nownovels Chapter 39 Lingering Fear
Chapter 39 Lingering Fear
The unicorn viper was completely unprepared.
Their attention was entirely focused on the seven small golden gourds radiating a shimmering, precious light, and they were completely unaware of the deadly threat lurking overhead. By the time they realized what was happening, the stone tiger's sharp teeth had already pierced their bodies.
The lead stone tiger bit down on the neck of the unicorn viper, which was as thick as a thigh. Its sharp teeth pierced deep into the gaps between the scales and severed the spine.
The unicorn viper writhed wildly, its long tail whipping through the air with a whooshing sound, striking the wooden wall with loud "smacks." But the stone tiger's bite was incredibly powerful; its upper and lower jaws were like iron pincers, locking it firmly in place, and no matter how much it struggled, it was all in vain.
Another stone tiger pounced on a two-meter-long unicorn viper.
Instead of attacking the snake's head directly, it pounced from the side, pressing one front paw firmly against the snake's body, and with a slap of the other front paw, the sharp claws ripped open a long gash in the snake's belly, causing blood and internal organs to gush out.
The unicorn viper opened its mouth in pain and spat out venom, but Shi Hu nimbly dodged it and then bit the snake's head.
The skull shattered instantly, the snake's body twitched a few times, and then it fell silent.
The stone tigers behind them attacked one by one, almost every strike aimed at vital points. Although the unicorn viper was extremely venomous, it was no match for the agile stone tiger in this close-quarters combat. Before their fangs could even pierce the stone tiger's body, their necks were already severed.
In just a few breaths, the unicorn viper on the wooden wall was completely slaughtered.
Dozens of snake carcasses hung haphazardly on the wooden wall and drooped into the grass, with blood flowing down the wooden planks and a strong stench of blood filling the air.
The largest stone tiger released the snake king, which was no longer able to move, from its mouth. It shook its blood-stained fur, raised its head, and looked at the glittering little golden gourd under the wooden frame, a strange light flashing in its pupils.
After watching for a while, it picked up the carcass of the unicorn viper, leaped into the forest, and disappeared.
The other stone tigers also picked up their spoils and disappeared among the branches and leaves. They moved swiftly and silently, like ghosts in the night, appearing suddenly and leaving without a sound.
On the wooden wall, only mottled bloodstains and a few scattered scales remained.
Beneath the wooden frame, the seven little golden gourds breathed and practiced their Heaven-Mending Marrow cultivation under the moonlight, completely unaware of everything happening outside. Cai Xuan and Xi'er, sitting cross-legged below, were the same, both completely immersed in their Heaven-Mending Marrow cultivation.
Time passed slowly, and the sky gradually turned a pale white.
The first rays of morning light pierced through the treetops, illuminating the platform and bathing everything in a soft golden hue.
Cai Xuan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He suddenly froze, realizing he had been sitting on the platform all night. From the time he finished eating last night until now, at least six or seven hours had passed. He had actually sat motionless outside for a whole night?
Why don't I feel anything at all?
I felt like I had only closed my eyes for a short while before it was dawn.
Cai Xuan frowned slightly, thinking to himself that the Heaven-Mending Marrow was indeed profound; he didn't even feel the passage of time while cultivating it. He secretly sensed his body and found that the soreness left from practicing the Zonghe Horizontal Training Method yesterday had completely disappeared, leaving him with abundant energy and radiant spirit. He hadn't expected cultivating the Heaven-Mending Marrow to have such benefits, but even so, even if he had to do it again, he wouldn't dare to cultivate so recklessly outside.
The mountains are teeming with venomous snakes and ferocious beasts, so sitting outside unprepared all night is extremely dangerous.
If a poisonous snake were to crawl up in the middle of the night, or a ferocious beast were to come in, wouldn't we be doomed?
Therefore, this cannot be done again next time, Cai Xuan thought to himself.
I thought nothing of the previous night, but when I went to inspect the fields after breakfast, I discovered several shocking, still-drying dark red bloodstains on the wooden wall; some places also had deep claw marks, as if they had been scraped by some sharp weapon. On the ground beneath the wooden wall, a few purplish-black scales were scattered, gleaming with a cold, eerie luster in the morning light.
Cai Xuan walked over, picked up a scale, and examined it closely.
The purplish-black scales had sharp edges and a fine, intricate pattern on their surface, emanating a strong, fishy stench. Looking at the claw marks on the wall, they appeared to be the marks of some kind of feline, made with terrifying force.
Cai Xuan put down the scales, his gaze passing over the wooden wall to the dense forest shrouded in the morning mist.
Something must have happened here last night, but unfortunately I was so engrossed in my cultivation that I didn't notice anything.
"I can't do that again next time," Cai Xuan whispered, still feeling fearful about his reckless actions last night.
Having recently acquired so much food and with his house fully stocked, he wasn't in a hurry to go hunting. Instead, he started taking care of some household chores. For example, the toilet—he had previously just dug a hole on the first floor near the kitchen and surrounded it with a few pieces of wood.
Now that we have a daughter, we can't be so casual anymore.
So Cai Xuan moved the toilet to a place not far from the giant golden gourd vine and built a small hut, separating the men's and women's sections.
Next to it, there was also a place for showering and bathing.
The original location was completely demolished, and a two-story wooden house of about 30 square meters was built and connected to the original house, with the kitchen moved there. The original kitchen area was used for living, so that the seven little golden gourds would have nowhere to live when they grew up.
There used to be a low, makeshift thatched shed next to the toilet, used for blacksmithing.
Now that the house was demolished for construction, Cai Xuan built a larger blacksmith shop next to the new house.
This time, however, the roof was no longer thatched; it was entirely constructed of wood, with moss used to fill the gaps, mud used to plaster the top, and large leaves used to cover it to prevent leaks. The interior of the house was also coated with a thick layer of mud for fireproofing.
The blacksmith's workshop, which was also used to make various tools, was named "Weapon Refining Room" by Cai Xuan.
If Cai Xuan were to build these houses on his own, it would probably take a very long time, but now that the strongwoman Xi'er is here, everything has become much easier.
When they were clearing the land before, they sawed off many large logs that couldn't be moved. They had to use crowbars to slowly pry them to the side, and some were even left in place. Now, with Xi'er's help, and with Cai Xuan's increased strength, the two of them worked together to move these logs over to build a house.
Xi'er cooked a lot and ate a lot. What was originally only enough for two bowls of rice suddenly increased to four, five, and six bowls.
Fortunately, there was still food stored at home; otherwise, Cai Xuan wouldn't have had to do anything else but hunt to feed the little creature.
Over the next few days, strange noises were heard in the forest several times, but they quickly disappeared.
Because of Cai Xuan's reminder, the seven little golden gourds were very alert during their evening cultivation, stopping to investigate at the slightest disturbance. They discovered that several waves of attacking poisonous insects and ferocious beasts had been stopped by the stone tiger hidden in the woods. It was a matter of either fleeing or dying.
Cai Xuan had no idea what these stone tigers were up to, but they came and went in a flash and were impossible to find, so he could only keep a close watch on them in secret.