12dz Chapter 335 Start taking action
Chapter 335 Start taking action
Li Xiaoyun's eyes remained filled with worry, her brows furrowed slightly. "That's true, but you must be very careful. This red-haired rat sounds too eerie."
Li Xiangyang understood his wife's worries, so he gently patted the back of her hand and gave her a reassuring look before turning around and walking quickly towards the backyard.
In the backyard, the black cat was lazily lying on a warm rock. When it saw Li Xiangyang approaching, it opened its eyes and yawned lazily.
"Little princess, come with me." Li Xiangyang reached out and picked up the black cat, saying softly, "This time, you'll need to show your skills."
The black cat stretched gracefully, then nestled obediently in Li Xiangyang's arms.
Back in the front yard, Little Tiger stared longingly at the black cat in Li Xiangyang's arms, letting out a low whimper.
"Alright, Xiaohu, you need to stay home and protect Xiaoyun." Li Xiangyang patted Xiaohu's head and said firmly, "I'll take you hunting when I get back."
Little Tiger seemed to understand its master's promise, obediently squatting down and watching Li Xiangyang leave.
"Let's go." Li Xiangyang gently kissed his wife's forehead, then pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard gate.
At this moment, the members of the hunting team had arrived at the village entrance one after another.
"Xiangyang is here!" Wang Ergou greeted Li Xiangyang as soon as he saw him.
Everyone turned to look at the bamboo basket behind Li Xiangyang and discovered the black cat inside.
"You even brought your cat?" Li Dazhuang asked, somewhat surprised.
"Since we're dealing with mice, bringing Cat along is a good idea." Li Xiangyang smiled, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "Is everyone ready?"
"Ready!" everyone answered in unison.
"Okay, let's go."
The group mounted their bicycles and set off in a grand procession towards Heping Village.
Yang Youcai rode at the very front, talking incessantly about the situation in the village along the way.
"Starting last month, there were more rats in the village, but at first no one paid much attention. Everyone has a few rats, right? But these past few days there have been more and more of them, and they're getting bolder, daring to come out during the day. Even the dogs don't dare bark when they see them!"
Wang Ergou couldn't help but interject, "Isn't that ridiculous? Are all the dogs in your village just good for nothing?"
Yang Youcai wasn't angry at all. He shook his head solemnly, "It's not that the dog is bad, it's that big red rat is too eerie! Its eyes are as red as lanterns, and just one glare from it was enough to subdue the dog! I know it sounds unbelievable, but you'll see when you get there."
The group remained silent and rode for about an hour until they could see the outline of Heping Village in the distance.
A number of villagers had already gathered at the village entrance, and they anxiously surrounded Li Xiangyang and his group.
"Captain Li, you've finally arrived!" an elderly man with gray hair said in a trembling voice. "These damned rats are practically taking over our village!"
After getting off his bicycle, Li Xiangyang keenly scanned his surroundings.
The situation in Guocun was worse than he had imagined.
Swarms of rats roamed the streets with impunity; their activity could be seen in corners, near doors and windows, and even on haystacks on rooftops.
What's even more unsettling is that these rats show no fear of human approach, as if they've become accustomed to human presence.
"This...this is too exaggerated!" Li Daqiang stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing.
No sooner had they finished speaking than a fat, grayish-brown rat swaggered across the street right in front of them.
“Yes, we haven’t dared to sleep properly these past few days, afraid that these things will crawl onto our beds at night.” A woman holding her child said, her eyes filled with fear.
Li Xiangyang frowned and took the black cat out of the bamboo basket.
The little princess seemed to sense something was amiss, perking up her ears and warily watching her surroundings with her amber eyes.
“I have a general understanding of the situation in the village,” Li Xiangyang said, turning to Yang Youcai. “It’s not just a problem of rats; the more serious threat is the plague.”
The villagers turned even paler upon hearing the word "plague."
"Plague?" Yang Youcai swallowed hard. "Then...what can we do?"
"Don't panic," Li Xiangyang looked around and raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "To solve this problem, we need to take several steps. First, we need a village-wide cleanup to thoroughly eliminate any hidden corners and leave no hiding places for the rats; second, we need to set traps to catch and kill these rats."
"Don't be afraid, everyone. No matter how evil the red-haired rat is, it's just a big rat. Once we've scared off the ordinary rats, it will naturally show itself, and then we can take it down in one fell swoop."
After hearing Li Xiangyang's words, the villagers seemed to relax a bit.
"Alright, let's get started now!" Yang Youcai clapped his hands. "As Captain Li has arranged, the whole village will be thoroughly cleaned up!"
The villagers quickly sprang into action, taking out brooms, shovels, and other tools to begin cleaning the courtyards and streets.
Li Xiangyang and the members of the hunting team then began to set up traps.
They made some mousetraps with simple materials and set them up in various corners of the village.
Under Li Xiangyang's guidance, the villagers got busy. The sound of brooms hitting the ground echoed in the courtyard, and rats scurried around. The whole village was like a pot of boiling water.
"Remember, never catch a mouse with your bare hands, and definitely don't get bitten!" Li Xiangyang warned as he set up the trap.
Wang Ergou nodded in agreement, "That's right, everyone be careful and wear gloves while working. If you don't have gloves, wrap your hands with strips of cloth."
Li Daqiang, holding a wooden stick, warily stared at a hole in the corner of the wall: "Xiangyang, what exactly is this red-haired rat? Is there really such a special kind of rat?"
“Whatever it is, it’s still flesh and blood,” Li Xiangyang pondered for a moment before replying. “Let’s deal with the ordinary rats first, then we can deal with this one slowly.”
He put the black cat on the ground, and the little princess stretched. Then, she alertly pricked up her ears and nimbly darted into someone's yard.
The hunting teams split up to help the villagers clean up corners of their homes.
Startled, the rats scattered in all directions, and the villagers, armed with wooden sticks, struck the gray shadows that tried to escape.
Li Xiangyang and Wang Ergou entered a family with a particularly serious illness.
The yard was full of rat droppings, and the grain bins by the wall had been chewed into several large holes, with grain scattered all over the ground.
“This family’s situation is really bad,” Wang Ergou said, frowning.
The old woman inside looked pale and sickly: "That's right, I haven't dared to sleep these past few days, afraid that mice will bite my feet."
Li Xiangyang carefully inspected the house's structure: "Grandma, your house needs a thorough cleaning. Find someone to stay with you tonight, and we'll clean this place for you."
Just as they were talking, a rat the size of a fist suddenly darted out from the roof beam and landed on the old woman's shoulder.
The old man cried out in surprise and frantically patted the wound.