Chronicles of Primordial Wars - Chapter 362

Chapter 362

In One's Hand

As altitude increased, the number of cracks on the ground increased and fewer plants grew . Most places only had bare stone and dry soil .

As the breeze weakened and the sun was scorching, most of the wild rats that were waiting here had all begun to be thirsty . They didn’t leave though, all they did was push against each other . They stared at the grains on top of the mountain that was slowly changing its color . They craned their necks trying their best to get a better view of the grains on top of the mountain .

The grains were changing color, it was now slightly lighter than before . The dull surface started to become shiny and it looked like it was coated with gold on it from a distance .

“Squeak ——”

One of the wild rats called out .

It was like a signal for them to take action . The squirming wild rats started to rush forward instantly .

When the first few large wild rats were about to jump and eat the grains, they suddenly heard a whistle as if something was shot from behind .
.
A crackling sound was heard immediately, the air filled with a pungent odor . Those wild rats that inhaled the fumes started to wobble .

That was just the beginning . After that, consecutive cracks were heard in succession, objects hurled into the crowd of rats .  

Shao Xuan held his breath and kept throwing the “artifact” . He quickly ran to the top of the mountain and waited there, smashing fruits while dealing with the wild rats running at him .

The medicine prepared by the old man had already rendered most of the rats unconscious . Although the medicine couldn’t deal with all of the rats, it did greatly relieve Shao Xuan’s burden . To Shao Xuan, the remaining wild rats were quite easy to deal with . After all, these were just rats and not ferocious beasts . Shao Xuan smashed the “artifacts” with one hand, the other hand held a broom-like thing made by tying branches together and swept vigorously when he saw any wild rats rushing at him .

Initially, Shao Xuan would’ve preferred to use some other weapon that was more powerful . But the old man had made this broom himself and said it would be useful against the wild rats . And so Shao Xuan decided to use it .
    
As expected, after being swept by the “broom”, the wild rats seemed to have something sticking on their body that greatly irritated them . They then hesitated and stopped immediately .  

Some of the few big wild rats that jumped managed to bite the grains . Mid-leap, they collapsed on the ground after inhaling the powder as their legs weren’t able to support them .

However, they were physically stronger compared to other wild rats . They knew they were in danger so they quickly bit the grains and broke into a run . Unfortunately, the old man was waiting for them .

The old man brushed some residue of the drug he concocted on the leaves of the branches in a circular motion . He then ignited them and put the fire out . Thick smoke started to rise, making the odour more pungent than ever .

Sadly, the drug was not as strong as its powder form and wasn’t able to knock the rats out . But for now, the residues were strong enough to deal with these big wild rats .

The old man was relieved when he saw Shao Xuan standing on top of the mountain, fighting fiercely against the crowd of wild rats . At least the old man was able to concentrate on those rats that managed to bite the grains . Snatching food from the wild rats was what the old man needed to do now .

After Shao Xuan had finished using all of the “artifacts”, all of the wild rats had fainted and it looked like the mountain top was covered in a carpet of rat skin .

The other rats that managed to escape from the medicine were all swept away and knocked out by Shao Xuan’s broom .

After the old man had dealt with the big wild rats, he immediately ran up to the mountain top and carefully touched the bunch of grains . He was unsure if these plants grew annually and therefore did not dare to chop all of them off . Otherwise, he would have instructed Shao Xuan to chop the grains off and take all of them away to avoid fighting against the wild rats all the time .

The old man lifted his hands, then put light pressure on the grains and managed to pick them .

After the grains were all collected into a bag, the old man called out to Shao Xuan, “Let’s go, don’t bother the remaining rats . ”

After Shao Xuan had heard what the old man said, he jumped up and down several times with his broom in order to leave that place . Shao Xuan also brought some of the bigger size wild rats with him for his meal . It was not easy to catch a slightly bigger animal in this deserted mountain . Therefore, he grabbed this opportunity and caught a few of them .

“You took the grains and left the plant there . Aren’t you afraid they’ll be destroyed by the wild rats?” Shao Xuan asked the old man . If it wasn’t because the old man was concerned about the plants and thought that it was still valuable for research, Shao Xuan would’ve just cut the entire thing out for him .

“The rats are only interested in these grains . As for the plant- the roots were too deep and it won’t be easy to dig it out . Forget it, I’ll come back here again with my people . ”
As long as the plants didn’t wither before he returned, he would soon be able to transplant all of them into his own land and slowly study them .

“The rats poisoned by your medicine are probably furious . Aren’t you afraid they’ll come back for revenge? Shao Xuan joked .

The old man clutched the bag of grains tight and raised his eyebrows when he heard what Shao Xuan said . “Revenge? Why should I be afraid? I would not give them a chance for revenge when I return to this place again . ” He planned to bring more people with him so he didn’t have to fear the rats .

After leaving the mountain, they looked for a place to rest . Shao Xuan stretched out his hand towards the old man and said, “Show me, I want to know what the legendary Thousand Grain Gold looks like . All I did was fight rats, I haven’t taken a good look at them yet . ”

The old man hesitated for a moment . Instead of opening the bag containing the grains, he took one grain from the other small bag and put it in Shao Xuan’s palm .

Shao Xuan looked at the grain that was about the size of a soybean in his palm . The grain was coated with a golden shell and there was a tooth mark on it too ——it had been bitten by a rat .

Although one grain was so small in size, it was a lot heavier than expected . It was heavier than what Shao Xuan thought .

However, Shao Xuan did not want to accept this damaged grain .

“I helped you get these grains . How could you give just one to me?” Shao Xuan waved the damaged grain at the old man .

“What do you want to do with these grains?” The old man clutched the grains protectively .

“To eat,” Shao Xuan replied curtly .

The old man raised his eyebrows as soon as he heard Shao Xuan’s reply . “Eat?!”

“Aren’t these grains supposed to be eaten after planting it?”

“But we haven’t planted it on a large scale yet! All these undamaged grains can only be used as seeds, not food!” the angry man was very determined .

“That’s fine . You share some of it with me and I will plant it when I get back to my tribe . ” When Shao Xuan saw that the old man wanted to say something, he quickly said, “Even though I might not know the right way to plant it, there must be somebody from our tribe who knows how . Quit being so selfish, come, let’s share . There were thousands of grains on one plant anyways . There were so many plants on the mountain top and you were still able to get so much even though the rats had taken some . So let’s split it in half . ”

“Half?!” The old man glared . “No way, that’s impossible . I can give you some of my other plants but I can’t give you that many grains!”

“Alright, then I’ll take half of the half . Three thousand grains,” Shao Xuan said .

The old man held his breath and never said a word . However, it was obvious that the old man was trying hard to be patient as his wrinkled face was quivering .

In the end, the old man only gave one thousand grains . He’d given them unwillingly and looked sad as he could imagine these grains ending up in Shao Xuan’s stomach instead of being used properly .

“If it wasn’t . . . If it wasn’t because you’d helped me so much, I never would’ve even shared one grain with you!” The old man said bitterly .

“Hey, don’t say that . What if I end up the only one being able to plant the grain?” said Shao Xuan .

The old man kept shaking his head in disagreement, he didn't believe Shao Xuan at all .