NOVEL WEB Ch. 15
Chapter 15: Devouring Fortune?
After Mo Lin disappeared with Hong Sanjiang, two full days passed before a figure walked past Hong Sanjiang’s house.
His name was Hong Xiu.
He was not there to look for Hong Sanjiang, but only on his way up the mountain.
However, after passing by Hong Sanjiang’s home, he quickly realized that something was wrong.
Hong Xiu frowned:
“Why is Uncle Sanjiang’s door broken like this?”
In Hong Xiu’s sight, the door of Hong Sanjiang’s house was shockingly shattered and incomplete, exposing the decorations inside the house at a glance.
Hong Xiu couldn’t help but grow suspicious.
He picked up his hatchet and slowly approached Hong Sanjiang’s home:
“Uncle Sanjiang? Uncle Sanjiang!”
Although Uncle Sanjiang, as a corpse collector, had always had a strained relationship with the village elders, the Hong family had once received his favor.
Last year, when Hong Xiu’s father died from catching snakes, it was Hong Sanjiang who helped bury him.
So seeing that something seemed to have happened at Hong Sanjiang’s home, the simple and honest Hong Xiu still decided to check, to see whether he might need help.
What was strange was that even though Hong Xiu had already arrived at Hong Sanjiang’s doorway, he still saw no trace of him.
Upon closer inspection, he could clearly see that the wooden door had shattered into pieces, and even several bricks along the doorway had fallen.
This did not look like a door collapsing simply from age and disrepair.
At the entrance, there were even traces of blood dripping onto the ground, and from the direction, it seemed to have trailed up the mountain.
Hong Xiu’s face changed drastically.
Could it be that while Uncle Sanjiang was at home, a bear came down from the mountain to look for food and carried him away?
Although bears in the mountains usually did not descend, it was now just after winter had passed, the time when bears ended their hibernation.
After starving through a whole winter, a ravenous bear might very well come down the mountain.
Therefore, Hong Xiu grew even more nervous.
He stood outside the door carefully investigating for a long time, but he never saw a bear’s shadow.
Finally, Hong Xiu stepped into Hong Sanjiang’s house.
Inside, the broken door and disturbed furniture were nothing compared to the sight that stunned him—the pool of blood he clearly saw near the entrance!
The bloodstains outside extended directly from this large pool of blood!
“Uncle Sanjiang!”
At once, Hong Xiu abandoned his original plan, searching around Hong Sanjiang’s home for a long time, but he still could not find his figure.
......
At the same time when Hong Xiu discovered the incident at Hong Sanjiang’s house, up on the mountain, Mo Lin—who had already fled with his prey—was gazing at his snake body by the water.
【Mo Lin】
【Strength: 547】
【Speed: 539】
【Agility: 550】
【Defense: 571】
【Demonic Power: 319】
【Abilities: Devour, Shedding, Poison Resistance, Snake Venom, Transform into Demon】
“After eating a human, I can indeed see my body grow a little larger. The effect is much stronger than eating a honey badger or a mongoose. As expected, humans are worthy of being the leaders of all living beings.”
“Even my demonic power has increased. No wonder so many monsters like to eat humans. Besides the taste, the most important reason must be that it helps their cultivation.”
Mo Lin shook his head helplessly:
“It’s just a pity that this time, unlike before, I didn’t feel feverish or drowsy.”
“I even went so far as to bring him back to the mountain, found a proper place to rest before eating him, but it seems that strange occurrence was not related to simply eating humans.”
Mo Lin pondered:
“In that case, it must mean that something about Hong Tianfeng was special, which made me feel as if I had eaten three people at once, and even began to transform into a demon.”
What was special about him that made Hong Tianfeng like a battery—one man stronger than three?
Mo Lin racked his brain for a long while before suddenly realizing:
“In Journey to the West, Tang Monk was the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada.
Monsters who ate his flesh could live forever.”
“But Tang Monk’s flesh could be boiled, roasted, or eaten, and was no different from other humans.”
“If eating Tang Monk’s flesh really granted immortality, then perhaps his flesh was not the key. The key was the fortune belonging to Buddha that he carried.”
The more Mo Lin thought about it, the more he felt it was true:
“Some people are unlucky from childhood, everything goes wrong; others seem divinely blessed, always succeeding—this is the manifestation of fortune.”
“Maybe my Devour talent isn’t just about eating flesh on the surface, but should be understood on a deeper level.”
“If I devour a human or an animal, I not only digest their bodies, but also their fortune?”
Mo Lin’s serpent eyes glimmered:
“Fortune must be a higher-level existence than mere flesh. If I explain it as me devouring Hong Tianfeng’s fortune, then it all makes sense.”
“Hong Tianfeng’s fortune was far greater than this man’s or any animal’s, so after eating other humans, I only gained some bodily evolution.”
“But after devouring Hong Tianfeng, I not only survived my third shedding and evolved into a python, but even developed human-like facial scale patterns. That was clearly the sign of transforming into a demon.”
On the calm surface of the water, his reflection swam back and forth:
“If this hypothesis holds true, then my Devour ability has great potential.”
“If I can devour fortune itself, then what about the fortune of mountains? Of dynasties? Or even... the fortune of an entire era?”
Mo Lin’s heart surged with excitement.
But soon, he calmed himself.
Though the fantasy was beautiful, achieving it was clearly not easy.
After all, he could neither locate mountain fortune, nor enter human society.
To seize heaven’s creation was no simple matter.
After soothing his emotions, Mo Lin thought:
“Boldly assume, carefully verify. If it was Hong Tianfeng’s fortune that triggered my transformation, then would his son also possess fortune?”
A cold light flickered in his amber serpent eyes.
Mo Lin had not forgotten.
Back when Hong Tianfeng hunted snakes, although he pressed tightly, the true reason Mo Lin had no way to escape and was forced to break off his tail was Hong Tianfeng’s son—Hong Wen.
Even if the cause of his transformation had not been Hong Tianfeng’s fortune, Mo Lin would never let Hong Wen go if given the chance, let alone now that he had made such a discovery.
“To confirm this, I only need to devour Hong Wen. But I must not act rashly—it requires careful planning.”
As he plotted in his mind, the reflection of the great python slowly faded from the water’s surface.
......
“So you’re saying you saw this mess here, didn’t see any sign of Hong Sanjiang, and came to find me?”
Hong Tianyun looked at the younger Hong Xiu, his brows slightly furrowed.
Hong Xiu nodded repeatedly:
“Uncle Yun, you have to believe me, Uncle Sanjiang must have run into trouble, otherwise how could there be so much blood here?”
Hong Xiu voiced his guess:
“Uncle Yun, do you think Uncle Sanjiang was attacked by a bear waking from hibernation and dragged away?”
While frightened, Hong Xiu couldn’t help but complain:
“Last year, when Uncle Sanjiang buried my father, I advised him not to live under the mountain anymore, and to move back into the village. But he refused. Now look—he ended up...”
Hong Xiu’s complaint was cut short by Hong Tianyun’s raised hand.
Facing Hong Xiu’s speculation, Hong Tianyun said nothing more.
In truth, he hadn’t seen Hong Sanjiang these past two days either.
Hongjia Village had been struck with disasters in recent years.
With only about a hundred households, nearly ten breadwinners had died last year alone.
And now, even a corpse collector like Hong Sanjiang might have gone missing.
Hong Tianyun sighed lightly:
“Enough, don’t jump to conclusions. Let’s look around the west side and see if we can find some traces. At the very least, we need to figure out where Hong Sanjiang went and what happened.”
Saying this, Hong Tianyun and Hong Xiu began inspecting the inside of Hong Sanjiang’s house.
Soon, the sharp-eyed Hong Xiu noticed a detail:
“Uncle Yun, come here quickly.”