Yangning.

It wasn't particularly hard to get into the poor old cobbler's tannery. In the aftermath of the homicide, people shunned the place, more because people believed that the plague victims had committed the crime than because of the fear of the crime itself. People began to believe that the plague was transmitted through the breath of the sick. The killer's disgusting exhalation threatened to linger in some dark corner of the building, and no one wanted to risk it.

Mojie wasn't sure if he believed the plague was spread in this way. He was sure that the cobbler had not been killed by anyone, whether he was sick or not. What killed him was a monster, a rat larger than a sheepdog, with dagger-like fangs. People may laugh at him for believing that such a beast exists, but when he catches the monster, he drags it out into broad daylight for his detractors to retract their words.

The tannery is a sordid ruin. The tannery was located in a boxy building, with mud brick walls, a floor sunken six or seven centimeters below the ground, and a thin layer of ice floes on most of the floor. Since there was no one to maintain the place, the melting snow from the street seeped into the building, creating a dirty brown layer of frost.

The large clay pots used by the tanners to store the acid, although frozen to a solid, still emitted a foul stench of urine. On the ropes hanging from the ceiling hung a pile of half-ripe goatskins and cowhides, miscellaneous, a foul of smelly, and against the wall a pile of skins that had never been touched.

Mo Jie could clearly distinguish that the pile of hides showed signs of being ransacked by rats, and the projectiles were scattered on the floor around the hides, and the mess of fur and hair was scattered on the ground. Any meat attached to the skin is plundered by predatory rodents.

The animals were not satisfied with the meagre food left behind by the cobblers, and the carcasses of dozens of rats were frozen on the floor, and they lay on their backs while their cannibalistic companions stripped them clean. Mo Jie didn't know how one rat ate another rat completely, but he was sure he didn't want to know.

However, more important than a normal rat is the monster. Mojie found some monster paw prints on the ice, and the hounds found a mouse ball the size of his hand. It is clear that the giant rat has included the tanneries in his territory. It will be back, and Mojie's mousetrap will be ready.

A dozen box-shaped traps were set around the tannery. One thing Mojie has always noticed about rats is that they tend to run in a straight line, always keeping one side of their wing against the wall if possible. He took advantage of this habit of rats and placed the mousetrap by the wall, away from any holes or windows that the monster might use to sneak into the building, so as not to arouse its suspicions.

Each trap is a product of his own design, operating on a counterbalance device that uses the monster's own weight to trigger the trap. The rodent will sneak into the box and remove the pieces of beef that are placed in the box as bait. The increased pressure causes the balance to tilt, loosening the taut bowstring that hangs above the box. Mo Jie knew that this design would be successful. After a normal-sized mouse jumped out of some traps, he spent a few hours adjusting his balance. The bowstring cut the curious mouse in half.

"Aren't you going to arm the rest of the traps?" Tang Lian asked as Mo Jie returned to their hiding place. The two barrels were used by the cobbler to soak the skins after pickling them.

The ratcatcher sighed and climbed down from between the vats. He pushed away the hounds' warm welcome and explained to his apprentice for the fifth time why some traps were unarmed.

"A rat is a clever beast," he reminded Mr. Tang. "These traps are the first for him. When he sees them, he studies them, sniffs them, and approaches them very carefully. Now, if he gets into it soon, he might run away. So I put the bait in the traps closest to the windows and holes, but didn't carry weapons. So he can go in and eat some beef. This will make him feel safe from other traps. That would be his last mistake. ”

At first Tang Lian nodded, but then he began to shake his head. "I don't know how this monster is going to get in unless we leave the door open. The windows are too narrow, and those holes you mentioned can't get that big guy through. Tang Lian patted the head of one of the hounds, causing the hounds to wag their tails frantically.

Tang Lian rolled his eyes in disgust, and continued to explain some physiological characteristics of mice. "The skulls of rats are not solid," he said. "The whole thing would dislocate, collapse inward, so that they could squeeze into the cramped spot. If its flattened skull fits, the rest will follow. I've seen a pound of rats crawl out of holes that were only the width of my thumb. If our monster wants to come back, he has a lot of options. ”

This time, Tang Lian seemed to understand the explanation, his gaze scanning the walls of the tannery, staring at the narrow windows, and staring at the black holes in the stucco.

Mo Jie asked his apprentice to keep vigil, and he turned his attention to the cold meal that Hu Junling prepared for him. A small piece of rye bread, a small piece of barely shaped cheese and a sausage, which he prayed were not bought from the Westerner he knew. It's not the most sumptuous dinner, but the heart is the most important thing.

As he was about to take his first bite of bread, Mojie's face turned up. His hand froze before he could reach his mouth. His eyes widened in shock. His skin turned pale.

The red eyes that stared at him were the monsters of a madman's nightmare. The giant rat crouched in the middle of the beams, its whiskers twitching, its ugly bare tail dangling in disgust on its hind legs. The smell of the tannery must have kept its presence at bay to the dogs, and the ratcatcher kept his attention focused on the lower and not the upper because of the mousetrap.

This evil thing sat there for a long time, staring at Mo Jie and Tang Lian. Maybe it was the smell of dinner that lured the monster out of the hole where it was hiding. Regardless of the situation, for the first time, Mo Jie saw the monster that he was personally responsible for tracking and trapping.

Tang Lian said that he needed a bigger dog, which seemed to him a premonition that he hadn't noticed. In Mo Jie's eyes, the rat was as big as a pony, with an arched back and an angry mane sticking out. Its terrible fangs glistened in the darkness, and those chisel-like teeth had inflicted terrible wounds on the old cobbler.

Those traps are a joke! There's no way this beast can sit in it! With these fangs, it can bite a clean path even if it is caught. The bowstring didn't scratch the hairy brown fur at all.

Mo Jie was about to whisper a warning to Tang Lian, when a hunting dog noticed the rat catcher's panic, followed the direction he was looking at, raised his head, and saw the giant rat. A low growl came from the dog's throat.

The giant rat's large eyes glittered in the shadows, its hideous fangs colliding against each other. When the dog barked at it, Mo Jie thought the monster would run away. For a second, disappointment swept over his heart, fearing that his prey would run away.

But soon the disappointment vanished, and naked fear swept over the ratcatcher's spine. The monster did not run away, on the contrary, it jumped off the beam and pounced straight at the puppy. Fear swept through Mojie's mind as the maggot-like body galloped past him, its bristles and scaly tail brushing his cheeks. The giant rodent slammed headfirst into the hound, its leaping momentum causing both itself and the hound to crash into a large bucket.

The puppy let out a disgusting howl and was then bitten to death by the fangs of the rat. The monster grabbed its prey by the neck and shook its head from side to side, plunging its fangs deeper into the hound's throat. Bloody dog blood gushed out, steaming hot on the icy floor.

Without thinking, the stunned rattrap pounced on the predatory rat. Moknot's pole crackled against the brute's flank. The giant rat didn't even scream in pain, it threw down the dead dog and turned around, baring its fangs at the man who dared to attack it. Blood dripped from the rat's whiskers, foam oozing from between its sharp teeth. The rat stared up at Mo Jie, his eyes full of violence and blood.

The ratcatcher cowered away from the monster's gaze, his heart dizzying with fear. The images of the old cobbler's throat being torn open, the disgusting thoughts of the man-eating rats being entrailed and the skins turned out, crawled around his mind like a black prophet of doom.

The giant rat was tense and ready to pounce on the paralyzed rat catcher when Tang Lian suddenly hit the monster from the side, this time it screamed in pain and let out an angry chirp that sounded like steel scraping against steel. Then Tang Lian poked it with the pole again, and the beast turned around and pounced on the man without warning. Tang Lian screamed, and the weight of the giant rat ripped the pole from his hand, and the fangs pierced into his hand.

Tang Lian's scream alarmed the remaining hounds, and the two dogs roared and pounced on the giant rat, one biting one ear and the other rushing in to bite the rat's belly. The giant rat left Tang Lian and began to attack these new attackers again.

While the monster was busy fending off the dog, Mo Jie took a long hunting knife and pounced on the beast from behind, stabbing it in the back again and again, the blade digging deep into its flesh. The rat's wound was bubbling with blood and squeaked in pain. A terrible frenzy came upon it, freeing it from the hound's restraints and flicking its bare tail at Mojie.

Unfortunately, the rat was so badly injured that Moknot's knife pierced the ribs and pierced the brute's lung. It gasped, staggered a few steps, and slipped on the icy floor. The dogs immediately pounced on it and tore its throat to avenge their fallen comrades.

Mo Jie trembled with excitement, this was the kind of wonderful combination of terror and joy that any victorious soldier would be familiar with. "We made it!" He shouted, his voice so loud that it seemed to be heard from miles away. "Get ready, pretentious fellows, you'll understand how stupid you are when you see what I've brought!"

The ratcatcher turned to his apprentice. Tang Lian sat on the floor, his arms pressed tightly at his sides. Mo Jie patted him on the shoulder, "Did you hear that?" We're rich!"

Tang Lian nodded weakly, and then his face contorted into a grimace of pain. "It's ...... Good ......," he muttered. "But...... You...... You can...... Put my fingers ...... From its mouth...... Do you want to take it out first......"