CHAPTER 437: CHAPTER 437: THE SWARM BENEATH THE EARTH

The other team members didn’t know why Ye Xuan and Chu Miao were suddenly in such a hurry to leave and just followed orders.

It was when the last car had started moving that some noises began coming from underground.

It felt as if there was a minor earthquake. The only place that wasn’t experiencing this was the road as it was concrete. However, the ground on both sides of the road and the forest was shaking as if something was trying to break through the ground.

Even though the team had already boarded their cars, their senses were sharp and soon discovered this abnormality.

Without any warning, a mass of rats emerged from the ground and soon filled every space on the sides of the road.

Moreover, they were running towards the road and chasing after the cars.

What made the situation creepy was that more were emerging from the ground even as the cars sped up.

Looking back, it looked like a mass of locusts was chasing them without flying.

The rats were also not of the regular size. They were a little bigger than rabbits and had piercing red eyes. What was more, they moved so fast they were catching up to the cars.

If not for the fact that the cars were modified and the engine had more power, their slow speed wouldn’t compare to the rats.

The only problem was that the mass of mutated rats seemed to have locked on to them like a target.

No matter how fast they drove, the rats refused to give up. In fact, more were appearing and running towards the cars and attacking them.

The engines roared as the convoy tore down the narrow road, dust and debris from the numerous potholes swirling behind the vehicles.

Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared through the windshield, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly to maintain control.

The trees in the forest on both sides blurred past them, but the thundering sounds of countless claws scraping against the ground kept growing louder.

"Those aren’t the normal mutated rats like the ones we’ve encountered before," Chu Miao said, her voice and expression were grim.

"Their spiritual energy feels too corrupted... like it’s mixed with death qi. The others we saw had some energy but it was the same kind found in zombies.

This feels different. There must be something wrong in this forest." She added thoughtfully.

Ye Xuan gave a sharp nod, his jaw tightening. "Mutated beasts," he muttered. "They must have been hiding underground for years. Maybe the rise in spiritual energy woke them up.

Have you realized that they have the same kind of energy like the corrupted demon beasts we saw in the ancient battlefield?"

"Indeed, they have various similarities, but where did so many rats come from? And did they just reproduce or did someone make them?" Chu Miao asked in confusion.

Behind them, the second and third cars swerved violently as the first wave of oversized rats burst onto the road.

Their bodies were covered in patches of matted fur, and their sharp teeth glinted under the dim light filtering through the trees. It could be imagined that if those teeth sank into a person, they would shatter bones.

They screeched, a sound so shrill it made the windows tremble.

"Open the roof hatch!" Ye Xuan told Chu Miao lightly.

Chu Miao immediately complied, slamming her palm against the roof mechanism. The panel flipped open, and a rush of wind filled the car.

She climbed through without hesitation, standing upright on the moving vehicle. Her hair whipped around her face, her eyes glowing faintly with spiritual light.

She could see the situation around them better. The mass of rats was similar to a swam of bees, too many to count.

The air around her trembled as she drew her sword from her storage ring. The blade emitted a faint hum, responding to the spiritual energy she injected through it.

Dozens of rats seemed to have locked onto a visible target as soon as they saw her and leapt toward the car, their claws extended.

"Burn," Chu Miao whispered as her sword emitted bright white flames.

The flames swirled into a barrier that incinerated the nearest beasts before they could land on the car or reach her.

Their charred bodies rolled onto the road, releasing foul-smelling black smoke.

From inside the car, Ye Xuan risked a glance upward.

For a moment, as he saw her standing tall against the rushing wind, flames dancing around her form, he felt that same warmth in his chest again.

That familiar pull toward her, that connection that had deepened since last night.

The woman on that roof had become both his strength and weakness in equal measure.

The second car skidded to the side as a group of rats leapt onto its roof. Lei Ying’s window rolled down, and a flurry of wind blades slashed out.

It wasn’t clear who had released them since the wind element wasn’t his power.

Several rats were cut cleanly in half, but more replaced them instantly.

They were endless.

"These things just keep coming!" Lei Ying shouted. "There must be thousands of them!"

Murong Yi’s voice came over the comm placed on the dashboard.

They were a new type of communication device Yang Leo had made and distributed recently.

"Don’t let them near the engines or the fuel tanks! They seem to be drawn to heat sources!"

"Understood," Ye Xuan replied, his voice deep and steady.

The others in the other cars also noted this point and the drivers paid attention while still driving wildly.

Ye Xuan suddenly slammed the brakes, jerking the wheel to the side. The car drifted in a perfect arc and stopped across the road, blocking the path behind the others.

Chu Miao jumped down gracefully, landing beside him as her sword shimmered with energy.

"Ah Xuan?" Chu Miao frowned because she couldn’t understand why he had stopped the car.

"I’ll hold them off here," he said. "The others need time to get ahead." Ye Xuan explained

His lightning superpower could stop a large number of rats, especially after he had advanced to level six.

His cultivation was also a golden core making him powerful enough to hold off the rats for a while.

"I’m not leaving you behind." Chu Miao said as a halo of light began to spread with her as the center.

Ye Xuan had seen this halo before. It could purify anything evil and dark, but surprisingly enough, it didn’t cancel his darkness spiritual energy but enhanced it.

He looked at her for a second, those familiar and determined eyes that had haunted his dreams even before last night. He sighed, unable to argue with that gaze.

"Alright," he said softly. "Let’s do this together."

They stood side by side in the middle of the road as the mutated rats poured out from the forest.

The ground trembled beneath the swarm’s of rats weight, a wave of dark fur and red eyes. The stench of decay filled the air.

Chu Miao’s sword flared brighter as the spiritual energy spread and wherever it passed, the rats turned into ashes.

This kind of cleansing was one of a kind, but it wasted too much energy.

Ye Xuan summoned a halberd, the weapon of choice for this fight and infused it with thunder energy.

Lightning crackled across its surface, flashing arcs through the smoky air.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Anytime." Chu Miao replied.

The first wave of rats hit them like a storm.

Chu Miao spun, her sword carving wide arcs through the air.

White fire streaked from her blade, cutting through the swarm like a tidal wave of flame. Every time she swung, a dozen rats burned to ashes, their squeals echoing into the forest.

Ye Xuan moved in tandem beside her, his halberd sweeping through the beasts with the precision of a trained soldier.

Each strike was followed by a burst of lightning that exploded on impact, sending charred bodies flying.

The coordination between them was perfect, flame and thunder, yin and yang, moving in flawless synchrony.

It wasn’t just a battle experience like the others they had fought before, this time their souls seemed to resonate.

The ancient dual cultivation technique they had unconsciously activated the night before was working even now, synchronizing their energy and instincts.

The two mustn’t have expected that the cultivation technique manifested in so many ways.

Every time Chu Miao’s sword met resistance, Ye Xuan’s halberd followed to clear her path. When his energy wavered, her flames surged forward to cover him. It was a dance of death, and connection.

It felt familiar to both of them. As if they had fought countless times like this before.

As more rats emerged, Chu Miao extended her hand and summoned a curtain of water around them.

"Ah Xuan!" she shouted. "Channel your thunder qi into the water!"

Without hesitation, he slammed his halberd into the ground, sending a pulse of lightning into her formation.