333: Chapter 333 Where to go? I'm going to catch a bird.

Song Ya raised her head, her eyes red, "Dr. Xu... But he's gone... We... We've lost another person."

She didn't understand those complex trade-offs and weighing of pros and cons.

She only knew that Zhou Kai—the one who would grin with his missing teeth, protect everyone behind him, and swallow unknown objects to keep everyone safe—had left them once again.

The first time was death, and this time was disappearance.

On this isolated island, every parting was no different from death.

The "home" they had managed to build with such difficulty had cracked open once again.

Xu Zhixia didn't speak again, simply patting Song Ya's head, "Don't worry, he'll be back."

Lin Fan walked over to the campfire and added a few thick logs to it.

The flames flared up again, driving away some of the chill, but they couldn't disperse the gloom in everyone's hearts.

Yang Ningcong shrank back from the cave entrance. Seeing that Lin Fan hadn't spoken up, his courage grew, and he edged over to the other side of the campfire, still muttering under his breath.

"He was a curse to begin with, and keeping him around was like having a ticking time bomb. It's peaceful now that he's gone."

"Why are you all looking so depressed?"

Song Ya's sobbing paused. She raised her head and glared fiercely at him.

Yang Ningcong shrank his neck under her gaze, but still stubbornly muttered, "Am I wrong... Did I say something incorrect?"

"Shut up!"

Song Ya roared.

Yang Ningcong was stunned by her roar. This naive sweet girl actually had a temper?

Lin Fan pulled a glowing red stick out of the fire, "Yang Ningcong."

"Bro... Brother Fan?" Yang Ningcong's heart leaped into his throat.

"Talking so much, you must not be sleepy. Why don't you go stand guard outside?"

Yang Ningcong immediately shut his mouth.

Go stand guard outside? Are you kidding me?! That wolf had just run out, and heaven knew if it would run back.

He'd rather be glared to death by Song Ya inside the cave than go outside alone to feed the wolf.

The Karst Cave fell into dead silence once more.

There was only the crackle of the burning campfire and Song Ya's muffled sobs.

Su Qingxue walked out from the inner partition, sat down next to Song Ya, and handed her a clean piece of cloth.

The Karst Cave didn't stay quiet for long.

Just as Song Ya wiped away her tears and Yang Ningcong finally put his hanging heart at ease, preparing to get some sleep.

"Awooo..."

A wolf's howl echoed down from above.

Yang Ningcong bolted upright, his sharpened wooden stick nearly poking his own chin.

"Brother Fan! Did you hear that?!" His legs began to shake uncontrollably again.

"It's a wolf's howl! That beast is back!"

Lin Fan had naturally heard it; his hand was already resting on his dagger.

"Awooo..."

This time it was even louder than the previous howl, which meant it was getting closer and closer. Lin Fan's heart sank.

Could he have lost consciousness again? He went berserk not long after leaving and sneaked back?

Without hesitation, he stood up and walked toward the cave entrance.

"Brother Fan! Brother Fan, don't chase after it!" Yang Ningcong's miserable cry came from behind. "What if you leave and other monsters sneak up?"

Lin Fan ignored him, already standing at the edge of the platform.

Moonlight beat down on the slope, revealing gravel rolling downward.

Something was moving downward, and its speed wasn't slow.

Lin Fan took half a step back, pulling his right foot back while holding his dagger horizontally across his chest with his left hand, adopting a full defensive posture.

The sound of rolling sand and stones grew closer and closer.

A massive black figure emerged from the slope.

The figure, over three meters tall, exuded a full sense of oppression under the moonlight. Lin Fan slowed his breathing, every muscle in his body tensing up.

It really had come back; this time, he feared it wouldn't be leaving easily.

The black figure landed on the edge of the platform and came to a stop, its two yellowish-green vertical pupils staring fixedly at Lin Fan in the darkness.

Lin Fan brought his blade forward to strike first, but then, that mouth covered in black fur opened.

"Brother Fan, it's me."

The voice was deep, and it was hard to tell if it was Zhou Kai's original tone, but it was much clearer than the one Chen Jian had made.

Lin Fan pulled back his hand and stared into those eyes; there was no murderous intent in the beast's pupils, and their focus was normal.

"You..."

Just as Lin Fan was about to speak, his peripheral vision caught sight of Zhou Kai's right claw.

In that claw, which was larger than a human head, something was being gripped.

"What is this?" Lin Fan asked.

Zhou Kai pushed that clump of things forward a bit, loosening his claw slightly so Lin Fan could see clearly.

It was a bird.

Its size was two circles larger than an ordinary bird, and its entire body was pitch black. Unlike the Strange Bird that had attacked the Karst Cave previously, this one was much smaller, with a sharp, slender beak and an unaggressive appearance.

The bird was pinched inside Zhou Kai's claw, its wings flapping frantically while letting out shrill cries.

"This thing was up in the tree above."

"When I went to catch them, one ran away."

Zhou Kai extended the claw holding the bird further forward. "This one was stupid and let me catch it."

Lin Fan was slightly stunned.

"So when you went out just now, you went to catch a bird?"

"Yeah." Zhou Kai nodded his massive head. "After I regained my sanity, I smelled the exact same scent as those Strange Bird from before."

"I tracked the scent and found them."

Lin Fan lowered his blade.

He rubbed the space between his eyebrows. It had all been a false alarm.

Song Ya had cried her eyes out, thinking Zhou Kai had self-exiled, but it turned out this guy had gone up there to catch a spy.

That final glance back and that hand gesture were not a tearful farewell at all.

Thinking back now, that gesture seemed to mean "wait."

"Couldn't you have said something before you ran off?"

Zhou Kai scratched the back of his head, his movement identical to when he was in human form, except his claws were several times larger.

"Didn't I worry they'd run away?"

Lin Fan sheathed his dagger back at his waist, took two steps closer, and looked at the struggling Strange Bird inside Zhou Kai's claw.

"You're saying it was eavesdropping?"

"How can you be sure? Maybe they were just standing on the branch sleeping."

"Brother Fan, ever since I mutated, my nose is sharper than a dog's. This thing doesn't just have a human scent; it also smells like potion."

Lin Fan looked at the thing. A human and potion scent? Then it was one hundred percent certain it came to eavesdrop.

"Lin Fan." A voice came from the cave entrance.

Song Ya poked half her head out and saw a man and a beast standing on the platform. The bird was in Lin Fan's hand, and they hadn't started fighting.

"Zhou Kai?!"

Song Ya's eyes instantly lit up, and the tears she had just wiped away welled up again.

She ran outward a couple of steps, came to a stop on the platform, and looked at that three-meter-tall black figure.

"You didn't leave? Are you okay?"

Zhou Kai turned his massive head to look at Song Ya. In his yellowish-green vertical pupils, the bestial nature was almost completely gone.

"Leave what? I just went to catch a bird."

Song Ya's lips trembled twice, and she wanted to cry again, but this time it was out of joy.

"I thought you..."

"What are you crying for." Zhou Kai waved his large claw in the air, "I, your majestic—"

He choked for a moment, lowered his head, and looked at his current appearance—three meters tall, covered in black fur, with exposed fangs.

"... Forget it, I won't say majestic."

Yang Ningcong's head also poked out from the cave entrance. Seeing that Zhou Kai was standing there with no intention of attacking, he shrank back in.

But his mouth wasn't idle: "That beast... Zhou Kai, is your head clear right now?"

"Clear."

"You won't suddenly pounce over?"

Zhou Kai turned his head to look at him, those beastly pupils flashing brightly in the darkness.

"Young Master Yang, seeing how tender and delicate your skin is, I suddenly miss Liu Feifei a bit... Hehe..."

Yang Ningcong's head instantly vanished, his muffled voice coming from inside the cave: "Don't look at me... I beg you, don't look at me... I don't taste good, and I don't know how to serve men..."

Lin Fan looked at Zhou Kai. His sense of smell after beastification far exceeded human limits.

This ability was a massive advantage on this island.

"How are you feeling right now?" Lin Fan asked.

Zhou Kai lowered his head to look at his own physique, turned his two large claws over, and kicked his hind legs.

"Pretty good, Brother Fan. I can already control this body now."

"When I was transforming just now, my mind was indeed chaotic for a while, but it was much better than last time. Last time was a complete blackout—I didn't know anything. This time, from the moment I started transforming, I remained conscious, it was just that my body didn't seem to obey commands."

"Now..."

Before Zhou Kai finished speaking, he let out a roar toward the sky, "Awooo..."

Lin Fan nodded and didn't ask any further.

Zhou Kai could independently control his transformation state and maintain his sanity.

From now on, he could be considered a supernatural being.

But going from complete loss of control yesterday to being able to speak, judge the surrounding environment, and make independent thoughts this time was inevitably a bit too fast...