The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm

Chapter 75: Great harvest?

At this moment, Zhang Mu was filled with mixed emotions. He thought that the situation had spun out of control and that he would have to end this battle by running away defeated. However, he was pleasantly surprised by the power of the Bloodvine Lotus.

Most of the mutated plants, including the Bloodvine Lotus, would have an innate fear towards fire. No matter what supplementary energies they possessed, their foundation was the earth-type energy. This led to a glaring constraint. Due to the mutual restriction within the five elements, mutated plants would be more or less be affected, mentally and/or physically, when they met with a fire-type energy opponent.

But, this problem wasn’t as serious for the Bloodvine Lotus.

If he knew that the mutated tigers were fire-types, Zhang Mu would’ve been extra careful when fighting them and would not give them any chance to use their energy. He would kill them with a single blow.

However, Zhang Mu wasn’t aware. Hence, he chose the safer way. Instead of directly ordering the Bloodvine Lotus to use its hidden vines to penetrate the skulls of the mutated tigers and retrieve the beast-cores, he chose to imprison them and slowly suck their life out. The advantage of slowly weakening them was to reduce the energy of their thrashing, and reduce the chances that they would roar. Unfortunately, this gave the intelligent mutated tigers a chance to turn the tables around and to almost destroy Zhang Mu’s plan.

Fortunately, the Bloodvine Lotus had already formed a resistance to flames which not only reduced the damage it took, but also caused the vines which were sent out to regenerate continuously even as they got burnt. Just like a rebirth in fire.

After glancing at the bodies of the mutated tigers, Zhang Mu pulled out the claw of the Obsidian Beetle and accurately retrieved the five first-ranked high-quality beast-cores. Then, he signalled the mutated wolfdog to pull a mutated tiger corpse further backwards while he stored the rest of the bodies in his Merchant’s Ring.

Now, what was left was to stealthily wait for the next batch of prey to fall into his trap.

Zhang Mu ordered the mutated wolfdog to stay further away. He would handle the rest. The wolfdog had already accomplished its mission.

The mutated wolfdog had already calmed down. Thinking back, if Zhang Mu didn’t help, it would have been shredded to pieces by the four mutated tigers. Consumed by its savagery, it never thought of releasing its bite to retreat.

The mutated wolfdog didn’t want to continue this crazy act with Zhang Mu anymore. This time five mutated tigers had come. Next time, there may be even more. Who knows how many mutated tigers would be coming. Zhang Mu even went so far as to strip the skin and remove the bones from one of the mutated tiger’s corpse and blatantly left it in the middle of the pathway. The mutated wolfdog gave Zhang Mu a disgusted look as it left to hide far away.

Zhang Mu was confident in the arrogance of the mutated tigers and the white tiger. They would never believe that their comrades met with danger, and would come out in search for them just because they have been out for too long. Also, the search party would not have a lot of tigers. At most, there would be five of them, the same number as before. Zhang Mu understood how they felt – these mutated animals had evolved from naturally ferocious animals. Evolution would amplify their emotions, including their arrogance.

As Zhang Mu used a few bushes as cover as he controlled the Bloodvine Lotus to penetrate the earth and lay in wait beneath the body of the mutilated mutated tiger. In the village, some of the mutated tigers paced around anxiously. They wondered why their comrades took so long to kill a weak-looking wolfdog. Did they sneak off to play? Isn’t that just provoking their boss?

Those that had blood ties or were closed with the five mutated tigers kept walking in circles, often glancing towards the entrance of the village.

Another five minutes passed. They couldn’t sit still any longer. Those five friends must have either met with some danger or got playful and stayed outside. If it was the latter, they would be punished by their boss. Although the White Tiger looked elegant, those that had been brought up by it knew how brutal it can get.

Thus, they stood up once again and growled a few times at the White Tiger. It looked as though they were asking for permission to bring the five mutated tigers back. If they settled this themselves, the punishment would be much smaller.

The White Tiger calmly sat on the most comfortable animal skin and glanced towards the mutated tigers that stood up. It, of course, knew what its subordinates were thinking. However, it was in a good mood today. It didn’t think that there would be any problems happening to those who chased the timid wolfdog. It had huge confidence in its species. In the bloody massacre in the zoo of Luoyang City, there were no other species of mutated animals which dared to go against it. Hence, the White Tiger never feared anything. Due to the natural advantage of their species and under the influence of evolution, it self-proclaimed itself as the King of Flame.

Thinking about this, it gave a low roar and turned his head, no longer looking at his subordinates. Those mutated tigers that wished to search for their friends and families immediately leapt off as they heaved a sigh of relief.
Their eyes were filled with anxiety. The other mutated tigers who didn’t have any relationship with the first batch of tigers gloated over their misfortune. They had seen how the tigers that defied the White Tiger were punished. What the White Tiger wanted was complete submission. Anyone that went against him, even if they are from the same species, would die a terrible death.

Zhang Mu waited for fifteen minutes before he saw what he waited for. The big bodies of five mutated tigers appeared in his view, coming in afar with an overbearing aura.

So really five of them came? They are still as proud as before. Unfortunately, the truth is the scenario that none of you pictured.

As expected, the mutated tigers saw the corpse of their friend left in plain sight and the feelings of disbelief and anger consumed them. In an instant, they rushed to the corpse and held the head which could no longer move.

Good chance to catch them all at one go!

Just at this moment, when Zhang Mu was about to act, an incident happened. One of the mutated tigers suddenly gave a loud and sad roar, as though the corpse on the ground belonged to one of its family members.

This is bad!

Zhang Mu initially thought that he could carry out the same plan again, but he didn’t foresee that those comrades who came over to search would consist of a family member. The strong emotions it felt caused it to give a loud roar.

Such a piercing and resounding roar. Zhang Mu was certain that the sound reached the village.

Zhang Mu squinted his eyes. There is no time to hesitate. He needs to act now and end this fast.

Even though he had asked the mutated wolfdog to drag the battleground further away, the roar could easily be heard by the other mutated tigers.