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Gu Xiaoxi hid in the bushes, her brows tightly knitted, as she fell deep into thought.

The cave entrance appeared enormous from the outside, but just how many Giant Rats were hidden inside? Moreover, there were so many outside, and more kept coming out relentlessly.

About half an hour later, the large troop of Giant Rats finally stopped.

Gu Xiaoxi finally breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed they were not endless after all!

Since so many had come out, there couldn’t be many left inside the cave.

Gu Xiaoxi rubbed her hands in anticipation, ready to charge into the cave, find the Giant Rats’ Rat King, and capture them all in one fell swoop.

Just as she was about to leap onto a branch, preparing to jump towards the cave entrance, she saw a half-meter-long rat emerge.

Although it was half the size of the Giant Rats that had come out just before, its entire body was black, its soft fur shining like satin under the sunlight, twinkling with specks of fluorescent light.

The Giant Rat had a pair of red eyes, and its claws were even sharper than those of the Giant Rats that had emerged before. Even from a great distance, Gu Xiaoxi could see the glinting cold light from its claws, as sharp as knife blades.

It raised its claws and scratched a nearby boulder, and immediately the stone crumbled at the point of contact, leaving nothing but rubble on the ground.

Gu Xiaoxi swallowed hard, taking a careful look at the rat. Could this be the Rat King of the Giant Rats?

Just then, several Giant Rats gathered around, chirping and scurrying towards the shiny black-furred small rat. They seemed to be communicating.

Whatever the small rat squeaked out, the Giant Rats scattered again.

Following that, more Black-furred Rats emerged from the cave one after another. Compared to the previously seen grey-furred Giant Rats, these Black-furred Rats seemed shrewder, more responsive, and acted much more quickly.

Now Gu Xiaoxi didn’t dare to move. Black-furred Rats continued pouring out of the cave, and in a short time, thirty to forty had emerged.

And more were still coming out.

Watching this made Gu Xiaoxi’s skin crawl.

Just as she was pondering whether to keep watching or to head back quickly to inform the main force about the situation here—since the number of Giant Rats was growing and they were simply unable to cope—she realized doing so would work against them.

Before she could make up her mind, a Black-furred Rat not far away suddenly leaped up, lunging in her direction.

Gu Xiaoxi was startled and quickly dodged. When she steadied herself and looked back, she saw that the branch where she had been standing moments before had been snapped off by a swipe of the Black-furred Rat’s claw.

The same Black-furred Rat then charged towards her again.

Without thinking, Gu Xiaoxi flew up into the sky. The Black-furred Rats surrounded her below, but since they couldn’t fly, they couldn’t reach her.

Even so, Gu Xiaoxi noticed Black-furred Rats jumping onto branches, attempting to leap from the branches to her side and attack her.

"They can actually think! Quite intelligent!" Gu Xiaoxi turned and fled, with a swarm of Black-furred Rats following in relentless pursuit.

Their running speed was incredibly fast, and even when they took tumbles, they quickly got back up and continued tracking her.

Gu Xiaoxi looked on in horror as the number of Black-furred Rats chasing her kept increasing. From the initial dozens to hundreds, and finally thousands.

Although she flew through the forest, the Black-furred Rats, with noses as keen as any, always managed to track her flight path, doggedly pursuing her not far behind.

Gradually, Gu Xiaoxi’s physical strength began to falter. She had to conserve some energy, careful not to exhaust all her Spiritual Energy.

Therefore, she landed on the ground.

But the moment her feet touched the ground,

The Black-furred Rats that had been chasing her immediately swarmed over. In an instant, they had surrounded her completely, leaving no room for escape.

A leap in Gu Xiaoxi’s heart—these creatures were incredibly fast.

Now that they had caught up with her, she couldn’t return to find the main force.

The danger was not yet averted there, and if she went back, it would only lead to heavier casualties.

Without a second thought, she summoned all her daggers, controlling five of them to form a defense around her.

In such a situation, she had no choice but to escape.

Gu Xiaoxi shot upward, her daggers slaying all ten Black-furred Rats that had been perched on the treetops, ready to ambush her.

She immediately leaped to the treetop, then flew swiftly into the distance.

The Black-furred Rats behind her were still in hot pursuit.

Gu Xiaoxi had nowhere to flee; she could only escape towards the edge of the Barrier. She hoped to fly through the border, which was as transparent as smoke, and flee to the outside world.

In the end, however, she found herself unable to exit at the edge.

At the edge of the barrier, there seemed to be a Formation that, no matter how hard she tried to get close to the edge, was just out of reach, although visible to the eye.

This made her very frustrated.

Behind her, the Black-furred Rats were furiously chasing after her, leaving her no way to escape. She could only land on the ground and engage in combat with the Black-furred Rats.

There were too many of them, and with hundreds charging at her all at once, even with ten pairs of hands, it would be impossible to slay them all.

Gu Xiaoxi was accidentally scratched on her cheek by the Black-furred Rat, and a bloodstain immediately appeared on her delicate little face. Without time to care about it, she could only do her best to slaughter and dodge before flying back into the air.

Only then were the Black-furred Rats unable to attack her.

She had only battled with the Black-furred Rats for a few seconds, but her face, arms, and legs all suffered minor injuries. Luckily, she reacted quickly; otherwise, in just those few seconds, her face, arms, and legs might just have become dinner for these Black-furred Rats.

Gu Xiaoxi kept flying, but gradually, she began to feel a bit overwhelmed.

It was impossible for one person to fight against so many Black-furred Rats, and moreover, these Rats were faster and more cunning than the Giant Rats. Their attacks were stronger, and the danger was something she couldn’t handle, let alone if she brought them back to the team.

She couldn’t go back, nor could she defeat them, so she could only circle in the air.

The army of Black-furred Rats beneath her followed every move she made; as she moved left, they went left, as she moved right, they closely followed. And their numbers were increasing, with no intention of backing down.

Gradually, Gu Xiaoxi became anxious. It would not do to continue like this, even if she was Immortal, these Black-furred Rats would still pose a threat to the team.

What’s more, she couldn’t keep flying in the air forever, as her body’s Spiritual Energy would eventually run out.

Gu Xiaoxi saw the barrier was not far away, but she just couldn’t touch it.

She kept circling the edge, trying to find an exit so she could escape.

Just when the atmosphere was very tense and Gu Xiaoxi was sweating profusely, suddenly, she spotted a team of people walking toward her position from outside.

Among the crowd, she saw Jing Rui.

Soon, the first person appeared in Gu Xiaoxi’s line of sight.

Then the second person appeared.

Gu Xiaoxi stared for three seconds, then immediately rushed toward where those people were coming from.

She thought she had found an exit and could get out, but unexpectedly, she still couldn’t touch the exit.

Not until those people saw her and walked toward her.

Gu Xiaoxi could only watch from afar and shout, "Don’t come in! Tell those behind not to come in!"

However, the people, as if not understanding her words, all walked in.

A moment later, Gu Xiaoxi also saw Quan Shaoqing and Jing Rui following them in.

For a moment, Gu Xiaoxi felt like dying.

She had already said not to come in, and now, just like that, a few more had come to meet their death.

Because the barrier simply wouldn’t let anyone out.

Upon seeing Gu Xiaoxi, Quan Shaoqing immediately came to her side.

Seeing the blood on her face and the torn marks on her clothes, Quan Shaoqing anxiously grabbed her hand and said, "You scared me to death. Hearing you were out of touch, I immediately rushed over. Thank goodness you’re alright!"

His warm hand gently wiped the blood from her face. At this moment, Gu Xiaoxi should have been touched beyond words, but she had to be rational and grabbed Quan Shaoqing’s hand, pointing to the ground with a serious expression, "I’m fine! Now it’s everyone else who’s in trouble!"

Quan Shaoqing didn’t understand and followed the direction Gu Xiaoxi was pointing.

Looking down, he saw a swarm of Rats with black fur, each showing two large buck teeth, and staring at them with their red eyes.

"What’s going on?" Quan Shaoqing immediately sensed the danger and said, "I’ll take you out!"

"No need! Once you’re in, you can’t get out either!" Gu Xiaoxi said with a grave expression. The Barrier that blocked her Fire of the Blazing Sun would naturally suppress the power of space.

It was possible to come in, but to leave, if she wasn’t mistaken, would mean that Spatial Teleportation could only move them within the confines of the barrier.

Indeed, as Quan Shaoqing was preparing to teleport out, the process of Spatial Teleportation went awry, and they found themselves back in midair.

Gu Xiaoxi quickly grabbed his hand, her face showing happiness, "I’m so glad you came to rescue me. Now, quickly go tell Aunt Jing that the Black-furred Rats are getting close to them. Otherwise, they’ll get hurt!"

Without a second thought, Quan Shaoqing immediately took Gu Xiaoxi to Jing Rui’s side.

Gu Xiaoxi quickly briefed Jing Rui on the situation, "Everyone be careful, the Black-furred Rats are especially fast, and there are many of them. They are already approaching us."