Chapter 14: Scorching Heat, Rat Plague

“AHHHHH—!!!”

A high-pitched scream suddenly erupted from downstairs. Countless rats, the size of fists, swarmed up the outer walls of their house like a tide. Jiang Si and Jiang Chengwu exchanged a glance and immediately rushed to lock all doors and windows upstairs before sprinting down.

As soon as they got to the first floor, they saw a horrifying scene—rats running chaotically all over the house.

Da Hei, the black dog, was lunging and biting at the rodents. Jiang Linhai was pressing hard against the bathroom door. Through the transparent reinforced glass, they could clearly see rats writhing and about to completely fill the bathroom ceiling.

Grandma was standing on the coffee table, clutching the little puppy and screaming with Mom, stomping in panic.

There was a 2cm (0.8 inch) gap at the bottom of the bathroom door, and the rats were squeezing through as if they had bone-shrinking powers, gnawing viciously at Jiang Linhai’s ankle, even trying to crawl up his pants.

As he forcefully kicked them off, the entire bathroom shook with thuds and bangs as if it were about to explode.

If the rats managed to pour into the house, their sheer destructiveness and disease-carrying filth would completely ruin it.

Jiang Si reacted swiftly. She shoved a bottle of rat killer spray into Jiang Chengwu’s hands and grabbed another one herself. Sprinting to the bathroom, she shouted:

“Everyone get to the side rooms—NOW! I’ll hold them off! Hurry!!”

The strong-effect rodenticide worked instantly. Rats that tried to pounce on Jiang Si turned and fled the moment they smelled the spray.

Under her cover, the rest of the family rushed into the room safely. Jiang Chengwu kept spraying behind them to create a protective barrier.

BANG BANG BANG—

Just as the bathroom door was about to give out, Jiang Si conjured a huge double-door refrigerator from her space and slammed it in place to block the entry.

Worried rats might still get through, she didn’t stop there. Without hesitating, she summoned a safe, a sofa, a cabinet, concrete, bricks—anything she could find to barricade the area completely.

Even though the door was secured, quite a few rats had already gotten inside the house.

Jiang Si threw more bottles of rat killer to everyone. While they fended off the rodents, she took out from her space rat glue traps, mousetraps, cages, and poison, and covered every inch of floor without leaving a single gap.

The massive rat cages worked the fastest. She baited them with poison, and within moments, rats were leaping inside nonstop until the cages were packed full.

Squeals echoed from every corner—the rats stuck to glue boards or caught in traps were shrieking, their sharp claws and teeth gnawing frantically, trying to escape.

Jiang Si scattered poison all around them. The stupid things couldn’t resist—ate it greedily—and one by one, fell still.

It’s unclear how long it took, but eventually, every rat in the house was caught.

Looking around, the once neat home was now trashed. Furniture had been shredded into pieces, and dead rats, some foaming at the mouth, littered the floor.

From outside the barricaded bathroom, terrifying gnawing and crashing sounds still echoed, enough to send chills down the spine.

Thankfully, they had sealed all unused doors and windows. The rest were reinforced steel—the rats could only sniff and scratch helplessly from the outside.

Jiang Si looked down. Apart from her—protected by long boots—everyone else had been bitten.

Jiang Linhai had the worst injuries. His calves and ankles were torn open, flesh nearly gone, bleeding heavily—proof of the rats’ brutality.

Rats are notorious disease carriers. The most dangerous? Plague, hemorrhagic fever, and rat-bite fever.

• Plague causes high fever, sweating, splitting headaches, paralysis, and bloodshot eyes. In severe cases, it leads to unconsciousness, internal bleeding, organ failure, and death.
  History has seen three major plague outbreaks—over 130 million deaths.
• Hemorrhagic fever is milder, but still dangerous—causing eye bleeding, skin bruising, red facial and neck flushes (giving a “drunken look”), nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Even with meds, it can last 1–2 months.
• Rat-bite fever begins with swelling and festering at the bite site, spreads into large red rashes, and if not treated quickly, can lead to flesh-cutting or even amputation.

If any family member got infected with one of these, it would be pure hell.

Jiang Si kicked aside the dead rats and pulled several large pressure water bottles from her space. Handing out soap and clean water, she instructed:

“Scrub your wounds with soapy water for at least 10–15 minutes. Then squeeze out as much blood as possible!”

“I’ll treat Dad first!”

Jiang Linhai shook his head through the pain.
“I’m fine. Let me do it. You treat yourself first.”

But Jiang Si, now wearing gloves and a mask, refused firmly:
“I’m not injured. Your wounds are already swollen and festering! If we wait any longer, you might lose both legs!”

That shut him up.

She washed the wounds and, seeing how bloody and torn they were, her nose stung with emotion. She pulled out a bottle of alcohol and said gently:

“Dad, this is going to hurt. Hold on.”

The wound area was too big for swabs.
“It’s okay, do it!” he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes.

The moment she poured the alcohol:

“AAAAAHHHH—!!!”
His scream shook the entire house. Jiang Si nearly spilled the bottle.

“Don’t move!” she ordered, pinning his legs.

She poured three full bottles of alcohol, then stitched the gaping wounds with thread and needle. Sweat soaked Jiang Linhai’s clothes—he looked like a tortured cartoon octopus.

Ideally, they should’ve had vaccines for hemorrhagic fever and tetanus. But Jiang Si had never dealt with this rat plague in her past life. For now, she injected them all with tetanus and rabies vaccines, just in case.

To prevent complications, she also gave them a full bottle of penicillin.

Finally, she had time to tend to Da Hei, the brave dog. Part of its ear was bitten off, and it had many injuries—not much better than Jiang Linhai—but it stayed completely silent the whole time.

Afraid Da Hei might bite reflexively while in pain, Jiang Si gave him a shot of anesthetic.

The dog fell asleep instantly.

Seeing this, Jiang Linhai—who had just endured 30 stitches while wide awake—looked like he was questioning life.

“You had anesthesia…?” he asked in disbelief.

Jiang Si blinked, then grinned guiltily.
“I was too panicked earlier… I forgot.”

Jiang Linhai: “…”

After treating Da Hei’s wounds, the rest of the family—now in protective suits—bagged all the rat corpses.

But the house was still a disaster zone—rat poop, urine, and shredded debris everywhere.

Thankfully, all the food and valuables were stored in Jiang Si’s space, avoiding contamination.

Looking around worriedly, someone asked:
“What if airborne bacteria remain? We can’t open the windows, and those rats outside aren’t leaving anytime soon. How are we supposed to ventilate this place?”