Kill Again

"Da Jiang asked me to bring you wolf meat soup."

At noon, Da Bao carried over a food box and handed Chu Danqing a steaming bowl of meat soup.

Chu Danqing was patrolling Back River alone, planning and refining the upcoming bait plan.

The villagers had already begun moving. Using the village chief's grandson's funeral as cover, they had arranged for some of the young and strong men to head upstream and construct a blockade across the river.

This opportunity really was excellent. Not only did it provide a chance to conceal their actions, but it also offered a chance to lure their target in.

Chu Danqing looked at the wolf meat soup. It had no attributes, but it smelled wonderfully fragrant, with large chunks of wolf meat inside.

Clearly, Jiang the Butcher had given him special treatment with this bowl. Da Bao, standing nearby, stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out, swallowing a huge mouthful of saliva.

He was terribly hungry, but obedient.

"You eat it. I'm not hungry. Just tell Da Jiang I finished it." As a modern person, Chu Danqing was not particularly tempted by a bowl of meat soup.

He could give it to Da Bao instead and raise his favorability a little.

Actually, after witnessing Da Bao's formidable combat power, he had wondered whether the Contract Scroll in his possession could be used on a person.

Judging from its description, it could, but Chu Danqing could not get past his own moral hurdle. The words "summoned creature" felt far too wrong when applied to a human being.

If he wanted to, he could deliberately raise Da Bao's favorability. Given Da Bao's mental capacity, using sugar-coated tactics would have an extremely high chance of success.

But that would be unfair to Da Bao and the villagers of Xianghua Village.

Chu Danqing was an ordinary person. He had his bottom line, and there were things he would do and things he would not.

Especially since Dimension Paradise's Trial Mission would certainly be dangerous. Bringing someone with an intellectual disability into such a perilous environment would be far too inhumane.

So in the end, he still could not make up his mind. He chose to stick with the original plan.

"Little Chu, you're so nice." Da Bao only had the mind of a child, so naturally he knew nothing of empty politeness.

He immediately snatched the wolf meat soup and began stuffing it into his mouth. He finished it in three or five bites, his face brimming with satisfaction.

"Da Bao, where does the bad thing usually give birth to its sons? Are its sons born from eggs?" Chu Danqing asked.

When it came to familiarity with the White Dragon Fish, no one surpassed Da Bao.

"It lays eggs, in a little hollow downstream of Back River."

"But you can't go there. The village chief said nobody except me can go over there."

"The bad thing will drag you down and eat you. The last time I went there, I almost got dragged away too," Da Bao said seriously.

From those three sentences, Chu Danqing also indirectly confirmed that the White Dragon Fish's combat ability increased in the water.

"Then how many eggs does it lay at once?" Chu Danqing asked again. He did not expect an answer; he was merely trying his luck.

"I don't know. The village chief said the bad thing only has three sons. Only when one dies will it have another," Da Bao's answer gave Chu Danqing a pleasant surprise.

He estimated the timing. If he was lucky, he really might obtain a White Dragon Fish egg.

Da Bao had killed one White Dragon Fish Offspring, and Jiang the Butcher had hauled its corpse back early that morning.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely be having a fish feast that night.

"The bad thing's son is here." Da Bao's gaze suddenly fell beneath the surface of Back River.

Chu Danqing did not see anything unusual, but Da Bao had sensed it with his sharp perception.

After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves, ready to jump into the river, drag this White Dragon Fish Offspring out, and kill it.

He could not beat the White Dragon Fish in the water, but if he could not beat the father, could he not beat the son?

"You don't need to go into the river. Head into the woods. I'll lure it out and kill it."

"Otherwise, the bad thing might be plotting against you." Chu Danqing was worried that while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole waited behind.

Compared to the White Dragon Fish Offspring, both Da Bao and the village chief had stressed the White Dragon Fish's cunning. Naturally, he had taken it to heart.

Da Bao knew the village chief had told him to listen to Chu Danqing, so he said nothing. He simply nodded and did as Chu Danqing instructed.

Chu Danqing was not trying to make things harder for himself. He was ensuring the safety of their main force.

Running a couple of steps was no big deal.

Sure enough, after Da Bao had moved some distance away, a shadow suddenly surfaced in the river.

Its body was much larger than last night's one, and even its outline was a full size broader. It was entirely a combination of a Giant Salamander, a snake, and a crocodile.

Its neck shot forward, stretching out as it opened a blood-filled maw and bit toward Chu Danqing's left calf.

Chu Danqing reacted even faster. He lifted his left leg and kicked directly at the White Dragon Fish Offspring's nose.

Force was mutual. That kick made him stagger, but it was not without good news. He had kicked the most vulnerable part of the White Dragon Fish Offspring's face—its nose—into a blooming red mess.

The pain stripped away its original momentum. It kept twisting its snake-like neck, trying to ease the agony in its nose.

Seeing this, Chu Danqing decisively retreated, moving out of range of its neck.

He crouched, picked up a stone, and smashed it!

His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, though the damage was not high.

His true purpose was to provoke the White Dragon Fish Offspring further.

The provocation was a complete success. The White Dragon Fish Offspring charged ashore in fury and rushed at Chu Danqing.

He decisively sprang up, turned, and ran toward Da Bao's position in the woods.

The enraged White Dragon Fish Offspring had long since lost its reason. On top of that, its injured nose made it unable to distinguish scents.

Crack.

A burly man leaped down from a large tree in the woods. One foot landed precisely on the White Dragon Fish Offspring's head, while the other came down on its slender neck.

There was only a crisp sound. Its skull shattered, and its neck broke.

It was dead beyond all doubt.

Only then did Chu Danqing turn back and see Da Bao.

He realized that Da Bao was remarkably efficient when it came to grasping the timing of battle and hunting, as well as spotting weaknesses.

This did not seem to be something learned through experience. It was more like an innate instinct.

"Dead." Da Bao gave a simple-minded grin. "That was easy."

"Little Chu is amazing!"

Facing Da Bao's praise, Chu Danqing merely smiled and asked, "Da Bao, why is this one bigger than the one from last night?"

"It's the second child. The biggest is the eldest. It's only a little smaller than the bad thing," Da Bao said.

Chu Danqing immediately thought of how the White Dragon Fish Offspring could suffer losses, so the three offspring's growth progress would certainly differ.

"Can we kill it?" Chu Danqing began to entertain the idea.

Da Bao thought for a moment, then nodded. "We can, but Little Chu can't outrun it. If it sees me, it'll run away."

"That's a bit troublesome." Chu Danqing suddenly smiled. "Then I won't run, and I'll make sure it can't see you."

Chu Danqing knew the White Dragon Fish's advantage was its sense of smell, but sometimes, being too sensitive made it easier to exploit.

"Come on, let's find Jiang the Butcher and buy some meat from him."

"Tonight, we'll do something exciting." With that, Chu Danqing got up and led Da Bao back toward Xianghua Village.

Da Bao did not quite understand why. He hoisted the White Dragon Fish Offspring onto his shoulder and followed Chu Danqing's footsteps.