Chapter 472: Chapter 472: The Skilled Mouse
Gu Yixing’s face turned instantly pale, his pupils dilated as they locked onto the beady eyes up close. As that mouth suddenly opened wide, he even forgot to fight back, standing there woodenly.
Just in the nick of time, a washbasin was thrown over. With a clang, the enamel washbasin hit the ground, producing a loud sound.
The noise startled Gu Yixing back to reality, though his gaze still held a hint of blankness. Slowly, he looked down to see a small, pale hand.
Little Taotie’s hand was covering the washbasin, and inside it, the mouse squeaked frantically, followed by sounds of it crashing against the enamel basin.
Little Taotie lifted his head to meet Gu Yixing’s pale face and said in a mature, milky voice, “Brother Xingxing, don’t be scared, I’ve got it covered. It can’t do any harm now.”
Xiao Lingzhi snapped out of her daze, clapped her hands, and cheered around Little Taotie, “You’re so awesome! Can I have a look at it?”
“No, if I let go, it will escape.”
Hearing this, Xiao Lingzhi stamped on the enamel basin with her little foot, prompting a fierce assault from the mouse inside.
Xiao Lingzhi was startled and took several steps back, “It’s so fierce!”
“Don’t be scared, I’ll take it out!”
Little Taotie shifted the enamel washbasin bit by bit, feeling resistance from within. He exerted a bit of strength and could hear the mouse’s frantic squealing, which gradually became pitifully weak.
“Is it going to die?” Xiao Lingzhi asked apprehensively, “Should we open it and check, might it suffocate?”
Little Taotie shook his head and spoke with experience, “Mice are very cunning. They play dead. As soon as you open it to look, it will escape and scurry around, even vengefully scatter mouse droppings everywhere.”
Xiao Lingzhi made a disgusted face, “It’s so dirty!”
Little Taotie nodded, “Very dirty, indeed!”
“Then should we…” Xiao Lingzhi made a throat-slitting gesture and hummed, “Get rid of the pest for the people!”
Little Taotie hesitated, then shook his head, “What if it bites us, or scratches us in a last-ditch resistance? We could get sick, you know…” Little Taotie tilted his head, thought for a bit, “We could catch the plague, which is like getting a fever or a cold, and then we could die.”
Xiao Lingzhi covered her mouth, eyes wide with horror, “That’s so scary!”
“Unless we poison it to death,” Little Taotie sighed like an adult, “But we don’t have any rat poison, and if it dies, disposing of the corpse improperly could be a big menace too.”
“How do you know so much?” Xiao Lingzhi took a big step back, “If I’d known, we wouldn’t have stayed here.”
“Grandpa told me. When we lived in the mountains, I found a nest of baby mice and wanted to bring them home to raise…”
“What!” Xiao Lingzhi took another big step back, “You actually wanted to raise mice! Such dirty, terrifying creatures, why would you want to raise them, don’t you think they’re ugly?”
“Baby mice have no fur; they’re not dirty, just little fleshy bumps, each as big as a thumb… kind of cute.”
“Cute?” Xiao Lingzhi could hardly believe it.
While they talked, they had moved the enamel basin outside the door and walked a good distance away, out of sight of the thatched cottage. Little Taotie waved to Xiao Lingzhi, “You better hurry back, I’m going to let go now. Once I do, it might knock the basin over and rush out, and I’ll have to run back too.”
“So I should leave now?” Xiao Lingzhi was a bit worried, “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”
Xiao Lingzhi looked back three times with each step she took. When she was far enough away, Little Taotie let go and ran. Behind him came the sound of the enamel basin getting knocked over. Little Taotie didn’t look back but kept running back to the thatched cottage, where he closed all doors and windows tightly.