The sudden voice made Zhang Daring lift his head and look around. Even the meat in his mouth slowed beneath his chewing as he tilted his head and pricked up his ears, carefully trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from.
"Chitter, chitter~"
After a brief silence, a faint sound of earth breaking came from below.
Now Zhang Daring heard it clearly. He slowly and gently set down the venison in his hand, then gradually rose from his half-crouch.
It was obvious that some kind of underground creature was about to emerge. But what exactly was it?
He wasn't sure, but he instinctively held his breath and kept quiet to avoid frightening it away.
There had once been a curious tale circulating in the martial world:
A wandering hero had, by chance, encountered an extremely rare underground Exotic Beast. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it and had begun preparing a meal right where he stood, acting as carefree as could be. Unfortunately, he scared the creature away.
Only later, through another chance encounter, did he discover that the Exotic Beast he'd seen was one of the most famous creatures on the Exotic Beast Ranking, a strange and precious beast that could have sent him soaring to the heavens. And he had let it slip away just like that.
For a time, he became the laughingstock of the martial world. Afterward, whenever anyone wandering the martial world heard an unusual sound in the wilderness, no matter where or when, they instinctively held their breath and stayed quiet as they investigated.
As Zhang Daring kept silent, the surroundings grew quiet once more. Only the distant stream and the faint sound of earth breaking could be heard.
"Where exactly is it?"
Zhang Daring's eyes swept constantly across the surrounding