I...

　　Can you help me up...

　　Samuel Grant handed over another mosaic: "You must keep replenishing!"

　　Sounds like "Dalang, take your medicine..."

　　Big Charles was shivering, unable to speak: "Here!"

　　As long as it doesn't kill me, I'll eat until it does...

　　Big Charles felt dizzy and feverish, his throat, stomach, intestines, and rear all in pain—except he no longer felt hungry. Is this what they call drinking poison to quench thirst? No, it doesn't quench anything! Now he was sweating cold and hot, having diarrhea, severely dehydrated, desperately wanting water...

　　In a daze, Big Charles seemed to return to half a year ago when he first transmigrated. Back then, eating a bit of brown rice or getting bitten by a bug would mean chills and diarrhea. Too poor to see a doctor, he’d just set up a clay stove to boil a bowl of hot water, and by drinking more hot water, he got to know Scott Bolton and a few other friends who also had diarrhea. Now, he just wanted a bowl of hot water...

　　Water! All he wanted was water...

　　Big Charles was completely delirious, the world spinning into darkness, unable to feel any pain, but he seemed to hear the sound of dripping water.

　　Water??

　　Suddenly, a powerful suction seemed to rush toward him. Big Charles felt himself turn into a gust of wind, drawn toward the sound. Just then, a rooster crowed!

　　Big Charles instantly regained a sliver of clarity, sensing firelight behind him, but darkness and confusion ahead. Was this a dream? Was he floating in midair?

　　The sound of water came again. Big Charles could no longer resist, plunging headlong into the darkness as if falling into an abyss! He heard it—the roar of water in the darkness!

　　No, he saw it—there was light! A pillar of light!

　　Then a long, dark shadow burst from the water, rushing straight at him!

　　Big Charles was stunned! What on earth was this?

　　At that moment, the rooster crowed again! Like a rooster announcing the dawn, parting the clouds to reveal the sun, Big Charles saw light above his head!

　　Big Charles snapped awake and suddenly saw clearly: this was an underground pool with a pillar of light, and the dark shadow was clearly a...

　　Run!

　　Big Charles turned into a gust of wind, soaring upward, the dark shadow chasing after him, snapping at his feet—pain!!??

　　In panic, Big Charles abruptly opened his eyes. The excruciating pain from the poisoning still wracked his body, and the roar of oil and fire explosions thundered in his ears!

　　Awake? Was it a dream...

　　—System prompt: Congratulations! In a near-death state, you have broken through the threshold of life and death, gained initial insight into the immortal art "Out-of-Body Spirit" and successfully returned, receiving significant spiritual tempering.

　　Big Charles was shocked. It wasn't a dream! But it was hard to believe—how could a mere mortal like him, with no foundation, have brushed up against immortal arts?

　　Samuel Grant asked, "What did you see?"

　　Big Charles's throat was hoarse, his words incoherent: "...underground pool... a long, strange shadow! Rooster crowing, seemed like I was bitten by the shadow..."

　　Samuel Grant said, "I see! Fortunately, the rooster pulled you back in time."

　　Big Charles was surprised: "The rooster pulled me back?"

　　Samuel Grant said, "Yes, chickens, dogs, and other domestic animals can see things ordinary people can't. This is no longer something we can handle at our level. Wait here."

　　Big Charles was startled: "Wait?"

　　Just then, a sharp, piercing flute sounded from deep in the cave, and at the same time, the rooster raised its head and crowed in that direction.

　　Samuel Grant said, "The real one is here. She knows much more! I don't need to show myself anymore—I'll lighten your burden."

　　With that, he packed up the copper kettle and stove, his whole body blurring into green smoke, once again turning into the talisman of a martial general circling Big Charles. Big Charles instantly felt a huge weight lifted, his body much lighter.

　　So that's how it is!

　　He must have encountered the real hidden boss, something far beyond the scope of a normal trial, so the mission changed and a powerful NPC intervened personally! No, maybe he wouldn't have died at all—if things went wrong, she would have come to save him?

　　Relieved and delighted, Big Charles began to check the spot on his foot where the shadow bit him in the dream—no wound! But he immediately noticed his pants below were a sticky, filthy mess. Crap! He was about to meet Miss Samuel Grant herself—how embarrassing! Looking at the pile of stalactite ash by the fire trench, Big Charles mustered all his strength to wipe himself, smearing his pants with grayish-yellow sludge in the process...

　　The flute grew closer, and the entire cave's swarm of insects scattered as if fleeing from a demonic sound.

　　So this is the power of a high-level witch master? Impressive!

　　Then, Samantha Grant, dressed in green and veiled with a silk scarf, appeared before Big Charles.

　　Big Charles, excited, forced himself to bow, but couldn't speak!

　　Samantha Grant tossed a gourd across the sea of fire: "Drink some antidote first, then we'll go underground to find that poisonous flood dragon."

　　That was a poisonous flood dragon? No time to think, Big Charles hugged the gourd and gulped it down. A cool minty fragrance spread through his body, and then—bang, bang—a few loud farts, and he felt completely refreshed.

　　He was alive! Big Charles was moved to tears: "I... I was reckless, thank you, Miss Samuel Grant, for saving my life."

　　"Can you walk?"

　　Absolutely! Like a baby seeing its mother, Big Charles summoned all his strength, grabbed the rooster, and leapt through the sea of fire, dashing straight to Samantha Grant. Luckily, his pants had just been soaked with "sludge," so they only dried out instead of catching fire—perfect!

　　Samantha Grant sighed, "Hungry? If you had killed and eaten the rooster, I wouldn't have come to save you. Do you know why?"

　　As she spoke, she took the rooster and set it on the ground. The rooster began pecking its way forward.