ACIDEM 04

Chapter – 04

Dodging Calamity

Spring grass greens before the wind; peach blossoms redden after the rain.

In early spring, ice melted and snow dissolved. The earth’s energy surged, and the qi of water and soil flourished. Fu Shaoguang felt an itch creeping up his back—

Like a thousand ants crawling and gnawing beneath his skin.

He knew this feeling well.

Three months had passed since his last molt; five months since he began drawing in qi.

He was about to shed his shell once more.

Sensing that this time would be extraordinary, Fu Shaoguang did not act rashly—not only because this could be his chance to transform from mortal into demon, but also because he thought of the clam demon.

What exactly had eaten it? To this day, he had no idea. In his past life’s novels and folk tales, it was often said that the path of cultivation was fraught with calamities, and that non-human beings who sought the Dao faced many misfortunes.

Fu Shaoguang feared he might share the clam demon’s fate.

Therefore, he needed to make preparations in advance.

Better to do useless work than to harbor a single trace of luck.

Over the following days, he dug tunnels with all his might. His nest became a maze of interconnected passages, extending all the way to the territories of the black fish, the old turtle, and the water snake—all overlords of the mountain stream, and the ones who had devoured the clam meat most eagerly last time.

Other tunnels led to the poisonous algae zone and the thorny bramble zone.

The entrances were small, the passages narrow—barely wide enough for a single insect like Fu Shaoguang to pass through—and they ran about a zhang (roughly ten feet) beneath the ground.

Of course, this was not the work of a few days, but the result of a full year’s accumulation; he had merely upgraded it over the past several days.

The tunnels were lined with sharp thorns he had laboriously carried in, packed densely together. He had also painstakingly gathered large amounts of animal dung, turning the inside and outside of his burrow into a reeking mess.

This made most aquatic creatures give him a wide berth.

If danger truly came, perhaps the foulness would make them think twice about swallowing him.

As for whether it was filthy—what did that matter compared to his life?

Once everything was ready, Fu Shaoguang was nearly at his limit, but he still did not rush into his metamorphosis.

Instead, he waited for a clear, sunny day. After a hearty meal, he burrowed into his tunnel, sealed the entrance, crawled to the thorny bramble zone, buried himself deep underground, coated himself in a layer of dung, and began to molt.

Past-life legends, the clam demon’s nighttime death, and his own feeling of greater comfort at night all told Fu Shaoguang:

Demons and specters mostly travel under cloudy skies or at night.

Molting in broad daylight, under the blazing sun—

Might ward off whatever crisis lay in wait.

—

The setting sun melted like gold; the fire-red clouds raced to burn their last brilliance, just as Fu Shaoguang raced for his life.

By the time the last ray of sunset faded, he had shed his old shell and was gradually growing a new one, his very life force beginning its ascension to a higher level.

The bright moon of the ninth heaven cast pure, silvery light, gilding the mountain forest in silver. The river’s surface shimmered, just as it had on the night the clam demon died so horribly.

As the night deepened, the chirping of insects abruptly ceased. The water-dwelling creatures that had been hunting and playing vanished without a trace. An utter silence fell, and a figure appeared in the water, casting a vast shadow.

The shimmering ripples disappeared; the light turned pitch-black.

A great splash erupted. A bizarre creature—its body covered in scales, humanoid in shape but with fins—swam over. Its eyes were blood-red, like candle flames, and its nostrils flared as it prowled ceaselessly around Fu Shaoguang’s burrow, searching carefully for something.

Then its eyes lit up. It swam to a certain spot, reached out and grabbed—only to find an old turtle withdrawn into its shell. A human-like disappointment and anger flickered across its face. The monster shook the turtle a few times, flung it aside, and continued its search.

Next, it thrust an arm into a hole, closed its hand, and pulled out a water snake that coiled around its limb. Instinctively, the snake opened its mouth to bite—but the hard scales hurt the snake so much it nearly wept.

Enraged, the monster casually pinched the snake by the neck and swallowed it whole, then turned back to keep looking.

Moments later, in its fury, it swallowed several black fish as well.

Finally, it reached the thorny bramble patch. Its nostrils flared—and the stench hit it square in the face. The monster stumbled back several steps, face twisted in disgust, heart full of loathing.

But it was unwilling to leave empty-handed.

Especially after wasting so much time.

Holding its breath and forcing itself to endure the discomfort, the monster ignored the sharp thorns and probed the hole with one finger—digging.

The thorns were blocked by its scales.

—

At the bottom of the burrow.

Fu Shaoguang, mid-transformation, felt a chill run through his heart.

A familiar dread and pressure descended—just like the night the clam demon had fallen.

He knew: *that thing* had come!

Hiding inside his old shell, Fu Shaoguang steadied his mind, forcibly dispelling all distracting thoughts of dire consequences, and focused all his energy on shedding his shell to survive.

Faster—faster still!

A tremendous crashing sound rang out.

The monster ripped through the soil with force, sending dust flying. Finally, losing patience, it smashed down with its fist—the earth caved in eight feet deep. Then it felt something amiss. The soil’s texture was wrong.

Pulling out its arm, it looked and saw its wrist and palm smeared with a layer of dung—sticky, thick, and foul. The monster’s pupils contracted. Bile surged to its throat, only to be forcibly swallowed back down.

Immediately, it abandoned all further search, turned tail, and fled—this place was simply toxic.

It had expected a delicacy, but now it seemed—delicious or not, *foul* and *nauseating* were the true qualities on offer.

It felt wounded.

It probably wouldn’t be able to eat anything for days.

Even if it found the little creature, it wouldn’t dare eat it—who knew what it really was?

What if it were a piece of dung that had become a demon? Unthinkable!

The oppressive presence faded into the distance.

Fu Shaoguang breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had dodged a calamity. He gathered his mind and devoted himself wholly to molting.

A life-elevating transformation unfolded in the dark burrow.

—

*A touch of sunset drunk on dusk.*

The next evening, the ravaged bramble patch finally showed signs of movement. An insect wriggled through the sticky layer, shaking its body to shed some of the filth, revealing a hint of plain white luster beneath.

This temporarily stink-ridden, extraordinary insect was none other than Fu Shaoguang. Over the course of a day and a half, he had completed his forty-first molt—and, as he had hoped, transformed into a demon… insect.

His body had grown to two inches in length. His mandibles were as sharp as knives, his six legs swift and powerful, and his five senses keener than ever—he could now perceive changes in airflow and water currents within three inches of his body.

Turning to gaze at the reeking sticky layer, Fu Shaoguang secretly congratulated himself. Thank goodness he had taken the extra precaution of creating a layer of dung three feet below the bottom of his burrow.

What if the monster hadn’t been scared off by the thorns and the surface stench? This was his trump card—a sudden, unexpected revulsion that could break any creature’s composure far more effectively than an obvious foulness.

As it turned out, his gamble had paid off.

Cautiously crawling out, he surveyed his surroundings. Seeing that the nearby overlords had all vanished, Fu Shaoguang was elated. All his careful scheming had been worth it—this area was now considerably safer.

After cleaning himself off, he went for a hearty meal.

Delicious green algae grew near the black fish’s lair—Fu Shaoguang had long coveted them. Opening his mandibles, he chomped down on a feast. The fresh green algae were crisp, tender, and fragrant.

Full and satisfied, he did not rush back to his burrow. Instead, he explored the domains of the water snake and the old turtle. Finding nothing unusual, he returned to his nest to rest.

At midnight, having regained his strength—

Fu Shaoguang crawled stealthily through the silt layer.

This place had been exposed. To prevent the monster from returning, he needed to relocate. His new home had to be neither too far from his kind nor too close—that would be the safest and most stable choice.

In the end, he settled beneath a secluded underwater stone. Using all six legs, he dug a burrow while staying alert for natural predators.

After a whole night of hard work, Fu Shaoguang was exhausted, panting heavily. He lay down in his new burrow and fell into a deep, sound sleep.