Essence Devouring Art

The Government Office sent people over a few more times afterward.

But the result was no different from the first time.

Perhaps feeling they had lost face, the County Magistrate dispatched a team of highly skilled constables disguised as guards. They hid in the granary, lying in wait overnight, determined to root out the band of thieves.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~

Heavy snow fell from a starless, moonless sky, and the temperature had already dropped below freezing.

Inside the largest warehouse.

Wang ManCang and several constables from the County Yamen were hidden in the rafters, holding their breath and concentrating, their eyes fixed on the grain cellars below.

The constables, as well as Wang ManCang himself, had all reached the Hard and Soft Realm and were reasonably accomplished martial artists.

Even wearing only thin clothes, they didn’t feel the cold. After several hours of lying in wait, they were still full of energy.

"DONG! — DONG, DONG!"

After an unknown amount of time.

The Night Watchman, braving the wind and snow on the street outside the granary, struck his bamboo clapper, the sound echoing through the streets and alleys.

The pattern—one fast beat and two slow—meant it was the third watch of the night.

Wang ManCang and the constables knew that the dead of night had arrived. If the thieves wanted to strike, this was undoubtedly the best time.

About an hour later.

RUSTLE... RUSTLE...

A sound like shifting sand.

It rang out in the silent, dark granary.

Wang ManCang and the constables were instantly alert. They pinpointed the source of the sound and stared intently.

The place was completely empty.

Not a single shadow could be seen.

They could only see the ’level’ of grain in several unsealed cellars continuously dropping.

RUSTLE... RUSTLE...

The rustling of draining grain grew louder.

The entire granary.

The sound rose up from nearly a hundred underground cellars at once, unnervingly clear.

Wang ManCang and the constables were hidden on rafters in different locations, their lines of sight covering the entire granary. They were one hundred percent certain that no one had entered.

’Digging tunnels from below?’

But they had inspected those cellars a few days ago and found no trace of any digging.

’Then who in the world is stealing the grain?’

GULP~

The men all swallowed hard.

A horrifying chill, colder than the harsh winter night, crept into their hearts.

RUSTLE... RUSTLE...

The rustling sound became even louder.

It was as if floodgates had opened in the nearly one hundred cellars, endlessly pouring out grain.

"Son of a bitch! You dare steal my grain!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Suddenly, Wang ManCang’s eyes turned bloodshot. Fear transformed into fury, and with a roar, he leaped down from the rafters.

These hundred grain cellars.

They were his lifeline.

His entire fortune was invested in them.

If it all went down the drain, it would be a fate worse than death for him.

’Man or ghost,’

’Whoever dares to touch my life, I’ll fight them to the death.’

SHHHHH—

Following Wang ManCang’s furious roar.

The rustling sound abruptly ceased.

The grain in the hundred cellars also stopped draining away.

"Something’s happened! Quick, quick, quick!"

"Surround it! Block all the exits!"

"Master, are you alright?"

Hearing Wang ManCang’s roar, the guards outside the granary rushed over with lanterns.

In an instant.

The presence of so many people dispelled the eerie atmosphere.

The entire granary came alive with activity.

There’s courage in numbers, as they say.

The last bit of fear in Wang ManCang’s heart vanished. He quickly ordered the guards who had flooded in to empty one of the cellars.

He was determined to see.

Just what kind of demon or monster was digging up his lifeline.

"Master, we’ve reached the bottom."

After a short while.

The servants had moved all the grain from the cellar. By the light of the lanterns they held, the dark bottom of the cellar was visible, revealing a layer of hard-packed, dry earth.

"This..."

Seeing this, everyone looked at each other and swallowed hard.

The bottom was completely intact.

But the grain was gone.

’Are we really being haunted by a demon?’

"A Demon Technique... It must be a Demon Technique."

When Chief Sun from the Government Office saw this, his face turned pale, and he subconsciously took a few steps back.

They were only at the Hard and Soft Realm.

Against an Alien Species that could use Demon Techniques, they had no power to resist. If they kept investigating, they might not make it out alive.

At this thought.

Chief Sun forced himself to remain calm and said to the shocked and furious Wang ManCang:

"Landlord Wang, you’ve seen it for yourself. This is not the work of humans. The Government Office can’t handle this.

I suggest you contact the Overlord Whale Alliance as soon as possible. They specialize in these matters, and they don’t ask for any payment."

"The Overlord Whale Alliance? Yes, yes, you’re right."

Wang ManCang’s grief-stricken expression lifted, and he quickly called to a nearby servant:

"You few, hurry to the Overlord Whale Alliance’s hall and report this! Tell them there’s a demon here, one that uses Demon Techniques.

Wait, on second thought, I’ll go myself."

Ten-odd minutes later.

BANG!

The granary doors were suddenly kicked open.

A dozen men with imposing physiques, built like iron towers and wearing uniform Dragon Whale Martial Arts Uniforms, barged in.

WHOOSH~

Instantly.

A scorching, ferocious aura filled the entire granary, dispelling the severe cold and causing everyone’s pores to break out in sweat, their hearts filled with awe and fear.

Reputations precede them.

The Overlord Whale Alliance, a massive gray-area power straddling two Prefectures, had remained standing even after Prince Nanyang unified the Nine Prefectures.

This kind of Heaven-Reaching ability...

In the hearts of ordinary people, they were like Living Yamas. One would rather slap the County Magistrate than provoke even a regular member of the Overlord Whale Alliance.

Let alone a whole group of them.

Even knowing they were here to solve the problem, the people in the granary couldn’t suppress their fear. They were silent as cicadas in winter, wishing they could turn invisible on the spot.

"Iron Hall Master, this is the place. Nearly a hundred cellars were robbed at once. It must be the work of a Great Demon."

The breathless Wang ManCang finally caught up, bowing and scraping as he reported the situation to the leader, Tie Meng, the Overlord Whale Alliance’s Hall Master for Linqing County.

Tie Meng had a cold and stern expression. His seven-foot-tall, burly frame carried a heavy, door-panel-sized sword on his back, giving him a naturally imposing air.

It wasn’t just him.

The other members of the Overlord Whale Alliance also wielded oversized weapons that didn’t seem made for human use. Combined with the solid muscles straining their Martial Arts Uniforms, they looked like a pack of demonic, muscle-bound fiends.

"If you don’t want to die, scram. Don’t go blaming fate when it’s too late."

Tie Meng ignored Wang ManCang. After spitting out those cold words, he leaped directly to the bottom of the emptied cellar, landing with a dull thud.

"Landlord Wang, we should go. Now."

Chief Sun warned Wang ManCang and hurried outside, the other servants doing the same.

They had heard about the Overlord Whale Alliance’s methods. Once they targeted an Alien Species, they were ruthless and would stop at nothing, showing no regard for the weak or any collateral damage.

"Sigh~"

Wang ManCang sighed and, knowing what was good for him, also retreated. He prayed that they would keep the commotion to a minimum and not demolish his granary.

RUMBLE—

But the thought had barely crossed Wang ManCang’s mind.

It felt as if a divine elephant had stomped its foot!

The ground beneath his feet shook violently, as if in an earthquake. Like a collapsing cavern, the entire granary shattered and caved in.

In its place.

All that remained was a dark, bottomless Abyss that spewed forth a nauseating, overpowering stench.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK—"

Before anyone could react to the horror.

A cacophony of frantic squeaks erupted from the bottom of the Abyss, and what looked like countless little red lanterns lit up within its depths.

RUSH~

The next moment.

Like a fountain, countless rats surged from the edge of the Abyss, scattering frantically in all directions.

"My grain!"

Wang ManCang fell to his knees in the snow. He stomped a patch of rats to death, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at his collapsed granary.

"Is this really the time to worry about your grain? Let’s go, now!"

Chief Sun rushed over, swatting away the rats climbing on him. A look of terror on his face, he grabbed Wang ManCang and started dragging him away.

’There are too many!’

’It’s too horrible!’

He had been close and, in the red glow from below, had caught a glimpse of a scene that made his skin crawl.

The ground beneath the Abyss.

Had been completely hollowed out!

Turned into a kingdom of rats!

A mountain, an ocean of rats!

Innumerable rats, packed densely together, swarmed like a tidal wave. Deeper within, there were rat kings the size of calves, their eyes glowing like red lanterns.

’And even deeper...’

He didn’t dare to imagine...

"Brothers, we’ve hit the nest! Kill them all!"

Chief Sun and Wang ManCang hadn’t gotten far before they heard Tie Meng’s brutal battle cry from behind them.

Beneath the dark Abyss.

Amidst the roiling sea of rats.

A dozen blood-red furnaces, like small suns, suddenly flared to life. The terrifying heat instantly incinerated thousands upon thousands of rats, turning them to ash.

"Meddlers, die!"

From the depths of the rat sea.

An enraged roar echoed, filled with a king’s authority. More and larger rats surged forth, a black tide crashing over Tie Meng and his men, wave after wave.

"Ah, rats!!"

"Damn it, is this a rat plague?"

"Bastards, don’t eat my grain!"

As the Abyss spewed forth countless rats, sinkholes simultaneously opened up across the city, unleashing tides of rats that swarmed like locusts, frantically devouring the residents’ food supplies.

Some of the larger ones.

Even began to attack livestock. The biggest ones started biting people, and in a short time, many ordinary people had been devoured without a trace.

RUMBLE!!

An even louder collapse thundered.

As Tie Meng and his men fought the rat swarm, the ground continued to crumble. The Abyss kept expanding, threatening to swallow the entirety of Linqing County City.

"Sweet mother of god, how many rats have been hiding here?"

Wang ManCang, his body covered in bites and scratches, struggled to flee toward the city outskirts. Looking back at the ever-expanding Abyss spewing forth rats, his calves were cramping with fear.

"They must have been hiding for years. There were often cases of grain disappearing for no reason in the past."

Chief Sun’s expression was grim as he continuously cut down the swarming rats.

He was a man of the Government Office.

He had some knowledge of the old case files.

Linqing County had fertile land and abundant harvests; it had always been the granary for several surrounding counties.

But starting a few years ago.

The grain yield from Linqing County’s fields had been decreasing year by year. Even the grain that was harvested would often disappear without a trace.

The situation was chaotic in those years.

The common folk had no one to turn to for justice, and nobody investigated these matters closely.

’Looking at it now...’

’All that missing grain must have been eaten by these rats hiding underground.’

’Otherwise...’

’Wang ManCang’s grain alone, a mere drop in the bucket...’

’Could never have sustained such a massive swarm.’

"Run!"

"Mommy, WAHHH..."

"You beasts! A pack of damned beasts!"

As the rat plague erupted, expanded, and surged, Linqing County City descended into total chaos. Cries, curses, and wails of agony intertwined, filling the air with a deafening din.

Heavy snow fell from the sky above.

A sea of rats ravaged the earth below.

The land was frozen, a struggle for survival.

In that moment.

Linqing County City had become a Human World Purgatory.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

At a certain moment.

Far beyond Linqing County City, from all eight directions.

A series of sonic booms suddenly echoed. Snow was plowed through and swept up, forming what looked like angry dragons hurtling toward the city.

Vaguely visible.

At the head of these angry dragons were imposing figures in Overlord Whale Alliance uniforms—Primordial Demons, their auras scorching and ferocious.

The Overlord Whale Alliance’s reinforcements had arrived.

A short while later.

「Lancang County City.」

Deep within the dark sky.

Wu Dao, immersed in the heavenly thunder and lightning, felt his Spiritual Thoughts stir. He sensed a Communication Jade Talisman, bound by a Magnetic Field in the lower sky, begin to vibrate urgently.

CRACKLE—

A thunderbolt shattered, blasting apart the astral winds.

Wu Dao’s figure appeared where the Communication Jade Talisman was. He reached out a massive hand, muscles and sinews rapidly regenerating, and snatched it.

He sent his consciousness into it.

An urgent voice rang out:

"Alliance Leader!"

"Urgent report from Wanshan Prefecture! A terrifying horde of Mouse Demons has appeared in Linqing County City! We suspect they are from the Rat Race, one of the three great Overlord Demon Races of the Southern Border! We can’t hold on much longer!"

’The Rat Race?!’

’Courting death!’

Wu Dao’s expression turned grim, killing intent flaring in his eyes. He unleashed his Divine Desolate Dominating Body. His dazzling golden Dapeng Wings vibrated as he simultaneously manipulated the Magnetic Field to accelerate, vanishing over the horizon of the night sky in the blink of an eye.