A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

After hearing Chef Wang's whispered words, Zhou Ping looked embarrassed and quickly waved his hand in refusal.

"Brother Wang, you mustn't do that! If the clan leader finds out, you'll be in for a severe punishment!"

Zhou Ping never expected that the arrow he shot would circle around and end up stabbing him again!

Although it has been confirmed that the pheasant should not cause any more trouble after eating the herbs.

Their meat nowadays must have some nutritional value and should not be harmful to the human body.

But Zhou Ping didn't want to be the first to try something new, so he decisively refused Chef Wang's offer.

"There are so many, they can't possibly eat them all, don't worry, bro!"

When Chef Wang saw Zhou Ping refuse, he naturally didn't know why, so he patted Zhou Ping's chest to reassure him.

Zhou Ping stopped arguing with him and hurriedly "escaped" to the cafeteria.

Chef Wang watched Zhou Ping's departing figure, pursed his lips in confusion, and thought to himself, "Why has this kid suddenly become so stubborn?"

.......

After returning to his residence, Zhou Ping took out the identity tag he always wore and began to ponder his next move.

Now that the risks associated with growth-inducing herbs have been eliminated, he needs to quickly develop a safe and reliable growth-inducing plan.

Only in this way can the power of agarwood be maximized, thereby increasing one's cultivation speed.

Before that, there is one last concern that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

That is, what happens to animals when they drink water mixed with smoke?

Zhou Ping recalled his conversation with Chef Wang earlier that day, and a slight look of anxiety appeared on his face.

If those pheasants are slaughtered, it will be difficult to find suitable test subjects.

He had to feed the pheasants the newly mixed clean water before they were slaughtered.

Counting the time, it has been four days since the last time smoke was generated.

According to Zhou Ping's prediction, the agarwood should start producing smoke again in five days.

Hopefully, those pheasants can live a few more days...

.......

In the following days, apart from his daily meditation practice, Zhou Ping devoted most of his attention to the fate of those pheasants.

The rest of the time was spent pondering how to use the growth-promoting properties of agarwood more safely.

After all, it concerned his own life, so he couldn't afford to be careless in the slightest.

Five days later, as night fell, Zhou Ping couldn't wait to sit down at the table, his eyes fixed on the identity token in his hand.

At this moment, the bamboo plug on the token had already been removed by him. Looking inside, a dark incense stick appeared in Zhou Ping's eyes.

Its jet-black, round shape, at this moment, seemed to Zhou Ping to be filled with an unfathomable charm.

Finally, thanks to Zhou Ping's precise calculations, a wisp of smoke, seemingly invisible, appeared out of thin air at the top of the agarwood with a "poof".

........

Under the cover of night, a lithe figure appeared beside the chicken coop outside the canteen.

It was Zhou Ping who had hurriedly come looking for them after the smoke had been blended together.

He wasn't sure when Chef Wang would cook the pheasants. Five days had passed since their last conversation, so it should be soon.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, he rushed to the location as soon as he mixed the smoke with water.

At this moment, Zhou Ping was dressed in black. After practicing the Floating Shadow Step for a period of time, although he could not yet reach the level of being able to follow someone's shadow, his movements were undoubtedly much lighter and more agile than before.

He took out a steamed bun he had brought back from the cafeteria from his pocket, broke it open, and slowly poured the water from the porcelain bottle onto it.

The water was gradually absorbed by the steamed buns. After he had used up most of the water in the porcelain bottle, Zhou Ping stopped pouring the water.

Looking at the soft, swollen steamed buns, he went to the fence of the chicken coop and gently tapped it a few times.

Upon hearing the noise, several pheasants that were dozing all raised their necks and looked around, their heads pointing left and right.

Seeing that they had been awakened, Zhou Ping broke off a piece of steamed bun and threw it in, then waited patiently.

Several pheasants paced back and forth tentatively, looking cautious, as if they were somewhat afraid of the black figure that had suddenly appeared before them.

Seeing this, Zhou Ping became somewhat anxious. He was worried that if the night patrol guards discovered him here, he would have no idea how to explain it.

Fortunately, most of the guards at Jin Yuan were concentrated at the main gate, and there were few people patrolling inside Jin Yuan, which put Zhou Ping at ease.

Seeing that the pheasants were only testing the waters and none of them dared to come forward to eat, Zhou Ping quickly scanned his surroundings. After seeing that there was no one in sight, he suddenly lowered his voice and called out to them a few more times.

He then crushed the steamed bun in his hand into pieces and threw it forcefully at them.

The pheasants, whose appetites had already been whetted, finally stopped hesitating when they heard the familiar call and swarmed over, clucking and scrambling for the scattered breadcrumbs on the ground.

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Zhou Ping quietly retreated into the woods by the roadside. Using the stealth technique of the Floating Shadow Step, he disappeared as if he had vanished, completely blending into the dark shadows of the trees.

He observed the pheasants not far away without making a sound. After they finished eating the steamed buns on the ground, they wobbled back to their previous positions and began to doze off.

After about half an incense stick's time, the pheasants suddenly stood up, as if they had been frightened by something, and all of them began to tremble.

However, before they could react or even crow, they all collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Hiding in the shadows, Zhou Ping stared blankly at the pheasants lying on the ground, his eyes wide open, goosebumps rising all over his body, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

In his eyes, the motionless bodies of the pheasants shriveled up at a visible speed, and in just a few breaths, they became nothing but skin and bones.

Their bodies seemed to have been sucked dry by something, becoming flatter and drier until they disappeared completely.

But Zhou Ping, who was observing from the shadows, knew that the pheasant's body had not disappeared, but that in its final moments, its remaining skin and bones had all turned to ash, as if it had been weathered away.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, and a large cloud of dust suddenly rose from the chicken coop, mixed with some fine, soft down feathers.

Zhou Ping, who was hiding in the woods, witnessed the whole thing. He looked at the chicken feathers scattered in the chicken coop after the breeze, and his body involuntarily shivered.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ping tried to calm his fear before leaving the scene with lingering unease.

On his way back, he took out the porcelain bottle that still had a little water left and carefully checked its mouth. After confirming that it was sealed tightly, he carefully put it back in his pocket.

The next morning, Chef Wang looked at the chicken feathers scattered all over the henhouse and let out a pitiful wail.

"What kind of beast committed this?! Where are my chickens?! Where are my chickens?!"