novelThoroughly Surrounded by the Rat Tide
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Chapter 208: Thoroughly Surrounded by the Rat Tide
Jiang Chen sat cross legged, deploying the divine art of Psychic's Head to the extreme. His eyes were like a hawk's as he sent the God's Eye into the tide of rats.
Jiang Chen had no other methods at this time either. This wasn't something that human strength could stand against. Even a spirit king practitioner would be as miniscule as a grain of corn in the wild sea in this boundless tide of rats. They wouldn't be able to raise much of a ripple at all.
The light of wisdom had dawned on Dan Fei's face at this time. She sat on a stone slab and was less than five to six meters away from Jiang Chen.
She also knew that if even Jiang Chen couldn't find a way out, then the only thing they could do was the silently await the arrival of death.
Perhaps the line of defense that Jiang Chen had laid down could delay the advancement of the rats, but beneath the oppression of the endless hordes of rats, there wasn't much difference between having that small radius and having no boundary at all.
It was like using a ladle to empty a river of its waters. It was an absolutely futile gesture and completely not on the same footing.
"Jiang Chen, just what is he thinking about right now?" Dan Fei wasn't the slightest bit afraid in this moment. She only possessed a sort of unperturbed calm.
As she watched Jiang Chen sit there cross legged, with a demeanor that would be noncommittal even if Mt. Tai collapsed in front of him, Dan Fei had to admit that Jiang Chen wasn't a simple person alright.
Even prince Ye Rong, someone who'd seen countless large and varied occasions, wore a rueful smile on his face under the circumstances.
He had chuckled to himself when he triumphed over his political enemy Ye Dai. Who would've thought that destiny would change so drastically in the next second?
A tide of rats...
Ye Rong gazed as this boundless ocean continuously churned forward with extreme speed. It would slowly spread to their area in less than fifteen minutes and then take over this area, swallowing them whole, and devouring them so that not even the bones were left.
"Is this to be my fate?" Ye Rong felt extremely pained. In the moment, what difference was there in success and failure, win and loss?
He could imagine that Ye Dai's crowd was in an even lower mountain valley. They had surely been overrun by the tide of rats by now and devoured cleanly.
Ye Dai and the others were definitely already within the stomachs of the tide of rats by now.
However, the current Ye Rong couldn't find it within himself to be happy at all, because this irresistible and undeniable fate would soon befall him..
When his thoughts traveled there, Ye Rong couldn't help but become a bit melancholy. When his gaze looked at Jiang Chen, a sudden thought struck his mind as a luxurious strand of hope suddenly blossomed in the depths of his despair.
"Jiang Chen! Right, we still have Jiang Chen! Jiang Chen has yet to give up, so I, Ye Rong, still have the chance to make a comeback! Perhaps, perhaps Jiang Chen has a way out?"
Ye Rong strived hard to find a bit of hope to comfort himself with, as if he was trying with all his might to protect a flickering, feeble flame in the boundless darkness.
This was the last trace of hope.
No one wanted to disturb Jiang Chen at this time and no one dared to.
If it was said that everyone still held out for one last bit of hope in their hearts, then Jiang Chen was the source of that hope. It was only because of Jiang Chen that they hadn't been filled with so much despair to the point of committing suicide.
"Ah!"
"Save me, don't kill me!"
"No, I don't want to die!"
Rounds of ghastly screams came from the road beneath them.
A thought struck Ye Rong. How could he not make out the horrified screams coming from Ye Dai's team?
Dan Fei also heard them as her delicate brows knit slightly. She couldn't help but look downwards. There were a few figures making their final struggles within the boundless golden sea.
It was indeed Ye Dai, Chen Li, and the others.
Although the poison within their bodies had dissipated by now, even if their strength was ten times or a hundred times greater, it was still futile in the face of this immense tide of rats.
Their death struggles would only continuously provoke the violence from the rats and incite their bloodlust.
Ye Dai cried out in despair, "Ye Rong, don't you feel proud of yourself at my death. You're going to become their next meal soon! Hahaha, we fought each other back and forth but still end up doomed to the same fate!"
"Number three's already been eaten, and I'm about to as well. Ah! My thigh... number four, it's going to be your turn soon. Tell me, wouldn't you say that number two is feeling quite smug at this moment? Perhaps he's the one who set this tide of rats in motion and he's at someplace right now, watching our downfall and waiting for the message of our deaths! We fought each other and let him pick up the spoils!"
"Number two?" Ye Rong's heart sank. One makes pretty speeches on his deathbed. Perhaps there truly was a bit of truth in words that Ye Dai was speaking in his death struggles.
When he thought of the Goldbiter Rat corpses along the way, it was apparent that this tide of rats had been artificially triggered. Then, who would have done so?
There was definitely manmade factors behind this, and it was obvious that the other had grasped his movements and the movements of first prince Ye Dai.
Who else would have been interested in his and Ye Dai's movements?
Second prince, Ye Qiao!
Ye Qiao's figure floated the surface of Ye Rong's mind. His mouth full of bitterness, he said, "Number two, it appears that you're the final winner in the end!"
The figure of second prince Ye Qiao also flashed through Dan Fei's mind. That person had always been intangible and undefinable through the years. He had fought with first prince Ye Dai for so many years, and although he'd always been firmly suppressed, he'd never fallen.
Had he really set these events into motion?
Dan Fei smiled with resignation. It wouldn't change things if they knew that Ye Qiao was the one who'd done so in this moment.
There was no point in knowing if he'd been the one.
The boundless tide of rats had pushed its way to the foot of the mountain and started continuously pushing up the slope. Although their speed wasn't as fast when going uphill, it would only be a span of a few breaths with the tide's current speed before it reached everyone.
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak!
Squeak, squeak!
The sharp sounds of the Goldbiter Rats grinding their teeth, the chewing sounds of them swallowing all that blocked their path, the sounds of them tearing and swallowing all traveled into their ears.
The closer they were, the clearer the sounds became.
Finally, the endless tide of rats surged to their feet from all directions.
If it wasn't for the three rings of defensive poison powder that Jiang Chen had scattered, the tide of rats would've likely already climbed onto them and started ruthlessly tearing away at them.
As for Ye Dai, Chen Li, and the others below, there was utter silence from them.
It was obvious that they'd already been so consumed that there weren't even any bones left.
Clang!
Lin Qianli drew his sword and shouted, "Die if we must! Since we're going to die, I'll take some of these Goldbiter Rats down with me! You want to eat me? You'll pave the road for me first with some of your lives!"
"Don't move!" Jiang Chen suddenly roared lowly.
Lin Qianli had raised his sword and was about to attack when Jiang Chen's shout stopped his momentum in his tracks.
"Jiang Chen, given how things are, will their mouths show us mercy if we don't do anything?" Anguish was written all over Lin Qianli's face.
"Don't rush, they have an innate fear of this poison powder. Don't provoke them. They're still probing and may not have the courage to charge over."
"Sitting here and waiting to die is harder to bear than the feeling of being killed immediately by them." Lin Qianli's words resonated with a lot of those present.
Ye Rong spread out his hands, "Everyone, let's listen to Jiang Chen and sit down. We really can't stop them. There's no point in killing a few of them."
Ye Rong had rather reasoned through things at this moment.
If this was fate and couldn't be reversed, then what was the difference in killing a few more or a few less at this time?
This wasn't the Goldbiter Rats' fault at all. If they were to blame someone, they should blame the person behind all this. If it hadn't been for someone tormenting the Goldbiter Rats and leaving a trail of blood behind on purpose, making a show of aggression towards the rats, the tide of rats wouldn't be this fierce and destructive either!
Dan Fei also sighed lightly in her heart at this moment as she looked at the unending tide of rats."I only thought of catching baby spirit animals, but what use is any of that now that there are Goldbiter Rats wherever we look? Heh heh, come to think about it, I really was crazed. As for Jiang Chen, he seems to be..."
She couldn't help but look over again when she thought of Jiang Chen.
As for the hordes of Goldbiter Rats below, it was obvious that they'd become impatient as they started making an assault on the defensive rings of poison powder. The first ring was breached in a short amount of time.
Although large swathes of Goldbiter Rats fell to the poison and lost the ability to fight, reinforcements from behind immediately filled the gap like waters rushing into to fill a hole.
When they saw one ring of defenses being broken through, everyone's emotions became even more downcast.
"Going to die. We're definitely going to die this time!"
Jiang Chen suddenly stood up at this moment as stunning beams of light shot out from his God's Eye. His Psychic's Head was also deployed to the extreme.
His gaze suddenly locked onto a far distance to the south.
His mouth opened as he voiced a series of bizarre characters and tones.
What people could be certain of was that Jiang Chen was speaking, but no one understood what he was saying. Even someone as widely read as Dan Fei couldn't understand a single word of what he was saying.
"What's he doing?" A strange thought flashed through Dan Fei's mind.
"Jiang Chen? What are you doing?" Ye Rong was also baffled.
Some of Ye Rong's personal followers even thought that Jiang Chen had cracked under the pressure and had gone completely crazy.
Xue Tong also looked at Jiang Chen with some surprise. He'd followed Jiang Chen for a long time and knew that Jiang Chen would often have surprising moves.
However, even Xue Tong didn't know what the young master was up to this time. Was he speaking or chanting some incantation?
An unexpected scene took place at this moment.
A ripple suddenly cleaved through the boundless tide of rats from the south. This ripple actually churned through with the momentum of a tornado, bringing with it golden colored light.
The aura of this light was incredibly domineering. The Goldbiter Rats around it were greatly startled as it charged over and they all voluntarily made way, allowing the golden colored light to make its way through.
The golden colored light landed on a nearby forest of rocks. It was actually an enormous Rat King that was ten times bigger than the Goldbiter Rats!
The Goldbiter Rat King's body was like a wolf's as its golden colored fur sparkled, sending out a dazzling light.
Its golden colored gems for eyes were as resplendent, giving onlookers an indescribable feeling of wooziness that they couldn't define when they looked at it.
"Human... did you summon me?"
The enormous Goldbiter Rat King asked in the beast language.
Jiang Chen used the ancient language of the beasts to communicate, "You're their king?"
"Yes, but, human, you understand the ancient language of the beasts? Who are you?"
"I'm an innocent bystander! You triggered the tide of rats to obtain revenge for your descendents. However, we definitely weren't the ones to kill those Goldbiter Rats. Accurately speaking, we were framed!"
"Don't give me the bullshit of being framed! You entered this place in order to hunt. To come here with that intention is already an original sin! You must die for killing my descendents. There are no exceptions even if you understand the ancient language!"
The tone of this Goldbiter Rat was quite resolute.
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