After eating and drinking his fill, he enjoyed the river breeze for a while, then packed the grill and everything else back into his Qiankun Pouch. He returned to the Guardian Cave Abode and stumbled drunkenly into his room to sleep.
He treated the incident with the foolish, hulking rat at the barbecue as nothing more than a bit of everyday amusement, and soon forgot all about it.
For the next three days, Shen Mo's daily routine remained as disciplined as ever.
He spent the daytime refining pills, from noon through the afternoon making talismans, and in the evenings practicing Thunderbolt Quickstep to improve his proficiency in the Light Body Immortal Art.
When he next had some free time, he took out the last three pounds of Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python neck meat and made another barbecue.
"After this meal, there won't be any left."
As Shen Mo threaded the meat onto bamboo skewers, he sprinkled barbecue marinade over it.
When he had killed the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python in the Zhao Family's Spirit Field, he had used the Separating Fire Talisman.
The Separating Fire Talisman's flames had been so fierce that not a single piece of meat on the python, which weighed several hundred pounds, had survived. Its whole body had been burned to charcoal.
After carefully butchering it for a long while, he had managed to salvage ten pounds of good meat from the charred carcass.
After these few barbecues, that ten pounds of python meat had finally been used up.
"But I still have plenty of barbecue seasoning. Even though the python meat's gone, I can use other meat if I want to make barbecue."
As he turned the python meat, now roasted golden, Shen Mo thought to himself.
The last time he had visited the market, he had settled on the ingredients for his barbecue marinade and bought plenty of them to season with. He had enough to last him through the next year.
Although there was no spirit meat from near-second-tier beasts like the Two-Headed Python stored at the Guardian Cave Abode,
the River-Facing Sect often sent people to deliver food, and most of it was Red-Browed Deer meat.
The Red-Browed Deer was one of the most common low-tier demonic beasts.
Its meat was firm and tender, with a pleasant taste. Most importantly, it yielded a great deal of meat, so people hunted them specifically to sell as food.
Some cultivators even cleared plots of land and raised Red-Browed Deer for meat, just as mortals raised livestock.
But no matter how good the Red-Browed Deer tasted, they were still low-tier demonic beasts. Their flavor and the spiritual energy they contained could hardly compare with the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python.
As he pondered, the barbecue was just about done.
Its fragrant aroma filled the air, making his mouth water.
Shen Mo wrapped the roasted python meat in lotus leaves and set it on the table. He was just about to begin his meal.
Suddenly!
Whoosh! A shadow darted over from far away and scurried up onto the table.
"What's going on?"
Shen Mo stared blankly at the shadow, utterly astonished.
It was none other than the hulking rat that had stolen his barbecue on the banks of the Shiping River three days earlier!
"I've only just started eating, and you smelled it and came running?"
This wasn't just ridiculous—it was off-the-charts ridiculous!
The Guardian Cave Abode at the Mystic Crystal Mine was protected by wards set up by a formation master from the River-Facing Sect.
To enter or leave as usual, one needed a token to verify their identity and unlock the wards.
Without a token to dispel the wards, there was simply no way to enter the cave abode.
The only alternative was to attack the wards with brute force and force the cave abode open.
But if anyone did that, even the slightest change in the wards would alert Shen Mo, Guo Zhao, and the other disciples carrying cave abode tokens at once.
Shen Mo couldn't make heads or tails of it. "How did you get in?"
With so many wards in place, how had this hulking rat strolled in here as if there were no one around?
The rat paid no attention to Shen Mo's scrutinizing gaze.
Its tiny, bean-sized eyes could see nothing but the fragrant python barbecue on the table.
"Eee! Eee! Eee!"
It rose onto its hind legs and squeaked at Shen Mo a few times, seeming to urge him to share some meat.
But Shen Mo did no such thing.
So the rat plucked up its courage and ran over to the barbecue. It tore off a small piece with its teeth and wolfed it down.
It seemed utterly obsessed with the secret barbecue seasoning Shen Mo had brought from Earth.
Its chubby cheeks worked incessantly as it chewed the python meat, and its little eyes curved into crescents.
It seemed to be reaping endless joy from the delicious meat.
Shen Mo let it do as it pleased and didn't stop it.
The main reason was that he was busy opening the Destiny Panel and equipping his special Destiny, [Monster Knower].
This hulking rat doesn't seem like an ordinary Gold-Devouring Rat. I'd better take a look!
As soon as the [Monster Knower] Destiny activated, a screen of information appeared before his eyes.
[Monster Knower: Monster Chronicle] [Silver-Ringed Demon Snake][Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python][Stone Spirit] [Gold-Devouring Rat][Red-Browed Deer][Spirit-Hidden Rat]
"Spirit-Hidden Rat?" Seeing the unfamiliar demonic beast information appear last, Shen Mo raised an eyebrow.
As expected, the hulking rat before him wasn't a common Gold-Devouring Rat!
Let's see what it says!
With a thought, he connected to the Monster Knower Manual and tried to view detailed information on the Spirit-Hidden Rat.
[You are attempting to glimpse the information of a first-tier, high-grade demonic beast, the Spirit-Hidden Rat. This will cost one low-grade Spirit Stone.]
Shen Mo swiftly took out a low-grade Spirit Stone and offered it up.
Whirr!
Golden light flashed. The Monster Knower Manual drained the Spirit Stone of its spiritual energy, and it crumbled into dust.
At the same time, information about the Spirit-Hidden Rat appeared before Shen Mo.
[Demonic Beast: Spirit-Hidden Rat] [Realm: First-Tier Peak.] [Description: Though this beast mingles among Gold-Devouring Rats, it is no ordinary creature. It possesses a trace of the bloodline of an ancient primordial beast and loves to eat meat. Due to the return of its ancestral bloodline, it possesses the supernatural ability (Hide-Self), allowing it to ignore wards and formations. It excels at finding all kinds of treasures.] [Weaknesses: ???]
"This hulking rat actually has a trace of an ancient primordial beast's bloodline, and it can ignore wards and formations!"
"No wonder it got into my Guardian Cave Abode so easily!"
After reading through the information, Shen Mo finally understood what had happened. His gaze at the hulking rat changed as well.
"Eee! Eee!" Seeming to sense Shen Mo's gaze, the Spirit-Hidden Rat paused in the middle of its feast. Its tiny, bean-sized eyes fixed nervously on him, as though it feared he would chase it away.
"Don't worry." A warm smile appeared on Shen Mo's face. "Eat up. It's my treat today."
This was the first time he had encountered a strange beast with a supernatural ability. After thinking it over for a moment, he had an idea. Generously, he gave it all the barbecue.
"If you're still hungry, there's more. It's all yours." He pushed the plate of barbecue toward the Spirit-Hidden Rat and said.
The Spirit-Hidden Rat froze for a moment, then was overjoyed. It dragged all the barbecue in front of itself and happily began munching away again.
Shen Mo stood to one side, watching it wolf down the food, his smile growing broader.
This little rat was pretty interesting!
Before you continue