Walking in the cycle of reincarnation

Chapter 9 Mind and Nature

Zhang Nanfeng did not covet the act of swallowing and spitting.

The most urgent task is to find a safe haven to live in.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he remembered the pool of water from before.

The lingering poison around the pool forms a natural barrier, deterring ordinary ferocious beasts from easily setting foot there.

He retraced his steps and found two large rocks leaning against each other by the pool. The narrow crevice between the rocks was just big enough for him to curl up, and it was cramped, secluded, and safe.

He retreated into the crevice of the rock to calm himself, and continued to exhale and exhale the miasma, completely forgetting the passage of time.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the hunger in his stomach roused him from his meditation.

His supernatural powers remained unactivated, but the poison glands in his chest and abdomen had accumulated a small amount of venom after days of breathing in and out.

He sighed inwardly.

The miasma in the forest was worlds apart from Su Chan's spiritual liquid. A single drop of that liquid could lead him into a state of supernatural power, not to mention its ability to quench thirst and satisfy hunger.

Thinking of Su Chan, Zhang Nanfeng felt a pang of sadness.

I wonder which path she has taken. Is she alright now?

With a soft sigh, he suppressed his distracting thoughts, peered around to check the surroundings, and after confirming that there was no danger, he crawled out of the crevice and went out to forage for food.

It was noon, and the forest was filled with dampness, with dew condensing on the grass and trees.

He cautiously walked through the forest, searching for wild fruits and grass seeds to fill his stomach.

However, the mountains and forests are lush with vegetation, and wild fruits and seeds can be found everywhere, but they all grow in strange shapes and are colorful. Eating them rashly may lead to poisoning.

His hunger intensified, his vision blurred, and even moving his webbed feet became difficult.

Just then, a foul, fishy smell drifted in on the wind.

There's something alive!

He immediately lowered his body and stealthily followed the scent.

Before long, he locked onto his target from behind a bush—

A half-grown, oddly-mouthed wild boar was grunting and rooting around in the soil, pecking at the pupae underground.

He was quite fat, weighing about 70 or 80 pounds.

Zhang Nanfeng lay prone in the grass, the pungent smell of wild boar filling his nostrils and making his heart race.

Why not use it to test for poison?

Once this thought arises, it spreads like wildfire and becomes impossible to suppress.

Instead of rushing off, he circled around to a downwind position and lay in wait to observe.

The wild boar was completely unaware of the danger, and was only focused on rooting in the soil.

Zhang Nanfeng slightly opened his jaw, and his venom glands suddenly contracted, a drop of golden liquid condensing on the tip of his tongue. He held his breath, focused intently, and aimed at the gap in the wild boar's open mouth. With a flick of his tongue, the golden venom shot like an arrow, precisely into its throat.

At first, the wild boar just smacked its lips and showed no unusual reaction.

But in less than ten breaths, it staggered three steps and collapsed to the ground with a thud, its four hooves kicking up grass clippings, and it was clear that it was about to die.

Zhang Nanfeng slowly crawled out of his hiding place and was about to go forward when the wild boar struggled to its feet again, stumbled and darted into the dense forest, disappearing in an instant.

Zhang Nanfeng stood there, stunned.

The poison is potent enough, but it's still not quite right.

He was not discouraged. After all, he was still a newborn, and his venom was small and of low quality. It was already quite remarkable that he could take down such a large beast.

It was this incident that completely ignited his anger.

To hell with wild fruits and seeds, he wants meat, he wants hot, fresh meat.

Zhang Nanfeng sniffed the air as he hunted through the forest. He inhaled the miasma, transforming it into wisps of venomous energy within his glands.

Soon, he finally found a suitable prey at the foot of a cliff.

It was a ferocious raccoon, smaller than the average breed, with gray fur, rough skin, and scars all over its body, indicating that it was quite old.

It was crouching and tearing at a spotted gecko, with gray-black saliva dripping from its open mouth, clearly indicating that it was also a poisoner.

Zhang Nanfeng's venom was limited, and although he was starving, he dared not overuse it.

He surveyed the surrounding terrain and had already made up his mind. He then went around to a spot and deliberately stepped on a dead branch on the ground.

The raccoon looked up alertly and saw that instead of fleeing, it arched its back and growled, so it immediately abandoned the gecko and pounced on him.

Zhang Nanfeng turned and fled, deliberately choosing to travel through areas with jagged rocks.

Although the raccoon is agile, it is limited by the terrain and often misses its target.

Enraged, the beast suddenly opened its mouth and spewed a cloud of gray-black poisonous mist, which Zhang Nanfeng easily avoided by using the stone edge as cover.

He maintained a distance of half-chasing and half-fleeing, leading the raccoon to higher ground.

At the top of the jumbled rocks, there is a narrow crevice, about an inch wide, through which grows a cluster of poisonous thorns.

Arrived.

Zhang Nanfeng stopped running, suddenly stopped, and turned around to pounce.

The raccoon, already enraged by his teasing, leaped into the air without hesitation when he stopped.

Zhang Nanfeng ducked down and rolled close to the ground into a ditch next to the stone.

The raccoon realized it had been tricked, but it was too late to stop. The poisonous thorns pierced its flesh, causing it to tremble violently and fall straight down from the pile of rocks.

Zhang Nanfeng peered down and looked down.

The raccoon was twisted and contorted, but it was not dead and was still struggling to get up.

A beast is still a beast.

He sneered and landed lightly beside it. The raccoon was about to retaliate, but he gave it no chance. The moment it turned its head and hissed, the golden poison shot straight into its mouth.

The raccoon immediately began to roll around frantically, its claws and teeth flailing wildly.

Zhang Nanfeng stepped back three paces and watched silently. Only when the raccoon was completely still did he approach and confirm that it was dead.

Looking at the raccoon's corpse, he could no longer restrain himself and, without hesitation, opened his mouth to tear and swallow it.

After a long while, Zhang Nanfeng, full and satisfied, lay down to rest. Looking at his blood-stained forelimbs and recalling the exhilarating feeling of biting them, he was a completely different person from the one in his previous life who wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken.

Could it be that this toad body is also subtly changing my mindset?

He suddenly became alert, a chill running through him.

But when his gaze fell upon the raccoon's mangled body, he gradually felt relieved.

In this dog-eat-dog world of the jungle, cowardice brings no chance of survival. He possesses the extraordinary features of a rat and toad, and harbors two supernatural powers; his path ahead is already vast, so why confine himself to the limitations of mortal desires?

Perhaps... I should embrace this animalistic instinct.

After feeling relieved, his gaze fell on a poison sac the size of a pigeon egg on a nearby rock.

It was something taken from the raccoon dog's body. He dared not swallow it, fearing poisoning. But now he noticed that the poison sac was throbbing, seemingly resonating faintly with his own glands.

To eat, or not to eat?

He hesitated for a long time, staring at it until the wind in the woods gradually subsided.

Finally, it opened its mouth and swallowed the poison sac whole.

The poison sac enters the abdomen, and the poison glands suddenly become scalding hot.

The toxins in the sac were refined by the poison glands, turning into wisps of warm current that spread into the meridians and bones.

Zhang Nanfeng closed his eyes and looked inward. He saw that the two faint lights of inheritance were three times brighter than before, like adding fuel to a dying fire. However, the flames were rising but still a hair's breadth away from becoming a full flame.

He suddenly opened his eyes.

Poisons...poisons can also be resources!

......

In the days that followed, Zhang Nanfeng transformed into a hunter in the forest.

He gradually realized that, in terms of toxicity, there were very few things in the forest that could surpass his. He no longer picked and chose his food; he swallowed anything poisonous, including poisonous fruits.

The transmission of supernatural powers is becoming brighter day by day, with only the last thin layer of paper yet to be pierced.

At noon that day, he lay prone under the roots of a tree not far from the pool, staring intently at a venomous snake that was about ten feet long.

The snake coiled into a snake formation, its head raised high, its tongue flicking out rapidly. Zhang Nanfeng, too, was poised to strike, his tongue still holding back venom, waiting for an opening.

Just then, a sound pierced through the branches and leaves, drifting from afar.

Zhang Nanfeng froze, his ears perked up and he focused intently.

The sound was sometimes near, sometimes far, intermittent and difficult to discern.

Human voices?!