19: Great Red Spot

The Ning Couple had been absorbing nutrients from the birds for eight days now. The only issue was that birds were much smaller than wolves and couldn't provide them with much energy before dying.

Each bird provided approximately 50,000 extra energy before dying, but they only lived for one day. Therefore, the Ning Couple were actually accumulating energy much slower than when they were among the wolves.

These birds often flew over the coast looking for the corpses of aquatic creatures, and only when they couldn't find any would they fly into the forest to search for animal carcasses.

They never approached any living animals, so the Ning Couple never had the chance to switch bodies with a better creature. Now they had resigned themselves and were waiting for all the birds to die and fall somewhere, so they could switch to another creature.

However, to do that, they had to wait for the last bird to die. Not only were these birds carnivorous, but they were also cannibalistic. Whenever a bird died, they would eat their own kind. The Ning Couple felt like throwing up every time they saw it. However, they slowly got used to death and corpses.

Between the village attack, their time with the wolves, and now their time with the birds, they had seen enough death that they slowly became numb to it. Soon, they knew they would see things die in front of them, and by then, even with their emotions amplified, they wouldn't feel anything about it.

More time passed. Now there were only about six birds left. The Ning Couple were very bored now.

"Hey, can't we switch to a tree? I hate these birds," Ning B said, looking at the five birds flying around him.

"Just wait. When all six of them die, we'll have 300,000 energy, and then we can switch bodies freely, which will objectively be much better," Ning A said, though he was also extremely bored.

"Oh, is that so? What if the last bird dies somewhere with no trees around? Are we going to switch bodies with mud?" Ning B said. He was a little angry at Ning A.

Ning A ignored Ning B's anger. He sympathized with him on this matter and was also afraid that if this continued, they would be forever trapped here, waiting for the bird's corpse to rot, and they would be exhausted.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Ning A said.

The birds flew another circle, reaching the coast. They searched along the beach for corpses washed ashore. The beach was long, and it took them nearly three days to fly from one end to the other.

Suddenly, Ning A noticed something in the sea. A second later, Ning B also noticed it. Soon after, the birds noticed it too. Birds were good at observing things, but what was happening in the sea didn't require amazing eyesight or anything. Even the Ning Couple, with their poor eyesight, could see what was happening.

To be fair, who wouldn't notice a large patch of red in the middle of the blue ocean.

"Is that blood?" Ning A said, waiting for the birds to get closer to see what it was.

"I think so. But isn't it a bit too red?" Ning B asked.

"But it does look a bit like the bloodstains we saw on the snow. It's just a bit diluted because of the water," Ning A said.

"Hmm... makes sense. What on earth died there to bleed such a large puddle?" Ning B wondered.

The birds flew closer, wanting to see if they could find any dead fish or creatures in the sea. They flew over the red water, and the Ning Couple watched the splashing water below, as many fish also gathered, looking for food.

"I don't see anything dead, do you?" Ning A asked.

Ning B looked around and replied, "No, I don't see anything either." "Then what on earth died? Or did we mistakenly think something died?" Ning A wondered.

"Something definitely died. Then why is there so much red here? Even the fish are here for food," Ning B said.

Ning A suddenly realized something, "If there's so much red here, but no corpse, then it can only mean that this is a—"

A huge mouth suddenly burst out of the sea, devouring the entire school of fish near the red spot, including the birds in the sky.

—"trap." Before he could finish speaking, the Ning Couple were swallowed by a giant fish. The Ning Couple felt a burning, acidic substance searing the bird bodies they were in, and both of them were corroded and drowned in the monster's belly.

"System, quick! Quick, cast Parasitism on that giant beast, or we'll be ruined without realizing it!" Ning A shouted urgently.

<This will cost you 100,000 energy. Are you sure?> "You motherfucker, do it!" Ning A roared, yelling at the system that was slow to execute the command and asking a bunch of stupid questions. Suddenly, they felt their consciousness shift, transforming from the dying bird into the giant fish.

The sensation immediately changed from scorching corrosion to the deep cold of the ocean.

The two Ning felt a sigh of relief, knowing they weren't torn apart by the fish meat, and while listening to Ning A speak, they looked out at the cold ocean.

"We walk along the forest. Then we fly very high." Ning B continued, "It seems it's time for us to dive into the sea too."