Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 447: Eradicating Rats

Chapter 447: Chapter 447: Eradicating Rats

"Brother!"

Yueyue looked somewhat helpless, only raising her eyes to gaze at Xiaoqi standing at the doorway.

"I, I didn’t do it on purpose..." Xiaoqi stuttered, somewhat at a loss as he looked at Yueyue, barely managing to choke out these words after a long while.

He truly didn’t do it on purpose; as soon as Brother Aze said it was time to disband, his first thought was to come here to find Yuanbao.

The apology he had prepared ahead of time abruptly changed once he saw her, and as soon as the words left his mouth, they came out as something different entirely...

"Brother, you should apologize to Yuanbao."

Yueyue pursed her lips, speaking softly.

She wouldn’t possibly blame her brother. After all, if she did not exist as a burden, her brother’s life would be much more comfortable.

Nor would he have become the village’s ridiculed "parasitic son-in-law" in his efforts to save her.

"I know." Xiaoqi nodded, moving to sit by his sister’s side as he noticed that her face finally had some color.

"Yueyue, are you still in pain?"

"Much better, I’ll gradually get better." Yueyue responded with a smile, her eyes sparkling like a starry sky.

"The rats are coming! The rats are coming!"

Just as Xiaoqi was about to say something else, a chorus of shouts came from outside the house.

Accompanying these shouts were the hurried footsteps of the crowd.

"Yueyue, take cover inside the house. Brother has to go now."

Xiaoqi smoothed Yueyue’s hair, his tone becoming unusually gentle.

"Okay, brother, you be careful."

Yueyue nodded, putting away her needle and thread.

Only after she watched her brother exit the house did she carefully check all the doors and windows once more.

Outside, the area was swarming with palm-sized black rats, their green bean-sized eyes glinting red, enough to make a man’s skin crawl.

The rats were fearless when confronted with humans, some even brazenly rushing at humans.

All the old folks and children in the village had holed up indoors, leaving only the stronger laborers outside to kill the rats.

Aze held a bow in his hand, at his feet laid a dozen of rat corpses. The blood was a dark red, stinking unbearably. The sight of it was utterly nauseating.

"Xiaoqi, you take some people to the east of the village. I can handle things here, just be careful not to get bitten by these beasts."

Seeing Xiaoqi, Aze breathed a sigh of relief.

These rats were extremely agile; there were places they couldn’t keep an eye on, no matter how hard they tried.

Sometimes, it was really up to the children to handle this.

"Okay."

Xiaoqi nodded, heading to the east of the village with his group. On the way there, they saw clusters of rats emerging from the fields, fearlessly attempting to bite the men.

Xiaoqi was wielding a long stick with iron cast at both ends, with just a swing of his hand, he had killed a handful.

When the Rat Plague initially broke out, nobody was particularly concerned, assuming that hungry rats coming out for food was a common occurrence during winter. When the population of the rats increased to the extent that people started getting bitten, they assumed it was inevitable.

Those who were bitten either had wounds that rotted and pus-filled while running a high fever, or were unconscious all night, convulsing uncontrollably.

Only then did they realize that these rats were not ordinary Earth rats.

The rat horde came in droves. After smelling the blood, the rats behind became even more frenzied, one after another rushing at their dead counterparts in a desperate bid to get a bite of their flesh.

Seeing this gruesome scene, some people naturally found it repulsive, and decided to set those rat corpses ablaze. Instantly, a strange aroma of cooked meat filled the air around them.

Those who hadn’t eaten meat for a long time unconsciously salivated at the smell.

"You cannot breathe in this smell." An older person warned urgently while covering his nose.

Something was wrong with this smell.

Recalling those who had been bitten by the rats, everyone was fully alert.

After hastily clearing the way for the rats, the group finally arrived at the east side of the village.

The eastern part of the village was bisected by a river, with barren lands on either side. Few chose to build houses here, and only a few solitary houses were scattered around.

Since the outbreak of the Rat Plague, those living there had moved to the center of the village, leaving the place in abandonment.

Though void of human life, the empty houses had become the perfect hiding places for the rats.

Fortunately, the eastern end of the village lacked farmland, so the rat swarm wasn’t as concentrated. Rats occasionally scurried out of the houses.

As the youngest, Xiaoqi was the most dexterous, able to lethally strike the rats hidden in the shadows scheming to ambush them. After a flurry of movement, the long stick he carried was covered in patches of red and white stains.

After two hours of killing, the rats suddenly halted as if they had received some sort of news. They stopped paying heed to them and voluntarily retreated into the forest in the same direction.

Watching the retreating horde, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Many in the village had been bitten by rats, and were now grouped together, living in the large courtyard at the front of the village. If someone else were to be bitten, it would cause a major problem.

Yuanbao looked at her little sword stained with blood, feeling a bit reluctant to let it go. But with everyone watching, she had no choice but to discard the wooden sword with an air of indifference.

In the past, she would always use her slingshot to kill the rats, but she hadn’t had time to fetch it before leaving the house today.

So, she could only use her wooden sword.

This sword was a gift from her father.

The young girl appeared composed, but her eyes couldn’t help but flicker towards her wooden sword on the ground from time to time.

"Yuanbao, you are so brave."

The two aunts in charge of caring for the injured in the courtyard could not help but heap praise on Yuanbao as they saw the numerous rat corpses strewn across the courtyard.

"Not at all." The little lass blushed, waving her hands dismissively in the manner of adults, drawing a round of laughter from everyone.

"Aunt, have the injured woken up?"

Yuanbao wiped her hands and went into the house.

Inside, about ten people lied unconscious. Their faces were pale, their hands twitching involuntarily.

"Not yet."

Li Family’s aunt sighed. Her son was bitten on the ear; now, his entire left ear was nearly rotten, and he had been running a high fever with no signs of improvement.

"Aunt, don’t worry. My dad and the others will bring back the medicine soon."

Initially, when the Rat Plague broke out, no one was overly concerned. At most, they feared that the rats would steal their grain, but when people who were bitten er fell ill, and only then did Chi Sheng heed the words of the Second Uncle, leading some people up the mountain to look for herbs.

"I know, I know." Li Family’s aunt attempted a smile, which ended up looking worse than crying. When she heard someone groaning, she quickly picked up the hot water and rushed over, forgetting Yuanbao entirely.

Looking at the unconscious people on the bed, Yuanbao felt a sourness in her heart.

The Second Uncle came in whilst searching for a room and found his little niece standing there blankly.

"Yuanbao, what’s wrong?"

"Uncle, will they all get better?"

Instead of answering him, Yuanbao continued to gaze at the unconscious patients.

Caught off guard, Second Uncle followed her gaze.

Among those lying on the beds were former villagers from Tian Family Village as well as people from Qing Fenghan. However, all of them had pallid faces, their eyes closed tight.

"They will get better."

He gave a firm nod, placing his big hand atop Yuanbao’s head.

"Yuanbao, you’ve worked hard too."

"It’s okay, as long as everyone gets better."

The little girl shook her head; her gaze was unwaveringly determined.

The field was littered with heaps of rat bodies; the smell of death was thick in the air, making people nauseous.

"Mix them with herbs and burn them; we can’t leave behind a single one."