Walking in the cycle of reincarnation

Chapter 33 Origin and Extinction

The voices of the three still echo:

"The day the snake scales embedded themselves in the back of your neck, you were destined to become the skin we shed. Today, it is time to do our part for the altar."

Upon hearing this, Meng Cang felt a chill run through his bones.

All my efforts... in the end, were just to become medicine for that snake? In this entire life, is there truly nothing that truly belongs to me?!

"No......"

Meng Cang wailed, his ten fingers digging into the mud, his nails cracking.

He tried to tear off the snake scales on the back of his neck, but the scales had already grown into his flesh, and even the slightest pull caused excruciating pain.

The snake's body was very close.

Meng Cang and the snake's body clung together, melting away like wax.

The once withered and shriveled snake's blood body swelled and expanded, with blood gushing from its thousands of pores and congealing into a brand new mucous membrane.

"Big brother—!"

Meng Shi's eyes widened in fury as he was swept away by the giant snake's tail. Before he even hit the ground, the snake raised its head and inhaled sharply, intercepting him mid-air and swallowing him whole.

The sucking sound is teeth-grinding.

Meng Lie witnessed his younger brother being devoured, his body dissipated into a blood mist, and he lost his composure.

In that brief moment of distraction, the giant snake slammed in like a battering ram, blasting Meng Lie into the ruins.

The giant snake, having gained the upper hand, coiled the corpses of the Meng family members scattered on the ground before its body and opened its mouth to devour them.

Within that constantly writhing, blood-red body, Meng Cang's consciousness had not been extinguished.

He had become one with the snake's body, and his five senses were connected with the great snake.

He could sense its hunger, the crunching of its own kind's bones between its teeth, and the despair of Meng Shi before its death.

It was me... who ruined the Meng family... I am the sinner of the Meng family!

Meng Cang wept silently inside the snake's belly, his tears mixed with blood plasma seeping from the snake's eye slits, only to be washed away by the rain.

The will to die surged within the snake's belly, like the last struggle of a drowning person.

The giant snake's lunge at yet another corpse abruptly froze, and the four overlapping sounds became chaotic:

"No...no...."

The snake's body convulsed uncontrollably, its giant tail thrashing wildly, snapping a stilted house in half.

Meng Cang's distorted face rose and fell beneath his flesh and blood in an endless cycle.

......

Outside the battlefield, Zhang Nanfeng had already made up his mind.

This giant snake feeds on flesh and blood, and the blood and qi accumulated within its body are so abundant that they are almost overflowing. The "ephemeral appearance" transformation thrives on such abundant blood and qi.

He released the golden poison accumulated in his venom glands, which transformed into a perfectly round, blood-red mass. Enveloped by a strange wind, it disappeared into the giant snake's mouth.

The epiphyllum enters the body and takes root.

Just as the giant snake was about to pounce again, it suddenly felt a chill in its stomach. It was the lingering struggle of Meng Cang's will, turning its head to stare at Meng Lie.

Meng Lie sprang up from the ruins and rubble, his eyes burning with madness.

"You beast—! Prepare to die!"

......

Zhang Nanfeng lay in wait in the shadows, patiently awaiting the onset of the poison.

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Inside the giant snake's belly, the "Ephemeral Flower" finally absorbed enough vital energy and blood, taking root, sprouting, branching out, and blooming.

The deafening roar echoed through the mountains and fields, like thunder crashing down from the heavens to the mortal realm.

The enormous serpent's body exploded from the inside out, and blood and flesh bloomed amidst the torrent, transforming into a blood-red epiphyllum flower.

Flesh and blood are called "petals," and human tendons are called "stamens."

The shockwave spread out in a ring, shaking the raindrops within a radius of ten feet into white mist.

Meng Lie, who was in the middle of the battle, was shot backward and crashed into the bamboo building where the council was held, and then he was silent.

Red rain splashed down, turning the village into a prison.

Zhang Nanfeng looked up at the vanished epiphyllum flower and sighed with admiration.

Absolutely stunning.

He stepped over the scattered pieces of flesh, the camouflage made of wild fruit, which had long been washed away by the torrential rain, and the golden skin shimmered with an eerie light in the rain.

The bamboo house was in a mess.

Meng Lie lay on his back on the shattered steps, his chest caved in, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, yet he still clung to life.

Amidst the misty rain, a golden-purple hue loomed high above.

"Jin..." Meng Lie gurgled in his throat, his eyes filled with horror.

Zhang Nanfeng leaned in and poured the last bit of gold poison in his body into the other's mouth.

Meng Lie's eyes widened, and the dark green dough visibly began to turn golden.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but his throat was already poisoned by the gold, leaving only a hissing sound as he breathed his last.

Where's the cultivation technique?!

Zhang Nanfeng tore open the tattered black robe and thoroughly examined Meng Lie's entire body.

No.

There were no jade slips, no booklets, and no inscribed bone fragments.

Why not...?

A growing obsession crept into Zhang Nanfeng's eyes. He had gone through so much trouble, risked his life, and in the end, it couldn't all be for nothing!

Why not!

Enraged, he bit down hard on the back of Meng Lie's neck, tearing off a piece of flesh still attached to the snake scales.

He paused the instant the skin and flesh peeled off.

Among the dense snake scales covering Meng Lie's back, one scale stood out. While the rest of the scales were bluish-black, this one was a deep, dark red.

Zhang Nanfeng's heart pounded wildly.

He bit the edge of the dark red snake scale and tore it apart with force.

A jade piece, about an inch long, was embedded between the flesh and bone, breaking through the bloodstains and revealing a clear light.

found it!

Overwhelmed with ecstasy, Zhang Nanfeng rolled his tongue and was about to swallow the jade piece.

The moment the tip of the tongue touched the jade piece, the torn dark red snake scale burst forth with dazzling blood light!

The force of the shockwave erupted, Zhang Nanfeng's golden skin cracked, the purple spots shattered, and he was thrown to the ground.

His bones and muscles were groaning in pain, and blood was seeping from his entire body.

But in his eyes, there was only that jade.

Zhang Nanfeng dragged his mangled body, step by step through the pool of blood, leaving a long trail of blood.

His forelimbs were broken and useless, so he could only move slowly by pushing off the ground with his hind limbs and using his chin to brace against the broken pieces of wood.

After struggling several times, he reached Meng Lie's corpse again.

With a flick of the tongue, the jade-like substance enters the stomach.

As the jade piece settled in his stomach, a cool, refreshing flow of information emanated from the jade, reaching deep into his soul.

It's magic!

Zhang Nanfeng trembled violently, and his toad-like eyes burst forth with extreme ecstasy.

He ultimately won this high-stakes gamble.

He struggled to turn over, assessed his condition, and began to make plans.

The body was free of the poison, the poison glands were shriveled, and there was very little wind in the coccyx.

Fortunately, he still had one trick up his sleeve—

"Tissue regeneration"

This transformation can heal his injuries. He only needs to find some poisonous substances among the corpses scattered on the ground to replenish his strength, and he can live and embark on the immortal path he has always dreamed of.

Amidst the howling wind and rain, a soft sound suddenly came from beside me.

A head rolled twice in the pool of blood before coming to rest in front of me.

Where the head rolled, a slender figure stood motionless.

Meng Jinchuan stared in astonishment at his brother's head, which he had accidentally kicked out, as if struck by lightning.

"elder brother......"

He murmured to himself, then looked up at Jin Zi.

Zhang Nanfeng also looked at him.

The boy was soaked to the bone, his face indistinguishable between rain and tears.

It's him.

Zhang Nanfeng felt somewhat relieved and ignored it, instead turning to rummage through a corpse beside him, trying to find some poisonous insects and pills in its bosom.

A thunderclap exploded in the sky, and a flash of lightning illuminated the inside and outside of the bamboo house.

Meng Jinchuan bent down, picked up a broken knife from the ground, and charged at Zhang Nanfeng like a madman. The blade pierced through Zhang Nanfeng's back and emerged from his front.

Zhang Nanfeng was puzzled and looked down at the tip of the knife, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He let out a muffled groan, and his last remaining breath of wind surged out instinctively, turning into a gust of wind that blew Meng Jinchuan behind him away, sending him crashing into the ruins of the bamboo building.

The boy got up again.

He was bruised and battered on the forehead, but seemed to feel no pain. He picked up the broken knife again and rushed forward, crying out.

"The Golden Toad Ancestor is long dead!"

In the rainy night, the boy wept bitterly.

"I see the embroidery! I understand it!"

"That wasn't our ancestor being protected by the golden toad...that was our ancestor skinning the golden toad!"

"Who are you?! Why did you lie to me?!"

"You didn't come to save the Meng family...you're a calamity for the Meng family! It was you...who brought this to the altar! It was you who killed my brother! Killed my father! Killed Uncle Stone! Killed everyone—!"

The broken blade rose and fell incessantly, its gleam mingling with tears, weaving a web of killing intent.

Zhang Nanfeng tried to dodge, but with all four limbs damaged, his wind energy depleted, and the golden poison exhausted, he no longer had the strength to even lift his claws.

He looked at the boy's face, which was streaked with tears and filled with hatred, and felt a deep sense of regret.

I regret that I was too soft-hearted and didn't nip the problem in the bud sooner.

One cut after another, each one piercing the body.

The golden skin was peeled off, the purple spots were chopped up, and blood mixed with rainwater flowed into the cracks of the bamboo house and seeped into the soil of Jiebei Mountain.

Zhang Nanfeng's soul floated upwards, detaching from his battered and ravaged body.

In the instant his soul drifted away, he saw Meng Jinchuan kneeling before his corpse, his hands trembling, digging out the shriveled poison gland from beneath the golden skin.

The boy held the poison gland, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Zhang Nanfeng looked down at this scene and felt a moment of disorientation.

He looked up.

Inside and outside the bamboo building, amidst the vast rain curtain, countless ghostly figures stood, seemingly out of nowhere.

Meng Lie, Meng Shi, Meng Cang, Meng Yuanshan... they are all here.

The entire Meng family's deceased souls stared blankly, dazed and confused, as if waiting to be extradited.

Zhang Nanfeng remained as clear-headed as ever.

A familiar and powerful force pierced through the wind and rain, sweeping him up along with the spirits of the Meng family's dead.