Walking in the cycle of reincarnation

Chapter 7 The Meng Brothers

In the forest where decaying leaves pile up, miasma lingers year-round.

The grayish-white miasma spread along the ground like a living thing, and once touched, it would entangle the body, penetrate the nose and lungs, and corrode the internal organs.

Two young figures walked one after the other, stepping on the leaves.

The former was wary, cautiously probing. The latter chattered incessantly, as if his words could dispel the deathly silence of the forest.

"Brother, do you know that there are five kinds of insects in the world?"

Meng Jinchuan stepped into the pile of decaying leaves, startling several red-headed centipedes that fled.

He held a steel fork in his hand, and the bamboo basket on his back contained three green scorpions and a half-dead long snake.

Meng Yuanshan walked ahead, a woodcutter's knife held horizontally in his hand. A hemp rope and net at his waist swayed slightly with each step. He only let out a snort of disgust.

"Five insects? In this southern border region, which fool doesn't know them?"

"Brother, are you talking about the Five Poisons? I'm asking about the Five Insects!"

Meng Jinchuan quickly caught up, using his steel fork to push aside the overgrown branches. He counted on his fingers, "All living things under heaven are divided into five categories. Humans are shelled insects, those with scales are scaled insects, those with feathers are feathered insects, those with fur are hairy insects, and those with armor are shelled insects. Our tribe's totem, the toad, belongs to the shelled insect category, and is also the head of the five poisonous creatures..."

Before he could finish speaking, he received a slap on the forehead.

The force was neither too light nor too heavy, causing him no harm whatsoever, yet making him see stars.

"You think you know more than I do?" Meng Yuanshan's eyes darkened. "If your gossip scares away the poisonous creature and ruins the things Father entrusted to us... you know the consequences yourself."

Upon hearing "father" as his son, Meng Jinchuan's legs went weak, and he dared not say another word. Yet, feeling truly wronged, he couldn't help but mutter under his breath:

"I was just thinking that it's rare for us to go out together..."

Meng Yuanshan paused slightly, cleaved through the thorny bushes beside him with his machete, and said coldly:

"There should be snake skin ahead; I saw a silver ring in that crevice last year."

After he finished speaking, his ears twitched slightly.

Three steps to the left, from a piece of rotten wood, came the sound of tiny scales rubbing together.

Meng Yuanshan slowly walked to the rotten wood, his wood-chopping knife hovering in mid-air, the tip pointing directly at a spot in the wood. With a flick of his wrist, a flash of cold light appeared, and the wood-chopping knife cleaved straight into the wood.

As the knife was drawn, a three-foot-long silver-ringed snake in the wood was cut in two.

Meng Jinchuan crouched two steps away, wanting to see but hesitant to approach, only whispering:

"Brother, this snake gall is plump and full; it'll be perfect for making Silver Frost Powder when we take it back..."

"Shut up."

Meng Yuanshan casually tossed the broken snake into his younger brother's bamboo basket. The snake's blood splattered onto Meng Jinchuan's hand, startling him so much that he took several steps back.

"Of the five insects you just mentioned, which category does the snake belong to?" Meng Yuanshan asked casually, wiping the bloodstains from his knife.

Meng Jinchuan was taken aback, then his face lit up with joy:

"Scaled insects! All creatures with scales are scaled insects! If you're interested, I still have half a scroll of the 'Compendium of One Hundred Insects' left by my grandfather in my house, which contains illustrations of..."

"No need," Meng Yuanshan interrupted, turning around and continuing on his way. "I was just testing you."

Meng Jinchuan quickly followed, but the corners of his mouth kept turning up.

The two traveled several more miles, and the miasma grew thicker.

Meng Jinchuan suddenly stopped, sniffed lightly, and his expression changed drastically:

"Brother, there might be a swamp of rotten bones ahead! We have to take a detour. Last year, someone from the neighboring village fell in, and when they were pulled out, their leg bones had all dissolved..."

Meng Yuanshan did not stop walking and headed straight for the place where the miasma was the thickest.

"elder brother!"

Meng Jinchuan thought he hadn't heard him, so he shouted loudly, startling a flock of poisonous crows, whose droppings rained down from their feathers.

Meng Yuanshan turned around, his brows furrowed, his tone impatient:

"Taking the detour will add two hours to the journey."

"But the Swamp of Rotten Bones..."

"Follow in my footsteps." Meng Yuanshan untied the hemp rope from his waist and tossed one end to his younger brother. "Don't step on it carelessly. If you take one wrong step, I won't be able to hold you back."

Helpless, Meng Jinchuan had no choice but to tie the hemp rope around his waist as instructed.

Meng Yuanshan led the way, each step he took firm and heavy, as if afraid that his younger brother behind him might not be able to see his footprints.

He used his brother's pitchfork to probe the ground, inserting the tip three inches into the soil. If the soil was black when he pulled it out, he would probe again from a different direction. Only when the soil was reddish-brown would he dare to place his foot on it.

Meng Jinchuan gripped the rope tightly, his eyes fixed on the footprints on the ground.

The two walked along the short thirty-zhang (approximately 10 meters) path by the marsh in a quarter of an hour.

As soon as he stepped out of the swamp, Meng Jinchuan's legs went weak and he was about to kneel down, but Meng Yuanshan grabbed him.

"Have some backbone!" Meng Yuanshan snapped, panting heavily and sweat beading on his forehead. "You're like a spineless slave; if word gets out, you'll bring shame to the Meng family!"

Meng Jinchuan chuckled twice, then pulled a water hyacinth from the side pocket of the bamboo basket and eagerly handed it over:

"Brother, have some water."

Meng Yuanshan took it and tilted his head back to drink it.

Meng Jinchuan continued to ramble on from the side:

"I added hay flakes and mint to it, and it tastes very refreshing and sweet..."

Before he could finish speaking, the gourd smashed into his face.

......

As the sun began to set in the west, darkness gradually fell over the woods.

The poisonous insects awoke one after another, and rustling sounds of crawling came from all directions. The two brothers came to a stream and decided to rest there.

The stream here is shallow and clear, with pebbles scattered about, and a few mountain catfish can be seen darting between the rocks.

Meng Jinchuan bent down to scoop water to wash his face when his older brother suddenly grabbed his shoulder with such force that he almost shoved his face into the water.

Meng Yuanshan's eyes were sharp. He gestured for his bewildered younger brother to be quiet and then gestured with his chin towards the downstream stream.

Meng Jinchuan's heart tightened, and he looked in that direction.

Ten feet downstream, layers upon layers of calamus covered a pool of water.

A faint croaking sound drifted from the bushes, not loud, yet eerie and chilling, like an old man on his deathbed, his breath stuck in his throat, unable to be exhaled.

Meng Jinchuan felt a chill run down his spine and his hair stand on end.

But when the two looked at each other, joy appeared in their eyes.

The creature that can make this strange sound must be a rare and exotic poisonous toad.

Meng Yuanshan slowly stood up, holding the wood-chopping knife horizontally in front of his chest, and mouthed a signal:

"I'll go first, you'll go last."

Meng Jinchuan nodded and followed quietly, gripping the steel fork tightly.

The two of them crouched low as they moved forward, their breathing extremely soft.

Meng Yuanshan reached the edge of the calamus bushes and carefully parted the leaves with a machete.

The leaves just parted, and respiration ceased.

A toad the size of a large bowl lay on the muddy ground. It was purplish-black all over, with speckled gray and white markings on its back. Each marking had a sac bulging out of it, from which blackish-brown mucus seeped. When it dripped onto the stream stones, it would rise up in black smoke and carve out a dense array of pits.

Its toxicity is obvious at a glance.

The toad did not attack, but its abdomen heaved violently as it continuously expelled its bright white eggs, which rolled into the shallow pool beneath it.

Meng Yuanshan stared at the poisonous toad, his brows furrowed.

He was born and raised in the southern border region. He had been surrounded by poisonous creatures since childhood and had seen no fewer than a thousand kinds of poisons, but he had never seen such a strange species before.

Before his suspicions had dissipated, his hand had already instinctively reached for the net bag at his waist.

"Brother, no!"

Meng Jinchuan grabbed his elder brother's wrist, his face pale, his eyes wide, and his voice extremely low:

"This toad is called the 'Purple Star Toad,' and it's extremely poisonous! It's currently laying eggs, and if startled, it will explode on the spot!"

Meng Yuanshan's hand froze in mid-air. He slowly withdrew it, took a half-step back, his gaze still fixed on the poisonous toad, and mouthed the question:

Are you sure?

Meng Jinchuan nodded vigorously, ignoring the beads of sweat rolling into his eyes:

"I'm sure! It's drawn in Grandpa's 'Compendium of Insects,' with three circles drawn in cinnabar!"

Meng Yuanshan remained silent for a moment, then finally stepped back. His foot crunched over a dry twig.

The purple star toad's back suddenly bulged, and its venom sac swelled up.

The two froze simultaneously.

Fortunately, the poisonous toad simply adjusted its posture and continued laying eggs.

Meng Jinchuan looked around reluctantly, memorizing the shapes of the mountains and the vegetation.

Meng Yuanshan had retreated to a distance of three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

Meng Jinchuan glanced at the poisonous toad one last time, firmly imprinting its location in his mind, then turned and quickly caught up with it.

"Brother, slow down!"

He dared not shout loudly, but chased after them in a low voice, just like an abandoned puppy.

The two brothers disappeared into the dense forest.

The stream still flows, the calamus still sways, and the purple star toad is still laying eggs.

One by one, toad eggs fell into the pool and sank into the crevices of the rocks.

Its calls gradually weakened, as if it had run out of energy, but its purplish-black belly continued to rise and fall, as if waiting for the next round of egg-laying.

The pool returned to silence.

After a long time, a toad egg suddenly trembled.

This egg was much larger than the others, about the size of a fist, and its shell shone with a faint golden light, making it particularly eye-catching on the bottom of the water.

A crack appeared in the eggshell.

What emerged from the shell was not an ordinary tadpole, but a young toad with already long limbs.