This was a Totem Beast the rat folk called a "Blade Wolf."
Though it was not too serious a threat to Clan Warriors clad in Totem Armor.
To rat folk who ventured into the mountains to gather Mandala Fruit, however, it was an envoy of hell.
Among the "materials" Meng Chao had provided to the Ancient Dream Saintess, what the young Tree Root encountered in the mountains was precisely a Blade Wolf.
Unexpectedly, the Ancient Dream Saintess had extracted this segment of "material" and displayed it before Meng Chao.
The half of Meng Chao's subconscious that stood above the dream clearly saw countless glittering golden threads spreading out from the Ancient Dream Saintess, winding around the Blade Wolf.
As though manipulating a marionette, she made the Blade Wolf strike all manner of clawing, fanged, hideous poses and unleash soul-chilling howls.
The half of Meng Chao's subconscious within the dream seemed frightened stiff, his face deathly pale and his eyes wide, unable to recover for a long while.
"Tree Root, don't be afraid. Run! Big Sister will lure this beast away!"
Yet the Ancient Dream Saintess in the dream shoved Meng Chao hard, pushing him farther up the slope.
Then she picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and hurled it at the Blade Wolf with all her strength. It struck true, hitting the Blade Wolf squarely between the brows.
Though this blow did not smash the Blade Wolf's brains out.
It did stir the beast's fury.
With a bizarre shriek, the sharp scales and bone spurs along its python-like body stood erect one by one like poisoned daggers, making a rattlesnake-like rustling sound.
Its entire body seemed to swell by a full circle in an instant. Like a starving tiger pouncing on prey, yet also like a slithering python,