The lord and his hunting hound began a carefree life of hunting.
They lived this way for a month, until even Famu's greedy stomach was satisfied. There was no need to expand his territory; he only had to use Headscar to locate large prey in the rainforest, then follow the waterways to reach it.
During the rainy season, the waterways were as dense as roads in a city, and Famu could go wherever he pleased.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy of Sa Mei Su Mu, casting a dappled patch of light on the small island in the middle of the swamp.
Famu lay coiled on the exposed rock, half his body immersed in the warm shallows and half resting in the sunlight. His black scales absorbed the heat, their surface gleaming like molten iron and rising and falling slowly with each breath. He basked lazily in the sun, his belly slightly swollen from today's haul.
Not far away, Headscar lay on a rock, leisurely licking his forepaw and the clots of blood left on its pad.
Just a few hours earlier, Famu and Headscar had completed another hunt.
Their prey had been an adult Backhorse, a massive herbivore usually found in herds in the dense forests of the highlands. Its thick skin was smooth, making it hard for teeth and claws to gain a firm grip, and its powerful iron hooves could shatter a predator's bones with a single kick. It was prey that a lone Nightmare Leopard could not handle.
Backhorses were on the Nightmare Leopard's menu, but hunting one required an entire coalition of males. Some would intimidate the herd, while others cut the prey off from the group. Then the leader would step in, pin the Backhorse's head with a paw and clamp his jaws around its throat. While it struggled, the other males would swarm in and cut off any chance of escape.
That was how Nightmare Leopards did it.
For a Typhon, it was much simpler.
Famu had ambushed it at the mouth of the channel.
The Backhorse herd had been crossing the river, and Famu had picked out the biggest, strongest individual at the very front with a single glance.
Then his iron scales churned, and Black Typhon burst from the murky water, dragging the whole Backhorse into the depths. Churning mud soon swallowed every trace of its struggle.
Headscar got a hind leg.
He ate slowly.
Lately, he had been hunting so often with Black Typhon that even this rare, tender horsemeat held little appeal. Headscar tore and chewed at it slowly, indulging himself by saving the thigh for last.
He looked at Famu, still unable to fathom just how terrifying his appetite was.
The intervals between hunts were sometimes two days, sometimes three, but never more than five.
Migrating Long-snouted Tapirs, Kai Giant Crocodiles, Tusked Wild Boars at the water's edge, even Sa Mei Short-Faced Bears hiding in karst caves—the frequency of their hunts depended on Headscar's efficiency. He left the swamp and roamed the mountains and river valleys. He knew the habits of Nightmare Leopards, and he also knew what traces large prey left behind.
Hoofprints, droppings, bark, body scent... These were all Headscar's map to finding prey. He was already an excellent hunter, and the Nightmare Leopard's talent for swift pursuit was put to full use.
He found the prey, and Black Typhon killed it.
Now, Black Typhon was like a silent volcano.
Legend said Typhons possessed the power to tear the earth apart, and Headscar believed that sooner or later, the legend would become reality in his lord.
Famu basked in the sun, breathing evenly. He was asleep.
He slept after eating and ate after waking. Headscar saved him a great deal of time.
Over the course of a month, Famu had visibly grown much more robust.
His back bulged, his muscles like twisted steel, and layer upon layer of scales wrapped his enormous frame. As he breathed, the muscle groups beneath his scales could be seen rising and falling like the tide.
Those were the visible changes. The invisible change was in Famu's spine.
A spine supporting a massive serpent like a Typhon was already thick and sturdy, but Famu's had now grown visibly thicker still. That was the fundamental reason for his robust appearance. The nutrients he consumed were drawn upon by the Staff of Life, then channeled along his ganglia into a special organ beneath his spine, causing Famu to grow.
In the void deep within his consciousness, the Spiral Tree glowed.
Three quarters of its dormant, dim root system was lit up, golden specks of light drifting through the roots.
Almost...
Famu looked down at the golden root system.
He looked forward to it so much.
If the energy in the roots reached full capacity, the Life Scepter System's permissions might become available to him. Failing that, even if he could not obtain access, Famu would at least learn something about the human era, such as why he had become a Typhon.
The Backhorse was digested, and Famu awoke.
Night had fallen overhead, and the starry sky was brilliant after the rainstorm.
He felt no fatigue. Instead, a power was building inside him, eager to devour everything.
Headscar had left the rock nearby. Famu did not know whether he had returned to his den or gone into the dense forest to search for prey.
Just then, an elderly White-Faced Monkey came to the treetops above Famu.
Famu knew it. The old monkey had always been quiet, its face wrinkled like withered bark and its fur gray-white with age. It had always been quiet, unlike the restless, noisy younger monkeys in the troop, like an old scholar.
It was the one that had first stopped the troop from warning the animals at the water, and later led them to feast after Famu left some remains behind. It was also the only White-Faced Monkey that did not fear Headscar. Sometimes it even picked fruit that aided digestion and brought it to him. After all, Headscar's digestive ability was limited; unlike Famu, he could not digest everything he ate.
The old monkey climbed slowly down from the tree and came to a spot not far from Famu.
In its sunken eyes, there was none of the fear of Famu that the younger monkeys showed. It simply gave Famu a calm glance, then lowered its head and made a sound, pointing east of the swamp with one hand while making a gesture with the other.
"Ka... sss... ka... kekekekeke!"
Its arm undulated, like a snake swimming through water.
A rustling came from the ground as Famu crawled forward, staring at the old monkey and listening closely to its call.
Famu was good at learning. Not long after he began ruling the swamp, he had figured out what several of the main sounds the White-Faced Monkeys used to communicate meant.
What the old monkey was calling now was a warning that a large predator had appeared near the swamp—one that was even bigger.
A small predator was one syllable. A formidable predator rarely seen in the rainforest, such as a Nightmare Leopard, was three. Now the old monkey was making a full five syllables, the call that represented Famu.
An arm swaying like a snake, a five-syllable warning.
Finally, the old monkey imitated Headscar's paw and used the arm representing the snake to grab hold of it!
At the same moment, Famu raised his head. He had detected vibrations coming from the east of the swamp.