13 Rat Hunting

Firstly, nightspirit rats were aggressive and cruel creatures.

They would attack almost any creature in sight, even if they were simply passing by. This meant that even if a nightspirit rat was full and not hunting for food, it would still move to kill any unfortunate souls that happened to stray into its vicinity.

Not just that, but they also enjoyed toying with their prey, often choosing to let their prey slowly bleed out instead of killing them fast.

Secondly, nightspirit rats were rather intelligent as well.

This meant that they seldom picked fights that they did not think they could win. Or if they did pick a fight and found out during battle that the party was much stronger than expected, they would not hesitate to turn tail and run.

Thirdly, nightspirit rats were masters of stealth when under the cover of the night.

In fact, they moved so stealthily at night that they were often mistaken as spirits.

When devising a plan to deal with the nightspirit rat, Zhao Yunxiao had to address all three of the above traits. Otherwise if anything went wrong, instead of helping Gu Qiansi, he could easily end up drawing trouble to himself instead!

Time was tight.

Under the dim moonlight, Zhao Yunxiao and Lu Zhiying busied themselves with some heavy setup around the garden plot.

Of course, while both of them were working on it, Zhao Yunxiao was the only one who really understood what they were doing.

After all, Lu Zhiying had only just joined the Black Tortoise Sect the day before, and was still completely ignorant of the ways of cultivators. Therefore, she could only perform menial tasks as instructed by Zhao Yunxiao, such as moving things around and helping to hold things up.

With the intelligence of the nightspirit rat, any attempts to trap a nightspirit rat could not be too obvious.

In order to not alert his target, Zhao Yunxiao had to hide his methods under layers of concealment.

This greatly increased the complexity of the preparations, and because of that, Lu Zhiying ended up finding it difficult to understand what they were setting up as well.

"Is this really okay?" Lu Zhiying asked with uncertainty after looking at the final result.

Well, there was actually nothing she could really look at.

Now that they were done with their preparations, everything had been hidden beneath the surface, away from where her gaze could reach.

She knew just as well that it was a good thing for their preparations to be undetectable.

After all, the last thing they wanted was a direct confrontation with the nightspirit rat, so ambushing it with a trap was the natural way to go.

As far as traps went, the more undetectable it was, the more effective it would be.

However, Lu Zhiying could not help but wonder if what they did would suffice for a monster that Zhao Yunxiao had described to be rather dangerous.

"Trust me, I've got this," Zhao Yunxiao said confidently while brushing dirt off his clothes. "Now, all there's left to do is wait!"

Under normal circumstances, Zhao Yunxiao would have tried to explain things to Lu Zhiying during the preparation process, guiding her through step by step so that she could learn as much as possible.

But since they were rushing for time now, Zhao Yunxiao had no choice but to let Lu Zhiying stay confused for a little longer.

"Come, time to hide," Zhao Yunxiao beckoned Lu Zhiying over to a corner.

Lu Zhiying did as she was told, obediently going over to Zhao Yunxiao who brought her into a nearby bush.

Simply hiding in the bush was not enough either.

Zhao Yunxiao planted a few array flags around the bushes and made some handseals to activate them.

"Oh?" Lu Zhiying watched Zhao Yunxiao in amazement.

Right before her eyes, Zhao Yunxiao's figure slowly became translucent.

"This is a simple concealment array," Zhao Yunxiao explained after seeing the look on her face. "As long as we stay within this circle, it will be more difficult for anyone to find us."

Lu Zhiying looked at her hands, and saw that she had become translucent as well. She opened her mouth to gasp in amazement, but Zhao Yunxiao quickly put a finger to her lips.

"No talking or making any big movements from this point on," Zhao Yunxiao whispered.

Lu Zhiying nodded in understanding, then turned back to look out at the garden plot.

Zhao Yunxiao smiled in satisfaction after seeing how obedient Lu Zhiying was.

Even though this junior martial sister of his was wired a little differently, at least she was still able to control herself when it came down to it.

Just like that, the duo hid in the bush as they waited for the appearance of their target.

With how small the bush was, they had to stick close together with their shoulders touching. At such close proximity, Zhao Yunxiao could also smell a faint fragrance coming from Lu Zhiying.

When placed in such a situation, most guys his age would have been easily distracted, especially considering the fact that Lu Zhiying was a top-grade beauty.

But for Zhao Yunxiao, he was focused on another matter.

Zhao Yunxiao quickly channelled his essence energy while making a few hand seals. With that, the faint fragrance from Lu Zhiying was quickly sealed away.

Only then did Zhao Yunxiao let out a sigh of relief.

He almost tripped up there!

Nightspirit rats had far better senses than humans.

Even though he was only able to detect the fragrance on Lu Zhiying at such close proximity, a nightspirit rat might be able to do so from much further away.

If that was truly the case, this simple concealing array that he had set up could have been rendered completely useless, exposing their presence to the nightspirit rat!

Thankfully, such a situation would no longer come to pass.

With that, the duo continued waiting in silence.

Time passed slowly.

The full moon gradually climbed through the night sky, until its enchanting moonlight was shining down directly from the zenith.

A sudden gust of wind blew, causing the nearby trees to sway and rustling the remaining winter leaves.

Crack-!

A fallen twig was snapped in half, but the culprit was nowhere to be seen – at least, not to Lu Zhiying.

It's here!

Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes in focus.

At the Intermediate Essence Gathering realm, Zhao Yunxiao's senses might not be as sensitive as a nightspirit rat's, but it had still been honed to be much sharper than the average human's.

From within the bushes, he could see a white figure moving rapidly around the boundaries of the garden plot, staying just outside of the repaired fence.

Furry body that was taller than an adult man.

Long claws that cut into the ground with every step it took.

And finally bright red eyes that seemed ever so innocuous, contrary to its general behaviour.

As expected, the culprit was indeed a nightspirit rat.

The cautious nightspirit rat did not rush into the garden plot. Instead, it continued to move along the boundaries while observing the area, seemingly wary about how the garden plot had been restored from its wrecked state the night before.

Thud-! Thud-!

It picked up a few broken twigs on the ground and threw them towards the fence.

Lu Zhiying looked towards Zhao Yunxiao.

She might not be able to detect the nightspirit rat due to its fast movements, but even she was able to guess by now that the nightspirit rat must have appeared.

After all, twigs flying around by themselves was not exactly the most common of occurrences.

Zhao Yunxiao gave a quick nod to confirm her suspicions, and the duo turned their attention back to observing the situation.

After waiting a good few moments to confirm that there was no reaction from the fence and that the coast was clear, the nightspirit rat finally advanced further.

In the blink of an eye, it was already standing before the newly repaired fence.

The nightspirit rat raised its two front paws and, with a snarl, brought them straight down upon the fence.

Bang-!

Wood splinters were sent flying everywhere as the fence was instantly crushed under the weight of its claws.

The claws of the nightspirit rat might not be the sharpest, but the monster's strength more than made up for it. It felt like huge clubs were being used to smash against the fence, bringing it down by force.

Considering its physical abilities, the nightspirit rat could have easily leapt over the fence to access the garden plot.

However, it would not be known for its destructive nature if it was willing to do so.

And that was also what Zhao Yunxiao was betting on.

Weng-!

At the very moment that the nightspirit rat let down its guard and crushed the fence, a faint buzzing sound broke the silence of the night.

In an instant, five spears shot out from the ground, headed straight for the nightspirit rat.

The moment these spears broke through the surface of the ground, the nightspirit rat noticed it and immediately moved to dodge.

And the agile nightspirit rat could have dodged the spears as well, if not because of the thick vines that had undetectably coiled around its feet and were restricting its movements.

These tree vines would not have posed a problem to it under normal circumstances, but it simply did not have the luxury of time to cut them apart.

Screech-!

The nightspirit rat cried out in a mixture of pain and rage as four of the spears pierced through its skin, with only one barely missing its target.

Attached to the end of each spear was a metal chain that immediately tightened to a taut.

Now, it was no longer just the tree vines binding the nightspirit rat.

The nightspirit rat struggled to free itself, but the spearheads had been modified to be similar to an arrowhead, making them especially difficult to remove.

Every time it moved its body or smash its claws against the metal chains, the modified spear heads would cut against its flesh, causing even more blood to spurt out from all four of its wounds.

"Wha-?" Lu Zhiying almost exclaimed in surprise, but not because of the state of the nightspirit rat.

Instead, it was because the young man beside him had rushed out of the bushes without warning.

[Xuanwu Movement Art – Snapping Burst]

Zhao Yunxiao's senses were heightened to the limit as he executed a movement technique, charging straight towards the entrapped monster.

If left to its own devices, the nightspirit rat would eventually be able to escape the spears trap.

So if he wanted to end things, now was his opportunity to strike!

He reached into his thick robes and the moment he entered striking distance, threw out a dagger towards the nightspirit rat.

Zhao Yunxiao did not stop there either.

He quickly changed directions and started circling around the nightspirit rat, throwing daggers at it from all directions.

Held down by the metal chains, the nightspirit rat was no different from a stationary practice target.

There was no way that Zhao Yunxiao would miss.

Stab-! Stab-! Stab-!

One by one, the daggers pierced through the nightspirit rat's skin. Though they might not be buried as deeply as the four spears, the nightspirit rat still screeched in pain whenever it was struck.

As he ran, Zhao Yunxiao swiftly reached the spot where the fifth spear had landed.

Picking the spear up from the ground, Zhao Yunxiao channelled his essence energy once more.

Just like how he had imbued the pickaxe with essence energy at the Yellowshell Mine, Zhao Yunxiao poured his essence energy into the spear in his hands.

No, perhaps it was not exactly right to compare the two situations.

As compared to the pickaxe, Zhao Yunxiao poured far more essence energy into the spear.

A faint glow appeared on the spearhead as Zhao Yunxiao charged towards the nightspirit rat from behind.

The nightspirit rat had noticed Zhao Yunxiao by now, and the latter had zero intention of giving the dangerous monster any chances to resist by confronting it from the front.

With the metal chains restricting it from turning around, the nightspirit rat's back was wide open as Zhao Yunxiao leapt into the air and thrust the spear forward.

Screech-!

The nightspirit rat let out a final cry of anguish as the spear pierced through its neck.

"That was amazing!" Lu Zhiying cheered excitedly and stepped out of the bushes upon seeing that the deed was done.

"No, don't come over!" Zhao Yunxiao immediately called out in shock.

"Eh?" Lu Zhiying froze in shock at Zhao Yunxiao's sudden outburst.

Screech-!

The familiar cry of a nightspirit rat sounded out, sending chills down her back.

That was especially so as the cry did not come from the nightspirit rat before her eyes.

"Watch out!" Zhao Yunxiao rushed over towards Lu Zhiying.

He threw himself towards her, grabbing her and falling to the ground in a roll – just in time to dodge a charging nightspirit rat.

That was right.

Contrary to their expectations, there was not just one nightspirit rat that had appeared tonight.