Chapter 98 The Silent Black Legion
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Chapter 98 The Silent Black Legion
On the rooftop, a dozen assassin archers held their breath, their fingers gripping the bowstrings tightly.
The taut string groaned slightly, and the poisoned arrow, poised to be released, had already locked onto every vital point of Pei Yunjing in mid-air.
However, just as the leader of the suicide squad was about to give the order to fire...
"Shh..."
Suddenly, a teeth-grinding scraping sound came from under the once silent tiles.
Before the assassins could even look down, countless pairs of small, eerie green eyes, gleaming with greed and ferocity, lit up without warning from the cracks in the roof beams, the gaps in the roof tiles, and even from the shadows beneath their feet!
That wasn't a few dozen, nor a few hundred.
Those were tens of thousands of rats that had been lying in ambush for a long time, waiting for the "feeding signal"—a special rat squad!
[Squeak! Now!]
[Bite down that string! It's the proof of exchange for rice!]
Charge! Bite these two-legged beasts to death!
Accompanied by a chilling scream, the black wave erupted instantly.
The mice demonstrated amazing jumping and climbing abilities.
They frantically scurried up the assassin's trouser legs, some jumping directly onto his shoulders, some hanging on his arms, and some even pouncing on the fully drawn bow!
"What is that?! Get away from me!"
The assassins were terrified, and their once steady aim instantly became chaotic.
They instinctively tried to shake off the rats, but the beasts clung tightly to their clothes.
Even more terrifying is—
Their goal is extremely clear.
Several large rats bared their sharp incisors and bit down hard on the bowstring, which was stretched to its limit and so fragile that it could break at any moment!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of crisp, cracking sounds, like firecrackers, exploded on the roof.
A taut bowstring contains immense tension; once it breaks, the instantaneous rebound force is no less than that of a heavy whip!
"ah--!!!"
Screams echoed throughout the room.
Some of the assassins were struck hard in the face by the recoiled bowstrings, their skin torn open and blood gushing out.
Some fingers were broken off, making it impossible for them to hold the bow.
Even worse, the poisoned arrow went out of control and hit a nearby companion!
The arrow formation, which was originally a sure kill, collapsed instantly.
The poisoned arrows that were originally aimed at Pei Yunjing were shot into the sky and into the ground, but none of them managed to touch the hem of Pei Yunjing's clothes.
...
at the same time.
Underground, a bottomless drainage ditch.
The battle here is silent, yet all the more thrilling.
[Hiss—Hiss—]
The fuse, soaked in kerosene, resembled a venomous snake spitting fire, slithering wildly in the darkness, devouring the last few meters.
In the firelight, the pile of black gunpowder barrels in front of them, resembling a small mountain, was already within reach.
Five breaths.
Four breaths.
[Squeak! No time left!]
Zhao Cai stood at the pipe entrance, watching the flames that were about to destroy everything, and all the gray fur on his body stood on end.
It was a gluttonous mouse, but also a mouse that was afraid of death.
But it remembers even more the promise made by that terrible human woman (Tang Li)—a lifetime meal ticket to the royal granary.
Fortune favors the bold!
Brothers! For rice! Let's fight it!
Zhao Cai let out a sharp screech, stopped retreating, and instead led more than a dozen of its strongest "suicide squad" members to charge into the scorching flames!
Instead of trying to put out the fire (which would have burned them to death), they cleverly rushed to the front of the flames—to the fuse that hadn't yet caught fire.
"Snap! Snap! Snap!"
A dozen sharp mouths began a frenzied biting spree at the thick, tough fuse!
The flames were getting closer.
The scorching heat had singed Zhao Cai's beard, and the suffocating smell of sulfur assaulted his nostrils.
[Quick! Bite it off!]
[Hot, hot, hot! For the sake of rice!]
With its bloodshot eyes, Zhao Cai could turn anything, from oilcloth to gunpowder core, into dust under its indestructible front teeth.
Just when the spark was only an inch away from the fuse of the powder keg, and had even licked the rat's tail—
"collapse."
A very faint sound.
The fuse that held the lives of the entire city in its grip was finally snapped in two by the siege of the rats!
The burning flames, having lost their fuel, flickered weakly twice on the damp, cold ground, emitting a soft "sizzle".
Then……
It's gone out.
Darkness once again enveloped the underground sewers.
Only the pile of unexploded gunpowder barrels stood silently in place, like a group of death gods who had lost their souls.
[Huff... Huff...]
Zhao Cai collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, staring at the severed fuse and then at his own buttocks, where a patch of fur had been burned.
It triumphantly twitched its whiskers and let out a victorious cry:
[Squeak! Done!]
No matter how fast human fire is, it can't outrun my teeth!
[Let's go! Back to the Prince's mansion! Let's collect our reward!]
Above ground.
The lone wolf stood beside the drain, his ferocious smile frozen into plaster.
He counted the time.
Ten breaths have passed.
Twenty breaths have passed.
The expected explosion did not occur.
The ground beneath our feet did not tremble.
Not even a wisp of smoke rose.
"...?"
The lone wolf stared wide-eyed at the dark well opening in disbelief.
What happened?
Did the tinderbox go out?
Impossible! That's a specially made windproof tinderbox!
"Why...why isn't it being blown up?!"
He let out a desperate, devastating roar, the sound particularly shrill and laughable in the night wind:
"God! You're unfair!!!"