Some people came inside one after another, making this area livelier. Feng Chen changed from head to toe and picked a set of spares before taking Yan Bubu to the children’s area.
His fingers slid past a row of children’s clothing before taking off a pair of denim overalls for Yan Bubu. “Hold these first.”
Yan Bubu took the pants and inspected them. He was curious. “Young Master, who are these for?”
Feng Chen picked out a goose yellow long-sleeved shirt. “They’re for you.”
“Me?” Yan Bubu looked at the overalls and then at Feng Chen. “B-but I might not fit.”
Feng Chen hesitated. “This is children’s clothing. You wear children’s clothing, right?”
“I dunno,” Yan Bubu looked at his expression and responded somewhat uncertainly, “but I should be able to fit if I squeeze.”
“Let me see.” Feng Chen took the pants and compared them to his body. They were indeed way too short. Then he looked at the label and read the line: For boys aged 1-2 years.
Feng Chen put the pants back on the rack and tried again, this time carefully reading the tag and also holding the clothes against Yan Bubu’s body.
Yet when it came to shirts, Yan Bubu got picky.
“I like the colour of this one, it’s like the sky. But there’s no Binunu. That one has Binunu on it.”
Feng Chen was carrying several long-sleeved shirts expressionlessly. “You already tried that one and said you didn’t like it.”
“That Binunu looks the same as the one in the cartoons. Actually, I like it a lot, just not the colour. This blue is like before the rain, dark.”
“So which one do you want?”
“En…this yellow one looks good too, but it’s got Sasaka on it. I don’t like Sasaka. He always steals Binunu’s popcorn, but he’s better than the Dark Witch. The Dark Witch is so evil.”
Feng Chen’s eyes twitched.
Binunu was a round little guy with a round body, round eyes and a round mouth. He was like a potato with eyebrows and hands and feet growing out of it. Feng Chen simply stuffed both shirts into Yan Bubu’s large satchel and handed him the remaining one. “Put this on and throw out the suit you’re wearing.”
Although Yan Bubu was so picky before, he nearly exploded with joy when he heard that he could keep them all. He lovingly touched them non-stop.
Feng Chen wanted to get him some shoes after he changed into his new shirt and overalls, but Yan Bubu shuffled back and shook his head. “I don’t want new shoes, I want to wear these.”
He pointed to the mud-covered sneakers on his feet. “These used to be your shoes. Mistress gave them to me and told me you won first place in a race with them.”
His words were full of pride, his chin slightly raised as if he was the one who won first place. Feng Chen saw that the shoes were still pretty new, so he didn’t say much.
The two had just walked out of the children’s area when they noticed a sudden commotion up ahead. People were running out of several outdoor clothing stores, screaming shrilly.
“The rats, they’re biting people! Oh my God, hit them already!”
“Here’s another one trying to bite me. Hit it, ah…”
Chaos erupted in the dim space. Yan Bubu spotted a dozen or so large rats scurrying around, jumping on the surrounding people.
Screams erupted from another store. One guy ran out with his right hand up in the air. His index finger was missing a section and leaving a trail of blood behind.
In the chaos, a rat longer than a chopstick rushed over to the duo. Feng Chen just picked up a clothes hanger when a small figure rushed past him.
Yan Bubu was also armed with a clothes hanger. He smacked the rate like his life depended on it, screaming, “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you.”
His accuracy was so bad the clothes hanger basically just hit the floor. Seeing that the rat was fleeing, Feng Chen pulled Yan Bubu behind him and struck.
The rat’s stomach was instantly slit open. It stopped moving.
“I’ll kill you!” Yan Bubu was still screaming at the mouse. Then he turned to pant at Feng Chen. “Don’t be scared. Leave the rats to me. I’m the one that deals with them in the storage room at home. Mommy and Granny Liu are too scared to go in.”
Other people were beating the rats with sticks and bricks too. There was soon a pile of rat corpses on the floor.
“Fuck, first the earthquake, now even the rats have it out for Laozi.” Someone gasped angrily after braining a rat.
Suddenly, another person screamed in horror, “Why, why are there so many rats?!”
Beams of light frantically shone around, only to reveal the countless beady eyes around every corner and ceiling crack. The hoard fiercely bared their sharp teeth, a hair-raising sight.
Feng Chen’s heart fell. He sensed that the situation was about to go south and pulled Yan Bubu back when he tried rushing forward with his hanger again.
“Just watch, Young Master–”
“We’re leaving.”
Feng Chen ran off with Yan Bubu in tow. The others reacted and fled too, but the rats squeaked and gave chase.
The walls and floor were covered with rats wherever the erratic beams from the flashlights illuminated. They surged forward at a ridiculously fast speed, soon catching up with those bringing up the rear.
The man was instantly covered with rats. They gnawed and ripped into him. He fell to the floor screaming, continuing to wail as he tumbled around.
More screams rang out as others fell victim. Some rats even approached Feng Chen and Yan Bubu.
Feng Chen shoved the flashlight into Yan Bubu’s hands and bellowed, “Look around with the light. Report where the rats are.” Then he knocked an incoming rat away with his hanger. It hit the wall with a thud.
Yan Bubu swiveled the flashlight around and called out where the rats were. “One over there, one over here, one over there–”
“Just say left or right.”
Yan Bubu paused for a second. “But I can’t tell left from right…one over there!”
Feng Chen wielded the hanger like a baseball bat. After sending another rat flying, he said, “Then be more concise.”
“Here, there, stomach, back, here.”
The duo kept running as they fought. Around 100m from the entrance, the gas lamps on the walls lit up the surroundings.
Feng Chen turned back, only to see that the rats had flooded the floor and walls. There were people covered with rats stumbling over. Some had already fallen, more rats rushing up and gnawing on them. The sound of teeth against bone rang out everywhere.
“Ah, those rats…” Even if Yan Bubu wasn’t afraid of rats, this scene made him scared stiff.
Feng Chen ripped a gas lamp off the wall and picked up some scattered clothes from the floor. He unscrewed the lamp cover and poured gasoline on them.
The clothes burst into flames with a bang. The rats that had rushed forward panicked and scattered.
Feng Chen picked up the burning clothes with the hanger and bellowed to Yan Bubu, “Get outside.” Then he rushed to the nearest people and drove the rats off them.
Those people were already a bloody mess. When the rats fell off their bodies, they endured the pain and ran outside.
The people in the back had already collapsed. There was no saving them. Feng Chen didn’t dare to stay any longer and retreated towards the entrance while waving the burning clothes to force back the rats that tried to pounce on him.
“Be careful of the stool behind you, Young Master.” Yan Bubu’s voice came from behind him.
Feng Chen turned to look at him in shock. “You’re still here?”
“I-I’m waiting for you.” Yan Bubu’s face was pale, but he also picked up a piece of burning clothing with his hanger. “Don’t be scared, I take care of all the rats at home. I, I’ll protect you.”
The rats were afraid of the fire and did not dare to come forward. As the duo retreated to the entrance, the roar of a tracked vehicle came from outside.
The stainless steel hanger became scorching thanks to the clothes. The handle was almost too hot to hold. When Feng Chen saw several Western Union Army soldiers jumping out, he threw the clothes hanger at the rats, scooped Yan Bubu up, and ran.
The unusually aggressive rats followed him out of the entrance. One of the soldiers in front raised his flamethrower at them and the horde of rats.
He was ready to fire without any hesitation.
Feng Chen also didn’t hesitate. He threw himself to the right and forward as soon as the fire spewed out. Under his arm, Yan Bubu could feel the flames whooshing past his body. Scorching hot waves of air assaulted his face.
The moment they landed, Feng Chen tucked around him and rolled. When he looked up, he saw the rats being engulfed in flames at the entrance, shrieking shrilly as they turned to charred ash.
Feng Chen sat up gasping and quietly asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Yan Bubu was still a little dazed. He shook his head mechanically.
Feng Chen saw his exposed skin was unscathed. Only a few curls on his head had been scorched yellow by the fire. He stood up and said, “Then let’s get out of here.”
If they didn’t leave right now, the Western Union Army would come to check their identities after dealing with the rats. That would not be good.
Picking up the backpack that had fallen to the ground, the two hurriedly headed out and left the fashion outlet.
A few blocks later, they saw an epic blaze ahead as well, accompanied by constant explosions. The columns of fire that erupted dyed half of the sky red, also illuminating the distant Haiyun Tower.
Motorcycles roared from behind them. Several heavy duty motorcycles played loud rock music and rushed past with their blinding headlights.
Although the road was littered with debris, those motorcycles were still going at top speed. Feng Chen hurriedly pulled Yan Bubu off the road.
A group of young adults were riding the motorcycles. They shrieked with excitement and cheered at the ruins on both sides, as if celebrating some holiday.
One guy suddenly raised his hand and threw a glass bottle at a store that hadn’t collapsed yet.
The glass bottle broke against the wall. Following a muffled explosion, the store began to burn. A man on fire rushed out from the door, quickly stripped off his jacket and rolled on the ground to put himself out.
“Haha! Hooray for the apocalypse, baby!” The young adults roared wildly as they drove their motorcycles away.
The sound of helicopters approached from the sky. Snowy beams of light swept over the debris as a warning repeated over the loudspeakers: “Attention motorcyclists, you have been locked on to. Pull over immediately, pull over immediately, or severe punitive measures will be used against you.”
The motorcycle gang didn’t care. They arrogantly continued as the loudspeaker reported a countdown.
“Ten, nine, eight…three, two, one!”
A bomb dropped out of the helicopter, leaving a long trail of white smoke as it headed straight for the motorcycle in the rear.
The motorcycle gang happened to be driving by the duo. Feng Chen immediately dragged Yan Bubu away and took shelter behind a nearby broken wall.
Boom!
That motorcycle was blown into the sky.
Yan Bubu lost his hearing at that moment. His brain buzzed. He reflexively tried to look up, but Feng Chen pressed his head down as the broken gravel rained down on them.
Only after a long time was he pulled up by Feng Chen, who patted off the debris on him and led him around the broken wall.
The motorcycles and helicopters were all gone. Another pile of scrap littered the messy street.
