Chapter 261: The Long-Haired Beauty in Taotie’s Eyes
Taotie tilted his head slightly, listening intently for a moment, then frowned and muttered, “There seems to be something alive up ahead.”
After hesitating for a moment, he took out his terminal and reported the situation.
[Taotie: Follow the right cave passage for about 500 meters. I detected something alive up ahead. Not sure what it is yet. I haven’t checked it out.]
After sending the message, Taotie inspected his gun and tested the sharpness of his dagger. This gave him a bit more confidence.
During the earlier battle with the giant snake, his backpack had been blown away by the explosion, leaving him with only the gear on his body. His only usable weapons were the gun and the dagger given to him by Fang Xiaocao.
Having grown accustomed to wielding a machete, switching to a dagger felt awkward.
Receiving Taotie’s message, Hummingbird immediately grabbed Fang Xiaocao’s arm. “Your Highness, let’s wait a bit before moving forward. Taotie might be in danger. We should wait until the situation is clear.”
Fang Xiaocao looked at Hummingbird with a questioning gaze.
“This spot is relatively safe and allows for a quick retreat. If there’s danger ahead, Tom and I can go assist while you stay here, where it’s safest,” Hummingbird explained.
Fang Xiaocao nodded. That made sense. If they encountered danger, she would only be a burden. It was best not to get in the way.
After thinking for a moment, she sent Taotie a message.
[Fang Xiaocao: Taotie, try to figure out what that living thing is and whether it poses a threat. If it’s dangerous, report immediately. I’ll have Tom assist you.]
[Fang Xiaocao: Tom, pick up the pace and meet up with us. Be ready to support Taotie at any moment.]
[Taotie: Got it!]
Seeing Fang Xiaocao’s message, Taotie replied briefly, then tucked his terminal away and cautiously moved forward into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Tom, who had been covering their tracks and setting traps, also received the message.
He stood up, inspected his work, found it sufficient, and immediately packed up to head toward Fang Xiaocao and Hummingbird.
[Tom: Received. On my way!]
After replying, Tom put away his terminal, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and sprinted toward them.
For him, a few hundred meters wasn’t a big deal—he arrived in less than a minute.
“Your Highness, I’m here,” Tom whispered as he approached Fang Xiaocao.
She nodded, responding with a soft “Mm.”
Tom crouched beside her, checked his terminal, and frowned. “Taotie hasn’t reported back yet. Could something have happened to him? Should I go check?”
Fang Xiaocao hesitated before shaking her head.
“Not yet. Let’s wait for Taotie’s update,” she said in a low voice.
“We have to trust him.”
Tom nodded at her words.
Hummingbird, crouching nearby, simply listened and waited for orders without offering any opinion.
Meanwhile, Taotie crept forward cautiously, getting closer to the source of the sounds.
The noises didn’t sound like those of an animal…
More like…
A person?
Taotie blinked. He decided to get a little closer and take a proper look.
Logically, they were supposed to be the first ones in this place. How could there be someone ahead of them?
“This doesn’t make sense…” he muttered, moving even more carefully.
After advancing about another hundred meters, Taotie stopped, sheathed his gun at his waist, gripped his dagger tightly, and lunged toward the corner ahead.
There, he saw a shadow.
Judging by the figure, it seemed to be a woman.
Long, flowing hair. A slender build.
It should be easy to handle.
“Holy sh*t! What the hell?!”
The moment Taotie got a close look, he screamed in shock.
His forward momentum instinctively twisted to the side, causing him to slam into a rock wall.
“Ow! Damn it…”
He winced in pain, rubbing his forehead while cursing. A large bump had already formed where he had hit the wall.
As he massaged the swollen spot, Taotie took another look at the so-called long-haired beauty—he nearly threw up.
It was a mummified corpse.
And the noises he had heard earlier?
They were coming from two large, white-furred rats.
Each one was the size of a housecat.
They showed no fear of humans, their crimson eyes fixated on Taotie with a menacing glint.
Meeting their gaze, Taotie tensed up.
These rats weren’t just staring at him.
They were sizing him up as food.
A chill ran down Taotie’s spine. He could tell these weren’t albino rats—rather, they had simply lived for so long that their fur had naturally turned white.
If that was the case, their red eyes weren’t genetic.
Which meant…
There was only one possibility.
These rats…
Had eaten human flesh.
And not just once, regularly enough to turn their eyes permanently red.
These were man-eating rats.
Realizing this, Taotie felt a surge of horror.
If there were two fully grown ones, there had to be more hidden in the darkness. Rats were incredibly prolific breeders. Even under food shortages, a single pair could still produce multiple litters per year.
With abundant food, they could reproduce monthly.
Even pigs weren’t that productive.
But what truly terrified Taotie wasn’t just the number of these rats.
It was the question of where they had been getting their human meat.
Just the thought made even someone as fearless as Taotie break out in a cold sweat.
This treasure…
Might actually be a deadly trap.
Who knows how many people had already died in this place?
“Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!”
One of the white-furred rats let out sharp cries as it crept closer to Taotie.
Its long, sharp incisors gleamed ominously, and its blood-red eyes scrutinized Taotie, seemingly calculating the best spot to bite.
Taotie narrowed his eyes and drew his gun.
He had to take these things out first.
Then, he’d inform Fang Xiaocao and the others to get out of here.
Because an unknown number of man-eating rats was far more terrifying than that giant snake.
Their teeth carried corpse toxins. Their bodies were crawling with bacteria. Some might even carry the plague or other deadly viruses.
One bite—if left untreated—could be a death sentence.
Taotie wasn’t afraid of anything—he would even dare to jump into a giant snake’s mouth for a fight.
But the things that truly scared him?
The unseen and untouchable.
Ghosts. Viruses.
Because those were enemies he couldn’t simply stab or shoot.
Just as Taotie was lost in thought—
Whoosh!
A white blur shot past him in an instant…
