Chapter 10: More Abilities? The Downpour Arrives

The stream babbled, leaves and branches swaying in a dance.

Baichuan once again returned to his familiar nest. Fortunately, even though he hadn't come back for several days, his tree hollow hadn't been taken over by other small animals.

Perhaps it was because his scent hadn't yet faded.

That left him a little disappointed—otherwise he could have had another extra meal.

And only now did he have a chance to open the panel.

【Name: Baichuan.】

【Race: Yanjingwangshe.】

【Lifespan: 8 years.】

【Points: 81.6%.】

【Abilities: Zhongchang LV2 (Details), Sedu LV2, Energy-Saving Storage LV1, Danger Perception LV1, Qiangzhuang LV1, Flexibility LV1, Scales LV1, Swimming LV1……】

【Ability Structure Library: Laoshu, Jianwenfu, Jinshe, Qingwa, Cang Ying.】

【Kedianji……】

"Only 81.6%?" Baichuan was first taken aback, then realized: "That's right, when there were still two days left at the time, I had started shedding."

"In that case, once I finish digesting what's in my belly, it'll be close to ninety, which means just one day left. I really can't wait."

After muttering to himself for a while, Baichuan coiled his body and began to rest. These past few days, because of shedding, he hadn't rested well for many days.

Of course, before sleeping, he didn't forget to activate Frenzied Digestion.

……

"Begin enhancement!"

One day later, having finally accumulated enough points, Baichuan couldn't wait to open the panel and headed straight for the Ability Structure Library.

Without a doubt, an ability like Xiaohua Xishou LV1 only achieves high compatibility when placed in the stomach.

As the model lifted, the abilities slotted into place.

Baichuan once again fell into a deep sleep, and a strange, opaque, viscous substance was once again secreted over his body, covering him completely.

If someone could see through this opaque, viscous layer to the inside at this moment, they would surely notice that within it, Time flowed strangely around that snake's body!

It was as if everything was madly evolving in some direction.

Time slowly passed once more.

One day… two days… three days……

Five days later.

"Hungry! Hungry!"

"So hungry!!"

When Baichuan woke again, his first reaction was that he felt terribly hungry—a burning, searing hunger, as if every cell in his body were frantically screaming at him: Hungry!

It was hard to imagine that a snake, not long ago full to the brim, could become this hungry after just a few short days.

But Baichuan couldn't be bothered with all that now. The moment he woke, without even carefully sensing the changes in himself, he crawled out of the tree hollow, and for a while didn't even notice that his speed had increased quite a bit.

Half an hour later, by the stream.

After swallowing a Water Snake and feeling his stomach no longer burning, Baichuan comfortably swayed his head. Only now did he suddenly realize his speed seemed to have increased quite a bit.

Earlier, because he was too hungry, he hadn't paid attention to this aspect. But now that he was full and reason had returned, he discovered that his speed and physical strength had grown considerably.

The increase in physical strength could be attributed to his body becoming larger after shedding.

But the increase in speed—that couldn't possibly be because of getting bigger from shedding, right?

Normally, the larger the body, the slower the speed—that's how it should be.

He opened the panel again and looked at the abilities line.

……

【Abilities: Zhongchang LV2 (Details), Sedu LV2, Energy-Saving Storage LV1, Danger Perception LV1, Qiangzhuang LV1, Flexibility LV1, Scales LV1, Swimming LV1, Xiaohua Xishou LV1, Minjie LV1……】

In an instant, Baichuan noticed he had gained two abilities.

Hadn't he only enhanced one ability? By all rights, he should have gained just one "Xiaohua Xishou LV1," but now he'd also been gifted a Minjie LV1.

Strange, very strange. Baichuan, unable to figure it out, realized he still understood far too little about the panel.

But gaining an extra ability was still a good thing.

When it came to things he couldn't figure out, Baichuan's habit was always to set them aside first.

Anyway, as long as he lived long enough, there would come a day when he'd understand. Thinking about it so much was less useful than considering how to live longer.

……

In the middle of the night, Baichuan was woken by a tremendous "splash."

Lifting his snake head and poking it out of the tree hollow, he saw that the sky outside had already turned a vast, pale white, like a cascading waterfall.

He could no longer hear the sounds of other animals by his ear—even the ever-present croaking of frogs was now utterly silent.

The moisture content in the air was extremely high; Baichuan even saw a few drops of water condensing on his own scales.

"A rainstorm like this in the middle of the night must have cost many nocturnal animals their meals." Gazing out of the tree hollow, Baichuan sighed leisurely, while also feeling a trace of relief.

He was relieved that after shedding, he had felt nostalgic and returned to this big tree's hollow.

Otherwise, in weather like this, if he'd been in some ground-level burrow, it would probably have been washed away by now.

After watching for a bit, and taking the chance to replenish his water with the rain falling from the sky, Baichuan fell back asleep to the sound of the rain.

The next day, when Baichuan woke leisurely, he found the rain was still falling.

And the rainfall was just as heavy, basically no different from what he'd seen last night.

Looking out of the hollow, he saw a great deal of water pooled below; the ground that used to be there was now nowhere to be seen.

This gave him a faint bad premonition.

This rain won't keep falling forever, right? Is this the arrival of the rainy season?

This isn't a good thing at all, especially since he activated Frenzied Digestion just yesterday.

Hmm, the points have now risen by 15%, an increase of 5% over the previous growth rate — in other words, half the speed.

But does that matter right now?

The most important thing right now is that his stomach is practically empty.

If this rain doesn't stop, he may have a very hard time finding food over the next few days.

At the very least, larger prey will be hard to swallow — after all, he's only a land-dwelling snake; he can swim, sure, but he can't dive or eat underwater.

He figures he can only bite small animals, like Qingwa, and drag them back to his burrow to eat.

"Sigh, if this rain keeps up, a lot of lives are probably going to be lost."

Baichuan sighed. Don't look at how rough his situation is now — compared to others, his is already pretty good.

If he truly faced a desperate situation, he could simply enter a dormant state, lowering all life activities, and get through the rainy season without eating or drinking.

But what about the other creatures?

If this really is an endless rainy season, then a lot of animals will only be able to huddle in their burrows, afraid to venture out.

And some of the unlucky ones, whose burrows are poorly built and collapse — that's when they truly begin to face despair.

Do you know why?

You must understand that not all creatures are amphibious.

The rain will draw heat from their bodies and soak their dry fur.

They were already unable to find food and going hungry; if they then get caught in a downpour, have massive amounts of heat stripped away by the rain, and end up drenched all over—

What awaits them will be hunger, weakness, loss of body heat, a drop in Immunity, and bacteria invading like mad.

They'll soon slip into death!

(End of Chapter)