I woke up to find myself transmigrated into a disabled child.

Chapter 369 Old Acquaintance

Deep within the stone forest, in a hidden cave, a mass of soft flesh was writhing and churning, an unknown creature that had crammed the cave tightly inside.

It is an outsider. Because of its arrival, the creatures near the cave were either eaten by it or moved away after being lucky enough to survive. So it is the only one in this area at present.

It seemed to really like this cave, staying almost constantly except when it needed to hunt for food. Plus, there were no other creatures around that were more powerful than it, making it practically a perfect habitat, provided no one disturbed it.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as the unknown creature planned.

The head of the ball was sleeping soundly under the tight hand when suddenly an instinctive alarm went off in its mind. A familiar shiver ran from the tip of its antennae to all parts of its body, causing its body, which had been only slightly wriggling, to suddenly tremble violently.

Its tentacles darted about, sweeping away many shelled creatures clinging to the rocks. Some were even smashed open along with the rocks they were attached to, causing them to fall and create bursts of mist. Along with the mud stirred up from the sand, the area instantly became chaotic.

In Jormungand, the more powerful and higher-ranking a creature is, the more it trusts its intuition. This creature was no exception.

Even though it had just woken up from its sleep, and even though it didn't yet know what the impending crisis was, it didn't stop it from painstakingly moving its body, which it had finally managed to squeeze into the cave, little by little, ready to escape at any moment.

Unfortunately, its alarm came too late.

If it hadn't moved, perhaps Lezhi wouldn't have noticed it so quickly. But its instinct to survive made it move, and the silent stone forest suddenly rippled, quickly attracting the attention of Lezhi and his group.

The shimmering white wings acted like a moving light source in the dim underwater world, tearing through the darkness that blocked Lezhi's path. The three travelers did not speak to each other, but Lei Xiu and Cang Jin tacitly followed Lezhi's lead. When Lezhi suddenly turned, they did not even stop and followed directly.

Soon, they discovered that something seemed unusual about the place.

"Wow, that's quite a commotion. Looks like a big one. Be careful, things underwater can be dangerous." Cang Jin, a veteran of countless battles, could roughly determine what the unknown creature was just from the noise it made, even before they had met.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be an octopus. Hmm, these things usually live in the deep sea near the Han Hai tribe, how come they're here?"

When they arrived, the unknown creature had already managed to move its body out of the crowded cave quite a bit. Its tentacles were waving too conspicuously, and Cang Jin recognized its true form at a glance.

Being called by name is no big deal for an octopus; what truly makes its heart tremble is the ever-approaching, covetous gaze.

It had only ever experienced this feeling with its natural enemies back home, and also with the creature it had recently targeted as prey, which had ended up devouring several of its tentacles.

The octopus's small head began to ache slightly at the thought of its tentacles, which it hadn't yet recovered.

Meanwhile, Lezhi, who was not far away, was completely oblivious to what Cangjin was rambling on. His entire being was screaming for food, an excruciating hunger. He needed to eat, immediately.

Blood crimson spread across his pure white eyes. With his back to Lei Xiu and Cang Jin, Le Zhi brushed his tongue across his slightly dry lips, a slight smile playing on his lips, looking every bit like a wild beast eager to devour its prey.

Claws instinctively materialized on his palms, and Lezhi suppressed his urge to rush forward immediately. His vision had already locked onto the prey's location, and he also noticed that the cave ravaged by the prey was beginning to crack, indicating it was about to collapse.

If they went up now, they might be buried under the rocky hill with the octopus before they could even catch it. So Lezhi was waiting for the octopus to rescue him; that would be the best time to make a move.

In the meantime, Lezhi first had to settle the fur ball on his head.

He was about to go into a fight, which would be fine normally, but underwater, it was still too much for Maoqiu. Ignoring Maoqiu's protests, Lezhi carefully avoided the claws, grabbed Maoqiu with his palm, and pulled it off its head.

"Good boy, Maoqiu, stay over there with Kele, I'll go catch some food for you." Both the tone and the words were still the same familiar tune. If you ignored Lezhi's blood-red eyes, the current Lezhi seemed exactly the same as the previous Lezhi, without any change.

However, Maoqiu still keenly sensed that something was wrong. Unlike usual, it didn't dawdle and fawn over Lezhi. Its little black bean eyes met Lezhi's blood-red eyes for a second, and it subconsciously looked away, becoming incredibly obedient in an instant.

"Chu" Okay.

Unaware of anything amiss with the furball, in fact, Lezhi was completely unaware of his own changes; he simply felt a surge of excitement, something he had never experienced before.

Perhaps because he was so hungry, his hands were trembling with excitement. He turned around and handed the fluff ball to Lei Xiu, who paused for a moment before slowly taking it. Le Zhi tilted his head in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Lezhi asked with her eyes.

"No, it's nothing." Lei Xiu blinked, forcing his eyes away from Lezhi's gaze. He tucked the well-behaved, toy-like furball into his clothes. Seeing it huddled with Kele, not daring to peek out, Lei Xiu suppressed his shock. When he looked up again, Lezhi had already turned its head away, leaving him with only its back view.

Those blood-red eyes stopped looking at him, which made Lei Xiu subconsciously breathe a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he remembered that there was still someone beside him.

Turning his head, he saw Cang Jin's eyes wide open, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes filled with astonishment, and his fish tail, which had been swaying leisurely, stiffened into a straight line.

After a moment of stunned silence, as if noticing Lei Xiu's gaze, Cang Jin snapped back to reality, closing his mouth and pursing it into a thin line.

The two remained silent, exchanging glances without disturbing Lezhi, who was waiting for an opportunity ahead.

In fact, Lezhi had no time to care about them. The octopus had already left the cave, and its tentacles, which were waving around, were sometimes curled up and sometimes erect. In Lezhi's eyes, they all looked like food.

Hmm, that tentacle looks very lively; it should taste great blanched. Oh dear, that tentacle is so thick and robust; it looks like it's been growing for a long time. Won't the meat be tough? No problem, it can be used for braising; we can just braise it a little longer. That one over there is more tender; it'd be perfect for grilling…

Suck...

With a slight movement of his throat, Lezhi swallowed hard, and just a second before he saw the octopus about to break free, he couldn't hold back any longer. A flash of light appeared behind him, and as transparent wings reappeared, he vanished from the spot.

Only the lingering splashes of water remain, a reminder that someone was here just a moment ago.

Lei Xiu and Cang Jin, whose faces were splashed with water, reacted quickly. After Le Zhi rushed out, the two stopped arguing and hurriedly followed in Le Zhi's footsteps.

On the way, Cang Jin couldn't help but grumble, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that Lezhi's expression changes when he fights? It scared me to death! If you had told me earlier, I could have been mentally prepared. Luckily, I reacted quickly, and thankfully, I didn't let anyone else come in, otherwise, how would we have fought today..."