Chapter 13: The Greedy Rat

Having just mastered the Dao Technique Iron Prison Discipline, Li Si felt his confidence swell a bit. He even thought about bypassing the front of the Western Mountain and heading straight to the back, where there was a valley that seemed quite flat and likely full of Anomalous Weeds.

But just as he was about to move, he noticed the sky was a little brighter than before—unconsciously, it was almost noon.

There was no helping it.

Every day at noon, Ji Chang and Xu Shen would leave the stone house, and even Jiang Ying would bring the three little ones out for a walk.

He was at the foot of the Western Mountain, three li away, and these people could spot him at a glance. This area was still relatively safe, manageable for someone of his strength.

But if he went to the back mountain now, it would be different—definitely raising suspicion.

So without a word, Li Si hoisted six Aberrant Wood Husks onto his back and strode swiftly back to the Deserted Village.

Each Aberrant Wood Husk weighed around fifty jin, so six totaled over three hundred jin. Without Magic Power to support him, his frail little body couldn’t possibly carry them.

It was just a bit of a pity that his one Evil-Warding Aura and 580 points of Magic Power hadn’t been fully depleted yet.

Soon, as Li Si neared the village, Ji Chang and Xu Shen lazily stepped out of the stone house.

These two had sharp eyes, of course. Seeing that Li Si was actually carrying six Aberrant Wood Husks back, they immediately grew interested, quickened their pace, and came forward with smiles. Ji Chang even stepped outside the Formation Array—his intent clearly not pure.

Xu Shen, however, was sneakier, staying just within the defensive range of the village’s Formation Array.

“Good morning, Senior Brothers!”

From far away, Li Si shouted loudly, because he happened to see Jiang Ying coming out with the three little ones too. With this senior sister around, things should be fine.

“Shh, keep it down.” Ji Chang’s face changed. Out in the wild, without the protection of a Formation Array, there were many taboos—one of them was not to shout.

Li Si knew this taboo well, but he pretended not to. Instead, he laughed and said, “Senior Brother Ji, I used the Evil-Warding Talisman you gave me. That talisman is so powerful—it killed six Aberrant Trees in a row. These husks are so heavy, could you help me carry them? I’ll share a portion with you later, how about that?”

Hearing this, Ji Chang instinctively broke into a smile. Wasn’t this exactly why he had run over? Although he could chop down an Aberrant Tree with one swing of his blade, the death curse of the Aberrant Tree was too damn troublesome and couldn’t be dispelled.

Now, with this silly kid taking the brunt of the Aberrant Tree’s death curse, he could enjoy the Aberrant Wood Husk. Even as a Foundation Building True Cultivator, such a good deal would tempt him.

After all, brewing the Aberrant Wood Husk into Great Soul-Returning Broth made its polluting toxicity negligible for him.

“Senior Brother Ji, don’t give in to greed!”

Xu Shen, standing behind the village’s Formation Array, suddenly shouted. He must have noticed something wrong, but it was too late—the change happened too suddenly. Even Li Si didn’t react in time.

Heaven knows, he really didn’t mean it—he just said it offhand. But as a result, Ji Chang, who had been smiling, suddenly froze in place. The next second, a plume of black smoke erupted from his body, and he transformed into a giant rat the size of a calf!

What the hell was this all about?

The giant rat charged straight at Li Si, but before it could get close, there was a loud boom—it had touched Li Si’s Evil-Warding Aura. Instantly, lightning flashed, and the giant rat was violently flung back. For a brief moment, the rat turned back into Ji Chang, but before he could do anything, the black energy swirled again, and he turned back into the giant rat, charging at Li Si once more.

Dammit, was he being singled out as the easy target?

At this moment, Li Si couldn’t afford to hold back. He first cast Iron Prison Discipline, and instantly, six streaks of black light surged from the ground, wrapping around the giant rat like six cloth strips, binding it tightly.

Then, within the black light, six intricate symbols rose into the air as faint glows, then fell like meteors, pinning the giant rat’s head, torso, and limbs in place—exactly six spots.

Immediately, the giant rat couldn’t move.

By then, Xu Shen had also rushed out and cast a Heart Cleansing Curse on the giant rat’s head. His Heart Cleansing Curse was undoubtedly very advanced—the giant rat shuddered and, in the blink of an eye, turned back into a terrified Ji Chang.

Just as Li Si thought the situation was under control, Ji Chang suddenly vomited violently, spewing out a black rat as big as a wildcat. The rat shot straight toward Li Si.

Crap!

Why me again?

Without time to think, Li Si could only unleash a Demon Slaying Thorn, killing the black rat that was about to hit him in the face.

“Alienation Contamination Degree +0.5%.”

“Slayed the Evil Entity Greedy Rat. Obtained 300 Gray Firewood.”

Seeing the kill message, Li Si’s expression turned odd.

So that was it. No wonder—this Greedy Rat seemed a bit stronger than the Joyous Mushroom, but there was no way it could stump two Foundation Building True Cultivators. They were afraid of the kill curse. So even when Ji Chang turned into a giant rat, that bastard was still desperately attacking him.

Truly a model senior brother of the Floating Cloud Sect!

Realizing this, Li Si felt “furious,” but the next second, Xu Shen dragged him and his load into the Formation Array, while Ji Chang scurried back as if he’d seen a ghost.

Both men’s attitudes suddenly became extremely amiable and humble, especially Ji Chang. Seeing Jiang Ying about to approach, he grabbed Li Si’s hand and whispered with utmost sincerity,

“Junior Brother, you must be startled. It’s all my fault. Don’t panic, don’t panic! This small token—please don’t refuse it.”

Saying this, he stuffed a piece of Talisman Paper into Li Si’s hand and quickly walked away with a blank expression.

As for Xu Shen, he smiled faintly, as if he had seen through Li Si’s true nature, and also whispered, “Junior Brother, you’re truly a prodigy. In just two days, you’ve mastered both the Dao Techniques Heart Cleansing Curse and Iron Prison Discipline. But I advise you not to spread this around, especially don’t let Senior Sister Jiang know, and definitely not the Master. Understand?”

Li Si blinked, seeming to understand but not quite. Xu Shen then acted as if nothing had happened and went off to patrol the Formation Array.

“Junior Brother, what happened?”

Soon, Senior Sister Jiang came over and asked with concern. She hadn’t paid attention earlier, only knowing that someone had used a Dao Technique here.

“Nothing much. It’s just that Senior Brother Ji Chang suddenly turned into a giant rat. Then he gave me an Evil-Warding Curse Talisman Paper, saying it was to calm my nerves.”

Li Si said cheerfully, pretending to be innocent, cheerful, and finding it all amusing.

Hmm, hide it? No way.

We, the Four Heroes of Floating Cloud, share the same breath. We share blessings but not hardships. Not scamming your own people? That’d be asking for a thunderbolt from the sky.

“A rat? The Greedy Rat!”

Senior Sister Jiang, clearly someone who had seen the world, guessed the truth at once. “This Ji Chang is too much. He must have asked you for the Aberrant Wood Husks, then accidentally gave in to greed, attracting the Greedy Rat.”

“Junior Brother, remember this lesson. In the wild, besides not giving in to emotions and not shouting, you must also control your desires, or great disaster will strike. For example, today’s Greedy Rat wasn’t actually very strong—force out its true form, and one Demon Slaying Thorn can kill it. But if you’re alone in the wild with no one to cast Heart Cleansing Curse on you, you’d never regain your senses. In the end, driven by greed, you’d completely become the Greedy Rat’s puppet.”

“Yes, thank you for the advice, Senior Sister. But Senior Sister, I see there’s nothing around the Deserted Village. Where did that Greedy Rat come from?” Li Si asked, pretending to be curious.

“Evil Entities come in many types. Those like Anomalous Weeds, Aberrant Trees, and Aberrant Stones are visible and can be spotted in advance, so they’re called Worldly Evil Entities. Correspondingly, there are Phantasmal Aberrations.”

“The former are easy to deal with; the latter are different—almost impossible to guard against. They have no physical form, existing only in the Illusory Void. They materialize quickly based on human emotions, intervening in the Mortal Realm. For instance, the Joyous Mushroom I mentioned—if you can’t control yourself in the wild and accidentally feel a moment of joy, it can attract the Joyous Mushroom from the Illusory Void. It uses your joy as an anchor to rapidly descend into the Mortal Realm, feeding on your flesh, blood, and soul. Meanwhile, you’re trapped in a joyful illusion, unable to break free, and in the end, you die a miserable death.”

“Sometimes, even we Foundation Building True Cultivators can fall victim. So, the Heart Cleansing Curse and Evil-Warding Curse are very important. If you really must go out alone, you must always maintain a Mind-cleansing Aura and Evil-Warding Aura—that’s the best defense. But doing so drains Magic Power severely.”

“That’s why you see Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and me rarely leaving the village. It’s not that our strength is insufficient, but we truly can’t afford the consumption.”

“Speaking of which, Junior Brother, you shouldn’t leave the village anymore either. Do you know…”

Senior Sister Jiang hesitated here, then finally gave a bitter smile and didn’t say more. This was an unspoken rule of the Floating Cloud Sect.

Because someone had to go out to hunt Anomalous Weeds and Aberrant Trees—otherwise, everyone would starve, and Magic Power couldn’t be restored. If Fallen Demons launched a large-scale invasion or Evil God Cultists discovered them, preparations needed to be made in advance.

And now, since Li Si was so enthusiastic about leaving the village, it was natural for him to be the one to hunt Anomalous Weeds and Aberrant Trees.

Seeing Senior Sister Jiang’s troubled expression, Li Si knew exactly what she wanted to say, but such things couldn’t be spoken aloud. So he continued playing the part of a fearless, silly boy, grinning and saying, “Senior Sister, don’t worry. The Evil-Warding Talisman Paper you gave me today was so powerful. With just a small trick, I managed to kill six Aberrant Trees. I’ll give you four Aberrant Wood Husks.”

“No, Aberrant Wood Husks are too precious. That one Talisman Paper of mine is worth at most two Aberrant Wood Husks.” Senior Sister Jiang was deeply moved and firmly refused.

But Li Si wouldn’t agree—this was exactly his goal. After some back-and-forth, he finally said helplessly, “Senior Sister, how about this: I’ll give you all six Aberrant Wood Husks, and you just give me one more Evil-Warding Curse Talisman Paper.”

“One? That won’t do. It should be at least two! Junior Brother, Senior Brother here happens to have two Evil-Warding Curse Talisman Papers. I’ll trade them for four of your Aberrant Wood Husks—a fair deal, no cheating.”

Xu Shen’s figure suddenly appeared from who-knows-where, looking utterly righteous.

Hearing this, Li Si was overjoyed!

Truly a model senior brother.