Chapter 594: Chapter 405 Fountain of Youth_2 Chapter 594: Chapter 405 Fountain of Youth_2 Some had improvised wooden spears, others carried forks and firewood knives picked up from who knows where.
Squeak squeak squeak!
The rat people discovered the arrival of the group and instantly swarmed in as if a pot had exploded, all on high alert. They emitted piercing shrieks, bared their teeth, and flailed with their weapons.
“Don’t be afraid! Tamala rat people are of low intelligence and like to pick on the outnumbered, but they’re incredibly weak. Just kill a few, and the rest will scatter!”
Her petite figure stood at the very front, lifting her gun and pulling the trigger.
A flash of gunfire, and the bullets sprayed forward, blowing a rat person’s head apart.
The strong recoil of the double-barreled shotgun even sent the rat’s body flying several meters.
Another gunshot rang out.
At such close range, it was hard to miss, and the chest and abdomen of another rat person burst open, flying backward, dead.
Squeak squeak squeak!
The rat people screeched incessantly, closing in.
After firing two bullets, Lutina had to break open the gun to reload. Messia, who had been standing beside her, fearfully took steps back towards the group, clearly ready to flee if the situation worsened.
The husband holding the recurve knife felt his palms sweat; catching his wife’s hopeful glance from the corner of his eye, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward, swinging his weapon at the rat people.
Unexpectedly, just after he had killed one, he was scratched on the arm by another.
The man cried out in pain.
Two more rats threw him to the ground, opening their mouths wide to bite at his scalp.
Paralyzed with fear, he dropped his knife.
His wife and the female student Messia screamed.
Chen Lun couldn’t stand by and watch. He sighed inwardly, walked over, and carelessly swung his staff, exploding the heads of the two rat people on top of the man with a couple of bangs.
Immediately, he gave Noah a meaningful look.
The latter, understanding the signal, took out his sketchpad and quickly began to draw.
With a mere flick of his brush, several rat people lost their breath mid-run and collapsed to the ground, showing no visible wounds… their Spirituality had already been devoured by the “Bone Gallery.”
One after another, the rat people died mysteriously, causing everyone to pause in astonishment. Even the rat people’s comrades noticed something was amiss and quickly squealed as they turned and fled.
“Chase them! Following them is our only chance to find the girl they’ve kidnapped!”
Lutina, having reloaded her bullets, didn’t shoot but instead shouldered her shotgun and started running after them, calling out to the group.
The fallen man was helped up by his wife, apologizing with guilt and frustration.
The group quickly followed Lutina, chasing the scattered rat people.
On the way, Lutina couldn’t resist glancing at Noah with interest and complimented him:
“Your painting is really nice. Could you show it to me later?”
Noah glanced at Chen Lun, and seeing that he had shown no reaction, he smiled and nodded.
Lutina said no more and continued running forward with a stern face.
Soon, they caught up to the rats and arrived at the entrance of a burrow, faintly hearing a woman’s cries for help inside.
“In there… let one person stay outside to watch, the rest of us should go down.”
Lutina turned to the group and said.
“Me! I’ll stay here!”
Messia eagerly volunteered.
Lutina seemed to detect her fear but did not refuse, nodding in agreement.
“Fine. You stay here and keep watch. We’ll be back soon.”
Having spoken, she led the way down into the burrow.
Chen Lun had Anton the cow remain on the surface because of its large size, making it impractical to descend.
The burrow was narrow and pitch-dark. Lutina took out a kerosene lighter to illuminate the way, with everyone following one after another.
Soon, their field of view widened as they entered the depths of the burrow.
The cave was damp and disgusting, filled with a putrid smell. The ground was covered with a thick layer of decaying matter mixed with twigs and fragments of bones—uncertain whether they belonged to humans or animals.
Squeak squeak squeak!
Some hairless juvenile rat people lay on the ground, squirming slightly. A girl, whose clothes were nearly unable to cover her, lay in the midst of the small rats, her face terror-stricken, almost mad.
The girl, Gray, called out frantically.
The group approached and saw her hands and feet had been bitten off, blood smeared everywhere; little rats sucked at her blood incessantly on the ground.
“Those rats… they still want to… waah!”
Gray broke down crying, clearly unable to accept what she had gone through.
“Although I’ve never heard of Tamala rat people breeding with humans, given their strong reproductive desires, it’s not impossible… Consider yourself lucky; we arrived just in time.”
Lutina shook her head and told Gray.
She retrieved the recurve knife from the man, killed all the small rats on the ground, and then removed her outer coat to wrap Gray in it.
“Which one of you men can help out and carry her? She can’t walk anymore,” Lutina asked as she turned back to the group.
The husband, under the gaze of his wife, reluctantly stepped forward and hoisted Gray onto his back.
Then the group made their way back the way they came, reaching the entrance of the burrow.
Messia was thrilled to see her companion rescued.
But upon seeing Gray’s injuries, she couldn’t help but clench her fists.