Chapter 15: Extreme Heat, Rat Plague

She had originally thought the cataclysm had just arrived early, but now there was an unexpected rat plague to deal with.

Jiang Si could only tell everyone to wait for now.

If the rat plague truly got out of control, she would lead everyone in a breakout, find another safe place, and have them live in the RV.

They cleaned up all the trash and rat droppings inside, then disinfected the entire house from top to bottom with a pesticide sprayer. They also set up an inescapable net of traps in every corner where rats might get in. Five hours flew by, and the sky gradually began to lighten.

The commotion from the rat swarms suddenly diminished, and they could gradually hear the cries for help from other villagers.

They weren’t using any ice in the room, and everyone was sweating in their thick protective suits. When the outside temperature hit sixty degrees, Grandpa listened carefully to the sounds outside. "These abnormal rats have the same habits as before. They must be afraid of the light, so they’ve all gone back."

Jiang Si nodded and offered her own theory. "It could also be that the temperature is too high. They can’t stand it, so they’ve gone into hiding. They’ll probably come out again at night."

She went up to the second floor, opened the sheet metal partition, and looked out. Under the scorching sun, only skeletal remains, devoured to the bone, were left behind.

The great army of rats had vanished as if it had never been there at all.

All the doors and windows of her neighbor Qin Shen’s house were shattered. She had no idea if he was still alive.

Her gaze shifted. Survivors from several other households were emerging from their homes in a wretched state.

Some people, terrified that those bitten by the rats would contract some strange disease, were dragging the wounded from their houses and driving them away at knifepoint.

Grandpa Xu, who was on the verge of death, was dragged out and abandoned in a nearby field by Zhang Jing and Zhang Mayi. They didn’t even dare to cover him with a piece of clothing before they fled.

Grandpa Xu had taken them in, only to meet such a desolate end. She wondered if, given a second chance, he would still have let those wolves into his home.

Soon, after confirming it was safe outside, various households began sending out one or two of their stronger members to loot the "quiet" houses in an effort to recoup their losses from the rat swarm.

Just as Jiang Si and her grandpa finished loading the rat carcasses onto a wheelbarrow, planning to find a place to incinerate and bury them, a grappling hook suddenly flew over and—THWACK!—latched onto their courtyard gate.

A moment later, an older man holding onto a climbing rope appeared atop their courtyard gate.

Lin Chenghua hadn’t yet seen Jiang Si aiming her crossbow at him. He turned back to his son, Lin Zu, and said gleefully, "We’ll definitely find a ton of stuff in Jiang Linhai’s house."

He had barely finished speaking. Just as he straddled the gate, he caught sight of Jiang Si and Jiang Chengwu out of the corner of his eye. The smile on his face instantly froze, and his mind went blank.

Seeing him frozen in place, Lin Zu, still outside the gate, kept asking what was wrong. Lin Chenghua finally gave an awkward laugh and said, "Oh, you’re still alive?"

Jiang Chengwu’s expression darkened. Lin Chenghua, realizing his slip of the tongue, hastily tried to recover. "It’s great that you’re okay! Last night was just terrifying! Haha, I actually came here looking for you!"

His clumsy lie startled Lin Zu, who had just belatedly realized that Jiang Si’s family had survived. "Dad, get down from there!" he shouted.

Lin Chenghua wanted to run, but sitting atop the gate gave him a full view of Jiang Si’s property. He saw that all their windows were intact, that their position overlooked the entire Longquan Village, and that there were no signs they had suffered from the rat plague at all. They surely had far more food and water than his own family had managed to salvage, and they were much safer!

A wicked idea suddenly sparked in Lin Chenghua’s mind. He barked at Lin Zu, "What are you shouting for? I still have something to discuss with your uncle."

Lin Zu was completely bewildered. ’What’s there to discuss?’

’Weren’t we here to do some ’zero-dollar shopping’?’

Jiang Si had no time to waste on Lin Chenghua. "If you don’t want to die, then get the hell out!"

Lin Chenghua ignored Jiang Si and spoke directly to Jiang Chengwu. "Old Jiang, don’t misunderstand. I really did come to discuss something with you. We’ve got city folks running into our village, and a lot of our people have been killed. And then there was the rat plague last night... it was terrifying. Your family only has five people, and three of them are women, who aren’t much help. It’s too dangerous right now. How about I move my family’s things into your house? We can team up and fight the apocalypse together, what do you say?"

’Once we move into Jiang Si’s house, we’ll definitely find a way to get rid of them all.’

Fearing Jiang Chengwu would refuse him outright, Lin Chenghua added some bait. "Our warehouse still has several thousand pounds of rice and two thousand pounds of corn, plus all sorts of medicine for injuries. We really aren’t trying to take advantage of you. If we’re together, helping each other out, we can definitely survive this."

In her past life, Li Cui had instigated Lin Chenghua to lead the entire village in robbing their family. He was not a good person.

’Help each other? My ass.’

There was no way Jiang Chengwu would believe him, either. Their own house was in far better condition than Lin Chenghua’s—not only was it cool inside, but it also had special defense systems. You’d have to be out of your mind to invite such a major threat into your home.

Jiang Chengwu refused without a moment’s hesitation. "Get lost! I can’t be bothered with your nonsense!"

Lin Chenghua’s eyes darted about as he hurriedly tried another tack. "My grandson’s a doctor! He could save lives in a crisis! If we move in, it’s all pros and no cons. Whether it’s defending against others or going out to find water, our security would be greatly increased."

Jiang Chengwu frowned. "A doctor? Bullshit. He’s a veterinarian! If you don’t get lost now, I won’t be so polite!"

Talking to a man so full of malicious intent on such a hot day made his temper flare.

Lin Chenghua wiped the sweat from his forehead, breaking a blister in the process. The sweat stung the raw skin, but he still wouldn’t give up. "A vet can save lives in a pinch, too! You shouldn’t look down on veterinarians!"

Jiang Si’s patience ran out. With a cold sneer, she raised her crossbow and—SWOOSH!—fired an arrow.

Lin Chenghua stared in horror, his eyes wide. ’That bitch actually dared to attack!’ In that split second, he had no time to dodge. The arrow pierced clean through his shoulder, and he lost his balance, tumbling heavily from the gate.

From the other side of the gate, Lin Chenghua’s convulsive screams could be heard. Jiang Si sent a parting shot after them: "Go find that vet and see if he can fix you up."

"Jiang Si, you fucking bitch! You goddamn whore! Get the hell out here! I’ll hack you both to pieces!" Lin Zu roared, holding his father.

The response he got was a kitchen cleaver falling from the sky.

WHOOSH! It missed his head by a hair’s breadth.

Terrified, Lin Zu’s legs went weak, and his entire body trembled. A moment later, the sound of him dragging Lin Chenghua away could be heard from outside the gate.

With the nuisance dealt with, Jiang Si and Jiang Chengwu went back to their task. Worried that burning the rat carcasses might spread germs, they specifically chose an uncultivated field downwind.

Before they could set the rat carcasses on fire, Lu Zhifeng suddenly appeared, carrying his daughter on his back and holding a gun.

A typical firearm has an effective range of fifty to one hundred meters, while a nail gun or a crossbow only has a range of about twenty. Furthermore, their power drops off significantly beyond ten meters, a far cry from a bullet’s ability to kill from a great distance.

Although she didn’t sense any hostility from Lu Zhifeng, Jiang Si didn’t dare let her guard down. She warily moved to shield Jiang Chengwu, ready to whip out her riot shield at the first sign of danger.