The elixir had been consumed, but the memories remained, and it would take some time before it took effect.
Su He was uncertain of his current state, unsure if his consciousness had coalesced into a wild goose or if he had taken over the body of one.
As night enveloped the land, he cautiously landed in a farmhouse courtyard, stealthily entering the cowshed without waking the soundly sleeping old dog.
His body was already frozen stiff.
This season was truly unsuitable for geese to be out and about, a full month too early, and an ordinary bird’s body couldn’t withstand such cold.
Though there were no cows in the cowshed, there was leftover straw from when cows had been kept. He hastily gathered it to form a rough nest and burrowed in, taking nearly half an hour before his body gradually warmed up.
Tiptoeing out of the cowshed, he lifted the winnowing basket and feasted on the chicken feed in the trough, the dice of fate refilling the trough for the farmer.
The old dog did not bark, and only then did Su He notice it had been dead for a while, its body rigid.
Su He crawled back into the nest and closed his eyes to sleep. He had flown for an entire day. As he was flying towards Yunmeng Ze, he feared any mishaps might occur, and having the wild goose nearby could be somewhat beneficial.
His sleep was restless, at one moment dreaming of being surrounded by wolves at Listening Sea Lake, then of Dragon Turtle growing wings, and then of suddenly waking up in an orphanage, with everything in the Mysterious Wasteland being nothing but a dream.
This dream was too terrifying, and Su He was shocked awake. Compared to his previous life, he preferred his current one, especially after becoming Dragon Turtle.
Who wouldn’t want to live forever, ascend to the sky, and dive into the abyss?
Upon waking, Su He heard sobbing. Peeking out, he saw a boy around eleven or twelve years old, clutching the old dog, peeling its skin while crying.
Feeling sorry for the dog’s passing yet unable to bury it, in these times no food could be wasted, especially when the household’s chickens, ducks, and piglets were growing and not a single wild vegetable could be found outside.
The boy looked up while crying, locking eyes with Su He.
“Grandma! There’s a goose! We won’t eat Tiger, let’s eat the goose!” the boy shouted with joy.
Su He: “…Your grandpa!”
He dashed out of the cowshed, took flight, but then heard the door creak open, and a frail voice came from below: “A goose? What goose?”
“I don’t know, one with black and white colors.”
The old woman’s voice suddenly became urgent: “That’s a wild goose! A messenger, did your father send a message?”
The old woman’s voice turned mournful.
These damned times, as if cursed by misfortune, war suddenly broke out two months ago, and the only able-bodied man in the house was conscripted. Two months without a single word.
How could it be that the wild goose arrives just as the old dog dies? Perhaps the goose brought news of her son’s death, and the old dog went to protect its master below!
The old woman was about to wail when a commotion outside interrupted her, a cart pulled by an ox barged in with a man who had injured his leg.
“Auntie, Chuanwa is back!” The old woman’s sorrow was disrupted, and she groped her way outside, her eyes tightly shut—she was blind.
“Auntie, what luck!” The cart driver laughed heartily: “Last night on the way back, we ran into bandits, almost killed Chuanwa, but it was dark and the road slippery, and they fell to their deaths instead. Chuanwa only got a flesh wound, rest for a month, and he won’t miss the farming season!”
The old woman felt her son’s body, confirming his injuries were not severe, crying and laughing, then turned to shout at her grandson: “Egghead! Call back that wild goose! Offer it good chicken feed! We won’t kill the old dog, bury it! Bury it!”
The wild goose must have brought the message, and the old dog died in place of their Chuanwa! Otherwise, how could these three events coincide on the same night?
Joy, burying the dog, a separate chicken feed…
Su He flapped his wings and landed again, as today the sky was overcast with a blizzard, indeed not suitable for flying far. Flying in such weather could cause problems for his body.
Su He compromised with comfort and settled down in the farmhouse’s cowshed. He had attempted to cultivate and advance as an Exotic Beast that day but failed.
The transformation from the Dragon God Sacrifice was not a true transformation, not a second body, and could not cultivate.
But with such weather, he really couldn’t fly, not until the spring in March. Su He carefully sensed the Dragon Turtle’s physical body. The Heng hexagram was still madly revealing its origin, and it seemed he couldn’t open the heavens for a while.
…
Above Yunmeng Ze, the toad had already left the Qianjiang Mysterious Realm, marking a small island in the Mysterious Realm as its second permanent residence.
A soul beast could reside in one more Mysterious Realm with each rank advancement. The toad didn’t know its own rank but felt that residing in three or four more Mysterious Realms shouldn’t be a problem.
It hopped out of Qianjiang and was met with a massive snake head.
The toad croaked in fright, jumping up. This was its natural predator, especially since the snake was half-real, half-illusion, as if specifically targeting soul beasts.
The toad calmed its startled heart and looked closely to see that it was Su He’s Basalt true form’s spirit snake taking shape.
Not yet fully solidified, but it already had a form.
Its eyes were closed, devoid of consciousness—the spirit snake did not have an independent consciousness; it was still Su He himself.
The toad fell silent for a moment. Would Su He be able to manifest the spirit snake without opening his domain in the future? Could the spirit snake move independently from the Dragon Turtle’s body?
If so—could it ride the snake? Riding a natural predator would feel much better than riding a Turtle!
The toad looked to the side, where Ji Feixue’s delicate hands were pressed against the Dragon Turtle’s shell, her consciousness entering the Dragon Turtle’s body, meticulously checking.
No wonder Qianqianzi hadn’t seen her; she was hiding here.
The toad sat by, carefully accompanying her, wanting to jump into Su He’s body to check what Ji Feixue was doing but afraid of disrupting the princess’s rhythm and harming Su He.
It could only sit quietly by her side.
Time passed in this way, from sunset to moonrise, until Ji Feixue slowly opened her eyes in the middle of the night.
“It’s started.”
The nearly asleep toad was jolted awake: “What’s started?”
“The medicine!”
The toad had given a soul-separating elixir divided into yin and yang, one for the consciousness-transformed beast and one for the main body. Here in the main body, the elixir had already taken effect.
…
With the full moon hanging high, Su He had stayed with this family for half a month, and the weather was gradually warming. If the sun came out tomorrow, he could probably fly west.
From here to Dongyun Mountain would take at least five or six months of flying, and crossing Dongyun was an unknown duration.
Su He had been wondering for several days now. The wild geese here were almost no different from those in his previous life, but the Mysterious Wasteland was too vast! Flying from north to south, those migratory birds couldn’t reach the end in a lifetime. How did they manage migration?
This was an interesting topic. Su He decided to follow and study it after returning to his true form, perhaps gaining some insights? After all, Dragon Turtle had an endless lifespan, which could serve as a pastime.
The night was uneventful, and Su He slept lightly, hearing the cooing in the chicken coop and the piglets in the pigsty suckling on their mother’s milk.
A gust of wind brought a stench.
Wolves again!
Su He was all too familiar with this scent.
And it wasn’t just one. He opened his eyes and quickly flew out of the cowshed to stand on the roof. The sow in the pigsty, sensing the wolves’ scent, became restless, shoving her piglets roughly behind her.
Six wolves in total, two outside, four scaling the wall. Two headed straight for the pigsty, two eyed the house hungrily.
They wanted to eat humans too!
This season was the hardest, even worse than winter! The active beasts in winter had been mostly hunted, and those hibernating were not yet emerging. No wonder they would enter human courtyards.
Su He flapped his wings and landed on the main house’s roof, cawing loudly while stomping on the straw beneath him.
The old woman inside, a light sleeper due to her age, woke up immediately. Hearing the sow’s cries and the noise outside, she knew wolves had entered the yard.
She banged on an iron basin and cursed loudly inside the house.
The noise from the basin woke the neighbors, but no one dared to leave their courtyards. They released their big dogs, and in moments, over a dozen rushed into Chuanwa’s home.
The wild wolves fled in panic, unwilling to fight against so many dogs, turning tail to leap over the wall and run.
They were different from dogs; dogs had something they must protect, but the wolves were just hunting.
Hunting doesn’t fear failure, only injury. Dogs could be cared for by their owners if injured, but for wolves, injury was a death sentence.
The dogs chased the wolf pack out of the village and didn’t pursue further. Only then did the brave villagers emerge with torches, heading to Chuanwa’s house to check if the wolves had hurt anyone.
One wolf on a lonely hill outside the village turned back, its mournful eyes staring directly at Su He.
This one held a grudge!
Su He took flight, calling out as he flew westward.
A wild goose couldn’t provoke a pack of wolves; being targeted by wolves meant a sneak attack could happen at any time. Better to avoid trouble if you can’t face it. Su He decided to set off immediately and leave right away.
These days, Su He felt more and more that the longer he stayed transformed, the deeper he merged with this world. Upon returning to his true form, comprehending the laws of the world and absorbing its vital energy would surely become more convenient.
His potential had increased!
With such a good thing, of course, he wanted to live as long as possible.
The goose in the high sky, chilled by the cold wind, shivered. The night was still too cold.
He took off against the wind, leaving the village, flying a dozen miles before his wings stiffened from the cold. He found an abandoned magpie nest and slowly descended.
It was a bit small, but it was enough to shelter from the wind. Su He settled into the nest, planning to wait for daylight before setting off again.
A faint glow from below pierced through the branches. Su He’s feathers stood on end.
Looking down, it was another wolf. But not from the same pack as before, this one was a lone wolf with fresh wounds, its head raised, eyes gazing at Su He.
That look was somewhat familiar.
An acquaintance… a familiar bird!
Flame Crow! That gaze was all too familiar.
Had Flame Crow’s consciousness transformed into a wild wolf?
The hatred in the wolf’s eyes was intense, one eye shining with the light of lichen, the other transformed into an eternal prison.
If not for Su He, it wouldn’t have lost the precious lichen, nor would it have been imprisoned by its uncle for eons.
Su He watched it.
That look meant trouble!
A bird that had lived for twenty thousand years, so thoughtless?
To reveal hatred to a Dragon Turtle? Shouldn’t it have hidden well, waiting for him to be alone, completely cutting off space to prevent soul beasts from sending messages, then striking a fatal blow and erasing all traces?
A wolf and a goose faced each other across the tree, and a gust of wind blew. The old nest, long unmaintained, couldn’t withstand the goose’s hefty body, and with a crack, the branch broke, the nest intact, but Su He was flung down.
Suddenly unable to react, he flapped his wings and fell. Below, the wolf’s eyes narrowed, and it lunged forward, biting towards the wild goose.
Chapters 8 to 16 have been modified. If you are reading and find the plot confusing, you can re-read from chapter 8. The full replacement will take about 10 minutes at 12:10 on May 17th. If you start reading at 12:10, you can read normally.