White-haired Lion

Fanli Mountain, within Fuzhou City, was densely vegetated and rugged. With no abundant mineral deposits, the local government had never put much effort into developing the area.

However, as the region's only natural ecological reserve and geological tourism resource, it was rich in wildlife and rare animals. Thirty-three mammal species and 171 bird species had been recorded so far. Rare animals such as leopards, pythons, pangolins, muntjacs, swans, silver pheasants, white cranes, white storks, black storks, lovebirds, mandarin ducks, golden pheasants, tragopans, and great bustards inhabited the depths of the mountain foothills.

For that reason, a few viewing platforms and tourist attractions had been developed around the outskirts of the mountains. This had also boosted the economies of villages along the mountain's edge.

Unfortunately, no poets or scholars had ever left behind any notable works here since ancient times. Among the countless magnificent scenic spots across the country, it simply did not rank.

Deep within the mountains, in this sanctuary for animals, there should have been no trace of humans. Yet beside a pond in a valley lay a neatly stacked pile of sharpened wood, along with a broken fire drill, as though a primitive man had recently been making fire here.

Whoosh!

In a deep mountain ravine, a huge ferocious beast walked upright. The wild mane-like hair on its head was disheveled, vicious fangs protruded from its mouth, and its arms were as thick as pillars. With a light scrape of its claws against a rock, the stone, weathered by the pond for years, shattered as easily as tofu.

Those claws were far too sharp. No matter what kind of rock they struck, they left deep marks behind.

Its wild white fur made it look imposing, while its scarlet eyes radiated a cold, savage ferocity.

Tattered strips of cloth were wrapped around its waist, concealing its groin. Combined with its upright posture, they gave it an unmistakably human air.

A closer look revealed that the strips had once been a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Day six!"

The humanoid White-haired Lion deeply carved a character into a smooth boulder with its claws: the character for "six." Naturally, the numbers one through five were already there as well.

Grrr...

The White-haired Lion opened its mouth and spoke fluent Mandarin. "Damn it, I'm starving to death."

The humanoid lion beast wore a richly expressive, agonized look as it weakly walked over to the pile of wood.

It stretched out a massive paw, sharpened a piece of wood in just a few strokes, then began rubbing the fire drill against another piece.

Its terrifying eyes were as gentle as if they were looking at a newborn baby. It handled the wood with the utmost care, as though afraid of damaging some exquisite treasure.

Unfortunately, a crack soon rang out.

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

"Damn it!"

The White-haired Lion leaped up in fury and kicked the woodpile away. Still not satisfied, it slapped the nearby trunk with one paw, splitting the tree cleanly in two.

After venting for a while, it slumped back onto the ground, misery filling its eyes.

It was about to go mad.

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

Wildness and irritability radiated from its entire body. It crouched, then shot forward in an instant, easily bounding across the branches.

The White-haired Lion was filled with explosive power. Wildness surged within its body, and both its hearing and vision far surpassed those of humans, allowing its gaze to easily pierce through the dense, tangled forest.

Feeling the rhythms around it, no living creature could escape its perception. Even a crawling insect was clearly visible to it.

Countless wild animals hid in the valley forest. Relying on its body's hunting instincts, the White-haired Lion locked onto its prey from far away.

Following its instinctive gift, it did not need to see or hear. Even at a great distance, it could keenly catch the traces of its prey.

This was the Hunting Rhythm it could sense at that moment!

Having locked onto its target, it pounced from the shadows in an instant. Its claws pierced the back of a wild rabbit's head, killing it in a single blow. The rabbit died without a trace of pain or struggle.

From beginning the hunt, to locking onto a target dozens of meters away, to killing it in an instant, the entire process took only a few seconds.

Its swift movements, ferocious posture, and agile figure made it a born Hunter of nature.

Yet such a king of the jungle, in a mountain so rich with prey, still went hungry one meal and full the next.

"I'm starving to death!" The White-haired Lion spoke human words, struggled painfully for a moment, then devoured the rabbit meat with savage speed, swallowing it clean in just a few bites.

It was not that it could not find food. Rather, whenever faced with food, it could never bring itself to eat it raw. Only when hunger became unbearable would it finally drink blood and eat raw flesh.

Because the one beneath the White-haired Lion's appearance was actually human—at least in spirit. He was Lan Mu, a reporter for the Morning Light Newspaper Agency in the demon capital.

A week ago, Lan Mu had received an assignment. An anonymous letter had accused the Fanli Mountain Scenic Area management department in Fuzhou City of negligence, claiming that their supervision of the local nature reserve was inadequate and had allowed a Poaching Gang to freely hunt wild and endangered animals within the reserve.

The editor-in-chief had told him to merely visit the relevant local departments and learn about the situation. If he could secretly uncover any explosive truth, so much the better.

Lan Mu was young and ambitious, eager to make a name for himself and accomplish something. Having received this business trip assignment, he naturally wanted to find traces of the Poaching Gang.

So, on the day he arrived in Fuzhou City, he did not visit the relevant departments. Instead, he took a bus directly to the Fanli Mountain Scenic Area, bought a ticket, rode the cable car, and questioned many staff members throughout the various attractions.

He had not managed to learn anything from them. Yet on his disappointed way back, he was unexpectedly attacked.

As evening approached in a sparsely populated section of the scenic area, several unknown people ambushed him from behind, knocked him unconscious, then threw him over the mountain's safety barrier.

He tumbled all the way down the slope. Within seconds, the agonizing pain jolted him awake.

When he woke, he found himself rolling rapidly downhill and panicked. At first, he tried to grab onto something, but the momentum was too fierce. His body curled up like a wheel as he rolled downward, crushing through weak branches and shrubs. He rolled and rolled, suffering new wounds every second. Any protruding object sent him bouncing, and it felt as though his bones were being smashed apart.

He knew he could not stop himself on the slope, so he could only leave it to fate, clutching his head with both hands and doing his best to protect himself.

Gritting his teeth against the intense pain, his unprotected waist took countless impacts. Every bone in his body hurt. Under the endless heavy blows, he finally could not endure any longer and fainted again.

He did not know how long had passed when he woke up choking on water. The icy water stimulated him awake. After swallowing two huge mouthfuls, his airway nearly closed up.

The threat of death forced him to move his limbs, frantically paddling upward. Every movement of his hands and feet hurt to the marrow, as if every bone in his body had been broken.

Breaking through the surface, he squinted and swam desperately toward shore. At last, holding onto his final breath, he crawled onto a rock.

Once he relaxed, before he could rejoice at surviving the disaster, he tragically discovered that he could not move. He had no idea how many bones had been broken.

All four limbs had lost feeling. He could only lie on the damp ground and wait to die.

He could not call for help. Here, he might as well have been waiting for death. His injuries were too severe; without prompt treatment, he likely would not survive the night.

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

a snake crawled over beside him. Nearby was a pile of animal carcasses, with scarlet muscle tissue, bones, blood, and flesh scattered everywhere, as though many animals had died there. Resting quietly atop the bloody remains was a white orb, milky white and spotless.

The snake's target was not him, but the milky-white orb. When it came within around ten centimeters of the orb, the orb suddenly rose into the air by itself and burrowed into the little snake's body.

Immediately afterward, a thin milky-white film covered the snake's entire body, and it charged toward him in agony.

In less than two seconds, a bang rang out. The little snake exploded, leaving behind shattered remains as the orb fell out amid the flesh and blood.

Because the snake had approached him, its explosion brought the orb to Lan Mu. Without surprise, the orb directly burrowed into Lan Mu's body.

Lan Mu had witnessed the entire process of the snake being blown apart by the White Orb. He thought he was certainly doomed, but it unexpectedly saved his life instead.

His body was also wrapped in a layer of milky-white substance. Every cell in his body itched. It was an itch from deep within, impossible to scratch, so unbearable that he wanted to die.

Yet the explosion he expected never came. The itching vanished after a few seconds, and then he felt better than ever before.

With a burst of strength, Lan Mu stood up. The agonizing injuries all over his body had mysteriously disappeared.

That bizarre experience had pulled him back from the brink of death with his entire body shattered, healing all of his injuries.

But it had also come at an unacceptable price. His body had expanded by a full size, he was at least two meters tall, and his muscles were powerfully built. Even his shoes had been burst apart by his huge feet.

He had turned into a white-haired lion beastman.

Although this monster's body resembled a lion, Lan Mu knew it was definitely not a real lion.

It was far too powerful. Whether its strength, speed, or the mysterious energy within its body, none of it belonged to any creature on Earth.

Its claws could tear apart every substance in this mountain, yet its tall body was extremely nimble and could easily leap through the branches.

More terrifyingly, he had instinctively acquired hunting abilities.

Its astonishing eyesight and sense of smell were nothing worth mentioning. Within his monstrous body lay a strange energy.

Once this innate energy was released, it allowed him to sense the rhythms of living creatures within a kilometer. No prey could hide from him.

And when he used that energy to stalk, even if he stood right before his prey, it could not see him or sense the coming danger.

It was as though he had turned invisible.

At first, Lan Mu had been excited, rampaging through the valley, running, jumping, and unleashing the vigorous wildness within him.

But then he fell silent. How could he possibly show this appearance to anyone else?

He had become a beast, and beasts belonged in the mountains. He could never return to society again.

What else could he do? As a modern man transformed into such a monster, how was he supposed to live from now on? Hide in the deep mountains and drink blood and eat raw flesh? Until one day, someone discovered him, captured him, and sliced him apart for research?

Being unable to return to society was unimaginably tormenting for Lan Mu.

Thinking of his future life, he drifted through three days in a daze and confusion.

For those three days, he hid deep in the mountains, ruling as king but not daring to leave. Even though he could easily climb high peaks and scale cliff faces with his bare hands.

Only when he finally could no longer endure the hunger did he snap awake.

No matter what his future held, he had to survive now. Every living creature possessed a strong desire to live. As long as he could survive, perhaps one day he might return to being human.

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

Three rabbit meals over six straight days—no matter how powerful a beast he was, he truly could not bear the hunger any longer.

In fact, the stronger the beast, the greater its need for food. His powerful muscles, massive sturdy body, and swift, sharp movements all consumed enormous amounts of stamina. Especially that mysterious power within him, which allowed him to sense prey through countless obstacles and turn invisible—such an ability consumed a tremendous amount of energy. After using it a few times, he could clearly feel the emptiness of his internal energy.

Under extreme hunger, wildness often overwhelmed reason. That was why, when hungry, he drank blood and ate raw flesh, directly swallowing those living prey whole!

But after he ate his fill, he immediately felt psychological discomfort. It was not merely because his soul was human; it also seemed related to this body.

Lan Mu had no idea what kind of damned beast the White-haired Lion was, but it seemed to enjoy cooked food too. Yet after eating flesh and blood these past few days, his body's wildness had grown increasingly feral, and he was gradually becoming less resistant to raw meat.

If he did not eat cooked food soon, he feared he would completely lose his mind and become a savage, bloodthirsty beast.

"Sigh, I've actually killed plenty of prey already. Every time I couldn't restrain myself, I abused my abilities to hunt small animals. Now that I've already committed so much killing, why am I still pretending to be an environmentalist?"

Lan Mu kept trying to persuade himself. He had already killed them, so why care whether he ate them? Since he could not return to human society anyway, should he just live as a beast, drinking blood and eating raw flesh?

His life had changed completely. He was afraid that he would forget he had once been human.

"Ah!"

Lan Mu threw back his head and roared, his voice like the roar of tigers, leopards, and lions. The nearby small animals were frightened away in every direction.

"Fire! I have to find fire! Damn it, no wonder they say fire is the source of civilization! It's too damn important!"

It had been six days. He had been trapped in this deep forest for six days, and now he had finally decided to go out. He would not stay long; he only needed to steal some fire.

And to steal fire, he would have to get near the cable car exit. There was a viewing platform and a staff office there, with people on duty year-round. He remembered interviewing one of the attendants before. That man smoked, so he definitely had a lighter.

"Sigh, stealing fire..."