Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time
Chapter 85: Rat Catching Competition

Chapter 85: Rat Catching Competition

Just as Han Yu was grinning about his plot— Zhen Shi sauntered up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Han Yu! Good news! I pulled some strings."

Han Yu took a step back. "Why does that sound like a threat?"

"You’ve been reassigned!"

"...To?"

"To vermin control. The storage cellars have been infested. Your job is to clean them out. By hand."

Han Yu blinked. "You want me to fight rats?"

"With honor!" Zhen Shi said, slapping a broom into his hands. "Now go forth, mighty warrior. May your legacy be disease-free."

Zhen Sui left, but Han Yu was already hatching a plan.

’Hmm, what are the chances I’ll see that rat again? But considering the place is infested with rats, there might be a high chance it lives there too.’ Han Yu didn’t think the rat would be living too far away.

’I need to prepare just in case.’ Han Yu thought and went to seek out Fatty Kui number 2.

Storage Cellars, Later That Hour

The cellars were dark. Damp. Moldy. Suspiciously squeaky.

Han Yu crept in with his broom like a dollar-store exorcist.

From the shadows, he heard a tiny clatter. Then... a familiar chitter.

The spirit rat stood atop a sack of dried beans, backlit by the single ray of light that filtered through a crack in the wall. It struck a majestic pose, tail swishing like a cape.

Han Yu lowered the broom. "It’s you again." Just as Han Yu had thought, the rat was indeed living here.

The rat held up... a peanut. Then flicked it toward him with unerring precision. It hit him square in the forehead.

"I’ll take that as a greeting."

Another noise echoed in the cellar—a new voice.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. If it isn’t the Sect’s most famous poop sponge."

Han Yu turned to see a new face entering the room—a lanky servant with sharp eyes, a smirk sharper than his jawline, and a sash tied far too dramatically for someone whose job involved pest control.

"Who are you supposed to be? The Broom Avenger?" Han Yu deadpanned.

"Name’s Shen Tu," the servant replied, stepping into the light. "Sent here by someone you pissed off. Apparently, your existence is an eyesore."

"Oh great. Another fan." Han Yu wondered just how many like him would come to find him. ’Though I did offend a lot of people.’ Han Yu tried to count.

Firstly, there was Murong Xie and Gao Ren, then the Inner Court Disciples who had brought them in, Elder Nie Jing and many more that were simply offended at his look. The list was simply too long, such that Han Yu could only shake his head.

"I’m not here to talk," Shen Tu said. "I’m here to compete. The disciple who sent me wants you humiliated. So here’s the deal: whoever clears more rats from this cellar by noon gets the rat-catching bonus... and their dignity."

Han Yu raised an eyebrow. "We were supposed to have dignity?"

And so the rat-catching competition began.

Shen Tu whipped out a series of elaborate traps and cages. Han Yu improvised with a bucket, a bunch of peanuts he had gotten from Fatty Kui, and a questionable chant he once overheard from a wandering monk.

Within twenty minutes, Shen Tu had caught five normal rats and one frog that looked deeply confused.

But Han Yu?

He had the spirit rat.

It had brought him two other rats—gifted to him, like a tribute to a rising warlord in exchange for the peanuts Han Yu had put as a bait.

Fatty Kui, who had somehow smuggled himself into the cellar with a bowl of pickled radish, gawked. "You tamed the rat!"

"No," Han Yu said, solemn. "We have an understanding. I give him peanuts. He gives me... respect." He now knew his choice of bringing peanuts was the right choice.

Shen Tu stared, slack-jawed, as the spirit rat casually dragged another snared rodent toward Han Yu’s bucket, like a body builder dragging some malnourished peasant children.

"This is cheating!" Shen Tu shouted. "That’s collusion! He’s... He’s... He’s bribing the rodents!"

Han Yu picked up a peanut. "It’s not bribery. It’s... diplomacy."

A while later, Outside the Cellar...

The results were tallied.

Shen Tu had six rats (and one angry frog that kept on croaking at him with righteous indigination).

Han Yu had eleven, all lined up neatly, with the spirit rat sitting smugly on top like a tiny king.

Zhen Shi stood with arms crossed. "Well. I didn’t expect that." Han Yu had exceeded Shen Tu overwhelmingly.

As much As Zhen Shi had wished for Han Yu to lose and be humiliated he still had to respect the rules... Somewhat. Besides he had little leeway in interfernce as this was an offical task and had come from the office that dealt with day to day matters of the sect, under the authority of the Administration department.

"Turns out rats respect the grind." Han Yu shrugged. ’And seem to have no apprehensions about sacrificing their bretheren.’ He thought.

The spirit rat squeaked in what sounded suspiciously like agreement.

Shen Tu scowled. "This isn’t over."

"Oh, I know," Han Yu replied. "Because now I know your name. And more importantly... so does he."

He pointed at the spirit rat.

Shen Tu paled slightly. "You wouldn’t."

Han Yu smiled. "He remembers faces." A little threat in his voice.

Later that night in dormitory nine...

Han Yu returned triumphant, bruised but smug. The spirit rat had vanished into the walls again, but not before leaving another peanut—this one lightly honey-roasted. It was unlike the normal peanuts that Han Yu had given him.

And boy had he gone through them. By the end of the rat catching competition Han Yu had used up at least half a kilogram of peanuts, far more than what a rat could eat in a day. It was at least ten times the rat’s body weight and it was a mystery what it was even doing with the peanuts.

It was most certainly not sharing it with its kin, considering the fact that it had willingly offered them up in exchange for peanuts in the first place.

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