After eating half a deer leg, Yuan Ming returned to the treehouse with the remaining cooked meat and found that Hagon had not yet awakened. After a moment of thought, he took out a yellow bamboo tube as thick as a thumb from his bosom.
He unplugged the wooden stopper of the bamboo tube and immediately put it under Hagon's nose.
A cool and stimulating scent rushed straight into Hagon's nostrils, causing his nose to wrinkle sharply and he let out a light gasp, gradually becoming conscious.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming immediately moved the bamboo tube away and resealed it.
After Hagon awakened, he took a deep breath of cold air, grimacing from the pain of his wounds, taking quite a while to come to his senses, then noticed Yuan Ming guarding by his side.
"Brother Yuan, you have saved me once again," Hagon said with a flash of gratitude in his eyes.
After speaking, he struggled to get up but was pushed back down by Yuan Ming pressing on his shoulder.
"The wound in your stomach is not light, and it won't get better in a short while, so don't rush to move. Tell me, what happened? Those two guys from Hyena Hall couldn't have injured you like this."
Listening to Yuan Ming's question, Hagon didn't immediately answer but slightly raised his head to glance at his abdomen, seeing that it had already been bandaged, then lay back down.
"If I hadn't been injured, they naturally wouldn't have been able to hurt me. I encountered a strange creature," Hagon said with a flash of fear on his face.
"A strange creature? Not a Fierce Beast?" Yuan Ming became interested upon hearing this.
"I…I'm not sure. But that thing was definitely not like the usual Fierce Beasts that we see. I feel it's not a Fierce Beast," Hagon hesitated before saying so.
"What did it look like? Tell me about it," Yuan Ming said.
He had the Common Beast Atlas given to him by Zhao Tong, and even if he hadn't seen all the Fierce Beasts that lurked in the Ten Thousand Mountains, he was confident he could identify them.
Yuan Ming wanted to see exactly what sort of creature Hagon was talking about.
Upon hearing this, Hagon took a deep breath, closed his eyes slowly as if carefully recalling his previous experience, or as if trying to calm his emotions.
A moment later, he opened his eyes again and looked at Yuan Ming.
"That thing that wounded me was no taller than eight feet, covered in long white fur, with black sharp claws. When it walked, it stood like a man, but when it ran, it used both hands and feet, similar to a Wild Man, yet like a beast. Most importantly, its roar sounded like the mournful wails and cries of humans, chilling to the spine upon hearing," Hagon described slowly.
"Is that all?" Seeing that he stopped, Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.
"Those are just the outward oddities. When I fought with it, I discovered not only was its physique tough as iron, it seemed to be completely insensible to pain, fighting without any defense, reckless to the point of suicidal assault. My long knife even plunged into its neck, yet it didn't avoid it, took the hit head-on, and with one claw, it grievously wounded me. Had I not fallen into a waterfall and been washed away by the water, I surely would have been done for there," Hagon shook his head, speaking with residual fear.
After listening, Yuan Ming touched his chin with one hand and began to ponder.
"If what Hagon says is true, it really is a monster." He compared carefully in his mind and then disappointingly found that the Common Beast Atlas did not contain any Fierce Beast that matched the description.
"Any idea?" Hagon looked at Yuan Ming and asked.
Yuan Ming shook his head and then said, "I'm about to head to Toad Valley, and I'll ask Zhao Tong about this ghastly thing you mentioned; he might know."
"That's good," Hagon nodded.
"This is one of my temporary refuges. The location is not very hidden, but ordinary people won't come here. Rest here tonight. I'll stand guard," Yuan Ming instructed.
"Brother Yuan, a great kindness doesn't require thanks. I will surely repay you amply in the future," Hagon said sincerely, saluting with his fist.
"Let's not talk about that now, have something to eat," Yuan Ming said with a smile, handing over the half deer leg.
...
In the deep of the night, the hazy glow of the crescent moon slipped through the gaps of the treehouse.
Yuan Ming leaned against the wall of the treehouse but eventually could not resist sleep and drifted off, the moonlight softly draping over him like a sheer veil, with his soft snores echoing through the treehouse.
Suddenly, a cat's meow sounded.
Yuan Ming startled awake, his eyes snapping open, and when he instinctively tried to rise, he found he couldn't move at all, feeling as if his soul had left his body, unable to tell if he was dreaming or awake.
In a daze, an enchanting female voice echoed intermittently, sometimes whispering in his ear, sometimes sounding as though someone was confiding from behind a door, moving near and far, drifting unpredictably.
"Strange..."
"Divine soul... what is it..."
"Interesting..."
The voice was imbued with an indescribable enchanting sensation, and as Yuan Ming listened, he felt his head grow heavy, his eyelids droop, and he was about to fall asleep again.
But just as he was about to lose consciousness entirely, at the gap in the treehouse door, a small silver-white shadow flashed by.
Could it be a silver cat?
After a night of deep slumber, it was only when the morning light of the next day shone through the gaps in the treehouse planks and onto Yuan Ming's face that he slowly opened his eyes and awoke.
He rubbed his temples and propped himself up, recalling last night's dream and couldn't help feeling it was ridiculous.
Yet amidst the absurdity, the strange sense of reality, especially the feeling of being out of control as if his soul had left his body, upon closer reflection, didn't seem like a dream, and it left him unsettled for quite some time.
He shook his head, got up, and checked on Hagon's injuries, finding that they had healed quite a bit. Seeing that he was still unconscious, he had no choice but to wake him up.
"I have to step out for a while. Being alone here, you need to be extra careful," Yuan Ming instructed.
"Don't worry about me; I'll be careful. And you be careful too, moving forward the Green Wolf Gang and the Hyena Hall will probably target you," Hagon nodded and said.
Yuan Ming patted him, opened the door of the treehouse, and walked out.
But just as he bent over to step out of the door, Yuan Ming couldn't help but freeze.
"Is this... the silver cat?" An uninvited guest appeared before his eyes.
On a branch extending from the tree supporting the treehouse, sat a shiny-furred silver cat about half a foot tall, squatting a few steps away from him, staring at him with a pair of amber and gold eyes.
A head not much bigger than Yuan Ming's fist tilted up high and then slowly dropped, as if carefully sizing up Yuan Ming, which both surprised and intrigued him.
Recalling the dream from the previous night, an odd feeling arose in Yuan Ming's heart.
"Were you the one who talked to me last night?" Yuan Ming asked.
The silver cat looked at him for a moment, then slightly tilted its head to one side as if not understanding what Yuan Ming was saying, or as though it was looking at a fool.
"Am I really... believing in dreams?" Yuan Ming said, dumbfounded and laughing at himself.
No sooner had his words fallen than a flash of brilliance appeared in his eyes, and his body suddenly pounced out like a cheetah, reaching for the silver cat.
Just as his hands were about to touch it, the silver cat lithely leaped to avoid Yuan Ming's grasp, landing on his arm lightly as a dragonfly skimming the water before springing to another branch.
Yuan Ming grasped at thin air, hugging the horizontal branch and turning his head to look.
There he saw the silver cat strutting proudly, walking a catwalk on that branch and casting him a disdainful glance.
The way the silver cat walked was slightly odd, unlike other cats that pranced or curled their tails, it had its tail hanging down, dragging on the ground, completely covering its rump.
"I've been scorned by a cat?" Yuan Ming raised his brow in surprise.
"Brother Yuan, what's happening?" Hagon's voice came from inside the treehouse.
"It's nothing," Yuan Ming replied.
By the time he turned back, the silver cat had completely vanished from his sight.
"Come to think of it, why does this cat look somewhat familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere before?" Yuan Ming scratched the back of his head, muttering to himself.
...
In front of the stone house in Toad Valley,
Yuan Ming handed over the resources he had recently accumulated to Zhao Tong.
"How is it, did you get the sword technique?" Yuan Ming asked with a hint of expectation.
Zhao Tong looked up at him and shook his head with a wry smile.
"Biluo Cave is not a sword technique Sect; such techniques are rare to begin with and not so easily traded for. And I won't lie to you: some of the secret skills sold in the valley are actually released by the elders to exchange for resources. We disciples are just earning a messenger's fee, who dares secretly pass on techniques? So, what you can buy entirely depends on luck, depending on what the elders are willing to sell," Zhao Tong explained helplessly under Yuan Ming's inquiring gaze.
"Any good stuff come in recently?" Yuan Ming, having let go of his previous expectations, asked.
"There actually is something…" Zhao Tong pondered while stroking his chin, then his eyes suddenly lit up.
As he spoke, he rummaged through a box behind him and took out a blue book, placing it in front of Yuan Ming.
"You're in luck, young man. This 'Shadowless Step' was just handed to me by Elder Lu. The resources you've saved up with me are just about enough to trade for it," Zhao Tong said with a smile.
"What's the use of this technique?" Yuan Ming asked, frowning slightly.
"It's not an attack and conquer skill; it's a movement technique that will definitely be useful to you," Zhao Tong's voice dropped, as he spoke with an air of mystery.
"I'd like to hear more," Yuan Ming said noncommittally.
"It's a cultivation method that can greatly enhance your agility. It won't increase your Magic Power Cultivation or directly boost your combat strength, but it will give you more life-saving measures when fighting others in close combat," Zhao Tong explained.
Yuan Ming pondered this information.
Having learned that the Fur Cloak Technique had backlash effects, he had been eager to acquire a Sword Technique to enhance his fighting abilities against Fierce Beasts, aiming to defeat them without relying on the Fur Cloak Technique.
It seemed unlikely to find a Sword Technique now, so learning this Body Technique Secret Skill might be a good alternative.
"So what are the effects like when you use the Shadowless Step?" Yuan Ming thought aloud and asked further.