Chapter 18 : Chapter 18
Chapter 18: The Rat King That Spoke Human Words
In the underground parking garage, the rat tide suddenly erupted into a frenzy.
A screen of light suddenly lit up before Lu Zhan’s eyes.
【Ding! Detected a rat tide riot. Side Quest triggered】
【Mission Name: Rat Tide Riot】
【Mission Description: Please eliminate the rat tide and investigate the cause behind its outbreak】
【Mission Reward: Talent—Immunity to All Poisons】
【Accept mission?】
Immunity to All Poisons?!!
This talent looked ordinary, but it was extremely practical.
Many aberrant beasts carried viruses, and once infected, the consequences were often fatal for humans.
He just did not know what grade this talent was.
“System, accept the mission.”
In the next moment, a crimson radiance lit up the dim underground parking garage.
It was a red so eerie that it seemed almost demonic.
Immediately afterward, Tao Xiao’an and the others felt a killing intent so cold it pierced straight to the bone.
“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”
Shrill cries from Demon Beasts rang out throughout the underground parking garage.
The sound was utterly miserable.
Not only the people in the garage heard it, even the residents of the entire Anxi Residential Complex heard it.
It was enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
“Damn, Lu Zhan... no, wait, Brother Lu, you are way too incredible.”
Looking at the mangled Demon Beast corpses exploding into flesh and blood, Zhou Hong swallowed hard.
The red light splashed through the underground garage like blood, condensing into saber-shaped patterns of light.
In an instant, the rat swarm in the garage broke apart like a collapsing tide.
As for the giant rats in the front row, their fleshy tumors had not even had time to twitch before they were crushed into a bloody mist by the crimson saber aura.
Patter, patter!
A rain of blood began to fall throughout the entire garage.
At the same time, system notifications kept sounding from time to time in Lu Zhan’s ears.
【Ding! Detected that the host has slain a Demon Beast at the First Heaven of the Qi Condensation Realm. Reward: 100 Slaughter Points】
【Ding! Detected that the host has slain...】
...
Lu Zhan had no time to check the rewards.
He only grew more excited the more he killed. Once he charged into the slaughter, he no longer cared about anything else.
“Lu Zhan, be careful. We are teammates, teammates.”
Not only did the Demon Beasts tremble in fear at the sight of him, even Tao Xiao’an was nervous. She was afraid that after killing too many, Lu Zhan might lose himself and give her a slash as well.
“It is fine. This rat tide may look large, but only seven or eight of them have actually undergone demonic transformation. I can handle them all by myself. Hurry up and block their retreat. Do not let them escape.”
As he spoke, Lu Zhan killed another transformed rat.
Zhou Hong swallowed again.
This was savage as hell.
They carefully withdrew to the rear to cut off the back route.
They mainly dealt with the small fry that had not yet undergone demonic transformation.
With that, Lu Zhan guarded one side alone, while Tao Xiao’an and the other five guarded the other.
Without teammates getting in his way, Lu Zhan fought even more ferociously.
He was practically a human-shaped meat grinder.
“Kill!”
A shrill voice rang out from somewhere unknown.
From one patch of shadow emerged a large gray rat wrapped all over in talismans. It had horns growing from its rat head, and its tail was scaled like a serpent’s. It was clearly the intelligent commander of the Rat Demons—the Rat King!
At its order, every rat charged straight at Lu Zhan.
“Lu Zhan, be careful. They are all coming at you.”
Tao Xiao’an warned him and tried to go over to support him.
Yet a barrier suddenly separated them.
“Damn it, when did this barrier appear? Lu Zhan, hold on a little longer. We will break through it and come help you at once.”
Tao Xiao’an was growing anxious.
She hurled martial arts at the screen of light as though her life depended on it.
“Heh, my children, kill him.”
That voice sounded again through the underground parking garage.
Lu Zhan was somewhat surprised. This Rat King could actually speak human words.
Ordinarily, Demon Beasts could not refine their transverse bone and speak human language before the Third Realm.
Yet this Rat King had accomplished it.
But as Lu Zhan looked at the endless swarm of rats surging toward him, he did not panic in the slightest.
“Oh? This Rat King of yours is rather sensible. But surely you do not think I will spare you just because you are sensible?”
Lu Zhan lifted his saber and charged straight in.
Head-on. Not the slightest bit afraid.
“Sharp-tongued human! In a moment, this king will dig out your brains and eat them. A Martial Artist’s brains are the most delicious of all.”
The Rat King felt that the human before it had gone mad.
It wanted him dead, yet he said it was sensible. He was utterly incomprehensible.
What it did not know was that if it had not trapped Tao Xiao’an and the others, how great Lu Zhan’s losses would have been.
That was Slaughter Points.
Lu Zhan already felt there were not enough Demon Beasts to kill as it was. The thought of other people stealing his kills made his heart ache.
“Eat my brains? Come on, then. If you have the guts, stop hiding and show your face...”
Lu Zhan mocked.
The rat tide really was troublesome. There was a reason it had been listed as a D-rank mission.
The main reason was simply that there were too damn many of them.
Endless.
While Zhou Hong attacked the barrier trapping them, he also kept watching the battle on Lu Zhan’s side.
When he saw Lu Zhan’s movement art, he could not help crying out in shock.
“Damn, Perfection-stage Glimmering Light Shadow Escape. Brother Lu really is a newcomer?”
What he did not know was that Lu Zhan’s Glimmering Light Shadow Escape had already reached the Entering the Divine stage.
“Oh, you have studied this martial art? Then why have I never seen you use it?”
Tao Xiao’an was a little surprised.
“Sister Tao, it is not that simple. This martial art demands too much talent. I only saw it once in the Scripture Pavilion, but I heard that the higher the stage you cultivate it to, the dimmer the flowing light beneath your feet becomes.”
“At Brother Lu’s level, that is exactly the sign of Glimmering Light Shadow Escape at Perfection.”
“Sigh. It would be one thing if Brother Lu’s strength had already caught up to us. But now even his martial art proficiency has left us far behind. There really is no justice in the world.”
Zhou Hong looked as though he were complaining, but in truth, he was simply flattering him.
The Rat King watched Lu Zhan continuously slaughtering its subordinates and grew displeased.
Had this human been fighting for so long without growing tired?
No.
It could not allow this human to go on massacring them.
Though the number of ordinary rats was enormous, at this rate of attrition, they would not last long.
It only needed to show itself briefly, strike, and hide again.
Yes, that was what it would do.
Then, taking advantage of the moment when Lu Zhan was tied up on all sides, the Rat King shot out three streaks of golden light.
The streaks were incredibly fast and flew straight toward Lu Zhan.
“Human, die!”
The human before it gave it an intense sense of danger.
So he had to die.
“Brother Lu, watch out.”
The moment Zhou Hong saw it, he hurriedly shouted a warning, but it was already too late.
“What a crafty beast. You actually launched a sneak attack.”
Yet Lu Zhan was not surprised in the least. In truth, he had been guarding against an ambush from the shadows all along.
He shifted his body slightly.
Glimmering Light Shadow Escape at the Entering the Divine stage left behind an afterimage where he had been standing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The golden lights brushed past Lu Zhan’s clothes and slammed into the concrete floor.
“Heh, little rat, you finally decided to show your head.”
The entire underground parking garage lit up with crimson radiance as streak after streak slashed down like rain toward a dark corner.
“You wanted to show your face, did you? The moment you show it, I will kill you instantly!”
In truth, the Rat King might not necessarily be all that strong. The main problem was that it was too slippery. It hid behind the rat tide and simply refused to reveal itself.
Just now, when it tried to attack Lu Zhan, it naturally exposed a flaw.
Even so, most of that strike had been blocked by the rat tide with their flesh and blood.
Only a small portion of the saber aura had landed on the Rat King.
“Human, you seek death.”
The Rat King was furious. Twice, a full two times.
That human had actually dared to injure it twice. And whether by coincidence or not, both wounds had struck the exact same place.
It was the mighty Rat King.
How could it endure such a thing?