Chapter 217 - 217 - Surviving A Rat Attack

"Run!" Zou Yue grabbed Fan Xui's hands, and they ran away. The road ahead was full of the low hanging corn leaves. The sharp edges cut into their skin.

Yue tried his utmost to slice them off of the way. Even so, their whole body was covered in cuts and bruises. 

They ran and ran. The things that were following them were relentless. 

His muscles ached badly.

"Fan.. wait.... my leg is cramping..."

Fan Xui hurriedly lifted him over his back and ran. 

'This is not going to work out..' he glanced back. Only small parts of the creatures were exposed in between the foliage. He saw pink skin. 

'Is it a pig? Fuck its big... we would get trampled by it.. Their skin is also very tough.'

'First, we need to get a clear vision. Asses if we can defeat it or... we have to find another way to survive,'

"Fan, stop. I have a plan." he jumped off his back hobble over to a cornstalk and cut it down from its root. He lifted the whole thing up with difficulty and waved it around.

The stalk hit the other cornstalks and bent them slightly, giving them a clear vision. 

Three rat like creatures poked their nose through the fallen plants. Its whole body was pink without hair and large. They were as big as a jeep. 

Yue gulped. 

The three creatures surrounded them, sniffing and softly hissing.

"Stay behind me," Yue carefully protected Fan. 

'The creature's skin looks loose and elastic. Would my sword even cut through it? If I use my full strength, my sword will snap...' he swiftly sheathed his sword and took out a small dagger.

Smaller the weapon easier it is to control, plus this small dagger will not easily break. 

"Yue, I'll do it..." Fan Xui held his hand and reassuringly smile at him. In his other hand, a small ball of blue electric energy sparkled. 

The rats vigilantly moved back from that bright light.

The energy ball expanded until it was as big as a soccer ball. 

Fan Xui pulled him into his embrace and threw the ball at one of the rats.

The rat squeaked loudly and dodged it. Even so, the ball hit it close to its stomach and exploded.

A huge thunder like sound pulsated though the air.

The rat's body got charred in an instant. It collapsed on the ground, twitching.

The other rats looked at it and screamed. 

'We have angered the other ones.'

One of them charged at them with its huge jaws opened. 

Yue took this chance to attack it. When it was close by, he swiftly bent down and stabbed the underside of its throat with all his strength.

With much difficulty He sliced its whole jaw off.

The rat's blood splattered all over his face. He wiped it away from his eyes and cut into its delicate underbelly and stabbed its heart.

At that moment, he felt a weird electric force in his body. His hands started to sparkle slightly. But before he could check it carefully, it disappeared. 

He crawled out from under it and rushed to the other rat.

Right then, a loud squealing was heard to their right.

The rat's ears slightly trembled. Squeaking, it ran towards the direction of that sound.

Fan Xui helped wipe his face clean. "Are you okay? Did that thing bite you?" he anxiously whispered, checking his arms and legs.

"I'm good. let's go get Tian." 

They backtracked over to the burrow. "Tian! Tian!" he shouted. Hearing no reply, he got ready to jump in. 

"Wait, we must first secure a way to climb up before we jump," Fan Xui dragged the huge leaf they cut beforehand and started to prep it. 

Yue quickly came to help.

They both made a long rope out of the leaf and tied it to one of the larger, sturdier looking cornstalk.

They tossed the rope in. Even now they did not know if the rope reached the bottom or not, but Yue did not care.

Yue grabbed Fan Xui in his embrace and jumped in. 

The fall was deep, but the soft sand took all the brunt force of it. 

Yue glanced up. He could definitely see the rope hanging a foot up.

"You okay?" he worriedly looked at Fan Xui. He seemed exhausted, but completely unharmed. 

"Yeah... I see a light," he pointed to the small flame in the corner. 

Yue hurriedly ran close and inspected it. It was a t-shirt.

He removed his shirt as well and wound it tight on one of his daggers, and lit it up.

"How did these things even burrow into such soft soil?" Fan Xui patted the soil away from his clothes. 

He pointed the flame up. Thick roots coiled all over the ceiling of the shaft. "The roots keep this place from collapsing."

Zou Yue squatted down and scanned the ground.

There were a lot of rat tracks, but in between them, three pairs of footsteps were imprinted on the soil.

"You're right, they walked further in."

Fan Xui and Yue vigilantly moved inside.

The smaller grey rats tried to attack the now and then, but Yue stabbed them and killed them at sight. After that, the rats scurried away every time they got near. 

They instinctively feared the hand that held the dagger. 

The footprints led them over to a chamber like room. 

It was fully burned down to char. A few bones were seen here and there. "They were definitely here,"

"Yue?" a small voice whispered.

"Hello?"

A black soot coated figure crawled out from a small hole in the walls. "Thank god I'm rescued." He ran to them.

"Doctor Prisitsky? What happened here? Where's my sister?"

"That naked mole rat came for them. She told me to stay in and left." he proceeded to wipe his glasses. Subtly he bent down and cut into a fat carcass and tossed the tissue sample in a small plastic bottle.

"Seriously, you're collecting samples even now," Yue dragged him up. 

"it's my job. Don't make fun of it."

"Which way did they go?"

"Right, I think...."

Yue went to the entrance if the chamber. From this point onwards, the flooring was getting much sturdier, and no footprints were left behind.

"You said they were chased, right?" he squatted down. There were huge scratch marks on the hard ground. "If we follow this we might find her,"

He glanced back to find Fan Xui holding Prisitsky by the back of his collar. 

"He was running back to that room,"

"Prisitsky not now. We have to find them, and fast. Those things are not that easy to kill."

Prisitsky sighed. "Okay, fine, but when you find the queen, I need a fresh sample. No burning allowed,"

"We'll see what we can do." Yue pulled him over onto his back and ran. "What did you mean by queen?"

"Naked mole rats have hierarchy. The one who has pups first is considered queen. The other males and females serve her."

Yue frowned deeply. That rat which was fighting them ran off when it heard that call. It's likely that Tian pissed off the queen and the queen called for backup. 

'Who knows how many giant rats are here?'

He touched his pocket. Trexa was still in there safely. 

Soon they came across a small crossroad sort of situating. Four shafts intersected here. He paused.

There were no more footprints of claw marks. 

'Maybe Trexa can sense it.. but Prisitsky is here...' 

"Fan, can you take Prisitsky back? I feel like something dangerous is here," he winked at him.

Fan Xui slightly looked surprised. He pulled Prisitsky behind him, hiding his vision with his big frame. 

Yue secretly took Trexa out. She was shivering badly.

"Baby.. can you smell anything? Do you smell Tian anywhere here?."

Trexa nervously looked around. She sniffed the air and then pointed to the right shaft with her small paws. 

"There?"

She nodded.

"Good girl, baba will give you a treat after we get out of here." he kissed her head and placed her back in his pockets.

She cutely rolled herself up like a ball in there.

Giving her air kisses, Yue zipped the pocket. 

"It's right. I saw some tracks. Come on," 

Fan Xui guided Prisitsky with him.

The whole passageway got wider and wider, leading to a huge aerated chamber like structure. The whole ceiling was cleared off, letting bright sun light in through the tangled up roots. 

They all hid in a corner and peaked in. 

Three huge rats were inside, protecting something.

'Tian's not here. Why did Trexa point this way?' 

Trexa in his pocket started to fidget slightly.

He slightly opened the pockets to give her some air.

But to his surprise, she fully unzipped it from the inside and jumped out.

"Trexa, no," he tried to catch her, but his little baby jumped out and ran to the three huge rats.

The naked mole rats all glanced at her with their terrifying red eyes. 

"fuck." Yue charged in but Fan Xui held him back. 

"Watch, she is talking to them," 

Trexa was indeed squeaking slightly and waving her small paws around. And it looked like the naked rats were also answering her in a hushed tone. 

After a few minutes, Trexa ran back out and jumped into his arms. "Squeak.." she pointed to the path they came from.

They ran there and after that, she pointed to the right path. 

"Did this rat just ask for direction for the other rats?" Prisitsky lowered his glass, exposing his crazed eyes. "Fascinating, can I have a..... "

"Don't even think about it.. Come near her and I will slice you throat off," Yue placed Trexa safely in his pocket.