The Cunning Transformations of Beasts

The giant salamander wailed.

He watched helplessly as that turtle bastard swallowed his red carp slice by slice. That would have been one thing, but after eating the fish, it even beat him!

Damn turtle brat, why was it in this pond too? If it was so good at fighting, couldn't it go to the big lake next door? That place was huge—you couldn't even swim to the end of it.

The giant salamander looked pitiful. While Su He wasn't paying attention, he stole a crucian carp and quietly swallowed it.

Su He couldn't be bothered with him. He tucked himself against the bottom of the pond without moving.

He was a little too full.

The quality-doubled red carp was packed with energy, and he was having trouble digesting it. He needed a warm place away from the sun to sleep properly.

If not for the wolf pack onshore, he could have found a shallow bank, dug a hole, buried himself inside, and left only his nostrils out to breathe. That was how he had spent every hibernation since reincarnating as a turtle two years ago.

Of course, he could also sleep at the bottom of the water like other turtles.

On the first day after hatching, Su He had discovered that not only could he breathe through his nose and mouth, he could actually breathe underwater too—though the body part involved was rather hard to mention.

His butt!

Or perhaps it was called the cloaca? That should have been the term. Su He wasn't particularly good at biology, so he wasn't sure.

The cloaca could not only urinate, but also draw in lake water and absorb the oxygen in it. But that kind of breathing was extremely weak, better than nothing at best.

He didn't know whether all turtles could do this, whether only his species could, or whether he was special because he was a transmigrator.

If he chose deep sleep, filled himself with air, reduced all bodily activity to minimum, and relied on butt-breathing, he could quietly sleep at the bottom of the water for six or seven days.

Su He rarely breathed this way. At first, he couldn't get past the psychological hurdle; later, he simply wasn't used to it.

But being unused to it didn't mean he couldn't do it.

Holding his breath, Su He dug out a cave at the bottom of the pond. Then he swam to the surface, stirred up the wolf pack to catch his breath, filled his lungs to bursting, sank back down, slipped into the cave, and slowly closed his eyes.

Before long, everything fell silent, and he sank into a deep sleep.

This pond wasn't large, only around two mu. There were no real natural enemies in the water, and the wolf pack stood guard outside, so there was no need to fear other predators arriving. Su He could sleep peacefully.

But this sleep was anything but peaceful. His entire body itched unbearably. Su He kept dreaming that someone had caught him and thrown him into a clay pot to stew, boiling water roiling as waves licked at his shell, scalding it with fiery pain.

After the burning came waves of itching. He wanted nothing more than to peel off his shell and scratch himself to his heart's content.

As pain and itching alternately tormented Su He, the days passed one by one, and the wolf pack onshore grew increasingly restless.

The wolf pack's patience wasn't that poor, but the scent of the Demon Transformation Fruit pervading the pond had faded along with Su He's deep sleep!

A turtle's breathing became extraordinarily weak when it sank into deep sleep.

The Wolf King began growing irritable. He had even beaten several other wolves three or four times, and forced the wolf pack to enter the water more than ten times a day to search back and forth.

The wolf pack was angry but dared not speak.

Even more vexing, no fish carcasses had floated to the surface these past few days. The wolf pack had nothing left to scavenge and needed to hunt, yet the Wolf King hadn't managed to organize a single effective hunt.

He didn't dare leave the pond, merely directing things remotely from a nearby mountain ridge. The wolf pack's hunting efficiency dropped drastically.

The wolves were going hungry.

A deer herd ran nearby, occasionally glancing at the wolf pack. Places lush with water grass that they had once not dared enter could now be freely traversed, while the wolf pack was suppressed by the Wolf King and forbidden from leaving the pond.

These patches of lush green grass had become paradise for the deer herd.

Not far away, a watersnake had just swallowed a frog when a goshawk swooped down from the sky, seized it, and carried it into the air.

A faint scent of blood pervaded the air.

Predators were prey as well. No one could guarantee that they would live until the next moment.

The peaceful, tranquil days passed one by one.

At the bottom of the pond, Su He felt that he was truly doomed this time. He felt as if boiling water surrounded him, his shell peeling away layer by layer. He was probably being cooked alive, his entire body sinking toward the bottom of the pot.

Falling...

Falling...

Su He jolted awake. Looking around, he was still in the pond. But the cave he had hidden in had collapsed—it had been forcibly squeezed apart by him! Judging by the air remaining in his lungs, he had only slept for five or six days.

But Su He had grown from the size of a plate to the size of a washbasin. The cave he had dug earlier could no longer contain him and had been split apart. His body had become heavier and sunk into the silt. No wonder he had kept sinking toward the bottom of the pot in his dream.

The area around him was covered in shed pieces of turtle shell.

Turtles shed their shells too, but not like crabs, which slipped out all at once and grew a new shell. Turtles shed theirs piece by piece, layer by layer.

They shed roughly twice a year.

They gradually grew larger as they shed, a gradual and progressive process.

But during this deep sleep of five or six days, he had shed more than one layer of shell. Moreover, the color of the shed shell had changed. The ordinary dull gray turtle shell had begun to deepen in color.

It showed signs of turning black.

That was a good thing. Buried in the silt, he would be even better concealed.

Su He's turtle head quietly poked out. After confirming there was no danger, he gently paddled the water and slowly swam toward the surface.

After just a few days, lotus leaves had already covered more than half the pond's surface. The lotus leaves had not yet reached their full size; in another five or six days, those green leaves could cover the entire pond.

Then they would be ready to bloom. Su He was waiting for the lotus flowers to blossom. He had an appointment with someone.

His front limbs lightly paddled and his hind legs kicked the water as Su He raised his head above the surface and looked around.

The Wolf King was holding down two wolves and beating them fiercely. Only three wolves still patrolled the pond, while the rest surrounded the Wolf King, baring their teeth and making threatening noises.

Su He didn't know whether they were threatening the Wolf King, or cheering him on as they threatened the wolves being beaten.

But Su He vaguely sensed that the wolf pack no longer respected the Wolf King as much as before! In just five or six days, the Wolf King's prestige was gone! Wolf King, hello!

Wolf King, goodbye!

The Wolf King's attention was drawn away by something else. By the time Su He had finished breathing and sunk back to the bottom, he finally reacted, hastily abandoning the two wolves being beaten and plunging into the pond.

The center of the pond was roughly two zhang deep, and lotus leaves blocked the view above. Once Su He dived underwater, he was absolutely safe.

The giant salamander was happily swimming around underwater. After a few days apart, he had become much livelier.

Su He decided to help him reinforce his memory. So he beat him up, and while he was at it, snatched two large shrimp from him.

Dice fell: three points.

Shrimp ×8. Two had become eight. This time, it wasn't three times, but cubed.

But he was still a Non-Chief! Su He wanted to improve the quality of the large shrimp.

Casually, he pushed the large shrimp toward the giant salamander and watched him wolf them down after staring blankly for a moment.

Unfortunately, the dice had a virgin complex. Once something had been rolled, even if he snatched it back, it wouldn't roll again. Otherwise, he could have repeated the process endlessly.

On the surface, the Wolf King returned to shore resentfully. Gazing at the calm pond surface, his eyes became humanly profound. After looking for a while, he turned and ran deep into the forest, turning a deaf ear to the barking wild wolves behind him.

Roughly two or three hours later, the Wolf King returned with a small beast resembling a cat-sized rat in his jaws. With a flick of his head, he threw it into the pond. The creature had long been scared witless by the Wolf King. With one slap of its tail, it shot into the pond and hid far away from him.

An otter?

Su He was startled, then flew into a rage.

Damn it, an otter!!

Since when had a wolf learned to use tools?!

Otters were absolutely the natural enemy of turtles! Their reactions were sharp and they were extremely fast. Hunting turtles larger than themselves was no difficult task.

They smashed the shells of small turtles, while for large turtles, they dug out the flesh directly from between the limbs.

Hiding inside the shell was useless! Son of a dog! Curse your whole family! You were playing dirty! This otter was about the same size as Su He.

Danger! Su He violently swept his four limbs and rushed toward the surface. While the otter had just escaped the wolf's jaws and was still panicked and disoriented, he bit down on the back of its neck, yanked it hard underwater, and dragged it toward the bottom.

An otter could only hold its breath for five or six minutes, while Su He could hold his for seven days. This was his only advantage.

Having just escaped the wolf's mouth only to be suddenly attacked, the otter was scared out of its wits. Its body twisted into a pretzel as it pulled at its own skin to look back, struggling as it paddled and kicked.

It didn't relax in the slightest just because a turtle had bitten it. With the back of its neck clamped down, it couldn't exert any strength at all! The otter desperately pulled at its fur, its front paws struggling to claw at Su He's head while its hind claws kicked Su He's shell like a cat's, trying to kick him away or tear open his shell outright.

Su He let it struggle. Even when his right hind leg was torn open by the otter's claws, he felt nothing. Determined to the bitter end, he clenched its neck in his jaws and pressed it to the bottom. He immediately flipped over and mounted it, pinning it down tightly, his claws hooking into the water grass at the pond bottom without loosening for even a moment.