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Chapter 22: Medicinal Animals
Xu Yuan clearly felt that there was a terrifying beast in front of him, with its bloody mouth wide open, quietly waiting for him.

But he couldn't control this "instinct" and continued to crawl towards the dangerous mouth like a worm.

The tempting aroma became stronger and stronger, and Xu Yuan was getting closer and closer to the bloody mouth.

Xu Yuan wanted to pinch himself hard to wake himself up from this "nightmare"-like state, but he couldn't move his hands.

Like a worm crawling out from a bush, a mountain appeared in front of him, and the instinct in Xu Yuan's body became extremely strong!
An idea suddenly popped up in my mind: After crossing this mountain, I can eat that delicacy!
Then Xu Yuan immediately realized: I am clearly delivering this to your door as a "delicious" meal.

There is no time to hesitate - Xu Yuan cannot control his body, but he can control the fire in his stomach.

"call……"

Sparks flew out from Xu Yuan's seven orifices and soon turned into gushing flames.

The flames burned himself, and the tattered shorts quickly turned into ashes. Then the "fire in the belly" began to spread throughout his body, and Xu Yuan quickly turned into a fire man!
When a Dan practitioner controls the fire in his abdomen to cover his entire body, he will not burn himself.

But now, Xu Yuan is "self-immolating"!
But even so, the body was still controlled by "instinct" and kept crawling forward on the ground.

If someone saw this scene, they would definitely find it very terrifying.

Xu Yuan was in extreme pain and wanted to scream but no sound came out. His body was completely out of his control.

The "fire in his belly" had already burned his skin all over into a layer of charcoal!
As long as Xu Yuan had a thought, the fire in his stomach could be retracted.

But Xu Yuan gritted his teeth and persevered, enduring the terrible pain.

That kind of "instinct" is hidden in the body. Unless it is burned to that level, the "instinct" is unaware of it.

I persisted like this for a long time, and finally my "instinct" took over.

Xu Yuan was crawling under an ancient pine tree. His whole body was heated by the heat of the flames, and a few large drops of pine oil fell from the tree.

The flames swelled up a bit.

Under the severe pain, the instinct finally couldn't hold on and gave up control of the body.

Xu Yuan retracted the "fire in his stomach" as quickly as possible, then lay on the ground, gasping for breath - he didn't even dare to make any big movements in his chest and stomach, as any movement would cause him excruciating pain.

Now, Xu Yuan's whole body was charred and covered with cracks, and dark red flesh could be seen inside!
It took Xu Yuan a while to gather a little strength and then activate his "fate".

Shedding a thick and heavy burnt shell!

This time the "shedding" was not due to a strange infection, but simply using the power of fate to remove the burnt skin.

Therefore, there is no improvement for himself, even the ghost scars on his back are still stubbornly lingering.

This layer of "skin" has no special function - but Xu Yuan feels that this thing seems to have some kind of "connection" with himself.

Xu Yuan dug a shallow hole and buried it.

After using the fate grid twice in a short period of time, Xu Yuan felt a weakness coming from the root of his life.

"We need to exercise some restraint..."

Xu Yuan muttered to himself.

The fragrance kept wafting over from across the mountain peaks, and Xu Yuan felt that the "instinct" in his body was stirring again.

However, after tempering the "fire in the belly", Xu Yuan was able to barely suppress this impulse.

Xu Yuan crouched down and didn't run away immediately. Instead, he rushed up the mountain in front of him like a tiger, hid behind a few trees and looked down:
Xu Yuan never intended to confront the opponent head-on. He knew very well his own strength and capabilities. Xu Yuan wanted to see clearly who was behind this and who was using this method on him.

At least we should know ourselves and our enemies.

As expected, it was the Saint Lady's group. The long bamboo pole held a wooden bowl with a handful of rice in it.

It was exactly the same as the one my stepmother had given me, except that there was a little more rice in the bowl.

Putting rice in a wooden bowl seems to have the same purpose as the stepmother asking her to put it in a tree hole.

I don’t know if this is necessary to attract June bugs.

Xu Yuan retreated silently and then slipped away quietly in another direction.

……

Lunch was ready at the riverside camp.

The water from the river was boiled to cook the dried meat, and the steam was used to soften the pancakes.

In order to please the Saint Lady, a servant picked some wild vegetables and put them in the broth and sprinkled them with seasonings.

He filled a large bowl and handed it to the Saint Aunt: "Saint Aunt, please enjoy."

The Saint Lady finished her meal patiently, but there was still no movement in the surrounding mountains.

The Saint Lady threw the bowl with a sullen face. More than ten of Zhao Yong's men were silent, as they had somehow displeased the goddess.

The Saint Lady quickly approached Wen Xiu and said, "That thing must have gotten away! Search the mountain immediately!"

There were four people sent by the guild to deliver the bait, led by an alchemist dressed as a traveling doctor.

Dan Xiu nodded, his eyes swept over the guys, and his eyes suddenly became cold.

The Saint Lady said calmly, "Leave two for me."

Wen Xiu raised his hand, and a piece of calligraphy flew up into the wind, with four big words written on it: Unable to move.

Zhao Yong's men were horrified to find that they really couldn't move!
The alchemist took out a small gourd from the bag on his shoulder, poured out some pills, pried open their mouths, and fed each of them one.

Just left two.

The two who were not fed the medicine were even more horrified to see that after their companions swallowed the pills, their bodies suddenly twisted and their bones became deformed!
Thick black hair grew on its body, its hands and feet turned into sharp claws, its lower jaw protruded forward, four sharp canine teeth extended from under its lips, its ears grew backward and became pointed, and several long hairs grew on the tips of its ears.

They knelt on the ground with all four claws like wild beasts, roaring and snarling constantly, their eyes were bloodshot, and they had no human emotions anymore.

Wen Xiu collected the calligraphy, while Dan Xiu waved his hand and said, "Search the mountain!"

The eight-headed monster lowered its head like an obedient hound and rushed towards the surrounding mountains like an arrow.

This kind of monster transformed from humans is called "Medicine Animal". These eight are the lowest level "Dog Xiao". They are extremely fast, have strong biting ability, and have very sharp hearing and smell.

The two guys who were left behind vaguely felt that they might not be that "lucky" and that their fate might be even worse than their companions!
Less than half an hour later, two dog goblins dug out the charred skin that Xu Yuan had buried.

The Saint Lady and the others gathered in a circle, looking at this strange humanoid thing with puzzled expressions: "What is this thing?"

Dan Xiu looked at the traces around him and said, "That guy was definitely here. How did he manage to resist the scent of the bait and escape at the last moment?"

"This handful of 'Old Year's Grain' is extremely valuable. The guild mobilized twelve Dharma protectors, and seven died before they were able to obtain it. It should not be in vain."

"This little boy... is a little unusual." The alchemist felt a little apprehensive.

The Saint Lady snorted coldly and said without hesitation: "Let the dog go after them!"

(End of this chapter)