Chapter 3: The Origins of Big Head


    The day dawned.


    Han Ming and Big Head slowly woke up in the tree hollow. Han Ming rubbed his stomach and suddenly felt nauseous. He rushed outside and vomited. The night had been rough. The meat wasn''t properly cooked, he had diarrhea, ate too much, and now felt sick. It was embarrassing. Meanwhile, Big Head seemed fine, standing outside the hollow, drooling as it looked at the beast it had hung on a tree branch. Apparently, it had developed a taste for roasted meat.


    Big Head gurgled and croaked at Han Ming for a while. Han Ming roughly understood that Big Head wanted him to roast more meat, but he found it amusing to pretend he didn''t understand. This made Big Head gurgle and croak even more frantically. Just as Han Ming was chuckling mischievously, he suddenly felt a loud boom in his head, his vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.


    “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”


    Han Ming slowly opened his eyes to see Big Head shaking him anxiously, asking about his condition. He felt a warm sensation in his heart. Despite its ugly appearance, this creature was quite kind and actually cared about him.


    Wait a minute!?


    Han Ming was stunned. He could understand what Big Head was saying??


    “What’s wrong? What happened to you just now?” Big Head asked anxiously again.


    It was true! Han Ming was dumbfounded. What was going on? What had just happened? Why had he suddenly passed out, and now he could understand Big Head’s language? Thinking back to when he first arrived in this world, his injuries had mysteriously healed. Everything was so bizarre. What was happening to him?


    “I’m fine, I’m okay,” Han Ming tried communicating with Big Head and found that Big Head could understand him too. Emerging from his initial confusion, Han Ming felt excited. He could actually communicate with a creature from another world!


    Han Ming tried talking with Big Head for a while and finally learned about Big Head’s origins. It turned out that Big Head belonged to a tribe. There were many creatures like Big Head, but due to a congenital defect, Big Head’s body was much smaller and weaker than its peers. As a result, it had been driven out of the tribe. Missing its mother, Big Head had been striving to return to the tribe. It remembered a tribe member telling it that there was a flower in this world that could make their bodies stronger. This was the only way to return to the tribe. However, no one had ever seen this flower; it was just a legend. But Big Head firmly believed that such a flower existed and had been searching for it diligently. What shocked Han Ming even more was that Big Head had been searching for nearly forty years. Having wandered aimlessly for so long, it had strayed far from its tribe. Alone, it silently searched for the miracle flower, always believing that it could return to the tribe and reunite with its mother.


    Upon further questioning, Han Ming learned that Big Head was over sixty years old. Their lifespan was only about seventy years. This was considered short because many species in this world lived extremely long lives, often spanning hundreds of years, with some even living for millennia. Compared to these creatures, seventy years was indeed brief.


    Han Ming was puzzled. Big Head was already sixty. Even if it found the so-called miracle flower and became stronger, how would it have enough time to locate its tribe? And even if it did find the tribe, its mother would have long since passed away.


    Big Head explained to Han Ming that normal tribe members could live up to a hundred years, but due to its congenital defect, it could only live for seventy years. There were quite a few others in the tribe with similar conditions.


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    Big Head said that its mother was a very gentle woman. It often dreamed of her. As a child, it was frequently bullied by other tribe members because of its physical condition. Every time, its mother would hold it and comfort it, telling it that a man should be strong and not cry. She told it that it had a strong heart and that no one could defeat it. As long as it had a strong heart, nothing in the world could stop it. Big Head firmly believed this.


    However, every time it woke up from such dreams, it realized that its mother was no longer by its side. It was all just an illusion. But it was precisely because of its mother’s words that Big Head had been able to wander alone in the forest for forty years, persistently searching for its dream.


    Han Ming fell silent. Now he understood why Big Head had tripped and fallen when it first saw him and tried to run away. At the time, Han Ming had found it somewhat amusing. But now he realized the reason behind it. Han Ming knew deep down that Big Head had little hope of finding the miracle flower in this lifetime. He even suspected that the tribe members who often bullied Big Head hadn’t told it about the miracle flower out of kindness. Based on how Big Head described its mother’s behavior, it was likely that its mother had fabricated this beautiful lie to give Big Head hope and keep it strong. The truth was, when Big Head was young, it often saw the bodies of other tribe members who had been driven out, most of whom didn’t live past forty. Cases like Big Head, surviving into its sixties, were almost unheard of.


    But Han Ming couldn’t bring himself to tell Big Head this. Seeing the determination in Big Head’s eyes, he couldn’t bear to shatter its hope with such a cruel reality. Perhaps it was better to keep it a secret, allowing Big Head to hold onto its dream and find the strength to keep living.


    After sharing its story, Big Head went out alone. It returned much later, happily carrying a variety of plants and flowers. It told Han Ming that every day it went out to collect different plants and flowers to try. Some were bitter, some were sweet, and some made its mouth go numb for an entire day. Once, it had found a brilliantly colorful flower, so stunning that it thought it had finally found the miracle flower. But that flower nearly killed it. After eating it, its shell began to peel off, its teeth fell out, and even its nails dropped. Every day, it had to rub itself against tree bark until it bled to relieve the pain. It could only survive by eating tiny, rotten fruits from the soil. This went on for a year. Just when it felt it was on the brink of death, its teeth started growing back, and its shell and nails regenerated.


    Big Head said it had been so overjoyed that it ran around like crazy.


    As it spoke, Big Head kept stuffing various plants and flowers into its mouth. When it reached the part about overcoming its toughest times, it grinned foolishly. It also mentioned that when it first saw Han Ming, it was surprised. Seeing how small and thin Han Ming was, it assumed he had also been driven out of his tribe. So it wanted to help Han Ming but was also a little afraid.


    Han Ming watched Big Head’s carefree, foolish grin and felt his nose tingling. He quietly turned away to rub his moist eyes. Then he suddenly turned back and gave Big Head a big smile.


    “Yeah! I’m also someone who can’t find my way home! We’re the same!” Han Ming said.


    “I knew it. You’re so small and thin, you must be like me,” Big Head said, stuffing another handful of plants into its mouth and chewing vigorously.


    Han Ming wanted to stop Big Head. How many flowers in the forest were poisonous? The fact that it had survived this long was a miracle. It couldn’t keep eating like this. Maybe tomorrow, or sometime soon, it could die from poisoning. It couldn’t always be this lucky. But Han Ming opened his mouth, the words on the tip of his tongue, and ultimately didn’t say anything. Perhaps Big Head’s persistence was a form of faith—a belief that kept it alive. It was willing to give everything for its dream. Han Ming suddenly felt a sense of respect for Big Head.


    “Han Ming, you mustn’t give up either. You’ll definitely go back too,” Big Head mumbled through a mouthful of plants.


    Han Ming laughed and smacked Big Head’s head lightly. “What the heck are you saying? Just keep eating.”


    Big Head chuckled sheepishly, spitting out a few blades of grass. Han Ming quickly dodged.


    Han Ming stood up, stretching his body in the sunlight and twisting his torso. He turned to Big Head and said, “Yeah, I know. I’ll definitely go home too.”


    Big Head smiled, a genuinely happy smile.