The Golden Flame Rat Bite

“…”

“From what the sisters who came back yesterday said, it seems like we’ll get beaten. And if we can’t take it and try to run, we’ll get our limbs cut off if caught. It’s terrifying!”

“Huh~”

“Human sister, what’s wrong? You look really angry.”

Looking at the girl’s naive, confused expression, Qianwei forced down his anger and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

“You… aren’t you afraid?”

“A little bit~ But even the clan leader and Sister Hongye can’t beat them, so there’s nothing we can do… The only pity is that after being caught, I won’t be able to eat this anymore. What a shame~”

As she spoke, Hongxing bent down and picked up a Golden Flame Rat that had crawled out of the magma, its flames gradually extinguishing. The little creature in her arms was adorable—plump and resembling a hamster in shape, only much larger. Its most distinctive feature was its smooth belly, dotted with over a dozen obvious nips…

“Human sister, do you want to hold it? It’s super soft~”

“…”

Snapping out of his speechlessness and confusion, Qianwei glanced at the large rat in her hand. It was unusually docile, not struggling at all as she picked it up. She instinctively raised her hand to take it but felt a slight burning sting in her palm. Fortunately, it was very mild and didn’t cause serious burns.

Ignoring that, the feel was indeed excellent… as soft as his own chest…

“It doesn’t seem to have much wildness or will to live. Kind of irritating,” he thought.

“Hehe, don’t underestimate it. If it undergoes divine beast transformation, it can be very powerful~”

“Mm…”

Ordinary animals can’t actively control the energy within their bodies. But if, by some coincidence, they merge with certain elements, there’s a chance they can transform into divine beasts. Unfortunately, it’s an extremely rare event, and even then, they can’t compare to pure rule-incarnate divine beasts.

It was hard to imagine just how strong this gentle little thing could be. Qianwei squeezed it in her hand, making it squeak in protest. Seeing that even when bullied, it still showed no intention of biting, Qianwei inexplicably grew more irritated. Then he suddenly remembered the hypnotic domination from the Blue Hole—he hadn’t tried it on small animals yet.

The condition for activation was ten seconds of eye contact, and the target’s energy must be equal or lower than his. Since ordinary creatures without intelligence should be controllable, he decided to try. With that thought, Qianwei immediately activated her ability.

Sure enough, the connection for mental domination established very successfully…

“Tch—it worked, but can it understand commands? Bite me… Ow!!!”

Her finger was instantly pierced through. Qianwei screamed in pain and threw the rat away. At that moment, Hongye, who had received the message, teleported in. Seeing Qianwei clutching her bloodied hand and screaming, she burst out laughing.

“Hahaha~ Qianwei, how did you get bitten by a Golden Flame Rat? In our clan, getting bitten by one is something you’ll be mocked for all your life, haha~”

“You’re still laughing!?”

Damn! he thought, furious.

Seeing her wounded and bleeding while Hongye just laughed—it was infuriating!

Qianwei gritted her teeth and looked up, glaring fiercely at Hongye. Then she noticed the other two were also holding back laughter, which only made him angrier. The Golden Flame Rat, thrown aside, rolled over and shook itself. Blood dripped from its mouth as it squeaked twice, looking a bit confused.

Seeing that, Qianwei immediately commanded through the domination corridor for it to continue biting—but this time, he specified a different target.

“Haha… sorry, sorry. It’s just that I haven’t seen a Golden Flame Rat bite anyone in years, hahaha—Huh?”

A sharp pain shot through her leg. Hongye’s expression froze as she looked down to find the small creature hanging from her calf, dark red blood slowly dripping.

“…”

“Serves you right for laughing at me!”

“How is that possible…” she muttered in disbelief.

At that moment, Hongye’s face showed an expression more shaken than when she learned the camp had been attacked.

“Sister Hongye, are you okay? This Golden Flame Rat seems a bit off…”

“Huh?”

Reminded by the lively Hongxing, Hongye snapped out of it. Only then did she notice Qianwei looking at her smugly.

“Don’t tell me you controlled it to bite me…”

“You guess?”

“…”

Seeing Hongye fall silent, Qianwei raised an eyebrow mischievously. She crouched down and petted the controlled rat, basically admitting it was his doing without saying it outright.

“That’s too much! You absolutely must not tell anyone else, got it?” Hongye complained softly, even a hint of tears in her voice. Then she tilted her head, her expression turning deadly serious as she addressed the two little ones. They nodded in fear.

Seeing this, Qianwei couldn’t help but tease. “Threatening kids is so lame. Besides, who’s really going too far here? Hurry up and take me to get bandaged!”

“Oh…”

Teleporting to an empty room, they applied some medicine and simple bandages. The two-meter-tall red-haired big sister still looked downcast and listless. Qianwei flexed her hand; the pain had mostly subsided. Then she bent down to pick up the rat she had brought along.

Mm… it was soft enough to be a pillow, but keeping it would require regular feeding of magma—hard to take away, he mused.

After hugging and squeezing it for a while, Qianwei looked up at Hongye. “Isn’t it just a bite? Is it really that serious…”

“It’s a disgrace! If the clan finds out, I’ll be ridiculed.”

“Tch… Is losing face more important than the fate of the whole clan? If that’s the case, I’ll spread the news… Whoa—what are you doing? Get away! Too close! I’m joking!”

Startled by the sudden tearful face so close to hers, Qianwei quickly pushed her away and changed the subject.

“Forget that. I need to talk to you!”

“Ah? About what…”

“You haven’t let Bai and Buqi go yet, right? Can you hand them over to me?”

Hongye was slightly taken aback. Though curious why Qianwei had taken an interest in those two little girls, she nodded lightly. “Of course, no problem. After all, you were the one who caught them… Want me to send them to your room?”

“Where are they locked up now?”

“Right now, they’re still in my room.”

Mm… So she had kept them for herself after all, he realized.

Qianwei raised an eyebrow slightly. She saw the faint upward curve of Hongye’s lips, a clear sign the beastwoman was having fun. After a moment’s thought, he continued.

“In that case, keep them there for now. And I’ll need your help too~ Besides, if you don’t help, I’ll tell everyone you got bitten by a Golden Flame Rat.”

“Uh… that’s blackmail…”

“Exactly, it’s blackmail~”

Qianwei nodded bluntly, pleased to see Hongye’s crestfallen expression. His mood improved again.

“You don’t want everyone to know you got bitten, right? Don’t worry, I won’t force you to do anything weird. Just help me with small things while I’m here. Deal?”

“…”

Hongye’s heart resisted. After all, according to the rules, aside from the clan leader, anyone commanding her would have to defeat her in combat first.

“What? You don’t want to?”

“Fine, but only for the next two days… What is it?”

“Hehe, don’t worry~ It’s something good for you.”

Seeing her agreement, Qianwei couldn’t help but snicker. Then he began the second step of his plan.