Sub-adult Wood Swallowing Rats

About ten minutes passed, yet outside the cave, everything remained deathly silent. Even the sound of the wind had vanished.

Only then did Jiang Donghua dare pull the crumpled academy map from his robes and study it carefully by the faint light at the entrance.

"Damn it!"

He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, repeatedly tracing the map with his finger.

"We're clearly still within the safe zone. We haven't even touched the edge of the red circle!"

Liu Mingyu leaned closer, his face whiter than paper.

"Could this map have been drawn ten years ago? A Tier 3 Demonic Beast appeared, and this is still called a safe zone?"

"That thing can rival a human Da Dou Shi!"

Liu Yuting hugged her knees in the corner, her voice trembling.

"The way that Demonic Eagle swallowed the Yellow Earth Python just now—it was far too easy."

"Easy as eating a snack."

Jiang Donghua took over with a dark expression and hurled the map to the ground.

"And to it, the three of us probably aren't even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth. At best, we're three maggots!"

The cave fell into dead silence for a moment, filled only with the three of them breathing heavily.

Liu Mingyu picked up the map and checked it again unwillingly.

"Logically, the academy updates its maps every year. There's no reason—"

Just as the three of them packed up and prepared to leave, a rustling sound suddenly came from deep within the cave.

Jiang Donghua reacted swiftly. With a sharp ring, he drew his longsword, and crimson Battle Qi instantly flowed across the blade, bathing the dim cave in red light.

"Careful!"

He shouted lowly, holding his sword across Liu Yuting's front.

Liu Mingyu immediately dropped to one knee and pressed both hands against the ground. Earth-yellow Battle Qi seeped from his palms into the rock.

A moment later, he scratched his head in confusion and looked up somewhat sheepishly.

"Uh... they seem to be a group of Demonic Beasts that aren't even Dou Zhe level!"

"You sure?"

Jiang Donghua narrowed his eyes, his sword tip still aimed at the darkness deep within the cave.

"In a place like this?"

"Their auras are weak. There are quite a few of them, but they're all little ones."

Liu Mingyu sensed again more carefully.

Jiang Donghua snorted.

"I'll take a look."

Before he finished speaking, pale cyan cloud patterns appeared beneath his feet, and he shot into the depths of the cave like an arrow released from a bow.

"Brother Donghua!"

Liu Yuting cried anxiously, but Jiang Donghua had already vanished into the darkness. She turned and glared at Liu Mingyu.

"Brother! Why didn't you stop him?"

Liu Mingyu spread his hands helplessly.

"You know what his temper's like."

Just then, Jiang Donghua's exaggerated laughter suddenly rang out from deep inside the cave.

"Hahaha! Come look!"

The siblings exchanged glances and cautiously followed the sound.

After turning a bend, the sight before them left them unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Jiang Donghua was crouching on a protruding rock, his longsword stuck beside him. In his hand, he held a grayish-brown little beast struggling desperately.

The little thing was about a foot long, with a round body and short limbs kicking wildly in the air. Its two large incisors were especially conspicuous.

"Wood Swallowing Rats—and a whole nest of sub-adults!"

Liu Yuting exclaimed.

Within the cracks in the rock wall, more than a dozen pairs of mung bean-sized eyes were staring at them in terror.

A few bolder young rats were still gnawing at the moss on the cave walls, making crunching sounds.

Jiang Donghua pinched the struggling little beast in his hand, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait! Isn't this exactly the academy's assessment target for this month?"

He turned toward the siblings, a smile curling across his lips.

Liu Mingyu froze for a moment before suddenly understanding.

"That's right! These count as Demonic Beasts too. Wood Swallowing Rats are valid assessment targets!"

Liu Yuting crouched down and carefully examined the little creatures poking their heads out from the rock crevices.

"Adult Wood Swallowing Rats can reach the strength of One-star or Two-star Dou Zhes, but these sub-adults..."

A wisp of Water Attribute Battle Qi gathered at her fingertip as she gently probed them.

"As expected, they're only around the fourth or fifth stage of Dou Qi."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

With a sharp ring, Jiang Donghua sheathed his longsword and drew a short blade from his waist instead.

"With this kind of trash, killing them one by one is too slow."

Liu Mingyu also smiled in relief.

"At least it was a false alarm."

He clasped his hands together, Earth-yellow Battle Qi flowing between his palms.

"They like chewing on tree roots and Wood attribute materials. The moss on these cave walls happens to be their food source."

Jiang Donghua was already moving, darting through the cave like a ghost.

Those little Wood Swallowing Rats had no time to react. With each flash of cold light, they fell one after another.

A few adults occasionally tried to fight back, but before a Two-star Dou Zhe, they only lasted a few breaths longer.

"Seventeen, eighteen..."

Liu Yuting followed behind, counting them as she placed the slain Wood Swallowing Rats into her Storage Ring.

"This month's assessment can finally be handed in."

"That went much more smoothly than expected."

Liu Mingyu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the wood chips and gnaw marks scattered across the ground.

"If these little fellows were left alone, they could really chew down this entire cave within three years."

Jiang Donghua put away his smile and looked over the results with satisfaction.

"If we'd known, we should've come straight here. It would've saved us from running into those deadly big ones."

The three exchanged smiles. After the terror of the Yellow Earth Python and Azure Wing Demonic Eagle, these weak Wood Swallowing Rats were practically gifts delivered to their door.

"Let's go. It's still early. We should hurry back to the academy and turn in the mission."

Liu Mingyu brushed the wood chips from his clothes.

Jiang Donghua laughed and headed toward the cave entrance first.

"Fine, I'll listen to you. At least this trip ended without disaster, and the mission's complete."

Jiang Donghua shook the blood from his sword, then crouched down and split open the heads of the Wood Swallowing Rats one by one.

After searching the last one, his expression gradually darkened.

"Damn strange. More than a dozen of them, and not a single magic core!"

He spat.

Liu Mingyu frowned.

"Looks like we used up all our luck escaping the Azure Wing Demonic Eagle. Still, the corpses can be exchanged for some gold coins. It's better than getting nothing at all—"

He patted his Storage Ring.

Before he could finish, a dense, fishy stench suddenly surged in from the direction of the cave entrance.

The smell was like rotting wood mixed with animal droppings, making all three immediately cover their noses and mouths.

"No way!"

Liu Yuting's ice crystal pendant suddenly flashed violently.

At the cave entrance, two enormous shadows were slowly approaching.

By the light, the three finally saw what had come.

They were two giant Wood Swallowing Rats, each as tall as half a person. Every strand of their grayish-brown fur stood on end, their blood-red eyes filled with hatred, and their sharp incisors gleamed coldly. Their front claws gouged deep furrows into the ground.

"Perfect. These are the parents of those little brats."

Jiang Donghua slowly drew his longsword.

One of the giant rats suddenly rose onto its hind legs, its nose twitching frantically.

When it caught the bloody scent clinging to the three of them, it immediately let out a shrill screech.

The other responded at once. Two One-star Dou Zhe-level Demonic Beasts lunged simultaneously!

"Screeeech—!!!"

Amid the piercing cries, the two adult Wood Swallowing Rats turned into gray blurs and pounced.

They were several times faster than the young rats. Their thick tails swept across the rock walls, sending shattered stones flying.

"Blazing Palm!"

Jiang Donghua roared as Fire-attribute Battle Qi erupted instantly.

His sword swept out, while a Blazing Palm struck toward the giant rat on the left.

Yet the beast was exceptionally agile. It twisted in midair and avoided the vital strike, with only a tuft of fur scorched away.

The giant rat on the right charged straight at Liu Yuting.

The girl hastily raised a Water Attribute Battle Qi shield, but those incisors bit a crack into it with a sharp crunch.

Liu Mingyu arrived in time, condensing Earth-yellow Battle Qi into a stone fist and slamming it heavily into the giant rat's waist and abdomen.

Bang!

With a dull thud, the giant rat was knocked back several steps. Yet it quickly steadied itself. Blood seeped from the corner of its mouth, but the ferocity in its eyes only intensified.