"Coo, coo, coo..."
"Crash!!!"
But an even louder disturbance suddenly came from inside the Old Canteen.
Lin Yun Er jumped in fright. She instinctively turned around to look, but everything was still blurry.
"Why is there a light?"
Lin Yun Er froze.
Behind the hazy glass, a speck of red light had suddenly appeared, growing larger and larger.
Lin Yun Er instinctively prepared to step forward and inspect it.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Separated by a pane of glass, Lin Yun Er stood on the right in the dim evening light, while a huge shadow writhed in the darkness on the left. The bloody-red giant eye on its head was particularly conspicuous.
"Coo, coo, coo..."
Watching Lin Yun Er approach, the Giant-eyed Starry Rat could not help letting out an excited growl.
It slowly opened its enormous, blood-filled maw, rows of fangs lined with all kinds of sticky filth.
Just as Lin Yun Er was about to approach the glass, a large hand pulled her back.
"Ah!"
Lin Yun Er cried out as her body fell against an arm.
"Dummy, you really are curious. Aren't you afraid of dying?"
An annoyed voice sounded beside her ear.
Lin Yun Er instinctively looked up and saw a familiar handsome face. She said in surprise, "Hey, you... you're Xin Xia's boyfriend."
"Watch carefully."
Qin Yuan said something Lin Yun Er could not understand.
Then, under Lin Yun Er's shocked gaze—
Qin Yuan picked up a stone and hurled it fiercely at that red light behind the blurry glass.
"Crack!"
The stone shattered the glass and struck its target with precision.
"Coo, coo, coo!"
A strange cry suddenly rang out from the dim Old Canteen. It sounded like a rat, yet also like some kind of ferocious beast.
"This..."
Lin Yun Er watched in shock as the "red dot" inside moved. It was slowly getting smaller.
"Step back."
Qin Yuan grabbed Lin Yun Er and pulled her behind him protectively.
Several seconds passed in silence.
"Coo, coo, coo!"
Accompanied by a series of strange cries, a huge grayish-white rat with a grotesque appearance and only one red eye darted out of the darkness.
Qin Yuan reacted quickly, pulling Lin Yun Er aside.
"Ah???"
The moment Lin Yun Er saw the Giant-eyed Starry Rat, her little face went deathly pale with fear.
That "red light" had actually been the Giant-eyed Starry Rat!
She had been so close to it just now. If Qin Yuan had not pulled her back in time, then she...
Lin Yun Er trembled all over in fear and instinctively pressed herself against Qin Yuan's back, staring in panic at the snarling Giant-eyed Starry Rat ahead.
"Extreme Cold—Ice Vine—Cover!"
Qin Yuan cast an indifferent glance at the Giant-eyed Starry Rat and directly unleashed a Level Three Ice Vine.
Ice-blue frost descended, and before the Giant-eyed Starry Rat could react, Qin Yuan froze it into an ice sculpture.
With the Extreme Cold Spirit Seed enhancing the frost, breaking free was as difficult as ascending to heaven for the Giant-eyed Starry Rat.
Unfortunately, Beginner Ice Vine had no killing power. If it had been a Level Three Lightning Seal or Fire Seed instead, the Giant-eyed Starry Rat would already have been dead.
"Contact the City Demon Hunting Squad."
Qin Yuan said.
"Ah... okay."
Lin Yun Er was still in a state of terror and confusion.
From the Giant-eyed Starry Rat suddenly bursting out to Qin Yuan freezing it into an ice sculpture, everything had happened too quickly. Not even a minute had passed.
The Giant-eyed Starry Rat had been subdued by Qin Yuan just like that.
Gradually, some of the panic faded from Lin Yun Er's face.
"Could the hole be inside?"
Qin Yuan looked at the Old Canteen. After thinking for a moment, he still decided to go inside and take a look.
It was unlikely, but they had to be prepared just in case.
"Hey, where are you going?" Lin Yun Er instinctively gripped Qin Yuan's arm tightly and asked nervously.
Although the Giant-eyed Starry Rat had been frozen, she still did not dare stay here alone while waiting for the City Demon Hunting Squad.
Qin Yuan was her support.
"Obviously, I'm going in to see if there are any more rats." Qin Yuan replied casually.
He wanted to leave, but Lin Yun Er held on tightly and would not let go at all.
"I..." Lin Yun Er looked at Qin Yuan cautiously and said weakly, "I'm scared."
"..."
Qin Yuan fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'll stay here with you and wait for the City Demon Hunting Squad."
As he spoke, he tried to pull his arm free, but Lin Yun Er still refused to let go.
Qin Yuan: "..."
Miss, let go. I really don't want to take advantage of you.
He could have forcibly broken free, but he might accidentally hurt Lin Yun Er.
Left with no choice, Qin Yuan could only let her hold onto him as they quietly waited for the City Demon Hunting Squad to arrive.
Seeing this, Lin Yun Er immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason she had clung so tightly to Qin Yuan was that she was genuinely afraid.
The Giant-eyed Starry Rat had suddenly appeared, and Qin Yuan had saved her, so she had instinctively taken him as someone to rely on...
A long time passed.
At last, the City Demon Hunting Squad arrived.
When they saw the frozen Giant-eyed Starry Rat, they were truly astonished, their faces full of disbelief.
But they also knew that this was not the time for shock.
Under Captain Xu Dahuang's lead, the Giant-eyed Starry Rat frozen into an ice sculpture was quickly killed, leaving behind only a pile of charred bone fragments.
"You're... Qin Yuan!"
A pretty woman with an impressive figure in the Monster Hunting Squad exclaimed in surprise.
She had thought Qin Yuan looked familiar when she first saw him. Only after thinking it over did she suddenly realize that this was Mu Ning Xue's young boyfriend, Qin Yuan.
"Sister Caitang."
Qin Yuan nodded with a polite smile.
"Your magical cultivation is already Elementary Level Three!" Mu Caitang was extremely shocked.
As far as she knew, Qin Yuan had only just entered his third year of senior high school. He should have been around eighteen. Reaching Elementary Level Three at such an age was simply unbelievable.
"I got lucky. I only broke through recently." Qin Yuan said with a smile.
"Lucky?"
Xu Dahuang's mouth twitched upon hearing that.
He was already in his thirties, yet a high school student had caught up to his cultivation. That was far too discouraging.
It was not just him. The other members of the Monster Hunting Squad also had their mouths twitching, feeling deeply discouraged.
Xu Dahuang looked at the young and promising Qin Yuan, his eyes shifting as he could not help stepping forward to invite him. "Qin Yuan, are you interested in joining our City Demon Hunting Squad? Salary, benefits, holiday bonuses—everything is negotiable."
Having finally encountered a genius, he immediately wanted to recruit him.
With such an outstanding Ice Mage in the squad, they would have another layer of security during future missions and could better protect Bocheng.
"I'm still in school."
Qin Yuan smiled.
Upon hearing that—
Xu Dahuang knew Qin Yuan was politely declining. Though he found it regrettable, he did not press the matter.
"Captain Xu, the Giant-eyed Starry Rat appeared here for no reason. I think it's necessary to search the Old Canteen." Qin Yuan said, pointing at the Old Canteen.
"Mm, that is indeed rather strange."
Xu Dahuang nodded.
Under normal circumstances, Giant-eyed Starry Rats only moved around in sewers. It was rare for such foolish rats to actively approach areas inhabited by humans.
After all, rats crossing the street were hated by everyone.
"Come on, let's go in and search. Focus on checking the drainage system and see whether the 'earthquake' caused any cracks."
Xu Dahuang said with a wave of his hand.
There had been cases where underground cracks caused by earthquakes allowed Giant-eyed Starry Rats to crawl out, but such incidents had become rare in recent years.
Before you continue