The Mouse Clan are departing!
If you find your brain too troublesome, you can leave it with me for safekeeping. I'll return it to you one and a half times its original size when we're done!
The mountain range stretched endlessly, with mist shrouding the tall trees. Sunlight pierced through layers of branches and swirling fog, weaving threads of golden and silver light through the forest, imbuing the mountain with a mysterious aura.
A brown Rat, huddled in a burrow at the base of a withered tree, gazed up at the forest above, its Rat face displaying a human-like melancholy.
The brown Rat's body was about the size of an adult's palm, with a tail nearly as long as its body trailing behind it. Its back fur was mostly brownish-red, while its belly fur was grayish-white.
“Sigh! It seems I've truly turned into a Rat and can't change back!”
Wu Yuan was in a terrible mood, even though it had been a month since he became a Rat.
In his previous life, he had finally graduated from graduate school, passed the civil service exam, and his family had prepared a house for him. He was just waiting to enjoy the good life that lay ahead.
However, after buying a causality pearl during a trip, he saw a large truck flying towards him.
Only one thought remained in Wu Yuan's mind: “Oh, I, this Rat, am just too difficult!”
When Wu Yuan first experienced Transmigration, he was just a young Rat.
Have you ever experienced opening your eyes to find yourself surrounded by Rats several times larger than you, packed tightly together in a dark mass, with tails occasionally sweeping across your body?
Wu Yuan let out a terrified shriek on the spot: “Squeak!!!”
It was only when Wu Yuan calmed down that he realized he had turned into a Rat. All hope was lost, and he wished he could bite himself to death.
Fortunately, Wu Yuan discovered that the causality pearl he had bought in his previous life was indeed a causality pearl, capable of displaying information about things nearby that had Karma with him.
Relying on this information, he successfully navigated the most challenging period of his infancy as a Rat, and also dodged the deadly period when snakes would burrow into Rat nests to devour the Rat Clan.
He also used the information to find a hiding place a while ago.
This was a burrow at the base of a giant tree, slightly higher than the surrounding ground. The tree roots were gnarled and complex, and with accumulated leaves, the cave was extremely well hidden.
If the information hadn't pinpointed the exact location, Wu Yuan would never have found it.
He made it his main cave, continuously digging deeper and creating three more chambers to serve as a nest, food storage, and a toilet.
He also dug several fake entrances around it to confuse enemies.
As Wu Yuan tidied the cave, he thought, “Even if I've become a Rat, I still have to live. But thinking about it, I'm now living in a single Rat room!”
He then looked at his causality pearl: “The information it's given me during this time has been very important, saving my Rat life multiple times. I wonder when the next piece of information will come.”
As Wu Yuan was pondering, he suddenly saw the causality pearl display a blue piece of information.
Blue information?
For this past month, it had mostly been white and green information.
“Green information led me to this habitat. What's special about blue information?”
Wu Yuan curiously checked the content.
“Blue Information: Tonight, when the moon is at its zenith, in the mud pit two hundred zhang to the west, Moon Spirit Grass will mature. Consuming it can cultivate a wisp of Demon Power.”
After reading it, he paused, then wiped his face with his small paw.
Moon Spirit Grass?
Demon Power?
Are there demons in this world?
If I eat the Moon Spirit Grass and gain Demon Power, can I become a demon?
If I become a demon, will my one or two years of Rat life be extended?
Many questions immediately flooded Wu Yuan's mind, and at the same time, his spirit was invigorated.
“If I become a demon, there might be a chance to escape this fragile Rat body and transform into human form.”
Tonight, I must find this Moon Spirit Grass!
This was a ray of hope in Wu Yuan's dim Rat life, a hope for extending his lifespan and becoming human again.
Looking at the rising sun, Wu Yuan wasn't in a hurry to act.
Instead, he returned to his burrow and devoured all the food he had previously saved and been reluctant to eat, then returned to his nest to rest.
He would conserve his energy and fight with all his might!
...
When Wu Yuan awoke, it was midday. The sun hung high, and most of his natural predators like snakes, Owls, and wildcats would not be active at this time.
Two hundred zhang, nearly seven hundred meters. If a human sprinted at full speed, it would take only three to five minutes. For a Rat sprinting at full speed, it would only take three minutes.
However, this dangerous journey was a life-or-death struggle for Wu Yuan, who was currently just a weak Rat.
To achieve his goal, he had to consider everything thoroughly; this was the wisdom of being a human.
....
Guided by the information, Wu Yuan crawled along tree roots, dead leaves, and scattered rocks, trying his best not to expose himself in open areas.
From time to time, he would stand up straight, using his keen sense of smell and hearing to observe his surroundings.
What he worried about most were the snakes hidden in the dead leaves.
Even with such caution, he was still discovered by a Black Brocade Snake halfway through.
It lunged at Wu Yuan from a bush, mouth agape.
Fortunately, Wu Yuan was cautious. With a single leap, he dodged the Black Brocade Snake's lunge. Upon landing, he furiously pushed off the ground with all four limbs, fleeing rapidly, crossing rocks and circling trees.
The Black Brocade Snake couldn't keep up, was disoriented by Wu Yuan's evasions, and was eventually shaken off by him.
Walking and stopping like this, Wu Yuan finally arrived at the mud pit where the Moon Spirit Grass was located at dusk.
He looked at the Moon Spirit Grass in front of him, which resembled ordinary roadside weeds, finding it somewhat hard to believe. After all, this grass was too common, with nothing noteworthy about it.
However, Wu Yuan believed in the accuracy of the information, and the more ordinary the Moon Spirit Grass was, the less likely it was to be discovered by other animals.
Wu Yuan observed the environment around the mud pit, his shifty, Rat-like eyes resembling a thief casing a joint.
To conceal his scent, he plunged into the mud pit and rolled around.
Enduring the stench of the mud on his body, he suppressed his nausea and dug a hole around the Moon Spirit Grass, hiding inside and quietly waiting for the moon to reach its zenith.
....
As the moon rose higher, moonlight shone into the mud pit.
The Moon Spirit Grass visibly grew taller, emitting a silvery-white moonlight that was quite conspicuous in the darkness.
Wu Yuan stared intently at the Moon Spirit Grass, his heart pounding: “Damn it, it's too obvious!”
As time passed, the Moon Spirit Grass's glow grew brighter and brighter.
He sensed shadowy figures in the surrounding darkness and the rustling sound of leaves.
Wu Yuan stared intently at the Moon Spirit Grass from his mud pit, his four paws gripping the ground, muscles tense, back highly arched, and tail cocked.
“If something goes wrong, I'll just eat the Moon Spirit Grass directly, regardless of whether it's ripe or not!”
Fortunately, Wu Yuan's worries did not come true.
The Moon Spirit Grass matured successfully, immediately emitting a clear fragrance.
Wu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, knowing that the Moon Spirit Grass could no longer be hidden.
He suddenly darted out of the hole, bit off the root of the Moon Spirit Grass, and clutching the grass, dashed into the distance.
The animals hidden in the surrounding darkness smelled the fragrance and finally discovered the Moon Spirit Grass.
But when they noticed Wu Yuan fleeing with the Moon Spirit Grass in his mouth, they immediately became enraged.
The Owl, like a ghost, silently swooped down on Wu Yuan from the air.
The Black Brocade Snake's winding body slithered across the ground, cutting a serpentine path towards Wu Yuan.
Wu Yuan, smelling the fragrance beneath his nose, ran while continuously opening and closing his teeth to swallow the Moon Spirit Grass into his stomach.
Soon, the two-finger-long Moon Spirit Grass disappeared into Wu Yuan's mouth.
As the fragrance in the air gradually faded, the pursuing animals continuously lost the trail and were shaken off by him.
Only the Owl remained, flying in the air, fixated on Wu Yuan.
His heart had already sunk to rock bottom: “Damn it! What runs on the ground really can't compare to what flies in the sky.”
Wu Yuan panted: “I can't run anymore!”