C360 – Group of Wild Rats
Posted on May 17, 2019 by AzureOrchid92
After climbing down the wall, the old man’s hands and feet were shaking but not because he was afraid, he was actually excited.
He thought the other man would be too slow to climb down, but he directly jumped down beside Shao Xuan, not even waiting for Shao Xuan to say anything and just ran after jumping down.
“I…” Shao Xuan wanted to say something but did not have time to say it. He hurriedly moved to catch up.
“This is it! Definitely!!” When the old man came down, he hurried in one direction. That was where the wild rats ran past.
“Even if it’s not the ‘thousand gold grains’, it’s certainly something strange to make these wild rats behave like this!” The old man kept running. Even though he hadn’t gotten enough sleep, he had a lot of spirit. This time, he was full of strength and could keep up.
Shao Xuan also wondered what really led the wild rats to be this crazy. As he ran forward, there were some wild rats that sprang up from elsewhere. Upon seeing Shao Xuan, those wild rats only briefly paused, then continue to run. It seemed that compared to Shao Xuan, this strange creature, another thing was more interesting to them, so they ignored Shao Xuan’s existence and single-mindedly moved on.
“There hasn’t been so much wild rats running before, why did it suddenly increase?” Shao Xuan wondered.
“It must be the fruit is getting ripe!” The old man didn’t say much, just sped up again on his feet. After waiting so long, looking for so many years, once again, he could see hope. Although he had encountered a similar situation before and it was not the thousand gold grains but another precious herb, this time, he had a strong hunch. The ancestor’s note had also mentioned when he found the thousand gold grains, that he had seen weird rodent activities around, but the note recorded too few things. The old man could not get more information from it, and could only look for it on his own again and again.
This time, it must be it! For sure! The old man was roaring in his heart.
From what Shao Xuan knew of the old man now, although it had only been a few days, it was the first time he had seen him running so fast, his eyes filled with fanaticism. If there was anyone to try to stop him, the old man would probably fight them desperately.
The more they ran, the more wild rats they met. The small animals that live near, whether they were hiding in their caves or hidden underground would come out and ran out, catching up to them and going towards the same place they were running to, like they got a boost of energy.
The movement around them also attracted some other animals. Those animals were actually aiming for the wild rats.
A ferret-like animal intercepted several wild rats, then flashed past with its prey in its mouth. There was also a seemingly stupid ferret actually crossing, as if it wanted to stand as a block, but those wild rats, with their unimaginable energy, did not slow down. They did not even change direction, and just rushed over to jump a foot over the ferret. The latter few did the same thing. If it were their usual, these wild rats would certainly not have the guts. When they saw the threat, they would definitely ran far away.
Then, if they saw the same of their kind being taken away, they would not give it an extra look and would not stay a second.
However, as they got closer and closer to the target, their numbers were growing. The robbing animals were much less, probably seeing such a situation and did not dare single-handedly come to hunt or they’d be the ones bitten.
Shao Xuan and the old man followed these wild rats. When they came near the top of the mountain, they were forced to stop.
Why did they suddenly stop?
They had to stop since they could only go that far. The area forward were all occupied by the wild rats. Meanwhile, the wild rats, who had rushed from another direction, joined this large team.
Although this scale was not comparable to that time in the desert when Sapphire led a tide of insects, it was different here after all. The only accessible area were mostly barren mountains, and you would usually not see many animals. Suddenly seeing thousands of wild rats would be enough to make people shocked.
The wild rats in the back who were also forced to stop also wanted to squeeze forward, but the front was already full of rats. There was no open space to move past. The ones in front who were particularly large, were annoyed that they turned around to bite a few of the ones pushing behind. Seeing this, the other ones on the back all stopped pushing and no longer squeezed themselves forward. They were satisfied to stay at the back, then continued to stare at the top of the tree, staring at the plants being swung by the wind.
Since they could not squeeze forward, the wild rats at the back had to get up, stretching their necks to get a higher view. Clearly, they were lumped on the ground and all were standing up with elongated necks like a pole.
Shao Xuan also saw those plants growing on top of the mountain. They were upright, thick stalks, about a person tall. A leaf blade has a lance-like, narrow appearance and on each stalk, there were several dark golden ears hanging, giving a kind of heavy feeling. When the wind blew, the ears swayed.
The old man stopped, gasping, his nostrils expanding and shrinking, while staring at the highest place on the top of the mountain. He has stopped moving, as if the whole world was left with only the things there.
The old man’s eyes was increasingly full of wonder and excitement. His two fist at his side clenched, and he couldn’t wait to immediately rush over to dig a few stalks away.
“That’s the ‘thousand gold grains’?” Shao Xuan asked in a low voice.
“Yes! Certainly!” The old man couldn’t repress his excitement. He ignored everything around him, immersing himself in his own world and becoming insane. “Haha hahaha! Found it! I finally found it!!”
Shao Xuan’s eyelids suddenly twitched a few times. He was getting a bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, as the old man laughed out, the next moment, the gray wild rats in front of them turned to look over. Their small eyes were letting out a ferocious light, especially those closest to the top whose body shapes were significantly larger than the other wild rats. They were at least two or three times times larger and their eyes were even glowing red with murderous light.
A few of the big wild rats at the top of the mountain looked at the swinging dark golden ears, then turned to look with the same burning eyes at the old man. Suddenly, they angrily straightened up and opened their mouths to make a series of sharp squeaking sounds.
Shao Xuan silently whispered “bad”, then carried the old man as the totem power in his body instantly soared. It was like a magma appeared along his totem lines, accompanied by the vibration in the surrounding air. It shook wild rats that were jumping around. The force under his foot continued as he went down the mountain.
However, they were most likely still taking into account the plants at the top of the mountain, hence, the wild rats were afraid but did not ran down. Perhaps for fear that if they ran away, they would not be back in time to steal a big meal.
On the other side, Shao Xuan carrying the old man ran to the hillside and saw those wild rats did not chase them. He slowed his pace, then put the old man down.
The old man did not look much at the totem patterns on Shao Xuan. At this time, his eyes were only on the plants at the mountain top and nothing else. His every thoughts were occupied by the dark golden ears.
As soon as he was put down, the old man wanted to continue running up the hill but was forced to stop by Shao Xuan.
“Let go! I’m going there! Those are thousand gold grains, thousand gold grains, you know?!” The old man struggled as he roared.
“I don’t care if it’s thousand golds or thousand droppings. I just know the place has been occupied by the wild rats. Do you want to be fed to the wild rats too?!” Shao Xuan yelled.
When the struggling old man heard this, his sanity gradually returned. He repeated Shao Xuan’s words, “Occupied by wild rats?”
As he thought of the wild rats at the mountain top, the old man suddenly got more upset. “No, no, no, those cannot be spoiled by those wild rats!”
Fortunately, he finally returned to reason. The old man paced in a circle, thinking about a way.
“Those stalks are not yet fully ripe and the wild rats are waiting for the last moment of its maturity. We just have to get rid of the wild rats before the stalks mature.” The old man said.
“How do we do it?” Shao Xuan asked. It was not that he has no way. He could force himself past and fight that group of wild rats, but he would also be paying a higher price. After all, those wild rats were a lot and the closest to the top were the big ones, which were more difficult than the others to deal with. Fighting them could not guarantee that the top of the mountain would be intact.
The old man also took into account a variety of circumstances, thinking for a while. His frowning brows finally loosened, then he called Shao Xuan, “Come with me.”