"Have you ever seen a wolf stretched out to two meters long, looking somewhat human, with long sideburns and red fur?"
At this moment, the Lion King nodded.
"I have seen it before. That creature can fly—though I don't know why, sometimes things like that just happen here. Some of the beings in this place can fly. We originally wanted to ambush and kill him."
I stared in astonishment, eyes wide.
"Why not try to—"
But then I realized something. The Lion King raised his paw.
"After becoming animals, there are many things we simply can't do. And no one wants to be eaten. We once tried negotiating with a herd of pigs, asking them to bear piglets for us to feed on, in exchange for our protection. But they refused. In the end, we had no choice but to eat them. When the hunger becomes unbearable, I definitely don't want to fall into the Hungry Ghost Realm."
I blinked, surprised, looking at the Lion King. He continued speaking.
"If you go too long without eating, if the hunger gets too intense, in less than a month you'll drop into the Hungry Ghost Realm. Once you end up there, you can forget about reincarnation for this lifetime. I heard it's even worse than here."
The lion pride scattered, continuing to gnaw on the goats. Some lions could only grip the goats in their mouths, looking for a place to put them. I watched as the slaughtered flock still emitted Ghost Aura, but what was different now was that deathly energy had begun to appear among them. The corpses didn’t disappear, remaining in the form of sheep.
"Where did that wolf go?"
I asked, and the Lion King pointed the way. I immediately took off, flying through the air as the pride stared in astonishment.
It was a vast wilderness stretching endlessly. I could sense different streams of Ghost Aura rising from the ground, all quite dense. But I was pondering something: many of the animal and insect ghosts here had green Ghost Aura, reaching the standard of Green Wraiths, yet even the basics of combat depended solely on their animal forms. What a strange world.
In this ecosystem, where failing to eat means falling into the Hungry Ghost Realm, establishing order is truly difficult. But I suddenly stopped. I was far from the pride now, and realized I'd forgotten to ask about the Beast Lord.
But right now, my priority was to find John Chou. I resumed flying, my vision clear—after all, I'm a ghost, and in this pitch-black environment, I can see better than in daylight.
Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of red.
"John Chou!"
I shouted. The red figure running across the plain stopped, and I hurriedly flew down.
"What are you doing, running so fast? Where are you going?"
The moment I landed, I sensed something was off. The figure before me was a long-haired gorilla, its fur blazing red.
"Sorry, wrong person."
The red-haired orangutan licked its lips.
"Big fat cat, you look pretty tasty."
"What are you trying to do?"
Suddenly, the red-haired orangutan lunged at me, flying through the air with incredible speed. It pinned my arms down, pressing me to the ground, drool dripping everywhere.
"Damn it, what do you think you're doing?"
As the orangutan bit down, my green Ghost Aura burst out instantly. The red-haired orangutan was knocked back by my aura. I got up and flew at him, grabbed that tuft of red hair on his forehead, and punched him hard several times.
With a crack, the orangutan whimpered. I quickly let go, and he clutched his mouth—one of his teeth had been broken by my punch. He looked at me with a wounded, resentful expression.
"Buddy, was that really necessary? You broke my tooth! Don't you know, once it's gone, it won't grow back."
I let out an 'ah' as the orangutan held his mouth. I noticed the cheek where I'd hit him was swelling up, and he howled in pain.
"You were about to eat me. It's lucky I didn't kill you."
The red-haired orangutan immediately scooted closer.
"Ah, a good fight makes friends! Brother, where are you from? How can you fly so high, and your Ghost Aura is so strong?"
"I just got here."
I replied, and the red-haired orangutan said with a smile in his eyes.
"My name's Sam Hersh. What about you, brother?"
"Qingyuan."
Sam Hersh immediately burst out laughing.
"Brother, this place is tough. There are lots of wolf packs, tiger packs, lion prides, and plenty of bears too. There are even some leopard groups. The animals on the grasslands are almost all eaten up. I used to see rabbits and field mice here, but now they're all gone. I've been eating grass roots for months."
"I don't have time for your nonsense. I'm leaving."
Sam Hersh immediately grabbed my arm.
"Don't go, Qingyuan, brother! You're so strong, and you don't know this place well. Let me be your guide."
"Alright."
I thought about it—since I couldn't find John Chou for now, I had no choice but to let Sam Hersh be my guide.
"Where are you headed, Qingyuan?"
I looked around in all directions.
"To a town. There should be animal towns here, right?"
I asked, and Sam Hersh nodded.
"There are, but they don't want any useless types. They're not friendly to us. I used to dream about going to the city to see if I could do something, but they kicked me out right away. It's all because I'm dumb and clumsy, can't do anything right."
As he spoke, Sam Hersh raised his hand. I blinked, glanced at my own bear paw, and realized gripping things was indeed difficult.
Then Sam Hersh told me that the animals who managed to build towns were those who tried hard to recover some human abilities—farming, even fine work like threading needles. Those who couldn't do anything weren't accepted by the towns. Everyone wants to go there, since you don't have to worry about food, but many animals can't even stand up, let alone farm or sew.
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading the rest!)
"What did you do before? How did you end up as an orangutan?"
Sam Hersh sighed.
"You don't know, Qingyuan. I used to be a street performer, training orangutans, monkeys, dogs, and other animals to do tricks, traveling around to make a living. But I treated the animals terribly—beat them, never fed them properly. Who could've guessed? When I died, I was dragged straight to Frying Hell. The pain of being fried alive... and then I was sent to Animal Hell, tortured by those animals for years before ending up in the Animal Realm. Hundreds of years have passed in a blink. If I'd known, I would've treated those animals better."
Now I was starting to understand what the Animal Realm was about. Those who sinned and were punished in Hell for mistreating animals in life end up here, becoming insects, fish, birds, or beasts, waiting to be reincarnated as animals.
I floated beside Sam Hersh, matching his pace as he ran. I noticed the sky was turning gray.
"It's almost dawn. Should we rest a bit? I'm getting hungry."
I stopped. Sam Hersh rummaged in the grass, then grabbed some bugs. The insects immediately began to wail, begging for mercy.
"I can't help it. You guys can survive on grass and dirt, but with a body this size, I need real food. It's been more than ten days since I had a proper meal. If I get any hungrier, I'll fall into the Hungry Ghost Realm. You must've done worse things than me in your past lives, that's why you're insects now. You've lived long enough—just let me eat you."
With that, Sam Hersh stuffed some bugs into his mouth and started chewing. I noticed a lot of Ghost Aura moving off into the distance.
"These guys are clever—it's hard to catch bugs. I'm starving to death."
Sam Hersh lay down on the ground.
"Can't you survive just by eating grass?"
Sam Hersh laughed.
"I can, but this hunger is unbearable. If it gets any worse, I'll fall into the Hungry Ghost Realm."
"There should be food around here, right? Will you die if you don't eat meat?"
Sam Hersh laughed and shook his head, then started tossing up some grass roots. He found some tender roots and chewed them, offering me some. I shook my head.
"You'd better eat something. Most of the animals here have already been eaten. I can't beat the fierce beasts. I used to have a monkey companion, but a few days ago the leopards caught him and tore him apart."
I swallowed. Sam Hersh seemed satisfied, and soon he ate a large chunk of sod, then lay on the ground, patting his belly.
"It's tough... I feel like eating rice, even fruit, but as long as I get a chance to reincarnate, it'll be fine. I hear the Living World is pretty good now—no more wars. If I reincarnate as a red-haired orangutan, maybe I'll end up in a zoo, and then I won't have to worry about food or drink."
I smiled bitterly. I never imagined my goal would be a zoo.
"But brother, you look chubby—I'm sure you'd be popular in a zoo. I have a good eye for these things."
"Let's go."
I said, and Sam Hersh got up and continued to lead the way. He sniffed the air as he walked, then ran quickly. I followed him, and we hadn't seen any animals for a long time—just lots of insects, and occasionally a bird flying past.
"It's a river! Awesome! Qingyuan, hurry and see if there are any fish."
With that, Sam Hersh ran over. I followed and saw a clear, clean stream. Sam Hersh jumped in and started reaching for the small fish.
"Why is life so hard? A bunch of bears came to catch fish earlier and ate my parents, and now there's an orangutan."
I saw the little fish in the river start crying, while Sam Hersh kept scooping them up.
"Just be good and go into my belly."