Chapter 00284: The Little Monster
# The Little Monster
Chapter 284
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 284: The Little Monster
This was a tool commonly used in taming beasts.
How could it possibly appear here?
Then, He Lingchuan saw a strange creature appear on the wall of the courtyard.
It looked somewhat like a badger, a bit like a flying squirrel, and had some resemblance to a sea otter.
Its size was similar to that of a domestic cat, but it was hairless, its skin a mix of gray with black spots that camouflaged it well with the surrounding environment, and it was covered in thick folds.
Its eyes were small, glowing red, and suddenly met He Lingchuan's gaze.
The coldness and malice from those little eyes made his heart tighten, and his right hand instinctively reached for his knife.
The little monster tilted its head, changing its angle to confront He Lingchuan directly.
At that moment, a dark brown figure suddenly swooped down from the sky, taking advantage of the creature's moment of distraction and pouncing swiftly onto the creature that resembled a flying squirrel.
Its speed was faster than an arrow shot from a bow.
The two beings intertwined and rolled off the wall.
They landed in Sun Fuling's courtyard.
He Lingchuan casually jumped through the window and onto the wall to observe.
It turned out that the figure that had fallen from the sky was a sparrow hawk.
He Lingchuan had encountered it several times before and had teamed up with it in a spider den, so they were somewhat familiar with each other.
He could even clearly see the spots on its tail.
As the sparrow hawk fought, it let out sharp cries, tearing and pecking with its claws and beak.
Those with poorer eyesight could only see two shadows clashing together, feathers flying everywhere.
However, He Lingchuan could see clearly that the sparrow hawk was downwind!
With its powerful strike diving from the air, it could have easily killed a proper weasel monster, yet this little creature seemed unfazed, as if not even its skin had been scratched, and it retaliated by biting the sparrow hawk.
Its agility was even greater than that of the weasel monster, precisely targeting the hawk's legs and neck.
The hawk dodged twice but still suffered a deep bite on its leg, and He Lingchuan could see blood gushing out.
The little monster then aimed for the hawk's throat.
The sparrow hawk blocked with its wings, but its wings fell prey to the creature’s fierce tugging and biting, feathers flying everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, the sparrow hawk found itself in grave danger.
Being a soldier of Dragon Coiling City, He Lingchuan could not stand by idly.
He gathered some snow from the wall, formed it into balls, and threw them out.
The little monster was startled and turned around to see a flurry of white right in front of it.
It suffered from its small size; each snowball obstructed its line of sight.
He Lingchuan leaped down to the ground, using the back of his knife to swat the sparrow hawk away, then drew a dagger with his left hand, aiming to stab the little monster.
However, to his surprise, the thing was incredibly agile, darting away like a gust of wind, directly performing parkour on He Lingchuan’s body.
From its perspective, a large human like him was indeed quite clumsy.
With a clang, He Lingchuan blocked its attack on vital points.
His diligent practice of the "Swallow's Return" technique had borne some fruit, but more importantly, he had experience.
This kind of agile little monster typically had weaker attack power, so it would first target the opponent's throat, eyes, and heart.
At the same time, he seized the chance to stuff something into his mouth and chewed with effort.
After several misfires, the little monster began to make clicking sounds, and only then did He Lingchuan realize that it was grinding its teeth.
Then it shifted tactics, aiming for his belly.
He Lingchuan was wearing light armor, but its incisors were sharper than a rat's.
A few bites later, it had punctured his leather armor.
Then its body suddenly shrank like a mouse and curled up, ready to burrow through the hole!
He Lingchuan was alarmed, because a sharp pain instantly shot through his abdomen—
This thing intended to bore a hole through him and crawl inside to gnaw at his organs!
Judging by how fast it had torn through his leather armor, it would not take long for it to penetrate his intestines.
In his dreams, he wasn’t afraid of death, but this method was too suffocating for him.
In the blink of an eye, only the little monster's bare tail remained outside.
He Lingchuan wasted no time, grabbing it and pulling it outward.
With a snap, the monster’s tail snapped off.
Surprisingly, it was just like a gecko, able to shed its tail to escape when in danger.
Nonetheless, it had been pulled a short distance out, and He Lingchuan acted quickly, spitting out what he had been chewing and sticking it onto the little monster before slapping it away.
It was right to swat it away from his body, lest it bore a hole in another part of him.
He used considerable strength, but the little monster rolled on the ground twice and stood up without a scratch, ready to continue its assault.
However, after just a few steps, it sensed something was wrong:
Its limbs and belly were stuck, rendering it very uncoordinated.
Looking down, it saw that its body was ensnared by a large clump of milky-white, sticky substance.
It lifted a paw to push, but its paws were also stuck, unable to pull them out.
The little monster became frenzied, gnawing at the white, sticky mass with abandon.
However, this was of no use; it only managed to get its mouth stuck in as well and could not open it again.
In just a few breaths, it collapsed on the ground, covered in the milky-white, soft gel.
The more it struggled, the more despairing it became.
The sparrow hawk, resting nearby, asked, "What is this?"
"Some kind of monster?" He Lingchuan was not very certain; it looked too ugly.
"What did you use?"
"Bird glue."
He Lingchuan smiled at it.
"…" The bird-like sparrow hawk pulled its neck back.
"Don’t underestimate it. It is very reliable for catching wild boars, mountain deer, and little monsters, as long as it doesn’t get wet."
This was a tactic taught to him by Liu Tiao.
It was particularly convenient for hunting food outside.
It was said that hunters would use a particular tree resin as a base to concoct strong bird-catching glue that remained solid for easy transport, only melting and becoming effective when exposed to heat.
So before using it, one had to chew it first.
However, there was no worry about it sticking to the mouth since water would cause it to lose its stickiness.
But the little monster on the ground seemed able to understand human speech; upon hearing the words "get wet," it began rolling on the snow.
The glue was afraid of water, and wouldn’t the melting snow be equivalent to water?
He Lingchuan was startled and hurried into the kitchen to grab a grass basket.
He scooped the monster up with it, trapping it inside.
The creature bared its teeth at him, but unfortunately, it couldn’t move.
Getting closer, He Lingchuan was surprised to smell a salty and fishy damp odor from it, somewhat like the sea breeze, and a bit like…
Some sort of secretion?
He casually swiped his dagger against the monster's body.
It looked thin-skinned, but to his surprise, it did not break skin.
The dagger glided off as if sliding against resilient leather.
This scene felt somewhat familiar; He Lingchuan frowned and put more force into his stab.
Yet, it still did not work.
The monster’s skin was dented, creating a small hole, but it would not break through.
"Interesting."
This time he drew out the Floating Life knife.
"Squeak squeak squeak."
The little monster cried out in pain as a bleeding gash appeared on its back, and a thin green liquid flowed out.
"Indeed, you are a wanted creature."
So, the Floating Life knife did not disappoint him.
He Lingchuan did not feel pleased to catch this thing; rather, he felt anxious.
Who knew how many such monsters were lurking in Dragon Coiling City? They were either immensely strong or exceptionally fast, anyway, they possessed remarkable destructive power, and were impervious to blades and bullets—how could ordinary soldiers and civilians handle such foes?
Moreover, he also knew that this creature ate people.
As he scrutinized the monster, hurried footsteps sounded from outside, approaching here.
He Lingchuan opened the courtyard door and immediately saw a patrolling guard rushing in, looking around anxiously.
"What are the two of you searching for?" He Lingchuan displayed his patrol badge.
"I just received a distress signal."
The guard looked anxious, “There seems to be another monster lurking here.”
Only then did He Lingchuan pull out the grass basket from behind: "It's this thing causing trouble.”
The guard, seeing the creature inside the basket, jumped back in fright: "Yes, it should be these kinds of ghastly monsters! I also heard sounds of fighting. Is anyone injured?"
"There is."
He Lingchuan glanced back; the sparrow hawk was perched on a chair in Sun Fuling's courtyard, resting with its eyes closed.
The guard also saw it: "Let me take it back for treatment."
Upon hearing this, the sparrow hawk flapped its wings and awkwardly flew up to the roof.
"..."
"Forget it; I’ll take care of it."
He Lingchuan stepped out and closed the door.
The guard stared in surprise: "Where are you going?"
"To exchange this thing for military credit."
He Lingchuan shook the grass basket, “They seem to be in a real frenzy trying to capture these creatures.” Surely the military credits would be more generous, right?
The guard said, "I’ll report back now and take this with me."
"How could I trouble you?" He Lingchuan hesitated, "You’re going to help me submit for military credit?"
"Not a problem."
The guard displayed his own badge, complete with a name and surname, "Please tell me your name and serial number."
Since military records were compiled in book form, each person had a serial number to facilitate searching.
After He Lingchuan provided the information, he handed over the grass basket: "Then I’ll trouble you."
"Not at all."
The guard nodded, took the grass basket, and left.
He Lingchuan watched the guard’s back disappear around the corner, feeling that he might have overlooked something, but he couldn’t recall what it was.
At that moment, he heard flapping wings behind him.
Turning around, he saw the sparrow hawk trying to fly down from the roof but it crashed midway.
Fortunately, the snow on the ground was deep.
He walked back, picked it up, leaped back two steps to his home, and then entered to treat its injuries.
Despite its small size and tiny mouth, the monster had torn a large piece of flesh from the sparrow hawk's leg.
Its wings, which had just defended its throat, were also now shredded, with several feathers missing, and its wings were severely fractured.
Clearly, the little monster had quite a ferocious force.
"With these injuries, you won’t be flying for at least two months."
He Lingchuan scratched his head, “First, we need to mend the wings; don’t move around too much once they are set. I still have to find A Luo to get you some medicine.”
A few months ago, he was just a novice staring blankly at gauze.
Now, he could already be considered a half-master in treating bruises and fractures.
Long-term experience had indeed turned him into a skilled healer; how could he deceive myself?
As he treated the sparrow hawk, he asked, "How did you pursue that creature?"
"Recently, these monsters have been rampant, causing dozens of deaths and unsettling the people of Dragon Coiling City. In addition to the patrol guards, there are also wanted notices issued throughout the city."
The sparrow hawk said gloomily, "I fly high and see far, so I was dispatched for aerial surveillance."
He Lingchuan could understand the citizens' mindset.
Dragon Coiling City had always been labeled with "safety" and "efficiency," a model of city governance.
Suddenly experiencing so many civilian deaths, with the perpetrators still at large, it was common for the public to be dissatisfied, and the pressure on the officials was immense.
"How many monsters have been captured so far?"
"Counting today's, there have been five."
(End of Chapter)