The four of them wandered about the construction site. A "rat plague," as it was called, naturally implied a terrifying number of rats.

But so far, they hadn't seen a single trace of one.

In the human world, aside from dogs and cats, rats are probably the most common small animal. But unlike dogs and cats, which are praised for guarding the home, rats are seen as nothing but villainous pests. And yet, they are also incredibly spiritual, intelligent, and mysterious little creatures.

For thousands of years, folk legends have spoken of the primitive animal worship of the so-called "Four Great Families" and "Five Great Gates." The Five Great Gates are the Five Great Immortals. The Snake is called Immortal Bai, while the rat is known as the Gray Immortal among them, which speaks to its status. This also reflects the reverence people held for foxes, Weasels, hedgehogs, rats, and Snakes.

Rats have keen senses of hearing, smell, and taste. They can climb, swim, dig, and destroy. They also have huge appetites, eating almost anything people do. Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy—they fear none of it, taking on the roguish attitude of, 'Whatever you're having, I'll have some too.'

But what truly makes people despise rats isn't any of that. It's the diseases they carry—plague, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis, and other pathogens that are extremely harmful to humans.

Humans can tolerate them eating their food, living in their homes, and constantly causing destruction. But spreading the plague? That's just going too far.

The rat plague at the construction site felt strange. With the Demon Hunter, Yu Zitong, on the case, Tu Xiao'an had taken a backseat to act as a spectator. Of course, that didn't mean he was idle.

Tu Xiao'an was surprised to find that the completed stone pillars and concrete ground were covered in countless pits and pockmarks, like little holes.

"Those rats chewed all these little holes," Su Yu explained, looking at Tu Xiao'an.

'Rats chewing holes?'

A peculiar expression crossed Tu Xiao'an's face. This wasn't dirt or wood; it was a solid wall and floor made of concrete. Even a handgun would, at most, just blast a small hole in it.

'Could these rats' teeth really be that terrifyingly strong? Strong enough to chew holes right through concrete?'

'Looking at all these little holes... Don't tell me they've turned into rat nests inside?'

Among the pockmarks, many were large holes, big enough to fit a grown man's fist.

Suddenly, Tu Xiao'an was reminded of when he was first reborn as a Snake. A Rat King had appeared in his backyard back then. It was the size of a small rabbit, with teeth as sharp as blades. When it first showed up, it was casually munching on a rock as if it were a piece of bread.

'If these are rats of that caliber, then chewing holes in concrete walls might just be possible.'

Just then, Tu Xiao'an walked up to one of the walls. The entire stone surface was riddled with small holes. He tentatively stuck his hand into one of them.

"Brother Xiao'an, there might be rats hiding in there! Be careful..."

Tu Xiao'an just smiled, unconcerned. He felt around inside and discovered what seemed to be a small tunnel.

'Rats were second to none when it came to burrowing, but to do so in a concrete wall was nothing short of terrifying.'

Suddenly, Tu Xiao'an's brow furrowed. Something bit his index finger. He pulled out his hand and was stunned to find his finger had been bitten clean off.

It was severed.

Tu Xiao'an quickly turned his body to block Su Yu's line of sight, hiding the severed finger from view.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. In an instant, the severed finger miraculously grew back, good as new.

'What a formidable rat.'

'It bit my finger off in a single bite. Good thing it was me and this is just a false body. Anyone else would probably have nine fingers now.'

Without a change in expression, Tu Xiao'an reached his hand back into the hole. Suddenly, he gave a sharp tug and yanked out a fat rat by its long tail, flinging it onto the ground.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK..."

The fat rat, now exposed on the open construction site, immediately shrieked ferociously at the group.

"What a huge rat!"

Both Su Yu and Yu Zitong were slightly taken aback.

Instead of scurrying away after being exposed, the fat rat stood up on its hind legs like a person, its forepaws raised. Its tiny eyes glinted with a strange, fierce light.

Tu Xiao'an realized this fat rat was a lot like that Rat King from his old backyard. They've both grown to a freakish level.

A rat like this would be considered a king if it nested in an ordinary home.

ROAR...

The moment the fat rat appeared, Golden Pupils, the cat in Yu Zitong's arms, let out a deafening tiger-like roar. In a flash, it was right in front of the large rat.

The light in Golden Pupils' Yin Yang Eye flared. It stared excitedly at the large rat, its golden fur bristling as it took on the posture of a tiger.

The large rat hadn't been afraid of the humans, but seeing this majestic cat, its bravado vanished. Fear filled its shifty eyes.

The instant it sensed fear, Golden Pupils pounced with the speed of a rabbit, knocking the upright rat to the ground. It began to rip and tear at it with vicious cruelty, the scene quickly turning bloody.

The large rat had no chance to resist. After just a few bites, it was dead. But Golden Pupils wasn't finished with the corpse; it began to devour it with great relish.

"This rat was as large as a rabbit and seemed intelligent, very impressive. But it wasn't an Awakened creature, which is why I couldn't sense any Demon Qi."

A small smile touched Yu Zitong's lips. "But no matter how formidable a rat is, its fate is to be eaten when it meets Golden Pupils. Boss Su, I believe this was the Rat King causing all the trouble on your site. Now that it's dead, its underlings won't dare show their faces here again."

"That's the Rat King?" Su Yu was shocked by the rat's size, but calling it the Rat King seemed like a bit of a stretch.

Tu Xiao'an just casually yanked it out of a little hole.

'And with one tug, he just pulls out Huo Luan's Rat King?'

"A rat that large, if it isn't the Rat King, what is? Plus, it could walk upright and was extremely intelligent. If it hadn't run into my Golden Pupils, an ordinary person would have been no match for it."

Yu Zitong explained with a smile. It looked like an easy fight, but that was mainly because his cat was so badass.

Tu Xiao'an spoke up. "Master Yu, you're being too optimistic. That was just an ordinary rat hiding on the site."

"You call that rat ordinary?"

Even if it wasn't an Awakened Creature, for it to have grown to this Level was no small feat.

"Very ordinary. If you don't believe me, look." Tu Xiao'an pointed. Everyone followed his gaze and was struck dumb.

From the pockmarked holes, one huge rat after another began to crawl out. Each one was incredibly fat, covered in gray fur, its eyes glowing with a menacing light.

One, two, three... five... ten...

In just a few seconds, ten more rats, all as large as the first one, had crawled out.

Suddenly, the construction site was filled with a dense, incessant squeaking that seemed to come from all directions.

They turned to see that rats weren't just emerging from the holes in the wall—dozens more were pouring out from every dark corner of the site.

And their numbers were increasing rapidly. In what felt like moments, there were over a hundred of them.

Then, the large rats began to surround the four of them. They watched with predatory hunger, their ferocity palpable. A greedy light shone in their tiny eyes, as if the humans were their prey.