Chapter 36 – Xiao Hong’s revels
A night had pa.s.sed. When the darkness was broken by the first light of dawn, as the moon faded from the sky, Su Ming who was in the cave suddenly shuddered. Then, he gradually lowered his head that he kept raised all the while.
His gaze was one of confusion, and had a trace of emptiness that is hard to express in words. When Xiao Hong who was aside saw him, the hair on its body immediately stood on its end and it retreated against the wall of the cave, a terrified expression on its face.
In Su Ming’s eyes, a faint silhouette of the blood moon could be seen, fading.
After some time, when the blood moon silhouette had vanished from his eyes, he awoke from that confused state. Watching from aside, Xiao Hong was stunned, its expression doubtful.
Drawing a deep breath, the night that had pa.s.sed somehow only felt like an instant to him. Recalling the scenes of the night, he was confused. However, after checking his body, shock replaced his confusion.
“My injuries… are all healed…” Su Ming muttered. By forcefully raising his cultivation earlier, he sustained some injuries in the process. Although the injuries are not serious, it will require a few days of meditation to recuperate. But now, in just one night, they are all healed.
After some time, Su Ming drew a deep breath. Raising his head, what he could see was only the daytime and sun outside.
“That is indeed a Mán-technique, a Mán-technique of the Fire-Mán Tribe! It has to be extremely powerful to be able to heal my injuries in one night…” Su Ming’s eyes flashed, circulating his blood qi, nineteen blood veins immediately surfaced on his body.
However, after the nineteenth blood vein appeared, Su Ming’s expression looked somewhat weird. He could vaguely feel that he still had some energy leftover. Keeping his focus, Su Ming once again circulated his blood. After the blood qi made a few more rounds in his body, suddenly, the twentieth blood vein coalesced on his chest!
Witnessing this, Su Ming’s eyes widened. Dissipating his blood qi, he felt truly awed by what had happened in the night.
His heart pounded, the extraordinary effectiveness of the Mountain Spirit Pill had already shocked him. But now, with the unbelievable Fire-Mán technique, to Su Ming, it was akin to paving a path for his future.
“Awakening! Perhaps I, Su Ming, can become an awakened cultivator in my life time, an awakened expert!” Su Ming drew a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart. Xiao Hong who was not far away ran towards him and climbed onto his shoulder. Staring at his eyes, it revealed a look of incomprehension, and even raised its hands to s.n.a.t.c.h at Su Ming’s eyes.
Su Ming laughed, pushing Xiao Hong. After playing awhile, Xiao Hong seemed to recall something, and screeched at Su Ming. Raising its right paw, it brought it to its nose and gave a sniff, revealing an enthralled expression on its face. It even gave it a few licks, and placed his right paw in front of Su Ming, wanting him to sniff it as well.
Su Ming was stunned. For the past months, he had often seen Xiao Hong repeating the same action, and although he could vaguely guess why, he felt that something was not right. Looking at the extended right paw, he hesitated, but looking at Xiao Hong whose eyes were filled with antic.i.p.ation, he moved forward and gave it a sniff.
A stench of fishy odour wafted to his nose, causing Su Ming to push it away, not knowing to laugh or cry.
Xiao Hong’s eyes immediately widened, as though it was displeased with Su Ming’s reaction. Screeching at Su Ming, it then ran aside and sniffed it on its own. That mesmerised look, as though that right paw had caught something previously…
“It didn’t use to do this…” Watching Xiao Hong’s expression, Su Ming felt even more strange. Making up his mind, he decided to hatch a plan.
Soon, it was a few days later. Su Ming had immersed himself in the refining process. The enticing effects of the Mountain Spirit Pill made him decided to make more of it.
It was just too unfortunate that the success rate of refining the mountain spirit pill was too low, after using up half of all his Sieved Cloud leaves he had only made two pills.
Other than spending his time refining, Su Ming would also cultivate in the day trying to stabilise his third level of blood condensation’s cultivation. Now Su Ming’s body is filled with a powerful energy, based on his calculations, he should be able to fight the HeiShan Tribe member he underhandedly killed head-on now.
When night falls, Su Ming would stop refining pills and sit in the cave watching the moon. Slowly visualising although it had not been as effective as the first time.
Even so, in these few days of cultivation, Su Ming manage to make further progress in his cultivation, as another blood vein appeared making a total of twenty two blood veins.
Tonight Su Ming was staring at the moon as usual, his mind visualising the crimson glow. Xiao Hong who had not left in many days suddenly climbed up, its eyes excited and intoxicated as it smelled its own paw while staring at Su Ming, only after making sure that Su Ming would not notice it leave did it quickly jump away.
The moment the red flash left the cave, Su Ming immediately opened his eyes and let out a smirk, quickly getting up he too left the cave.
“I have to go and see what has this Xiao Hong been reveling about.” Su Ming is after all still a young man, after noticing Xiao Hong’s strange actions he could not help but become curious.
Given Su Ming’s current cultivation of twenty two blood veins, his speed and dexterity had already reached a very high level, while walking on snow if he willed it he could walk travel without leaving a single footprint.
While following Xiao Hong he made sure to be out of its detection range, Xiao Hong was moving considerably fast even in the night, very quickly it had ran down the mountain.
As Su Ming followed he had been smiling from start to end.
However, after an hour it slowly diminished, replaced with a strange confusion.
He saw Xiao Hong leap through the forest continuously seemingly very familiar with the route as it advanced to its goal. Finally it stopped in a hole within the jungle, all the vegetation split apart, giving off a messy look.
Xiao Hong walked around the hole slowly, checking his surroundings warily before quickly jumping in.
After seeing this sight, Su Ming could not help but frown. Based on his foresting experience he could tell that a hole this large was most likely a cave where large beasts rest in.
At this point, a sudden roar came out from the cave followed by a small red flash running out. While running it proudly screeched tightly holding onto a ma.s.s of black hair in its paw.
“This is……” Su Ming hesitated for awhile, before suddenly the earth started to shake and a huge bear-like beast came roaring out of the hole.
Its body was completely black, its fur long, its red eyes fuming with rage, but after Su Ming saw the beast his expression became even more puzzled.
Looking at the beast’s lower body…… on a large portion of it was bare patches of skin with scattered bits of fur left. It would seem as if this was not the first time it had its fur pulled out, it has infact probably happened many times……
After recalling the thing Xiao Hong held in its hand, Su Ming’s eyes widened after he remembered that he had sniffed its paw after Xiao Hong instigated him a few days back
That beast roared frantically, wildly chasing Xiao Hong, but unfortunately it did not have the speed Xiao Hong had. Not long after it made a few more forlorn howls before dejectedly returning to its hole and letting out its frustration as loud bangs could be heard coming from its cave.
Su Ming’s mind was blank, his expression confused. Turning around, he ran towards Xiao Hong, he was much faster than Xiao Hong so after a short while he could once again see Xiao Hong’s figure in the distance.
Only to see Xiao Hong stop in a portion of the forest where there were many dead trees, after looking around it hurriedly rubbing the black fur it had obtained onto its crotch. It wore a delighted look on its face, as though it had become as “potent” as the bear. However, it made it seem obscene at the same time.
Su Ming was dazedly watching Xiao Hong finish his deed before it walked back into the forest contentedly, chirping all the way before suddenly……
Su Ming saw a bunch of non-red female monkeys, all more pet.i.te than Xiao Hong, quickly jump out of the forest, surrounding Xiao Hong.
He saw those monkeys one by one go ahead and sniff Xiao Hong’s paw, and with a shocked expression look down at his crotch…… before these female monkeys all went into the forest with Xiao Hong.
Su Ming bitterly laughed, before letting out a long sigh, he finally understood that Xiao Hong was using the scent of the bear to attract mates.
Accompanied with an indescribable feeling, Su Ming did not know whether to laugh or cry as he hurriedly left the area, telling himself to forget the scene that Xiao Hong made him sniff its paw which he could still visualise just as clearly as the blood moon.
After rushing back to the cave, he once more sighed, feeling somewhat sympathetic towards the bear which had lost too much of its fur to Xiao Hong.
“No wonder when Xiao Hong goes out recently he always seems to return exhausted……then after a few days when he has recovered he would run out again……”
Su Ming rubbed his nose, reminding himself once more to never think about this thing again and return to his visualisation of the blood moon, immersing himself in the bath of crimson glow.
After many days pa.s.sed, on this one night, Su Ming had been practicing as usual, visualising the moon while sitting crossed legged, but today he slowly opened his eyes. As the blood moon slowly appeared, the blood moon his left eye seemed to burn causing his body to jump.
In his mind a phrase subconsciously resurfaced.
“Kindle the blood flame
Nine is the Utmost
One is the pathway
Nine bows towards the Fire-Mán
Thus is the path of fire worship!”