"Damn you, Qian Sui!"
Du ke rolled down the steep slope, turning into a rolling gourd, rumbling down from the steep slope into the basin.
The steep slope had a drop of about ten meters. Du ke rolled down the whole way and slammed into a stalagmite protruding from the ground.
After hitting the stalagmite, Du ke bounced off like a ball, heavily falling to the ground on his back.
"Damn you..."
Lying on his back, Du ke let out a moan, feeling like everything in his eyes was spinning as he felt nauseous.
Although he had the protection of the Water and Fire Immortal Garment, he was uninjured, but rolling down like this still made his qi and blood churn violently, leaving him dizzy and blinded.
"Awoo!"
Qian Sui let out a meow that spread throughout the basin. Upon hearing this cat's cry, Du ke's ears also pricked up sharply.
"What mischief is this guy up to again?"
Although he felt extremely uncomfortable, Du ke still forced himself to stand up.
There was no hidden meaning in that black cat's howl just now, it was just a simple howl.
Although they didn't spend much time together, Du ke knew that this Qian Sui was capable of causing trouble, and was even stronger than him in some ways.
Not only that, but he was a riddle cat.
Just what did a cat look like? Why make such a big fuss about it instead of just saying it directly?
And now, he didn't even give Du ke any preparation at all, directly knocking him down from such a high steep slope.
If it wasn't for his cultivation of the Water and Fire Immortal Garment, that blow just now would have already turned him into a pile of minced meat.
Having just stood firm, Du ke suddenly heard rustling sounds.
Looking up, in the dimness ahead, there were dense green bean-sized eyes staring at him intently.
With just one glance, Du ke's fur stood on end as his body swelled to two to three times its size. Even his tail turned into a feather duster.
"There must be so many rats!"
Looking at the dense mass of green pupils in front of him, Du ke felt a chill run through his heart.
With so many rats, was it him catching rats or rats catching him?
As Du ke stood motionless, he also stared at the horde of rats.
But soon after, Du ke realized another fact that made his scalp tingle.
That was, as time passed, the rats grew more and more numerous.
He didn't know how many rats were in this basin, but in any case, all the space in front of Du ke was already filled with rats.
The dense mass of bristly rats, each as big as a stool, with their eyes gleaming green, looking as if they hadn't eaten for three days.
As more rats appeared, the ones in front were pushed by the ones behind, and the ones behind pushed the ones in front.
The rat closest to Du ke was no more than two adult paces away.
"Damn you, Qian Sui!"
As Du ke wailed internally, the horde of rats also gradually approached Du ke, squeezing his living space. Seeing the rats get close to him, Du ke subconsciously took a step back.
But with this one step, Du ke's scalp exploded.
Bad, wrong step!
When facing beasts, one must not easily show any signs of fear in action or expression.
Although it was just one step back, it was implicitly telling the beasts in front that you're afraid, you're fearful of them.
And this would only make the beasts even more reckless and drool over the taste of your body.
Now, Du ke had fallen into such a situation.
Seeing Du ke retreat, the horde of rats instantly erupted into chaos as the squeaking of rats filled the air. All the rats surged towards Du ke.
The dense mass of rats scrambled forward, squeezing each other as they formed a wave, pressing down on Du ke like a black mass.
"Hiss!"
Du ke let out a low roar and turned to run.
But behind him was the steep slope he had rolled down. His strength was depleted and his body's reaction was not as good as usual. The numbness and soreness hadn't worn off yet, how could he suddenly run up the steep slope?
As the cat's paws just grabbed the steep slope, trying to spring up, a rat bit his tail and pulled him back down the next second.
Feeling his tail getting bitten, Du ke's eyes instantly bulged wide as he let out a miserable shriek from his throat.
Although the Water and Fire Immortal Garment protected him, rat bites would still hurt!
It wasn't that just because you had thick skin and flesh, you wouldn't feel pain.
Especially since this rat was biting fiercely and rapidly, its sharp teeth slamming heavily into Du ke's tail.
Reflexively withdrawing his tail, Du ke lashed out with a swipe of his paw, utilizing his inner force to send the rat flying away with a slap.
But swatting away one rat did little good.
The rats surrounding him were packed densely, no less than a hundred, and their numbers were still increasing as time passed.
Meanwhile, Qian Sui was squatting on the steep slope, his eyes cold and indifferent like an eagle that pushed unfledged eaglets out of the nest, watching indifferently as Du ke was engulfed by the horde of rats.
There was not a hint of emotional fluctuation in the golden-eyed black cat's eyes that reflected the moonlight. He just watched silently, also waiting silently.
Below the steep slope, Du ke was now pinned under the mass of rats.
His nostrils were filled with the stench of rats, his ears with their mad squeaking, and every part of his body was being gnawed by the pouncing rats.
Countless rats piled on top of Du ke, forming a mountain. More rats kept squeezing towards Du ke's side. Their originally green eyes had now completely turned bloodshot.
Du ke clenched his teeth tightly and glared angrily as he desperately resisted.
He had just pushed away one rat when another immediately came over to bite.
These rats were fairly big, each about the same size as Du ke, some even bigger.
With so many rats madly biting at Du ke, even an iron sheet could be chewed through.
Du ke was in tremendous pain all over his body. He wanted to exert his strength but there were rats everywhere. He simply couldn't push them away or break free.
There was even one hanging from his ear.
As Du ke frantically smacked away the surrounding rats, he desperately exerted all his strength, even continuously squeezing out his stamina.
If he really couldn't break free, he'd probably die!
He'd really die!
His skin and flesh would be chewed through, his blood and meat eaten clean, even his bones would be gnawed into fragments and the bone marrow sucked out.
With this thought, Du ke's pupils instantly shrank into lines thinner than strands of hair. The cat bared his claws, pulled up the corners of his mouth, and squeezed out a roar from his throat like that of a tiger or leopard.
"Roar!!!"
With just this one roar, Du ke forcibly blew away all the rats piled on top of him. Du ke felt his whole body burning with inexplicable coldness as his golden eyes filled with an inexplicable chill.
His blood was burning, boiling, scalding every part of his body.
The cat with golden eyes emitting a pale golden glow, his eyes increasingly dazzling and pure. The undeveloped potential in his bloodline was awakening, and a burst of mysterious momentum rose along with it.
As soon as this momentum rose, Qian Sui on the steep slope pricked up his ears. The corners of his mouth also curled up slightly, his eyes showing satisfaction.
When provoked, this kid was still capable.
With Du ke's aura and cultivation sealed by him, his remaining strength was inferior to even an ordinary adult cat.
In addition, having not eaten at noon, running around the city with him all afternoon until stopping here.
And also being slapped down the steep slope by him, falling into an extremely dangerous situation.
At this moment, the white cat's physiology and psychology had already been squeezed to the limit, like a tightened violin string.
And under the triple pressure of physiology, mentality, and environment, the unexplored potential in his bloodline also began to erupt.
In Qian Sui's perspective, wisps of inexplicable jade white aura were steaming and dissipating from Du ke's entire body. Ordinary people could not see this aura, only existences with special eyes could.
Like spirit cats!
As the jade white aura rose, Du ke's figure also began to gradually blur, as if viewing flowers in a mirror or the moon in water, becoming vague and unreal.
His own sense of existence was also quickly decreasing, like pebbles by the roadside, ripples on a lake, wild grass in the forest that ordinary people would barely notice at all.
Just as Du ke's body began to turn illusory, the surrounding rats were also like headless flies that had lost their target.
Although Du ke was right in front of them, this group of rats just couldn't see him, just like the hounds from the kennels that had previously chased after Du ke, completely losing Du ke's trail and presence.
For Duke, the world in front of him seemed to have been refreshed.
The Duke who had opened Tongguang Tongchen previously had his vision obscured by mist, as if seeing flowers in the fog.
Also, he himself seemed to be wrapped in heavy mist.
But now, this feeling disappeared, only to be replaced by an extremely clear world. He could see every detail.
Whether it was the dust floating in the air, the lice crawling chaotically in the rat's fur closest to him, or everything in the darkness afar.
Everything, everything was clearly presented before his eyes.
Not only that, he only felt that his body was extremely light, as if some shackles had been removed, and he could do anything without relying on his martial arts cultivation.
And he could also sense a strange aura.
"What is this..."
Duke stared blankly sensing the aura.
This aura was everywhere, whether in the air, on the ground, in stones, or even in these disgusting rats, it was everywhere.
And Duke's body instinctively craved this aura.
It was as if this aura he sensed was of great benefit to him.
However, Duke, who could only sense but not touch or shake the aura, could only feel it and comprehend its existence.
At the same time, Qian Sui also slid down from the cliff, floated down lightly, came to Duke and circled around Duke.
As a cultivator, it was easy for Qian Sui to sense Duke's presence.
Let alone they were of the same spiritual cat clan, Qian Sui could clearly see where Duke was.
At the same time, Qian Sui looked at the jade white aura radiating from Duke's body, with increasing satisfaction in his eyes.
"Meow!!"
Qian Sui patted Duke's head with his paw, nodding with a hint of gratification.
Now this looks a bit more like a cat!