Chapter 1073: Ghostly Beast Horde! (Additional Update)
Yang Jian frowned deeply, his expression grim: "According to research, spirit beasts also have social organizations!"
"The higher the rank of the spirit beast, the higher its intelligence. In the no-man's land, it's hard for a single community to survive, so they usually band together!"
"Acting collectively, hunting for food—the beast hordes migrating out of the spirit ruins either merge into larger hordes or are preyed upon and devoured by the spirit beast army!"
Xiong Er raised his paw: (ิ◕㉨◕ิ)ﾉ
"This is called choosing a side, meaning finding a boss!"
"Generally, they choose to join a powerful beast group. That way, individual beasts are safe, food is guaranteed, and if they get bullied, the boss sticks up for them!"
The corners of everyone's mouths twitched. They'd forgotten about this. No one understood it better than Xiong Er!
After all, he was a beast who had roamed the spirit ruins, the former local emperor of Thousand Islands Lake!
The Orange Cat glanced at Xiong Er with utter disdain.
(Ф◠Ф｡) Pfft! Traitor!
Actually following humans!
Yang Jian nodded: "That's right! Now that it's been over twenty days since the great spirit ruin eruption, the beast hordes in the no-man's land have roughly split into groups!"
"One is the Emperor-level beast horde led by the Hellhounds, also the largest, gathering a massive number of spirit beasts from hundreds of spirit ruins!"
"Dao Heaven has struck at this beast horde more than once, but every time they take losses, it only makes them stronger!"
Jiangnan grinned: "Could it be a marketing effect? See? They can even withstand a Dao Heaven-level strike! Why not join us?"
Yang Jian nodded: "So we've rarely taken action against them anymore!"
"Next is the Royal-level beast horde led by the Flame Sky Flying Dragons, second only to the Emperor-level in size!"
"They have air superiority, and their strength is not to be underestimated!"
"Then there's the Ghost-level beast horde centered around the War Giant Rhinos. Although the smallest in scale, they're the most troublesome, highly aggressive, and often fight with the other two beast hordes!"
"Right now, the no-man's land is in a tripartite stalemate!"
Jiangnan was stunned. That serious?
"Three-way division? That makes things difficult. What about using Dao Heaven-level high-end combat power to clean them up?"
Yang Jian smiled bitterly: "The scale is terrifying. It's a sea of beasts. We can't possibly clear them out!"
"The key issue is that these three beast hordes only nibble at the Green Vine Forest when they see it. They're not deliberately destroying it!"
The crowd was taken aback: "Then who did it?"
At this moment, the Orange Cat's big eyes curved into crescent moons, as if it were smirking.
(˵ಡᴥಡ˵)
Yang Jian frowned deeply: "So far, there are still many scattered beast hordes in the no-man's land that haven't joined any beast groups—over a hundred of them!"
"Most are concentrated in the northern area, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. It should be them doing this, but it's hard to track their whereabouts."
Zi Yuan quickly raised her hand: (๑ᵒ̌～ᵒ̌)ﾉ
"Me, me, me! I know about this!"
"Actually, the beast groups in the no-man's land were like this even before the great spirit ruin eruption, but now the scale is bigger!"
"And these scattered beast hordes are particularly mysterious. They seem to avoid encirclement and the hunting activities of other beast groups every time!"
"Because they've always been pretty well-behaved and haven't posed a threat to our outposts, we never paid them much attention. I call them the Ghostly Beast Horde!"
Fat Orange quickly shifted her gaze aside, pretending to nap.
Yang Jian frowned: "Ghostly Beast Horde, huh? Why would they deliberately destroy the Green Vine sprouts? And with a division of labor, how interesting!"
Jiangnan grinned: "Who cares about that? The north area, right? Maybe we should send the main Green Vine plant over to suppress them!"
As soon as he said that, Fat Orange glared fiercely at Jiangnan, already unable to resist unsheathing her claws.
ฅ(Ф益Ф)ฅ
Yang Jian shook his head: "No, time is running out. Let's change the strategy!"
"Take the Green Vine as the center, adopt a water ripple expansion model, and enlarge the Green Vine range!"
"Then spread inward from the Vine Forest wall, pincer attack from both sides. This way, it's less likely to be gnawed and destroyed!"
Yang Jian adopted a conservative strategy and began arranging a new planting plan.
Meanwhile, Fat Orange stared intently at the sand table, memorizing the beast horde movements and planting zones.
The meeting ended late at night.
Jiangnan returned to his room and lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, thinking about the planting matters.
Summer was approaching, and the chirping of cicadas came from outside the window.
Unable to sleep, Jiangnan started idly tearing open a bag of small biscuits.
Even though they'd been upgraded to blind box biscuits, some rare biscuits still couldn't be opened.
Like the mouse, sheep, and horse ones, and so far, Jiangnan hadn't gotten a single rabbit biscuit.
As he tore, he grew drowsy, slumped onto the bed, and was half-asleep, his eyelids fighting to stay open.
(⁼̴～⁼̴)ᯅ
Meanwhile, Fat Orange had somehow jumped onto the windowsill, glaring at the nearly sleeping Jiangnan through gritted teeth.
Just you and your random suggestions!
Stupid human, how annoying!
And you plucked my tail bald too!
If I didn't have to keep my identity hidden, I'd bite you to death right now!
Hmph~ Want to sleep?
No way!
Fat Orange took a deep breath, exhaled, and roared at the window.
(｡Ф⌂Ф)“Meow~ Meow~”
“Meow~”
The cat cries shattered Jiangnan's drowsiness.
Jiangnan groggily turned over, folded his pillow, and pressed it over his head.
Fat Orange's big eyes were full of mischief.
“Meow meow meow~”
Jiangnan: “Hey! Can you stop that, please?”
He then pulled the blanket over himself, curling up entirely under the covers.
Fat Orange was thrilled. Let's see you pluck me bald!
I'll drive you crazy!
ฅ(｡ФᗜФ｡)ฅ
Let's learn to meow together!
Let's “meow meow meow meow meow~”
No more sleeping for you today!
Oh yeah “meow meow meow meow meow~”
Jiangnan: !!!
Dammit!
Isn't she ever going to stop? And now she's singing—with a melody?
Do cats normally meow like this?
“Still meowing?”
Jiangnan teleported directly to the windowsill, lunging for Fat Orange.
Fat Orange made a nimble leap, bounding far across the sill and landing on the signal tower's iron frame.
She looked back at Jiangnan with a taunting expression.
ฅ(๑•ั็ω•็ั๑)ฅ
My heart's pounding with glee~
Oh, you just can't catch me~
If you're not satisfied tonight, I'll keep “meow meow meow~”
Jiangnan was furious. He pulled out his phone and opened the browser.
Search and you'll know!
Fingers flying across the screen.
[Why do cats meow randomly at night?]
Click search, and soon there was an answer.
Answer: There could be many factors—maybe they're in heat, or maybe they're unwell and seeking human help.
Jiangnan was stunned. In heat? Or injured?
Fat Orange was so plump, she looked well-nourished and must be quite popular with tomcats, right?
So why come to me?
Could she be injured?
Watching Fat Orange still meowing away, he made up his mind. She must be really uncomfortable?
Since she came to him, he had a duty to help her through this crisis!
(๑•̀◠•́)و
Otherwise, he wouldn't get any sleep either!
Sigh~ I'm just too kind!
But Fat Orange wouldn't let him get close. What to do?
After thinking it over, Jiangnan suddenly realized—he had some Heart-Pounding Pop Rocks!
Right now, Fat Orange was meowing in delight.
Want to sleep? Hehe~ I'll drive you crazy!
Jiangnan took out a pack of Pop Rocks and ate them. The *bang* made him roll his eyes, his face flushed red.
The surrounding spiritual energy converged toward him rapidly, maxing out his charm value!
Fat Orange's gaze toward Jiangnan suddenly changed.
Huh? Why does he seem not so annoying anymore?
I... I kind of want to get close to him!
Even though he plucked my tail bald last time, being petted was actually pretty nice.
At this moment, the Orange Cat couldn't resist Jiangnan's charm any longer.
She leaped into his arms, rubbing her cheek against his chest, tail swishing back and forth.
A comfortable purr escaped her throat.
Jiangnan smiled brightly, his hand gently stroking her soft fur.
"Fat Orange, be good. Bro will help relieve your pain, okay? Let me see where you're hurt?"
As he spoke, he noticed that the area around her ribs and hind legs felt soft. He pressed lightly and found that the bones were broken.
There were also many patches of burned fur on her body, and large scabs of dried blood stuck to her hind legs.
When he pressed, Fat Orange yelped in pain, bared her teeth, and tried to bite Jiangnan.
Jiangnan's heart ached: "How did you get like this? Did you fight with another female cat over a mate and lose? Even being this fat, you couldn't win?"
Fat Orange: ???
What weird things is this human saying?
You're the fat one!
Your whole family is fat!
But Jiangnan's charm made her reluctant to leave his embrace.
Jiangnan quickly took out a Small Ginseng and stuffed it into Fat Orange's mouth, making her eat it.
Fat Orange resisted a little but eventually ate it.
Within a few breaths, the broken bones and wounds healed.
Fat Orange's eyes widened in disbelief. What kind of treasure is this? It can even heal my injuries?
Before she could finish being shocked, two streams of blood sprayed from her nostrils.
Jiangnan caught them neatly with his teacup.
Fat Orange: ???
Why am I getting a nosebleed?