Chapter 154: A Lady Is Poisonous

'Hum!'

When a flash of mental lightning passed through his mind, Li En instinctively held his breath.

The first mental suggestion had already Shixiao with the departure of the 'bait'; the concealment provided by the second mental suggestion was running thin.

Several times, brain-eating monsters—small aberrations consisting only of a brain and tentacles—paused as they passed Li En, as if hesitating.

'On the bright side, they recognize you—you've activated their appetite.'

Brain-eaters are small demonic creatures unique to the Mind Flayer Zuqun, often serving as hunting hounds or servants; some say they are mutated remnants of consumed brains, others claim they are failed parasitic Mind Flayers. But one thing is certain: they crave intelligent brains intensely and often aid Mind Flayers in hunting.

It is said one of the ultimate humiliations for a wizard apprentice is: 'Your brain is so stupid even brain-eaters aren't interested!'

'Ugh, let's skip this kind of recognition.'

Li En simply detoured around the brain aberration—he had no intention of testing these little things' psychic sense for 'smart brain matter.'

Some things simply don't make sense; when a creature is hungry enough, it can surpass its own limits.

At Ku Ku, Shaliman, and Purple Rose's places, Li En increasingly understood certain traits of 'mental psionics' and 'charm magic.'

These psychic abilities that interfere with the mind are nothing like the casual brainwashing or commands depicted in some novels.

They resemble more closely, in Li En's memory, a psychologist's 'hypnosis' and 'suggestion' from his past life—primarily deception and guiding the subject's instincts, working with rather than against them.

Even if you tell it to die, it's extremely difficult; but if you tell it to eat well, play well, and show it a beautiful opposite-sex it desires, it will easily fall for it. The mental suggestion on Li En that made others ignore him was now constantly battling the brain-eaters' and Mind Flayers' predatory instincts, and its effect was naturally weakening.

'I can't go any further.'

Li En glanced behind him—the brain-eaters were shambling after him, clicking and clacking.

They sniffed aimlessly, endlessly, yet could not find Li En.

But if this continued, they'd eventually find him—and right now, the main brain still seemed far off.

'Is there a way?'

'Yes, but it'll be unpleasant. I can give you a curse to lower your mental capacity.' Purple Rose seemed to have prepared this in advance.

Li En was about to agree, but paused after thinking.

'Uh, it's not the Idiocy Spell, is it?'

This high-huan spell is too powerful—until dispelled by a priest, the intelligence reduction is nearly permanent!

And similar mental-blocking spells are almost always long-lasting; if Li En turned stupid now, he'd be discovered immediately.

'No, this is our Snake Witch's unique technique. I'll inject some slightly toxic memories and knowledge into your brain, overloading your thinking ability. It'll resolve itself after a while—though there may be some side effects.' Purple Rose sounded slightly concerned.

'What side effects?' The brain-eaters were almost touching Li En's feet—he was growing desperate.

'It will increase your beastification—but it might also bring you some extra benefits.' Purple Rose's voice hesitated.

'Do it.'

What was there to hesitate about? Li En agreed immediately.

The next moment, a flood of 'knowledge' and 'memories' poured into Li En's mind. He froze, his head spinning, as if a great hammer had struck his brain.

He instantly understood—it was like a DOS attack on a computer, overwhelming the mind with knowledge it couldn't digest to lower its thinking capacity.

But ordinary knowledge couldn't achieve this.

'The knowledge of the "Deer"—no wonder it increases beastification.' For ordinary beastfolk, merely encountering it was deadly poison.

【Beastification: 3. 1%】 The progress bar, long stalled, began rising again.

These specialized memories and knowledge were likely stolen by Purple Rose from the Prince of Beasts. Head throbbing, Li En calmed himself, trying to decipher more.

This was critical intelligence on his number-one enemy.

And Purple Rose's plan worked—the brain-eaters swayed dazedly for a moment, then wandered off confusedly.

And the direction they left toward—pray to the Dark Elf nobles and the Black Dragon.

Li En himself, however, unknowingly became lost in the memory, as if he had become one of the deer walking across ancient marshes.

Injecting too many memories and knowledge into the mind in a short time is extremely dangerous—it can confuse self-identity and even alter personality.

A few unlucky Mind Flayers had been consumed by the memories of their hosts, believing themselves to be the victims whose memories they carried.

But with Purple Rose's careful control, Li En remained stable, drifting peacefully between wakefulness and sleep.

Even stranger—his body, still under Purple Rose's control, walked steadily forward, though his gait had become subtly odd: slightly pigeon-toed and floating, like a girl's delicate step.

Li En could not perceive it at all—he was utterly infected by the 'knowledge,' fallen into the cage of knowledge.

'So this is the "Deer." My previous understanding was flawed. Good thing I know now—otherwise I'd suffer badly later.'

The Deer is one of the Beasts. Li En had encountered it in combat and gained some understanding, but certain traits were not common to all Beasts—they were unique to the Deer.

'The Regenerating Beast, the Cycle Beast.'

Some aspects, when combined with Li En's past-life understanding of deer, became easier to grasp.

The small beasts and the Saint Mother he'd encountered before both had absurdly strong regeneration—he'd assumed this was a common trait of Beasts, but it was actually one of the Deer's unique abilities.

Ordinary deer are miraculous in nature, possessing absurdly robust vitality; even with broken bones, they could walk again in days, and severe wounds healed rapidly.

Especially this 'Regenerating Bone' trait—something that could make the neighboring horse weep blood.

Even many fatal injuries—skin peeled away to expose flesh, arrows piercing the skull—the deer still survived. Viruses that would kill ordinary life barely registered as a cold to them. But conversely, viruses hatched within the deer could be terrifyingly lethal.

The deer may be the only large animal capable of regenerating organs. Those annual antlers are, in fact, living organs—flesh, blood, and bone!

Over time, the fleshy antlers eventually turned to bone.

The dried, bony antlers fell in winter, then regenerated anew each spring—this is one reason it is called the 'Beast of Life's Cycle.'

'To kill it, you must break this cycle—otherwise, its endless regeneration is nauseating.'

'Its blood is problematic. Deer blood has long been regarded as a potent tonic.' This absurd regeneration stemmed from its blood, rich with vitality, and its monstrously strong heart.

'The heart is its strongest point—and its weakness. Perhaps blood toxins, like clotting poison, would be especially effective.' With this knowledge, Li En found its weakness.

The deer is also a Beast of Greed, capable of channeling its flesh and essence to benefit other life.

'Perhaps certain drugs that accelerate blood circulation could also be effective—but they'd be extremely dangerous upon activation.'

It also possesses terrifying burst power—never match it in brute strength.

This knowledge and these memories had deepened Li En's understanding of the deer. He was confident he could face the Horned Disciple again—with at least three or four new specialized killing techniques.

What followed next involved transcendent traits—and revealed one of the Deer's possible trump cards.

'The Lake Beast. So "the Great Horn Pillar Controlling the Boundary Between Heaven and Sea" refers to this? This is the source of its power?!'

Contrary to most beliefs, the deer is actually quite adept in water; many species even have records of crossing oceans, and their primary habitats include swamps and lakes.

Hence, numerous eyewitness accounts of deer running across water (actually shallow water or swamps), and many myths from East and West, mention their ability to walk on water.

Lakes and swamps are the Deer's domain—which means

'It can summon a great flood, turning the battlefield entirely into shallow water.'

【Beastification: 4. %, Bloodline Ability Awakening】

Unconsciously, Li En's beastification level rose rapidly, and his body now exuded a strong beast (snake) aura, enchanting Purple Rose.

'Almost there, almost there.' Purple Rose 'watched' Li En with satisfaction—this stable accumulation of Deer knowledge was about to become a toxic USB drive.

She was pleased with the progress—Li En was about to decipher the 'toxic knowledge.'

This was a long-prepared killing technique, the result of her great effort to steal the Prince of Beasts' memories, knowledge, and lineage, and weave them into a 'virus bomb.'

The poisoned USB drive was nearly ready—and the 'brain (computer)' capable of inserting this virus was not far away!

As Li En understood, the Snake's charm could not force a creature to kill itself. To fight a monster like the Deer, you needed a specific 'poison' targeting the Deer—using its own instincts to kill it.

'Little Brother Li En, you're amazing—even like this, you're so stable. No, I must hold back, hold back!' Purple Rose touched her lips, wiped away drool, and became once more a sweet, innocent young lady.

(End of Chapter)