owlsbooks Chapter 8 Rat and Toad
Chapter 8 Rat and Toad
Although the young toad is still young, it already has the physical characteristics of a toad.
It resembles a toad, but has a pair of pale purple pointed ears; its whole body is covered in golden skin, with sparse and dense purple star-shaped spots on its back; its forelimbs are slender and agile, its hind limbs are strong and powerful, and its fingers are webbed, making it a natural creature suitable for both water and land.
What have I become? Where am I now?
Zhang Nanfeng's vision was not yet restored; he only felt his whole body immersed in cold water, yet he could breathe without any hindrance.
He broke through the water and went upward. At this moment, the most important thing was to find out where he was and to know what he had been born for in this life.
As soon as he emerged from the water, he lay down on the pebbles by the pool and took his first long-awaited breath of air.
A refreshing and sweet aroma permeated my heart and invigorated my spirit.
His eyesight was not yet fully clear, but he could already sense the vastness of the world around him. The gloom that had accumulated in the alchemy room for a year was mostly dispelled by this breath of free wind and dew.
As dusk settled in the forest, the ancient trees and leaves shimmered with the setting sun, turning it into fragments of gold.
A few rays of the setting sun pierced through the gaps and fell on the center of the pool, making his golden skin gleam, but also startling the creature behind him.
Zhang Nanfeng slowly adjusted to the light, and his vision gradually became clear.
Calamus grows in abundance, ancient trees reach for the sky, swarms of mosquitoes fly in the twilight, the babbling of the stream fills the air, interspersed with the sounds of insects and animals crawling.
forest?
He turned around to see his reflection in the pool, but when his gaze fell, he saw a toad staring intently at him.
The toad was swollen like a ball, its eyes bulging out, and its appearance was ferocious.
Zhang Nanfeng was suddenly startled.
How could such a vicious toad be hiding behind me?
Before anyone could react, the mother toad's body swelled rapidly, its veins bulging beneath its skin, its outer skin stretched to the point of being half-transparent, and its purplish-black venom churned like boiling water inside.
Driven by his survival instinct, he used all four limbs to propel himself upstream and flee for his life.
This new body was exceptionally agile and incredibly fast; a golden afterimage flashed by, and its webbed feet moved silently across the water.
A muffled explosion came from behind.
Zhang Nanfeng looked back and saw that the mother toad had exploded with a bang, its flesh and internal organs flying everywhere, and countless tiny eggs bursting out like pearls.
A cloud of purplish-black poisonous mist shot into the sky, enveloping the small pool. The surrounding vegetation withered and charred at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into poisonous mud, and the stream stones were also eroded until they hissed and smoked.
Zhang Nanfeng gasped, nearly collapsing to the ground.
What a potent poison! If we had been a fraction of a second later, we would have perished right after birth.
He gazed at the mess on the ground, then recalled the place where he was born, and an absurd yet real thought surfaced in his mind—
Could it be... that I was born from that poisonous toad?
But when he looked down at his own forelimbs, they were completely different from those of a toad, and not even from any other creature he knew.
First, take a good look at yourself.
He circled back to the edge of the pool where the poisonous fog was gradually dissipating, and only the last rays of sunset remained on the horizon, perfectly reflected in the water.
Standing by the pool was a spirit creature that was neither rat nor toad—
Covered in gold and adorned with purple spots, it is not strange at all, but rather appears divine.
This...is this me?
A clear, melodious toad-like sound escaped Zhang Nanfeng's throat.
Could it be the Reincarnation Platform that combined his rat body from his previous life with his toad body in this life?
If that were truly the case, wouldn't the order of nature and all living things be thrown into chaos? If rats and toads can coexist, what would become of humans and beasts?
Could it be... that I'm the only exception?
A thousand thoughts were tangled and difficult to sort out, but he was also secretly glad that he was not a toad covered in sores, otherwise even if he were to transform into human form in the future, he probably wouldn't look very good.
The thought of transformation brought to mind the most important thing—
Supernatural powers.
He immediately focused his mind and looked inward, probing his own meridians and acupoints.
In the blink of an eye, it was found.
And there are two of them!
One gland is hidden in the chest and abdomen, opening and closing with each breath, as if constantly refining something; the other remains as it was in the previous life, condensed within the coccyx.
Although the two inheritances are subtle and insignificant, they are real and tangible, and by no means illusory.
Zhang Nanfeng was overjoyed. He never expected that his supernatural powers would be preserved along with his reincarnation.
But this joy was fleeting.
Although he could sense the two inheritances, he was unable to enter the realm of supernatural powers. Several attempts were all in vain.
He recalled his past life and suddenly remembered that he had entered the Void Realm for the first time after drinking the spiritual liquid.
Now, though he is free, he has no more spiritual elixir to use. Without spiritual elixir, it is difficult to activate supernatural powers; without supernatural powers, he has no chance to find the method of cultivation through human form...
Zhang Nanfeng stood frozen in place, filled with sorrow.
Is he destined to be a strange toad forever, until he dies?
As the last rays of sunlight were swallowed by the night, nocturnal insects and beasts began to roar, their fierce cries rising and falling.
The sweet aroma in the air grew even stronger.
At first, he thought it was just the scent of grass and trees in the forest, but now it permeated the entire dense forest as if it were a real thing, so thick that it could not be ignored.
It smells so good...
Zhang Nanfeng followed the scent, also capturing the sounds of insects chirping, animals running, and the wind sweeping through the branches in the forest.
Having been confined to the alchemy chamber for too long, he felt incredibly refreshed as he roamed freely through the dense forest.
His webbed feet trod across the damp moss, winding around the tangled old roots. Suddenly, a flash of green light appeared in the bushes ahead, and he abruptly stopped—
A pair of eerie green pupils hovered in mid-air, coldly watching him.
It was a giant python coiled on a branch, its body like a withered tree, almost undetectable if not for its eyes.
Startled, Zhang Nanfeng braced himself with his hind legs, ready to retreat at any moment.
Fortunately, the python seemed to have no interest in him, or perhaps it was wary of him. Its green eyes slowly closed, and it returned to silence.
He breathed a sigh of relief. The dense forest seemed tranquil, but in reality, it was fraught with danger at every turn.
Zhang Nanfeng suppressed his excitement and returned to caution.
He circled back to the pool and followed the stream into a low-lying area.
Just as he was about to approach, he suddenly saw a mandrill lying in the reeds, its face blue and its fangs bared, tearing at a live snake, blood splattering all over its face. The mandrill seemed to sense something, and suddenly raised its head, baring its teeth and growling at him.
Zhang Nanfeng dared not wander around anymore, and hurriedly turned back to find another route.
But after circling the forest once, he was surprised to find that the sweet fragrance was everywhere, indiscriminate in intensity. The entire dense forest was like a natural incense burner.
Just then, the branches overhead swayed, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
He carefully surveyed his surroundings, and only dared to approach when he confirmed there was no danger.
A titmouse lay among the fallen leaves, its body trembling slightly, barely breathing and on the verge of death.
Several centipedes, attracted by the scent, crawled out from under the fallen leaves and toward the bird carcass.
The titmouse was bleeding from its mouth and nose, but there were no external injuries on its body, so it was obviously not attacked, but most likely poisoned.
He leaned closer and sniffed the scent emanating from the titmouse's mouth and nose, and suddenly realized—
That so-called sweet aroma is nothing more than miasma from the forest!
Why is it that not only does it not cause any harm to me, but it also makes me feel comfortable all over?
He patted his head, chuckling to himself at his own foolishness.
Even though he was reincarnated with unusual features, he was still born of a poisonous toad, and was originally a poisonous creature. This miasma was a calamity for ordinary birds and beasts, but for him, it might be a stroke of good fortune.
The thought had barely formed when the bushes ahead swayed again.
Zhang Nanfeng stepped back alertly, only to see a gray wild rabbit being driven out by something, stumbling and darting away.
The hare, disoriented, crashed headfirst into a tree trunk, twitched a few times, and then lay still.
Upon closer inspection, black blood was seeping from the rabbit's nose, but its fur was intact, just like the dead sparrow.
Zhang Nanfeng felt a chill run down his spine. He immediately inhaled and exhaled large gulps of miasma.
The miasma enters the body and rushes directly to the glands in the chest and abdomen. After being tempered and transformed by the glands, it becomes a warm current that slowly disperses into the meridians and bones.
This feeling... is exactly the same as the spiritual liquid from before, only a hundred times thinner.
He quickly looked inward again to examine the two inheritances.
The legacy was beginning to glow faintly from the deathly silence.
effective.
However, it is not yet sufficient to unlock supernatural powers. To fully activate them, it will probably require a long and painstaking process.
Looking out over the vast, dense forest, Zhang Nanfeng finally found hope.
In this life, he is determined to live well.