Chapter 159: The “road” Ahead
What the hell is this thing?
For a moment, whether it was Wu Xie and the others or the mountain monkeys gradually surrounding them, all were stunned. How did a big rat fall from the sky?
No, it should be said, falling from such a high place, how was this rat still alive and kicking?
Looking closely, wasn’t this one of the two little followers beside the Rat King? Wu Xie watched the big rat that could still bare its teeth and claws after landing and fell into thought. Then he swept his flashlight over his head—empty.
He hadn’t heard any sound before, so where did this rat fall from? Since this big rat was here, was Lin Yan nearby too? Thinking of this, Wu Xie perked up and began searching everywhere for Lin Yan’s figure.
When he saw the rat, Lao Yang was startled at first, but after accepting the idea that this rat was the little brother of the small white zombie, he wasn’t so afraid anymore. Only Master Liang, who originally had no strength to move, exerted all his effort to hide behind Wu Xie, perfectly embodying one word: cowardly.
No way around it, the psychological shadow was too big.
“Squeak squeak squeak squeak—” After landing, the big rat was dazed in place for a moment, shook its head, and darted to Wu Xie in a flash. Its two little paws gestured wildly, and it even added sound effects from its mouth, but unfortunately, there was no one here who understood rat language.
The mountain monkeys saw that what came down was a small thing, so the steps they had taken back half a pace quietly moved forward again, faintly encircling them once more.
Wu Xie warily glanced at the mountain monkeys, fired a shot at the two closest to them, then hesitantly asked the big rat: “Did Lin Yan send you?”
The big rat tilted its head, looking like it didn’t understand, and called out to him again: “Squeak squeak—”
If only Lin Yan and the small white zombie were here now! Wu Xie gave a bitter smile. He didn’t understand rat language, what could he do? Who knew what Lin Yan wanted to tell him! But since Lin Yan could send a little brother down, that meant he wasn’t controlled by this bronze tree? Or had he, after going up, already left the affected area?
Along the way, he hadn’t seen any bite marks or anything, and didn’t know if he had gnawed on this bronze tree or if his teeth had chipped.
Seeing Wu Xie hadn’t understood its meaning after so long, the rat simply scurried up a branch and called out to him, as if wanting to lead the way.
Wu Xie looked at its movements, then at the increasingly approaching mountain monkeys, and hesitated about having Lao Yang fire the flare. What if the flare blinded this big rat too? Where would they find Lin Yan then?
Seeing Wu Xie not moving for so long, the big rat really got anxious, zipped down again, rushed to the nearest mountain monkey, and let out a shrill cry, startling all three people.
“Th-this rat is this f-fierce?” Lao Yang was so shocked he started stuttering wildly again. This big rat was only so rampant in the tomb before because of its numbers. Now it was just one, and still so brave?
Strangely, the forward mountain monkey had its hand almost grabbing it, but as if receiving some signal, it began retreating quickly, and from its mouth—or rather, the Chi Gu parasitizing its throat—came a strange sound. Wu Xie thought it sounded quite like the zombie talk Zhang Qiling had mentioned.
“Giggles, giggle giggle…” In an instant, the surrounding mountain monkeys that had closed in all stopped, looking together at the big rat squeaking angrily and at their companion retreating faster and faster.
“What is this, happening?”
Master Liang had been listening to the commotion for a while, and only now had the courage to poke his head out from behind Wu Xie, staring dumbfounded at the scene. Who could tell him why a big rat could scare away a group of mountain monkeys? Just in terms of size, it was unbelievable, right? Could it be that these mountain monkeys were killed by rats before, so they were so afraid?
No, that wasn’t right either. Weren’t the Chi Gu controlling these corpses now? He remembered the rat corpse he saw before; that corpse was on a branch, meaning the Chi Gu shouldn’t fear this rat. Why did they seem mortally terrified now?
In less than two minutes, the group of mountain monkeys retreated faster and faster, one after another disappearing from their sight.
They just ran off like that? Lao Yang glanced at the flare in his hand. Then should he fire this thing or not?
Wu Xie also hadn’t reacted yet; the contrast was too huge. Mountain monkeys, which had no major weaknesses except the mask, actually feared a tiny little rat. Who would believe that? Was this rat actually that strong? Seeing how obedient they were in front of Lin Yan and the small white zombie, it wasn’t obvious at all!
This really highlighted one thing: not scientific!
After squeaking a bunch to drive away the group of mountain monkeys, the big rat smugly swaggered slowly to Wu Xie, tilted its head: “Squeak squeak?”
Wu Xie snapped back to his senses with a jolt, looking at the big rat: “You want me to follow you? You’ll lead the way?”
The big rat tilted its head again, seeming not to understand, leaving Wu Xie very puzzled. It seemed so human-like before, but now it looked like it couldn’t understand. How could its intelligence fluctuate like this? Whatever, no point dwelling on it. It seemed like the rat hadn’t understood a single thing he said, so better just follow it.
At least they’d rested in place for a bit, and after drinking some water, their strength had recovered somewhat. Except for Master Liang, Wu Xie and Lao Yang felt they could climb another few dozen meters.
Seeing them start moving, the big rat darted up a higher branch in a flash: “Squeak squeak—”
Alright, this was leading the way!
Though Lao Yang said it was just ten-some meters up, when Wu Xie shone his flashlight upward before, he always felt there was more above. Now following the big rat up, he discovered what “a hundred meters or so” meant. Lao Yang, this scammer—there might be another hundred meters or so above that hundred meters! He’d climbed another ten-some meters, and above was still the same, the endless bronze tree trunk and branching limbs!
“Damn it, Lao Yang, are you scamming me again? Where’s the hundred meters or so you promised?” Wu Xie looked at the unchanging scenery with a face full of despair. Shouldn’t they have reached the top by now? If not for not having seen Lin Yan yet, and the possibility of more mountain monkeys behind, he’d want to go back down now! Compared to Lao Yang’s vague “big opportunity,” retreating felt safer.
Money lost could be earned again, but day after day dealing with these strange things, his little heart really couldn’t take it.
Lao Yang shrank his neck, chuckled twice, and comforted him: “N-no problem, look, this big rat is l-leading the way for us, right? Lin Yan is probably w-waiting for us up there. Climb a bit more and w-we’ll be there!”
Damn, this guy stutters like crazy when lying. Look at how bad the stuttering is? Still trying to fool him? Wu Xie secretly rolled his eyes toward the sky. If not for being sure Lao Yang meant no harm toward him, Wu Xie would’ve taken Lin Yan and left already!
Gradually, they had no mind to think about these things. The big rat went up easily, but for them carrying all this equipment, climbing step by step, the speed was ridiculously slow. Plus, the upward path seemed endless. If not for wearing gloves, Wu Xie would’ve suspected it was a hallucination from the bronze tree, just like the Ghost Wall they encountered below.
Unknowingly, the three had spread out a lot. Lao Yang followed Wu Xie, about two meters behind him, while Master Liang lagged far behind. Though the rope was still tied around his waist, it was long to begin with, he had no strength, and with no mountain monkey threat behind, he was now unknowingly four or five meters from them.
“Can’t you wait for me?”
Master Liang’s weak voice came from below, startling the two fully focused on climbing. Looking back, they saw he was already swaying unsteadily.
Lao Yang reluctantly stopped, tugged the rope, glanced at the big rat that had turned back baring its teeth when they stopped, and shivered: “Y-you better hurry, or this big rat might p-pounce and bite you!”
Master Liang gave a bitter smile: “Even if it bites me, I can’t climb… I really have no strength. Why don’t you go ahead, leave me some stuff, and I’ll climb slowly. There’s only one path here anyway, I won’t get lost.”
Wu Xie looked at the big rat waiting ahead, frowned worriedly, and hesitated to persuade: “But… what if we go first, and without this… Brother Rat’s deterrence, the mountain monkeys behind come out again?”
Master Liang seemed determined, untying the rope from his body: “They left, so they probably won’t come back. I really can’t climb…”
He reached into his body, then looked up at Wu Xie: “Could you leave me some food and water? Mine’s all gone.”
Seeing him dawdling like this, Lao Yang was impatient, thinking it was good to leave him here—at least he wouldn’t be in the way up top. Besides, he’d been all high and mighty toward them before. Now alone, they had no obligation to save him.
As the saying goes, good words can’t persuade a damned ghost. If Master Liang was set on staying, he’d bear the consequences; they’d done all they could. Seeking death was his own choice.
Seeing Wu Xie still reluctant and wanting to persuade him to come along, Lao Yang first took out his water and food to share with him, indirectly forcing Wu Xie to decide. Seeing Lao Yang’s actions, Wu Xie couldn’t say much now. Seeing Master Liang weak but resolute, he still took out some things for him, plus an extra flashlight and a battery.
Master Liang took the items, sat on a branch, and waved to them: “Thanks, you go ahead. I’ll catch up soon.”
Wu Xie wanted to persuade more; he felt it wasn’t safe for Master Liang to stay alone. Lao Yang had a thought, suspecting Master Liang was up to something. But with their team down to just him, what could he do? Surely he couldn’t double-cross and take them all out?
Shaking his head to dismiss the somewhat absurd idea, Lao Yang pulled the still-turning-back Wu Xie and followed the big rat ahead.
During the wait, the big rat had been quite obedient, neither calling nor moving, like a robot with programmed behavior—actually a bit eerie. Now moving, it just looked like a nimble oversized rat.
Not long after climbing up, the big rat changed route, no longer along the trunk but veering toward a stone wall on one side. The non-vertical movement let both breathe a sigh of relief; now they could climb more easily.
“Y-you look, what’s that?”
By flashlight light, Lao Yang pointed to the stone wall side to show Wu Xie.
Wu Xie shone his flashlight over too, stunned to see the stone wall there didn’t seem like pure stone wall; it had man-made axe marks. After looking for a while, he hesitantly said: “This is… a path?”
Lao Yang had already followed the marks to shine sideways. Wu Xie, seeing no response for so long, turned to look at him: “What’s up, why aren’t you talking?”
Lao Yang woodenly pointed in a direction. Wu Xie curiously turned to look, then also froze in place.
From their angle, it might not be clear, but up close, one could see this place was like countless caves, in the darkness like giant empty cavities, somewhat like the area below Lu King’s Palace with the Nine-headed Serpent Cypress.
And several cave entrances clearly showed man-made traces. Not far from these caves… were sections of boardwalks supported by wood.
Like stairs on a cliff, spiraling upward boardwalks.
Up close, they found the branch ends were several meters from the stone wall—too far to jump. They hadn’t brought anything else for this trip. The big rat squeaked at them twice, then leaped from the branch to the stone wall, landing in a cave three or four meters below, rolled, climbed up, and in under thirty seconds was back at their height.
“Squeak squeak—”
Wu Xie and Lao Yang exchanged a glance, understanding the big rat was demonstrating, but looking at the bottomless abyss below… both were deterred. Falling would be no joke—it’d be shattering to pieces!
What to do?
Lao Yang looked at the rope end just stuffed into his backpack, got an idea. He pulled out the rope, tied one end to a branch near the end, wrapped the other around his waist, and held it. Wu Xie’s eyes lit up: “Good idea, but this branch…”
Lao Yang smiled, reassuring him: “No problem, this branch is v-very sturdy. We took a s-saw to cut it down back then!”
Wu Xie thought it made sense, so he stretched his body, preparing to swing over after Lao Yang using the same method.
Lao Yang took a deep breath, let out five or six meters of rope, backed up a few steps, and with a run-up, jumped across! In that instant, Wu Xie’s heart leaped to his throat. Though theoretically fine, in practice…
As Lao Yang safely grabbed the opposite stone wall, he breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed the swinging-back rope.
