A Guide to - 5

Unedited chapter.


5. Striving to Cultivate


Shu Shu picked a lot of wild flowers that had bloomed after the rain, and he also picked some pretty blades of weeds. He placed the wild flowers and the weeds on top of the stem tubers, then he lifted the stem tubers up onto his back and continued to walk forward.

The sky was clear, and there was a kind person around taking care of him…. Shu Shu's mood was very good despite the heavy burden on his back….

“A chicken on the left hand, a duck on the right hand, and a fat baby on the back…. *squeak, squeak* Oh, my! This fat baby is so heavy, my, oh, my!” casually singing, eyes on his cave that was getting nearer and nearer, Shu Shu smiled even more brightly.
 
Edgar followed behind. He looked at the little sub-beastman’s naked body from head to toe, and it was full of scars—both horizontal and vertical—and he could not help but feel sorry for the little guy.

Although these wounds were all superficial wound, but it must have been really painful to get so many wounds. In spite of everything, this guy was still in the mood to sing a song.... Furthermore, it seemed that he was completely unable to make sense of the language that this little sub-beastman was speaking in?

Besides the beastman’s common language, he was also proficient in several other languages. But unfortunately, he was unable to make sense of what the little sub-beastman was singing. Edgar was depressed.

Seeing that Shu Shu got into the cave and concealed the cave mouth properly, he decided it’s unlikely that there would be another danger. Only then Edgar unhurriedly left.

Actually, when he had seen the little sub-beastman trudge forward while carrying such a big load on his back, he had intended to help him, but he obviously knew how afraid of him the little sub-beastman was….

Thinking of the wounds on the little sub-beastman’s body, Edgar went into the forest and began to make use of his rich experience surviving in the wild to look for healing medicinal herbs.

Having been turned into a snake, it was really inconvenient to do anything. Edgar expended so much effort to dig out the herbs. He carefully kept them in his mouth and once again came to the entrance of the cave where the little sub-beastman resided in.

The little sub-beastman’s cave mouth was blocked off, and there was also no smell of him in the vicinity of the cave mouth. He was definitely inside the cave. Edgar approached and put the medicinal herbs at the cave mouth. When he was about to leave, he found at the cave mouth a large bunch of wild flowers tied with grass rope placed in the area where the little sub-beastman usually put his food delivery.

Indeed, they were the wild flowers picked by the little sub-beastman before, and they were tied together in a bundle with the weeds, creating an irregular arrangement with charming effect. It looked so beautiful…. Was this a present for him?

When Edgar had seen the little sub-beastman picking flowers, he had thought that the little guy was going to decorate his cave. After all, all sub-beastmen really liked flowers. To his surprise, he had been wrong....

Carefully picking up the bunch of flowers on the ground with his mouth, Edgar cheerfully left.

Not long after, Shu Shu found those medicinal herbs. He brought them back to the cave, then he put some of them in his mouth and started to chew.... It tasted so weird, ah!

Did that kind person deliberately mess with him? Shu Shu spat out the medicinal herbs in his mouth; his eyes were brimming with tears. Such unpalatable thing; as if he would eat it!

Why on earth did that person give him such unpalatable thing, ah! Cautiously looking at the pile of medicinal herbs, Shu Shu depressedly lay down on his stomach beside it.

On the other hand, Edgar also remembered one thing—the little sub-beastman, would he know if those were medicinal herbs?

Frowning and thinking for a moment, Edgar put down the bunch of flowers and then went out to catch a rabbit. He used his teeth to make a cut on the rabbit’s body, then he applied the medicinal herbs on the cut. Without the slightest hesitation, he proceeded to break the rabbit’s legs and put the rabbit at the entrance of little sub-beastman’s cave

After leaving the rabbit behind, Edgar started to get a bit nervous again. The rabbit was very cute; it was very likely that the sub-beastman would like it. What was he going to do if the little sub-beastman thought that he’s very cruel to the rabbit?

Thinking this way, Edgar wished to go back and take the rabbit back with him, and—concerning the demo for the little sub-beastman—exchange it with some other animals! However, before he could act, the little sub-beastman heard the rabbit's movements and came out of the cave.

Looking at the rabbit, Shu Shu finally knew what the grass was used for.

He happily chewed those medicinal herbs and then applied them on his wounds. He put on his roasted-dry grass skirt, and then, carrying the rabbit in his hand, he went to the river bank—to kill rabbit.

Thinking that rabbit was cute and therefore no killing rabbit, this way of thinking wouldn’t cross Shu Shu’s mind! A big rabbit like that, what was cute about it? That time in the pet shop, there had been some rabbits, and they had eaten up a group of hamsters’ one-day portion of food!

Shu Shu killed and skinned the rabbit at the river bank, then he washed it clean before returning to his cave. Following the previous method, he was going to make beggar’s rabbit.

Actually, he really wanted a pot, but unfortunately, he did not find any stone resembling a pot. It’s no problem for him to use his claws to tear open a prey’s skin and flesh, but it’s impossible if he wanted to carve a stone into a desired shape....

As usual, half of the rabbit was placed near the cave mouth for that kind person. Shu Shu then once again sorted out his foodstuffs.

The weather was cold, so the stem tubers had to be frozen properly. It’s important to wrap them with grass and then bury them in the mud to preserve them. The chestnuts were preserved similarly in the cave’s cellar, while the dried meat had to be kept in airy room....

Sniffing the food, there were some that didn’t smell quite right; they were picked out and thrown away. Shu Shu was very busy, and he finally went to sleep very late.

Shu Shu's next days were not too bad, quite comfortable even.

Every morning he went out to collect food and firewood to prepare to get through the winter. In the afternoon he would receive a prey from the kind person. Then he would deal with the prey and tidy up the cave….

That kind person was indeed very, very good. Later, besides giving him prey, they also gave him firewood.

Since he had arrived at this place, Shu Shu all along had been a little anxious. But after running into that kind person, he now dared to feel at ease.

What a pity that he had never known who that kind person was....

Time passed very quickly; unwittingly, it had already been one month since Shu Shu had come across that kind person.

He and that kind person had even more tacit understandings as the weather turned even colder. Fortunately, Shu Shu had already collected enough food; he was not worried of the arrival of winter.

It was also at this time Shu Shu discovered that this area was actually quite safe. Indeed, there had not been any dangerous beast at all; even that group of monkeys that had beaten him was gone.

Here was a really good area! Shu Shu had always been cautious before, not daring to run around recklessly, but now he had a lot of courage. Going out every day, he would first run several laps to warm his body while thinking about other things.

Even at night, he would go out and run a few laps, and then he would start to cultivate.

That’s right, it was indeed to cultivate.

When Shu Shu had just arrived in this place, he had been very scared and on edge all the time. He had been unable to sleep well, and naturally, he also had not dared to rashly cultivate. Moreover, at that time, he had just unexpectedly turned into a human. Even the spiritual power within his body that he had painstakingly cultivated for a year had gone. He had been really stupid, too, not knowing how he should continue cultivating his ability properly.

Anyway, these days he had sufficient food, and there’s meat to eat everyday—keeping his whole body shiny and smooth. Also, there was no danger outside. In that case, he returned to and resumed the matter of cultivating.

He had to cultivate properly and got rid of his ears and tail as soon as possible. Only in this way and only then could he blend into human society, and afterwards, he would be able to get hot (spicy) drink!

There was also that kind person.... If he turned into a human, maybe that person would be willing to meet him!

After several days of cultivating in the cave, Shu Shu changed the cultivating location. Every night, he would go out to run a few laps, and then he would climb into a hole—that he had dug himself—on top of a small hill and cultivate.

As a daemon spirit, it was vital to absorb the sun and moon's brilliance to cultivate, and the result of cultivating at night was much better than during the day.

In the first few days of cultivating, Shu Shu didn’t feel anything at all, but after practicing for a long time, a stream of heat once again  emerged and circulated in his body. At the same time, he also discovered that the spiritual power of this place was surprisingly very, very abundant!

At that time, when he had accidentally swallowed the red bead, it had brought along a complete set of daemon-cultivation method. Shu Shu had already finished practicing daemon-to-human transformation. Now he was searching out and practicing the cultivation method following the daemon-to-human transformation.

He was actually not very adept at this cultivation business, but the red bead was inside his body. If he practiced wrong, it would remind him; therefore, he actually had not blundered excessively. That was precisely why his practice had been slow. He didn't know how the lightning tribulation could have happened; it had even brought him to this place.

Sitting at the top of the hill, Shu Shu closed his eyes and began cultivating again.

Edgar’s coiled body was hiding in the underbrush a short distance away, dozing off. He occasionally woke up when he heard some sound of activity. He would raise his head vigilantly and survey the surroundings, then he would take a glance at the sitting-upright little sub-beastman.

He had been the crown prince of the Beastman Empire, handsome and powerful. In the past, he had always run away from those sub-beastmen who had chased after him. He really had not expected that one day he would silently keep watch and protect a little sub-beastman....

Thinking of this, Edgar once again remembered the matter beforehand.

Three months ago, he had brought some people to explore a newly-discovered planet. In the end, he did not know what had happened. The communication device on his body had suddenly broken down, and he had also encountered some large and powerful animals on that planet and gotten besieged by them.

The Beastman Empire now was not the same as before—when the emperor had been in charge of everything—even the existence of the imperial family was mostly a symbol. However, the beastmen of the imperial family were still the most powerful beastmen of the empire.

Many, many years ago, they had relied on their own strength to become the sovereign king of Beastman Empire. Even if the beastmen had later moved away from their own planet and entered the interstellar space, they had still relied on their own strength to reign over the Beastman Empire.

The reason why at the time he had turned into a prototype was because he had just finished reshaping the mech into a beast form to carry on fighting those huge, incomparable animals.

Those animals had been very strong, but he had been stronger, and normally, he definitely could run away. Against reason, those animals had continuously chased after him. Also, more and more animals had begun to besiege him.

He had vaguely become aware that the command had probably been tricked, but the situation at that time had not allowed him to think too much; the only thought allowed on his mind had been to exhaust every means to escape. However, he had still been unable to escape.

Knowing that it had been impossible to stay alive, he had opted for being heartless. By directly self-detonating his beast core, he had intended to take those beasts down with himself

He had believed that he would certainly die. He had not expected that in the end, he had not died. Instead, he had arrived in this place….

When he had just woken up, Edgar had thought that he might as well have died rather than turning into a beast. But now, he was actually glad that he had continued to live, otherwise, that little sub-beastman probably would not be able to stay alive.

Looking at the little sub-beastman who was sitting still and expressionlessly on the top of the hill and not knowing what he was up to, Edgar only felt that his mind had become peaceful.

There should be beastmen who lived on this planet. Once he recovered from his injuries, he would not be worried about all kinds of beasts in this place. Then he could try to seek help from the people on this planet. In any case, the little sub-beastman was not allowed to stay in the forest forever….

Furthermore, about his situation.... Although he couldn’t go back, but he had to inform his parents of his own situation right now.

Edgar was thinking about things when he saw the little sub-beastman suddenly sneeze. After that, he stood up on the top of the hill, and trembling, he then quickly ran down into the cave to hide.

Running outside on such a cold day just wrapped in a grass skirt, as if not afraid of freezing.... Edgar shook his snake head and decided to get some more firewood for the little sub-beastman.

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