Chapter 362: Chapter 354, Brainstem Clay Sculpting 1

The Erland Guard Leather Armor Set is a four-piece set. Added with a green one-handed sword, it makes up 620 pieces of equipment.

Although Xu Yang’s items seem diverse, none of them have high value.

They’re not enough to exchange for all these green items.

“Well… Boss, I know I don’t have much to offer, but I genuinely need this equipment. I promise to repay you later.” Xu Yang sent another message.

He was well aware that his random items couldn’t fetch him all this equipment.

Especially equipment with a set bonus.

But Xu Yang needs the equipment desperately. He couldn’t survive alone in the wilderness; he needed these villagers.

Without armor and food, the loyalty of the villagers would steadily decline.

There will inevitably be problems if they decide to escape.

Seeing Fang Hao’s silence, Xu Yang began to feel anxious.

Just as he was about to plead again, he saw Fang Hao respond.

“Are you in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range?”

The moment he saw the message, Xu Yang frowned.

He reread his chat logs, realizing that he had never mentioned the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range.

How did Fang Hao know he was there?

Though curious, he saw no point in hiding it.

“Yes, Boss. How did you know about the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range?”

Fang Hao continued, “What’s going on in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range? Tell me in detail.”

Xu Yang was confused, but he sensed Fang Hao’s interest in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range.

Could Fang Hao be near the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range too?

It couldn’t be. Fang Hao was known to have a close relationship with the Undead, and there was no known Undead presence here.

Noting his remaining chat count, Xu Yang explained, “The tribe I’m relying on is called the Rock Head Tribe. They are somewhat known in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range. Recently…the Rock Head Tribe is planning an allied attack with other tribes on the Bloodthroat Tribe.”

Xu Yang detailed everything he knew, including the recent inter-tribal meetings, to Fang Hao.

After carefully reading Xu Yang’s information, Fang Hao felt a stir in his heart.

The Trolls were beginning their infighting, it seemed.

“Xu Yang, I can give you 50 armor sets and 20 weapons for your items, but if you can get a map with the positions and routes of the tribes in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range, I will give you the rest of the equipment and weapons,” Fang Hao sent another message.

The infighting in the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range was good news for Fang Hao.

It offered him a chance of tackling the threat to the north of his territory.

However, Fang Hao wouldn’t send his troops now.

The Undead attacking the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range would most likely unite the Trolls again.

They would only strike when the Trolls were severely weakened or if one faction emerged victorious.

They would seize the entirety of the mountain range at once.

Of course, this was Fang Hao’s plan. The key to launching the attack was a detailed map of the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range.

The hundreds of green items were not cheap.

It was up to Xu Yang to take the risk.

Upon seeing Fang Hao’s message, Xu Yang looked serious.

It wasn’t a short-term task to draw a map of the Bloodthirsty Mountain Range.

But it wasn’t impossible.

To attack the Bloodthroat Tribe, the Rock Head Tribe had already drawn a detailed attack map.

This was his only chance to acquire the map, but it was also life-threatening. Once detected by the Trolls, he’d be dead without even the chance to escape.

But it was worth a try.

Xu Yang gritted his teeth and responded, “Alright, let’s make a deal. I’ll do my best to produce the map. Give me the equipment then.”

Fortune favors the bold.

Fang Hao’s equipment was worth the risk.

“Okay, stay in touch if anything happens,” Fang Hao replied.

After they reached an agreement, they exited the Book of Lords.

After breakfast…

Fang Hao reorganized the items in the storage space, taking out the materials that were not in use.

He stored weapons, potions, likely useful tools, and detonators.

There was no need to keep the detonators at hand, nor was there a risk of accidental explosion.

Once everything was prepared, Fang Hao, Anjia, and Demitrija set out again, heading for Gray Bear Village.

This trip was related to the task [Village Rat Plague] they acquired last time.

Upon arriving at the village, they enlisted a hundred bandits equipped with the Storm Heavy Armor Set.

The large group set off impressively.

Their destination was a village near Lyss City.

The journey was not short.

After three hours of non-stop travel, they finally caught sight of the village.

They thought that the village would be small.

But to their surprise, it was almost the size of a small town.

With a population nearing a thousand people.

The arrival of Fang Hao and his hundred-plus force created quite a stir.

The guards and villagers of the outpost stood together, brandishing an assortment of homemade weapons, their faces tense as they confronted the incoming party.

It was unlikely that bandits would come here.

But there could always be some desperate madman launching an attack on the village.

“Who are you?” shouted one of the villagers, a middle-aged man.

Fang Hao noted the villager’s stance and realized that they didn’t trust the incoming team.

He thought for a moment, then spoke loudly: “We are the guards of Lyss City. We heard you have a rat problem here, and Lady Rebecca is very concerned about it. So, she has sent us to look into the matter.”

Having said this, he pulled out a badge from his pocket and tossed it over.

The middle-aged man caught it and bent his head to examine it.

This village was so close to Lyss City that he should recognize the insignia and the pattern on it.

Besides, bandits wearing Storm Heavy Armor would look more like regular soldiers and were even better equipped than the common guards of Belisis City.

If these fellows didn’t scratch their privates and fart, they would be even more convincing.

Sure enough, after inspecting the badge, the middle-aged man’s demeanor immediately transformed.

He dispersed the villagers and stepped forward to meet them.

“Sir, may I have your name?” the middle-aged man strode towards Fang Hao.

“My name is Fang Hao. And you, sir?” Fang Hao reciprocated.

“lam Macken, the village chief. Please accompany me to the village,” said Macken, leading them into the village.

The village seemed fairly clean, with harvested crops drying at the front of every house.

There was no sign of a rat infestation as he had imagined.

Also, considering the amount of available food, it was unlikely that these were more than just a few stray rats. If it was a full-blown infestation, Lyss City would probably have sent soldiers directly rather than issuing tasks to mercenaries.

Under Macken’s leadership, they arrived at a house.

“Chief Macken, can you tell us more about the rat problem? The village seems quite well off, there appear to be no issues,” Fang Hao prompted directly, assuming that Macken would take them to see the rat-infested area, but instead, he brought them to this house.

Macken stood up, closed the house’s door, and it became instantly dark.

It seemed awfully mysterious.

“Gentlemen, the rats appearing in our village are unusual. If they were just stealing food, it would be acceptable. But, they have started eating humans. Left with no choice, I had to send a message to the city,” Macken said seriously in a low voice.

The chief’s words brought a solemn look to the faces of all present.

Rats eating humans…

It wasn’t that rats couldn’t eat humans, but they would typically resort to such behavior in situations of extreme hunger and scarcity of food.

In a village where food crops were on display all around, why would rats choose to eat humans instead?

“Tell me everything you know in detail. Do not leave out any information,” Fang Hao said seriously.

It appeared that this rat problem was not as simple as mere extermination.

“Well, a few months ago, villagers started complaining about rats. But it didn’t seem to be a big issue, not until a week ago, when we discovered Brumer’s corpse. He was gnawed down to his bones by rats. That’s when we realized the severity of the problem and issued a bounty in the city,” Macken explained, his expression growing increasingly grim.

“So, you mean to say that the rats in the village have started attacking humans?” Fang Hao asked, frowning.

“No, this is the first time something like this has happened. I announced that Brumer died from a fall, and we quietly buried him. But I’m afraid this might happen again, as we don’t know when these rats might attack humans again.” Macken said somberly.

Fang Hao and his companions exchanged glances.

Each of them looked confused.

“Take us to the house where the deceased person was found,” Fang Hao suggested.

“Alright,” Macken agreed, leading them out.

They followed the path to a house located on the outskirts of the village.

Upon opening the door with the key, a damp and musty smell filled the air.

“This is Brumer’s house. I locked it up after the incident and haven’t opened it since,” saidMacken.

Fang Hao nodded, leading his companions into the house.

Although the room inside had clearly been cleaned, they could still discern tiny scratches on the floors, walls, and beams, presumably marks left by a large number of rats scrambling around.

“Look around for any clues,” suggested Fang Hao, and the group quickly spread out to inspect the room.

The furniture in the room had seemingly been left untouched or had been put back in its original place after the room was cleaned.

As everyone was examining the room, Fang Hao’s attention was drawn to an ornament on a cabinet near the window.

[Cranial Rat Stem Clay Figurine]

[Category: Decorative Item]

(Description: A clay figurine encapsulating a cranial rat stem. Just dripping a small amount of Cordyceps liquid on the top will emit a special scent, attracting nearby small rats to congregate.)

A brain stem clay figurine?

Fang Hao’s eyebrows drew together in a frown.

The figurine was in the shape of a voluptuous woman, and without being able to read the information, it would be hard to connect the figurine to rats.

However, there was a lot of information to be gleaned from it.

Considering the location of the figurine by the window, he began to piece together a mental image.

When the owner of the house had gone to sleep.

In the dead of night, someone outside dripped Cordyceps liquid on the figurine.

The odor drew the rats in the village to this place, where they attacked the sleeping man.

Why the man failed to struggle and why his neighbors didn’t notice was impossible to investigate further.

After all, with Macken announcing that the man had died from a fall, investigating in the village could be difficult.

But one thing was certain: someone was using rats to commit the murders.

“This clay figurine is quite exquisite. Whose craftsmanship is this in the village?”