Octopus Monster

"Meow—!!!"

A shrill, ear-piercing scream suddenly burst from beneath the blade.

The shadow seemed terribly startled. It shot more than ten meters away in an instant, then crouched on the ground, its round eyes fixed on Xu Feng with an inexplicably resentful stare.

"Uh... Tsk... Why is it a cat?"

Xu Feng's arm, still holding the cleaver, froze in midair. His face burned with embarrassment.

It turned out the source of the bloody smell was several mangled rats, large and small, curled up together. They had clearly been wiped out as a nest.

There was also a gaping hole nearby, apparently the "hunting spoils" of this black cat.

The way he'd charged over, he might as well have been trying to steal someone else's prey.

"Meow~ Meow~~"

The black cat arched its back, its fur bristling until it looked like a little puffball. Its ears flattened against its head as it growled at Xu Feng again and again, full of indignation.

"Sorry about that."

Xu Feng sheepishly put away the cleaver and reached into his backpack with his free hand, pulling out a bag of Ham Sausage.

It was a freebie the shopkeeper had thrown in that afternoon when Xu Feng bought some compressed biscuits.

"Here, kitty, kitty~~"

He peeled the casing off one sausage and gently tossed it toward the black cat.

Only then did the black cat's fur settle. It still crouched warily as it approached and sniffed the sausage, its amber eyes fixed on Xu Feng.

It looked as if it were trying to determine whether the thing was poisonous.

In the end, it couldn't resist the tempting smell and began nibbling at it tentatively.

"Come on, come on. It's all yours."

A pang of guilt welled up in Xu Feng again. Looking at the little black cat's round body, he had to admit it was rather adorable.

He simply peeled the remaining seven sausages and arranged them neatly on the ground.

The black cat glanced at the sausages, then at Xu Feng. After hesitating for a while, it finally padded over.

Seeing that Xu Feng wasn't making a move, it lowered its head and started gobbling them down without a care.

"Too bad my mom won't let me keep a cat. She says these little things are filthy." Xu Feng reached out and gently rubbed the black cat's head, sighing softly.

Perhaps the "bribe" of the sausages had worked. The little black cat was unusually docile, letting Xu Feng stroke its head.

"Hmm? Why does it smell like the sea?"

Xu Feng's nostrils suddenly flared. A stench of rotting fish and shrimp wafted over, more pungent than the smell of a sewer.

Puzzled, he scanned the area. The shadows of the trees were dappled, and the night was dark. There was clearly nothing unusual around them.

That smell... It seemed to be coming from beneath the little black cat.

"Meow—!!!"

A piercing scream rang out. The black cat beneath his palm suddenly thrashed violently.

Xu Feng's heart jolted. He looked toward the sound.

In the hazy moonlight, he saw a bizarre tentacle gleaming with an icy blue light. Somehow, it had wrapped around the black cat's hind leg and was dragging it toward the rat hole.

Whoosh—

The sound of something cutting through the air rang out!

Almost instinctively, Xu Feng swung his right hand like lightning. The cleaver, carried by the force of his swing, slammed into the icy blue tentacle.

An astonishing resistance came through the blade, numbing the web between his thumb and forefinger.

The tentacle seemed to feel a sudden burst of pain and abruptly released its grip on the black cat's hind leg.

The little black cat let out a scream of relief and darted far away. In a few bounds, it scrambled up a tree trunk, then licked its bleeding hind leg, still shaken. Its eyes remained fixed on the ground.

Xu Feng didn't pause for a moment.

As the tentacle twisted, trying to retreat into the rat hole, the cleaver in his left hand followed right after, striking precisely at the wound he'd just made.

Thud—

With a muffled sound, half the tentacle fell to the ground, writhing and twisting frantically in the dirt.

"Gurgle—!"

An angry growl suddenly came from deep inside the rat hole. The muffled, bizarre sound made Xu Feng's scalp tingle.

Xu Feng ignored the twitching tentacle on the ground and kept his eyes fixed on the inconspicuous opening.

The earth around the hole began to bulge upward. Fine cracks spread through the soil.

It was as if some colossal creature were pushing against the dirt, slowly burrowing its way out!

Crash—

The ground exploded with a roar, sending dirt flying in every direction!

A monster resembling an octopus, but blown up to an enormous size, suddenly burst out of the rat hole.

Its body stood steadily on the ground, nearly half a person's height. Its icy blue skin gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

When it saw Xu Feng, killing intent flared in its two tiny, mung-bean-sized eyes.

Its seven thick tentacles suddenly bent, then snapped straight like taut springs. The tremendous force hurled its body into the air as it lunged at Xu Feng.

Beneath the moonlight, Xu Feng could even clearly see its gaping maw, with three rings of densely packed, layered fangs inside.

Clang—!

The monster was astonishingly fast. Xu Feng could only just manage to hold the cleaver across his chest.

A tremendous force surged through the blade and slammed into his chest.

The Octopus Monster crashed heavily to the ground, forcing Xu Feng back several steps. A dull, searing pain struck his chest, and both his arms were so numb they had nearly lost all feeling.

Before he could catch his breath, the monster lunged again. Three tentacles lashed down like steel whips, smashing into the cleaver.

Clang—

With a sharp crack, pain shot through the web between Xu Feng's thumb and forefinger. The cleaver flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground in the distance.

"So strong!"

Xu Feng's heart shuddered. Only now did he truly understand how terrifying monsters were.

In just a few exchanges, he'd been beaten so badly he couldn't fight back at all.

This wasn't some mindless wild beast. It even knew to knock his weapon away before looking for a chance to strike a fatal blow!

"But my greatest strength... isn't with a blade!"