bookbashuk Chapter 4 The Deeper the Suspicion
Chapter 4 The Deeper the Suspicion
He stared at the alchemy furnace for a long time, but saw no unusual movement.
Zhang Nanfeng, already exhausted, felt weak and sore all over.
It must have been due to the exhaustion from days of activity that he was mentally drained and was just hallucinating.
He comforted himself in this way, hastily gathered up the tangled grass, curled up and lay down, unwilling to move any further.
I'm truly lucky to have survived today. But the danger of testing the medicine has just passed, and now this ordeal of purifying fire has arrived?
He turned over in frustration, lying on his back.
Su Chan's words, "...From now on...I only have you," were spoken with heartfelt sincerity, as if she regarded him as her only support. But if she despised the wickedness of people, why did she often hear voices talking to others outside the door?
This woman is absolutely untrustworthy. And that Pure Fire must be quite dangerous as well.
Thinking of this, he gently patted his stomach, the spiritual liquid swirling within him, his belly trembling, and he already knew what was going on.
No matter how advanced one's supernatural powers become, one can only pretend to be stupid during the day.
Once the rat has grown to its full size and the strange wind is strong enough to break through the door, it will fly far away. It will seek out another way to transform itself.
With his mind at ease, Zhang Nanfeng's tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.
I slept without any dreams.
The next day, Su Chan arrived early.
She immediately noticed the messy grass nest and poked Zhang Nanfeng:
"Little guy, not sleeping at night, just tearing apart the nest to play?"
Zhang Nanfeng rubbed his sleepy eyes and nodded obediently.
Seeing his honesty and sincerity, Su Chan's eyes welled up with tears. She patted his head and did not ask about his supernatural abilities. Instead, she turned and sat on a futon in the room, taking out a palm-sized black wooden plaque from her sleeve.
She meticulously carved with her knife, glancing up at Zhang Nanfeng every few strokes.
With Su Chan by his side, Zhang Nanfeng had no interest in practicing his wind cultivation; he was only quietly examining the cards.
A neat, regular script character was already engraved on the plaque—
town
The writing system in this world is exactly the same as that in his previous life!
Shocked, he knew something was wrong.
Su Chan took this matter so seriously; this card was definitely not a plaything.
...What is this thing? Could it be something that's suppressing me?
Amidst surging suspicions, he raised his claws and began to squeak and squeal restlessly.
Su Chan looked up at the sound, a fleeting look of panic in her eyes, but Zhang Nanfeng caught it.
She was definitely hiding something.
Su Chan approached with his license:
"Little one, what's wrong? Are you hungry?"
She glanced at the half-full bowl of spiritual liquid remaining and asked in confusion:
"But what do you want?"
Zhang Nanfeng nodded and pointed his paw directly at the wooden plaque.
Su Chan's eyes flickered as he stroked the cards, seemingly with an unspeakable meaning.
"This is no toy."
Having said that, she took out the jade pendant from yesterday and placed it in her nest:
"This is a protective spirit tablet made for you. You can't play with it, but you can play with this instead."
Pushing the jade pendant in front of Zhang Nanfeng, Su Chan said no more and sat back down on the futon to continue engraving.
Do you think I'm illiterate? How can the character "镇" (zhen, meaning to suppress) mean to protect one's life? This is clearly meant to suppress me so that she can control me in the future!
Zhang Nanfeng felt a chill in his heart. He kicked the jade pendant away, rushed to the bowl, and drank the spiritual liquid in a frenzy. Then he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
As long as you dedicate yourself to cultivation, the day of breaking through will eventually come.
......
Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Nanfeng had grown into a large rat, its pinkish downy fur gone, replaced by glossy brown fur streaked with golden threads, making it look extraordinary.
Over the past six months, Su Chan has shown him increasing affection and care. Zhang Nanfeng, however, has become increasingly clear-headed—
If I hadn't awakened my intelligence, would she still act this way? This kindness is nothing more than her coveting the supernatural powers of my rat body.
He dared not relax in the slightest and always kept his skills hidden.
During the day, he was just a clever mouse that understood human nature, obeyed commands, and could use his little paws to count numbers. Occasionally, he would breathe out a wisp of breeze, which would flutter Su Chan's clothes and always make her eyes crinkle with joy and smile.
When the night was deep and quiet, Zhang Nanfeng would focus all his energy on refining his wind manipulation. Now he could precisely control the wind, lifting the porcelain bowl into the air and making sure it fell back unharmed.
Su Chan assumed that he didn't like the grass nest and changed it to a wooden nest for him several times, but all of them were destroyed by Zhang Nanfeng's increasingly strong and strange winds.
In January of the following six months, Su Chan visited less and less, and spoke less and less. He often sat alone for half a day, burying himself in carving plaques.
The outline of a small mouse has been carved on the plaque, with a pointed snout and curled tail, just like Zhang Nanfeng, as if to lock his form and spirit under the word "town".
One day, Su Chan suddenly spoke to him about the path of cultivation in this world.
This piqued Zhang Nanfeng's interest.
"Cultivation in this world is based on absorbing the source into the body. Mountains, rivers, plants, metals, stones, water, and fire can all be the source. By drawing upon them, one can communicate with heaven and earth and transcend the mundane."
Zhang Nanfeng simply tilted his head, feigning ignorance.
Seeing this, Su Chan's voice became even gentler:
"The strange wind in your blood is an innate supernatural power, a technique. But without a foundation of cultivation, it's like water without a source, destined to run out. But..."
She looked at him, her gaze earnest:
"Once you help me purify the fire, I will help you embark on cultivation. At that time, your supernatural powers will also be inexhaustible."
These words were as earnest as yesterday's, but Zhang Nanfeng didn't believe a word of them, and sneered inwardly.
She went around in circles, but it was all for the sake of achieving her own goal.
His expression remained docile as he gently nuzzled her fingertips with his head. Su Chan's brows relaxed, and she gently stroked his back, saying:
"We have a long future ahead of us."
But she didn't know that Zhang Nanfeng was no longer willing to "go along with it".
......
Another six months have passed.
Nourished day and night by the spiritual liquid, Zhang Nanfeng grew to over a foot tall, and his brown fur turned completely golden.
Su Chan replaced the stone niche for him with one made of a similar material to the alchemy chamber, unaware that it would be perfect for his experiments.
At this moment, his supernatural powers were able to create whirlwinds, causing the stone pit to creak and tremble, and stone chips to fall.
Su Chan became increasingly rare, sometimes arriving every three to five days, sometimes only every half month. Each time, he would simply leave the spiritual liquid and then depart hastily.
The wooden plaque was also completed, and she hung it on the lintel of the alchemy room with a red rope, which was like a restriction, as if Zhang Nanfeng would be immediately suppressed if he dared to step out of the alchemy room without permission.
That night, Zhang Nanfeng faced the stone hollow, closing his eyes and concentrating.
The wind energy within him surged, seeping out from his pores, causing his body to suspend three inches in the air.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and a gust of yellow wind burst out of his throat. The wind was so strong that it swept through the alchemy room in an instant, as if a sandstorm had descended.
The stone cavity could not withstand the strong wind and collapsed.
Zhang Nanfeng landed back in his original spot, but he did not panic because of the collapsed stone pit and how to cover it up to Su Chan.
He's trying to escape.
The alchemy chamber that had imprisoned him for over a year could no longer confine him. He wanted to be like the wind, roaming freely across the world, going wherever he pleased.
After a moment of turmoil, he lay down and went to sleep, intending to rest up and leave the next night.
In his dream, spring was in full bloom, with lush vegetation. He transformed into human form and stood atop a mountain, overlooking the vast sea of clouds.
Suddenly, a burning pain struck, waking him from his sweet dream.
The walls of the alchemy room were already as hot as a furnace, with waves of heat surging, as if to melt everything inside into liquid.
Zhang Nanfeng leaped up in a panic, only to see the long-dusty alchemy furnace trembling violently, with flames leaping wildly from its surface and seeping out from the holes like countless crimson ghost hands frantically scratching at the furnace walls, trying to break free.