Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points

Chapter 522: Chapter 514 Bestowing Favor

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They dig holes somewhat differently from ordinary mice, usually choosing smoother or more concealed rock layers and then digging a small hole just big enough for them to pass through. About two or three meters deep into the winding path, only then do they start to widen the interior and expand.

The purpose of this is to prevent enemies from invading.

The rock rats have poor eyesight and are far less agile in running and jumping than ordinary mice. They could even be considered clumsy.

If an enemy accidentally invades their nest, the whole family of rock rats would be doomed.

Through long-term evolution, they have developed a set of self-protection methods.

This kind of long, narrow passage can stop most of the enemies, with only small snakes being able to drill through. Most mice are afraid of snakes because they often become snake food.

Rock rats are an exception.

They possess great stamina and a super powerful gnawing ability.

Unless they encounter venomous snakes, they can usually rupture the hard scales of snakes with their sharp teeth and easily gnaw through the snake’s body and bones.

Snakes have only two methods of killing their prey.

One is a venom attack, and the other is constricting to death.

A python as thick as a small arm can crush an adult’s bones.

Many non-venomous snakes rely on constriction to kill their enemies. They also bite their prey during the attack, but their teeth are sharp and thin, making it hard to cause serious harm.

Thanks to their strong gnawing ability, rock rats can often gnaw through the body of a snake before it completes the constriction.

They also have an interesting defensive method of leaving a stone just big enough to block the mouse hole while they dig their nests. When they sleep, they push the stone to block the entrance.

From their habits, it’s clear that capturing a rock rat is no easy task.

But clever humans are not easily deterred.

Many hunters who specialize in catching rats would set traps or use smoke and other methods to capture them.

If someone wants to dig open their mouse holes to catch them, they would surely end up questioning their life choices.

Rock rats are difficult to capture and only appear on the wild cliffs and steep ledges, and they are relatively scarce, which all contribute to their high price.

Ten for one tael of silver, which is the equivalent of one hundred wen money per rat.

It doesn’t seem cheap, but in reality, many people might spend more than half a month’s time trying to catch a rock rat. They must take risks entering deep mountains, scaling cliffs, and then figuring out ways to catch the rock rats.

With good luck, they might capture several at once.

With bad luck, they might return empty-handed.

“Here is one tael of silver, I’ll take ten.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Qin Niu paid the money directly and selected the rock rats himself.

The price was unimaginably cheap.

He caught a total of ten.

Unfortunately, among the thousands of rock rats, only one possessed the Gold-Biting Rat bloodline.

“Do you have any better cages for sale?”

Qin Niu asked the vendor’s wife.

She did not react at all.

Such a neglectful treatment of a customer was obviously not normal.

Her husband nudged her and gestured some signs. Then he turned to Qin Niu and offered a smile more frightening than a ghost’s.

“Sorry, my ears are deaf. This cage can hold them; only a rock rat with the Gold-Biting ability could possibly chew through these ordinary iron cages.” She said apologetically with a smile to Qin Niu.

It turned out that both the husband and wife were disabled.

“No problem!”

Qin Niu waved his hand and gave the couple a kind smile.

The three of them walked to an open space nearby, and Qin Niu stopped.

“Wan Yan, let your cat eat a rock rat to try. I read in a book that feline beast pets can reap great benefits from eating mice.” Cats and mice are natural enemies; there’s a reason they love eating mice.

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The book mentioned that rodents could provide cats with some special energy.

After eating them, cats would feel very comfortable and even find it easier to advance in rank.

“Hmm, I’ll take your word for it! But weren’t these rock rats bought as pets for Xiao Qing? It seems such a waste to feed them to my cat!”

“Out of the ten, only one is truly useful, the others are just there for show.”

As Qin Niu spoke, he threw a rock rat to Wang Wanyan’s cat for it to hunt.

Now a Grade Four beast pet, the feline instantly captured the rock rat, then killed it with a bite and cruelly tore it apart, chewing it up.

Cat’s teeth are rather sharp and fine, and their biting force is not their strong suit in battle.

But a cat’s agility can almost make up for all its shortcomings.

Many people don’t know that feline animals are said to be invincible among predators of the same rank, but they have very poor stamina. The most typical example is the cheetah, which, with its near-perfect hunting technique, has a very high success rate in hunting.

However, when faced with slightly stronger hyenas, or even wild dogs that are much smaller in size, they can only drop their prey and flee in panic.

Because cheetahs have weak defenses, poor endurance, and biting abilities far inferior to those of hyenas, they simply cannot win the fight.

When Wang Wanyan initially chose her own cat as a pet, it was somewhat whimsical.

Qin Niu always doted on her, letting her have her way as long as she liked something.

Now that there was a chance, Qin Niu thought about helping her improve her cat as much as possible.

Ancient Banyan Tree Blood was a treasure; although it hadn’t evolved special abilities after eating it, it had undergone some changes and accumulated some benefits.

These rock rats were much more advanced than normal rats, and a large amount of feeding might help it evolve some special abilities.

“Meow!”

After eating the rock rat, the cat emitted a joyful cry.

This was a delicacy it hardly ever got to eat.

Qin Niu didn’t hesitate and threw the remaining eight ordinary rock rats to it as well.

For this cat, it was like snacking on desserts, eating one with each bite, and enjoying it tremendously.

After swallowing nine rock rats, its belly only bulged a little. Considering its appetite, it could easily devour forty or fifty in one meal.

“Xiao Qing, this rock rat is for you. We’ve walked around quite a bit already, I’m going to check out the Ghost Market later tonight, but for now, let’s head back to our accommodation.”

The three had played enough and eaten, and after a tiring day of travel, they needed a good rest.

Rat City’s beast pet market was rich in variety and not lacking in high-quality pets.

But the prices were also incredibly high.

Special beast pets costing tens of thousands of silver money each, that price was outrageous.

The market for beast pets here was completely polarized, with ordinary pets being dirt cheap, while special ones commanded astronomical prices. To find a bargain, one must know how to identify them and also be lucky.

If a selection has been picked over by many people, the chance of finding a great deal is pitifully small.

Back at the station manager’s, the owner of the Beast Pet Food Store truly kept his word, having someone deliver the feed to their room.

“We’ve added four bags of beast pet food, weighing two hundred pounds, can those two horses pull that?” Wang Wanyan asked with some concern.

“No worries, if they really can’t pull it, I’ll just buy two more horses here tomorrow. With four horses taking turns pulling the cart, we’ll be able to travel much more quickly.” It’s just a minor matter.

The Myriad Beast Gang had various mounts available at reasonable prices, so buying two more good horses would be fine.

“Xiao Qing, this Low-grade Contract Charm is for you, now go ahead and subdue this rock rat.”

The rock rat Qin Niu chose didn’t look good.

Its fur was bristling and forked, its body frail, looking malnourished. Its teeth didn’t seem impressive either, the two most important front teeth were ‘withered’ and the gap between them unusually wide.

It was hard to imagine that such a rock rat actually had the Gold-Biting Rat bloodline.

And it was a rich one at that.

Xiao Qing took the talisman without a hint of doubt and started to subdue the rock rat right away.