C

ountless rats 

surrounded

 us.

We couldn’t finish them off, no matter 

how hard we tried

. 

I was running out of

 strength

, and t

he 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 

B

rother 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 s

afely. 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 cit

y 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

o

ur 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

 e

mbroidered on his cloak. It read 

“Yan.” 

I

instantly cheer

ed 

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

 wa

s why both the father and the son had a deep affection 

for

 the state of Yan. 

W

hen 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 memor

ies

 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 stri

ke, smashing through 

the horde of rats. 

Soon, he came to us

,

 halt

ing

 and turn

ing

 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 u

nder 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

. B

efore 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

 wa

s because rats always carrie

d

 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 clean

sed

. 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 

B

rother 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?”

B

oth 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?” 

B

efore 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. 

T

he 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

, b

ut 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 T

angjia 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. 

T

hose 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

. I

t 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 w

alking 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 n

o 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 be

fore 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.