The Craving of the Body's Cells

"Old Bai, please check whether A'Chen is still one of us."

Only after subduing Lu Chen did the tall Barbarian tribesman named Da Shi call for the tribe's witch.

At the same time, Lu Chen could feel the Clan Chief behind him gathering an immense surge of blood and vitality. If Lu Chen made any suspicious move, he would strike with everything he had. This was not aimed at Lu Chen, but the caution required when facing evil spirits.

Pinned down by the Clan Chief, Lu Chen could not move. Only then did the witch come to his side.

He took out a wooden wolf-head carving and pointed it at Lu Chen, then began muttering endlessly.

As the witch chanted, Lu Chen felt a cool, chilling aura spread from the carving. The chill swiftly swept over Lu Chen's body, and during the inspection, both the witch and the Clan Chief focused with utmost attention.

However, the witch soon discovered that the carving showed no change whatsoever. This made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Da Shi, let A'Chen go. There's nothing wrong with him."

The witch's words made everyone around them relax. No one wanted to face evil spirits. People died when that happened.

Lu Chen felt the same. Though he was confident, he still feared some unexpected accident.

But just as the Clan Chief released Lu Chen, a girl behind the witch poked her head out to glance at the skin-and-bones Lu Chen, then abruptly ducked back. Somewhat timidly, she said, "Teacher, are you sure there's no problem? What if that monster is too powerful, and you failed to detect it?"

Her words made the others tense again, while Lu Chen rolled his eyes.

"If I really were such a powerful aberration that even Witch Master couldn't detect the slightest trace of me, why would I still need to hide? I would have attacked directly."

"Who knows what you're thinking? And how do you explain how all the flesh on your body has practically vanished?"

The girl spoke softly, but when Lu Chen looked toward her, she instantly hid behind the witch's hunched body like a rabbit.

That made it hard for Lu Chen to get angry. Clearly, she was not targeting him; she was simply timid and did not dare allow even the slightest danger to exist in the village.

At this point, the Clan Chief and the witch also turned their gazes toward Lu Chen. They were very curious about his skin-and-bones appearance.

"Chen, what happened? Did you encounter something?"

"Was some monster ambushing you?"

Compared to the little girl's speculation behind the witch, the witch and the Clan Chief were far more rational. They believed Lu Chen had been attacked by something, which was why he had become like this.

To that, Lu Chen answered with a bewildered expression, "Nothing attacked me. At least, I didn't see anything. I was sleeping just now, then I felt my blood suddenly churn and grow hot. After that came hunger—insane, maddening hunger. Then I ended up like this, as you can see."

Lu Chen sounded utterly confused, and upon hearing this, the Clan Chief immediately furrowed his brow tightly.

"An aberration that can manipulate blood? Has an aberration really entered the village?"

"Old Bai, please commune with the totem and see whether any evil spirits have entered the village."

Clan Chief Da Shi was worried about the village, but after hearing Lu Chen's words, the witch revered as Old Bai wore an odd expression.

He walked directly over to Lu Chen's side, looking both nervous and expectant as he asked, "You said you felt your blood grow hot, followed by extreme hunger?"

"Yes."

"How does your body feel now? Have you noticed any changes?"

At this question, Lu Chen gave a bitter smile. "Witch Doctor Master, I don't have any strength at all right now. I can't sense my body whatsoever."

"Oh, my mistake. Someone, take Chen to my room. Everyone else, disperse."

As the spiritual leader, the Witch Doctor held great prestige in a village. Moreover, this world contained many strange things, and Witch Doctors possessed unusual abilities. Thus, after hearing the Witch Doctor's words, the people around them all left.

Only Lu Chen's neighbor, Da Zhuang, did not leave. He looked at Lu Chen with a worried expression and asked the Witch Doctor, "Witch Doctor Master, what exactly happened to A'Chen?"

"Don't worry, he's fine. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be a good thing!"

"A good thing?"

"A good thing!"

Looking at Lu Chen's miserable state, then hearing the Witch Doctor call it a good thing, Da Shi was truly baffled.

Clan Chief Da Zhuang, however, seemed to think of something as he looked at the skeletal Lu Chen, and his expression grew somewhat excited.

"Witch Doctor Master, you mean A'Chen, he..."

"I'm not sure yet. Let A'Chen recover first. We'll discuss everything once his body has healed."

Soon, Lu Chen was taken by the Witch Doctor to a large room in the center of the village.

It was a "luxurious" house with four or five rooms. Upon entering the courtyard, Lu Chen saw large amounts of dried herbs laid out in the sun. There were also dangerous creatures such as venomous snakes and scorpions, sealed inside pottery jars and cages.

"So this is the witch's home!"

As Lu Chen looked around, he noticed that aside from the few people who had just entered, there were another seven or eight youths waiting inside the house.

Lu Chen knew all those Barbarian youths.

"The Clan Chief's eldest son, Xiao Shi; Arrow, the Hunting Team captain's child; and the rest are all youths from the village who excel in martial training."

"Children from families with some standing, as well as those outstanding at martial training, have all gathered here. Why? A special little lesson?"

Just as Lu Chen was wondering why they had gathered together, the witch spoke to him. "Go wash over there first!"

After saying that, he entered the room and busied himself.

Before heading to the water vat, Lu Chen glanced over and saw that the witch had ordered people to light a fire inside the house and set a large pot to boil.

At the same time, dried herbs, bloodstained bones, and even venomous snakes and scorpions were gathered together by the witch and tossed into the pot one after another. The witch himself danced strange steps beside the great pot from time to time.

Watching a man in his sixties or seventies perform such an odd dance was, honestly, rather amusing.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had already hurried over to wash by the water vat.

After quickly washing himself with the water in the vat and vigorously brushing his mouth with a willow twig, Lu Chen was about to put on his clothes when he found a clean set of beast-hide clothing beside his tattered old garments.

Without hesitation, Lu Chen put on the clean clothes.

Once he was done and returned from the water vat to the central room, Lu Chen found that the Witch Doctor's bizarre movements had not stopped. By then, however, a strange scent had already filled the room.

What surprised Lu Chen was that the pot contained a great many things, like a hodgepodge. The bloodstained bones, venomous snakes, scorpions, and other creatures were hard to look at, yet the smell was not unpleasant.

In fact, as he inhaled that scent, Lu Chen felt an urge to swallow everything in the great pot whole. It was the instinctive craving of his body's cells.