Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 476 Suspicious Valley_1

Chapter 476: Chapter 476 Suspicious Valley_1

The Li Family Auntie’s injuries were not light; a lot of flesh on her neck had been gnawed away by a rat, but fortunately, no blood vessels or meridians were damaged, which was a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune.

The Second-in-charge busied himself treating her wounds, only allowing Yuanbao to take the recently calmed Xiaoqi to the other few rooms on the side.

Since a mishap had occurred in the Li Family Auntie’s room, it was inevitable that the neighboring few might also be affected.

If an ordinary person like the Li Family Auntie could be injured to such an extent, then the patients in the other rooms, all recovering from serious illnesses, might not be so lucky if something went wrong.

Yuanbao always carried various medicinal herb powders on him, so the Second-in-charge was not worried.

A grown-up and a child pushed open the door only to see a quiet interior; whether it was due to the early hour or their weak constitutions, each of them had their eyes tightly shut, sleeping soundly.

"Brother Xiaoqi, this way."

Yuanbao, being short in stature, stepped into the room and immediately noticed a significant amount of the medicine powder was missing from the corner.

Xiaoqi responded and stepped forward, quickly noticing something amiss.

The medicine powder did not seem to have been accidentally stepped on; on the contrary, it looked more like someone had done it deliberately.

The Li Family Auntie was always meticulous, carefully checking every night to ensure enough rat repellent powder was spread in the room.

And everyone in the village knew how formidable those rats were; they wouldn’t dare disturb these life-saving substances.

If it really came down to it, only the three physicians staying in the courtyard came to mind.

Xiaoqi carried doubt in his heart but took the rat repellent powder Yuanbao handed him and spread another circle around the room.

After checking three rooms, only the Li Family Auntie’s room and the first one showed signs of tampering, while the other two small rooms appeared unchanged.

"Yuanbao, go and inform your father, have him bring some people out, we are going to exterminate the rats in a while."

After bandaging the Li Family Auntie’s wound, the Second-in-charge stepped out, addressing the two children.

"Xiaoqi, come with me to the place where you just found the rat tracks."

"Alright."

"Alright."

Yuanbao and Xiaoqi nodded in unison, and the little girl waved her hand, running out of the courtyard with a clatter.

Xiaoqi and the Second-in-charge, without speaking a word, followed Xiaoqi’s lead to the place where he had found the paw prints.

From a distance, they could see that the two wooden buckets had frozen into the mud, covered with a thin layer of ice, and the snow beside the path had slightly melted, obscuring any clear paw prints.

Xiaoqi had not expected this and was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"Second-in-charge, I really saw them..."

"I know."

The Second-in-charge looked at the path beside him, his heart sinking.

The snow had slightly melted, but the mud on the path was wet; someone must have carried water down this path, spilling it and soaking the ground, hence leaving footprints.

The fresh footprints were densely covered with rat paw prints.

Moreover, these paw prints were much larger than those of the previous rats, by a whole size.

Trouble was brewing in the village.

Ming Qin had gotten up early to research soil-less cultivation, and although Chi Sheng did not understand what she was scribbling on the paper, he insisted on sitting beside her.

At least he could see her.

"Father! Father!"

The two courtyards were not far apart, but the short distance seemed long due to the thick clothing, causing Yuanbao to run out of breath.

"Yuanbao, what’s the matter?"

Chi Sheng, seeing his daughter running urgently, wrapped her in his arms and patted her back to comfort her.

"Father, Father, it’s, it’s rats!"

Yuanbao gasped heavily with each word she spoke, making Chi Sheng anxious.

"So early?"

At first, the rats only appeared at night, and they would leave as soon as they heard the crow of the rooster in the early morning. Although they later came out during the day, they never showed up at dawn.

"Brother Xiaoqi found out, Auntie Li got injured. Uncle said, said he told me to come and let you know, to call the uncles together to exterminate the rats."

Yuanbao nodded and briefly repeated the situation before taking the bowl of water his mother handed to him.

"You go quickly, Yuanbao and I will be fine at home."

Ming Qin said seriously as she took her daughter into her arms.

Chi Sheng pursed his lips, looking at Ming Qin for a while before nodding.

"Then I’ll go notify them. You and Yuanbao stay at home and be safe, make sure to lock all the doors and windows, be careful."

He wasn’t very reassured about leaving the mother and son alone at home.

But now Shen Wenchen and the others had gone up to the mountain, and the village had suddenly lost more than a dozen able-bodied men. If he didn’t help out, it would likely become even more chaotic.

"Yuanbao, stay at home with Mom, you have to be a good girl."

Ming Qin gently rubbed the little girl’s head and said tenderly.

"Mom’s not afraid, Yuanbao will protect Mom."

The little girl lifted her head and patted her tiny chest with bravado.

"Good, then I’ll leave it to Yuanbao."

Ming Qin carefully secured the doors and windows, then lit the oil lamp and continued to busy herself.

Chi Sheng informed the villagers, and in no time, a group of people had gathered.

"Boss, what’s going on? Why are we called so early in the morning?"

Someone was woken up from bed and hadn’t even got dressed properly, squinting and asking.

"Open your eyes quickly."

The second in command came over with Xiaoqi, speaking in a grave voice.

"The number of rats has decreased, but they’ve grown a lot larger and are no longer afraid of humans. Today Xiaoqi happened to see Auntie Li from the Li Family in trouble, we must hurry up and find out where those rats are hiding."

As he spoke, the second in command lifted his hand, and Xiaoqi nodded, tossing out the corpse of a rat.

The rat’s body was jet black, with hair on its back sticking up like a porcupine’s quills, looking quite frightening. The tail dragging behind it was half a foot long. Its head had been smashed, and it lay in a limp heap on the ground, still emitting a faint stench.

Just like the field next to the path.

"How can this rat be so big?"

Someone exclaimed in shock, eyes wide open.

The rat seemed to be even bigger than a cat!

"This just happens to be a rat we found. We still don’t know how many rats are hiding in the village. We need to act fast to ensure the safety of our villagers."

"I’ll go back and get a hoe."

"I’m going to get a firewood knife!"

"I’m going for a stick!"

The people said, not daring to slow down their steps.

The rats are almost becoming monstrous!

If we don’t get rid of them quickly, no one will be able to live peacefully in the future!

Chi Sheng looked at the rat on the ground feeling as if a stone was pressing down on his heart, very oppressive.

"Big brother, we’ve got to work hard."

"Mmm."

In a mountain hollow, Shen Wenchen and his men were staring solemnly at the thing in front of them.

These past few days, they had thoroughly scoured the surrounding mountains and forests, but they hadn’t expected to find a problem in this hollow.