Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 733: Chitterfang’s State

"If I can reach the Sooty Body stage," Han Yu muttered one night while sitting by the fire, "this skill becomes a real menace."

That night, after another round of practice, Han Yu sat down near the cooking fire while the guards prepared food. Qing Luan sat across from him, still giving him suspicious looks, as if he might suddenly release soot again for no reason.

"I swear I will not use it while you are eating," Han Yu said dryly.

She snorted acting a bit spoiled. "You say that now." Even the guards were surprised by this new side of her.

He had just relaxed when he felt something shift inside his robes.

A subtle movement.

Then another.

Before he could react, a sharp sound cut through the camp.

"SQUEAK."

Qing Luan froze.

Her eyes darted around. "What was that?"

Han Yu frowned slightly. "Probably nothing."

"SQUEAK."

This time it was louder.

Several guards tensed, hands moving toward weapons.

"Beast?" one of them whispered.

Qing Luan stared directly at Han Yu's chest.

"…Why is your robe moving?"

Han Yu looked down.

The fabric wriggled.

Then bulged.

Then something pushed against it from the inside like an impatient tenant demanding rent.

He reached in calmly and pulled out the source.

A naked, pink, hairless rat.

The camp went silent.

Qing Luan screamed.

"EWWWWWWWWWW."

Han Yu blinked. "That is rude."

The rat squeaked angrily, tiny claws flailing as it glared at Qing Luan with what could only be described as deep personal offense.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK."

"It is yelling at me," Qing Luan said faintly. "WHY IS IT YELLING AT ME?"

"That is Chitterfang," Han Yu said mildly. "My tamed beast."

She stared.

Then stared harder.

"…That is a rat."

"Yes."

"A naked rat."

"Yes."

"A pink naked rat."

"…Yes."

"That was hiding in your clothes."

Han Yu nodded. "He likes it warm."

Chitterfang squeaked approvingly and puffed out his tiny chest.

One of the guards whispered, "The honored lord keeps a bald rat as a battle companion."

Another replied solemnly, "Cultivators can be strange beings."

Qing Luan pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why does it look like that?"

Han Yu shrugged. "Its hair got burned."

She slowly lowered her hand. "I do not know what answer I was expecting, but that was not it."

Chitterfang chose that moment to climb onto Han Yu's shoulder, squeaking proudly and striking a pose like a victorious general.

Then it spoke.

"Master. Warm. Hungry. Strong."

Han Yu stiffened.

"…You spoke clearly."

"Yes," Chitterfang replied, voice much more coherent than before. "Better now. Fire inside good."

Han Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as he probed the rat with his spirit sense.

What he felt made his breath hitch.

"Peak Qi Refining realm…" he murmured.

Qing Luan blinked. "What."

Han Yu stared at the rat.

Chitterfang squeaked smugly.

"This rat," Han Yu said slowly, "is now stronger than most of your guards."

The camp erupted.

"What."

"How."

"Since when."

Qing Luan stared at the hairless rodent like it had personally betrayed her understanding of reality.

"…I coughed my lungs out earlier," she said flatly, "and your rat just grew stronger..."

Chitterfang squeaked happily.

Han Yu laughed, deep and genuine.

"Well," he said, patting the rat's bald head, "looks like we both got stronger on this trip."

Chitterfang squeaked in agreement.

Qing Luan sighed.

"This journey," she muttered, "is getting stranger by the day."

Han Yu waved Qing Luan off gently after the initial shock settled, telling her that he needed a bit of time to check on Chitterfang properly. She did not argue, though she gave the rat one last wary look, as if expecting it to suddenly explode, cough soot, or start cultivating on its own.

Han Yu sat cross legged near the fire, placing Chitterfang carefully on his lap.

Up close, the little beast looked even stranger than before.

Its skin was a soft pink, smooth and hairless, with faint crimson veins occasionally pulsing beneath the surface like embers hidden under ash. Every now and then, a warm breath escaped its nose, carrying a trace of heat that did not belong to an ordinary spirit rat.

"Alright," Han Yu muttered softly. "Let's see what you turned into."

He extended his spirit sense carefully and probed into Chitterfang's body.

Unlike humans, beasts did not have neatly defined meridians and dantians shaped by deliberate cultivation manuals. Their internal structure was more instinctive, more primal. Their natural meridians were totally different than humans too so the changes were harder to perceive.

Still, at the Qi Refining realm, a clear network always formed.

And Chitterfang had one.

Han Yu located the beast's dantian easily, nestled deep within its tiny body. The moment his perception brushed against it, he felt a dense and active pool of Qi.

"Quite a lot, actually…" Han Yu murmured.

The most obvious energy within was Fire elemental spirit Qi.

It was warm, vibrant, and familiar, resonating faintly with the flame that still slumbered inside Han Yu himself. There was no doubt in his mind where that had come from.

"That tiny flame," Han Yu thought. "You absorbed it too."

He was not surprised by that.

During their time unconscious in the freezing river and later during the strange heat surge, Chitterfang had been pressed directly against his chest. The flame's energy had flooded his body, and it would have been stranger if the rat had not absorbed some of it.

He was only thankful that it had not harmed him at least.

But as Han Yu continued to examine the dantian, his brows slowly knitted together.

"There's… something else."

Beneath the Fire Qi, interwoven but clearly distinct, was another type of energy.

Dark red.

Thick.

Viscous.

Han Yu's eyes widened slightly.

"Blood Qi?"

He withdrew his spirit sense slightly, then pressed in again to confirm.

There was no mistake.

It was not Moon Blood Qi, nor did it carry the violent, frenzied signature of the Slaughtered Moon Blood Baptism Art. It was more basic than that, more primitive. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Pure, unrefined Blood Qi.