The child, after evolving, was completely naked, its back facing me. All I could see were two black-yellow buttocks; its skin wasn't fair either—dark and rough.
It walked slowly step by step, probably struggling due to the recent evolution. I secretly followed behind it, thinking to myself how ridiculous it looked—a grown adult sneaking around behind a child.
After following it for about two hours, I finally saw a path leading out of this dense forest. Honestly, I almost jumped with joy.
There was only one path out of this forest, no wonder I had wandered around for three or four days without finding a way out. Lucky I met this creature—if not, I might have become a forest dweller for life.
When it reached the edge of the forest, it was met by a man and a woman who seemed to be waiting. I hid behind a tree and peeked at them. The man was around two meters tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, with a thick beard. His skin was dark, his teeth uneven—some stuck out, some sunk in. His whole appearance was quite hideous. The woman was around 1.8 meters tall, with rough skin, hair like dried roots, and two rabbit-like teeth sticking out of her mouth—just as ugly as the man.
When the child saw the two, it shouted: "Father… Mother."
I was startled when I heard it call out. What did it just say? A rabbit that just evolved now had human parents? Unbelievable.
As soon as they saw the child, the man ran up and lifted it in his arms, laughing loudly. His voice was coarse like a knife scraping on metal: "We've been waiting for you these past few days... Haha... Now you're safe."
"Let's go home... Let's go home, it's dangerous to stay here too long."
The woman's hoarse voice wasn't any more pleasant. Listening to her gave me a headache. It felt like every hideous trait in the world had been thrown onto these two people.
They turned around and left, holding the child in their arms. I kept my distance and followed from behind. After walking for quite a while, the man suddenly sniffed the air.
"So fragrant... This scent is too fragrant."
The woman sniffed too, then said, "I smell it too... it comes and goes?"
I couldn't smell anything at all, but when I saw the man turn around and look around, I immediately jumped into a nearby bush.
He looked for a while but didn't find anything. The woman said, "You're a dog, so your sense of smell is sharper. Let's go home—it's almost dark."
Judging by her words, the man must be a dog, and she's likely a rabbit. No wonder they gave birth to that rabbit child who evolved earlier.
Now I was one hundred percent certain—I wasn't in the human world anymore. I had crossed into another world. My face twisted up in dismay. No wonder those two, though human-shaped, still had animal features.
I peeked out from the bush and saw they had walked far ahead. I pulled up my jacket, tightened my backpack, and ran after them.
The dirt path was dusty, flanked by towering ancient trees. Eventually, they arrived at a small village. It was nearly dusk, so hardly anyone was outside.
Their house was a wooden cabin with two sections—one for living and one for cooking. I carefully followed them and saw them place the child on a bed. The woman went to the kitchen, and I quickly sneaked after her, hoping to find something to eat. I hadn't eaten all day, and my stomach was growling.
The woman entered the kitchen, and I crouched at the door, peeking inside. I saw her reach into a water jar and pull out two live rats and three frogs. She tossed them all into a pot—alive, with fur and guts intact—and started cooking.
A chill crept up from my stomach, but I forced myself to endure until the family of three sat down to eat. When I saw the man pick up a whole rat, bite off its head, and chew loudly, nausea surged up my throat.
"Urgh…"
"Who's there...?" the man shouted.
I quickly covered my mouth, bolted, and crashed into a pile of straw in front of the house, trembling as I hid inside, praying they wouldn't find me.
The two of them searched around the house but didn't find anything unusual. They eventually returned inside and locked the door carefully.
The scene I had just witnessed was too much to digest. I thought evolution meant becoming more human, but their way of eating was utterly terrifying.
What I needed now was to figure out what kind of bizarre world I had landed in—and how to get back. It had been nearly a week since I woke up here, and I still hadn't gotten over the shock and fear.
I pulled my backpack in front of me, hugged it tight, curled up my legs, and pondered deeply. Eventually, I fell asleep without even realizing it.
The exhaustion of the past few days and the deep sleep made me completely unaware of my surroundings. When the sun was already high in the sky, I finally woke up. Sleeping in a pile of straw was truly miserable. At that moment, all I wished for was a soft bed and a warm bath—nothing would beat that.