Before Sun Xiaoxiao could react to what was happening, she was abruptly pulled aside by Chu Liang.
Instinctively she wanted to resist.
But as a girl, she didn’t have much strength and was quickly yanked to his side.
Sun Xiaoxiao’s face turned red; her heart was pounding chaotically, and she was momentarily at a loss.
Chu Liang was handsome in his own right, and with his family background, she was indeed somewhat interested in him off-stage.
However, his actions were so sudden that she lost her sense of measure.
"What are you doing!"
Director Liu’s shout came from nearby, but he was only able to get a word out before the scene that unfolded before him left him stunned.
Behind Sun Xiaoxiao, a vast swarming mass of dark shadows surged up from the Seine River, spilling over the railings and lunging towards Chu Liang and her, who were closest.
"What, what is that..."
Someone murmured at the sight of the dark mass, their voice laden with terror.
Chu Liang shouted loudly, dragging Sun Xiaoxiao towards the film crew as they ran.
They were close enough to see the true nature of those things.
"Rats, they’re rats! Everyone run!"
The guy who had handed the gun prop to the girl was also by the river. His shout instantly woke everyone nearby, and they were all shocked by the content of his words.
How could there be rats?
Why are so many rats coming out of the river?
Everyone’s mind momentarily malfunctioned, still finding what was happening before their eyes unbelievable.
However, while they were still stunned, things had already turned bad for Chu Liang and the other two.
They couldn’t outrun these gigantic rats and were caught just a few steps after they had started running.
The props guy was the fastest; he had already passed the camera’s position and was almost at the director’s side.
A look of joy at the prospect of survival had appeared on his face.
Somehow, a famous saying suddenly popped into his head.
"When you meet a lion, you don’t have to be faster than the lion, just faster than your companion."
What happened next, however, didn’t go as he had expected.
To his utter disbelief, the rats behind him bypassed Chu Liang and Sun Xiaoxiao and headed straight for him instead.
An extremely piercing scream erupted as the prop guy was instantly engulfed by the black rats.
These rats were terrifying; not only were they as large as adult earth dogs, but they were also ferociously jealous, with two blood-red eyes that were particularly horrifying in the dark.
The props guy couldn’t even manage a proper struggle, only rolling on the ground a couple of times before ceasing to move.
The people nearby, having witnessed this scene, finally snapped out of their initial shock and their faces turned pale.
Several high-pitched screams immediately rang out across the set.
In an instant, there was chaos as everyone scrambled backwards, desperately trying to get away from the terrifying black rats.
On the other hand, after seeing the props guy being overtaken by rats, Chu Liang and Sun Xiaoxiao were so frightened that they stopped in their tracks, not daring to move forward even an inch.
They were now completely surrounded by the black rats, standing on an isolated rock in a vast ocean, in imminent danger.
"Why, why aren’t they coming over..."
Sun Xiaoxiao was braver than the average girl. Although her words inevitably revealed her fear, she at least did not scream hysterically.
Chu Liang’s heart was also filled with panic. Even though he had had similar experiences before, when a group of man-eating demons surrounded him, it was impossible for even the bravest person to remain calm.
Fortunately, as a magician, Chu Liang was also very observant.
He held onto the girl’s hand tightly, forcing himself to calm down, and soon noticed something different.
"These rats... seem to be afraid of the light...?"
Looking up at the beams of light cast by the lighting crew nearby, the two of them needed bright lights for the scene so the camera could capture better images in the dark.
And now, it was the film crew’s spotlight that had saved their lives.
The rats only dared to hover on the edge of the light and didn’t dare approach them.
When they accidentally touched the strong light, they would immediately shrink back as if they were electrocuted.
"Quick, let’s go back towards the spotlight," Chu Liang instantly said, pulling Sun Xiaoxiao to retreat the way they had come, towards the nearest spotlight set up by the crew.
As expected, as they got closer to the light source, the rats kept their distance and didn’t dare to follow.
However, although these creatures feared the light, they hadn’t abandoned their intention to hunt their prey and stood outside the range of the spotlight, baring their teeth and grimacing at them.
Chu Liang knew they were safe for the moment. His gaze moved past the rats and towards the film crew not far away.
The crew had already run out in part by then; these were the extras who had been on the periphery, furthest from the river, and they were the quickest to escape.