nyslfriends Chapter 11 Another Raven
Chapter 11 Another Raven
"Is that a fire to the south? Could it be another beast tide?"
"How is that possible! They just caused a scene last month, and now they're doing it again this month?"
"That's right, the fire didn't look very big, it can't compare to the scale of a beast tide."
"Don't you even understand the principle of things appearing smaller when closer and smaller when farther away? Of course it looks smaller from this distance. If you dare, go take a look at the south side of the city!"
"The south side of the city is on fire, do you think I'm stupid?"
"..."
"..."
The neighbors chattered amongst themselves, seemingly joking around, but none of them could hide their worry.
Chen Luo mingled in the crowd, looking quite nervous.
Everyone was terrified; this was yet another disaster caused by a beast tide.
There's no way around it; living in Qingshan County, almost every resident is on edge. If they sense any hint of a beast tide, they can't sleep soundly at night.
Almost every one or two years, a beast tide, large or small, will occur. After each beast tide, at least a few dozen families will be displaced, and in more serious cases, families will be destroyed and people will die.
Fortunately, the distant flame gradually dimmed.
A few quarters of an hour later, the firelight completely disappeared.
The weather was dry, so it looked like it was just a common fire.
"I wonder if anyone died in the fire."
"Do you think the night watchmen are just sitting around doing nothing? They probably evacuated everyone long ago."
"Ha, if that's how it is, then why did this fire burn for so long before it finally went out?"
"The firefighters weren't there in time..."
"..."
The neighbors, who had been anxiously waiting, breathed a sigh of relief. After discussing it for a while, they dispersed. Chen Luo also breathed a sigh of relief, and could go home and get a good night's sleep.
Exhausted, he went home and collapsed into bed.
The following day, at the beginning of Shen time (3-5 PM).
Qingzhang Mountain.
Chen Luo effortlessly dodged a green snake's attack, while simultaneously swinging a wooden stick and striking down precisely.
With neither too much nor too little force, the green snake fell to the ground, unconscious but not dead.
"Green-spotted snake, eighty coins." Chen Luo skillfully tied it up, threw it into the full bamboo basket, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.
"Another bountiful day."
"The 480 wen of taxes I owe will be paid off today, faster than I expected."
He glanced at the sky; it was still early, but he was already preparing to descend the mountain.
It wasn't that he didn't want to continue, but that the bamboo basket was too full.
With the burden of taxes finally lifted, he hummed an off-key tune and walked briskly to the mountain pass.
Liu Zhengshan is still on duty at Shanguan today.
When Chen Luo saw him, she smiled and took down the bamboo basket, intending to show him the full basket of her harvest.
For some reason, Liu Zhengshan looked unusually serious and pulled him aside without saying a word.
"Brother Liu, what's wrong?" Seeing his appearance, Chen Luo's heart tightened involuntarily.
"Xiao Chen, look at this." Liu Zhengshan took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and said in a deep voice, "Isn't the lynx in the painting exactly the same as the one you caught that day?"
Chen Luo glanced at the drawing paper and was immediately taken aback.
On the paper was a drawing of a ferocious lynx with three tails and vertical pupils, its appearance terrifying.
It was that beast, the red-faced cat!
"It looks somewhat like it." Chen Luo appeared calm, but a chill ran down his spine. "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this lynx?"
"Don't ask too many questions yet." Liu Zhengshan stared intently at him. "After you brought the lynx down the mountain that day, did anything strange happen?"
Chen Luo thought for a moment, then, without hiding anything, gave a brief explanation of what happened that night, except for the Mountain and Sea Scroll.
"Back from the dead... So that's how you broke through to the first level of internal energy. You're incredibly lucky." Liu Zhengshan sighed, then pressed on, "So, what did you do with that lynx in the end?"
Chen Luo blinked and pointed to his stomach, "It's in here."
"..." Liu Zhengshan hesitated, then finally breathed a sigh of relief, "If you encounter something like this again in the future, be sure to speak up as soon as possible."
"What exactly happened?" Chen Luo asked, puzzled.
"Last night, a demonic disaster struck the south of the city," Liu Zhengshan said in a deep voice.
South of the city...
Was the fire I saw last night actually a demonic disaster?
Chen Luo was startled. "Could it be..."
"That's right, it's this thing that's drawn on the canvas."
Liu Zhengshan slowly explained, "You can only say you're lucky. I actually only found out recently. According to the mountain guards working in Nanshan, a hunter found a dead lynx in Nanshan yesterday. He took it home intending to stew it, but the lynx miraculously came back to life, killed the hunter, and then wreaked havoc in the south of the city, causing heavy casualties and even starting a fire. In the end, it was the martial arts masters from Qingyun Martial Arts School who stepped in and destroyed the cat demon."
"This..." Chen Luo was shocked.
Isn't this exactly the same experience he went through back then?
However, he broke through to the first level of strength at the moment of battle and killed the red-faced cat.
But in the south of the city, it was the hunter who died.
Or to put it another way, that hunter was almost another version of himself in a different way.
"In short, you must be very careful on the mountain these days. The Mountain Guard has dispatched a lot of people to patrol the mountain and has discovered that there are many large wild animals in the depths of the shallow mountainous area of the northeastern southern mountain. I wonder if this is related to the appearance of the demon cat."
Liu Zhengshan paused, then added, "Also, I've already reported your case. I expect the guards will come to question you tonight. Don't be afraid, just cooperate."
"It's alright, it's nothing." Chen Luo nodded.
Liu Zhengshan then took the bamboo basket from Chen Luo and began his routine inspection.
But as soon as he opened the lid, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Two seven-step snakes, one ringed-nosed snake, five yellow-spotted snakes, and two green-spotted snakes..." He looked up at Chen Luo with a strange gaze. "I say, kid, have you been possessed by that demonic cat? How come you've caught so many snakes these past two days?"
"...Hehe, how is that possible?" Chen Luo scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
Fortunately, Liu Zhengshan was just saying it casually and didn't investigate further. After reminding him to be careful, he let him go.
Leaving the mountain pass, Chen Luo was shrouded in a lingering gloom.
"Another hunter from the south of the city also found a Huan beast carcass in the mountains?" he muttered to himself.
Moreover, the experiences they had were almost exactly the same as my own.
This is just too much of a coincidence.
The only explanation he could think of, and the one that was obvious, was that two, or more, Huan beasts had left the deep mountains for some reason and appeared in the foothills, where they happened to be lying in a place where hunters could find them while they were feigning death...
Thinking of this, Chen Luo noticed another suspicious point: "But why was it that someone was able to find the corpse of the Huan beast?"
The fact that the Huan beast's carcass was picked up by someone means that the carcass should have been intact.
For example, he recalled that on that day, what he found by the stream was an incredibly intact Huan beast carcass, which looked as if it had just died.
However, even if there are no large wild beasts in the low mountains, it is still a desolate wilderness. Logically speaking, snakes, rats, insects, ants, or carrion birds should have found the corpses first. So how come he and another hunter were able to bring them back intact one after another?
What caused the Huan beast to be severely injured and fall into a state of suspended animation?
Could it be that the Huan beast deliberately faked its death to lure people back to the city?
"Unlikely," Chen Luo shook his head.
Although, as far as he knew, cats' brains were smooth with few wrinkles and their intelligence was not high, they were not stupid enough to seek their own death.
Moreover, that Huan beast was no ordinary creature.
Leaving aside its ability to come back to life, the innate talent of vertical pupils that I inherited from it is extraordinary.
In short, there were too many doubts, and Chen Luo pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
He could only suppress these questions for now and silently remind himself to remain vigilant.
"By the way, I wonder how things are going in the south of the city now."
"Brother Liu said the casualties were heavy... but the Huan beasts didn't seem that strong. I could handle them with just one level of strength, so how could the casualties be so high?"
Chen Luo muttered to himself, then suddenly paused.
He suddenly remembered that Lu Qun seemed to live in the southern part of the city, and in the suburbs of the county, at the foot of Nanshan Mountain!
Thinking of this, Lu Qun's words from yesterday, "I'll bring you some sweet potato cakes tomorrow," suddenly echoed in his mind.
It's just like those prophecies in some cheesy TV dramas from my past life that foreshadowed the death of a character.