5: Chapter 5 Slaves

On the third day, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Lin Xuan quietly rose.

He wrapped the trap components and the bait ball in a piece of cloth and tied it around his waist.

He gently pushed open the courtyard gate; the morning dew on the bamboo leaves was icy cold. The neighboring courtyard was silent; Chen Hao had been Cultivating until midnight last night and should still be fast asleep at this moment.

Lin Xuan took a deep breath of the cool air, which carried the fresh scent of bamboo leaves, identified his direction, and headed towards the back of Emerald Bamboo Peak, where there were fewer signs of human activity.

The further he walked toward the back mountain, the more indistinct the path became, and the traces of human clearing almost disappeared.

The dense bamboo forest blocked out the sky and sun, making the light dim. The ground was covered with a thick layer of humus that felt soft and spongy underfoot, and the air was filled with the scent of damp soil and rotting branches and leaves.

Occasionally, startled birds would flutter into the air, or unknown insects would rustle as they crawled through the fallen leaves.

Lin Xuan walked cautiously, trying his best not to make any loud noises, his eyes scanning his surroundings vigilantly.

He dared not venture too deep, confining his activities to the outer perimeter to find a suitable location to set his traps.

Eventually, he chose a relatively open clearing in the forest. Beside it was a small cluster of low-growing, serrated-leaf shrubs, and there was a faint, lingering scent of herbs in the air that was different from the bamboo leaves.

According to the description provided by the Utility Disciple, the Herb-Seeking Mouse favored this type of environment.

He carefully inspected the surroundings, confirming there were no tracks or droppings of large wild beasts, and then acted quickly.

Near the shrubs, he used natural bamboo roots or small tree trunks to set up a snare trap.

At the edge of another clearing where there were a few fresh mouse droppings, he set up a pressure plate trap.

The bait ball was carefully placed on the trigger mechanism; the faint sweetness of the Spiritual Rice and wild fruits slowly wafted through the damp air.

After finishing all this, Lin Xuan retreated to a dense bamboo thicket a dozen yards away, using the terrain and shadows to conceal himself, holding his breath and focusing his mind as he began to wait.

Time ticked away bit by bit. In the forest, there was only the rustling of the wind through the bamboo leaves and the various faint sounds of insects.

The damp ground vapors and the long period of stillness made Lin Xuan feel somewhat cold, but he dared not relax in the slightest, his eyes fixed tightly on the direction of the traps.

An hour passed, with no movement at all.

Two hours passed, and only an unknown mountain bird hopped by, curiously looked at the bait, and flew away.

Lin Xuan's heart slowly sank. Could his judgment have been wrong? Or was the Herb-Seeking Mouse too alert and had seen through this crude trap?

Just when he was about to give up and prepare to try another place, the target appeared.

It was a small beast, slightly longer than a palm, with grayish-brown fur all over its body, a pointed snout, and long whiskers. Its pair of black-bean-like eyes darted around, making it appear extremely alert.

It cautiously poked its head out from behind a cluster of dense ferns, its nose twitching incessantly—it was indeed the Herb-Seeking Mouse!

It was clearly attracted by the scent of the bait, but its innate caution made it afraid to rush forward.

It prowled around the periphery of the trap, occasionally stopping to look around, and occasionally darting forward a few steps. Lin Xuan's heart jumped to his throat, and he almost stopped breathing.

Finally, the desire for that tiny bit of Spiritual Qi overcame its caution. The Herb-Seeking Mouse lunged forward, aiming straight for the bait ball under the pressure plate trap!

"Click."

With an extremely faint sound, the branch supporting the stone slab was triggered!

"Bang!"

The flat stone slab, about a foot square, slammed down!

"Squeak—!"

A short, shrill scream rang out! The Herb-Seeking Mouse's hindquarters and one hind leg were firmly pinned under the edge of the stone slab!

It struggled desperately, its upper body twisting; the sharp edge of the slab almost sliced it in two, and blood stained its gray fur and the fallen leaves below.

Lin Xuan immediately leaped from his hiding spot and rushed over!

Seeing a human figure, the Herb-Seeking Mouse struggled even more violently, its eyes filled with fear and madness. It turned its head and even tried to bite the stone slab pinning it down with its tiny teeth.

Lin Xuan did not hesitate in the slightest; he knew he had to finish this quickly to avoid the scent of blood attracting other things. He raised his foot, aimed his heel at the Herb-Seeking Mouse's exposed head, and stomped down hard!

With a muffled "thud," the struggling and screaming came to an abrupt end.

The Herb-Seeking Mouse went limp, its body only twitching slightly due to nerve reflexes; it was on its last breath, not far from death.

Success! A surge of excitement rose in Lin Xuan's heart, but his hands did not stop moving.

He quickly moved the stone slab away, used the prepared cloth strip to wrap up the severely injured, dying Herb-Seeking Mouse, which had completely lost the ability to resist, along with the blood-stained fallen leaves, and tied it into a bundle. Then, he quickly cleaned up the blood at the scene, retrieved the other untriggered snare trap, and hurried back along the path he came from without looking back.

He was on edge the entire way back, but fortunately, he did not encounter any other Disciples or wild beasts.

Returning to the small courtyard in Zone C, he slipped into the house and closed the door of the Quiet Room. Only then did Lin Xuan lean against the door panel and let out a long sigh of relief, his heart still pounding.

After recovering for a moment, he calmed his mood and placed the cloth bundle on the ground to open it. The Herb-Seeking Mouse was already motionless, with only the extremely faint rise and fall of its chest indicating it was still alive; due to severe injuries and massive blood loss, it had fallen into a deep coma and could stop breathing at any moment.

"Now is the time!"

Lin Xuan did not hesitate any longer; he focused his mind and Qi, communicating with the spirit control tower in his Sea of Consciousness.

With a thought, the lowest level of the spirit control tower lit up slightly. An intangible and formless, yet truly existing connection extended from the tower, passed through Lin Xuan's brow, and landed on the dying Herb-Seeking Mouse on the ground.

"Slave Contract, sign!"

There were no brilliant lights or shadows, no grand momentum.

A cold, absolutely dominant will descended along that connection, easily breaking through the Herb-Seeking Mouse's pitifully weak self-consciousness barrier, and branded a complex and profound dark golden tower-shaped mark in the deepest part of its Soul.

The moment the mark formed, Lin Xuan clearly felt that an absolute master-servant connection had been established between himself and this small beast on the ground.

He could even vaguely perceive the only remaining instincts of the other party at this moment—the fear of death and the numbness of intense pain.

At the same time, simple information about this Herb-Seeking Mouse was fed back: Unranked, male, talent "Faint Spiritual Qi Scent (Elementary)".

Talent: Faint Spiritual Qi Scent (Elementary) — possesses an unnaturally keen perception of weak fluctuations of Spiritual Qi in the air and soil, especially skilled at locating low-grade spiritual plants.

"As expected!" A wave of joy rose in Lin Xuan's heart. For him right now, this talent was far more practical than any strength or speed!

The spirit control tower transmitted a faint suction force again. With a thought from Lin Xuan, the Herb-Seeking Mouse on the ground, along with the cloth wrapping it, instantly vanished from the Quiet Room.

His consciousness sank into the internal space of the spirit control tower.

Under the gray, hazy sky, on the desolate sandy ground, there was a small lump. The severely injured and dying Herb-Seeking Mouse lay there, its breath weak.

But the moment it entered the space inside the tower, a trace of imperceptible dark golden light flowed across the lowest level of the tower, and a weak but pure, strange energy enveloped the Herb-Seeking Mouse.

Although the terrifying wounds on its body did not heal immediately, the bleeding stopped, and its life force stabilized, no longer sliding toward the abyss of death.

Clearly, the spirit control tower had the ability to maintain the basic life state of signed living beings, even if it was only the most Elementary space.

Lin Xuan's consciousness withdrew from the spirit control tower.

The Quiet Room was empty, with only a few uncleaned bloodstains on the floor. He quickly cleaned them up.

After finishing all this, he finally felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, but his spirit was exceptionally excited.

Success! He possessed his first "slave" beast; although weak, it possessed a key characteristic. More importantly, he had verified the function of the spirit control tower and found the first step to breaking the vicious cycle!

He did not choose to share the Herb-Seeking Mouse's "Faint Spiritual Qi Scent" talent.

In the Qi Refinement Stage, there were only two precious sharing slots, which must be used where they were most needed.

Although the Herb-Seeking Mouse's talent was practical, its level was too low; in the future, he could completely find a Yao Beast with a stronger olfactory talent to share.

For now, he only needed to utilize the ability itself.

"Next, it's just waiting for you to recover a bit, then I'll take you to find 'medicine'." Lin Xuan looked at the empty ground, a smile of anticipation appearing on the corner of his mouth.

Outside the window, it was nearly noon. Faint bell chimes came from afar; it was time for lunch.

Lin Xuan composed his mood, opened the Quiet Room door, and walked out. The sunlight was a bit dazzling, but his eyes were brighter than at any moment in the past.