Bang! Bang! Bang!
Field mice kept popping out of the ground.
Su Ye swung his blade again and again.
He was playing a real-life game of whack-a-mole.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"
The field rang with the mice's gleeful squeaks.
Clearly, the mouse thought tormenting Su Ye was a fun game.
Just as it ducked back down and poked its head out of another hole...
Whoosh!
This time, the long blade did not strike the hole. It swept horizontally across the opening.
"Squeak...?"
Blood sprayed.
A mouse's head flew through the air, the delight not yet faded from its eyes.
While playing whack-a-mole, Su Ye had worked out how many openings lay below. His keen hearing let him track the mouse's movements and predict which hole it would emerge from next. That was how he finally killed it.
[Slaughter Value +5.2]
Su Ye sheathed his blade.
5.2?
Not bad.
"Wow, A'Su, you're amazing! You killed a field mouse so quickly!"
Xia Zhiqiu ran over with a grin. Unbothered by the headless mouse, he picked up its remains with tongs and dropped them into a bag supplied by the school.
"That's our team's first field mouse!"
Xiao Qiyue and Mu Wanrou had stopped taking selfies. They came over once they saw Su Ye succeed.
Both girls kept their distance from the mouse's corpse, though.
Mu Wanrou even wrinkled her nose.
Su Ye shook his head.
"That was too slow. And if the mice stay underground, we can't do anything to them. Hunting them by force won't work. We need a way to lure them out."
Xiao Qiyue studied the ground and nodded.
"Right. The right tools make all the difference. I'm with Su Ye."
Beside them, Zhang Xuan waved his phone.
"I looked it up while Brother Su was killing that mouse. Luoluo Beast Meat is the strongest lure for field mice. Even Mutated Demonic Beasts can't resist its scent. I've asked my family's butler to bring some over. He'll be here within half an hour."
Luoluo Beast Meat?
Su Ye could not help looking it up.
It came from a Tier 2 Star Beast!
Apparently, the meat was delicious and its energy gentle, making it ideal for Martial Artists.
A pound cost thirty or forty thousand.
Su Ye: Of course. He's a rich kid.
Half an hour later, Butler Fu arrived in a stiff black suit.
He brought not only an entire insulated box of frozen Luoluo Beast Meat, but also folding chairs, a Sunshade, and even a lavish meal.
It was as though Su Ye and the others had come for a picnic rather than a school trial.
Su Ye: Of course. He's a rich kid.
After a hearty meal, Butler Fu and his people left. It was time to get to work.
They took a small piece of Luoluo Beast Meat from the insulated box, roughly half a pound.
They placed it in a specially made box.
With the lid open, a fan underneath would spread the scent faster.
Closing the lid would seal in the meat's scent.
They switched on the fan.
Before long, Su Ye heard rustling beneath the ground.
"They're coming!"
Su Ye stepped forward, putting himself between the danger and Xiao Qiyue and Mu Wanrou.
"The three of us will hold off the mice. Xiao and Mu, please be ready to support us. If too many come, put the Luoluo Beast Meat away."
The three boys formed a triangle around the two girls and the meat.
Mu Wanrou gave Su Ye an appreciative look, then leaned toward Xiao Qiyue.
"Su Ye's quite the gentleman. He even knows to look after the girls. You've got good taste, Qiyue."
Xiao Qiyue shot her an indignant look.
"What are you talking about?"
"All right, all right, I'm talking nonsense... But gentleman or not, isn't Su Ye being too cautious? How many field mice could such a tiny piece of meat attract... Oh my god!"
Mu Wanrou's beautiful eyes widened.
What was she seeing?!
Field mice!
Countless field mice!
They raced toward them in a frenzy.
Mu Wanrou could even see a wild red gleam in the eyes of the ones at the front.
What Mu Wanrou did not know was that Luoluo Beast Meat was more than a supreme delicacy to these mice. It was a chance for them to grow stronger.
The moment they smelled it, instinct drove every other thought from their minds.
They had only one thought left!
Eat!
"Whoa, that many field mice?!"
Xia Zhiqiu's legs trembled.
Every one of those mice had fighting strength equivalent to someone at the fifth or sixth level of Kaiyuan.
He could easily handle one.
But this many at once... Great Master Xia was finished!
Even Zhang Xuan looked a little nervous.
Only Su Ye smiled at the sight of so many mice.
Come on, then!
That's a lot of Slaughter Value!
But when he saw Xia Zhiqiu's trembling legs and Zhang Xuan's tense expression, Su Ye turned back to give the girls a warning.
"Put the Luoluo Beast Meat away for now. We'll lure out another batch after we finish this one."
"Ah, okay!"
Without another word, Mu Wanrou shut the lid.
The meat's scent still lingered, but the frenzied mice lost their bearings.
They stopped in confusion, looking around and sniffing desperately for the remaining scent.
Su Ye had already charged at them, long blade in hand.
While the mice were still searching for the scent, his blade rose and fell.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
[Slaughter Value +5.6] [Slaughter Value +5.1] [Slaughter Value +4.8] [Slaughter Value +6.1]
In moments, more than a dozen field mouse corpses littered the ground.
Su Ye had gained 97 Slaughter Value.
Overhead, a drone captured the entire scene.
"Hmm, it's that youngster named Su Ye."
Principal Zhang watched the footage from the drone, then compared it with footage from another drone showing a five-person team being run in circles by field mice. He nodded in satisfaction.
"They thought to lure the mice out with bait. That's improved their efficiency tremendously. Well done. Jingfei, you've taught an excellent student."
Of course, the school had not truly left the Elite Class students to fend for themselves.
More than a dozen drones monitored the students across the different zones, with many teachers standing by nearby. If any students were in danger, they could rush to them immediately.
Watching Su Ye and Xia Zhiqiu on the screen, Lan Jingfei could not help smiling.
Still, she answered modestly.
"They mainly have Zhang Xuan's Luoluo Beast Meat to thank for that."
"And..."
Lan Jingfei turned her gaze to another screen.
On it, the burly, crew-cut Meng Li gripped an Iron Pillar as thick as an arm and drove it hard into a field mouse hole.
The tremendous force sent out a shockwave. Not far away, it blasted a field mouse out of its hole and straight into the Iron Pillar Meng Li swung at it.
"No wonder he was born with Divine Power!"
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