Tonight, Rat Hunting

"True teachings are not lightly passed on!"

"The stances, blade techniques, fist techniques, and so on that I taught you before were all things I gained myself, unrestricted by anything."

"But the true skills I learned over these six years cannot be passed on to just anyone."

"I'll be staying in the village for quite some time, so you needn't worry about anything else."

"As for the test, when the time comes, you'll naturally find out."

"Go back."

Zhao Yang waved a hand, a trace of weariness between his brows.

"Uncle Yang, I'll be going back first."

Zhao Hong's heart settled, and he nodded heavily.

Watching his eldest nephew leave, Zhao Yang's face suddenly turned pale as a sweet, fishy taste surged up his throat.

He forcefully swallowed the blood back down.

His body trembled as he shakily sat in a chair, took a small bottle from his robes, and poured out a pill to swallow.

A few breaths later.

Some color finally returned to his pale face.

Zhao Yang lay down, gazing at the sky with bitterness written all over his face.

"More than a year to leave the martial hall with a promising seedling whose natural gifts rival Eldest Senior Brother's... That's a huge profit."

At the edge of the village, within the woods.

A figure repeatedly crashed between rows of thick tree trunks.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Zhao Hong's feet moved in a continuous chain, his body shooting forward in swift strides. Eight steps brought him before the tree, and his fist struck like racing thunder.

Boom!

The tree trunk, as thick as a bowl's mouth, was punched straight through.

Immediately afterward, his body swayed as he shifted several steps sideways, twisted his torso, and viciously rammed into another tree.

Crack-boom!

A tree even thicker than a bowl's mouth was smashed apart by the impact.

Zhao Hong staggered back several steps. Looking at the trees before him, riddled with holes and shattered beyond recognition, he nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the dense forest.

Five days had passed since Zhao Yang had performed true Bone Kneading on him.

Five days of bitter training.

Mountain-Leaning Stake had reached mastery.

Eight-Step Exploding Fist had reached minor accomplishment.

Cloak Blade had entered the beginner stage.

He had practiced the blade technique less, focusing mainly on the stance and fist techniques.

"Zhang Tai, heh heh."

Thinking of Zhang Tai's smug and overbearing look when they had met that morning, Zhao Hong revealed a sinister grin.

It was time to let this fellow learn how dangerous the world could be.

By now, among all the youths in the village apart from himself, Zhang Tai was undoubtedly the most outstanding, claiming first place.

He had grown another full circle larger. Those muscles of his—anyone who saw them would never think he was only sixteen.

Nourished by vast quantities of beast blood and beast meat, he had successfully cultivated qi and blood two days ago and stepped into the Blood Refining Realm.

Zhao Hong felt that fellow was about to stop respecting even his own father.

His arrogance had to be knocked down a peg.

I'm doing this for his own good.

A blade that was too sharp would sooner or later suffer.

After returning home.

Zhao Hong boiled water and heated the pot.

The household had ample beast meat and beast blood.

After eating and drinking his fill, he went into the yard and continued practicing Eight-Step Exploding Fist.

The qi and blood throughout his body boiled and surged, gradually spilling outward. Under the sunlight, it bloomed like a sea of blood flames. He resembled a humanoid ferocious beast practicing his fists, terrifying to behold.

"I'm still at the early Blood Refining stage, but my qi and blood are no weaker than those of ordinary people at Blood Refining completion. Breaking through every stage is also more difficult for me."

"The beast meat and beast blood allotted to me are already almost losing their effect."

His thoughts churned without pause as he glanced toward Zhao Yang's house.

The thought rose in his heart again.

When exactly would that test arrive?

At a certain moment.

The sound of running footsteps approached from outside.

The instant it entered his senses, Zhao Hong stopped.

"Ah Hong, Ah Hong, are you home?"

"I am. What is it, Big Hair?"

"Uncle Chuan said that tonight after dinner, at the third quarter of the hour of the dog, everyone is to gather at the little square."

"The third quarter of the hour of the dog? Do you know what it's about?"

Zhao Hong opened the courtyard gate, filled with suspicion.

Li Damao shook his head. "Uncle Chuan wouldn't say, so I don't know either."

"I still need to notify the others. I'm off."

Watching Li Damao run away, Zhao Hong could not stop muttering to himself inwardly.

Gathering everyone in the middle of the night—something was strange.

At the same time.

At Wang Chuan's house.

Besides Wang Chuan and Zhang Yuan, Zhao Yang was also in the courtyard.

Wang Chuan and Zhang Yuan looked at Zhao Yang with startled uncertainty. "Ah Yang, will this really work?"

Zhao Yang smiled faintly. "Uncle Chuan, Uncle Zhang, don't worry. Everything is under control."

"This rat-tail grass is a favorite of rodents, and I've watered and nourished it with beast blood for many days. Even a demon rat would greatly benefit from eating it."

"With Blood Candle Incense to lure it, the demon rat will certainly come within half an hour."

"These boys have been highly motivated lately, but they've also grown a little too proud. They need some stimulation."

"When the time comes, none of us are to interfere."

"Not interfere? This..."

Wang Chuan looked hesitant. "That demon rat is no simple thing. The strongest among them has only just entered Blood Refining. How could they be its match?"

Zhang Yuan immediately thought of his own son, Zhang Tai.

With that boy's temperament, he would surely be the first to charge forward.

He had no objection to letting Zhang Tai suffer a little, and would even welcome it.

But if anything went wrong, the boy might lose his life.

Zhao Yang said calmly, "If you don't trust others, don't you trust me?"

Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance and immediately stopped hesitating.

"Fine, then it's decided."

"Oh, right. Tell everyone in the village not to make any major commotion either."

"I'll notify them."

Zhang Yuan agreed.

At the third quarter of the hour of the dog.

The entire village was deathly quiet. Every household had been informed to keep their doors tightly shut and make no noise.

At the small square at the village entrance, more than twenty youths stood neatly in rows, looking at Wang Chuan and Zhang Yuan at the front with utter confusion.

"Don't ask questions."

Wang Chuan pointed at a dry ditch beneath the eaves along the wall at the edge of the village and said coldly, "See that ditch beneath the eaves over there? Get in there and hide. If anyone dares breathe too loudly or make a sound, wait until you get home and see if you don't get a beating."

"Huh?"

The youths looked at one another.

"Uncle Chuan..."

"Shut your damn mouth! Didn't you hear that you're not allowed to ask?"

Zhang Tai had barely opened his mouth to ask when his father's fierce shout cut him off.

Zhang Tai was badly startled by the look on his father's face. He opened his mouth, but no longer dared ask anything.

The others were even more silent than cicadas in winter.

Zhao Hong kept muttering inwardly. Why make this so mysterious?

Right, where was Uncle Yang?

There was no way he believed Zhao Yang had nothing to do with something this secretive.

Unfortunately, the adults clearly had no intention of offering any explanation.

"Hurry up."

"Once you're in there, behave yourselves."

"Whoever makes noise and causes any consequences, don't blame me for being merciless."

None of them dared make a sound. They hurriedly scrambled into the dry ditch, each curling up as they stared at one another with wide eyes.

The ditch was quite deep. It had originally been dug to prevent the stream from flooding the village during heavy rains. Now that the stream level was normal, the ditch was completely empty.

Even if they stood up, only their heads would show.

If they crouched down and curled themselves up, they could not be seen from outside at all.

After seeing everyone hide themselves properly, Wang Chuan glanced at Zhang Yuan and nodded slightly. The two then silently disappeared into the night.

The surroundings were utterly still.

In the low grass several zhang beyond the ditch, no one noticed a small blade of grass glowing with a faint red blush.

Time quietly passed.

About two quarters of an hour later.

A black shadow darted in from the wilderness beyond the village.

Its eyes glowed crimson, appearing especially eerie and chilling in the darkness.

In just a few blinks.

The black shadow reached the little grass, sniffed at it, and the crimson in its eyes nearly burst into flame, filled with humanlike heat and greed.

Whoosh!

The black shadow pounced forward, opening its mouth to gnaw.

Smack!

The instant the strange sound rang out, Zhao Hong raised his head toward the rim of the ditch, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.

What had come?

He suddenly felt someone poke his waist. Turning his head, he saw Li Damao blinking furiously, his expression both nervous and curious.

No one made a sound.

Yet everyone crouching in the ditch could hear the chewing-like noises outside, and the tension on their young faces visibly grew.

Remembering Wang Chuan's instructions, Zhao Hong was still hesitating when he saw Zhang Tai lose patience. Carefully, Zhang Tai raised himself to peek outside.

With him taking the lead, the remaining youths exchanged looks and promptly followed suit.

Zhao Hong was no exception.