Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

"Huh?" Xu Hao was stunned after hearing what Old Huang said.

He couldn't help but ask, "What kind of rats do we need to guard against?"

"Hey, these are the rats in this warehouse, eating fine rice and chewing on cured meat. They're all grown bigger than cats."

Old Huang took a swig of wine, let out a burp, and said, "Be careful. If these beasts bite through the grain sacks again and spoil the grain, I'll skin you alive."

"Alright, Mr. Huang, we'll definitely keep an eye on things. Just you wait and see!" Xu Hao nodded in agreement.

As night fell, the only sound in the vast Warehouse No. 3 was the mournful whistling of the wind seeping in through the high-rise windows.

Xu Hao stood alone between the "canyons" made of stacked grain bags.

"It's just fifty mice, isn't it?"

"We can handle this with a snap!"

Xu Hao muttered something to himself, then closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against the [Listening Talisman] on his chest.

The once silent granary now sounded as lively as a market to him.

"Crunch, crunch..." That's the sound of a rat's sharp teeth gnawing at a wooden board.

"Squeak..."

"Squeak squeak squeak..."

The sound response was the squeaking of several mice fighting over a grain of rice.

Countless soft footsteps echoed around him, following the beams, along the corners of the walls, and even rustling from the seams of the burlap sacks at his feet.

Xu Hao's lips curled slightly as he gripped the baton in his hand.

"You ate the Chen family's rice, and you think you can just run away?"

Three steps to the left front, behind the sack, a large rat is happily gnawing on a piece of cured meat.

Xu Hao shifted his feet, activated the Cat Step, and glided away silently.

He flicked his baton, not to smash, but to tap lightly.

"puff!"

With a soft thud, the large rat crouching beside the grain sack didn't even have time to scream before its head was smashed to pieces by the whistle stick.

[Rat infestation cleared: 1/50]

Xu Hao flicked the rat blood off the stick.

"continue."

Xu Hao turned and disappeared into the darkness once more.

The listening talisman locks in the location, and the whistle clears the target point.

"squeak!"

"puff!"

In less than three hours, a pile of dead rats had formed in the corner of the wall.

The grain warehouse, which was originally as bustling as a vegetable market, was now unusually quiet.

【49/50】

Xu Hao leaned against the grain sack and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

One more is needed.

But this "fish that slipped through the net" seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Xu Hao held his breath and activated the Listening Talisman.

Within a radius of a hundred paces, apart from the whistling sound of the wind passing through the air vents, there was no other noise.

Something's not right.

Animals also have a spirit. After so many of their companions died, if the remaining animals were afraid, they should have run away long ago.

If we don't escape, then we're...

"Find an opportunity!"

Suddenly, a very faint sound came from the overhead beam.

"collapse."

It's the sound of muscles straining and bending the wood grain.

"It's up there!"

Xu Hao's scalp tingled, and before he could even look up, he rolled to the side and forward.

"Sizzle!"

A sharp, tearing sound.

Xu Hao felt a chill on his left shoulder, followed by a burning pain.

The Rat King's sharp claws easily tore through the tough guard's uniform, leaving three white marks on his newly-developed skin, with faint beads of blood seeping out.

"You beast!"

Xu Hao was startled.

If it were half a month ago, this grab would have been enough to tear off a piece of his flesh, but now, it's just a superficial wound!

The Rat King missed its attack and was left with nowhere to grab its weight while suspended in mid-air.

"There's a chance!"

Xu Hao had already thrown away the whistle in his hand. His right hand was clenched into a claw, his five fingers like hooks. With a standard "Black Tiger Claws the Heart" strike, carrying the immense force of a skin-smoothing realm, he precisely struck the still-falling Rat King.

"Get down here, you little beast!"

Xu Hao's fingers gripped the Rat King's back like iron clamps.

The rat king in his hand was still wriggling wildly, turning its head to try to bite Xu Hao's wrist, but Xu Hao was not about to give it the chance.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound of bone cracking rang out.

Xu Hao exerted force with his five fingers, crushing the Rat King's spine.

The Rat King let out a miserable cry, its body went limp instantly, its limbs twitched a few times, black blood spilled from its mouth and nose, and it lay still.

Xu Hao flicked his wrist, slamming the gray figure to the ground and then kicking it.

[Rat infestation cleanup complete (50/50)]

[Complete the task of remaining on duty at the designated location for three hours.]

[Secondary Blessed Land successfully bound!]

[Location: Chen's Granary]

[Level: LV1 Abundant Harvest (Beginner)]

[Effect: While in this place, hunger is reduced by 50%; one liter of refined rice can be "extracted" daily from the blessed land (without consuming real-world reserves)]

[Special Ability: Sumeru Storage (Opens a 1-cubic-meter personal storage space, limited to storing inanimate objects)]

Xu Hao looked at the words on the scroll, and his breathing instantly became rapid.

"Wow! My hunger has decreased by 50%!"

"And a pound of polished rice every day!"

In this chaotic world where starvation was rampant and people were even resorting to cannibalism, this was clearly an extra get-out-of-jail-free card!

"One pound a day...and it doesn't deplete your real-world reserves..."

Xu Hao licked his chapped lips, overjoyed.

This means that he now has a portable, inexhaustible food sack!

After calming his excited emotions, he began to clean up the battlefield.

Xu Hao picked up the Rat King's corpse, preparing to throw it into the pile of rat carcasses in the corner, when he suddenly stopped.

There was a hidden ventilation hole at the base of the wall, and voices could be heard coming from there.

This vent connects to the separate tent room set up in the granary.

It was already late at night, but the lights were still on in the tent.

Xu Hao's heart stirred, and he pressed the listening talisman again, bringing his ear close to the air hole.

The sound became clear instantly, carrying an barely suppressed anxiety.

"...The young master said that this is the limit."

The speaker was a young man with a completely unfamiliar voice, tinged with weariness. "Our goods are too difficult to handle; even the young master's business in Chenzhou can't protect them!"

"We have to protect them even if we can't! Cough cough..."

Then came a violent coughing fit, it was Old Master Chen's voice, "This is the foundation for our Chen family's turnaround. Tell the eldest young master to hold on as much as possible. We've already prepared manpower for him here."

"Master, don't worry!" The young man lowered his voice. "The eldest young master sent me back overnight to deliver a message. He has made contact with the government, so things can be stabilized for the time being. However, the canal gang and the salt gang have been acting strangely lately. I heard that someone is secretly inquiring about them."

The young man paused, his voice growing even colder: "What rumors have they heard? It's not just about Chenzhou City; they're planning to take over all our businesses in Shuilanjiang! Young Master fears they might take action against you soon!"

"Bang!"

It sounded like a teacup shattering.

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!" Old Master Chen's voice trembled. "My Chen family has been operating at Sunset Ferry for three generations. Are we going to ruin it all in my hands?"

On this side of the wall, Xu Hao listened with a pounding heart.

He thought that entering the Chen family meant a secure job, but little did he know that this big ship was not only leaking but was also about to hit a reef.

Once the Chen family falls, these guards will either be used as cannon fodder or become bandits.

"Liu Er, go back and tell Yuan Zhi that he doesn't need to worry about things at home."

"How long can business in Chenzhou City last?" Master Chen's voice sounded as if he had aged ten years.

"At most one month."

Xu Hao slowly straightened up, his eyes flickering in the darkness.

One month.