87: salvation

Fortunately, the Little Grey Rat had already dug the tunnels in advance so he could go directly to the Lord Chu Ping Temple.

Inside the narrow, damp tunnels, all the rats scurried along, their four paws moving so fast they almost sparked.

"Everyone, keep going! We're almost at the exit!"

The long, narrow tunnel's exit was in a tree hollow not far from the Lord Chu Ping Temple. As long as they escaped, there was hope.

"Quick!"

"Almost there!"

Little Grey Rat sniffed the increasingly strong scent of a human village in the air.

"Chang Sheng Village is right above us!"

The rat pack burst forth with their last reserves of strength, scrambling upwards.

Suddenly, a beam of heavenly light pierced the darkness!

As Little Grey Rat poked his head out, he saw the massive figure of a Shadow Spider on a distant hillside, rushing towards them. Its eight compound eyes glinted with malevolent light in the sun.

His own house rats were all trembling and hiding behind the big tree.

In front of this behemoth, his size was no different from a peanut.

Damn it, he must have woken up too fast and seen a ghost.

Little Grey Rat rubbed his eyes, not believing what he saw. He looked closely, and it wasn't an illusion; there really was a giant spider glaring at them.

However, for some unknown reason, this creature stopped outside a line of wood ash, pacing back and forth anxiously.

Why didn't it just come over?

Was it afraid of wood ash?

Little Grey Rat couldn't figure it out. He stared unblinkingly at the behemoth, while signaling to the other rats to slowly retreat towards the Lord Chu Ping Temple.

In Little Grey Rat's sight, the giant spider's massive body paced restlessly outside the wood ash line, its eight bristly legs digging deep furrows in the ground, yet it never dared to cross that seemingly ordinary grey line.

"It seems to be afraid."

Little Grey Rat didn't know the purpose of the line drawn with wood ash, but he felt one thing was very important.

They should be safe.

Just as this thought flashed through Little Grey Rat's mind, he saw the giant spider suddenly raise its head, its abdomen contracting sharply—

It looked like it was about to unleash a powerful attack!

"Watch out!"

Little Grey Rat abruptly tackled a young rat beside him.

A viscous strand of spider silk flew past their heads, sticking firmly to the tree trunk, which immediately began to emit wisps of white smoke.

"What powerful spider silk!"

The rat pack shrieked and recoiled.

More spider silk rained down like bullets, and the rat pack began to scatter and flee.

Little Grey Rat saw three young house rats who were too slow to dodge, their hind legs entangled in the silk, screaming as they were dragged towards the edge of the ash line.

Just at this critical moment, the nearby Lord Chu Ping Temple suddenly burst forth with golden light!

A bolt of Thunder Punishment struck down, incinerating the spider silk in mid-air.

The Shadow Spider let out an unwilling roar, but dared not cross that invisible boundary.

Little Grey Rat collapsed on the stone steps in front of the Temple, watching the safely arrived rat pups grooming each other.

***

Inside the Temple at this moment, the Little Grey Rat's paws were already bleeding, but he dared not stop.

The rat spirit on his back grew heavier and heavier; the spider-shaped shadow seemed to weigh a thousand catties, dragging down their escape.

"Just a little longer, Sister Ling'er."

The Little Grey Rat panted heavily, a metallic taste of blood rising in his throat, "The Lord Chu Ping Temple is just ahead."

The rat spirit nodded weakly, her claws clutching the glowing Amulet tightly.

The jade tablet's light flickered, like a candle in the wind, threatening to extinguish at any moment.

The Little Spider Spirit curled up in the Little Grey Rat's tail, her eight eyes wide with terror, watching the shadowy form writhing in the darkness behind them.

"It... it's catching up..."

The Little Spider Spirit stammered.

The Little Grey Rat didn't need to look back to feel the cold, sinister aura drawing near.

Although the Shadow Spider's true body dared not enter Chang Sheng Village, that shadow mark clung to them like a persistent disease.

Suddenly, a deafening peal of thunder came from behind the Lord Chu Ping Temple, and a blinding white light instantly illuminated the entire night sky.

The Little Grey Rat was so dazed he couldn't open his eyes, stumbling and almost falling.

"This is Lord Chuping's Thunder Punishment. Has something snuck in?"

The rat spirit looked back in surprise.

The Little Grey Rat had no time to ponder what this meant. He gritted his teeth, using his last ounce of strength to rush towards the dimly lit Temple.

The threshold of the Lord Chu Ping Temple was within reach; he could smell the incense.

Just as they were about to cross the Temple's entrance, the shadow on the rat spirit's back suddenly flared up, transforming into dozens of black spikes that attacked them!

"Lord Chuping protect us!"

The rat spirit shrieked, raising the Amulet, and the jade tablet burst forth with dazzling golden light.

The black spikes melted like ice and snow upon contact with the golden light, but the Amulet also split in half, its light abruptly extinguished.

The Little Grey Rat seized the opportunity to roll, bringing his whole family tumbling inside the Temple door.

Behind them, the Shadow Spider's furious roar echoed, but the lingering cold sensation that had clung to them suddenly vanished—they were finally safe.

Inside the Temple, candlelight flickered, and Lord Chuping's statue gazed down at them, solemn and benevolent.

The Little Grey Rat collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving violently, still clutching the unconscious Little Green Snake in his paws.

"We... we made it..."

The rat spirit smiled weakly, but her smile quickly froze on her face, "But the children..."

The Little Grey Rat's heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand.

Over a thousand young rats from Black Rat Mountain, their Little Grey Rat... might now be in the clutches of the Shadow Spider.

At this thought, he could no longer control himself and burst into tears, hugging the rat spirit.

"It's all my fault... I should have taken the children with us to escape..."

The rat spirit also wept, tears streaming down her face. They huddled together, despair enveloping the rat couple.

The Little Spider Spirit stood by, at a loss, gently patting the rat spirit's back with her tiny forelegs.

Just at this moment of profound grief, a faint but familiar voice came from behind the statue:

"Dad? Mom? Why are you crying?"

The Little Grey Rat and the rat spirit froze simultaneously; they couldn't believe their ears.

That voice... it was clearly... "Little Grey Rat?!" the rat spirit called out, trembling.

The curtain behind the statue was pulled back, and a dusty little rat poked his head out, his eyes sparkling in the candlelight. Then, a second, a third... hundreds of young rats emerged from every corner of the Lord Chu Ping Temple. They were dirty, but all safe and sound.

"It really is you!"

Little Grey Rat dashed over, burying himself in the rat spirit's embrace, "I knew you would come here!"

The Little Grey Rat was too emotional to speak, only able to stroke his son's head again and again with his paw, confirming that this was not an illusion.

"How did you... when did you..."

The rat spirit asked incoherently.

Little Grey Rat puffed out his chest proudly: "Three days ago, I felt something was wrong. Those two people gave me a very bad feeling, and there were the tunnels Dad and Mom dug before."