Cold wasn't the only thing seeping into Wei Shen's bones as he crawled out of the narrow cave opening. There was also the debilitating hunger twisting his insides into a painful knot, and the sharp ache in his left arm where the Thornwood Gnawer's fangs had left a bleeding memento. But above all this, there was a determination as cold as winter ice, a resolve born from the womb of despair and pure logic.
"Staying here means death by starvation or infection," Wei Shen whispered to himself, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "Going out means facing the unknown, but it carries a chance, however slim."
The Forest of Lost Souls had begun to awaken with the first gray threads of dawn filtering through the dense foliage. The mysterious sounds of the night started to give way to the chirping of strange birds and a more active rustling of leaves. This was not a reassuring scene for Wei Shen, merely a change in the nature of potential threats.
He moved with extreme caution, his body sticking to the shadows of trees and large rocks as much as possible. Every one of his senses was alight, analyzing every sound, every scent, every movement in his surroundings. He wasn't looking for herbs or roots this time. He was looking for prey. Prey for the bloodthirsty stone.
An hour passed, then two. Hunting was not as easy as some might imagine. His body was still weak and injured, and his senses, though sharpened by danger, were no match for those of seasoned wild animals. He failed to get close to a gray rock rabbit several times, as it would leap away at the slightest hint of his presence. Even some stripe-tailed tree lizards were too fast and agile for him to catch.
Cold frustration began to seep into his heart, but he ruthlessly suppressed it. "Patience," he commanded himself. "Predation requires patience and precision. Any mistake here won't cost me a meal, but my life."
Finally, when the sun had risen a little higher in the sky, sending its scattered rays through the leaves, he spotted his quarry. It was a Field Mouse, a rodent slightly larger than his palm, digging enthusiastically at the base of a tree. It was completely engrossed in its work and didn't notice Wei Shen's slow, cautious approach.
This time, Wei Shen made no mistakes. He crawled like a snake, using every natural cover. When he was close enough, he pounced.
It wasn't a clean or elegant kill. It was brutal, desperate. Wei Shen used the sharpened piece of stone he carried, stabbing the small rodent with all his might. The animal shrieked a sharp cry of pain and resisted fiercely, trying to bite Wei Shen's hand. But Wei Shen's grip, though weak, was like a steel vise. He didn't let go of his prey until its struggles ceased completely in his hands.
Wei Shen stood panting, the warm blood of the mouse covering his hands and the stone shard. He looked at the small, lifeless body. He felt no remorse, not even any sympathy. This was the law of the forest, the law of survival. The strong devoured the weak. And today, he was, relatively, the strong.
"Resource secured," he said in a low voice, wiping blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
He dared not waste time. The scent of blood might attract larger, more dangerous predators. He quickly picked up the mouse's carcass and retraced his steps towards the cave, treading with redoubled caution.
When he finally reached the relative safety of the dark rock crevice, he threw the mouse's body onto the earthen floor. He was still panting from the exertion, and his injured arm throbbed fiercely. But there was a strange glint in his eyes, a glint that hadn't been there before.
He approached the stone. This time, he didn't hesitate. Using his sharp stone shard, he slit the dead mouse's throat and let the blood flow directly onto the smooth surface of the stone.
The stone's reaction was immediate and vastly different from the previous time when his own blood had touched it.
The stone absorbed the animal's blood with intense greed, like parched earth drinking the first raindrops after a long summer. The blood-red glimmer that had appeared intermittently now became a deep, powerful glow, filling the small part of the cave with an eerie red light, dancing on the walls like demonic tongues of flame. The stone was no longer just warm; Wei Shen felt a distinct heat emanating from it, a heat that carried with it a strange sensation of raw, primal power.
And suddenly, as the stone glowed and drank the blood, Wei Shen felt a powerful wave wash over his mind. It wasn't just a tingle or warmth. It was more like… a voice, or a whisper, or perhaps just a strange idea implanted directly into his consciousness.
They weren't understandable words, but images and sensations. He saw, in his mind's eye, the forest from the perspective of the dead mouse – the fear, the despair, the pain. Then he saw a flash of brute force, the power of predation, the power of extinguishing another life for the continuation of his own. And he felt, for a fleeting moment, a strange, dark ecstasy accompanying this power.
"More…" that sensation whispered in his mind. "More blood… More vital essence… More power…"
It wasn't a clear technique, nor was it organized knowledge. It was just… instinct. An instinct deeper and more savage than anything Arthur had known in his previous life, and even more so than the despair Wei Shen had felt. It was an invitation to a dark path, a path of absolute power built on the blood of others.
The red glow gradually subsided, and the stone returned to its usual dark color, though Wei Shen felt it had become slightly heavier, and more… sated.
Wei Shen looked at his bloodstained hands, then at the silent stone. A cold smile, devoid of any mirth, began to form on his thin lips.
"What is this stone? Does it need more blood, or what?"
He looked at the remains of the mouse's carcass. Then he looked at his injured arm, thinking.