8: Chapter 8 You've been hiding it well.

Before the sun had even set, the moon had already made its appearance.

Su Mo finally returned to his nest in the tree before dark; he only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Su Su's figure pouncing toward him.

Su Su rubbed her head frantically against his chin, letting out a pitiful "wuwu" sound.

"Alright, alright, didn't I come back?"

Su Mo rubbed the little one's head and looked toward the corner; the three large bowls of white porridge that were originally there had been eaten clean.

"Not bad, she shouldn't be hungry."

He took out an object wrapped in layers of leaves from his bosom; once unwrapped, a faint blue light illuminated the entire room.

Inside the bundle were mushrooms shimmering with blue light; seeing Hearts Eye eating them with such relish, he had tried one. They were indeed good—crispy in texture and sweet and sour in taste.

He picked one up and brought it to Su Su's mouth, whispering:

"Come, try this. It's delicious."

Su Su looked at the mushroom offered to her but didn't take a bite; instead, she kept sweeping her fluffy tail back and forth across Su Mo's face.

"Fine, fine, it's all my fault for letting you develop this habit."

Between laughter and tears, he looked at the fluffy ball before him and helplessly filled a large bowl nearby with white porridge.

Su Su immediately picked up a Blue-light Mushroom in her mouth and trotted over to the white porridge, taking a bite of porridge and then a bite of mushroom, eating quite happily.

The forest at night was very dangerous, so Su Mo didn't dare to wander around. He had seemingly changed the Red Fox's habit of being nocturnal to being diurnal, and Su Su's nature had been changed along with his.

For some reason, of the five Blue-light Mushrooms he brought back, Su Su ate four and refused to eat the last one, simply clutching it in her arms as it emitted a faint blue glow.

Seeing this, Su Mo didn't bother with her; after all, the little one had stayed in the nest all day, and it was good for her to have a toy when she was bored.

When building the nest, he had specifically covered the entire sphere with many leaves, so he didn't have to worry about the blue light leaking out and attracting unnecessary danger.

The moon set and the stars shifted; the night passed quickly.

The forest at night was not quiet; from time to time, the roar of some unknown creature would ring out.

However, when Su Mo's physique was strengthened, his spirit seemed to have been nourished in return; he now only needed a short period of light sleep to maintain his mental state for the day.

Early in the morning, Su Mo got up, left three bowls of porridge for Su Su as usual, and departed from the tree nest.

The morning air was cool and fresh, with morning dew hanging on the leaves, glinting under the sunlight.

Su Mo took a deep breath, summoned a mass of white porridge above his head, and tilted his head back to swallow it. A familiar warmth spread through his body, and all his muscles were awakened at that moment.

With a leap, he landed swiftly and accurately on the next branch; the entire fox turned into a streak of red lightning, traversing the tree canopy.

About half an hour later, he arrived again at the place he had agreed upon with Hearts Eye, but after searching around, he didn't see Hearts Eye anywhere.

Just as he was about to wait a bit longer, a sharp sound of something piercing the air came from the dark woods ahead.

He narrowed his eyes and saw Wits charging over like a blue light shadow, smashing every tree trunk in its path to pieces.

Su Mo was suddenly surprised; yesterday, while lying on its back, he hadn't realized Wits could be so fierce.

The blue light shadow stopped instantly in front of Su Mo, bringing a gust of strong wind that made his fur flutter.

"Yo~"

Hearts Eye panted heavily and nudged him excitedly; Su Mo felt a bit of chest tightness from the nudge and couldn't help but take a step back.

He hurriedly patted the deer's head and shouted:

"Stop, stop! You Big Dummy, do you still want to drink porridge or not?"

Hearing this, Hearts Eye's movements stopped instantly, its large black eyes blinking at him.

"Fine then. Tilt your head back and open your mouth."

Hearts Eye immediately stood up straight, obediently tilting its head back and opening its mouth wide, waiting for the white porridge.

Su Mo didn't hesitate either, summoning white porridge and pouring it vigorously into its mouth.

As the first mouthful of white porridge entered its stomach, Hearts Eye's eyes narrowed happily.

But as the white porridge continued to be poured in, its gaze gradually turned to panic. Its mouth began to open and close, but it didn't dare to shut it completely, seemingly afraid that the porridge would spill onto the ground.

Su Mo stopped summoning the white porridge at the right time, looking at the hiccuping Hearts Eye with amusement.

"Is white porridge really that delicious?"

"Yo... *hiccup*!"

Su Mo shook his head helplessly, jumped onto its back, and patted its neck.

"Let's go. Just a normal speed is fine."

Hearts Eye carried Su Mo slowly into the depths of the forest, the sound of sloshing water constantly coming from its stomach.

Luck was on their side today; after walking deep for half an hour, they found a Blue-ringed Snake coiled around a branch.

Su Mo immediately patted the deer's head and pointed at the Blue-ringed Snake on the tree.

"Wait for me a moment, I'll take care of..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a blue beam of light suddenly shot from Hearts Eye's antlers, severing the Blue-ringed Snake's head along with the branch in the blink of an eye.

Su Mo's hand froze in mid-air as he looked at Hearts Eye beneath him in disbelief.

"I thought you were quite weak, but I didn't expect you to be hiding your strength like this..."

Then his eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly:

"Do you have any parents or siblings at home? How about we all have some porridge and get to know each other?"

Hearts Eye shook its head, indicating that it was the only deer living here.

"That's truly a pity. If there were more deer like you, we could probably steamroll the Outer Reaches of the Forest."

Su Mo sighed, picked up the headless Blue-ringed Snake from the ground, and held it up toward Hearts Eye.

"Do you want to eat this?"

"Yo~"

"Alright."

The snake was devoured in just a few breaths. Energy surged from his abdomen, strengthening his physique; in the blink of an eye, he grew another two centimeters, now standing at 1.5 meters tall.

He opened his Personal Panel to check his level-up progress.

[Host: Su Mo]

[Race: Red Fox]

[Rank: Tier 1 (756/1000)]

[Skill: Infinite White Porridge (Never Expires)]

[Talent: Savage Growth]

"Only three more snakes and I'll reach Tier 2. I wonder when I'll be able to Awakening a skill like Hearts Eye's."

To be honest, he really envied this Big Dummy. If nothing else, this skill alone covered escaping, defense, and attack; Su Mo hadn't seen any weaknesses in it yet.

The fox and the deer wandered aimlessly into the dark depths. Unable to find a Blue-ringed Snake for a while, Su Mo grew bored and simply lay on Hearts Eye's back to chat with it.

"How long have you lived here?"

"Yo~"

"What? You've been here since you were old enough to remember things."

"Then have you never been outside?"

"Yo~"

"Oh, you have, but it was too dangerous out there, so you ran back."

"Then you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, nine massive blue rings suddenly appeared before them...