White-haired Lion

Within Fuzhou City's Fanli Mountain range, the vegetation is dense and the terrain is complex. With no rich mineral deposits, local government development efforts are lacking.

However, as the area's only natural ecological reserve, it possesses abundant geological tourism resources, including a rich variety of wild and rare animals. To date, 33 species of mammals and 171 species of birds have been identified. Rare animals such as leopards, pythons, pangolins, muntjacs, sika deer, swans, white pheasants, white cranes, white storks, black storks, red-billed leiothrix, mandarin ducks, golden pheasants, and tragopans are distributed deep within the foothills.

Because of this, some viewing platforms have been developed on the outskirts of the mountains, along with projects to attract tourists. This has also stimulated economic growth in the villages on the mountain's edge.

Unfortunately, no literati or scholars have ever left any records here, so it doesn't rank among the countless magnificent scenic spots nationwide.

Deep within the mountains, in this sanctuary for animals, there should be no trace of humans. Yet, by a pond in a mountain valley, lies a pile of neatly arranged, cut firewood. There's also a broken fire drill, suggesting someone was here not long ago, practicing primitive fire-making.

"Swish!"

Deep in the mountain ravine, a tall, ferocious beast walked upright. Its wild mane-like hair was disheveled, and ferocious fangs protruded from its mouth. Its arms were as thick as pillars, and its claws, with a gentle scratch on a rock, easily shattered stone that had been weathered by the pond for years, as if it were tofu.

Its claws were incredibly sharp; no matter the stone, a single swipe would leave a deep mark.

Its wild, white fur exuded a majestic aura, and its scarlet eyes emitted a chilling wildness.

Tattered strips of cloth wrapped around its waist concealed its lower body. Combined with its bipedal stance, it gave off a strong human-like presence.

A closer look at the cloth strips revealed they were originally from a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

"Day Six!"

This human-like, white-haired lion deeply carved the Chinese character "六" (six) onto a smooth, large rock with its claws. Besides this, there were naturally also one, two, three, four, and five.

"Gurgle."

The white-haired lion opened its mouth and spoke fluent Mandarin: "Oh my gosh, I'm starving."

The humanoid lion-beast displayed a range of facial expressions, its pained and weak posture as it walked towards the pile of wood.

It extended a huge palm and, in a few swift motions, sharpened a piece of wood. Then, it began rubbing a fire drill against another piece of wood.

Its terrifying eyes now seemed as gentle as if looking at a baby, operating with extreme care, as if afraid of damaging some exquisite treasure.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before a "crack" was heard.

The piece of wood in its hand snapped, as fragile as tofu in its grasp.

"Damn it!"

The white-haired lion leaped up in a rage, kicking the pile of wood away. Still not satisfied, it slammed a palm onto a nearby tree trunk, splitting it in two.

After its outburst, it sat dejectedly on the ground, its eyes filled with torment.

It was going mad.

"I want meat! I want meat! I can't take it anymore!"

Its body radiated wildness and aggression. It arched its back and instantly sprang forward, leaping effortlessly through the branches.

This white-haired lion was filled with explosive power. Wildness surged within its body, and its hearing and eyesight far surpassed human capabilities, its vision easily piercing through the dense, complex forest.

Sensing the rhythms around it, all living creatures were unable to escape its perception. Even the movement of a crawling insect was clearly visible to it.

The mountain valley forest harbored numerous wild animals. Relying on its predatory instincts, the white-haired lion locked onto these prey from afar.

Following its innate talents, it didn't need to see or hear; even from a great distance, it could keenly track its prey.

This was the Hunting Rhythm it felt at that moment!

Locking onto its target, it instantly pounced from the shadows, its claws piercing the back of a wild rabbit's head, killing it instantly. The rabbit died without pain or struggle.

From the start of the hunt to locking onto a target dozens of meters away, and then the instantaneous kill, the entire process took only a few seconds.

Its sharp movements, ferocious posture, and agile form were those of a natural-born hunter in the wild.

Yet, this king of the jungle, in these mountains teeming with prey, was often hungry.

"I'm starving to death!" the white-haired lion exclaimed, struggling painfully for a moment before ravenously devouring the rabbit meat, finishing it in just a few bites.

It wasn't that it couldn't find food, but rather that it could never bring itself to kill and eat prey raw. As a result, it only resorted to eating raw meat when it could no longer bear the hunger.

Because this creature, with the appearance of a white-haired lion, was actually a human. At least, its mind was human – a reporter named Lan Mu from the Morning Light Newspaper Agency in Modu.

A week ago, Lan Mu received an assignment regarding an anonymous complaint about the management of Fuzhou City's Fanli Mountain Scenic Area. The complaint alleged insufficient oversight of the local nature reserve, allowing a poaching ring to freely hunt wild and endangered animals within its boundaries.

His editor had instructed him to simply interview local authorities to understand the situation, but it would be even better if he could secretly uncover some explosive truth.

Young and ambitious, Lan Mu was eager for fame and achievement. Upon receiving this business trip assignment, he naturally wanted to find clues about the poaching ring.

So, on the day he arrived in Fuzhou City, he didn't go to the relevant authorities. Instead, he took a car directly to the Fanli Mountain Scenic Area, bought a ticket, took the cable car, and inquired with numerous staff members at various scenic spots to get the situation directly from them.

He hadn't managed to glean anything significant from these people, and on his way back, disappointed, he was bizarrely attacked.

As dusk approached, in a sparsely populated scenic area, several people ambushed him from behind, knocked him unconscious, and threw him over the protective railing down the mountain.

He tumbled down the mountainside, and within seconds, intense pain jolted him awake.

Upon waking, he found himself rolling rapidly. Greatly panicked, he initially tried to grab onto something, but the rolling momentum was too fierce. He curled up like a wheel, tumbling downwards, crushing soft branches and grass in his path. With each roll, his body sustained more wounds. Any protruding part would jolt him, making him feel like his bones were cracking.

He knew he couldn't stop on the slope and could only resign himself to fate. He covered his head with his hands, trying his best to protect himself.

Gritting his teeth to endure the intense pain, his soft waist was exposed, enduring countless impacts. Every bone in his body ached. Under the relentless, continuous blows, he finally couldn't hold on and fainted again.

After an unknown period, he woke up choking on water. The icy water shocked him awake. He gulped down two large mouthfuls, his trachea nearly suffocating.

The threat of death forced him to frantically propel his limbs, paddling upwards. Every movement of his hands and feet sent bone-deep pain, as if his entire body were fractured.

He burst out of the water, squinting as he looked, and swam towards the shore without stopping. Finally, holding his last breath, he climbed onto a rock.

When he relaxed, he didn't even have time to be surprised that he had survived a disaster, only to tragically discover that he couldn't move. He didn't know how many bones were broken all over his body.

His limbs were completely numb, and he could only lie on the damp ground and wait to die.

He couldn't call for help. Here, he was equivalent to waiting to die. His injuries were too severe to be treated in time, and he probably wouldn't survive the night.

Just as his consciousness blurred and he was about to fall asleep.

A snake crawled to his side. Beside him, there was a pile of animal carcasses, with many scarlet muscle tissues, bones, and flesh. It seemed like quite a few animals had died there. On this pile of flesh and blood, a small white ball lay quietly, milky white and spotless.

The snake's target was not him, but the small milky white ball. Just as the snake was about ten centimeters away from the ball, the ball suddenly flew up and burrowed into the little snake's body.

Immediately after, the little snake's entire body was covered in a thin milky white film, and then it rushed towards him in pain.

In less than two seconds, there was a bang, and the little snake exploded, leaving behind a pile of broken bones and flesh. The ball fell out amidst the blood and gore.

Because the little snake got close, it carried the ball to Lan Mu after exploding. Unsurprisingly, the ball drilled directly into Lan Mu's body.

Lan Mu had watched the entire process of the snake being exploded by the white ball. He thought he was surely going to die, but unexpectedly, it saved his life instead.

His body was also wrapped in a milky white substance, and all his cells were itching. This internal itching couldn't be scratched, making him feel like dying from the discomfort.

But the expected explosion didn't happen. The itching lasted for a few seconds and then disappeared. Then he felt unprecedentedly well.

With a surge of strength, Lan Mu stood up directly. The excruciating injuries on his body had miraculously disappeared.

This bizarre experience pulled him back from the brink of death with broken bones all over his body, healing all his injuries.

But it also came with an unacceptable price: his body had swollen by a size, his height was at least two meters, his muscles were strong, and his shoes were torn apart by his large feet.

He had become a White-haired Lion beastman.

Although this monstrous body resembled a lion, Lan Mu knew it was by no means a real lion.

Because it was too powerful, whether it was strength, speed, or the mysterious energy within his body, it was definitely not from any creature on Earth.

His sharp claws could tear apart all the materials in this mountain, and his tall body was extremely agile, able to leap easily on branches.

Even more terrifying was that he instinctively possessed hunting abilities.

Amazing eyesight and sense of smell were nothing. His monstrous body hid a strange energy.

Once this innate energy was released, it allowed him to sense the life rhythms of creatures within a kilometer radius, making all prey nowhere to hide.

Moreover, when he used this energy to stealth, even if he stood in front of his prey, they couldn't see him or feel the impending danger.

It was as if he were invisible.

Lan Mu was very excited at first, running and leaping freely in the valley, releasing the vigorous wildness within him.

But then, he calmed down. With this appearance, how could he expose himself to others?

He had become a beast, and beasts should stay in the mountains. He could no longer return to society.

What else could he do? As a modern person, transforming into such a monster, how could he live in the future? Hide in the deep mountains, eating raw meat and drinking blood? Until one day he was discovered, captured, and dissected for research?

Not being able to return to society was an unbearable torment for Lan Mu.

Thinking about his future life, he drifted aimlessly and was lost for three days.

For these three days, he hid in the deep mountains, acting like a king, but he didn't dare to go out. Even though he could easily climb high mountains and scale cliffs with his bare hands.

It wasn't until he felt hunger and could no longer endure it that he finally woke up.

Regardless of his future, he had to survive now. All creatures have a strong desire to survive. As long as he could live, perhaps one day he could turn back into a human.

However, even now, on the sixth day since he transformed into a monster, he had only eaten three meals.

Eating only rabbits for six consecutive days, even such a powerful fierce beast was extremely hungry.

In fact, the more powerful a beast was, the greater its demand for food. Strong muscle power, a large and sturdy physique, and agile, sharp movements would consume a lot of his energy. Especially the mysterious power within him, which allowed him to sense prey through various barriers and become invisible, was extremely draining. After using it a few times, he could clearly feel the emptiness of energy within him.

In a state of extreme hunger, wildness often surpassed reason, so when he was hungry, he ate raw meat and blood, directly swallowing live prey!

After eating his fill, he immediately felt psychological discomfort, not only because his soul was human, but it also seemed related to this body.

The White-haired Lion was also some kind of beast, and it seemed to like cooked food. However, after eating raw meat and blood these past few days, the wildness of his body had become more rampant, and he gradually became less repulsed by raw meat and blood.

If he didn't eat cooked food anymore, he was afraid he would completely lose his mind and become a wild and bloodthirsty beast.

"Alas, I've actually killed quite a few prey. Every time I couldn't resist, I would overuse my abilities to hunt small animals. Now, I've already created bad karma by killing, so why pretend to be an environmentalist!"

Lan Mu kept convincing himself in his mind. He had already killed, so why care about eating? He couldn't return to human society anyway, so he might as well live as a beast, eating raw meat and drinking blood?

His life had completely changed. He was afraid of forgetting himself, that he was once human.

"Ah!"

Lan Mu let out a long roar to the sky, his voice like a tiger, leopard, or lion's roar. The small animals nearby were startled and fled.

"Fire! I must find fire! Damn it, this is why they say fire is the source of civilization! It's too damn important!"

It had been six days. He had been cooped up in this deep mountain forest for six days. Now, he had finally decided to go out. He wouldn't stay long, just enough to steal some fire.

To steal fire, he had to get close to the cable car exit. There was a viewing platform and a staff office there, which was manned all year round. He remembered interviewing a staff member who smoked and definitely had a lighter.

"Alas, stealing fire..."