Bloody Food

Chapter 3 Bloody Food

"Young man, I'll need you to lead the way. That demon rat shouldn't have gone far yet," Xu Dahuang said cheerfully, patting Ling Tianyu's shoulder firmly.

"Don't worry, we've got you covered. When the fight starts, just hide behind Xiao Ke. She's a water mage, she'll protect you perfectly!"

Ling Tianyu readily agreed. As an ordinary person who hadn't even awakened magic, why would he go and fight demons head-on? Was he tired of living and wanted to be reincarnated?

Although hiding behind a young girl was somewhat embarrassing, Ling Tianyu valued his life more.

The group climbed the small hill along the narrow mountain path they had previously followed. Apart from Ling Tianyu, everyone present was a powerful and experienced mage. They quickly noticed clues about the presence of demons under Ling Tianyu's guidance.

"Come look at this, everyone!"

The man in green, Li Wenjie, was a wind mage and the team's scout, responsible for reconnaissance and keeping the demons at bay. He approached a grove of trees and spoke.

"These are the footprints of the Giant-Eyed Blood Rat, little brother, you guessed right!" Xu Dahuang praised.

"Be careful, these footprints look very fresh. This demon is definitely nearby!" Xiao Ke warned.

"Wenjie, go and scout around the area and find out where the demon rat is."

"No problem!" Li Wenjie nodded in agreement. It seemed that he hadn't even focused on drawing the connecting stars when a blue wind appeared around him, causing his clothes to flutter incessantly.

Ling Tianyu felt a gust of wind rush towards his face, and Li Wenjie's figure had already disappeared before his eyes, leaving only a wisp of wind in the place.

"This is a level three wind track. It not only increases speed compared to level two, but also leaves afterimages in place to interfere with judgment," Xiao Ke explained from the side.

As Ling Tianyu watched Li Wenjie's figure disappear in an instant, he was both shocked and filled with longing and anticipation.

"I'm sure I'll be able to master the power of magic in the future!" Ling Tianyu thought firmly, fiddling with the little Qilin pendant.

"Alright, let's not just sit around, let's all go out and look for them. These gutter rats aren't actually that dangerous, they basically avoid people!" Xu Dahuang, as the team leader, directed the search methodically.

"Forget about Ling Tianyu, he'll stay behind Xiao Ke. Everyone else, do as I say!"

…………

"That beast!" Li Wenjie's furious voice came from afar.

"What's wrong?"

The group rushed towards Li Wenjie's direction, only to witness a bloody scene:

A barely recognizable human corpse was brutally dismembered, its internal organs, severed limbs, and bloodstains scattered and seeping into the ground. The scene was indescribable and would be completely pixelated if posted online.

The horrific scene caused all the members of the demon-hunting team to frown. Even the two girls in the team turned away, unable to bear the sight.

"Ugh!" The members of the demon-hunting team were used to death, but Ling Tianyu, whether in his past life or this one, was a good young man of the new era. Where had he ever seen such a scene before? This kind of scene is common in horror movies, but the experience on screen and in reality are two completely different concepts.

The visually striking scene and the overwhelming stench of blood made Ling Tianyu feel nauseous and vomit. He leaned against a tree and dry heaved, as if he were about to throw up everything he had eaten the day before.

The members of the demon-hunting team were not surprised; compared to Ling Tianyu's reaction, their reaction when they first saw the corpse was no better.

"Young man, how are you?" Fatty patted Ling Tianyu's back and asked with concern.

"Cough cough, much better, thank you!" After a few minutes, Ling Tianyu recovered. Although his head was still a little dizzy, he no longer felt nauseous.

"Not bad, young man!" Li Wenjie said admiringly. "I remember when I first saw something similar, it took me three whole days to recover, and I even had nightmares all night. It seems you have the makings of a good hunter!"

Ling Tianyu forced a smile in response, probably because he had lived two lives and his resilience was far stronger than that of ordinary people.

Experiencing bloodshed now will forge a strong heart, preventing him from becoming flustered when hunting demons later. Let alone middle school students, even students at magic universities rarely experience such scenes. From this perspective, Ling Tianyu has already surpassed many of his peers even before awakening his magic.

"That giant-eyed, bloodthirsty rat dared to kill people! We won't let this beast get away with this!" Xu Dahuang roared, his anger blazing. "The food it ate is still here; it can't have gone far. We must make this beast regret eating humans!"

The demon book describes the Giant-Eyed Blood Rat as one of the most common and widespread demon species in southern cities, with a powerful reproductive ability. Living in the soil, they have developed outstanding burrowing skills. During the crisis in Bo City, the Demon Wolf clan was able to sneak into the city by following the tunnels they dug, bypassing the security barrier.

Generally speaking, the giant-eyed rats are timid. There are always a few of them in city garbage dumps and sewers. Unless they are really starving, they will never eat people.

Normally, the appearance of a giant-eyed blood rat wouldn't warrant the city's monster-hunting team being mobilized, but once it starts eating people, the nature of the matter changes completely.

This isn't as simple as just one person dying. Let's put it this way: which tastes better, a human or discarded fruit and rotten meat? Similarly, after tasting the flavors of humans, will the giant-eyed rats still obediently gnaw on garbage and struggle to survive? It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

In my past life, if an animal ate a human, whether it was a first-class protected animal like a Siberian tiger or a national treasure like a panda, it would all be shot. The same principle applies to the magical world. Letting this man-eating rat go would be tantamount to planting a seed of future trouble; over time, it wouldn't just be one or two people dying!

(End of this chapter)