CFSMS -Chapter 194 This Little Mouse Is Absolutely Terrified

At the stall location, with no customers around as usual, Lu Wu was entertaining herself.

She had never slacked off in her cultivation. Right, System?

Unfortunately, she hadn’t enjoyed her break for long before Huohuo returned, carrying a mountain-sized pile of rabbits.

Looking at the pitifully dead little rabbits, then at the eager eyes of the little beasts, Lu Wu could only roll up her sleeves and continue making rabbit heads.

Skinning, soaking, blanching, and thoroughly boiling them.

Lu Wu handled the entire process with practiced ease, even finding time to chat with the foxes.

“So you’re saying other demonic beasts are on their way here and want to eat rabbit heads to get rid of the black qi? No problem.”

Lu Wu had always been generous toward cute little animals.

However, reality far exceeded her expectations.

At first, she thought only a few foxes would come.

Who knew the variety of beasts would keep increasing?

Foxes, squirrels, eagles, spiders…

Birds, beasts, and insects alike gathered there.

They timidly hid among the nearby trees, secretly observing Lu Wu, the human.

They knew humans existed, but many of them had never actually seen one before.

Tall, pale, thin, and fragrant.

Humans were different from what they had imagined.

Unlike the two foxes who had already tasted rabbit heads and eagerly stayed by Lu Wu’s side, most of the beasts merely peeked at her cautiously from afar.

Lu Wu soon noticed a particularly unusual group of squirrels.

Hidden within the dense tree canopy, they wrapped their tails around themselves while cautiously peeking out with bean-sized eyes.

Whenever Lu Wu’s gaze shifted toward them, their bodies would tremble violently before they rolled their eyes and collapsed against the tree trunk.

One especially unlucky squirrel even fell straight out of the tree. Fortunately, nearby beasts caught it.

Otherwise, there might have been a tragic case of death by falling object.

Of course, the falling object and the victim would have been the same squirrel.

Even without approaching them, Lu Wu could sense the overwhelming fear emanating from the squirrel tribe.

As though, in their eyes, she was some kind of monster.

“Ying!”

The male fox tugged at her sleeve and told her a story.

It turned out these squirrels were called Heaven-Swallowing Mice.

Long ago, they had been an incredibly powerful species of demonic beast. Adult individuals could grow hundreds of meters tall, truly living up to the name Heaven-Swallowing.

As their bodies expanded, so did their egos.

Simply put—they got carried away.

After learning that humans occupied an even larger world beyond the mountains, they decided they would conquer humanity and turn humans into their servants.

But there was always a bigger mountain beyond the mountain, a higher sky beyond the sky.

The Heaven-Swallowing Mice were powerful, yet they were no match for human cultivators.

That battle shook heaven and earth.

Well…

To be precise, it was only dark days for the Heaven-Swallowing Mice.

Countless members of their race died in that war. The survivors never dared challenge humans again. They fled back into the mountains in disgrace and hid there ever since.

From that point onward, each generation grew smaller and weaker.

Eventually, they became the tiny squirrels of today.

Yet despite the passage of countless years, their fear of humans remained etched into their blood and bones.

The moment they saw Lu Wu, memories of their ancestors’ slaughter resurfaced in their minds.

At that instant, the squirrels felt as though the King of Hell himself was beckoning to them.

The psychological impact was simply too great.

The more timid squirrels kicked their legs once and fainted on the spot.

After hearing the story, Lu Wu couldn’t help sighing.

According to the male fox, many of the beasts present had ancestors who had interacted with humans.

When they left the mountains, they had been brimming with confidence.

When they returned, they were utterly battered and defeated.

Humans—an indescribable existence…

The lifelong nemesis of all beasts.

Deep in their bones, they carried an instinctive terror of humanity.

If not for their inability to resist the corruption of the black qi, they would never have appeared before a human like Lu Wu.

Tremble tremble tremble!

As the male fox continued his explanation, Lu Wu matched various beast races to their corresponding stories.

Every time her gaze drifted toward one of them, that beast would begin shaking uncontrollably.

…

Lu Wu touched her face.

Was she really that scary?

After thinking for a moment, she glanced at the System and coughed awkwardly.

“Sorry. My mistake.”

As she spoke, Lu Wu looked at the reward she had obtained after the previous mission.

It was…

A pair of rabbit ears.

White and fluffy, with touches of pink inside.

The fur was soft, and the long ears felt almost identical to real ones.

When she first drew the item, Lu Wu had seriously suspected the System was playing some strange niche game with her.

Facts proved that the System had remarkable foresight.

Its function was simple.

Once worn, she could disguise herself as a giant rabbit. Her human aura would completely disappear.

Wasn’t this basically a divine artifact specifically designed for these human-phobic beasts?

Lu Wu put on the ears and shook her head.

For an instant, she genuinely felt as though long rabbit ears had grown from her head.

Still, all these beasts had already seen her.

Would this thing actually work?

Just as she was wondering, noises erupted among the beasts.

Translator mode activated.

“Huh? Where did that human go?”

“Human? What human? Isn’t that just a rabbit standing over there?”

“Yeah. It’s only a bit taller and has more impressive chest muscles. Definitely a herbivore.”

Lu Wu: Those are not chest muscles.

The scattered conversations drifted into her ears.

Taking out a mirror, Lu Wu discovered her appearance hadn’t changed at all—except for the rabbit ears on her head.

Did this thing alter the beasts’ cognition?

A System-produced item truly lived up to its reputation.

“System, love you.”

The System, as always, ignored Lu Wu’s emotionless confession.

The cognitive alteration was incredibly powerful.

Even the three foxes who had spent time with Lu Wu became momentarily dazed before treating her as a tall rabbit who sold rabbit heads.

Their memories seemed to have been rewritten.

According to the rabbit ears’ description, however, the effect was only temporary. Once she removed them, the beasts’ memories would return to normal.

“Rabbit heads for sale! Delicious spicy rabbit heads!”

A fresh batch emerged from the pot.

Now that their perceptions had been altered, the beasts saw Lu Wu as a harmless rabbit.

And this rabbit could help remove the black qi from their bodies.

The spicy rabbit heads looked a little frightening, but they still gathered their courage.

After all, no matter how scary the rabbit heads looked…

They were nowhere near as terrifying as humans.

Thunk!

Something landed on the stall.

Looking down, Lu Wu saw a squirrel placing a spiritual fruit on the counter.

“Squeak!”

Exchange.

That was what the squirrel meant.

Compared to humans, interactions between beasts were much simpler.

If you wanted resources, you traded for them.

What delighted Lu Wu was that the System immediately reacted after the squirrel offered the fruit.

[Mission Progress: 1/100]

The System recognized this as a sale.

And sales counted toward mission completion.

Lu Wu couldn’t stop herself from grinning.

“Thank you, little squirrel.”

She gave the squirrel an extra rabbit head as compensation for nearly being scared out of its wits earlier.

Indeed, this was the very squirrel that had fallen out of the tree and passed out on impact.

After the squirrel set the example, the beasts arriving afterward quickly followed suit.

Spiritual fruits, medicinal herbs, ores…

There was a huge variety of offerings.

Lu Wu even spotted several spirit stones.

In short, every beast brought whatever valuables it possessed in exchange for rabbit heads.

The beasts had money!

And the beasts were paying!

Watching the mission progress soar upward, Lu Wu instantly became energized.

Business was open!