45: The fish were stolen?

When the Soul Blade sliced into the lion's Soul, it was accompanied by the violent struggle of six Souls.

The flesh was stitched together, and the Souls were correspondingly bound.

A single move affects the whole body!

Chi Yu's attack finally interrupted the Fallen Three-Headed Monster's assault, buying Xu Kui and the others nearly two seconds of retreat time.

"Thanks, boss! We're pulling out first!"

By the time the voice reached him, Xu Kui and the others had already used acceleration skills and vanished from sight.

Chen Fei watched them leave, then had Chi Yu return to the beast taming space to rest while he retreated into the shadows.

He was currently no match for the Fallen Three-Headed Monster; staying any longer would be unwise.

Only the Fallen Three-Headed Monster, having lost its target, was left roaring incessantly in the air... Inside a cave!

This place had originally been the territory of a Third-level Beast, but it was now occupied by Chen Fei.

After turning it into a comfortable little nest and starting a fire, he scattered some ashes of a Fourth-level Beast at the cave entrance to prevent most low-level Yao Beasts from intruding.

"Little Gu, share vision!"

The vision shared by Little Gu this time was quite unique—dimly lit within the darkness and constantly moving.

Not because it was night, but because it was underground.

The moment the severed body of the Earth-Splitting Demon Worm fled, Chen Fei had instructed Little Gu to send a Night-Sniffing Rat to track it.

The Night-Sniffing Rat was not a combat type, but it was exceptionally skilled at scent tracking and possessed night vision.

This allowed them to move freely underground.

Following its trail, the Night-Sniffing Rat finally discovered the severed body of the Earth-Splitting Demon Worm, which was quietly curled up and recovering from its injuries.

Chen Fei picked up a map of the Baiyue Mountain Range, which was divided into 60 sectors, each patrolled by two Reconnaissance Squads on rotating shifts.

The inner circle was labeled A, the middle zone B, and the periphery C.

Their current location was at the junction of Sector B48 and Sector C48.

Chen Fei picked up a pen and a ruler: "Report the position!"

Little Gu contacted Little Gu inside the Night-Sniffing Rat's body and then estimated: "About 30 kilometers to our northwest."

Chen Fei quickly circled a location on the map: the junction of Sector A36 and Sector B36.

This meant the severed body of the Earth-Splitting Demon Worm was at the edge of the inner circle.

Chen Fei didn't dare to venture deep into this location yet; his life was more important.

"It seems I'll have to find a way to lure it out!"

Chen Fei couldn't beat the Fallen Three-Headed Monster, but he wanted to use the Earth-Splitting Demon Worm for practice.

The Earth-Splitting Demon Worm primarily had tenacious vitality, but its skills weren't overly powerful.

Most importantly, its size was too massive, which in Chen Fei's eyes was its most fatal flaw—perfectly suited for a sneak attack by a small Yao Beast like Little Gu.

*Growl...*

As his stomach growled, Chen Fei realized he hadn't eaten for most of the day.

He took a dressed Vanilla Rabbit out of the Sacred Codex Space.

These rabbits loved to eat various aromatic herbs, and over time, their meat became infused with their scent, making them perfect for roasting.

With a bit of salt and pepper, it would be an excellent delicacy.

"Chi Yu, Little Gu, time to eat!"

Chi Yu was much larger than Little Gu, but it didn't eat much; two rabbit legs were enough.

Little Gu, on the other hand, was a pure foodie; an entire rabbit wasn't enough for it.

Fortunately, the Sacred Codex Space was large enough, and having earned plenty of Spirit Stones recently, Chen Fei didn't have to worry about food at all.

Next, Chen Fei took out five Earth Spirit Fish, each weighing about two pounds.

These fish lived year-round in underground spiritual springs, and their meat was rich in Spiritual Qi.

The fish meat was delicate and rich with an excellent texture, making it a top-tier culinary ingredient.

Using the heads and tails for stew and the bodies for roasting, the aroma would be absolutely irresistible.

Even Chi Yu, who was already full, couldn't resist having another one.

"Chen Fei, I want more! I want more!" Little Gu had already finished two but was still not full.

Chen Fei looked helpless; Little Gu, with its Devour skill, was too hard to handle. "No more. The remaining two are mine!"

If Devour ever upgraded to Devourment, what would happen then?

It would eat him out of house and home!

Since Chen Fei wouldn't agree, Little Gu pleaded with Chi Yu: "Chi Yu, look, you can't finish it anyway. Why not give this half to me?"

Without even looking up, Chi Yu pushed away the drooling Little Gu with a paw: "Go away, you're bothering my meal!"

Little Gu was on the verge of tears: "Do you think I want to be like this? But I'm really not full!"

Smallest body, biggest appetite—who could it even complain to!

After drinking a bowl of soup, Chen Fei was actually about 80% full. Fine, he'd give the remaining Earth Spirit Fish to Little Gu.

But as he reached out... Huh? Where's the fish?

Wait, it was clearly roasting right there just a moment ago!

Chen Fei instantly got goosebumps. "Enemy attack! On guard!"

Chi Yu immediately dropped its unfinished grilled fish and moved to Chen Fei's side, while Little Gu jumped straight onto Chen Fei's shoulder.

The man and the two beasts were tense, ready to strike at any moment.

But after waiting for a while, there was no movement.

"Chen Fei, aren't you being too paranoid? My descendants outside say nothing has passed by." Little Gu looked at the tense Chen Fei.

"No, my fish was stolen. Something clearly has been here!"

Chen Fei's words gave Chi Yu and Little Gu a creepy feeling.

They were only a meter or so away from that last grilled fish, yet they hadn't noticed anything despite being so close.

This... this was too terrifying.

"How about you roast another one and see, Chen Fei?"

Chen Fei immediately understood Little Gu's meaning—use another one as bait to see if the fish would be stolen again.

No sooner said than done!

Chen Fei even specifically sprinkled more spices to see what would happen.

Then, he used the Hidden Origin Art to conceal himself and the two beasts.

Suddenly!

The flames flickered. The man and two beasts focused; something must be coming.

Chen Fei instructed: "Chi Yu, be ready to strike at any moment. Use Soul Stripping directly; don't hold back your skills now."

"Roger!"

The next second!

The shadow near the grilled fish churned, and a black paw quickly emerged from it, snatched the fish, and then swiftly retracted.

The speed was so fast it left the man and two beasts in awe.

In the brief moment between Chi Yu's reaction and the attempt to cast its skill, the paw had already vanished.

Chen Fei and the two beasts seemed to have been hit by a pause button, all of them stunned.

"That speed is unmatched!"

"Fortunately, it's only a Third-level Beast!"

"If I'm not mistaken, that should have been... a cat's paw, right?"

There are very few cat-type Yao Beasts in the Baiyue Mountain Range; it was quite a coincidence for them to encounter one.

Because the cat demon disappeared so quickly, Chen Fei only caught a glimpse of the words "Third-level Rank 1" before it was gone.

But for a Third-level Rank 1 to have such speed and the ability of Shadow Manipulation, it must be a quite rare Yao Beast, right?

Chen Fei took out a few more Earth Spirit Fish.

I don't believe I can't catch you...