The so-called earth rat, originally referring to rats adept at burrowing underground.
However, in legends, there was an earth rat, much like the one Cheng Xiaofan discovered now, with fiery red fur. Standing there, it resembled a burning flame.
Earth rats possessed extremely sensitive olfactory senses. Wherever there was delicious food, they could smell it and, using their earth-遁术 (earth-escape technique), arrive at their destination in the blink of an eye.
Their teeth and claws were incredibly hard, almost indestructible. It was said that ordinary steel plates could be bitten through and torn apart by earth rats.
Under normal circumstances, earth rats virtually had no natural predators.
Due to their renowned agility and the formidable power of their teeth and claws, an earth rat could overturn half a mu of land in a short time.
Therefore, if one could subdue a few earth rats to plow the fields, there would be absolutely no need to worry.
When plowing with oxen, if the plowshare hit a stone, the plowshare would easily break. But earth rats were fearless. With a few swipes of their claws, they could turn a rock into powder.
When Cheng Xiaofan learned from the feedback information that these creatures were earth rats, his heart filled with delight, knowing he had stumbled upon a treasure again.
"Hahaha, earth rats, stealing my things, finally caught by me!" Cheng Xiaofan didn't approach, shouting loudly from a distance.
His stern shout frightened the earth rats. They shook their bodies, preparing to escape using their earth-escape technique.
But precisely at this moment, the earth-escape technique malfunctioned. Their entire bodies felt as if they were bound by invisible ropes, unable to escape.
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"...
Unable to escape, the earth rats poked their heads out of the ground, one by one.
Although they resembled rats, they had long ears like rabbits. Their black and white eyes revealed looks of panic and unease.
Which master had cast a spell here to trap us?
It's just for eating a little radish, do you have to treat us like this?
Alas, I can't understand, why are humans so petty?
"Geez, you little rodents, stealing my fruit ginseng and you have the audacity to talk back?" Cheng Xiaofan walked over, glared at them, and demanded.
The nine earth rats were stunned when they saw Cheng Xiaofan's true appearance.
How terrifying!
From this person's aura, the rats felt a suffocating sensation.
He's definitely not human. How could a human be like this?
I'm scared, scared, scared...
Cheng Xiaofan crouched down, gently patted the head of one earth rat, and said, "It's good that you know fear. If you don't even know fear, then you're courting death!"
"I'm a very reasonable person. Those who follow me prosper, those who defy me perish. As long as you follow me from now on and obey my words, I guarantee you'll have plenty to eat!"
The earth rats exchanged glances. Was this human trying to coerce and entice them?
However, they now knew their lives were in this person's hands. If they didn't comply and surrender, they could be killed at any moment.
Weighing the pros and cons, all the earth rats raised their front paws, adopting a posture of surrender.
Cheng Xiaofan nodded, then waved his hand around, retracting the Dao patterns.
The earth rats immediately felt their bodies loosen, and they crawled out of the soil, one by one.
They knew they had encountered a master and didn't even think of escaping. They might as well follow this human, perhaps following a good master would lead to a better life in the future.
"Come, come, line up. Each earth rat will be rewarded with an energy pill to try!"
Cheng Xiaofan had the nine earth rats line up and walk past him. Each earth rat received an energy pill.
After swallowing the energy pills, a stream of light flashed across the bodies of the earth rats, and their entire forms suddenly grew to the size of wild rabbits.
Wow!
This is too awesome!
Squeak... From now on, in the animal kingdom, no one will dare look down on us and call us mere thieving rats!
We are earth rats!
Earth rats are not the kind of rats that just dig holes!
To be precise, we are rat gods, an elite race among rats!
Why do we still sound like rats?
The nine earth rats looked at Cheng Xiaofan with great distress, wishing he would give them a more imposing new name.
However, Cheng Xiaofan had no intention of changing their names. He patted each of their little heads and said, "The name 'earth rat' is very good. No need to change it. Come, I'll take you to the back mountain!"
Cheng Xiaofan rode his motorcycle, and the earth rats all jumped onto the motorcycle.
Those who couldn't fit on the motorcycle simply burrowed into his arms or jumped onto his shoulders.
Upon arriving at the back mountain, Cheng Xiaofan called out Taoqibao and Potianying, introducing them to the earth rats.
In short, Cheng Xiaofan's intention was that these beasts were now good friends and should unite and avoid conflict.
Especially you, Taoqibao, don't bully these earth rats when I'm not around.
I must warn you, the strength of these earth rats is not to be underestimated.
"Woof woof!"
Taoqibao immediately protested to its master, "This old dog knows your fickle nature is acting up again.
How strong can a few dead rats be? Do you think this old dog is easily scared?"
Seeing Taoqibao's reluctant demeanor, Cheng Xiaofan sighed inwardly. If this dog truly provoked the earth rats, it might not even know how it died.
"You, earth rat, show Taoqibao your strength in dealing with the earth!"
Cheng Xiaofan was also doing this for Taoqibao's own good, wanting it to understand the might of the earth rats, lest it get beaten by them later and have no one to complain to.
The earth rat singled out by Cheng Xiaofan walked out of the line and struck a nearby giant rock with its claw. With a rumble, the rock was shattered into pieces.
Seeing this, Taoqibao yelped in fear, its four limbs sprang into the air, and it retreated more than a meter.
Are these still dead rats?
At this moment, Cheng Xiaofan said to the nine earth rats again, "You must also remember that Taoqibao was the first I adopted. In a sense, it is your boss. You must show more respect to your boss in the future!"
"Even if it argues with you a few times, don't take it to heart, do you hear me?"
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"...
The earth rats nodded one after another, indicating they understood.
Seeing this, Taoqibao's vanity was greatly satisfied. Fortunately, its master hadn't lost his conscience. The fact that he could say such words indicated that he still remembered how Taoqibao used to climb trees to get bird eggs and go into the water to catch fish for him.
Cheng Xiaofan then took out more energy pills and distributed two to each of the present beasts, making them jump and hop with joy.
However, Taoqibao again asked for ten more energy pills, saying it wanted to bring them to the little white geese.
Tomorrow, after receiving Xianyu He, Cheng Xiaofan planned to take the nine earth rats to White Python Lake for some tasks.