Chapter 31: Stranger

The feeling of swinging with full force and missing was extremely unpleasant. Su Li felt a rush of air caught in his throat, and he was momentarily unable to catch his breath.

As his iron rod missed, the Water Rat Beast darted up in front of him and viciously bit his left thigh.

Su Li groaned in pain. Fortunately, his reaction was quick. He clenched his left hand into a fist, activated the “Gluttony Fangs,” and swung downward.

The four ten-centimeter-long Gluttony Fangs sank deep into the Water Rat Beast’s head, slicing its brain open.

Su Li immediately kicked out with his left leg, shoving away the Water Rat Beast whose head was now split by several terrible cuts.

A Spiritual Source shot into Su Li’s body, and a message finally appeared in his mind.

“Level 2 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 4/20”

After killing one Water Rat Beast, two more appeared on either side, climbing onto the raft. One lunged toward Su Li, and the other made for Xu Xuehui.

Even more fatally, another Water Rat Beast ignored the two people on the raft and began gnawing on the raft itself.

“Those cursed beasts!” Su Li watched, horrified and enraged. A heat rushed through his body—the power of the newly absorbed Spiritual Source—spreading through his limbs and bones, accelerating the healing of his various wounds.

The veins on his right hand, gripping the iron rod, bulged like earthworms. He ignored the Water Rat Beast lunging at him and turned, charging toward Xu Xuehui.

Xu Xuehui was just an ordinary girl. She couldn’t even kill a low-level Corpse Beast; she stood no chance against the terrifying Water Rat Beast.

The Water Rat Beast could probably sever her delicate white neck in one go.

Su Li feared loneliness and did not want to be alone again. He needed a companion.

He had finally found someone, and he couldn’t afford to lose her.

Therefore, he could not let Xu Xuehui die.

Letting out a roar, Su Li’s speed suddenly accelerated. The raft rocked violently as he moved, yet he sprinted across the unstable raft even faster than the Water Rat Beast. He slammed the iron rod outward.

With a “bang,” the iron rod landed squarely on the back of the Water Rat Beast attacking Xu Xuehui.

The crisp sound of a breaking spine rang out. The Water Rat Beast let out a sharp, desperate shriek, its back collapsing.

Su Li, having charged too fast, lost his balance. He stumbled and fell off the raft, crashing heavily into the water.

The event was sudden. Su Li had no time to react. A mouthful of water rushed into his mouth, and he began to cough violently.

A searing pain hit his back—the stab of fangs sinking into his back muscles.

Su Li realized his back had been attacked and bitten by a Water Rat Beast. Immediately after, a sharp pain shot through his calf. Another Water Rat Beast, appearing from the deeper water below, had bitten him. The monster was strong; it bit his calf and desperately pulled him down into the depths.

Su Li was choking on the water, the discomfort in his mouth and nose was immense, and his back and calf were both bitten, with two Water Rat Beasts dragging him down.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds. Su Li was dragged under. Water rushed into his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. The last sound he heard was a cry of alarm from Xu Xuehui.

“It’s over.” The thought flashed through Su Li’s mind.

He didn’t mean that he was finished, but he realized Xu Xuehui’s predicament was dire.

Although he had broken the spine of the Water Rat Beast that attacked her, no one knew how many other Water Rat Beasts were lurking around. He himself was instantly attacked by two the moment he fell into the water. The other Water Rat Beasts would certainly not spare Xu Xuehui.

Her scream clearly indicated she had been attacked. Xu Xuehui was just an ordinary girl. An attack by a Water Rat Beast meant she had no chance of survival.

She was done for.

Thinking that Xu Xuehui was dead, a surge of unspeakable grief and anger rose in Su Li’s heart.

These damned monsters.

Submerged underwater, Su Li held his breath. His body violently rotated and contracted. He bent his body, and although he failed to shake off the Water Rat Beast biting his back, the Gluttony Fangs on his left hand stabbed into the one biting his calf.

The Gluttony Fangs were incredibly sharp. They sliced open deep wounds on the Water Rat Beast’s neck and the back of its head. The cuts were nearly ten centimeters deep, almost severing the monster’s neck completely. The Water Rat Beast instantly perished.

A Spiritual Source merged into his forehead. A message appeared in his mind.

“Level 2 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 5/20”

At the same moment, he counterattacked with his right arm, elbowing the Water Rat Beast biting his back. Suddenly, he saw three dark shadows surge up from the water below, rapidly ascending toward him.

It was three more Water Rat Beasts.

Su Li’s scalp immediately tingled at the sight.

Just then, he heard a “plop,” the sound of a heavy object falling into the water, coming from directly above his head. Su Li hurriedly looked up and saw a human figure falling into the water from the raft above.

“Did Xu Xuehui fall in? No, her body isn’t that large.”

These thoughts flashed through his mind in a fraction of a second. The falling figure quickly unfolded, proving to be more agile in the water than a fish. It instantly dodged past Su Li and dove into the deep water below, landing a punch on the Water Rat Beast biting Su Li’s back.

The punch didn’t look overly destructive; it didn’t even break the monster’s skin. However, the Water Rat Beast that took the blow suddenly froze. Its eyes rolled back, its mouth opened wide, and it went completely rigid. Su Li saw a Spiritual Source emerge from the monster’s body and fly toward the falling figure.

His mind spinning, Su Li suddenly realized: this was another complete stranger, and like him, a Spiritual Source Wielder. The stranger had just jumped from the raft and killed the Water Rat Beast biting his back with one punch. The stranger’s downward speed didn’t slow. He plunged straight toward the three Water Rat Beasts rising from below.

The three Water Rat Beasts scattered quickly, seemingly startled. One lunged upward to attack Su Li, while the other two branched out to attack the descending figure.

Su Li rapidly kicked his legs, driving his body upward. The attacking Water Rat Beast pursued relentlessly. Just as it was about to bite Su Li’s leg, Su Li abruptly tucked his legs up and twisted his body downward. His left arm shot out, and the “Gluttony Fangs” sliced the monster.

The Water Rat Beast’s neck was sliced open by the Gluttony Fangs. A large amount of blood spurted from the wound, which was almost ten centimeters deep, leaving the thin neck barely connected by skin and flesh. The monster died instantly.

Su Li gained another Spiritual Source. The total number of Spiritual Sources in his body became 6/20.

Meanwhile, the large figure that plunged into the depths had excellent aquatic skills. Like an agile fish, he dodged the pincer attack of one of the Water Rat Beasts. He extended his right arm, and his fist smashed heavily into the head of the other Water Rat Beast.

(End of Chapter)