vstars Chapter 2 The Test Rats
Chapter 2 The Test Rats
Seeing that delicate hand reaching out, Zhang Nanfeng frantically clawed at the ground, desperately trying to burrow deeper into the rat pile.
Better to die for your fellow Daoist than for me.
He shrank back, secretly channeling his energy, and nudged a sleeping baby mouse beside him, making it roll over.
The mouse rolled twice and landed precisely where Su Chan was pointing.
Su Chan paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, a hint of amusement appearing in his cool and aloof eyes.
She picked up the baby mouse and examined it closely in her palm.
"You little rascal..."
The whispers were faint and scattered, it was unclear whether they were referring to the one in the palm of my hand or the one deep in the grass.
Zhang Nanfeng huddled at the very bottom of the grassy nest, with only a trembling tip of its tail showing, barely daring to breathe.
Su Chan withdrew his gaze, and with a light flick of his hand, he uncorked the jade bottle, and a lustrous pill slowly floated out of the bottle.
She put down the medicine bottle, pinched off a tiny grain of powder the size of a grain of rice from the pill, flicked it with her fingertip, and it landed precisely in the mouth of the baby mouse.
The alchemy room fell silent for a moment; you could hear a pin drop.
Zhang Nanfeng's heart was in his throat, and he prayed to every god and Buddha he could think of.
A moment later, the mouse was no different from the usual one. No matter how Su Chan tried to poke it, it just curled up into a ball, its eyes cloudy and devoid of any light.
......
Su Chan casually tossed it back into the haystack and picked up another one.
After the pill entered its stomach, the mouse stiffened for a moment, kicked wildly a few times in the palm of the hand, and then fell into a deep sleep.
The third one was pacing anxiously.
The fourth one trembled and curled up in a ball...
In less than half an incense stick's time, all eleven baby mice had been tested, and not a single one had shown any signs of enlightenment or intelligence, nor did any of them reveal any clear vision.
Su Chan slowly walked away, muttering to himself:
"How could this be... According to the records, the Qi Ling Dan should have enabled ordinary animals to gain intelligence."
Her gaze swept over a nest of mice, her brows furrowing slightly.
"I have checked the proportions of the medicinal herbs and the cooking time repeatedly, and there are absolutely no errors..."
Could it be... that, as she said, I am simply being deluded?
Zhang Nanfeng heard it clearly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He already possessed the wisdom of his past life, so whether the medicine was successful or not was irrelevant to him; as long as it was non-toxic, that was a good thing.
But before he could catch his breath, he choked on it.
Su Chan then took out a small gray cloth bag from his sleeve.
As soon as she untied the knot, the eleven baby mice were lifted into the air and sucked into the bag, their fate unknown.
Su Chan tightened the bag's opening, and when his gaze fell back on the grass nest, his anticipation was almost overflowing.
Zhang Nanfeng felt a chill run down his back as his body was lifted up and suspended before that peerless face.
"Of all the mice in this nest, you are the most different." Su Chan lifted him up to his face, nose to nose, their breaths mingling. "You dodge with method, you observe with thoughtful consideration. In your eyes... there seems to be a glimmer of intelligence. The other mice only know how to fight for food and sleep soundly, but you, after eating your fill, curl up to the side, as if you have a lot on your mind."
After saying that, she drew another Spirit Awakening Pill.
This time, she didn't crush it, but held the whole pill between her fingers.
Zhang Nanfeng was so frightened that his mouth went dry, and he cursed inwardly.
The whole thing?! This crazy woman is going to throw caution to the wind!
Those brats reacted differently to just a few pill fragments; if they ate the whole pill, even if it wasn't poisonous, they would probably be blown to bits.
Su Chan flicked his finger, and the pill transformed into a stream of emerald water, flowing straight into his mouth.
In an instant, a torrent of scorching heat exploded within his body. The heat was not like the burning heat of ordinary fire, but rather like thousands of fine needles, piercing through his blood vessels in all directions, causing his bones and muscles to feel as if they were about to crack wherever they passed.
Zhang Nanfeng opened his mouth, but no sound came out, and Su Chan's face gradually blurred before his eyes.
Is he going to... die again?
Do not!
He suddenly remembered the method of refining the strange wind.
Either way, we're doomed! Might as well take a gamble!
He endured the excruciating pain, disregarding the risk of being discovered by Su Chan, and secretly activated the Strange Wind Refining Technique to draw out the raging medicinal power within his body.
Forward this to me!
The medicine's effects were like a wild horse, uncontrollable, but with his repeated guidance, the burning sensation gradually dissipated, and the strange wind within his body grew stronger.
After a long while, Zhang Nanfeng lay in Su Chan's palm, choking out a breath of stale air, finally managing to save his life.
Fortunately, Su Chan was completely unaware of this.
If he remains as muddle-headed as the other rats, he will likely be put into a gray bag as well.
How about... we pretend the elixir has taken effect and our intelligence has begun to awaken?
He slightly raised his eyes and saw that Su Chan's eyes were misty with tears, and her lips trembled slightly:
"In the end... did we fail?"
Su Chan reached out and gently nudged his limp body, as if making a final confirmation.
Knowing he could no longer pretend, Zhang Nanfeng forced himself to stand up unsteadily in her palm, despite his aching limbs.
He deliberately let his gaze wander, feigning inexperience in the ways of the world, tilted his head, twitched his nose, and sniffed her fingertips.
Su Chan's breathing suddenly became rapid.
Zhang Nanfeng blinked, looked at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity in his eyes, then took a half step back, clumsily put his two front paws together, and arched forward.
They learned to bow like children.
"It's done?!"
Su Chan hurriedly and gently placed him back into the grass nest, her movements tender, as if handling a rare treasure.
Still uneasy, she calmed herself down and took two items from her sleeve, placing them in front of Zhang Nanfeng.
On the left is a fine jade pendant, and on the right is the small gray cloth bag that had just contained baby mice.
"This is a jade pendant, and this is a cloth bag," Su Chan said softly. "Can you tell which one is the jade pendant?"
Zhang Nanfeng pretended to ponder, hesitated for a moment, and then placed his claw on the jade pendant.
"Great!"
Su Chan's voice was incredibly soft as he quickly switched the positions of the two objects.
"What about this one?"
Zhang Nanfeng's small hand paused in mid-air for a moment before pressing down on the cloth bag.
"Great!"
......
After trying this several times, Zhang Nanfeng became extremely annoyed and simply turned his head to the side, put his hands in front of his chest, and refused to respond anymore.
Su Chan was taken aback, her eyebrows curved into crescent moons, and she laughed out loud, her usual aloofness gone.
She tapped Zhang Nanfeng's little head and said:
"Okay, I'll stop teasing you."
Having said that, she took out the spiritual liquid, dipped her fingertip in it, and brought it to his lips. Zhang Nanfeng held her fingertip and greedily drank from it, while Su Chan whispered in his ear.
"Do you know why I'm having you awaken your spirits?"
Zhang Nanfeng stopped at the right moment, looked up at her, and showed just the right amount of confusion in his eyes.
Su Chan turned his gaze to the dusty alchemy furnace in the center of the alchemy room, and said in a soft voice:
"Your lineage is descended from the Great Sage of the Demon Clan. Although that Great Sage is no longer here, his extraordinary wind magic that reaches the heavens and the earth has been passed down through your bloodline."
"However, beasts are ignorant and their minds are in chaos. Without first developing intelligence, they will never be able to sense the bloodline inheritance. Only when intelligence is first developed and the mind is clear can one introspect the bloodline and activate that seed of supernatural power."
At this point, she paused slightly, a hint of sadness flashing in her eyes:
"But the descendants of the Great Sage have long since disappeared. Your family is the only bloodline I can find in the world. If you cannot awaken your intelligence, that strange wind may truly perish from this world."
She withdrew her gaze, looked intently at Zhang Nanfeng, and said, word by word:
"Now that you have awakened your intelligence, you can sense the supernatural powers within your bloodline. Once your supernatural powers are fully developed, you can help me... purify the impurities in the fire."