Longevity from Liao Zhai

Chapter 44 Rat Pack
Zhou Ping's eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The tunnel is too dark.

Even with torches, the tunnel was not clearly visible.

Xiaobai lay on Zhou Ping's shoulder, its eyes emitting a faint green light.

Xiaobai is adapted to the darkness, but its vision cannot reach Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping touched his chest.

There is a red veil on the chest.

The ghost bride and the ghost baby are both kept on the red veil.

The ghost baby and Zhou Ping were in tune with each other, and their invisible bodies emerged and flew to the back of the grain transport team.

In front of the grain transport team were people from the government office, behind were people from the escort agency, and in the middle were horse-drawn carriages.

Zhou Ping doesn't need to worry about the front, he just needs to have a vision of the back.

Even if we encounter enemies ahead, there are people from the yamen to support us.

Zhou Ping only needs to worry about not being stabbed in the back.

"Slow down, kid."

After the ghost baby flew out, the ghost bride also flew out.

After Zhou Ping fed the ghost bride with his essence and blood, the ghost bride followed Zhou Ping.

According to the ghost bride, she was following a ghost baby. Being a wandering ghost is too hard, so having a adopted son is good too.

The ghost bride is very weak and can only maintain the form of a ghost.

It was still daytime, but in the tunnel there was no distinction between day and night.

Ghosts can also manifest in tunnels during the day.

Through the ghost baby's perspective, Zhou Ping could feel what was happening behind him.

“There are so many bugs here.”

"Yes, yes, I was bitten by something just now, and a bump has appeared on my body."

"You're just one, I already have several."

"How many of you are there? Look at my face."

"How did you become a pig head?"

After walking in the tunnel for about an hour, everyone began to complain about the poisonous insects in the cave.

Some of the escorts and yamen runners had lumps on their bodies, and one escort had a swollen face from bites.

There was nothing wrong with Zhou Ping. He had the scales Xiao Qing had given him.

According to Xiaoqing, with this scale, poisonous insects dare not approach.

"Zhao Zhong, what's wrong with you?"

The yamen runner suddenly fell off his horse and foamed at the mouth.

The grain transport team also stopped.

"He was bitten by an unknown poisonous insect."

Captain Leng checked on Zhao Zhong's condition.

There is a bug hole on Zhao Zhong's hand.

"Zhao Zhong, how are you?"

Captain Leng asked.

"Nothing, just feeling cold."

Zhao Zhong hugged his body, trembling and rolling his eyes.

"Can you still ride a horse?"

Lengtou sighed. He knew that Zhao Zhong would not be able to hold on for a few days in this condition.

"Cold head, I'm fine, just take a rest."

Zhao Zhong said. He took out a pill from his pocket and swallowed it himself.

"Forget it, just rest here for a while and then go back. It's only an hour's journey, you should be able to ride back on horseback."

The cold captain said.

"Oh, Lengtou, I'm sorry."

Zhao Zhong said.

Captain Leng patted Zhao Zhong on the shoulder, and then ordered the grain transport team to continue their journey.

The task of transporting grain has a deadline and cannot be delayed because of one person.

If we delay for a moment, many people may die.

Captain Leng can't wait.

Zhao Zhong was left where he was.

The transport team had only been on the road for an hour.

After Zhao Zhong rests for a while, he should be able to get out of the tunnel at night.

The grain transport teams passed by Zhao Zhong one by one.

Everyone saw Zhao Zhong's miserable appearance.

This added a hint of gloom to the grain transport team.

After the grain transport team left, Zhao Zhong's trembling stopped and he returned to normal.

"I am still smart."

Zhao Zhong dusted himself off and smiled triumphantly.

Zhao Zhong was indeed bitten by a poisonous insect and there was a big bump on his hand, but the injury was not that serious.

Foaming at the mouth and all that is just fake.

He learned this skill of foaming at the mouth when he was a child.

When he was a child, he was often bullied by older kids because of his small stature, so he learned this trick.

When the older children saw that he was foaming at the mouth after being beaten, they didn't dare to attack him again.

As Zhao Zhong grew older, no one bullied him anymore and he slowly forgot this skill.

But more than ten years later, Zhao Zhong used his skill of foaming at the mouth again.

This time, he did not want to carry out this mission.

If we are not careful on this mission, it will be a serious sin.

Zhao Zhong was very proud of his own cleverness.

When working in the government office, you may not be rewarded for your achievements, but you will definitely be punished if you commit a crime.

Don’t ask for merit, but ask for no faults!
Zhao Zhong didn't know that Zhou Ping saw the whole scene.

With the help of the ghost baby's perspective, Zhou Ping saw Zhao Zhong's situation.

"Are you pretending?"

Zhou Ping shook his head and looked at the escorts around him. One of the escorts looked so ugly that his face was unrecognizable, but he still persisted.

Zhao Zhong jumped on his horse and galloped towards the cave entrance.

The ghost baby also lost Zhao Zhong's perspective.

"Hurry up, and we can catch up with the brothel tonight to listen to music."

"I heard from the madam that a new batch of stuff will arrive in the brothel today. Hahaha, let me try it first."

Zhao Zhong rode his horse faster and faster, and a faint light appeared in the tunnel ahead.

The entrance to the cave is right in front of us.

"We're leaving this damn place soon."

Zhao Zhong felt extremely happy. The tunnel gave people a very depressing feeling.

The sudden change.

Zhao Zhong's horse suddenly fell down.

Zhao Zhong also fell off his horse.

"Damn it, what's going on, this stupid horse!"

Zhao Zhong stood up cursing. The blow was so strong that he felt several of his ribs were broken.

Zhao Zhong looked at the cave entrance not far away again, and walked towards the cave entrance without paying attention to the horse. At this moment, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Zhao Zhong limped towards the cave entrance.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound.

Zhao Zhong turned around, but the voice behind him was gone.

Zhao Zhong quickened his pace, and the bad feeling became stronger and stronger.

The rustling sound sounded again.

Zhao Zhong turned around, and this time the rustling sound did not disappear.

There was a pile of rats on the ground.

The mice kept biting the horse, but soon the mice were all over the horse's body.

The horse whined.

Zhao Zhong breathed a sigh of relief.

"It turned out to be a dead rat. I thought it was something else."

Zhao Zhong quickened his pace and ignored his horse.

Suddenly, Zhao Zhong felt a tingling pain in his foot.

Zhao Zhong lowered his head and discovered a rat biting his leg.

"roll!"

Zhao Zhong kicked the mouse away.

The mouse fell against the wall and instantly turned into a pile of meat paste.

The group of rats that were gnawing on the horses suddenly became quiet and stared at Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong has scalp trouble.

In the darkness, countless little eyes were staring at him.

Suddenly, all the rats rushed towards Zhao Zhong.

Zhao Zhong was so frightened that he turned around and ran away.

Although mice are small, they can't stand being too numerous.

"The entrance to the cave, the entrance to the cave, the entrance to the cave, it's right in front of us."

"As long as I escape from the cave, these rats won't dare to do anything to me."

Zhao Zhong rolled and crawled and was about to reach the cave entrance.

Several rats had already climbed onto Zhao Zhong's body and started biting him.

Zhao Zhong grimaced in pain, but did not dare to stop because there were more rats behind him.

Zhao Zhong stumbled and fell to the ground. Half of Zhao Zhong's body appeared outside the cave.

The moment the sun shone on Zhao Zhong, he breathed a sigh of relief. Alive!
"save"

Zhao Zhong saw two people not far from the cave entrance, so he shouted for help.

However, a rat crawled into Zhao Zhong's mouth.

The next moment, half of Zhao Zhong's body was pulled from outside the cave into the cave.

The rat blocked Zhao Zhong's mouth, making him unable to speak.

Zhao Zhong looked around in horror.

There was a huge swarm of rats, at least thousands of them.

The group of rats climbed onto Zhao Zhong's body and bit him.

"Hey, I seemed to hear something just now."

"I heard it too. It seemed to come from the cave entrance."

"Then let's go take a look."

Not far from the cave entrance, two people slowly walked towards it.

"There's nothing."

"Yeah, nothing."

There was nothing anywhere they could see, not even a trace of blood.

The two shook their heads and left.

In the tunnel.

Tens of thousands of rats swarmed towards the grain transport team.

At the end of the grain transport team was Zhou Ping.

In order to receive the signals from the ghost baby as much as possible, Zhou Ping stayed at the end of the team.

In this dark tunnel, the front and the back of the line are not good positions.

There are unknowns ahead and behind.

"Zhou Ping."

Fan Shiyi was waiting for Zhou Ping on a white horse.

"Hello, Mr. Fan."

Zhou Ping was a little surprised. Fan Shiyi had always been at the front of the team with Captain Leng, so why was he walking at the back of the team?

"It's boring to be stared at by some rough guys, and it's boring to have no girls on the road."

Fan Shiyi said.

Zhou Ping was thoughtful. Who would like to be stared at by the same sex all the time?
"They offended Master Fan and wanted to punish him with more men."

Zhou Ping said seriously.

"Hey, don't count on me for this mission. I'm just playing along. If a fight breaks out, I might even kill you."

Before Fan Shiyi finished speaking, he suddenly felt that the term “extremely difficult” was a bit strange.

After thinking for a while, Fan Shiyi looked at Zhou Ping.

"Hahaha, this journey is getting interesting. Finally, we meet a wonderful person!"

Fan Shiyi waved her paper fan, not angry but happy. She understood Zhou Ping's bad taste.

Fan Shiyi became completely interested in Zhou Ping.

At first, Fan Shiyi only knew this person because Zhou Ping wrote "The Moon Shines Before My Bed".

But there's nothing much to say about doggerel like this.

Many people with little education can also write such concise and expressive poems.

So Fan Shiyi just knew that there was a person named Zhou Ping, but he didn't care about him.

Then, when dealing with the ghost bride, Zhou Ping was the only one present who understood Fan Shiyi's codeword.

This left some impression of Zhou Ping in Fan Shiyi's heart.

And then there was this time.

"Zhou Ping, are you educated? Can you write poetry?"

Fan Shiyi looked at Zhou Ping with interest.

"I"

Zhou Ping was just about to say that he had little education and could not write poetry when a doggerel suddenly popped up in his mind.

Zhou Ping didn't remember many poems, and even if he did, he only remembered one or two famous lines.

This doggerel was very popular back then and it was very simple and easy to learn, so Zhou Ping also memorized it.

"I have a poem here, please enlighten me."

Zhou Ping said.

"Say, say it quickly."

Fan Shiyi said hurriedly.

Fan Shiyi is a poetry fanatic.

On weekdays, Fan Shiyi either thinks about women when he writes poetry, or writes poetry when he is with women.

There was no girl around that day, let alone anyone talented enough to talk about poetry with. Fan Shiyi was terribly depressed.

Zhou Ping's appearance made Fan Shiyi feel that this journey should be interesting.

"The dark plum blossoms are faintly heard, the roots are low and the branches are injured. Ask who is wet in the fog, the stone answers the spring green."

Zhou Ping thought for a moment and said.

This poem is simple and easy to learn, comparable to "Quiet Night Thoughts", so Zhou Ping also memorized it.

Of course, the trick to remembering this poem is to use assonance.

After listening to this poem, Fan Shiyi frowned.

"Smelling the faint fragrance of plum blossoms, the fallen branches hate that the roots are too low. Ask who the mist wets, and the stone says it wets the spring."

"This poem has some meaning, but not much. It's okay."

Fan Shiyi felt that Zhou Ping's poem could barely be considered a poem.

Zhou Ping shook his head.

"Master Fan, you can't do that. You haven't figured out the meaning of this poem yet."

Zhou Ping pretended to be profound and patted the horse's butt.

Zhou Ping and Fan Shiyi were half a body length apart.

"Mystery?"

Fan Shiyi frowned and thought hard.

Zhou Ping shook his head and ignored Fan Shiyi.

This poem can keep Fan Shiyi interested for a while.

Zhou Ping controlled the ghost baby to move behind him.

Suddenly, Zhou Ping saw groups of rats in the tunnel with the help of the ghost baby's perspective.

There were so many rats that they were densely packed on the ground and on both sides of the tunnel.

Zhou Ping started to suffer from claustrophobia when he saw so many rats.

Among the swarm of rats, a dog-sized mouse stood out.

The rat demon took a piece of human arm and chewed it slowly.

The flesh on the arm was almost eaten away, leaving only a piece of bone.

"Huh? Ghost."

The rat spirit spoke human language and saw the ghost baby.

"boom."

The rat demon bit off a piece of his finger, chewed it for a while, and then spat out a piece of hand bone to the ghost baby.

"Shh."

The three hairs on the ghost baby's head were cut in half by the hand bones spit out by the rat demon.

The ghost baby touched his own aho-man, then sat on the ground and started crying, feeling aggrieved.

The ghost bride appeared hurriedly, hugged the ghost baby, and took him across the stone wall and hid in the stone.

The ghost bride was also very angry.

In the past, the ghost bride would kill the rat spirit and stew it into soup.

But now the ghost bride is not strong and can only hide.

After the ghost baby was taken away by the ghost bride, Zhou Ping also lost the perspective of the rat spirit.

"Something's wrong. Something's wrong behind."

Zhou Ping issued a warning.

The grain transport convoy immediately became alert.

The escorts were all ready for battle.

"what happened?"

Captain Leng frowned and walked from the front of the grain transport convoy to the back.

Fan Shiyi also frowned. She had not yet figured out the mystery behind Zhou Ping's poem.

Fan Shiyi had a brush and a piece of paper in his hand.

"Shhhhh."

Fan Shiyi waved his hand, and more than ten sparrows appeared on the paper.

The sparrow flew out from the paper and then flew far and near into the darkness.

"hiss."

After a while, Fan Shiyi took a breath of cold air.

Through the sparrows she draws, she is also able to gain the perspective of these sparrows.

"Mr. Fan, what's wrong?"

Captain Leng knew that there was something behind the grain transport convoy.

"Rat, lots of rats!"

As Fan Shiyi spoke, he quickly drew cats on the paper.

The cats flew out from the paper and blocked Fan Shiyi's way.

"Ah ah ah."

"Captain Cold, rats, lots of rats."

In front of the grain transport convoy, the yamen runners were in a panic and swarms of rats rushed towards the grain transport convoy.

(End of this chapter)