Chapter 43

When one is focused on doing something, time always seems to pass particularly quickly.

By now, it had been over ten days since Su Yi entered the forest to explore. During these ten days, the Bosuq snakes seemed to know of Su Yi's visit and all hid themselves. No matter how thoroughly Su Yi searched the forest, he did not see even one snake.

After ten days without any findings, Su Yi was not at all anxious. He had been mentally prepared for this. This was a task that required patience and perseverance. If it were too easy to find them, that would be truly strange...

Leaping from one peculiar stone to another with ease, the current Su Yi was no longer the cautious and timid person he was when he first entered the mountains. After ten days of living deep in the mountains, he had almost turned into a wild man. His provisions had run out on the seventh day, and for the following days, he had to fight wild beasts to obtain food. Sometimes, when it was inconvenient to start a fire, he even ate raw meat...

Such a long period of wilderness survival had made Su Yi extremely familiar with the laws of the jungle. At this moment, in the deep forest outside Xiangyang City, he had transformed into one of the many fierce beasts, and he was the most savage among them.

His green robe, once neat and tidy, was now tattered and torn, with a large hole exposing his white thigh. His usually neatly tied hair was now loose and disheveled, and after ten days without washing, his beard had grown to an inch long, making him look at least ten years older... Even the long sword in his hand had broken not long after he entered the forest. Since then, he had relied entirely on his bare hands. Thanks to this, his Heart-Crushing Palm had become increasingly proficient, though this was not something to be proud of... He had only heard of people tearing apart enemies with their bare hands but had never seen it. However, he had performed this feat not once or twice with wild beasts.

It was now the dead of night. Su Yi circled around a few times, confirming that there were no traces of any beasts, and then found a large rock. Without bothering to clean it, he lay down flat and took out a piece of roasted meat, eating it in large bites.

This was his last piece of cooked meat. Whenever he ran out of food, he would search for large beasts, and during the daylight, he would roast their meat, carrying a large amount as provisions. Otherwise, he would have to eat raw meat... Because at night, even if he had food, he dared not start a fire. In the forest, a fire at night was like a beacon, attracting all sorts of unimaginable animals.

Since the first time a fire at night caused a massive animal riot, Su Yi preferred to eat raw meat rather than risk starting a fire at night. That rash act left a claw mark on his chest, which had not fully healed and still had traces of blood... In fact, whenever he thought about it, Su Yi felt fortunate. If not for the slippery stone that made him stumble, that claw might have already torn out his heart.

Of course, the giant lion that inflicted such a severe injury was not faring well either. It had already been transformed into the roasted meat in his hand... Su Yi found that lion meat was much better than braised lion's head, and even without seasoning, it was quite delicious.

However, no matter how delicious, it would be finished today. Tomorrow, he would probably have to eat raw meat... Su Yi felt quite helpless as he thought about it, then sat cross-legged and began to practice the *Nine Yang True Scripture*.

The time spent practicing internal skills every night was the happiest moment for Su Yi over the past ten days. During the day, fighting with wild beasts and battling venomous insects, he seemed to have taken on their ferocity, transforming into a beast himself, exuding a strong aura of killing intent. Once, while drinking water by the river, he saw a glint of savagery in his own eyes reflected in the water. If he were to look someone in the eye at that moment, he could probably scare them into paralysis without doing anything...

The *Nine Yang True Scripture* was truly a supreme Buddhist art. Whenever the true energy flowed quietly within his body, Su Yi felt his mind and spirit calm down, as if the savagery of the day had been washed away, and he became completely peaceful...

"I can't keep searching like this anymore..."

After meditating for a while, Su Yi clenched his fists tightly and made a silent decision...

He would wait three more days. If he still couldn't find the Bosuq snakes within three days, he would immediately return to Xiangyang City to rest and regroup... Spending too much time with wild beasts made him feel as if his humanity was diminishing. If not for the *Nine Yang True Scripture*'s ability to calm his mind and spirit, he might have already become a ruthless killer.

Even now, Su Yi could feel the changes in himself. If he were to fight the bandits from the black inn again, he was confident that he could laugh as he gutted them, just as he had done with the wild beasts...

The longer he stayed here, the more the line between human and beast blurred...

With a plan in mind, Su Yi sighed silently, then calmed his mind and spirit, entering a state of meditation.

Just as Su Yi fell into a deep meditative state, a venomous snake over a meter long slowly slithered down from the branch above his head. The snake's color was identical to the tree, and it moved silently, completely unnoticed by Su Yi.

Seeing that its prey was completely still, as if asleep, the snake's blood-red eyes glinted with cruel intent. It approached slowly, its cold tongue flicking in and out, and its sharp triangular head clearly indicated that this snake was highly venomous!

The snake moved closer, though silently, it was not slow. In a moment, it was only half a meter away from Su Yi's shoulder.

Seeing that the prey was still silent, the snake did not wait. Its long body coiled like a spring, ready to strike... If nothing went wrong, in the next instant, its sharp fangs would easily pierce the enemy's skin, delivering a fatal blow.

At that moment, Su Yi made a move without any warning. It seemed slow but was actually faster than the snake's attack. His right hand extended diagonally and easily pinched the snake's jaws shut, preventing it from opening its mouth.

Ignoring the snake's desperate writhing and coiling around his arm, Su Yi applied a little more force, crushing the snake's head. Without caring about the fresh blood on his hand, he used his left hand to dig into the snake's belly, extracting the gallbladder, and then raised his head, swallowing it raw.

Throughout the bloody process, Su Yi's expression did not change, his calmness far surpassing Bear Grylls... If someone had told the Su Yi from ten days ago that he could handle his most feared venomous snakes so effortlessly, he probably wouldn't have believed it.

But for the current Su Yi, this was nothing new. This was not the first time he had been attacked. In the entire forest, venomous snakes were the most common, and such attacks occurred almost daily. Over ten days, he had probably been attacked dozens of times.

The snake gallbladder was indeed a precious medicinal ingredient. Although it was extremely bitter, each time he consumed it, he felt a surge of energy and a sense of well-being. Even the practice of the *Nine Yang True Scripture* progressed more rapidly.

Over the past few days, eating various snake gallbladders had significantly advanced Su Yi's internal skills, which could be considered a pleasant surprise.

Sighing helplessly, Su Yi casually threw the dead snake's body into the river nearby. Over the past ten days, he had hardly had a moment of peace, with various attacks happening one after another. At first, they made him flustered, but now he was no longer concerned. With his current level of alertness, the possibility of being ambushed was almost zero.