Negary

Wisps of White Qi rose from the corpse of a rabbit-like creature and were absorbed into Wang Yuan's body. After briefly sensing the state of the White Qi outside his body, Wang Yuan estimated how long it could sustain him before setting off once more.

Along the way, Wang Yuan made quite a few new discoveries.

The most important of them was the testing of the thirteen crows.

Just as Wang Yuan had expected, the bodily fluids of these thirteen crows still carried that mutated bacterium. They were thirteen sources of infection. So long as an animal's wound came into contact with the crows' bodily fluids, it would be infected.

Throughout the journey, he continuously directed the crows to capture other animals for infection experiments. So far, he had conducted over a hundred such tests.

After being infected, these animals all died within half an hour to a day. Of course, that might also have been due to the lack of sufficient test subjects.

Over these past few days, Wang Yuan had also discovered many creatures unlike anything on Earth. Yet none escaped the hunting of the thirteen Mutated Crows. They carried deadly bacteria, and once pecked by them, death was nearly unavoidable.

However, the infected test subjects displayed different symptoms. Mammals all died at roughly the same rate as Wang Yuan had. There were rabbit-like herbivores, tiger-like carnivores with long fangs, and primate omnivores similar to monkeys.

First came nosebleeds and weakness in the limbs, followed by vomiting and diarrhea. Finally, they collapsed and died. The whole process took around half an hour to an hour, with omnivores generally lasting a little longer.

Insects were even more fragile. After touching crow droppings, they struggled for a dozen or so minutes before dying. They provided pitifully little White Qi, so Wang Yuan had completely abandoned research into insects for now.

Only birds possessed the strongest resistance to this mutated bacterium. More than a dozen birds were infected, surviving an average of eighteen hours. The longest-lasting species even underwent a mutation similar to that of the crows. Its feathers fell out all over its body, and new feathers began to grow. Unfortunately, it still died after twenty-seven hours. The mutation had failed.

Wang Yuan had died within mere minutes back then mainly because multiple bacteria had erupted at once, along with internal factors such as the various environmental conditions of this other world. The bacteria on the crows had mutated several times since then and were no longer the same kind that had killed Wang Yuan.

The bacteria were even continuing to mutate. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but Wang Yuan could vaguely sense their existence.

"The White Qi is being used up too quickly." Wang Yuan stopped in a cave. Outside, it was a bright sunny day. The autumn sunlight was not harsh, but once Wang Yuan stepped into it, the White Qi around him rapidly dissolved. With so little White Qi left, he did not intend to waste it.

The claim from his previous life that ghosts could not appear during the day did have some theoretical basis. According to Wang Yuan's speculation, this White Qi served the role of a body, which was why it could shelter his Soul Body.

The thirteen crows kept flying out, catching animals and bringing them back to the cave. The animals infected with the bacteria struggled for a while inside before dying. Strands of White Qi rose from their corpses, replenishing the loss of White Qi.

The crows also continuously provided that cool aura. At last, Wang Yuan felt that his Soul Body had become a little more whole. He felt like a leaking balloon, constantly patching its holes with whatever he could find to keep the air inside from escaping.

By that analogy, his body was the balloon, and his Soul Body was the air within it. Now that the balloon had ruptured and most of the air had escaped, he had to keep using other things to preserve what remained.

Strictly speaking, he was no longer the same person he had been when he was human. Even parts of his soul came from the crows' contributions. He was merely an incomplete remnant soul, though he had inherited most of Wang Yuan's memories and soul.

"I need a stable source of White Qi. If possible, I need more crows to provide more aura and replenish my Soul Body." Wang Yuan considered this. Although the thirteen Mutated Crows supplied cool aura at all times, it was far from enough.

"Perhaps once my Soul Body is complete, I will no longer need to worry about White Qi running out and my Soul Body being exposed."

"Winter will arrive before long. I do not need to worry about the temperature, but the crows do."

"The bacteria are still mutating. At any moment, these thirteen crows might die because of another mutation."

"Once the crows die, without their help in catching creatures and replenishing White Qi, only complete annihilation awaits me."

"I need to find intelligent life as soon as possible. Only then can I develop my forces in an organized manner." Wang Yuan remained in the cave, unable to travel, and could only keep thinking about how to proceed in the future.

A powerful sense of urgency filled his heart, because he truly stood on the brink of annihilation at every moment. One careless mistake, and he would be utterly destroyed. This time, nothing at all would remain.

The sky gradually darkened, and Wang Yuan set out again. The thirteen crows scattered to scout ahead, searching for traces of humans. Wang Yuan drifted forward lightly. He had a feeling that once he found humans, many of the problems he faced now would be easily resolved.

"Komoro, be more careful." A bearded middle-aged man cautiously used a dagger to flick a spider off the shoulder of a young man in front of him, then crushed it beneath his foot.

"Thank you, Uncle Dax." The young man called Komoro looked only fourteen or fifteen. Fear still lingered on his youthful face as he hurriedly thanked the bearded man.

"Save your thanks for Menas. I do not know whether she is watching over us, but we have been in the mountains for three days and caught only this little game." The bearded Dax put away his dagger, stroked his beard, and sighed. Menas was the Goddess of Misfortune worshipped by the Kexi People.

The village did not have enough food, and they also had to deal with those bothersome Kente People. This hunting party had been formed in hopes of bringing back enough food for the winter and helping the village survive it.

"Caw, caw, caw..." A somewhat strange cry rang out. A crow that was slightly larger than usual landed on a branch, tilting its head as it watched the group below.

"Damn it, followers of Negary. So you are the ones who brought this misfortune." One member of the hunting party saw the crow standing on the branch and spoke with a frown. In the language of the Kexi People, Negary meant filth, disease, darkness, misfortune, and more. It was also the name of a god. Because crows were pitch-black, had unpleasant calls, and fed on carrion, they were generally called followers of Negary.

Legend had it that all crows worshipped the god called Negary, constantly spreading disease and misfortune on His behalf.

The bearded man drew his bowstring, preparing to shoot, only to see that raven immediately flap its wings and fly away.

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