Chapter 18: Extreme Heat and Rat Plague

Fleas are incredibly resilient parasites. They don’t need eyes—just their antennae—to sense the host’s body heat and find the perfect spot to bite.

Flea eggs are extremely hard to eliminate. They fall off the host as it moves and scatter everywhere. No matter how thoroughly you clean, as long as a few flea eggs remain in some corner, they’ll hatch the moment the temperature is right.

In order to kill the bacteria brought by the rats, the family didn’t use ice to cool the house. The indoor temperature remained around 40–50°C (104–122°F). No wonder all the insecticide they’d used had barely worked.

Jiang Si crushed a flea with her fingernail—pop—but moments later, another one showed up on her protective suit.

Dahei and Xiaohei, both covered in thick fur and dressed in custom-made protective suits Grandma had sewn, were still prime targets for the fleas. Fleas visibly gathered on Dahei, probably because his fur hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned, and flea eggs had hatched. He kept biting at his suit to relieve the itching and pain.

Xiaohei was too small and kept whining nonstop—his cries helpless and pitiful.

Jiang Si frowned deeply and kept spraying insecticide.

Grandpa pulled out a pair of clippers and said, “Let’s shave their fur. Otherwise, we can’t apply medicine properly. Fleas hide in the fur, and dogs are prone to skin diseases if they’re carrying fleas.”

“Okay.”

Dahei obediently lay at Grandpa’s feet. As the clippers buzzed up and down, red, swollen skin was gradually revealed. Xiaohei’s fur was shaved by Dad. Since Grandma had protected him earlier, his skin looked better.

Jiang Si felt an itch on her waist again and grew anxious. What if the fleas had sucked blood from the rats and carried plague bacteria? The chance was low—but not impossible.

She remembered that she had stocked every kind of medicine. She quickly found the streptomycin she’d prepared—an antibiotic effective against all forms of plague—and immediately had the whole family take it.

But if they couldn’t get rid of the fleas at home, medicine alone wouldn’t be enough.

As Jiang Si racked her brain, Grandma suddenly dug out a big lump of peppermint balm and smeared it on whimpering Xiaohei. The moment it touched his fur, the tightly clinging fleas jumped away in a snap.

Jiang Si was stunned. Then Grandma said,
“Si-Si, I remember an old Chinese remedy for fleas—crush fresh mint, boil it in water, and add white vinegar. Spray it around the house to repel bugs. You can even use it for bathing to prevent infection. All-natural and safe!”

Mint does have cooling, detoxifying, and anti-itching effects—maybe it really was a natural flea repellent?

Jiang Si pulled out the mint she’d bought from the herbal medicine store. “Then let’s give it a try.”

The world outside was far more dangerous than a house full of fleas. Unless absolutely necessary, they couldn’t leave this home.

So the fleas had to be completely wiped out.

As the mint-vinegar insecticide simmered in the pot, Dahei suddenly stood up and barked fiercely toward the front gate.

“Woof! Woof! Woof—!”

Jiang Si rushed to the second floor, peeked out the window, and saw several bloodshot-eyed men approaching their yard wall with hammers and pickaxes.

They had once been clean-cut university students. But after the global blackout, supplies in the city became scarcer, and schools—packed with people—turned into battlegrounds for looting.

No water. No power. No food. The heat and panic made life unbearable.

The eight of them had robbed a household for just one day’s worth of food.

Not knowing when the disasters would stop, they armed themselves and decided to find a place with water, land, and a wide view for defense—just to survive.

Lu Daji had been to Longquan Nature Reserve before and had bought water from a small shop in Longquan Village.

The moment someone mentioned it, he immediately thought of Jiang Si’s house.

A standalone house in a great location, with only one abandoned building nearby and a clear view of the rest of the village—no doubt, this was their best option now.

After trekking through the scorching sun for 7–8 hours and reaching the end of their rope, they finally arrived at Longquan Village.

Sure enough, Jiang Si’s house didn’t disappoint—it was the only untouched, unoccupied home left in the village. Practically a palace.

But they didn’t stop to think—how could a family still intact in times like these possibly be weak?

Lu Daji licked the dried blood on his cracked lips and sneered,
“Let’s break in, eat and drink our fill, then search the rest of the village. Whoever doesn’t cooperate—we kill.”

If others wouldn’t go to hell, they’d gladly take their place. Robbery and murder had become common.

Everyone nodded in unison. Their hollow, numb eyes now glinted with a frenzied red light as they stared at Jiang Si’s two-meter-high courtyard wall.

Anyone who dared block them—would bleed.

The courtyard wall was only two layers of cement bricks. A few hammer strikes would open a big hole.

Downstairs, Jiang Linhai raised a nail gun and shouted,
“Si-Si! What do we do?”

Jiang Si pulled out her pistol, aimed at Lu Daji, and replied,
“Dad, don’t go out. I’ve got this.”

Lu Daji raised his hammer high. “One swing—”

BANG!

A gunshot rang out, cutting through the air. Warm blood splattered across the stunned faces of the group.

Lu Daji dropped to the ground, a deep red hole in his forehead.

That was—a gun!

This family had a gun!

Terror exploded through the group as they looked up, shaking with fear.

There on the second floor stood Jiang Si, gun still raised, eyes cold and sharp—ready to shoot again. Terrified, they all turned and fled.

Two bullets in one day. Jiang Si touched her pistol and sighed in regret—if only she had an armory.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Qin Shen silently standing in front of the crumbling rat-chewed building, quietly staring at her.

His dark eyes glimmered like black diamonds. Was he scheming something?

Jiang Si narrowed her eyes and stared back. Only when she held his gaze did Qin Shen turn away and head toward the forest.

Probably… off to hunt?

But what if he didn’t find anything…?

Jiang Si frowned. The surveillance system no longer worked—she’d have to figure out another way to keep an eye on him.

The mint and vinegar spray was working. No fleas remained in the treated areas.

But one pot of it wasn’t nearly enough.

To disinfect the whole house, they’d need to boil at least a dozen more.

And they still had to be on guard for another possible rat swarm—or a flea resurgence—that night.

Jiang Si had used up all the mint in her storage. At most, she could make two more pots.

Just as everyone was fretting, Mom said,
“There’s a patch of mint behind the Qian Shou family’s house. They used to grow it to make sachets and mint tea for tourists. I wonder… if any of it’s still there.”