I Received Messages From Future Self!-Chapter 272 - 268 The Fearsome Scent
Chapter 272: Chapter 268: The Fearsome Scent
Chapter 272: Chapter 268: The Fearsome Scent
Fang Xiaocao’s message was sent.
There was no “contact does not exist” notification.
Clearly, Hot Noodles must have been in the service area.
It was just that Fang Xiaocao did not immediately receive a reply from Hot Noodles.
Fang Xiaocao blinked, guessing that Hot Noodles might be busy and didn’t have time to look at his phone.
Shaking her head, Fang Xiaocao put her phone back into her pocket.
She decided not to discuss the mysterious pawnshop any longer.
“Meet force with force, fend off water with earth!”
“Stay vigilant, if we really encounter someone from the pawnshop, we should not initiate hostilities, but if they dare…”
Saying this, Fang Xiaocao made a throat-slitting gesture.
“Yes!”
Tom and the other two responded in unison.
Following Tom’s lead, Fang Xiaocao and the others took fewer detours, and soon a pungent, nauseating stench wafted from the cave ahead.
That smell was extremely peculiar.
It gave Fang Xiaocao a sense of déjà vu.
But for the moment, she couldn’t remember where she had encountered this smell before.
Fang Xiaocao kept heaving from the stench, feeling an instinctive fear welling up inside her heart.
The three members of Taotie beside her had their expressions turn extremely grave, almost subconsciously gripping their weapons, showing signs of being on high alert.
Noticing the change in their expressions, Fang Xiaocao was puzzled, not understanding what had happened.
“Ugh…”
Just as Fang Xiaocao opened her mouth, she couldn’t help but retch.
“What happened?”
“Ugh–”
“Why do you all look so tense…”
As Fang Xiaocao retched, she asked.
Seeing Fang Xiaocao continue to heave, Tom put away his gun and came to her side.
He reached out and opened the backpack Fang Xiaocao was carrying on her back, taking out a gas mask.
“Princess Your Highness, put this on,” Tom offered the gas mask to Fang Xiaocao.
Fang Xiaocao was overjoyed to see the gas mask.
She quickly took it, putting it on her face.
Upon pressing the button on the gas mask, which was connected to a small air exchange, oxygen supply, and filter all-in-one device in the backpack, she immediately activated it.
Fang Xiaocao breathed in the fresh air greedily, only after a long while did the nausea and fear begin to subside significantly.
“Tom, what is this smell?”
“Why are you all so tense?”
“The smell that I smell, why does it make me feel so panicked, a bit fearful? Could it be that this stench is poisonous?”
Fang Xiaocao’s voice came from the loudspeaker of the gas mask, it sounded muffled, but was very loud.
“That’s the smell of a corpse!”
“The stench of a decomposing human body,” Tom said gravely.
“Humans are social animals, and the smell of a corpse has an alerting effect on their own kind; it’s a biological instinct engraved in the genes by our ancestors. Ordinary people, without professional training, if they’re even slightly sensitive, will have this reaction, don’t worry,” Tom explained as he drew his gun again.
“The smell of a corpse?” Fang Xiaocao exclaimed upon hearing Tom’s explanation.
“Yes!”
“The smell of a corpse!”
“And it’s coming from many corpses!”
As he spoke, Tom paused, then continued, “I think we might have found the dwelling place of the man-eating rats.”
Hearing Tom’s words, Fang Xiaocao was startled.
“What should we do?”
Fang Xiaocao asked nervously.
Tom narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering.
After a moment, Tom said with a smile, “Destroy it!”
“I have concentrated fuel and materials for making Molotov Cocktails in my bag. I’ll make a few Molotov Cocktails later and burn this place down!”
“Keeping those man-eating rats and corpses here is a disaster waiting to happen. Plus, our villa is at the foot of the mountain. If we don’t get rid of these man-eating rats, they might come down the mountain one day, and we’ll become their hunting targets.”
Tom’s tone was exceedingly cold.
It was clear he had the intent to kill.
Fang Xiaocao blinked and nodded her head.
“Good, burn this place down!”
“After dealing with these man-eating rats, we can continue on our way.”
Fang Xiaocao affirmed Tom’s idea.
Tom took off his backpack and started making Molotov Cocktails. His prepared materials were high-tech, purified black tech, small in quantity but powerful in effect.
Fang Xiaocao had seen it before.
A cube of super-concentrated fuel the size of a sugar cube could burn for a very long time, outlasting even coal.
“Taotie, you and Hummingbird go inside and take a look.”
“Be careful. There should be man-eating rats inside. Don’t disturb them,” Tom said while making Molotov Cocktails.
Taotie nodded and, together with Hummingbird, headed in the direction of the stench of rotting bodies.
Fang Xiaocao hesitated for a moment, then followed them.
Taotie and Tom noticed Fang Xiaocao’s movement but did not stop her.
Although Fang Xiaocao needed protection, she also needed to grow through experience. It was good for her to follow them and gain some insights.
Taotie gestured for Fang Xiaocao to follow behind him.
Fang Xiaocao nodded and tiptoed, looking very much like a little thief.
Seeing this, Taotie and Hummingbird smiled.
They said nothing.
The three of them followed the cave tunnel for about five hundred meters until they reached a dead end that opened into a large pit with clear signs of human excavation.
At the bottom of the pit, there was a dense mass of carcasses.
There were ancient, yellowed skeletons, relatively fresh corpses that had just started to rot, and even bodies of giant proportions.
Even though Fang Xiaocao was wearing a gas mask and couldn’t smell the pungent odor of decay, the sight still made her feel nauseous enough to vomit.
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But Fang Xiaocao held back her vomit and did not avert her gaze, forcing herself to look at the bodies.
The corpses in the pit were layered on top of each other.
Piled so high Fang Xiaocao couldn’t begin to count how many there were in the pit.
Upon those bodies crawled hordes of man-eating rats—in a cursory glance, thousands upon thousands, big and small, too many to count.
The large ones were the size of house cats, the White Haired Man-Eating Rats, and there were not many of them, just about a dozen or so. The smallest were pink and hairless, newly born rat pups.
Aside from these newborn pups, all the other man-eating rats were, without exception, gnawing on the corpses in the pit.
The scene was extremely disgusting, exuding a slowly intensifying horror.
Seeing this, Fang Xiaocao secretly shuddered.
She felt somewhat horrified.
If these man-eating rats were to escape…
The consequences were truly unimaginable.
Adults might survive if they’re not surrounded by a swarm of man-eating rats, but children and the elderly would stand no chance if they encountered these man-eating rats—even a dozen or twenty would be enough to seal their fate.
“Let’s go!”
After surveying the area and determining the layout, Taotie whispered.
Fang Xiaocao and Hummingbird nodded their heads and followed Taotie, tiptoeing back the way they came to meet up with Tom.
With so many man-eating rats, not only was Fang Xiaocao’s legs weak with fright, but even Taotie felt his courage waver.
