The Geared Immortal

Chapter 6

The golden rays of the sun seep through the dense forest giving light to the dark and dreary place. A young man wearing a dirty white T-shirt and tattered black pants, which seems to be out of place in the forest, carefully walks around the thick foliage. The holes, dirt, and tear in his once exquisite clothing are evidence of the hardship and experience he has had so far.

"This place is too rich with natural resources. I can't believe no one is harvesting these things. Although they are inferior in quality with my refining skill, hehe. Well, I have to return soon. I just need to find some more metal ore. Hmm… wait a minute… is that a gold vein? Holy crap. It really is a gold vein and it's just sticking outside. This is too awesome!"

Large gold ore in color lay not too far away in front of Shin Jiao. Beside it is a large tree with its leaves turns golden. As the young man neared the area, he didn't notice a pair of eyes watching him from above the large tree.

"This is truly my lucky day. With this, I can even make some complex components. According to my analysis, if there is a vein here then there is a possibility of a cave nearby… Let's gather this gold ore first then find the cave."

He slowly approaches the gold ore without letting his guard down. Luckily he did so as all of a sudden, from above him came a rustling sound, then a largemouth darted towards him. Upon seeing this Shin Jiao somersaulted backward evading the attack.

When he saw what animal made its move, he was flabbergasted. In front of him is the head of a snake, but it's big enough to swallow him whole.

"Holy, crap! That is one big snake. This is not good, I have to escape this area as soon as possible as I might have already intruded its territory." Shin Jiao cursed as he looks at the green and golden patterns in the snake.

The snake quickly lifted its head and shook it, as it felt a little shaken from the impact as it didn't expect that the human can actually dodge its attack. It furiously looks at the human in front of it, it already knows that the young human has no cultivation fluctuation, so it's confident to kill him. The snake suddenly let its long body fall to the ground with a large crash. Its long body blocked the escape path of Shin Jiao.

"Damn this snake! It looks like its instinct is very sharp. I guess I have no choice than to fight it so that I can escape... come at me then!" Shin Jiao gritted his teeth and readied his weapon.

He observes the snake and its movements, then seeing that it didn't have two long fangs then he deduced that it's not a poisonous one. So its movements will be a bit slower than a poisonous one since it's a constrictor snake. But still, he didn't let his guard down.

The beast seems to disdain the human as it impatiently strikes with its jaw wide open. But to its surprise, the human casually dodges sideways and with a simple swing chipped off a part of the snake's scale. This made the giant snake really angry as it glared at the human. Shin Jiao became a little apprehensive because that casual strike that he just made contains almost 50 percent of his strength, but it just chipped off a scale. This shows that the snake's defense is strong.

The snake's eyes became bloodshot and anger can be seen. It scrutinized the young man who looks weak but has the capacity to injure it even though it's just a tiny degree. With a hiss, it coiled itself for a second strike, this time a slight glow emanates from its body as it covers itself with energy.

Shin Jiao felt a bit helpless at this time. Although he has great strength, with the energy on the snake's body its defense became doubled.

"This is bad. This will be a lengthy battle." Shin Jiao thought upon seeing the bluish energy emanating from the snake.

Then with his sharp observation, Shin Jiao noticed something and a sly smile crept on his mouth. With a sneer he readied himself to receive the second attack of the snake. Then with a rustle of the wind, the snake darted and collided with Shin Jiao who is in a defensive stance. The snake hit Shin Jiao's machete but did not receive any damage.

Shin Jiao, on the other hand, flew like a cannonball towards a tree 5 meters away. Then he slid down and slump to the ground sitting while leaning his back on the tree. He spurted a mouthful of blood and felt that his internal organs might have shifted. Then both his hand weakly fell as if his strength was all gone.

The snake sneered as it looks at the puny mortal. It felt elated upon seeing the weak condition of the youth. Then is slowly approached and open its large jaws to finish its prey, then it bites Shin Jiao.

But before it could close its mouth completely a sharp gleam suddenly appears from one of its eyes followed by a hand. Shin Jiao stabbed the snake from inside its mouth upward piercing its brain. Then with its head dead, its body began to spasm and wildly twist. Causing damages to its surroundings, even Shin Jiao was flung around.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

After a few seconds, the snake fell dead. Shun Jiao weakly crawls out of its mouth with lacerations all over his body. Although his physique is already exceptional still the tooth of the snake was able to easily cut them. But thanks to his unique cultivation he was able to survive the ordeal.

With excruciating pain all over his body, he gritted his teeth and pushed himself to stand.

Shin Jiao collected the carcass of the giant snake and the gold ore then dragged himself to the cave once again. Upon entering he barely had enough strength to close the stone door. Shin Jiao felt that almost half of the bones in his body were broken. So he just lay there on the ground, and let his body heal his wound. Although the process is painful it still made Shin Jiao happy.

"Arrgghh… the pain is making me feel a little tinge of pleasure in it. I hope this won't turn me into a masochist." Shin Jiao said to himself as he lay on the ground and continuously absorb the energy in his surroundings.

With an unknown time, the sun was already up in the sky but its yellow rays didn't reach inside the cave. Shin Jiao woke up as an automated response of his body every morning. Then he saw that the wounds in his body are already gone and healed. His skin turns itself back to its original state which is in prime and in pristine condition.

"This is too awesome." He said upon feeling no pain in his body.

Then he slowly stood up and walk towards the water source. Seeing that all his clothes are tattered, Shin Jiao shook his head, he remembers that the clothes he had cost almost 10,000 dollars, even the sneakers are also ruined. So without a choice, he strips himself naked, then he was awed with himself.

"Dang it! Even my little brother turns into a giant snake. Whew…" Seeing the changes in his body, he can't believe it himself.

He quickly took a bath and cleaned himself up, removing the dried blood and the dirt that covers him. Then after a while, he can see himself from the water reflection. His jade white skin and chiseled feature, it's like his body was sculpted perfectly from stone.

"Now that's awesome. Dang it, look at this fine abs. Although my body is not too buff, I can feel that my energy has increased a lot." Shin Jiao exclaimed to himself.

He closed his eyes and saw that the sphere in his dantian is now 5, which made Shin Jiao happy. This also means that whenever he kills a beast that is far stronger than himself a large amount of energy will enter his body. Feeling elated because of his power level, Shin Jiao happily turn around, but then he was startled by a shout.

A woman's shriek suddenly broke out.

"Pervert! Cover that… that… thing!" She shouted.

Although she's lying in bed she can still see Shin Jiao. As if mesmerized by the view in front of her, she was unable to close her eyes. Although she is usually quiet and cold to others since she felt weak and her emotion was unstable she was not able to control her panic.

Shin Jiao immediately turns around and quickly grabs his extra change of clothes on his backpack inside the ring. He always brings an extra change of clothes in his bag in case he will do overtime while working. He didn't realize that while he is doing that, the young woman's gaze was always on him. Although her cheeks are red, she didn't avert her eyes from him.

She was doing this because of mixed feelings but the main reason is that Shin Jiao is a stranger to her. She is afraid that if she lowers her vigilance she would suffer in his hands. It's not something new though as in this world the law of the jungle exists. Power dictates everything, even life.

After a while, Shin Jiao was done putting on his clothes. He was not aware that the young woman didn't evade her eyes from him even though her face is now like a ripe tomato. Then when he turns around, their eyes met which also made Shin Jiao a little surprised.

"Hello! I'm Shin Jiao, I was the one who rescued you outside the cave. I'm sorry I was unable to heal your wounds quickly." Shin Jiao said as he walks towards the bed while drying his hair using a small towel he had from his backpack.

Actually, if he was alone he would not try to dress up, as he can just wear those beast skin he dried as a make-shift robe. But since he found out that the woman is now awake, he needs to be presentable, which is common sense in his previous world.

When he reached the bed he noticed the look on the woman's eyes. It clearly shows fear in them, as if she is looking at someone who is going to kill her anytime now. Upon seeing this Shin Jiao felt worried.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. If I wanted to do something to you, I won't wait for you to wake up to do it wouldn't I, right? I was able to take you here and save you from the remaining Alpha wolf..." Shin Jiao explained.

"So, can you tell me your name?"

The woman felt a bit hesitant but she realized that what Shin Jiao said was true. So she decided to trust him a little. 

"I… My… My name is Cherry… Cherry Lao." She replied softly.

"Umm… Nice name… Wait a minute, why are you so red? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?"

Cherry Lao suddenly felt shy and turn her gaze away.

"No, I'm alright. I felt a little tired." She said in a small voice.

"Okay, you rest up. I'll prepare some food for you so that you can regain your strength as quickly as possible."

Shin Jiao said as he walks towards a make-shift kitchen, then he took some meat out of his ring. After a while, he was able to prepare the ingredients, then using a stone he crafted a pot, a ladle, and some eating utensils.

He knew of the energy inside the beasts, so he decided to absorb a large amount of energy in the meat before cooking it.

While Shin Jiao was cooking Cherry Lao tried her best to at least be able to move her body, but to no avail.

"I guess I'm still too weak. I feel that the energy in my body was totally drained." She sighs with a helpless feeling.

It didn't take long when a sweet aroma of cooked food interrupted her train of thought. Then her gaze turns to the figure of Shin Jiao who is cooking.

"Okay it's done, let's eat." Shin Jiao exclaimed as he fills the small bowl with soup and carries it towards Cherry Lao.

"I know that your body is still weak. Although the external wounds are already almost close, your tendons and muscles are not yet fine. I don't know how to help with that aspect. But at least eat first, here I'll help you." Shin Jiao took a spoon full of soup and slowly feed Cherry Lao.

She opens her pale lips, and slowly took a sip of the broth while lying down. But it made her cough as her position is not favorable for feeding.

"Here let me help you to sit." Shin Jiao offered as he lifted her head along with her body in a reclining position.

The contact between them made her blush as his manly fragrance made her mind turn blank. As he held her body and position himself behind her to act as a cushion, the blanket slid down her body and reveal what she was wearing. Shin Jiao was dumbfounded and realized his mistake.

He didn't fasten the robe on her body and her underwear made of animal skin was exposed. 

When she saw her twin peaks covered by an unknown material with a curious design, her eyes went wide.

"You… you… you rogue! You pervert!" Cherry Lao shouted helplessly as tears started to form in her eyes.