Chapter 918: A Hungry Corpse
Leaf’s heart was as hot as a pot of oil.
His brain, however, seemed to be filled with ice. It was sharp and calm.
The little people that he had found on the murals in the cave seemed to be jumping around in front of his eyes, giving him advice.
Soon, the little people gathered into the shape of his brother.
“Leaf, we are rat people. Our strength is destined to be weaker than that of the clan’s warriors.”
His elder brother said, “Moreover, even if we train our brute strength a hundred times, how many warriors of the clan can we defeat? Five, ten, or twenty?
“Without the power of totems, a body of flesh and blood has limited strength.
“But as long as we learn to use our brains, the power of wisdom will be unlimited.”
His brother was right.
Leaf lay in the rotten sewage, quietly observing and thinking.
He remembered a dangerous game that the teenagers often played when they were in Half Mountain Village.
In every mandrake tree, there would always be one fruit that was exceptionally plump, sweet, and juicy.
Moreover, the golden fruit’s appearance would be extremely beautiful.
Such “golden fruits” usually grew at the top of the tree crown.
The teenagers liked to give an order and sprint to the top of the tree crown at the same time to see who could pick the golden fruits first.
Leaf was the winning general in this game.
But his secret was not how fast he was, how agile he was, or how strong he was.
Although the proverb of the Turan people did not say that “A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind”, Leaf also knew that if he was particularly eye-catching at the beginning, others would target him, push him, pull him, and climb up, they would grab his ankles tightly and not let go.
He would think calmly and observe carefully.
These two things were always more important than speed and strength.
Soon, the chaotic scene of people fighting over each other gradually became clear in Leaf’s eyes.
That’s right, almost all of the red-eyed rat subjects were bigger than him, and they seemed to be proficient in all kinds of killing techniques.
It was precisely because of this that they did not take Leaf, the little guy, seriously at all.
They were still staring at each other.
And among the newcomers, they were the most muscular and dangerous ones with the strongest killing intent.
In order to fight for the fried mandrake fruit, they all let out beast-like howls and tightly hugged each other.
Since the s.p.a.ce was too small, there was no room for them to display their moves. They could only use the simplest and most violent method to scratch, kick, and bite each other.
They bit until their heads were bleeding, their tendons were broken, and their bones were broken. They bit until their intestines were pierced through.
Although their combat strength could not be compared to the Blood Hoof Warriors.
However, the killing intent that grew from the deepest depths of the darkness was no less than that.
Leaf saw that several big fellows were besieged by four or five rat people. Soon, they were bitten until their bodies were covered in bruises, and they withdrew from the compet.i.tion.
Then, he saw a few rat people with scars on their bodies and an exceptionally cold aura. They successfully caught a few fried mandrake fruits.
They carefully retreated to a corner and crouched down against the wall. As they ate, they were alert of their surroundings. For the time being, they would not join in the fight.
They also saw a few fried mandrake fruits fall into the sewage. They were fished out by seventy to eighty claws, but they were floating in the sewage. They spun around, but no one fished them up for a long time.
Fighting for such fried mandrake fruits was a stupid and thankless thing. Leaf would not do it!
He observed the entire cage very patiently and finally locked onto his target.
It was two rats of similar size who were fighting equally.
One of them had already grabbed a fried mandrake fruit in his hand and was desperately trying to put it into his mouth.
The other person, on the other hand, grabbed his wrist tightly and used his hard forehead to push against his mouth in an attempt to s.n.a.t.c.h the fried mandrake fruit.
They were inseparable like conjoined twins.
They had to confront each other until both sides suffered heavy injuries.
“It’s them.”
Leaf narrowed his eyes and silently sneaked through the dirty water.
The little people that were shining in his mind turned into shining lines and arrowheads that darted around in his body.
Unconsciously, it changed his flesh and bones.
An incredible thing happened.
Leaf’s bones seemed to melt, and his whole body became soft.
All the rat people were huddled together, like a strong mountain of meat.
In the mountain of meat, there were still punches and kicks, knees and teeth colliding.
But Leaf easily squeezed through the gaps between people.
Even if he was. .h.i.t in the vital parts by the seemingly fierce elbows and knees.
His vital parts would also sink in reflexively at the critical moment.
Just like that, Leaf moved freely and sneaked to the two rat people who were confronting each other.
He reached out his hand from under the dirty water.
His arm seemed to have no joints, and soon it exceeded the limit of its length.
It was even like a real python, turning three to five corners and bending to an angle that no one had expected.
The surroundings were extremely chaotic. Everyone’s attention was focused on the fried mandrake fruit and each other’s burning red eyes.
No one noticed that this unremarkable looking little guy was actually taking advantage of the muddy waters.
“Now!”
Leaf’s eyes suddenly widened, and his shoulders sank. From the sewage, he fiercely crashed into the legs of the red-eyed rat people who was holding onto the fried mandrake fruit tightly.
This red-eyed rat person did not expect that there would be a sneak attack in the dirty water. He was caught off guard and fell backward.
He still could not bear to let go.
But the “old enemy” on the other side had already pounced on him.
More red-eyed rat people fought to be the first to rush forward. Layer upon layer, they pressed the two of them at the bottom.
But they all missed.
The moment when this red-eyed rat person finally let go…
Leaf’s right arm, which was longer than an elephant’s trunk, actually extended another half an arm’s distance and caught the fried mandrake fruit just right!
“I got it!”
Leaf was ecstatic.
He hurriedly let the flashing lines and arrowheads in his body flow in the opposite direction, trying to retract his arm.
But…
His “ability” was, after all, a beginner’s skill and had no one to teach it to, so it was sometimes effective and sometimes not.
He was also hungry and full of injuries, seriously affecting his performance.
Even though he successfully retracted his arm.
His speed was slightly slower.
It made the other red-eyed rat people realize…
“This kid s.n.a.t.c.hed the food!”
The dozens of red-eyed rat people who didn’t manage to s.n.a.t.c.h the food simultaneously threw half of their hungry and half of their angry gazes at Leaf.
Even though other people also had unfinished fried mandrake fruits in their hands.
However, this little guy was obviously the easiest target.
Leaf’s heart sank to the bottom.
He held the fried mandrake fruit in his hands and greedily buried his head in it. He took a deep breath.
His chubby mother appeared in front of him again. She held a large basket of fried mandrake fruit sticks and looked at him with a smile.
“Eat it, Leaf,” his mother said with a smile.
“Eat it, Leaf,” his brother said with a smile.
“Wow, the fried mandrake fruit sticks made by Leaf’s mother are getting better and better!” Anjia, whose cheeks were stuffed to the brim, stared at him with his big round eyes and said vaguely.
Leaf made up his mind.
He used all his strength and jumped back to the corner, next to the corpse with black hair and black eyes.
It did not matter anymore.
As long as he could eat one more bite of the fried mandrake fruit that his mother had personally made.
Even if he died of the plague, he would turn into a pile of mud in the depths of the dungeon.
He didn’t care about anything anymore.
The red-eyed rat people probably didn’t dare to go up and s.n.a.t.c.h it because of the plague’s power.
But their eyes became exceptionally strange.
It was as if a good show was about to begin, filled with excitement and antic.i.p.ation.
“Look, another idiot has taken the bait!”
“Now we can finally know whether he’s dead or Not!”
“I bet he’s dead. He hasn’t moved for an entire day!”
“He’s not moving, he’s not breathing, his heart isn’t even beating!”
“No, wasn’t it the same the last few times? He’s definitely still alive!”
“Impossible. Come, come, come, what’s the bet?”
“I’ll bet a fried mandrake fruit!”
“Two, I’ll bet two!”
The red-eyed rat people were rubbing their hands in excitement.
Leaf did not understand what they were talking about.
All he heard was the word “bet.”
He also realized that these malicious fellows were looking over his shoulder and focused on the dark corner behind him.
Their gazes were exactly the same as the blood hoof warriors who were betting on whether the rat captives could successfully cross the Bison River.
Behind Leaf, it was still as silent as a grave.
However, the little person inside his body clearly felt that there were extremely weak ripples in the sewage.
All the flashing lines and arrowheads were like rabbits that had encountered a ferocious beast and were frightened. They curled up into a ball and were shivering.
Before Leaf could react…
He was knocked to the ground by a strange force behind him.
It was the horrible corpse!
No, this ugly guy with black hair and black eyes, covered in wounds, was not dead yet!
His arm, which seemed to be as thin as a burnt tree branch, was terrifyingly strong. He controlled half of Leaf’s body with one hand.
His heart, which had been as silent as a rock a moment ago, was now beating crazily like a war drum. Dong dong dong. Dong dong dong.
Leaf’s heart was trembling.
His skin, which had been as cold as a lizard before, was now flowing with magma-like heat.
His black eyes, which seemed to be devoid of any ripples and glimmers in the starless night, were even more like an eruption of a volcano, spurting out a light that could burn everything.
It made Leaf feel that the black-haired ratfolk before him was even more terrifying than the broken-horned Minotaur warrior who had entered Totem Frenzy.
The gap between the two sides was too big.
The fried mandrake fruit that Leaf had painstakingly obtained was instantly s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the black-haired ratfolk.
Many of the onlookers had already antic.i.p.ated this scene.
However, they still laughed loudly, unable to contain their joy.
They clapped their hands and cheered loudly for the black-haired ratfolk’s camouflage skills and instantaneous explosive ability.
“He’s not dead yet!”
“He really can’t die no matter how much he dies!”
“After eating this fried mandrake fruit, I bet this mute can live for another three days!”
“Three days? Then you’ll definitely lose. He can live for at least another five days. I bet five days!”
“If another silly kid comes and delivers the mandrake fruit to his mouth, he can even last for ten days. Even if we all die, he might not even die!”
“This guy is really interesting, really interesting!”