I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

Chapter 43: Dragon Corpse in a Dream

Zhang Fei's eyes lit up when he saw the jerky in Zhang Chen's hand, and he rushed over without bothering to wash his hands.

"Go wash your hands. Wash them clean before you eat," Zhang Chen scolded impatiently. "Zhang Tuowei, go take your brother to wash his hands!"

Hearing this, Zhang Tuowei could only reluctantly put down the jerky, his eyes full of longing, and obediently took Zhang Fei to wash his hands. Zhang Chen found some warm water in the house, poured a bowl of it into a ceramic bowl, took out the honey, scooped out a large spoonful, mixed it with the water, and brought it to his stepmother: "Mother, this is honey I found in the mountains. Please try it."

Honey is a good thing, containing various rich nutrients and a variety of vitamins.

"This is a good thing. We're wasting it. We might as well sell it to exchange for some coarse rice, or a few feet of cloth to supplement the family," Zhang Shi said with some heartache, her eyes fixed on the honey water being offered to her. She swallowed her saliva, then looked at Zhang Chen: "Mother doesn't like sweet things. You drink it! It's enough for me to have a bite of meat. This sweetness is too much for my throat. Mother doesn't like it."

As she spoke, she pushed the honey water away and lowered her head to pick up her embroidery needle: "You drink it. Mother doesn't like it!"

Zhang Chen looked at the thin Zhang Shi, then at Zhang Shi's hands, which were full of old wounds. Inexplicable emotions welled up in his heart, blocking his throat, making it difficult for him to speak.

Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Shi and forcibly handed her the honey water: "Mother, drink it quickly! I found a honeycomb in the mountains and learned some beekeeping techniques from others. This honey is nothing to me. When my bee colony is larger, we won't lack honey to eat."

Zhang Chen's words were firm. Hearing this, Zhang Shi looked at Zhang Chen, at his unquestionable expression. Her lips moved, but in the end, she took the bowl with both hands and lowered her head to drink the honey water in small sips.

Zhang Chen made two more bowls of honey water, beckoned the two little ones to come over, then took out the pig-slaughtering knife from his basket and began to slaughter the roe deer.

With one knife straight into the artery, Zhang Chen used his strength to hold down the struggling roe deer. At this time, the roe deer's whole body was tied up, and with Zhang Chen holding it down, it could only watch its vitality drain away little by little. Seeing that the time was right, two fangs quietly protruded from Zhang Chen's palm and pierced directly into the roe deer's neck. Then, the blood in the roe deer's body was absorbed in just three or five breaths, completely losing its life and stopping its struggle.

Zhang Chen looked at the blood in the basin, only a bowl, and couldn't help but sigh: "Why does this roe deer have so little blood?"

Zhang Chen was afraid that Zhang Shi would be suspicious, but in fact, Zhang Chen was overthinking it. Zhang Shi had only slaughtered a few animals, let alone roe deer. How would she know how much blood was in a roe deer's body?

"I'll help you!" Zhang Shi quickly finished the honey water and was about to come forward to help.

Hearing Zhang Shi's words, Zhang Chen was afraid that Zhang Shi would notice something unusual, so he quickly raised his hand to stop her: "Mother, don't get your hands dirty. It's just a roe deer. I can take care of it later. You should boil a pot of water for me. I'll need it to prepare the hide later."

Zhang Chen didn't dare to let Zhang Shi come over to help. If Zhang Shi found out that there was no blood in the roe deer's body, it would be troublesome. He didn't think he could hide it from Zhang Shi's clever mind.

"It's a pity about this roe deer. If we could sell the meat, how much grain could we exchange for it? How many days would it last?" Zhang Shi looked at the roe deer, a trace of regret in her eyes.

"Mother, don't worry. Our family won't lack meat to eat in the future," Zhang Chen said with a smile. Not to mention hunting skills, he also possessed Beast Taming, so he could eat meat every day in the future, and wouldn't starve to death.

Zhang Shi started boiling water, and Zhang Chen directly cut and chopped up the roe deer, putting it in the pot to stew.

Zhang Shi looked at the meat that Zhang Chen kept throwing into the pot, a trace of heartache in her eyes: "Don't put too much! Don't put too much! Let's put more wild vegetables so we can make it last a few more days."

"Mother, the weather is warm, and roe deer meat won't keep. It's better to stew it directly and nourish our bodies," Zhang Chen said with a smile.

A roe deer doesn't actually have much meat, about the same as a whole roasted lamb.

"If we can't eat all the meat, let's take it out and sell it," Zhang Shi said, starting to budget carefully, looking at the pile of roe deer meat.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen laughed: "Mother, you have to believe me. I will never let you and my brothers live a hard life again. And my brothers and sisters are growing and developing now. How can they not eat meat? If they don't grow tall in the future, they won't be able to marry wives."

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhang Shi looked at Zhang Chen. In the end, Zhang Shi gave in: "You are now the man of the house, the pillar of the family. I'll listen to you from now on."

Zhang Chen smiled when he heard this and began to stew the meat and render the fat, constantly processing the roe deer and cutting the meat to put it in the pot.

If you want to keep meat for a long time, one way is to dry it, and the other is to put it all in oil and fry it when rendering the fat, then add a lot of salt, so it won't spoil even in the hot summer.

The two little ones were eating stewed meat and drinking honey water, living very comfortably.

Before long, the aroma of roasted meat wafted out. Zhang Chen took out the fried meat and put it on the table with the stewed meat, and the family began to eat.

The two little ones ate happily, and Zhang Shi also ate with her mouth full of oil.

"I'll send you more prey in a few days. They can't be without meat. Now is the time for them to grow and develop. How can they be without meat?" Zhang Chen finished eating and began to clean up the knives and hides.

Zhang Mu looked at Zhang Chen and began to nag: "You don't have to worry about us. The three of us can always survive. You are the one who has it hard. Take care of yourself first. If you have extra prey, you can take it out and sell it for money, and save it up to talk about a wife."

Zhang Chen smiled and didn't refute. Now that the chaos is about to appear, silver is just useless stones in troubled times. What's more important than a full stomach?

Zhang Chen carried the hide and said goodbye. He didn't return to the village, but went straight into the mountains. After absorbing the roe deer's blood, he felt great and hurried to the mountains with a happy face. He checked the traps, but they were empty and there were no prey. Then he went to the mountains to train his hunting falcon.

When it was getting dark, Zhang Chen fed the hunting falcon again before carrying the basket down the mountain. But just halfway there, he saw Wang Wu, covered in mud, sitting on the ground and cursing.

"I'll screw your ancestors for eight generations, you son of a bitch. If you have the ability, kill me. What kind of ability is it to torture me like this?"

"I'll screw your ancestors. I'll screw your mother! I'll screw your great-grandmother!"

"I'm afraid of you? If you have the ability, kill me. If you can't kill me, you're what I raised!"

"..."

Zhang Chen looked at Wang Wu, who was cursing at the air from afar. At this time, Wang Wu's face was ferocious, and his body was trembling with anger. All kinds of foul language were spewed out of his mouth, as if he was arguing with someone.

"Uncle Wang, what are you doing?" Zhang Chen walked over from a distance, startled by Wang Wu's appearance. He thought Wang Wu was possessed by an evil spirit, so he quickly opened his Dharma eyes, but saw a golden light flashing in his eyes. A beautiful girl appeared in the void in front of him, holding two fish and looking at Wang Wu, who was full of foul language, with a grimace.

Zhang Chen's eyes swept over the fox spirit's soul, then looked at the fish in the fox spirit's hand, and then at Wang Wu, who was covered in mud. How could he not know what had happened?

“What a sin! Wang Wu has been targeted by a fox spirit!” Zhang Chen's lips twitched slightly as he muttered to himself. He was also surprised that fox spirits were becoming more powerful, able to manifest their souls in broad daylight. It was truly a remarkable feat, which made Zhang Chen even more wary.

Zhang Chen seemed not to see the fox spirit. His eyes were fixed on Wang Wu as he feigned ignorance and asked a question.

When Wang Wu saw Zhang Chen approaching, his cursing faltered. His face flushed red, and his eyes flickered with light. He stammered, unsure of what to say.

“Uncle Wang, is there something you can't tell me?” Zhang Chen asked, seeing Wang Wu's appearance.

“Do you have any food?” Wang Wu suddenly asked.

Zhang Chen was taken aback. He looked Wang Wu up and down, noticing his dry lips, pale face, and a rumbling sound in his stomach like thunder. It was clear he had been hungry for a long time.

“Could it be that Uncle Wang Wu has been targeted by the fox spirit, and the fox spirit is starting to take revenge on him?” A thought flashed through Zhang Chen's mind. After all, Wang Wu had almost skinned the fox spirit alive. Given the fox spirit's strange nature and deep hatred, Zhang Chen wouldn't believe it if it didn't retaliate.

Fortunately, he had dried meat in his basket. He quickly took out the dried meat, handed it to Wang Wu, and then watched as Wang Wu, not caring about speaking or the sand on his hands, began to frantically stuff it into his mouth.

At this time, the fox spirit saw Zhang Chen arrive and, wary of Zhang Chen's protective golden light, glared fiercely at Wang Wu before carrying the fish away.

However, after taking a few steps, the fox spirit seemed to be unable to contain its anger. It turned back and threw the large fish in its hand. The fish tail slapped Wang Wu's face with a crackling sound. Zhang Chen could only hear the crisp sound of the fish slapping and couldn't help but feel pain for Wang Wu.

“Too much! This is too much! You son of a bitch, I am your father, kill me if you have the guts!” Wang Wu was dazed by the beating. After regaining his senses, he cursed loudly, still refusing to admit defeat.

Zhang Chen, watching the fox spirit's increasingly ugly expression, knew that the fox spirit probably hadn't expected Wang Wu to be so stubborn. Even after being tormented like this, he still refused to soften, even in the face of mysterious power.

Seeing that the fox spirit was about to swing the fish tail again, Zhang Chen quickly stepped forward to dissuade it, standing between Wang Wu and the fox spirit:

“Old man, stop cursing. Come and eat some meat and rest, and tell me what's going on.”

The fox spirit was wary of Zhang Chen's golden light and didn't dare to rush over. It stomped its feet in anger and then left, muttering: “Damn hunter, Fox Fairy Nannan is not finished with you! You bastard almost skinned me alive, and I just made you suffer a little, but you dare to curse me like this. Fox Fairy Nannan never suffers losses, you're in trouble! You're in big trouble!”

Fox Fairy Nannan left, muttering, leaving Zhang Chen to comfort Wang Wu, who was now starving and devouring the dried meat.

“Eat slowly, drink some water, don't choke!” Zhang Chen handed Wang Wu the water bottle, pretending not to understand and said: “Why are you so disheveled, old man?”

Wang Wu took the water and gulped it down. After a long time, he finally felt full. Then he looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with grief and fear: “Kid, run away quickly, don't stay in the village. This village is not right. I've been haunted for half a month!”

Zhang Chen's lips twitched slightly, but he still asked knowingly: “What's wrong? Why are you haunted?”

Wang Wu took a breath, looked around, and then lowered his voice: “Don't say anything, just leave this village. There are dirty things in this village! You should run as far as you can!”

“Dirty things? What dirty things?” A look of surprise appeared on Zhang Chen's face.

Wang Wu took a big gulp of water, then cautiously looked around, and then lowered his voice: “I'm telling you, I'm being haunted by evil things! This ghostly thing goes to my house every day to carry away coarse rice, white flour, and prey, emptying my house. I haven't eaten for three days. Today, when I passed by the stream, I saw the water level had dropped and there were fish in the water, so I went into the water and caught two big fish, but before I could bring the fish back, that damn 'thing' snatched them away!”

Speaking of this, Wang Wu's voice was full of grief: “Three days! I haven't had any rice for three days! If this continues, I'll starve to death!”

Hearing this, Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow. He looked at Wang Wu and also felt that the fox spirit was going too far. His previous experience was being repeated on Wang Wu. Wang Wu, a tough man, was actually tormented into this state, which was also speechless.

“Kid, you should run away quickly. This village is not safe. I'm afraid that before long, that 'monster' will become a threat and harm people. I'm afraid I won't live much longer.” Wang Wu said sadly, his heart filled with fear, and his eyes filled with tears: “I originally thought that you kid would take care of me in my old age, but now I don't need it. You can dig a hole now and bury me.”

Zhang Chen looked at Wang Wu's haggard face and didn't know what to do for a while. He was also helpless in the face of the fox spirit and still couldn't figure out the fox spirit's background.

In particular, the fox spirit's ability to manipulate objects made Zhang Chen feel quite tricky. He hadn't yet come up with a solution. He only had the ability to protect himself in the face of the fox spirit.

“I wonder if there are any capable people in this world who can get rid of that monster.” Zhang Chen asked tentatively, wanting to find out if there were any extraordinary powers in this world.

Wang Wu shook his head: “I've never heard of it. If you're entangled by this thing, you can only admit you're unlucky. Life and death are unpredictable.”

Hearing this, Zhang Chen frowned, looking at Wang Wu, whose mood was fluctuating greatly. He couldn't think of a solution for a while, so he could only comfort him: “Uncle, don't be afraid. That monster has entangled you but hasn't harmed your life, only moving things from your house. It can be seen that the monster may not be someone who harms people's lives at will. It's just some things, just give them to it! If you don't have food to eat in the future, come to my house to eat. I can afford to support you. You also know that I can't eat all the prey I hunt every day.”

“There's just one thing, don't curse or scold casually in the future. If the monster didn't originally intend to harm your life, but you anger it, and it harms you in a fit of anger, there's no point in arguing.” Zhang Chen advised.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Wang Wu sat on the ground, his mind wandering for a while, and he seemed to have regained some strength: “If you say so, that's also true. That monster didn't harm my life, only moving things from my house. Maybe I still have a chance to live.”

“Exactly, it's better to live poorly than to die. It's just suffering a bit of anger, why bother arguing with the other party too much?” Zhang Chen quickly comforted Wang Wu: “Starting tomorrow, you come to my house to eat, we'll just decide it like that.”

“No! Absolutely not!” Unexpectedly, Wang Wu shook his head and refused: “If you get too close to me, and that monster targets you too, and you get entangled by that monster, it won't be good. I absolutely can't involve you, that's absolutely impossible!”

Hearing Wang Wu's words, Zhang Chen shook his head: “Uncle, do you think I'm someone who is afraid of trouble? At worst, we'll just support that monster together.”

Wang Wu shook his head, refusing to accept, his head like a rattle-drum: "Don't say anymore, I have my own decision in my heart. At worst, I'll just eat something random in the mountains, and then bring the prey back."

Zhang Chen was helpless upon hearing this. He knew that Wang Wu was very stubborn, but he was determined to hunt prey in the future, cook it well, and bring it to Wang Wu to eat. Wang Wu had treated him well, so how could he sit idly by and watch Wang Wu starve to death?

Zhang Chen sent the mentally distraught Wang Wu back, washed the mud off Wang Wu's body, and then comforted him for a while before turning to leave. When he was just a mortal, he had also encountered Wang Wu's situation, so he naturally understood the grief and indignation in Wang Wu's heart. It's just that he managed to survive and gradually gained the power to protect himself against this fox spirit.

"I was wondering why the fox spirit hasn't troubled me these days. It turns out she went to find Wang Wu for revenge," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

"This damn fox spirit, is there really no way to subdue her?" Zhang Chen pondered in his heart.

Currently, the known methods of the fox spirit are three: First, the soul can freely travel through everything material unhindered. This is the most difficult to deal with. The soul freely enters and exits matter, shuttling through various materials, truly unpredictable and impossible to defend against. Second, its soul can move objects, coupled with the ability to freely pass through matter, it's simply unsolvable. Third, is shape-shifting. The fox spirit's soul can be actively shown to people, or it can quietly disappear. Only by opening the Dharma Eye can one see its tracks.

It's like when Zhang Chen peeked at the fox spirit cooking next door, at that time the fox spirit revealed its form, deliberately letting himself see. Later, the fox spirit moved objects through the wall, and deliberately hid its soul form to tease himself.

After analyzing the fox spirit, and then analyzing his own three skills, after analyzing for a long time, Zhang Chen had no solution in his heart. Currently, only his first skill can restrain the fox spirit's soul, the remaining second skill can control unranked beasts, and the third skill can only control his own blood. It seems that there is really no good way to deal with this fox spirit.

"Moreover, the fox spirit that I see does not represent all of the fox spirit's skills. This fox spirit must have hidden skills. I wonder if my first skill can be upgraded to the third level to fight against the fox spirit," a thought flashed in Zhang Chen's mind.

His Righteous God Light had already rendered the fox spirit helpless. If he could be promoted to the third level, perhaps there was hope to suppress the fox spirit, or at least drive the fox spirit away.

Zhang Chen returned to his house, listening to the clanging of pots and pans coming from next door. He couldn't help but feel envious of that bookworm Zhang Chen. This guy is simply so lucky, only selling the family's fields and properties, and exchanging it for a fox spirit, and he gets the fox spirit to take care of him day and night, which made him extremely envious, only hating why this kind of good thing didn't fall on him.

Zhang Chen returned to the house and sat quietly for a moment before starting to wash and sleep. Today, Wang Wu's encounter made him feel a sense of urgency in his heart. The threat of the fox spirit has always been around him, and has never been far away.

"I still have to continue digging graves and collecting experience points," Zhang Chen muttered, closed his eyes, lay on the bed, and began to ponder the dream from last night.

"It turns out that the jade tablet was transformed from a palm. That drop of blood was the only remaining activity of the palm. The owner of that palm encountered a great enemy and was beheaded, and then was made into a jade tablet and buried in the tomb. I don't know how many years have passed since then, but it still maintains its activity, recording some fragments of the past, wanting to revive and cause trouble, it's really incredible," Zhang Chen was secretly shocked in his heart, his mind constantly flashing thoughts:

"This world is not that simple, I am still very weak now, I must continue to lie low and develop, and must not be a leader."

Zhang Chen was not only not afraid, but on the contrary, there was a trace of expectation in his heart. He was not afraid of the existence of strangeness in the world, he was only afraid that there was no strangeness in the world. Only with strangeness can it bring him a constant stream of experience points, constantly bring him new skills, and allow him to have unlimited possibilities.

"That's not right! I seem to have forgotten something important!" Zhang Chen suddenly opened his eyes: "I once saw in a dream how that 'Emperor' built the tomb, and saw the structure and location of the tomb, which is the most important thing for me!"

Zhang Chen's heart was beating uncontrollably: "In that tomb, not only is the Emperor's daughter buried, but also a dragon is buried! If I can dig it out, how many experience points will I get? What kind of heaven-defying skills will I get?"

Zhang Chen was excited, carefully recalling the structure diagram in the tomb in his mind, but the memory of that night was somewhat blurred, as if it was covered by a mysterious unknown force. Although it appeared in his memory, it was hazy and unclear.

"The Emperor's daughter's tomb is not a small tomb, below it is a huge palace complex with a radius of ten miles. The tombstone is probably only ten meters away from the barrier of the ancient tomb! In other words, I can dig three more meters to the barrier of the ancient tomb, and then break through the barrier and drill in to obtain the great fortune within?" Zhang Chen's eyes were full of excitement, almost to the extreme.

"It's not far! It's not far! Only ten meters, even if it's a hundred meters, I have to chisel it open!" Zhang Chen was excited in his heart, and at the same time, a trace of doubt flashed in his mind: "It's just why the surroundings of the tomb are frozen, emitting extremely powerful cold air? It's a bit abnormal. It's a pity that what I saw in my dream was not complete. I didn't completely see the process of the Emperor's daughter being buried. I only saw the Emperor's daughter being placed in the tomb, and the Emperor worshiping the Emperor's daughter."

Countless thoughts flashed in Zhang Chen's mind, and he was very happy in his heart. As long as he continues to lie low, he doesn't have to worry about his future advancement. Not only is he not short of experience points, but there are also more incredible skills waiting for him in the future.

Without knowing when, Zhang Chen gradually fell asleep. The crystal nucleus in his body flickered slightly, and in the next moment, countless runes flickered within the crystal nucleus, and then a trace of energy floated into Zhang Chen's mind. In the next moment, Zhang Chen once again fell into a dream.

This time, Zhang Chen seemed to dream that he had transformed into that palm, quietly buried in the soil that could not be seen in the daylight. Time seemed to be unaware of changes, and he didn't know how long had passed. Suddenly, a violent tremor came, and the tremor lasted for a long time, and then everything returned to silence.

At a certain moment, the palm seemed to have discovered something. The blood actually evolved into red threads, drilling into the cracks in the earth. Then Zhang Chen saw the familiar dragon corpse, and saw a pool of blood flowing from the dragon corpse. The red threads were overjoyed when they saw the blood, and began to constantly devour the infiltrating blood, causing themselves to undergo a strange transformation.

At this moment, the wild chicken in the house crowed, waking Zhang Chen from his sleep. Zhang Chen on the bed slowly opened his eyes, a hint of realization in his eyes:

"I finally know why the skill: True Dragon Qi, would fall from the tombstone. The blood in the tombstone still retains its activity. I'm afraid it has already tampered with the tomb, absorbing a trace of dragon blood from the tomb, so it can maintain a trace of true nature amidst the vicissitudes of life!"

"But...that's not right. Why would I dream about these things?" Zhang Chen sat up from the bed with some surprise and uncertainty, noticing something was wrong, and felt inexplicably uneasy.