Chapter Sixty-Four: Consuming Poisonous Fruit by Mistake

After gasping for breath for quite some time, Xiao Ding finally mustered the courage to carefully climb up from the massive boulder at the edge of the cliff. Dropping heavily to the ground, he let out a long, weary sigh.

He rested for a long while, then turned his head to gaze into the forest. The dense woodland ahead was a gaping black maw, merging into a single, ominous entity that resembled the open mouth of a giant beast, waiting to swallow any prey that wandered too close.

He thought it wiser to wait for daylight before venturing back into the mountains. If he could find the other three, that would be ideal; if not, he would have to brave Luoxia Mountain alone. It was fortunate he had spent the previous night with them—had he been by himself, he might not have dared close his eyes even once, not knowing when danger might approach.

Though he had barely slept and had been running for his life most of the night, leaving his body utterly exhausted, Xiao Ding did not dare to sleep. He could only sit cross-legged and practice his cultivation techniques to restore his strength.

Luckily, the technique he practiced was rather extraordinary; after circulating his energy a few times, most of his strength had returned. By then, dawn was beginning to break.

He continued his meditation for several more cycles. Once the sky grew brighter, he rose to discern his direction. Unfortunately, when he reached the forest’s edge, he still could not recall which direction he had run from the previous night.

It seemed he could only stumble on blindly. Judging by the sun, he could roughly distinguish the cardinal directions, but deep within these mountains, it was impossible to tell which way led up the mountain, and which led down.

He vaguely remembered that they had entered the mountain from the eastern side of the main peak; if they had not yet reached the main peak, then heading west should be correct. However, after last night’s frantic flight, they had no idea which direction they had ended up in. Even heading east now might not lead him out of the mountains.

There was another way to orient himself: if he could find a treeless peak, he could climb up and get his bearings. But around the main peak of Luoxia Mountain, the vegetation was so dense that almost every hill was blanketed with ancient forest; bare summits were nowhere to be found.

In such a forest, even finding one’s bearings was difficult, let alone finding another person—it was like searching for a needle in the sea.

For now, Xiao Ding could only take things one step at a time. If, by some miracle, he managed to find Mei Ruoshuang in these woods, it would be nothing short of a blessing from the heavens, an even slimmer chance than winning the lottery.

His iron staff had long since been discarded in last night’s chaos. He had to whittle a slender stick from a branch with his knife, using it to prod the undergrowth as he walked, to ward off snakes and insects.

Now, with only himself for company, he had to be especially cautious.

After walking for over an hour, he still could not find the place where they had rested the previous night. By now, the sun was high, and hunger and thirst gnawed at him. The small bundle containing his steamed buns and water flask had vanished as well.

Food was not a problem; the forest teemed with birds and small animals, and he could easily roast one to sate his hunger. But with no fresh water, he dared not eat, knowing that digestion would consume even more of the precious water in his body.

Near midday, he discovered a thicket of low shrubs in the forest, with clusters of plump, thumb-sized white berries, glistening with moisture and looking irresistibly fresh.

Though small, the berries were full of juice and could ease his urgent thirst. He hurried over, picked a dozen or so, wiped them haphazardly on his sleeve, and popped two into his mouth.

The taste was unbearably bitter and astringent, with a faint numbing sensation—could they be poisonous? He smacked his lips and looked at the remaining berries in his hand, hesitating, torn between eating and abstaining.

Most wild fruits were not poisonous; in fact, it was rather rare to stumble upon toxic berries. Surely he wasn’t unlucky enough for these to be so, he thought to himself.

After much indecision, he refrained from eating any more. Hunger and thirst could be endured for now—if the berries were truly poisonous, his life would be forfeit.

Yet he could not bring himself to throw away the handful he had picked. What if they were harmless? In a pinch, they might just save his life. Tearing a strip from his sleeve, he wrapped the berries and tucked them into his shirt, then pressed on in a chosen direction.

He had not gone more than a few minutes before a fiery sensation began to kindle in his stomach. At first, he ignored it, but the heat steadily intensified, as if a blaze had been lit inside him, spreading through his whole body.

Clutching his stomach in agony, Xiao Ding realized the berries were indeed poisonous. He quickly sat down beneath a nearby tree, crossed his legs, and focused on his cultivation technique.

After several cycles, the burning in his abdomen began to subside, but a new heat started to course along his meridians. Not knowing what poison he had ingested, he could only continue circulating his energy, fighting the internal fire.

He meditated until nightfall before he felt the last of the heat fade, his strength restored, and his body lighter than before—as if his power had grown.

Opening his eyes, he found that his vision in the darkness seemed sharper than ever. Licking his parched lips, he marveled at his survival. Could it be that misfortune had turned to blessing, and the berries were not poison at all, but some rare and wondrous fruit?

Still, he dared not eat any more.

The entire afternoon had been sheer torment: not only did his insides and skin burn with feverish heat, but, most unbearable of all, some uncontrollable, primal desire had surged within him, provoking a physical reaction that tormented him relentlessly for hours. No matter how he tried to suppress it with his cultivation, it was futile—a true ordeal.

With night fallen, it was impossible to travel further; he had to find a safe place to wait out the darkness. Yet wherever he looked, there was nothing but endless forest—every spot was much the same.

He decided to climb a nearby tree and spend the night there. Even so, he did not dare to sleep, knowing that poisonous insects and snakes prowled the woods at night, and that a moment’s carelessness could be fatal.

Moreover, the swarms of mosquitoes in the autumn forest were savage, circling him like tiny bombers, darting in to bite whenever he let his guard down, driving him to distraction.

Helpless, Xiao Ding sat cross-legged on a sturdy branch and resumed his cultivation. As his body temperature rose, the mosquitoes drew back, unwilling to approach his warmth.

By dawn, after a night of cultivation, he felt more refreshed than before, his spiritual power brimming, his meridians subtly expanded. Could he be on the verge of breaking through to the first stage? he wondered.

He had never understood how many levels there were in the “Heart-Melting Method”; the manual he had come across by chance on the deserted island contained only the practice instructions, with no further explanation.

At the thought, he reached up to touch the jade pendant hanging at his neck—a treasure, like his cultivation technique, that he had found on that same island. He had recently recovered it, and upon returning home, had asked Er Niu to thread it for him so he could wear it.

With daylight brightening, hunger and thirst returned with a vengeance. He felt the bundle of berries in his shirt but resisted the urge to eat them again.

Where could he find water to drink?