Countless rats surrounded us. We couldn’t finish them off, no matter how hard we tried. I was running out of strength, and the Sirius Whip couldn’t maintain its power anymore. The situation became serious after just a few seconds.

Luckily for us, Li Mazi had learned some spells from me. He could control the Yin and Yang Umbrella.

The Yin and Yang Umbrella floated up and projected a Yin and Yang diagram underneath. Li Mazi safely stood in the umbrella’s shade. The rats that came near him were sent backward. When he saw that I couldn’t put up with those rats anymore, he rushed toward me and pulled me into the umbrella’s shade.

“Little Brother Zhang, it won’t be a problem to protect ourselves here. But how can we deal with that big rat?” Li Mazi asked in a panic.

Li Mazi’s face was stained with rat blood and flesh. He roughly wiped his face.

I followed his line of sight. The big rat over there had its fur peeled off until its chest. It already had a human torso!

“Li Mazi, do you dare to engage in a battle with that thing?” I looked at the rat monster and laughed. The situation was clear. If we ignored the rat monster, Li Mazi and I could leave this place safely. However, the villagers in Tangjia Village would be in grave danger.

If we risked everything to stop it, our success wasn’t certain. No matter what, we would have to sacrifice ourselves here!

If we left the Yin and Yang Umbrella, those rats would nibble our bones to powder! Was it worth it to exchange our lives for a chance to defeat the rat?

Li Mazi was bewildered and stayed silent for a few seconds. Then, he turned in the direction of Wuhan city and roared, “Ru Xue, I want you to give me more babies in my next life!” Then, he turned to me and patted my shoulder. “Brother, I’m well prepared.”

I received the Yin and Yang Umbrella from him. My memories of Li Mazi flashed in my head. Then, I slowly stabbed the Yin and Yang Umbrella toward the rat monster.

The moment our lives were at stake, we heard a horse galloping behind us. Soon, the rats surrounding us became agitated and anxious. The rat monster, who now had a human upper body, looked panic-stricken.

I turned around and saw a white shadow riding a horse. It was running fast toward us!

The white shadow didn’t have a head but was holding a silver spear. He looked like a headless ghost knight you would typically see in Western legends.

As the knight approached us, I saw a word embroidered on his cloak. It read “Yan.” I instantly cheered up. It had confirmed what Sanye and the Village Elder told me. That white shadow was the Stern Cold Spear Charming Luo Cheng!

Luo Cheng’s father was Luo Yi, who was the key general of the Beiping army. On behalf of the imperial court, he guarded the border of Yan state, which was now Beijing. That was why both the father and the son had a deep affection for the state of Yan.

When war broke out in the entire country, Luo Cheng had to travel and battle far away from his home. It made him more nostalgic for home. That was why he had the word “Yan” embroidered on his cloak. It was to show his memories of his hometown.

“General Luo Cheng, we must stop this rat monster!” I didn’t know why, but I had subconsciously deemed that this shadow had come to rescue us. At this moment, I felt a lot calmer.

Luo Cheng and his horse moved like a white lightning strike, smashing through the horde of rats.

Soon, he came to us, halting and turning to us. I guessed he wanted to give me a nod. Then, he urged the white horse and jumped up. It was as if both the horse and the rider had wings! It was just as the historical novel had described him: Hold the spear tight, urge the horse, strike!

As Luo Cheng attacked, his spear thrust forward like a venomous snake. The rat monster was extremely panicked. It knew it couldn’t resist the attack. It turned and fled.

However, that creature was half-human, half rat. It couldn’t coordinate its moves at all. It directly rolled on the ground. Luo Cheng threw his spear at the monster.

We will never know if it was Heaven's will or something else, but right at that moment, a strong thunderbolt clashed and hit the silver spear.

Li Mazi and I were standing around a dozen meters away. Even though we stood under the Yin and Yang Umbrella, we still felt the tingling sensation.

The sparking silver spear flew about and stabbed the rat monster’s belly. The rat shook hard. Before it could scream, it had already turned into a mass of burned flesh.

“Blargh…” When I saw the scene, I couldn’t help but vomit. Li Mazi wasn’t in a better state than me. The two of us squatted with our backs against each other. We puked.

After we got a hold of ourselves, we stood up to look around. The rats were all gone. Luo Cheng had left, too. There was only blood and pieces of rat flesh on the ground.

Since ancient times, plagues broke out after disasters caused by rats. It was because rats always carried a lot of dangerous viruses.

Since the rat monster had sucked the blood off so many types of poultry, domestic animals, and even wild animals, those carcasses couldn’t be eaten. At the same time, the rats that were killed here had to be cleansed. Otherwise, when these dead rats decomposed, the rain would wash them down to the river or the stream nearby. If we couldn’t handle them, infectious diseases would follow this event.

With this thought, I didn’t have the time to think about Luo Cheng. I called the Village Elder immediately.

I simply briefed him about the rat monster transcending the heavenly tribulation and asked him to wake all the folks in the village to come here and clean the dead rats.

Since the heavenly tribulation was gone, the rain subsided. I stood at the mountain peak and looked at the village down there. The lights in the houses turned on one after another. Suddenly, I missed my grandfather.

When I was a little boy, every time it rained, he would turn on the light and tell me many stories. I wondered how my grandpa was doing in the other world.

“Hey Little Brother Zhang, don’t you think I’ve been so manly recently?” Li Mazi squatted close by and half-joked with me. I now recognized that the two of us had just narrowly escaped death. I couldn’t help but give Li Mazi a thumbs-up.

It was rare that Li Mazi had a chance to show off his skills. He yearningly asked, “When will we meet Luo Cheng again?”

Both Li Mazi and I admired and respected Luo Cheng. Moreover, the recent incident helped me confirm my assumption. Luo Cheng had never joined hands with that rat monster. Quite the contrary, he had helped the people here get rid of the monster.

I had noticed that as soon as the rat monster saw Luo Cheng, it hated that it could not run fast enough. It seemed it wasn’t the first time the monster had encountered Luo Cheng.

But why didn’t Luo Cheng kill that monster earlier?

While I was puzzled and trying to solve this matter in my head, I heard noises from the mountain path. I lifted my head and saw the villagers coming with flashlights, sacks, barrels of gasoline, and barrels of oil in their hands. They had all joined together. I saw many children as well. They were even holding their cats in their chests and walking with the adults.

Leading the group of people were the Village Elder and Sanye. The villagers proactively worked and cleaned up the horrible remains of the rats without waiting for me to ask them. When I looked at them, I thought that I had just experienced time travel.

Damn, this is very similar to the scene of destruction of the four pests from a few decades ago!

Before I could say anything, the Village Elder and Sanye came to me. They grabbed my hands and thanked me. After that, a few young men walked to us and got on their knees in front of me and Li Mazi. They thanked us for saving their lives. I looked at them and realized that they were Tang Xianzu’s friends.

“Before you called me, they had slowly recovered. I was too excited so I forgot to tell you the good news.” Sanye laughed happily. His eyes were brimming with grateful tears. Then, he asked, “Do you know why that rat monster attacked our village and why these young men neighed like horses?”

Before I could answer the old man, the Village Elder asked, “And the silver spear, why hasn’t it reappeared even though the rat monster has been defeated?”

It was obvious that those villagers thought that Luo Cheng was the rat monster. I patiently explained every detail of this incident to them. After listening to me, the two old men had tears rolling down their faces.

The Village Elder was especially impacted as he was Luo Cheng’s descendant. “I’m so grateful for my ancestor’s help. But at the same time, I felt guilty and embarrassed. Master, you must help me find that silver spear!”

“It’s what I should do. Luo Cheng is my idol. He is a hero I respect and admire!” I said resolutely as I balled my hands into fists.

Li Mazi added, “I am the same.”

Since we had many people here, we eventually cleaned up all the dead rats at the mountain peak. I asked them to throw all those rats into the dark chamber underneath the temple. We then used gasoline to burn them along with the other dead domestic animals.

After everything was done, we returned to the village. Since the folks were tired, they went home to rest. The Village Elder stayed with me and asked, “Do you know how to find Luo Cheng’s silver spear?”

I didn’t answer his question but asked, “Do you know how long it’s been since that piece of land stopped growing grass?”

The Village Elder supported his chin with one hand and thought about it. “I don’t know the exact time, but it should be a few years after the Yellow Immortal Temple was demolished.”

“Oh right! That’s it!” I patted my thigh. I understood it now.

After the Yellow Immortal Temple was destroyed, the Yellow Immortal left the place, which left Tangjia Village unprotected. That was when the rat monster came and took its place.

The rat monster came and planned to destroy the entire village, but the dormant Luo Cheng had discovered its plan. Luo Cheng battled against the rat monster alone. That piece of odd land was their battlefield.

Afterward, Tang Xianzu and his friends dug up Luo Cheng’s silver spear, which also removed the threat that had subdued the rat monster. Without the threat, the rat monster came to scheme again.

Those young thieves were forced to neigh and eat grass like horses. It could have been the work of Luo Cheng’s horse. Perhaps the loyal horse wanted to take justice for its owner.

Luo Cheng then reappeared at the critical moment, which was when the rat monster was transcending the heavenly tribulation. It meant that Luo Cheng had been watching the monster for quite a long time.

After making everything clear, I gently patted the Village Elder’s shoulder. “Sir, don’t worry! If nothing unexpected happens again, that land will soon be able to nourish plants!”

I assumed that the silver spear would return to that hole. But I couldn’t understand why Luo Cheng had kept tabs on Tang Xianzu. Until now, Luo Cheng had only appeared in front of Tang Xianzu, almost killing the young man with his spear.

I made up my mind to go to the hospital tomorrow to visit and ask Tang Xianzu. I was now certain he had kept something from us.

The next day was bright and sunny. I climbed the mountain with Li Mazi to visit the Yellow Immortal Temple. I wanted to check those carcasses.

When we entered the temple and the hidden chamber, there were ashes on the ground. However, many small dead bodies had not been burned yet. Li Mazi kicked a small rabbit aside, which earned him a mouthful of dust and ashes.

Instinctively, I moved aside to avoid the rising ashes. All of a sudden, I found a big hole.

I went there to have a closer look. I learned that this hole had been here for quite a long time. However, it was covered with mud the last few times we were here. That was why we didn’t see it.

It was beyond our imagination that the rat monster had burrowed a hidden tunnel here! I held the Yin and Yang Umbrella and bent a little bit to enter the tunnel. Although it wasn’t big, it could fit a buffalo-size rat. It wasn’t a big deal for me to move through the dark tunnel.

Li Mazi was scared. He was worried that something ominous was waiting for us at the other end. He kept pulling me back. However, since the rat monster was dead, I didn’t think there would be anything dangerous.

After walking for a long time through the tunnel, we didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Li Mazi eventually calmed down and urged me to move faster. We didn’t know how long or how far we had been walking until we saw a light in front of us. I was cheered up and moved toward the light.

After I crawled out, I saw that we were in the barren piece of land.

“It’s no wonder that rat monster became haughty as soon as Luo Cheng’s silver spear was taken away! It had already dug the tunnel to connect the two places!” I got it now.

Then, I walked to the place they had found the silver spear. I saw that the hole was filled and leveled. There were no traces left. If I hadn’t remembered this particular location, I would have never believed that there used to be a hole here.

I focused and looked around. The wisps of dark air we saw before seemed to have all vanished. I believed that this piece of land would grow the lushest crops in the next spring.

Li Mazi saw me ponder and look around the place. He then asked, “How could it be?”

I gave him a faint smile. The silver spear had returned to its hole. I guessed Luo Cheng had filled the hole, too. If he didn’t want to leave this place, I would respect his choice.