Although the iron rod was devastatingly powerful, the longer it was, the more resistance it faced when fighting in water. So he chose to attack with his left fist instead.
The giant rat biting his calf clearly hadn't expected Su Li to react so swiftly. It wanted to let go and dodge, but it was too late. Su Li's fist slammed into its forehead. Of course, the punch itself wasn't lethal—what was truly deadly was the "Glutton's Fangs" he activated.
The special skill "Glutton's Fangs," acquired from killing the elite-grade secondary-level spirit beast, the Glutton Dog, activated. Four terrifying fangs, each ten centimeters long, extended from the back of Su Li's left hand. Following his punch, they sank into the giant rat's forehead as easily as cutting through tofu.
Su Li deeply felt the terrifying lethality of the "Glutton's Fangs."
With the four fangs fully embedded in the rat's head, Su Li swept his arm sideways. The rat's mouth, which had been biting his calf, went limp and opened weakly. Four deep, bloody grooves appeared on its head, with red and white matter oozing out. If the fangs had been long enough, they could have easily sliced the rat's head into several pieces.
A white spirit source emerged and merged into Su Li's head. A vertical eye-shaped rune appeared on his forehead—he had activated the "Peering Rune" to examine the rat's data.
"Name: Water Rat Beast. Common grade secondary-level spirit beast. Has a certain probability of evolving into the elite-grade Water Rat King. Killing a Water Rat Beast grants no special abilities."
"So it seems only elite-grade spirit beasts can grant special abilities. This Water Rat Beast is just a common secondary-level spirit beast, so killing it yields nothing."
As Su Li pondered, a new message suddenly appeared in his mind:
"Level 2 Spirit Source User: Spirit Source 3/20."
He had gained one spirit source from hunting the Water Rat Beast.
After killing it, Su Li didn't immediately surface. Instead, he silently widened his eyes, scanning the water around and below him.
The water wasn't clear; his field of vision was limited to a few meters. Beyond that, it grew darker, and the depths were a pitch-black void, revealing nothing. Yet a faint, eerie chill emanated from below, as if some undercurrent was stirring.
In his sight, the Water Rat Beast's corpse slowly sank downward.
Watching it disappear, seemingly swallowed by the darkness below, Su Li suddenly felt a surge of unease. He didn't dare linger. Kicking his legs against the water, he shot upward, broke the surface, and let out a long breath. Reaching out, he grabbed the raft, climbed aboard dripping wet, and sat down heavily.
Xu Xuehui obediently came to his side, watching him with a tense expression.
"It's fine, don't worry." Su Li looked at his bitten calf. The wound was enveloped in a warm current. Fortunately, he had absorbed the Water Rat Beast's spirit source, and its special effect was accelerating the healing of the injury.
Though soaked through, the weather was warm enough, and his body was much stronger than before, with significantly improved resistance and cold tolerance. So he didn't feel particularly cold.
The only thing he regretted was the leather boots. He had thought he'd finally found a waterproof pair, saving him from wet socks and shoes again, but they had ended up in the water shortly after he put them on.
Thinking back to his experience underwater, Su Li's unease grew. He didn't dare delay any longer. Standing up quickly, he grabbed the wooden oar and resumed paddling, eager to reach his destination and leave the water.
Only with solid ground under his feet would he feel at ease. The water made him uneasy.
Su Li picked up the pace, paddling steadily. Unfortunately, the raft, carrying him, Xu Xuehui, and all their supplies, sat deep in the water. No matter how hard he rowed, the speed wouldn't increase; it could only drift slowly toward the distant shore.
"I hope everything stays peaceful from here on."
Su Li glanced at Xu Xuehui and noticed she had finally stopped snacking. Perhaps the sudden attack by the Water Rat Beast had frightened her. She was nervously scanning the water's surface, clutching a fruit knife and hammer tightly.
Suddenly, she pointed to the left side of the raft and shouted, "There!"
Su Li tensed and immediately turned to look. Just then, a dark shadow appeared in the water about three or four meters to the left of the raft. Part of its back, covered in scales, broke the surface. It looked like a large fish.
Su Li quickly set down the oar, grabbed the iron rod, and moved to the left side of the raft, ready for action.
But the shadow, which seemed to be a big fish, didn't charge at the raft. Instead, it sank back into the water and soon disappeared.
A false alarm. Su Li breathed a sigh of relief but didn't let his guard down. His calf still throbbed with pain. The Water Rat Beast had bitten deep, its four fangs sinking in. Though absorbing the spirit source had accelerated the wound's healing, it wasn't fully closed yet. Still, it wasn't a major issue; it would heal completely soon. As for the wounds from his fight with the Glutton Dog, they had already scabbed over, with new flesh growing underneath. Based on his past experience, once the scabs naturally fell off, the new flesh would look exactly like the uninjured skin, leaving no scars.
Though it was a false alarm, Su Li saw Xu Xuehui in a new light. "You did well just now. Keep observing from now on—if you notice anything, alert me immediately."
He needed to paddle and watch his surroundings at the same time, which often led to carelessness. The Water Rat Beast had taken advantage of his turned back to ambush him, catching him off guard.
Hearing his praise, Xu Xuehui's eyes lit up with excitement. She focused even more intently on scanning the area, hoping to spot something.
"We're finally halfway there." Su Li felt a surge of excitement. The raft had traveled over a hundred meters from the building where Xu Xuehui had been staying, and the same distance remained to their destination. Hope was within sight.
As Su Li grew more familiar with paddling techniques, he maneuvered the raft with increasing skill, gradually putting more force into his strokes. The raft's speed slowly picked up, and soon it closed in on the hundred-meter mark, drawing nearer to the thirty-two-story building ahead.
Su Li silently calculated the distance.
"Eighty meters, seventy meters... almost there."
As they entered the fifty-meter range, Su Li suddenly spotted something. About ten meters ahead of the raft, a human face emerged from the water.
The face was swollen and bloated from the water, with dead fish-like eyes and white fuzz covering it. It was a corpse beast—a human who had died in the great flood and mutated after absorbing a spirit source.