Meng Chao felt that he had to help the rat people.
At the very least, he had to make them more wary.
He lifted his cloak and removed his wide belt.
There were all sorts of things inside.
There was medicine to change skin, hair, and eye color, thin wires to pick locks, blades that were as thin as a cicada's wings and could quietly cut through parcels, and other things.
There were also dozens of badges from different families that represented different statuses.
Meng Chao pinned one of the badges to the inside of his cloak and found a weak, dried branch. He placed it under his foot and stomped on it.
The dried branch instantly let out a cracking sound.
The sound was very clear in the fog.
"Who is it?"
The rat people who were "plotting a rebellion" instantly cried out in shock and anger.
A few of the rat people pounced on him.
Meng Chao pretended to be panicked and turned around to run.
He heard the howling wind above his head.
It was the rat people slave workers who pulled out the shovels and iron rods from the small carts and smashed them at his head.
Meng Chao cried out and hunched his neck, as if he had just narrowly avoided the rat people's attacks.
Out of the blue, a ratfolk slave worker threw a shovel at his legs with all his might.
He threw the shovel while he ran. It was crooked, so it was impossible for it to hit its target.
A thought appeared in Meng Chao's head, but he intentionally moved half a meter away from the sharp edge of the shovel.
His left calf was instantly hit, and he staggered and fell to the ground.
The rat man slave worker who ran at the front growled and pounced on Meng Chao. Then, he rolled around with him.
He knew that he was going to be killed, so he used all his strength to try to snap Meng Chao's neck.
Meng Chao cooperated with him and pretended to struggle. Before the other rat people could catch up to him, he flipped the exhausted rat people to the ground.
When the rat people saw that Meng Chao was about to flee, they only had time to stretch out their hands.
Meng Chao pushed his chest forward, and the rat people grabbed his cloak.
He then tore it downwards, and with a ripping sound, the cloth with the badge fell into the hands of the rat man slave worker.
Meng Chao let out a strange cry and sped up. He disappeared into the depths of the colorful smoke.
If he really wanted to escape or hide, even hundreds of clan warriors might not be able to catch him.
The rat people slave workers chased forward, but naturally, they missed.
It might also attract the attention of the other rat people in the forging area and even the supervisors, so they could only retreat resentfully.
When Half-face caught up with them while limping, the believers of the Horned Rat God looked at each other in dismay, and their expressions became extremely grim.
"Half of the face, look."
The ratfolk slave worker who had been fighting against Meng Chao just now handed over the cloth with the emblem.
With the sunlight that had become incredibly hazy after passing through the smoke, the group could somewhat see the picture on the emblem, and they could not help but suck in a sharp breath.
"Redstone Clan!"
The Crimson Stone Family was an Ox-head Family that was second only to the Bloodhoof Family in Blackhorn City.
"Could it be that the other party is the Ox-head Warrior of the Redstone Family? He heard all of our secrets!" The ratfolk slave workers all turned pale.
"Don't panic. The situation isn't that bad."
Half-face said darkly, "If the other party is really the Ox-head Warrior of the Hong Family, it's impossible for him to hide in a corner and eavesdrop. He would have mobilized a large group of people a long time ago to capture all of us.
"If I had to say, it should be a house rat of the Redstone Family who accidentally heard part of our conversation."
"That will be troublesome."
"Now that he has run away, what if he runs back to the Redstone family and tells his master about the descent of the Great Horned Rat God?"
"T-That's not a problem."
Half-face thought about it and said, "Our smelting factory belongs to the Iron Skins Family, and the Iron Skins Family are all Boar People. They're sworn enemies of the Tauren People.
"Forget about just how much that house rat managed to eavesdrop on us. Even if he told his master everything, his master, who is an Ox-head Warrior, will have a hard time interfering with the Iron Skins Family's refinery.
"However, it's never wrong to be careful. It looks like we're being watched. Go back to work. I have to find the Lord Messenger immediately and tell him what happened just now. He'll decide what to do next!"
As the sun gradually rose, the clan warriors would once again take to the streets, turning the entire Black Corner City into a wild battlefield.
At that time, it would be dangerous and suspicious for the ratfolk to traverse the streets and alleys again.
Therefore, Half-face ignored the supervisor's suspicions. He took the cloth with the emblem and circled around the Corpse Pit of a Thousand Corpses before leaving the smelting factory in a hurry.
He became much more cautious after discovering the eavesdropper.
Half-face had learned to stick close to the wall as he walked. Every time he turned a corner, he would stop and look around for a moment.
In an alley that could only allow two people to pass through sideways, when he reached the end of the alley, he deliberately turned back to ensure that there was no "tail" behind him before he continued forward.
Next, he crawled into a low-class market that served ratfolk.
Taking advantage of the fact that the market was about to close and the market was in a mess, he weaved in and out of the crowd and even went into the complicated and labyrinthine tents of the vendors. After a while, he disguised himself and came out again.
At that moment, he wore an old mask on his face.
No one knew what he had padded on his shoulders, but they were much wider than before.
Even his signature lame leg had become normal.
He walked steadily and with great strides. If one did not look closely, they would not be able to tell that he was a cripple.
These were probably the anti-tracking methods that the Horned Rat God's messenger had taught him.
It was enough to shake off most of the ancient trackers.
However, Half-face did not expect that Meng Chao did not need to watch his every move.
He only needed to narrow his eyes and carefully sniff the unique scent on the cloth.
The seemingly normal hooded cloak on his body had been soaked and washed multiple times by Meng Chao using a secret medicine he created using his own secret recipe.
The cloak was surrounded by a scent that only he could smell when he poured his spirit energy into the mucous membranes of his nose.
As long as the other person still grabbed the cloth he tore off his clothes.
As long as the other person was still in Black Horn City.
He could not escape from his grasp.
After he left the market, Half-face seemed to have completely relaxed.
He no longer walked around in circles. He quickened his footsteps and arrived at the slums that Meng Chao had come to yesterday.
The familiar scene stunned Meng Chao a little.
Two ratfolk who looked like scavengers crawled out from the broken walls, but their footsteps were actually steady, strong, and murderous, which confirmed Meng Chao's guess.
The real "big fish" was hiding in this place.
When he thought about it carefully, he found that this place was indeed blessed by the heavens.
First of all, the environment was complicated. It was in ruins, and the stench was horrible. Aside from the two groups of warriors who used this place as a battlefield, very few warriors from other clans would pay attention to this place, much less the powerful people who stood at the top.
Second, the ratfolk were at the bottom of the high-grade orcs, and the scavengers were at the bottom of the hierarchy. They were in charge of the dirtiest, smelliest, and most dangerous jobs, and they were filled with the strongest rage and rebellious spirit. A small spark was enough to start a prairie fire among them.
Third, the area was filled with drainage pipes, and many of them led to the outside of Black Horn City. That was why they could send the trash and filth produced by the high-grade orcs out of the city in an endless stream.
Based on what Meng Chao knew, there were plenty of Mandala Trees around Black Horn City, and they needed nourishment from trash and filth.
Even though no matter how much nourishment was given to them, it was impossible for the Mandala Trees to bear fruit within ten to twenty years.
But a sufficient amount of nourishment allowed the Mandala Trees to grow layers of bark and lush leaves.
The bark could satisfy the hunger of the ratfolk.
The leaves could be fed to domestic animals, and the domestic animals could be fed to totem beasts. In the end, the flesh and blood of the totem beasts could satisfy the daily consumption and cultivation needs of the warriors of the clan in the days when there were no Mandala Fruits.
Hence, the trash and filth in Black Horn City could be considered a strategic resource. The Mandala Forest outside the city had become more lush and dense over the past few months.
If Meng Chao was the messenger of the Great-horned Rat God, he could pass through the densely packed Mandala Trees, crawl through the drainage pipes, and sneak into Black Horn City without anyone noticing.
He was certain that this was where the messenger was.
It was not easy to follow behind Half Face and sneak in.
Because the chaotic battle yesterday had destroyed most of the buildings, many of the ratfolk slave workers could only squeeze in the messy tents between the broken walls.
The tattered tents did not have any place to hide, so naturally, there were no blind spots.
Meng Chao was not certain just how many spies of the Great-horned Rat God's messenger were here.
Or perhaps, everyone was a spy.
Meng Chao circled the slums from afar, then took out a metal drill he had stolen from the brick factory from his cloak.
'The enemy's secret gathering spot shouldn't be above ground.
'This slum isn't big. If the gathering spot is above ground, a large number of ratfolk who are surrounded by murderous intent and don't look like scavengers will move in and out. It'll be very easy for the warriors of the clan to see through their disguise.
'Besides, this slum was practically demolished yesterday. The parts above ground have practically lost their value. If the gathering spot was above ground, they should have moved it overnight.
"If my guess is correct, the emissary of the Great Horned Rat God must be commanding the resistance of the ratfolk in Blackhorn City. They must be fiddling with some secret underground. Perhaps it has something to do with the miracle that Half-face spoke of.
'It's precisely because their work underground is very important that no matter how fierce the fighting above ground is, the messenger of the Great-horned Rat God is reluctant to leave.'
Meng Chao found another piece of evidence to support his guess.
The pit he had intentionally made yesterday had been carefully repaired by someone.
Even though it had not been repaired to its original state.
At the end of the abandoned pipe were a few cracks between the collapsed parts, but they had been sealed tightly.
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