Chapter 24: Escaping Death (6)
It must have been quite a spectacle to see such a large group of rats lined up together. That is, as long as Zhang Fan wasn't standing right in front of their path at the time. Zhang Fan took a step back, thinking about what he should do next. Regardless of whether they were aggressive towards humans or not, being surrounded by them wouldn't be a pleasant experience.
The mice had already crawled to Zhang Fan's feet, and one of them even gnawed on Zhang Fan's shoes. In the squeaking sounds, Zhang Fan felt his toes getting a bit chilly. With a swipe of his hand towards the ground, a blast of air whizzed past the mice, sending countless mice flying out in all directions, accompanied by a rain-like downpour of mouse blood.
The mice didn't behave like humans, Zhang Fan's sudden movement had made a lot of the leading mice disappear. However, they didn't know what fear or retreat meant. Even the bloody smell created by Zhang Fan made these mice even more frenzied, they surged towards him wave after wave. When they encountered their companions' corpses, they climbed on top; when they encountered something that could be bitten, they danced with their teeth.
It was not the first time Zhang Fan had experienced something thrilling, but it was his first time fighting against rats. Without any weapons in hand, except for his superpower, he really didn't know what method to use to deal with them. However, his superpower couldn't be used continuously, and his energy would eventually run out. When that happened, would he become the rats' next meal? After using his Air Blade to kill another batch of rats, Zhang Fan's patience had reached its limit. How long would it take for these damned rats to stop coming out? Zhang Fan kicked a fat rat that was sneaking up to his feet into the air. Its teeth were stuck in Zhang Fan's shoe sole; if it had been off by just a bit, they would have made intimate contact with his skin.
This won't do, Zhang Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and thought he needed to come up with a more reliable solution. Maybe he should give them something a bit more intense to look at. As for these damn rats, Zhang Fan had completely lost patience. After using Wind Blade Slash to kill another group of rats, Zhang Fan decided to change tactics against them.
Zhang Fan's mouth curled up into a faint smile. Those detestable rats, you should know that human brains are far more clever than yours. This time, Zhang Fan didn't use the Wind Blade, but instead changed his method. After all, there's nothing that can't be done, only things that haven't been thought of yet. This time, Zhang Fan accelerated the air in mid-air, causing it to spin faster and faster, eventually forming a small whirlwind. However, before long, the small whirlwind picked up speed, carrying with it a faint humming noise, and transformed into a massive tornado. The massive tornado swept up the rats that were climbing everywhere, and these rats, in turn, increased the tornado's power by several degrees.
Several old mice let out a miserable squeak, and where the whirlwind passed, all was quiet. The mice who were not taken care of by the whirlwind also began to flee in all directions due to this abnormal air.
Finally, a bloody path was cleared. Zhang Fan shook his head, and the sweat had already soaked through his hair, dripping down with a pattering sound. The sticky feeling made him feel very uncomfortable. Walking forward from where the big whirlwind had passed, Zhang Fan finally managed to move forward another step.
Where did these mice come from? Why have they become so large in size? And why are they more aggressive than usual mice? They also seem to be crazier. One by one, questions rose up in Zhang Fan's mind. Perhaps the mystery of these mice will only be solved when Professor Ouyang's case is fully revealed. However, even if Professor Ouyang's case becomes clear, this mouse incident might just be a small part of the bigger picture, like the tip of an iceberg, not worth drawing attention to.
The whirlwind created by Zhang Fan lasted for almost half a minute, during which countless mice were swept in and then carried by the whirlwind to crash heavily against the walls of the cave, finally turning into a bloody mess that fell down. Zhang Fan took advantage of this half-minute time to move forward in the passage created by the whirlwind.
Although the whirlwind's power was quite astonishing, it shocked a group of mice instead of humans. However, the mice did not retreat due to their companion's tragic death. Before long, more mice gathered in the passageway and rushed towards Zhang Fan again.
Are these mice really indestructible? Zhang Fan felt a headache coming on. At the beginning, it took him a lot of effort to blast open the entrance of the cave, and then there were those damned mice. His head started to throb slightly, which was a sign that he had overused his spiritual energy. If he couldn't get rid of these mice within ten minutes, Zhang Fan wondered if he would become their next meal, letting them feast on him.
To conserve spiritual energy, Zhang Fan did not create a whirlwind this time. Instead, he started by compressing a mass of air and threw it towards the area where the rats were most concentrated. When the compressed air reached the location above where the rats were gathered, he created another compressed air mass that collided with the first one at an even faster speed. The two masses of compressed air collided like thunder stirring up earth fire, unleashing a force that could not be contained. With a loud explosion, the intense impact triggered a blast that sent the rats flying in all directions, their bodies mangled and bloody.
Zhang Fan lowered his head and dodged the bloody rain of rats that followed the explosion. This time, he had made some progress forward again! According to Ouni's words, this cave only needed to be walked for a little over an hour to reach the entrance, and now it was almost a considerable distance away. Could it be said that these damned rats even controlled the area outside the entrance?
After walking a few more steps, Zhang Fan was relieved to find that the number of mice had not increased as much as before. On the wall of the cave, Zhang Fan discovered many small holes. From time to time, one or two mice would crawl out of the holes, and this seemed to be their main base. Zhang Fan finally felt a sense of relief, at least for now, his physical strength was almost exhausted in the escape, and he was approaching the limit of his mental endurance.
He left the cave section full of small holes at an extremely fast speed, and Zhang Fan only felt that he needed to rest extremely. Sometimes human power is so insignificant compared to the forces of nature. The group of mice disappeared into the depths of the cave, occasionally one or two would rush out, also in a panic, and as soon as they saw Zhang Fan, they would flee. Their bravery and fearlessness in the depths of the cave just disappeared like the gradually inaudible sound of water. If it weren't for the bloodstains on his body, he would have thought that it was just a nightmare, and he woke up from sleepwalking, going to the wrong place.
Less than half an hour later, Zhang Fan saw the faint light at the entrance of the cave. Ouni didn't cheat him, maybe even Ouni herself didn't know that in the middle section of the cave, a group of crazy mice would rush out and attack him! Walking out of the cave, Zhang Fan looked around at his surroundings. It turned out to be inside the Alps mountain range, with snow all around. Walking on snowy ground without snowshoes was a very difficult thing, but fortunately, Zhang Fan paid a little attention and found that this place was not far from his small wooden house.
In the distance, the small wooden house could be seen, Zhang Fan dragged his tired body with difficulty, one step at a time, moving his legs towards the small wooden house. His body had become very stiff, and Zhang Fan tried to move his toes, which was good, as a piercing pain came from his feet. The fact that there was still a feeling of pain proved that its function was still working, sometimes pain is also a thing worth being happy about. Wearing a set of wet clothes, if it weren't for Zhang Fan's body having undergone special training, he would have long been hung in the snowy ground, becoming part of the snow scene.
With a firm grip on the small wooden hut's door handle, Zhang Fan twisted it with force, but his hand slipped and his feet flew out from under him, sending him tumbling towards a wall corner. As he struggled to get up from the snow-covered ground, he found a hard object in his palm. Picking it up, he was surprised to see that it was an advanced communication device. He recalled searching the small hut earlier but not finding this thing, possibly because it belonged to Long Yi and had been lost near the wall corner outside the door. If Zhang Fan hadn't accidentally fallen on top of it, the chances of it being rediscovered would still be very low. Regardless of whether it was usable or not, he decided to hold onto it for now. As they neared their destination, Zhang Fan's spirits had relaxed, and he felt like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. Survival was the top priority; everything else was empty talk when you couldn't even stay alive.
