Hey, Help Me!

018

Looking at the ten Red-tailed Rat corpses on the ground, each with ten tails,

excitement flashed in Jiang Fu's eyes.

Then,

with a slight pulse of Spirit Power,

he sent the fruit knife slicing at the base of a Red-tailed Rat's tails.

"Huh?"

The next moment, Jiang Fu froze.

It hadn't cut through.

The tails remained perfectly intact, attached to the Red-tailed Rat.

"Just as I thought, this knife won't do!"

"Good thing I snatched some real battle knives from those guys who were chasing me."

"Otherwise, this would be a real pain."

Jiang Fu summoned the battle knife he had used Multiply by Ten on.

He sliced lightly at the Red-tailed Rat's tails.

As easily as cutting tofu, he sliced off all ten tails.

Then,

he repeated the process, cutting off every tail from the other nine Red-tailed Rats.

A hundred scarlet tails lay in a row,

neatly arranged in front of Jiang Fu.

"I might not be able to sell the equipment in my backpack."

"But these hundred Red-tailed Rat Tails will definitely bring in some money!"

"Two hundred each, so a hundred makes twenty thousand!"

Only then did Jiang Fu breathe a sigh of relief, his whole body relaxing.

The next moment,

a wave of weakness washed over him, bringing hunger and thirst.

Ever since leaving the hospital at noon,

Jiang Fu had been constantly on edge.

He hadn't felt hungry or thirsty at all.

But now,

having finally killed a Red-tailed Rat and obtained a hundred Red-tailed Rat Tails,

his tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.

The hunger he had all but blocked out immediately surged to the surface.

For the past few days,

he had been on nutrient infusions in the hospital.

And with Guo Xiaofeng upsetting him twice,

he'd had virtually no appetite.

It wasn't until noon that he'd managed to force down a few pieces of dry bread.

Jiang Fu hurriedly took an Energy Pill and a bottle of water from his backpack.

"These Energy Pills sure aren't cheap. Nine hundred and ninety-eight each!"

"Hmm... Energy Pill quantity, Multiply by Ten!"

As his words fell,

the single Energy Pill in his hand instantly became ten.

Jiang Fu put the other nine back in his backpack.

Then he opened the Energy Pill's wrapper.

The Energy Pill was about the size of his thumb, like a round chocolate.

Jiang Fu stared at it for a while, but ultimately decided not to multiply its effects by ten.

This tiny Energy Pill could provide a martial artist with enough energy for an entire day.

If he multiplied its effects by ten as well...

Jiang Fu feared the thing might turn straight into a bomb.

He popped the Energy Pill into his mouth.

The flavor of dark chocolate filled his mouth.

It was a little bitter.

Not exactly tasty.

The energy inside didn't flood his body all at once, either.

Instead, it was like eating candy.

It dissolved slowly,

gently replenishing his stamina.

A warm current soon filled Jiang Fu's body.

The hunger in his belly quickly vanished.

Jiang Fu picked up the unopened bottle of water.

He hesitated for a moment. "Multiply by Ten!"

Then,

one bottle of water became ten.

After putting the other nine bottles in his backpack, Jiang Fu unscrewed the cap and gulped down the water.

Before long, the bottle was empty.

Jiang Fu looked at the Energy Pills and mineral water still in his backpack that he hadn't multiplied by ten.

With the candy in his mouth, he muttered, "At least I won't have to worry about food and water."

Then,

Jiang Fu put the hundred Red-tailed Rat Tails into his backpack.

He then burned all the Red-tailed Rat tails on the ground, the water bottle, and the Energy Pill's plastic wrapper.

Only then did he shoulder his backpack.

He headed farther into the valley.

Along the way,

his Spirit Power constantly monitored his surroundings.

The battle knife he had multiplied by ten also skimmed just above the ground beside him,

ready to respond to anything unexpected.

"Aren't Red-tailed Rats supposed to be the most numerous and widespread mutated beasts in the Wilderness?"

"How come I've only found one after all this time...?"

While running here earlier,

Jiang Fu hadn't spotted any Red-tailed Rats on the open plains outside.

He had only found this one after entering the little valley.

"I'll keep looking."

Jiang Fu checked the Multiply by Ten countdown on the screen of light.

Forty minutes had passed since he left the city.

Crouching low, Jiang Fu slowly headed deeper into the valley.

At the same time,

his Spirit Power kept sweeping his surroundings.

Especially underground.

"Found one! A second Red-tailed Rat!"

Suddenly,

Jiang Fu's eyes lit up.

But before he could do anything,

the Red-tailed Rat roughly sixty meters underground

turned into a gray-and-red blur.

In a flash, the rat vanished from the range of Jiang Fu's Spirit Power.

It seemed to be fleeing for its life.

Jiang Fu stared blankly.

"Could there be some powerful mutated beast in this valley?"

Just as Jiang Fu was about to retreat,

a faint whiff of blood suddenly drifted over.

Jiang Fu stopped in his tracks.

Then his eyes lit up again.

"No wonder there haven't been any signs of other mutated beasts in this valley... Could some powerful mutated beasts be fighting in here...?"

Jiang Fu's heart pounded.

He swallowed.

Then he cautiously inched deeper into the valley.

I'll take a look first.

Maybe I can steal a kill... a beast kill, that is. That'd be ideal.

No loss if I can't.

I'll just enjoy the show.

The farther he went, the stronger the smell of blood grew.

Before long,

an enormous corpse entered the range of Jiang Fu's Spirit Power.

It was a giant python over ten meters long.

Its body was nearly as thick as a bucket.

A hole had been torn through its vulnerable spot just below the head, and it was utterly lifeless.

"Holy shit, did I really score a free beast kill?"

Jiang Fu didn't let his guard down.

He continued inching toward the giant python, one step at a time.

But just then,

a faint female voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Hey, help me."

Those few words

nearly made Jiang Fu jump out of his skin.

"Who's there!"

He barked in a low voice.

At the same time, he swept his Spirit Power out in every direction.

"...Walk another ten meters, and you'll see me."

The voice was still weak.

It also sounded a little exasperated.

Jiang Fu let out an "Ah."

He cautiously walked about ten meters forward.

Sure enough,

a figure appeared within the range of his Spirit Power.

It was a very pretty girl.

She wore a black baseball cap.

She was dressed in the same blue-and-white Ninth High School Uniform as Jiang Fu.

At the moment, she was sitting against a large tree,

yawning lazily.

She looked less like someone calling for help and more like someone on an outing.

But both her hands were covered in blood.

It was probably the giant python's blood.

However,

what caught Jiang Fu's attention was...

a Martial Artist Medal hanging from the zipper of her uniform.

She also had a rolled-up document bag stuffed into her trouser pocket.

...A little like him.

She's a psychic master, stronger than me!

And she's wearing a Ninth High School Uniform...

Jiang Fu did not approach immediately.

Instead, he searched his mind for memories of the girl.

Nothing.

The original owner had no memory of her.

"Are you a student at Ninth High School?"

The girl's body stiffened.

When she saw Jiang Fu arrive, she visibly relaxed.

She forced a smile. "Yeah."

Jiang Fu frowned. "Which class are you in? How come I've never seen you?"

In looks, this girl outshone Han Ruobing, the Class Beauty of Fourteenth Class, by a mile.

If Ninth High School had someone like her, even if she kept a low profile,

there was no way she would have gone unnoticed.

Besides, she was a Psychic Master even stronger than he was.

Jiang Fu had to stay on guard.

The girl spoke weakly. "I'm Shi Jiu. I transferred to Ninth High School three days ago. I'm in Senior Three Class Fourteen, Xu Chi's class."

Jiang Fu nodded silently.

Fourteenth Class?

His own class?

Three days ago...

He had still been lying in the hospital.

Well, that made sense.

He asked again, "Did you kill this Black Giant Python?"

The girl's face was full of frustration and disbelief at how badly things had gone wrong.

"Yeah."

"But who could've guessed the python was venomous?"

"How could a python be venomous..."