Chapter 14 Mutant Rats
The sound grew louder and louder. Bai Chenzhu turned to the side and glimpsed mounds of earth rising from under the car, getting closer and closer. His dark pupils suddenly contracted.
"Watch out!" As a huge, red-glowing, unidentified creature emerged from the ground, Bai Chenzhu lunged at Zhou Zhuohua, who had his back to him, and shoved him into the car amidst the squeaking sounds.
"Ah!" Zhou Zhuohua's leg hit the car door. Bai Chenzhu was in a hurry to close the door and didn't notice, the car door caught Zhou Zhuohua's leg. Zhou Zhuohua immediately pulled her leg back, gasping for breath.
Bai Chenzhu quickly closed the car door.
The red-eyed rats, having missed their target, turned and chased after it one after another, crashing into the tightly closed car door. They were incredibly strong, and the car door wobbled as if it would be smashed through at any moment.
Fear lingered on their faces. Zhou Zhuohua hurriedly picked up her glasses strap that had fallen to the ground, glanced back out of the car, and almost couldn't breathe.
Rats, rats the size of two adult fists! Their eyes glowed red, their teeth were sharp, and there were scarlet bits of flesh on their fangs. Their red eyes were fixed on them, and their gazes, like those of prey, made people break out in a cold sweat. Their bodies slammed against the car door like cannonballs.
These are clearly not ordinary rats, but mutated rats! If you get bitten, you'll either die or get infected.
There were three mutated rats in total. The one in front was clearly twice the size of the other two, and it looked like the alpha rat. It was sniffing the tires with its nose, looking for a way to break through.
Bai Chenzhu's hands and feet were ice-cold, but he still retained his rationality. He stepped past Zhou Zhuohua and climbed into the passenger seat.
"It's alright," he reassured Zhou Zhuohua, and also reassured himself. "There are only three. We're safe in the car." His words were calm and peaceful, which made people believe him without even realizing it, and Zhou Zhuohua's heart settled back down.
As soon as he finished speaking, a crunching sound came from below.
They were gnawing on the tires. Both of them realized this.
No, if the car breaks down, they're finished! Zhou Zhuohua slammed on the gas, and the car shot off like an arrow. The intense push-back nearly threw the unprepared Bai Chenzhu off her feet.
However, the squeaking sound followed them relentlessly. Bai Chenzhu, who had fastened his seatbelt, glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that the three were rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed.
"I never imagined I'd be chased by rats one day," Zhou Zhuohua murmured, gripping the steering wheel tightly, as if in a dream.
"Wait." She remembered something, and suddenly swerved 180 degrees, sparks flying from the tires, facing the direction she came from.
Seeing the distance they had painstakingly created suddenly shrink, and the rats getting closer and closer, Bai Chenzhu gripped his position tightly. "What are you doing? Run!"
“Jiang Ye! We forgot about Jiang Ye!” Zhou Zhuohua slapped his forehead and shouted.
She stepped on the gas, and the black SUV roared away like a wild beast. With continuous acceleration, it sped so fast that only afterimages could be seen, sending the three giant rats flying.
After the loud crash, Bai Chenzhu, pale-faced, looked ahead and saw several deep craters left by the impact in front of the car.
"They're dead now!" After the extreme tension, Zhou Zhuohua's eyes lit up with joy, and his hands gripping the steering wheel trembled with excitement.
Bai Chenzhu gasped for breath. He looked in the direction the rat had been sent flying and saw the largest mutated rat getting up. Bai Chenzhu gripped his seatbelt tightly, his face ashen. "Run!"
Zhou Zhuohua hurriedly headed in the direction Jiang Ye had left.
The car turned on its headlights and sped across the bumpy construction site, illuminating the road ahead in a blinding white light. Bai Chenzhu was jolted so much he almost vomited, clutching his stomach and unable to speak. If it weren't for the danger of the mutated rats, he would have jumped out of the car immediately.
"Why did that guy run so far away! Where is he?" Zhou Zhuohua couldn't find him, and drove around in circles nearby, panicking and running aimlessly, his forehead covered in sweat.
Motion sickness struck Bai Chenzhu, who closed his eyes, trying to stay rational and clear-headed. He was also thinking about finding Jiang Ye. In the darkness around him, he could vaguely sense the presence of a human.
A slender, strong finger was raised in front of Zhou Zhuohua, the fingertip pointing in a direction. Although Bai Chenzhu's voice was weak, his tone was very certain, "That way."
It was pitch black outside, and Zhou Zhuohua didn't know how Bai Chenzhu could tell. He instinctively felt it was reliable, so he hurriedly drove in the direction Bai Chenzhu pointed.
The headlights shone on Jiang Ye, who was caught off guard, almost blinding him. But the two people inside the car could see him clearly.
Jiang Ye was shirtless, wearing only a pair of knee-length shorts.
He was soaking wet, clearly having just taken a shower, and was wringing out his shirt. His strong hands easily twisted the clothes, and water droplets dripped down, forming a small puddle on the ground. With a casual flick of his half-dry clothes, the undulating muscles on his body revealed a vibrant and lively life force.
"It's over." Seeing him like this, Zhou Zhuohua felt there were easy opportunities for a rat to bite. Zhou Zhuohua pounded the steering wheel and shouted anxiously, "Jiang Ye! Get in the car!"
Jiang Ye's eyes were blinded by the car headlights, and the world in front of him was all white, making it impossible for him to see where he was going.
He heard Zhou Zhuohua's urgent shouts. Confused, he rubbed his sensitive eyes, and once they were clear, he strode toward the SUV. "Hey! Do you guys want to wash up? There's still plenty of water here."
Zhou Zhuohua wanted nothing more than to drag him into the car. "Get in!"
"So urgent?" Jiang Ye opened the back door and was about to get in when something suddenly flew towards him from the darkness, with two faint red lights visible.
As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, and the same goes for people.
Faced with his urge to explore, Jiang Ye paused for two seconds, turning his head to look at the rapidly approaching creature, thus getting a full view of the ugly, enormous rat that was pouncing towards him.
"Squeak!" The sharp beak, the sharp teeth, the rough gray-black fur, and the bright red eyes that seemed to have a mind of their own and were full of appetite all jumped on people's nerves.
"Holy shit!" Jiang Ye got goosebumps all over his body, his muscles tensed, his heart pounded, and he jumped up in fright.
In the midst of extreme tension, his body's instincts reacted much faster than his brain. Like kicking a soccer ball, he raised his leg and swept it upwards with incredible skill, sending the onrushing fat rat flying into the sky like a shooting star.
That's it... resolved?
Bai Chenzhu was stunned, and so was Zhou Zhuohua.
This is a monster that can burrow into the ground, chew up tires, and smash deep dents into car hoods!
In the silence, Bai Chenzhu, sitting in the passenger seat, rubbed his aching brow and half-opened his dark eyes.
He clearly sensed that the mutated rat had indeed been kicked far away by Jiang Ye, so far that it was beyond the range of his mental power.
Jiang Ye snapped out of his daze, but his mind was still foggy. "Do you still want to wash?"
Bai Chenzhu rubbed his forehead and said, "Shut up, get in the car."
Zhou Zhuohua strongly agreed with Bai Chenzhu's words.
It seems like it's back to daytime now.
Bai Chenzhu closed his eyes to rest in the back seat. The two people in the front took turns driving, chatting as they drove.
“Look at your incredible strength, even mutated rats can’t do anything to you. You’ve become a superhero.” Zhou Zhuohua examined Jiang Ye and, after confirming that he had no bite wounds, kept saying that he was ‘mutated’.
Jiang Ye's forehead veins bulged as he firmly denied the unpleasant nickname, "You're the strongman, that rat is the useless one. I'm really impressed by the two of you, you're afraid of a fat rat."
“Uncle Jiang, they gnaw on tires. Do you see how deep the dents are? If I had reacted even a fraction slower, the tire would have been gone.” Zhou Zhuohua gestured with one hand. “With that biting force, you’re telling me it’s just a bit fat?”
Jiang Ye gave a barely audible hum, clearly not believing it.
Zhou Zhuohua sighed, "Thanks to Xiao Bai, I wouldn't have been able to find you at all without his help. You would have had to survive in the wilderness."
Upon hearing this address, Bai Chenzhu, who was taking a nap with his eyes closed, rubbed his throbbing temples. Ever since encountering the mutated rat, he had been listless and unable to muster any energy.
Jiang Ye patted the car in dissatisfaction, "When did your relationship become so good?"
Zhou Zhuohua looked at the road without turning her head and said, "Is it enough to just call out their name? I'm not trying to criticize you, but they didn't do anything to you, so stop bullying them."
"How could I have bullied him?" Jiang Ye protested, feeling wronged.
"You don't? Your sly look is exactly the same as when you pulled the braids of the prettiest girl in kindergarten."
"Why are you bringing this up again? Can he compare to the class beauty? You haven't seen how he bullies me! He kicks people really hard."
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