Chapter 266: Are the Man-Eating Rats a Food Source?
Seeing the white-furred man-eating rat abandon its attack on Fang Xiaocao, both Tom and Hummingbird breathed a sigh of relief.
As for Taotie… they didn’t care about him at all.
After all, that guy had thick skin and a sturdy body.
Besides, Taotie was a top-tier assassin. If he couldn’t even handle a single rat, then he deserved to be eaten.
Even if this white-furred rat was intelligent, size and strength still mattered.
Back then, that intelligent Tibetan Mastiff was able to slaughter countless foes and wipe out an entire small assassin organization by itself. But that was because Tibetan Mastiffs were naturally powerful—even an ordinary one could tear a person apart when enraged.
Let alone one as intelligent as a human.
This white-furred rat could definitely kill regular people, but its individual strength was too weak. If it were a whole pack, however, it would be unstoppable—unless heavy-area weapons were used, even top-tier assassins would be doomed.
Looking at the ferocious white-furred rat, Taotie sneered. “White-furred beast, if I could chop off your tail, I can chop off your head too!”
With that, he swung his dagger fiercely at the rat.
The rat was incredibly agile, easily dodging the strike.
But Taotie wasn’t bothered—he followed up with a swift kick.
The rat darted aside, dodging his boot, and then lunged forward to bite his toe. With a sharp crack, Taotie’s boot tip was bitten clean through, making his heart skip a beat.
These weren’t ordinary boots. They were high-end, custom-made combat boots reinforced with bulletproof ceramic technology—supposedly stab-proof.
Yet now…
A rat had chewed through them like they were nothing.
What if that had been his actual toe?
Just thinking about it made Taotie break out in a cold sweat.
Not wanting to take any chances, he decided not to risk any more “field tests” with his own body. He still needed all his fingers and toes, both for combat efficiency and his personal dignity.
Determined, Taotie launched into a relentless attack on the rat, vowing to take it down.
Meanwhile, Tom and Hummingbird had gathered around Fang Xiaocao, ensuring that their princess was unharmed. Only when they confirmed she was fine did they finally relax.
Fang Xiaocao waved a hand dismissively. “I’m not that fragile.”
“Go help Taotie kill that rat. We need to keep moving—if the mercenaries show up again, we’ll be in trouble.”
Tom nodded. “Understood!”
Without hesitation, he pulled out his gun.
Bang!
A shot rang out.
Just as the white-furred rat was forced back by Taotie’s blade, a crimson bloom of blood exploded from its body.
The rat let out a shrill screech, collapsed onto the ground, and twitched violently.
Its blood-red eyes still glared at Taotie, burning with hatred, as if it wanted to rise again and take him down with it.
Taotie sneered, strode forward, and ruthlessly stomped on the rat’s head.
Crack!
Its skull shattered. Brain matter splattered.
The rat fell silent.
“Finally got rid of that damn thing!” Taotie laughed triumphantly.
Fang Xiaocao rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s move. There might be more of them around.”
“Understood!”
Tom responded immediately.
Fang Xiaocao’s concern wasn’t unfounded.
Nobody knew just how many of these man-eating rats were lurking nearby.
So far, they hadn’t found any nests. And given how quickly rats reproduced, there was no telling how many could be hiding in the shadows.
The group resumed their journey.
As they moved, Fang Xiaocao turned to Tom. “Tom, you said these rats grew up eating human flesh?”
Tom nodded. “That’s right.”
“I checked the bodies of all the dead rats.”
“No matter their fur color, their eyes were all blood-red.”
“That means they’ve been eating human flesh for a long time—at least since they were young.”
Tom explained.
Fang Xiaocao nodded thoughtfully. After a long pause, she asked, “Then where does all that human flesh come from?”
“With so many rats, their daily consumption must be enormous…”
Her words made the entire group fall silent.
The three of them exchanged looks, their expressions turning grim.
That’s right.
Until now, they had only focused on survival.
But none of them had thought about where these rats were getting their food.
Where were they finding so much human flesh?
Tom’s face darkened. “We need to be extra cautious.”
“It looks like there’s more to this mountain than just the treasure we’re looking for.”
“There’s something hidden here that we don’t know about.”
Tom’s tone was serious.
“What kind of secret?” Fang Xiaocao asked curiously.
Where was all that human flesh coming from?
And why was there no news of large-scale disappearances?
Even if there were missing persons cases, why were their bodies ending up here?
It didn’t make sense.
Tom shook his head. “I don’t know yet…”
“Ask Taotie—he’s the local underworld expert.”
Tom pointed at Taotie, who had been eavesdropping the whole time.
Fang Xiaocao turned to Taotie, silently questioning him with her eyes.
Taotie grinned. “I’m not sure either. But there’s an old rumor in Tang City’s underground world.”
“They say there’s a hidden black market for organ trafficking near the city. It’s well-hidden—so much so that even Blacklist hasn’t found any solid intel on it.”
“Blacklist’s higher-ups have sent me and the Twins to investigate it multiple times, hoping to either take a cut of the profits or seize control of it entirely. But every time we got close, the black market would vanish without a trace.”
“I suspect they have spies inside Blacklist.”
“But we never managed to find out who.”
Taotie chuckled.
Hearing this, Fang Xiaocao froze.
“A black market?”
“For organ trafficking?”
She was stunned.
Taotie nodded. “Not just organs.”
“There’s a lot more.”
“Supposedly, it operates under a pawnshop model.”
Taotie’s words left Fang Xiaocao and the others in shock.
