Chapter 118: Kidney? Testicle?

The earth badger is a second-rank earth-elemental beast.

It excels at digging burrows, moving freely underground; by day it prefers to stay in its den amusing itself, and only emerges at dusk or night to forage if undisturbed.

The earth badger is an omnivorous beast, eating fruits, vegetables, spirit herbs, and more.

As for meat, it eats whatever it can overpower; its resistance to poison is extremely strong—it consumes poisonous beasts and toxic plants without hesitation.

Among second-rank beasts, the earth badger is lightweight in size, with low attack power, yet it is fiercely combative and especially enjoys provoking opponents.

Whether the opponent is a second-rank or third-rank beast, it dares to charge forward and fight.

Even if it loses, it doesn’t matter—using its burrowing ability, it strikes and retreats instantly, vanishing underground to hide its achievements, then waits for another chance to ambush.

Even if it’s momentarily caught, it has no fear: its fur is tough and slippery, and with a few wriggles it breaks free and dives underground.

Then, the earth badger activates its innate talent of unyielding battle, fighting again and again until the opponent flees in fear.

Thus, among first- to third-rank beasts, the earth badger’s reputation is notoriously dreadful.

Those weaker flee at the mere rumor of it; those stronger can’t catch it, can’t kill it, and end up plagued by its harassment—only fleeing as far as possible.

Even some mid-rank beasts, occasionally leaving their territory to hunt, grow weary of the earth badger and simply drive it away, for its meat is foul and tough—utterly inedible!

To Cang Luo, the earth badger is identical to the honey badger of Earth—daring to provoke lions with a dog-sized body, leaving the lions helpless, truly driving lions mad!

On Earth, netizens bestowed the honey badger with the honorific title of the "Pingtou Ge" generation.

In summary, the earth badger is an extremely annoying, yet uncatchable cockroach.

Yet this is precisely the beast Cang Luo wishes to subdue!

Hot-tempered, ready to fight at the slightest provocation!

Tough and resilient!

Most crucially, it digs burrows and ambushes!

It’s the perfect match for Erha!

In fact, while reviewing the “Bestiary of Ten Thousand Beasts,” Cang Luo had already listed the earth badger as one of the candidates for his second beast companion.

But during the day, the earth badger hides in its burrow—satellites can’t detect it.

At night, the earth badger emerges, but satellites lack night vision and can’t see it.

Although one could search systematically by scanning for burrows, the beast forest’s area is far too vast—pixel-by-pixel searching is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, satellites are suited only for detecting and monitoring moving objects; static environments or stationary objects like burrows consume too much yuan awareness to locate.

This is also why Cang Luo never used satellites to search for spirit herbs.

Thus, the earth badger before him is the first one Cang Luo has discovered in these past dozen days.

He must sincerely thank Fengli—he wouldn’t have found a suitable beast for so long without Fengli spotting it.

Cang Luo exclaimed: “Huimeizi, don’t let that Pingtou Ge... the earth badger escape. Have your beast, Fengli, lure it out.”

“Capture it alive—no exceptions.”

“Hai!”

Although Shangyi Huimeizi didn’t know why Cang Luo wanted to capture the earth badger alive, she obeyed immediately, commanding Fengli to seize it at all costs.

Fengli didn’t need Huimeizi’s command—it was already searching for the earth badger.

It pressed its nose to the burrow entrance, sniffing fiercely, then pressed its ears to the ground, listening.

After a few breaths, Fengli leapt upward, revealing its blue-gas claws, diving straight down toward an ordinary patch of ground.

At the instant Fengli landed, the ground suddenly loosened, and a short, thick, earth-yellow gas claw suddenly shot up from beneath.

The claw’s owner was the earth badger—it and Fengli are sworn enemies, similar in size and attack style: one a master of burrowing, the other a master of climbing trees, born to clash.

Whenever they meet, they fight—but neither can defeat the other.

Fengli attacks from above, the earth badger strikes from below—their gas claws collide again, producing a howling wind that kicks up dust.

After the dust settled, the earth badger had already vanished underground, preparing for its next ambush.

Fengli, unwilling to yield, ran back and forth across the ground, listening here, sniffing there; the moment it sensed the earth badger’s movement, it attacked—yet all efforts proved futile.

Although Fengli’s attack power surpassed the earth badger’s, it wasn’t overwhelming enough to instantly kill it.

The earth badger always struck and retreated instantly, then reappeared at another burrow entrance, emitting a hoarse “ya-ya” sound to mock Fengli.

The earth badger’s smug, half-buried head peeking out from its hole was infuriating—Cang Luo and Shangyi Huimeizi immediately joined the battle, and Erha, furious, joined too.

Thus, two humans and two beasts began a coordinated assault on the earth badger.

Seeing their numbers, the earth badger didn’t flee—it grew even more excited, waving its claws at Fengli and Erha.

This was blatant provocation!

Cang Luo and Erha shared a mental link—they immediately sensed the earth badger’s emotional shift.

Erha, enraged, opened its wolf jaws and spat a torrent of flame—but the earth badger had already Dunrudixia , evading effortlessly, only to reappear moments later at another burrow to mock again...

Over time, the ground became riddled with pits: some dug by Cang Luo’s Thunder Palm, some by the earth badger’s burrowing, others mindlessly clawed out by Erha.

It resembled a game of Whac-A-Mole—Cang Luo, Huimeizi, and their beasts as players, the earth badger as the mole.

Yet not once did they land a solid hit—the earth badger was simply too cunning.

Otherwise, Cang Luo’s gas-powered Thunder Palm could have stunned it; with slightly reduced power, it might have killed it outright.

Shangyi Huimeizi panted: “Cang Jun, the earth badger is far too cunning.”

“I suspect its nest lies beneath this ground—there must be a labyrinth of interconnected tunnels, otherwise it couldn’t dig so swiftly.”

Cang Luo nodded. The earth badger was the most troublesome beast he’d ever encountered—without exception.

Previously encountered beasts, though far stronger, were always killable—he either fought them head-on or wore them down with Erha’s help.

But this earth badger was simply annoying—no, it was downright insufferable.

Only Fengli could detect its faint movements and launch preemptive attacks; Cang Luo and Huimeizi could only strike when it surfaced—how could they ever land a hit?

Poor Erha had even burned its mouth dry with flame, yet hadn’t singed a single hair of the earth badger...

“Damn it! A burrow-dwelling earth badger is truly unsolvable!”

Cang Luo sighed and sat down to rest—not from physical fatigue, but mental exhaustion.

Shangyi Huimeizi also sat, puzzled: “Cang Jun, why do you want to capture the earth badger alive?”

Cang Luo replied weakly: “To subdue it as a beast companion.”

“Subdue it as a beast companion?!”

Shangyi Huimeizi froze, then exclaimed in shock: “Cang Jun, you already have Erha!”

“Yes. I plan to subdue another.”

As soon as Cang Luo spoke, Shangyi Huimeizi shot to her feet, astonished: “Cang Jun, are you planning to use a kidney... or a testicle as the offering to subdue it?”

As she spoke, her cheeks flushed slightly.

Besides using the appendix as an offering to subdue beasts, some martial artists use kidneys.

Humans have two kidneys, but one alone can sustain bodily functions—though the body weakens; if it means gaining a powerful beast companion, it’s worth considering.

Moreover, men possess one additional organ usable for subduing beasts.

That is the testicle.

Men have two testicles; sacrificing one to subdue a beast companion is possible, though few martial artists ever do so.

Shangyi Huimeizi never imagined Cang Luo would willingly sacrifice a kidney—or a testicle—for a single beast companion...

It’s not worth it!

Suddenly, Shangyi Huimeizi recalled something.

That night, Cang Jun had stopped mid-act and refused to explain why.

Could it be that Cang Jun’s kidney or testicle was damaged—perfect for use as an offering?

The more she thought, the more plausible it seemed.

Many martial artists with multiple beast companions had sacrificed organs that were diseased, injured, or irreparably damaged.

To avoid wasting them, they used them as offerings.

So—was it Cang Jun’s kidney or his testicle that was damaged?