Looking down at Ku Chan, Chen Zhou knew that although the old man was a coward, he was still useful for the time being.
Controlling him solely through the seed of resentment was inconvenient for long-distance communication.
With a thought, he exchanged a low-grade faith decree from the mall.
【low-grade faith decree (100 points/sheet)】: Slightly increases the faith inclination of a designated target toward the user.
This item was average for high-level cultivators, but it was more than enough to turn someone like Ku Chan, who was already under his control, into a general believer.
The decree transformed into a sliver of light and sank into the center of Ku Chan’s brow.
A moment later, when Ku Chan looked up again, the fear in his eyes had faded slightly, replaced by nothing but fawning servility.
Although the level of faith was low, it established a stable faith link. It would be much easier for Chen Zhou to send him messages or use him as a temporary vessel for descent in the future.
"Enough, stop your wailing," Chen Zhou interrupted his declarations of loyalty. "I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Make another trip to Lantao City."
Even without news of an evil spirit, finding copper poison was sufficient.
Tracking copper poison meant he could continue 'opening blind boxes' of rewards.
"Take Shitou and the Plague Rat with you."
Jian Huaishuang was tied down by the paper effigies and couldn't leave for long, and Hong Ling still needed to assist with the territory construction of the Corpse Soul Sect. Currently, the strongest combatant among the believers was Shitou.
Shitou was a fierce fighter with a straightforward personality; this was a good chance to temper him.
As for the little mouse, Chen Zhou had been annoyed by it for a long time.
It spent all day like a street-drifting loafer, mooching food and drink everywhere. It was high time to exploit its labor.
"Yes, yes, this lowly monk understands," Ku Chan accepted the order and departed.
...
On the road from the City of the Wrongfully Dead toward Lantao City.
The Plague Rat remained in its original form, squatting atop Ku Chan’s bald head, grumbling the entire way.
"What rotten luck. I, the great Lord Rat, actually have to accompany you juniors on an errand."
"What a garbage road. Not a single decent thing to eat!"
"Baldy, is that eight-treasure spirit duck you mentioned from the Zuixian Pavilion in Lantao City actually reliable or not?"
Ku Chan could only keep a fawning smile on his face, nodding and agreeing repeatedly, not daring to voice a single complaint.
Who told this rat to be the true 'lord'? He couldn't afford to offend it.
As they drew closer to Lantao City, they encountered more cultivators on the road.
Most were solitary or formed small, temporary teams of two or three.
Travelers usually kept a distance of several yards. Occasionally, their eyes would meet, only to pull away quickly in a silent understanding of mutual distrust.
Boom!
A blast echoed from nearby, accompanied by a shrill scream.
Shitou jerked his head toward the sound. Two cultivators had broken into a conflict for some unknown reason.
One held a blade, black blood seeping from a severed arm.
The other held a sword, his sword-light sharp but clearly lacking stamina.
"Tsk, two idiots,"
Lord Rat curled its lip in disdain. "When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman wins—a clichéd old play."
As if to prove the rat's words.
The fight lasted only a dozen breaths before the swordsman made a mistake. Struck by the blade, his flying sword’s light dimmed instantly.
Just as the blade-user showed a flash of joy and moved in to harvest the spoils—
Swish!
A nearly invisible thread shot out from the nearby dense forest, wrapping around the blade-user's neck and tightening violently.
The joy on the blade-user's face turned to horror. His hands clawed futilely at his neck as his body rapidly shriveled, his essence blood and cultivation drained by the thread.
Before the swordsman could even feel relieved, his shadow suddenly twisted, transforming into several sharp spikes that pierced through him from below.
In the blink of an eye, both fighting cultivators were dead.
Their storage bags and artifacts were quietly snatched away, leaving behind only two rapidly cooling corpses.
Shitou stared, dumbstruck.
Though he had experienced battles with demons, this was the first time he had witnessed such naked slaughter between the same race.
Right then, a middle-aged cultivator who looked like a down-and-out scholar in Confucian robes walked over.
He wore a harmless smile and proactively approached, his eyes lingering on the youngest-looking one, Shitou.
"Little friend, seeing how you are in such a hurry, are you also heading toward Lantao City?" the scholar-cultivator asked with a warm tone.
Shitou thought it was strange for a stranger to strike up a conversation suddenly.
But he was honest by nature. Seeing the other’s friendly attitude, he nodded and answered truthfully, "Yes, we are going to Lantao City."
Ku Chan sneered inwardly, and a flash of irony crossed the Plague Rat's crimson eyes.
However, neither spoke. They wanted to see just how naive this fool Shitou could be.
A flicker of imperceptible sharpness flashed in the scholar’s eyes, and his smile became even more sincere.
"What a coincidence. I am also heading to Lantao City to seek refuge.
"The world is in chaos. Copper poison is rampant, and evil spirits roam everywhere. Only a place like the commandery office can offer a slim chance of survival.
"Seeing how young you are, little friend, your cultivation is quite extraordinary. Which famous sect’s elite disciple might you be?
"Perhaps we can travel together; we can look out for each other on the road."
As he spoke, he seemingly casually moved a few steps closer, his sleeve fluttering slightly.
Shitou was about to say he wasn't from any famous sect when he heard a sneer from Lord Rat atop his head.
"Why waste words with him!"
Before the words fell, a stream of dark green air shot out from the Plague Rat, instantly pouncing toward the scholar.
The scholar’s expression changed drastically.
He hadn't even seen where the attack came from. He only had time to activate his protective light while a poison-coated short blade slid into his hand from his sleeve.
But it was too late!
Lord Rat scoffed, "Playing with poison in front of your lord, are you?"
The dark green air ignored the protective light the scholar had hastily conjured and directly contaminated his arm.
Sizzle—!
The sound of corrosion rang out!
The scholar let out a blood-curdling scream. His right arm, still clutching the blade, along with half of his shoulder, dissolved rapidly under the erosion of the plague.
The kindness on his face was long gone, replaced by a hideous snarl as his remaining half staggered back.
"Big brother!"
"Attack!"
At the same time.
Four figures lunged out from the grass and earthen slopes on both sides of the road.
They were clearly a group with the scholar.
Seeing their companion instantly mangled, they knew the ambush was exposed and struck ruthlessly.
Sword-lights and talismans flew straight toward the Plague Rat.
"Hmph, ants huddled together are still just ants."
Lord Rat didn't even bother to climb down from Ku Chan's head. It simply swept a cold gaze over the four.
Without any visible movement, an even denser miasma of plague exploded outward with the rat as the center.
It felt like the end of all things!
The moment the four people's attacks touched the green gas, they were silently annihilated. Next followed their protective lights, then their flesh, their bones...
They couldn't even finish their screams.
The four rogue cultivators, each with at least third-stage cultivation, dissolved rapidly before Shitou's eyes as if thrown into a vat of strong acid.
In the end, they turned into four puddles of bubbling, foul-smelling corpse water.
In less than three breaths, the five ill-intentioned rogue cultivators—including the scholar wailing and waiting for death in the corpse water—were completely wiped out.
Rate on N.U.
