guess at the rich tide of emotions in the white tiger’s heart. She only noticed that the round, furry ears circling her suddenly drooped down, and even his eyes seemed to lose their focus.

She sensed his disappointment.

Chi Yuyang was reminded of her days working at the pet hospital—newly neutered kittens sometimes displayed a similar restless frustration.

Although Tuantuan (the nickname she gave him) didn’t need to worry about that particular problem, she guessed the feeling of agitation was about the same.

She couldn’t help but reach out and scratch at the triangular patch of fur on his chest. The hair there was unusually soft and fluffy, making it hard for her to pull her hand away.

“Awroo…” Seeing Chi Yuyang petting his fur, Hu Jin was overjoyed, and all his earlier worries vanished.

He comforted himself—so long as they were still mates, there would be plenty of chances for mating in the future.

When Chi Yuyang noticed Tuantuan’s tail standing upright again, she sighed inwardly. Yet another similarity with felines.

To her, Tuantuan really was just an oversized…

No, actually, given his current size, he was more like an eleven-times-oversized Persian cat.

Though she didn’t show it on her face, deep down Chi Yuyang had already decided that Tuantuan posed no threat to her. With him around, surviving in this place didn’t seem all that difficult.

—

Sometimes, Chi Yuyang even wondered whether Tuantuan’s body held a human soul.

She just didn’t dare say it out loud again—if this tiger were to suddenly perform a “human transformation act,” she truly wouldn’t know how to react.

Half an hour ago, she had been fretting about the problem of brushing her teeth.

“Tuantuan, I really envy you for coming with your own toothbrush.” She had said that after seeing his mouth open, revealing a full set of gleaming silver teeth.

Chi Yuyang knew that the tongues of felines had barbs. Normally, after they finished eating, they would run their tongues over their teeth, and the barbs would help clean them.

But she was different. After coming to this place, she had only rinsed her teeth with water.

For the past few days, her diet had been simple, so she hadn’t thought much about it.

It wasn’t until yesterday, after eating meat, that she still felt the lingering gamey taste of deer in her mouth.

What she didn’t expect was that, upon hearing her casually voice this complaint, Tuantuan actually dragged her out of the cave.

“Awuu.” But just as they reached the cave entrance, the white tiger suddenly stopped. It half-crouched on the ground, tilting its head to look at Chi Yuyang.

For once, Chi Yuyang couldn’t understand what Tuantuan wanted to express.

“What’s wrong?” Chi Yuyang thought it might be unwell.

Tuantuan had once suffered serious injuries, and though it had quickly recovered, Chi Yuyang still worried there might be lingering effects.

“Awuu, awuu!” Get on my back!

Chi Yuyang looked at Tuantuan in confusion, not noticing when its tail had slipped behind her.

Before her hand could even touch the tiger’s back, that strong tail wound around her, and with a gentle push of its front paw, she was set firmly atop the white tiger.

Before Chi Yuyang could react, Tuantuan suddenly stood up and broke into a run.

“Wait—Tuantuan…” Her voice was scattered by the wind as Tuantuan galloped forward. Instinctively, she pressed down against its back, arms wrapping around its neck.

After a while, Tuantuan finally stopped.

When Chi Yuyang slid down from its back, she almost couldn’t stand and had to be steadied by Tuantuan.

Once she regained her senses, she realized they were in a place she had never seen before.

The fruits growing on the trees here seemed different from the ones she had eaten before.

“Tuantuan?” Chi Yuyang saw the tiger glancing around as though searching for something.

Suddenly, it seemed to spot its target and dashed toward a tree.

Only then did Chi Yuyang truly notice the difference between tigers and house cats. Though both were felines, tigers could swim and were excellent climbers. In the wild, clearly having a tiger was far more advantageous than a little cat—

Provided, of course, that the tiger didn’t harm her.

She watched as Tuantuan climbed to the treetop, swatting at branches with its paw. Several fruits tumbled down.

Then it leapt to another tree, shaking down more of the same fruit.

“That’s enough, Tuantuan! Enough already! I can’t carry more!” Chi Yuyang shouted from below as she scrambled to gather the fallen fruits with both hands, regretting not having brought a plastic bag.

If she had known Tuantuan was bringing her out to pick fruit, she would’ve been better prepared.

Still, why had Tuantuan brought her all the way out here? She remembered there were still enough fruits in the cave, and even if those ran out, the nearby area had plenty.

Though puzzled, Chi Yuyang didn’t want to reject Tuantuan’s good intentions.

Back in the cave, she was about to pack the fruits into a plastic bag when Tuantuan picked one up in its mouth and placed it in her hand.

“You want me to try it now?” she asked, examining the fruit. It had a green skin with spines at one end, though they weren’t hard to the touch.

Tuantuan shook its head, then pointed with a paw at the object tied at her waist.

It was the milk tooth it had given her.

After changing into new animal skin clothes, Chi Yuyang had casually wrapped the tooth and kept it at her side.

“You’re saying… this fruit is for brushing teeth?” Chi Yuyang followed its gaze, thought for a moment, and then asked in disbelief.

When she saw Tuantuan nod, she almost suspected it was a person in disguise.

But more importantly—this meant she didn’t have to worry about brushing her teeth anymore.

Tuantuan brought over a water-filled lotus leaf. Chi Yuyang dipped the fruit in water, and to her surprise, it dissolved into a paste.

Under Tuantuan’s watchful gaze, she placed it in her mouth and brushed it across her teeth. In no time, the gamey taste vanished, replaced by a faint minty freshness.

To distinguish it from other fruits, Chi Yuyang decided to call this one the “Tooth Fruit.”

She had to admit, this “Tooth Fruit” was incredibly convenient. But like the other fruits here, it was nothing she had ever seen on Earth.

No matter how much she wanted to dismiss the oddities, she could no longer convince herself she was still on Earth.

She really had crossed over—to a place beyond anything she knew.

And at her side was only a tiger—one that could understand human speech and perhaps even wield magic.

Looking at Tuantuan lying beside her, Chi Yuyang suppressed her fear and made a difficult decision. “Tuantuan, if you really understand me… please turn into a human.”

It had been days since she last had a conversation with another person. Now, faced with her awkward situation, her longing for human companionship was overwhelming.

But to Hu Jin’s ears, this was his wife expressing her willingness to mate.

He immediately let out an excited “awuu!”

He was going to turn into human form—right now! Immediately! At once!

But the cruel reality was, with his current strength, he couldn’t.

Three days later.

Each morning when Chi Yuyang woke up, the first thing she did was check if Tuantuan had turned into a human.

But when her hand touched that familiar soft fur, she knew her wish hadn’t come true.

Of course—a tiger turning human was nothing but a wild fantasy.

Even though Tuantuan had given her several surprises, that didn’t mean it could fulfill her every wish.

Since Tuantuan had “grown bigger,” Chi Yuyang now had meat every day, along with plenty of fruit. Her meals were balanced with both meat and plants.

The only thing missing was rice.

But she didn’t dare to ask for too much.

Having fallen into a different world, simply being alive was already the greatest fortune.

According to her usual pattern, today should be the last day of her period. Starting tomorrow, she planned to go into the water herself to catch fish.

Always troubling Tuantuan made her feel a bit embarrassed.

Thinking this, she patted Tuantuan, who was just about to start eating.

“Tuantuan?” Chi Yuyang noticed that Tuantuan’s eating movements today seemed a little sluggish.

She didn’t know that, at this moment, the white tiger shared the same feelings as her.

Hu Jin’s senses had already recovered. He could smell that the scent on his wife was fading more and more, which meant her heat was about to end.

Clearly, his strength had already recovered more than half, yet for some reason he still couldn’t transform into human form.

It seemed he really had to wait another year.

Chi Yuyang saw Tuantuan scratching his head with his front paws, looking regretful. She leaned closer and held one of his paws.

Just like cats, tigers also had paw pads.

She discovered that Tuantuan’s paw pads were actually a soft pink color. Drawn in by their cuteness, she forgot what she had wanted to say for a moment.

“Tuantuan, sometimes I really forget you’re a tiger.” What Chi Yuyang meant was that, ignoring his size, she felt like he was just a well-behaved little kitten.

But in Hu Jin’s ears, those words meant something else entirely.

He thought his wife was inviting him to mate—even if he remained in beast form, she could accept him.

“Awwoo awwoo awwoo!” Wife, you’re the best!

In an instant, Chi Yuyang saw the white tiger, who had been lazily munching on cat food just a moment ago, suddenly stop and, without warning, pounce toward her.