Chapter 14: The Harbinger of Death
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The story goes like this...
In a village, there was a frugal old lady who, while cooking, accidentally spilled rat poison into the rice. Being exceptionally thrifty, she couldn’t bear to throw away a perfectly good bag of rice, so she washed it and cooked up a huge pot.
After the elderly couple ate, both were poisoned and ended up in the hospital. The old lady, having eaten less, was saved. Her husband, however, had eaten more and died from the poisoning that very day.
When the old lady recovered and returned home, she looked at the remaining half pot of rice and again couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. She reasoned that if people couldn’t eat it, then perhaps animals could.
So, the rest of the pot—still laced with rat poison—was fed to the chickens.
Rat poison lethal to humans was certainly deadly to chickens as well. That night, a whole flock of chickens died.
This distressed the old lady even more; she couldn’t eat or sleep! Even then, she couldn’t bring herself to throw away the dead chickens, so she cleaned them and stored them in the kitchen.
The next day was her husband’s funeral, which required hosting a meal for the entire village. Having grown up poor, the old lady had eaten her share of diseased chickens and survived, so she didn’t believe that freshly dead chickens were unsafe to eat—especially since these ones were still fresh.
Thus, the cook, unaware of the circumstances, prepared dishes using the poisoned chickens and served them at the feast.
The outcome echoed a certain poem…
Rat poison in white rice, after eating, all lie flat, lie flat and buried in the hills, relatives come to eat rice, rice laced with rat poison, after eating, the whole village buried together.
“Damn it, stop eating, spit it out!”
When Ye Da arrived, the foolish little white wolf pup was already gulping down the milk. It was probably the first time in its life tasting chilled milk and found it quite delicious.
When Ye Da lifted the entire pup, a few drops of milk still hung from its mouth, leaving him utterly exasperated.
“Spit it out! This is poisoned milk, you idiot, spit it out quickly!”
Ye Da tried to pry the poisoned milk out of the white wolf’s mouth, but it was already too late. The pup had not only swallowed the milk but mistook Ye Da’s finger for a teat and started suckling it.
“Gulp, gulp, gulp~”
Just as Ye Da managed to pull the white wolf pup away from the mother, another gray wolf pup, seeing an open spot at the feeding station, eagerly stepped forward to drink.
“I…”
Ye Da was speechless. Nevertheless, he quickly grabbed the gray wolf pup with his free hand.
This rebellious little creature, seemingly furious at Ye Da for snatching its meal, bared its teeth and growled at him in mid-air.
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“Oh, howl!”
Ye Da held the gray wolf pup up to his face, glaring at it with the intimidating gaze of a giant. “I just saved you, and you dare talk back to me? You ungrateful creature!”
“Whine~”
Perhaps it was the sheer size difference, or maybe Ye Da’s imposing presence, but the wolf pup instantly cowered, tucking its tail and even wetting itself, unable to meet Ye Da’s eyes.
From that day on, the wolf pup remembered the terror of being dominated by a giant.
“Hmm, learned your lesson?”
Ye Da saw the pup submit and stopped scaring it. He turned to look at the dead mother wolf, originally pondering how to deal with her so the pups would stop drinking poisoned milk, but then…
Ye Da saw the dead mother wolf transform into three glowing orbs!
Just like when he killed that giant bear.
He didn’t even need to deal with the corpse, nor cut meat or skin; the wolf simply disintegrated into a pile of meat, a heap of organs, and a beast core.
This was just as well.
Ye Da relaxed a little and set the wolf pups back on the ground. They were probably too young to understand death. After escaping his hands, they merely sniffed around, tilting their heads in confusion, unable to comprehend why their mother had suddenly disappeared.
“Plop!”
Ye Da reached for the orb containing meat chunks, and five pieces wrapped in wolf skin fell out.
The wolf was so skinny, yielding only a tenth of the meat compared to the giant bear.
From another orb, Ye Da retrieved a bundle of gray wolf organs, plump and sizable, almost as much as the meat.
This wolf had wasted away, sacrificing everything for her pups.
Ye Da pressed his palms together, silently reciting, “Press 1 for Buddha’s forgiveness!”
After confessing to Buddha, Ye Da turned to the last orb, which contained a dull gray beast core.
But this beast core was what Ye Da anticipated most.
When he killed the giant bear, he had also obtained a beast core. When it merged into his body, he felt a surge of power throughout, but he was gravely wounded at the time, and all the energy flowed to his injuries.
Thus…
Ye Da never felt much change.
But now, his body was intact—a perfect opportunity to experiment with the beast core’s effects!
Perhaps…
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This beast core might bring about changes, like breaking through the barriers of the dantian in cultivation novels—one leap to immortality.
“Pop!”
Ye Da reached for the final bubble, grasping the gray beast core inside.
The moment it melted in his hand, a wave of warmth surged forth, flooding his limbs and body, making him feel an overwhelming burst of strength once again!
He had to admit, the sensation was truly addictive.
It was as if his body was being recharged, all fatigue vanishing in an instant.
Even his slightly strained arm from struggling with the monster in the mist suddenly stopped hurting, his neck and shoulders felt better, and he felt entirely reborn!
Especially his heart!
Ye Da felt as though his heart had been equipped with a powerful pacemaker!
For the first time in his life, he realized how strong and vigorous a normal heartbeat could be.
He no longer had to worry about sudden heart attacks.
“Crack… crack!”
Just as Ye Da thought the beast core only served to replenish and repair his vitality, he noticed something strange—a patch of gray skin appeared on the back of his hand.
And the grayness was spreading. As the warm energy gathered there, he watched as the patch grew larger and larger.
It was like a drop of ink in clear water, slowly expanding—a fascinating sight.
Moreover…
The gray skin had a hint of cement color and felt cool and rough to the touch, like stone!
“What’s happening?”
Ye Da, stunned, touched the stony skin on his hand.
Was this the beast core’s power, or its side effect?
Could his skin end up permanently like this?
Damn it, what’s going on?
Ye Da began to panic.
The patch of stone-like skin was hard as a rock, as if it weren’t part of his own body.
The sensation frightened him so much he wanted to call for help!
Truly terrifying!
He remembered a disease on Earth known as “tree bark disease,” whose main feature was the gradual hardening of skin, turning it into something like bark.
Eventually, the hand would become useless, incapable of normal movement, let alone any delicate operations.
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