I Can Record Wonders

Chapter 32: Clues Revealed, the Cave Spirit Toad

The two senior brothers did not stay for long and hurriedly left.

However, Fu Ning did not rush to leave.

He looked at the valley filled with red mist and muttered to himself, "Could the theft of the medicinal garden and the disappearance of the Blood Moss here be the work of the same person?"

Fu Ning furrowed his brows and immediately dismissed this idea.

Senior Brother Hei Yu wouldn't come all the way to the Red Mist Valley just to steal medicinal materials.

Wait a minute!

The words spoken by the short senior brother suddenly came to his mind.

"Like licking a dog."

A flash of insight appeared in Fu Ning's eyes.

Why must it be Senior Brother Hei Yu who did it?

He was just greedy, but that doesn't mean he would steal medicine!

Moreover, Zheng Datong had previously said that the patrol team failed to catch the culprit.

So, is it possible that the culprit is not human?

Thinking of this, Fu Ning suddenly felt a sense of clarity.

He quickly arrived at a pile of rocks and soon discovered traces where the Blood Moss had once grown.

At this moment, there was only a white mark left on the stone, and the Blood Moss was nowhere to be found.

Just as the short senior brother said, it was incredibly smooth, as if it had been licked by a dog.

"This mark was definitely not left by a spade!"

A gleam of light burst out in Fu Ning's eyes, and he immediately crouched down, quickly scanning the ground.

Because it was by the river, the ground was always damp.

When the other party took away the Blood Moss, they would definitely leave traces no matter what.

But apart from his own footprints, there were no other footprints around.

This perfectly confirmed his speculation.

The culprit was very likely not human!

Soon, Fu Ning turned over the stones and finally found a faint brown mark in a gap.

It was three intersecting vertical marks.

Each mark was only the length of a human finger joint.

His gaze froze, and his entire heart seemed to tighten.

Could this be the owner of this footprint?

After a moment of hesitation, Fu Ning continued to move towards the depths of the mist.

Soon, he found several places where the Blood Moss had been stolen along the sides of the stream, and near each white mark, there were similar three-toed footprints.

Furthermore, each footprint was the same size, indicating that they came from the same creature.

He searched along the way.

Croak~ Croak~

A deep frog croak sounded.

It was like the morning bell in a temple, struck by a monk.

Suddenly, an answer burst forth in Fu Ning's mind.

Frog or toad!!

"That must be the footprint of a frog!"

"It must be the footprint of a frog!"

It was them!

Fu Ning's feet moved, and his figure followed.

Croak~ Croak~

Swoosh~

The croaking of frogs and the sound of water intertwined.

Gradually, the sound of water grew louder, even starting to drown out the croaking of the frogs.

At this moment, Fu Ning finally raised his head to look.

He saw a waterfall hanging in front of the towering mountain, like water from the heavens pouring down to the mortal realm.

Rumble~

The enormous waves created by the water smashed into the mountain, creating a deep pool in front of it.

The sound echoed in the valley, and the surging mist resembled a sea of clouds.

Fu Ning seemed to be stunned, standing still in a daze.

By the time he snapped out of it, he had completely lost track of the other party.

"Damn it!"

That fleeing frog was very likely the mastermind behind the theft of the medicinal garden.

It can quietly steal so many medicinal materials under the eyes of the patrol team, indicating that it has some means to avoid others' attention.

"If we can find it, can we find the stolen medicinal materials from those medicine gardens?"

"But why would it steal medicine?"

At this moment, Fu Ning suddenly recalled the frog croaking he had heard earlier.

There was a low tone, as if it carried a suppressed weakness.

"It might be injured!"

Thinking back to the theft at Heavenly Medicine Garden yesterday and the blood moss in front of him, Fu Ning suddenly remembered a passage in "Comprehensive Guide to Alchemy":

Blood Moss: belongs to water and fire, rooted in water, manifested by fire, used as a medicinal catalyst, can transform fire toxins.

"Did it get infected with fire toxins? That's why it couldn't wait to eat so much blood moss!"

"Fire toxins!"

Fu Ning's gaze instantly fixed on the water pool in front of him.

The water in the pool came from the mountaintop and carried a cold aura.

It was a good place to suppress fire toxins.

"Could it be hiding underneath?"

The more Fu Ning thought about it, the more possible it seemed. After a slight hesitation, he untied his medicine basket, took off his outer clothes, took a deep breath, and jumped directly into the water pool.

The coolness of the water instantly enveloped his whole body.

But now Fu Ning's Origin Qi had been replenished, although his foundation was still damaged, at least his body would no longer be as weak as before.

Entering the water, Fu Ning hadn't stabilized his body yet, and he suddenly dropped down.

"It's so deep!"

This water pool was much deeper than it appeared from the outside.

Fu Ning calmed his mind and didn't panic at all.

In the next moment, a phantom appeared on his body, vaguely resembling a Cloud Spirit Turtle.

This was the possession of Origin Spirit, the most basic ability of a Scenic Scholar.

It could attach Origin Qi to the body and manifest a corresponding phantom of the Origin Spirit.

After transforming into the 'Cloud Spirit Turtle', it gained the ability to 'hold its breath'.

With the possession of Origin Spirit, Fu Ning could also gain the same ability.

As long as he took a deep breath, he could stay underwater for two quarters of an hour.

Two quarters of an hour was enough to do many things, such as discovering a cave in the depths of the water pool.

The cave was large, with traces of artificial excavation around it.

Although it was underwater, the cave ceiling was embedded with night pearls, so the inside was illuminated with a faint white light.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, one could see a flickering flame at the farthest end.

Without any surprises, that should be the missing thief!

A toad.

Fu Ning had never seen such a skinny toad before.

Its shriveled body, wide-open mouth, and bulging eyes made it look like a dried sculpture.

But on the back of this sculpture were numerous bumps, each emitting a red flame.

The light flickered, as if they were about to burst like pimples.

Wow, I've heard of traveling frogs.

But I've never heard of scavenging toads.

At this moment, it squatted on the ground, raising its head, its mouth wide open, as if swallowing moonlight.

But the red flames flickered all over its body, and there was even a faint lotus phantom.

The lotus phantom rotated slightly, and each rotation made its petals brighter, while the toad's vitality weakened.

"It really is fire toxins!"

Fu Ning immediately recognized that this was the manifestation of fire toxins overflowing from its body.

It seemed that both the blood moss and the stolen medicinal materials from the medicine garden were probably for the purpose of resolving the fire toxins in its body.

Gurgle~

It also sensed Fu Ning's arrival.

Its eyes blinked, showing a few traces of fear, a few traces of pleading, and a few traces of unwillingness.

But unfortunately, at this moment, the fire toxins in its body erupted, and its body couldn't move at all.

With a crackle~

The flames flickered, and the toad visibly withered at a rapid speed.

Fu Ning raised an eyebrow and said, "Fire toxins, this is truly a scorching and hot poison."

He remembered a record in the "Comprehensive Guide to Alchemy": Fire toxins, scorching and hot, can only be resolved by extremely yin and cold substances.

"Extremely yin and cold?"

"It seems like I have that..."

(End of this chapter)