I wasn't originally afraid of mice. After all, I grew up in a bungalow and saw these things every two or three days. I was very familiar with them.

But the mouse in front of me was about the size of a wild cat, which was a bit scary.

Hongjie next to me was so frightened that she screamed, "Damn! What a big rat! Rongsheng, quickly... quickly hack it to death!"

Hongjie's words brought me back to my senses. I quickly took out my diving knife from my backpack and slashed at the big rat.

As a result, the rat was quite agile. It twisted and turned, dodging my knife. Instead of running away, it opened its mouth and tried to bite my foot.

"Get lost!" I kicked it over and slashed down again.

This time, the diving knife hit its rat head firmly, but it felt like hitting a stone. I only heard a "clang," and my hand felt numb.

I looked down and saw that my knife had only broken the skin of the big rat.

"Damn! This beast is quite tough!" I couldn't help but curse.

Just as I was entangled with this big rat, a "rustling" sound suddenly came from the depths of the tomb passage. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw shadows swaying in the darkness, accompanied by "squeak, squeak" sounds from time to time.

My heart sank, and my scalp tingled. I swept the shadows with the light of my headlamp and saw that those shadows were all these big rats!

They didn't know where they came from, but they were swarming in groups, densely packed, probably dozens of them!

This time, not only Hongjie but even I was frightened. I shouted, "Damn! So many rats! So many rats!"

Uncle Mei and Shopkeeper Wang also saw this scene and quickly grabbed their weapons to prepare for battle.

Shopkeeper Wang took out his crossbow, loaded a bolt, and shot at the rats. He wanted to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, shooting dead a few of the leaders to scare away the other rats.

But to his surprise, the crossbow bolts shot at the rats didn't penetrate their skin and flesh. They could only leave a small wound on their bodies before being bounced off.

Uncle Mei was dumbfounded and said in shock, "Damn it! Are these rats impervious to swords and spears? Even crossbow bolts can't penetrate them?"

I quickly said, "Don't even mention crossbow bolts, I can't even kill them with my diving knife!"

Hongjie was also wielding her diving knife randomly with both hands, hacking while saying, "What kind of rats are these? Why are they so big? And they're impervious to swords and spears, have they become spirits?"

Shopkeeper Wang said in a deep voice, "I suspect these are the legendary Xishu (奚鼠)."

"Xishu? What is Xishu?" Uncle Mei asked.

Shopkeeper Wang loaded an arrow into the crossbow while saying, "The ancient book *Shen Yi Jing* (神异经) of the Han Dynasty records that there is a kind of huge rat living in the underground of the north. They are fierce, eat people, and have hard fur. Stripping their skin to make drums can be used to command other rats. This kind of rat is called Xishu."

Uncle Mei frowned after hearing this and said, "How did the rats from the north run to our south?"

Shopkeeper Wang smiled bitterly and said, "Don't even mention the rats from the north, this ghostly place even has piranhas from South America. What's so strange about a few rats from the north popping up!"

Just as he was speaking, two Xishu pounced on Hongjie's legs, and with their sharp mouths, they took two bites.

Hongjie's calves were immediately bitten off with two pieces of flesh, and she screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

I quickly ran over with my knife and slashed at the two Xishu, but they were really thick-skinned. I desperately hacked them twice, but only managed to open two small cuts on their bodies.

On the other side, Biantou was also besieged by Xishu. Four or five fat Xishu jumped up and down around his feet, biting him from time to time.

Shopkeeper Wang realized that the crossbow was useless and couldn't penetrate these damned things, so he could only switch to a diving knife and rush up to support Biantou.

Seeing this scene, I finally understood why the tomb robbers of the Ming Dynasty died miserably in this tomb passage. It must have been that they accidentally hit the Xishu's nest and dug these disasters out of the ground, which led to them being chased and killed by the Xishu and becoming their prey.

At this time, Uncle Mei made a decisive decision and shouted, "No, there are more and more of these things. Don't get entangled with them, let's run out quickly!"

That was what I was thinking too. I quickly grabbed Hongjie and said, "Hongjie, run with me!"

Hongjie was injured on her leg, and her legs and feet were not working well, but she could only grit her teeth and stumble out with me.

Over there, Shopkeeper Wang rescued Biantou and led him out along the tomb passage.

The Xishu behind us were chasing closely, rushing towards us like a tide. We didn't dare to look back, but we could hear the rustling sounds behind us, mixed with many "squeak, squeak" calls.

Moreover, there were not only Xishu behind us but also in front of the tomb passage. We had to run while watching our feet, and if we were not careful, we would be tripped over by the obstacles on the ground or the Xishu rushing out to meet us.

We kept running and running. At that time, I only felt that this tomb passage was so damn long, it seemed like it had no end.

After running for an unknown amount of time, I was already panting for breath when Uncle Mei, who was in the lead, suddenly stopped in his tracks and said, "Xi bai le (洗白了)."

The Sichuanese phrase "xi bai le" means "finished."

Hearing this, my heart sank, and when I looked ahead, I was instantly filled with despair!

I saw that this tomb passage had come to an end here, and there was no way forward.

The tomb passage ahead was blocked by several collapsed boulders, leaving no gap for people to pass through.

Earthquakes occur frequently in the Sichuan-Chongqing area, and this tomb passage is very old. It must have been that an earthquake caused the collapse of the tomb passage, sealing off the exit of this road.

Seeing this scene, Shopkeeper Wang, Biantou, Hongjie, and the others were also desperate.

Hongjie burst into tears on the spot, covering her face and sobbing, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! No!"

Biantou, on the other hand, had a fierce streak and clenched his diving knife, saying, "We can't get out, let's just fight these big rats!"

Shopkeeper Wang looked at the dead end without saying a word. I didn't know what he was thinking.

Seeing that the Xishu behind us were getting closer and closer, we would definitely be eaten alive when they surrounded us.

Biantou roared and actually rushed up with his diving knife.

At this moment, Shopkeeper Wang suddenly pointed to the boulders blocking the road and said, "There are places to stand on these stones. The Xishu may not be able to climb up. Let's hide on them for a while and then slowly think of a solution."

Hearing him say that, I realized that there was a bulge in the middle of this boulder, like a natural platform, which could indeed provide a temporary foothold.

I quickly grabbed Hongjie and said, "Come on, Hongjie, I'll help you up first."

While speaking, Shopkeeper Wang had already climbed to the top of the platform, using both his hands and feet. He turned around and extended a helping hand to us.