A Compendium of One Hundred Demons: My Path to Immortality in a World of Demons and Monsters

After an unknown amount of time, when Xu Yuan got up from the ground, the whole world seemed to have changed in his eyes.

The once dark forest was now clearly visible, and the chirping of insects could be heard in the distance. It felt as if my body was filled with inexhaustible energy.

He tried throwing a punch, and the resulting gust of wind sent fallen leaves flying several steps away.

"This is... the power of a martial artist?" Xu Yuan looked at his hands, an indescribable excitement welling up in his heart. For the first time in this chaotic and desolate world where human life was as worthless as grass, he felt a sense of peace.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from afar. His hearing had become much more acute, and he immediately recognized it as the footsteps of a wild animal.

Xu Yuan remembered the trap he had set earlier and hurried toward the direction of the sound.

Under the moonlight, a plump wild rabbit was struggling beside a trap, its hind legs firmly tethered by a rope.

This rabbit was unusually large, about twice the size of a normal domestic rabbit, and its eyes glowed with a faint red light in the darkness.

"It mutated?" Xu Yuan recalled the battle between the mountain spirit and the ghost earlier and guessed that it might be due to the influence of their aura.

Upon seeing Xu Yuan, the hare suddenly struggled wildly, breaking free of its rope and lunging at him with incredible speed.

Before, Xu Yuan would definitely not have been able to dodge, but now, he simply turned slightly to the side and grabbed the rabbit by the neck with a casual gesture.

With a little force, "snap," the rabbit stopped struggling.

Xu Yuan didn't linger and quickly checked the other traps, and surprisingly caught another pheasant and two plump field mice, a harvest far exceeding his expectations.

"With these, we can at least last for a few more days." Xu Yuan looked at his prey and finally showed his first smile since transmigrating.

...........

As dawn approached, Xu Yuan deliberately circled around to the front of the village and smeared some mud on himself and his prey, making it appear as if they had been caught from the front of the mountain.

When the first rays of sunlight shone into Shuangshan Village in the early morning, the entire village was already in an uproar.

"Have you heard? That kid Xu Yuan got some prey from the front of the mountain!"

"Not only that, there was a whole hare, a pheasant, and two fat field mice!"

"Wasn't the front mountain already thoroughly searched? How could there still be any living creatures there?"

Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, a dozen villagers gathered together, their eyes filled with complex emotions as they gazed in the direction of Aunt Zhang's house.

The famine had lasted so long that everyone was starving and seeing stars. Xu Yuan's sudden acquisition of so much meat was like digging out a spring of water in the desert.

What's even more surprising is that Xu Yuan actually shared his prey with Aunt Zhang and Little Stone's family.

In a famine year when people were practically resorting to cannibalism, such behavior was simply unbelievable.

Inside Aunt Zhang's earthen house in the west of the village, the earthenware pot was bubbling on the fire, and the aroma of meat wafted out, making people inside and outside the house swallow their saliva.

"Yuan-ge'er, this soup...smells so good." Aunt Zhang's daughter-in-law, Li Xiu, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) holding her child, and a trace of color finally returned to her pale face.

The five-month-old baby seemed to smell the fragrance, stopped crying, and turned its little head toward the pottery jar.

Xu Yuan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, drink more later. Only with breast milk can the baby survive."

Li Xiu's eyes reddened, and she was about to kneel down to express her gratitude, but Xu Yuan stopped her, saying, "Aunt Zhang saved my life, this is nothing."

Meanwhile, outside the earthen house, several pairs of greedy eyes were peering intently through the crack in the door at the pot of pheasant soup.

The leader was none other than Zhao Laosan, a notorious hooligan from Shuangshan Village. This guy usually idled away his days and bullied the villagers a lot because of his strong physique.

Behind him followed two equally emaciated henchmen—Wang Erma and Guo Laizi.

"Third Brother, this smells...it's so delicious!" Wang Erma licked his chapped lips, his eyes practically glowing with envy.

Guo Laizi swallowed hard. "Third Brother, are we just going to watch like this? Xu Yuan is just an outsider, why should he..."

Zhao San's face was grim: "If we take action now, the rest of the village definitely won't agree. Didn't you hear him give some meat to Little Stone's family?"

"What should we do then?"

"Wait," Zhao San sneered. "Wait until dark, until they've eaten and drunk their fill and let their guard down. I don't believe a mere outsider can cause any trouble in Shuangshan Village!"

Inside the house, the chicken soup was finally ready.

Aunt Zhang carefully divided the soup into four bowls, and handed the largest bowl to Xu Yuan: "Yuan-ge'er, eat more."

Xu Yuan quickly declined, saying, "I'm young and can handle it. My sister-in-law needs to recover, and there's the baby too."

After much refusal, Xu Yuan insisted on keeping only a small half bowl of soup, giving the rest to Li Xiu and Aunt Zhang. He then tore off a small piece of pheasant meat and chewed it slowly.

It wasn't that he wasn't hungry, but rather that the energy provided by that piece of mountain spirit flesh was too immense. Even now, he still felt warm and cozy in his stomach, and ordinary food no longer held much appeal for him.

However, this scene was interpreted differently by Zhao San outside the window.

"See? He hardly eats anything himself, he must be hiding even more good stuff!" A greedy glint flashed in Zhao San's eyes.

As evening approached, the aroma of meat wafting from Aunt Zhang's house finally dissipated completely, and the village fell silent once more, with only a few faint groans occasionally heard in the distance—the cries of people who were starving.

Xu Yuan was about to go to Xiao Shitou's house when suddenly, three figures blocked his way.

"Hey, isn't this Xu Yuan, the great philanthropist of Shuangshan Village?" Zhao San said sarcastically, while Wang Erma and Guo Laizi took the opportunity to flank him from the left and right.

Xu Yuan stopped and looked at them calmly: "What is it?"

"Of course something's up!" Zhao San stepped forward, pointing at Xu Yuan's nose. "We're all still starving, and you're doing just that, cooking for yourself behind closed doors! What, do you really think Shuangshan Village is your home?"

Wang Erma chimed in, "That's right! You're an outsider; if it weren't for the village taking you in, you'd have starved to death long ago! Now that you've got some food, shouldn't you offer it to us first?"

Xu Yuan's eyes turned cold: "I can give my prey to whomever I want. If you're hungry, go find yourselves."

"Looking for food?" Zhao San grinned maliciously. "The front mountain has been thoroughly searched. If you can find it, why can't we? Tell me! Did you enter the forbidden area in the back mountain?!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the villagers who had been eavesdropping by the wall all changed.

The forbidden area in the back mountain is the biggest taboo in Shuangshan Village.

Xu Yuan's heart stirred slightly, but he remained outwardly calm: "I told you, it was found in a hidden ravine in the front of the mountain. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."

"Bullshit!" Guo Laizi couldn't hold back any longer. "If there were any prey on the front mountain, we would have caught them long ago! You must have gone into the back mountain! According to village rules, anyone who trespasses on forbidden territory will be beaten to death!"

As they spoke, the three prepared to make their move.

Zhao San went even further and grabbed Xu Yuan's collar: "If you don't hand over the rest of your prey today, don't even think about..."

Before he could finish speaking, his hand was suddenly gripped as if by an iron clamp.

Zhao San was stunned. Before he could react, he felt a tremendous force coming at him, and he was spun around and slammed to the ground with a loud bang!

Dust flew everywhere.

Wang Erma and Guo Laizi stood there dumbfounded.

Zhao San is one of the strongest men in Shuangshan Village, how could he be taken down so easily?

"You...you..." Zhao San struggled to get up, only to find that Xu Yuan's foot was already on his chest.

The force was so great that he was completely unable to move.

Xu Yuan looked down at him, his eyes icy: "Take your men and get out!"

As he spoke, he slightly increased the pressure on his feet, and Zhao San immediately felt as if a stone was pressing on his chest, making it difficult to breathe.

"Let's go... let's go!" Zhao San finally got scared.

Xu Yuan loosened his grip, and the three of them scrambled away, leaving the nearby villagers staring in shock.

Disrupted by Zhao San and the others, Xu Yuan lost his mood, turned around and went back to the woodshed, closed the door, and finally let out a long sigh.

He only used 30% of his strength in that throw, yet he was able to easily subdue Zhao San, the strongest man in the village.

The enhancement brought by the mountain spirit's flesh and blood far exceeded his expectations, but what concerned him even more was his experience tonight.

It seems that some people in the village have already begun to have doubts.

We must improve our strength as soon as possible, otherwise next time there might be more than just three scoundrels.

In the stillness of the night, Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on a haystack, his consciousness sinking into the image of a hundred ghosts in his mind.

On the first page, the image of the starving ghost was significantly brighter, its狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) face seemingly coming to life, with an even more exaggerated grin.

[Hungry Ghost: 15% progress]

[Ability: Extremely efficient digestion]

【Characteristics: Unlimited appetite, enhanced strength, enhanced agility】

The second page was still half-lit and half-dark, with the unlocking progress stuck at 47%. The blurry outline of a ghost was vaguely visible on the page, but it was still unclear what it was.

As a warm current slowly circulated within Xu Yuan's body, he felt his strength increase with each cycle.

Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and clearly felt the explosive power contained in his muscles.

"It's a pity there's only one piece of mountain spirit flesh. If only I could get a few more..." A hint of longing flashed in Xu Yuan's eyes.

He has basically confirmed that consuming the flesh and blood of demons can greatly accelerate the progress of unlocking the Hungry Ghost Encyclopedia, while also nourishing himself.

The progress made by that palm-sized piece of flesh last night far exceeded the total amount he had accumulated by eating grass roots and tree bark over the previous month.

"It's a pity the back mountain is too dangerous." Xu Yuan frowned, thinking of the terrifying battle he had witnessed last night.

The fighting power displayed by the mountain spirits and ghosts was far beyond his current reach.

If they hadn't both been severely injured, Xu Yuan wouldn't have had a chance to take advantage of the situation.

Besides, who knows if there are other, even more terrifying things lurking in the back mountains?

Just as Xu Yuan was pondering, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Yuanwa, may I come in?"

It was the old village chief's voice.