"Coo Coo Coo....."
The hooting of the night owl was particularly harsh in the darkness of the mountain forest, adding an eerie and eldritch feel to the already gloomy woods.
Inside the hollow of a tree, Du ke and Shí sān huddled together, sleeping soundly against the inner wall of the hollow.
Although there was a bear blocking the entrance outside, Du ke was not worried at all. The remaining Clear Water Pill and Blood Food Pill on him were enough to sustain him and little Ha for three days inside the hollow.
Besides, he already had a way to deal with that bear.
That was why Du ke dared to sleep so soundly.
Additionally, he was still recovering from his injuries, so he needed the rest. Although the hollow was a little stuffy with the bear blocking the entrance, it was ultimately warm.
But suddenly, the massive body outside shuddered violently, and the bear also opened its pair of green, oily eyes, slowly getting up and throwing its head back to roar.
"Roar!!"
The roar was like thunder, scaring off who knows how many birds from the forest.
But because the birds were attached to their nests, they continued to circle above the woods, chirping and shrieking, unwilling to leave.
The bear's roar not only frightened away the birds, but also woke up Du ke and Shí sān in the hollow.
Upon waking up, Du ke's ears twitched, then he yawned, pawing at his face.
Shí sān was dissatisfied at being woken up and whimpered twice. Du ke took out the last Blood Food Pill and stuffed it into his mouth to keep him quiet.
After eating the Blood Food Pill, Shí sān soon fell back asleep. But Du ke did not continue sleeping. Instead, he opened his eyes that seemed to be cast from gold, silently staring at the hollow entrance.
The bear outside moved around for a while, then once again leaned down to peer at Du ke.
Du ke and the bear looked at each other for a moment. The bear silently raised its head and lumbered towards not far away.
Listening to the sounds outside, Du ke felt somewhat puzzled. Did the bear just leave like that?
But very quickly, a piece of deadwood came crashing down, perfectly blocking the hollow entrance.
Looking through the cracks, Du ke saw the bear outside and could not help but click his tongue. This blind bear had truly become spiritual.
It actually knew to use a dead tree trunk to seal off the hollow entrance.
Feeling both exasperated and amused, Du ke listened as the bear's footsteps slowly faded away.
Adjusting his position, he looked at his own wounds.
One side of his body was roasted by the explosive heat waves from the fireball. If not for his Skin and Flesh Training, he likely would have been charred by that hit.
Additionally, he felt like his flesh was recovering at an astonishing speed, perhaps due to completing the Skin and Flesh Training.
The scabs on his wounds were originally only a thin layer, but now they were as thick as a thumb.
Du ke raised his paw to press on the scabs over his wounds. They felt hard with no bulges or liquid sensation, clearly not festering.
Du ke had originally estimated it would take a month to fully recover, but looking at his recovery speed, as long as he had enough nutrients, plenty of rest, and minimal movement, he could recover in half a month at shortest.
Maybe even faster.
Thinking of this, Du ke also opened his Black Cauldron space and took out a Moon Blossom Pill.
It had been ten days since he last ate a Moon Blossom Pill.
Now was the time to take the second one.
As moonlight radiated outward, Du ke's eyes also reflected the moonlight.
"The last one left!"
As Du ke muttered to himself, he also swallowed the Moon Blossom Pill in one gulp.
Although Du ke still did not know what effects the Moon Blossom Pill had on him, eating it was enough.
After entering his stomach, the Moon Blossom Pill quickly dispersed into a cool mist permeating his body.
Unable to resist, Du ke involuntarily shivered and exhaled a breath containing wisps of moon essence.
"Compared to the explosive Day Essence Pill, this Moon Blossom Pill going down is extremely comfortable."
As Du ke thought this, he also felt his wounds turn itchy, as if the flesh under the scabs was growing quickly.
Enduring the itchy soreness, Du ke silently waited for the bear to return, waiting for it to come ask him for pills again.
He did not know how much time passed, but Du ke, lying in the hollow, sensed the extremely powerful tremors outside the hollow.
Looking up, Du ke saw the dead tree blocking the entrance move.
The dead tree was quickly shoved aside, and the bear once again stuck its head in the entrance, peering at Du ke and Shí sān inside the hollow.
Seeing Du ke and little Ha still inside, the bear very human-like nodded slightly. Du ke then heard the sound of wolfing food coming from outside.
"This blind bear has truly become spiritual!"
Du ke secretly clicked his tongue. He also silently waited.
Outside, the bear seemed to be eating something, making teeth-aching chewing sounds that did not stop.
After about an hour, the chewing sounds ceased, and the bear let out a satisfied roar.
After roaring, the bear leaned down again, with its head blocking the hollow entrance and its eyes dim.
Du ke's expression unchanged as he tossed out a Blood Qi Pill. Seeing the Blood Qi Pill, the bear's eyes lit up as it eagerly fished it out and swallowed it in one gulp.
After the first Blood Qi Pill, the bear leaned down again to demand a second pill from Du ke. This time, Du ke did not immediately throw one out. Instead, he waited about five minutes.
When the bear roared impatiently, Du ke tossed out the second Blood Qi Pill.
Seeing the Blood Qi Pill, the bear swallowed it, then leaned down again to demand a third pill from Du ke.
Again, Du ke did not give it right away. He just silently looked at the bear.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
As the bear's patience wore down, it slapped the ground and roared urgingly.
At this time, Du ke took out a different kind of pill from the Black Cauldron space.
This pill radiated a frosty moonlight, and inside it seemed to contain a whirlwind that constantly spun.
As soon as the pill was taken out, the bear's eyes widened and its mouth opened slightly, drooling.
A pill condensed from moon essence was irresistible temptation for any beast.
"Roar!!"
The bear stretched out its paw, swiping at the inside of the hollow, roaring impatiently.
Du ke casually threw the doctored pill to the bear, which eagerly fished it out and swallowed it in one gulp.
Gulp!
Hearing this extremely clear swallowing sound, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Du ke's mouth.
That pill was one of his precious few Moon Blossom Pills, but it had been tampered with.
To be able to take down this bear, Du ke had bled heavily.
He directly took out the scarce Moon Blossom Pills to use as bait, and developed a new usage for the Black Cauldron.
That was, fusing two different pills together.
In his past life, Du ke had seen documentaries about bear hunting, where the hunter would bend bones and freeze meat into fist-sized chunks before leaving them in places bears frequented.
Once a bear ate the doctored meatball, its body heat would melt it, straightening the concealed bent bone to puncture its stomach and cause death.
Inspired by this, Du ke fused his self-refined Gale Pill with a Moon Blossom Pill into one pill, and gave it to the bear when it demanded pills.
To avoid the Blood Qi Pill's allure being insufficient, Du ke reluctantly took out a Moon Blossom Pill.
He knew perfectly well just how alluring the Moon Blossom Pill was to beasts. Now that the bear had eaten this tampered Moon Blossom Pill, its death was only a matter of time.
"One...two...three...four..."
Before Du ke could count to five, a miserable roar suddenly sounded from the bear outside.
"Roar!"
Along with the miserable roar, the bear forcefully rammed the large tree where Du ke and the others were hiding.
Once, twice, thrice...
Each time, the bear's strength weakened, until finally a heavy muffled sound came from outside, as if something heavy had crashed down.
Hearing this heavy thud, Du ke also slowly stood up, disappearing as he crawled out of the hollow on all fours.
As soon as he exited, Du ke saw the dead body of the bear lying on the ground, blood flowing from the corner of its mouth, one eyeball dangling from its face while the other had completely burst.
"Heh, indeed dead."
Du ke strode towards the bear corpse, coming before it and pressing his paw on the carcass before storing it into his Black Cauldron space.
After doing all this, Du ke did not bother cleaning up the bloodstains. Instead, he darted back into the hollow and slapped Shí sān awake with one paw.
"Awoo?"
Facing Thirteen's questioning, Duke first put away the badger's skin, then climbed onto Xiao Ha's back with difficulty, aggravating his wounds in the process and making him grit his teeth in pain.
They couldn't stay here, they had to find a new place to recuperate.
With a slap to Thirteen's head, Duke howled for Xiao Ha to hurry up and leave this place.
Understanding Duke's intent, Xiao Ha immediately crawled out of the tree hollow, while Duke warned him to avoid the bloodstains on the ground.
Soon, with Duke on his back, Xiao Ha delved deeper into the woods.