CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: STEALING AND EATING THE SPIRITUAL MOUSE_1

He pulled the grill, charcoal fire, and many skewers of Double-headed Silver Ring Python’s back meat from the Universe Bag.

After sprinkling on the secret marinade, he grilled them until the flavors were well absorbed.

The sight of the golden, crispy meat, its aroma filling the air, made Shen Mo’s stomach grumble and his mouth water.

"This smells amazing!"

Patiently, he grilled the tender meat until it was golden and crispy, then brought it to the stone table in the pavilion.

After settling down on a nearby stone stool, he pulled out a jar of wine from the Universe Bag.

It was dark blue spiritual wine.

This was a gift from Senior Brother Guo, a token of appreciation for an opportunity Shen Mo had provided him.

Guo Zhao had gifted Shen Mo four jars of this wine. Ordinarily, Shen Mo considered the wine too precious to drink.

However, at this moment, he had just achieved a breakthrough. Accompanied by the delicious barbecue, listening to the ebb and flow of the tides, and feeling the gentle breeze, he felt it would be a waste not to indulge in a jar.

"Hmm."

He took a large gulp of wine, then picked up a skewer of barbecue and began to eat with relish.

[You drank a sip of dark blue spiritual wine; your cultivation has increased.]

[You drank a sip of dark blue spiritual wine; your cultivation has increased.]

[You ate two pounds of Double-headed Silver Ring Python meat and finally felt slightly full.]

[You drank a sip of dark blue spiritual wine. As the power of the wine spread, your recently advanced realm was gradually solidified.]

After a quick glance at the continuous prompts appearing on his information panel, Shen Mo closed it without further checking.

He reached for the dark blue wine jar, intending to take another large gulp, but...

But when he picked up the half-empty jar of dark blue wine, he realized it was empty.

Shen Mo was momentarily stunned. "How...? I’m sure I didn’t finish the wine just now... Could I really be drunk?"

"This dark blue spiritual wine shouldn’t be that intoxicating."

As he was wondering about this, he glanced up at the barbecue on the stone table.

Suddenly, he was utterly dumbfounded.

"Where did my barbecue go?"

On the stone table, a good portion of the two to three pounds of roast meat that had been there was now gone.

"What in the world?!"

He might have attributed the missing wine to a lapse in memory, but when the roast meat also vanished, Shen Mo finally sensed something was wrong.

He looked around. Everything was quiet and deserted; only the sound of waves lapping against the shore echoed. But soon after, Shen Mo heard a peculiar noise.

"CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"

It sounded faintly like someone, or something, chewing.

"Under the table!"

He identified the source of the sound and peered under the stone table.

There, under the table, was a huge rat!

This huge rat was entirely crimson, with short fur and a pale gold tuft of hair on its head, looking rather dim-witted.

It resembled a rat, but in terms of size, it wasn’t skinny like an ordinary rat. On the contrary, it was as plump as a cat.

When Shen Mo spotted it, it was holding a large piece of meat with its long forepaws, eating diligently.

Meeting Shen Mo’s glare, it froze.

The man and the rat stared at each other. The atmosphere turned strangely quiet.

Seeing this huge rat, Shen Mo was stunned at first. "A Gold-devouring Rat, huh?"

Soon, his surprise turned into indignant anger. "You audacious creature! How dare you steal food right from under my nose!"

Theoretically, Gold-devouring Rats should feed on minerals and ores, not common grains, meat, or cereals.

Shen Mo was puzzled. His only guess was that his barbecue was too fragrant, tempting even a Gold-devouring Rat that specialized in eating ores.

"CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"

Under the table, the reddish-yellow furred rat stared back at Shen Mo for a full ten breaths. Seeing that he made no move to drive it away, it seemed to relax.

It then resumed gnawing on the stolen barbecued demon beast meat, completely ignoring Shen Mo.

"This fellow..."

The sight left Shen Mo not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

During his time in the Guard Cave, he had encountered some Gold-devouring Rats.

However, those Gold-devouring Rats were usually extremely timid. If discovered, they would either flee immediately or drop to the ground and play dead.

This fearless huge rat, not at all shy of strangers, was a world of difference from them.

"Forget it. I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t hold it against you."

He considered it for a moment and decided not to drive the creature away.

Eating alone, while satisfying, was a bit lonely.

Having a creature share his meal added a touch of liveliness and amusement.

Consider it my treat, Shen Mo thought, not attempting to snatch the roasted meat back from its paws. After all, it hadn’t eaten that much.

However, Shen Mo quickly realized he was sorely mistaken!

He had just resumed eating when he saw that the huge rat, which had been secretly eating under the table, had already finished all the stolen spirit meat.

After finishing, it didn’t leave.

Instead, it leaped directly onto the stone table and stared blankly at Shen Mo.

"You’re not leaving after eating?"

"What do you want now?"

Shen Mo paused, a piece of roasted meat halfway to his mouth. He carefully watched this dim-witted huge rat. From its small eyes, he seemed to discern an incredibly absurd thought. Tentatively, he asked, "Still not full?"

The huge rat seemed to understand Shen Mo’s words. It nodded its head vigorously, like pounding garlic, then extended a slender paw in a begging gesture.

It clearly wanted Shen Mo to give it the few remaining skewers of roasted meat he still held.

Shen Mo eventually tossed his remaining roasted meat to this Spirit Giant Mouse.

"CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"

Seeing the roasted meat tossed over, the Spirit Giant Mouse’s eyes lit up. As if it had found a treasure, it opened its mouth and wolfed down the meat.

In the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the Spirit Giant Mouse had devoured the last piece of roasted meat.

After finishing, the Spirit Giant Mouse didn’t leave satisfied as Shen Mo had expected. Instead, it stood there, looking dumbfounded, peering at Shen Mo with its small, bean-like eyes. It even stood on its tiptoes, craning its neck, as if still waiting for him to hand out more meat.

"Still not full?"

This is unbelievable!

Shen Mo marveled. Though the Spirit Giant Mouse wasn’t small, it had just eaten at least two more pounds of roasted meat.

That amount would be enough to stuff an adult human.

Yet this Spirit Giant Mouse’s belly showed no change at all; its appetite was like a bottomless pit.

"Even if you’re not full, I don’t have any more!"

This time, Shen Mo didn’t indulge it further. He spread his hands, palms up, indicating that all the roasted meat was gone.

The Spirit Giant Mouse was extremely intelligent. Upon understanding Shen Mo, its eyes clearly showed a hint of disappointment.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"

It let out a few soft cries. Seeing that Shen Mo truly had nothing left, it reluctantly turned and left, clutching its belly.