As soon as she said this, Xue Zhao and Shen Hegui immediately became alert. They focused and realized that what she said was true. They had initially thought the bumpiness was caused by running over debris on the road, but on closer inspection, the force felt different.
Shen Hegui glanced at the ground and seemed to notice small bulges on the otherwise flat road surface. Their attention had been on the surroundings and the distance, never expecting anything to be under the flat ground.
Jiang Yuntan also straightened up and looked toward the wheels. She saw a piece of concrete pavement bulge up and then sink back down. She couldn't help but say, "Could there be something underneath?" She felt as if whatever was below would burst out at any moment.
Shen Hegui picked up the walkie-talkie and said to the other two cars, "Check the ground under your vehicles for any problems. There might be something. Be careful." They couldn't just get out of the car now. Staying inside might at least provide some protection.
Soon, the walkie-talkie crackled, and Qiao Chengming's voice came through. "Senior Brother, I sense that the ground ahead is hollow in a section. It's probably been eaten away." His voice carried a note of urgency.
Shen Hegui made a quick decision. "Pull over to the side first and have a look." Since the road ahead was hollow, driving over it might be even more dangerous. So the three cars maneuvered over the constantly heaving ground and parked on the side. Luckily, they hadn't entered the highway yet; otherwise, they wouldn't know where to stop.
Jiang Yuntan touched the Defense Talisman in her pocket, confirming it was there, and felt a little relieved. Unexpectedly, as soon as they parked by the roadside, the road ahead suddenly collapsed into a large hole about three meters in diameter. Squeaking sounds came from the hole.
Jiang Yuntan's pupils contracted, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. The group assumed a battle stance.
Perhaps aware of the irreconcilable conflict between her and Lin Tingxue, Shen Hegui, Yu Ke, and the others silently used their bodies as a barrier to separate Jiang Yuntan from Lin Tingxue. Jiang Yuntan was satisfied with this; she was genuinely worried about Lin Tingxue making a sneak attack on her.
Yu Ke's expression was tense. "What the hell is that thing? It managed to create such a big hole up ahead."
Jiang Yuntan pursed her lips. "It sounds like rats."
At that moment, Shen Hegui found a large piece of dirty cloth that looked like a curtain. He opened the trunk of the car and poured a bottle of liquor over it. Then he turned to Jiang Yuntan. "Yuntan, I'm going to throw this cloth over there. Can you ignite it in midair with fire?"
Jiang Yuntan nodded. "I should be able to. I can try."
"Alright, I'll count down from three to one and throw it. You ignite it," Shen Hegui said, beginning his countdown. When he reached one, he threw the curtain cloth soaked in liquor. Jiang Yuntan seized the moment and threw several fireballs. To her surprise, her aim was good—four out of five fireballs landed on the cloth. The cloth instantly caught fire and fell into the hole.
But before the things in the hole could react, the bulges on the road suddenly split open. Several gray-black creatures the size of volleyballs burst out from the road, their eyes bloodshot, looking at them as if they were tempting prey.
"Holy crap, holy crap. Rats are disgusting enough, but these zombie rats are even more disgusting!" Yu Ke couldn't help complaining.
As soon as he finished speaking, more rats emerged from the bulges on the road. They all turned their heads in unison and charged toward them.
Yu Ke pulled out a handgun and fired several shots. Except for one bullet that hit a zombie rat right between the eyes, the others just struck their bodies, seemingly having little effect. The group sighed in relief that the gun was effective against the zombie rats. But soon, that relief turned to tension again, as they saw a mass of black zombie rat heads inside the hole.
Jiang Yuntan continuously condensed fireballs and hurled them at the rats' foreheads. Almost nine out of ten fireballs hit their targets. None of the ability users were idle. Qiao Chengming used his Earth Ability to create a half-meter-high wall around them.
Jiang Yuntan frowned as she watched the endless stream of zombie rats from the hole. "This won't work. We don't know how many there are. How long are we going to keep fighting?"
"Oh, you sure talk big. If we don't know how long, does that mean we just stop fighting?" Lin Tingxue said impatiently. "You're an ability user, so help out instead of causing trouble."
Jiang Yuntan directly rolled her eyes at her. "You're the one causing trouble by lecturing me at a time like this." Then she turned to Xue Zhao and Yu Ke. "Xue Zhao, Brother Yu Ke, can you get the gasoline from the cars?"
She had no other way to cause large-scale damage quickly except by using fire. Yu Ke and Xue Zhao immediately understood her intent and didn't hesitate. They turned to get the gasoline.
Jiang Yuntan unceremoniously said to Lin Xuan, "Since we're all fighting these zombie rats together, it's not fair for us to provide all the gasoline while you guys don't contribute a drop, right?"
Lin Xuan really wanted to say, "Since when did she get to order him around?" But he knew she had a point, even if it sounded harsh. Knowing this wasn't the time for an argument, he swallowed his anger and went to get gasoline from his car.
Lin Tingxue glanced at Jiang Yuntan and was caught in the act, earning a glare. She couldn't help muttering to herself that Jiang Yuntan really didn't know how to get along with people.
Jiang Yuntan didn't care what she thought. Seeing Yu Ke and Xue Zhao bring the gasoline, she told them to pour it a couple of meters away. The moment the gasoline hit the ground, Jiang Yuntan's fireball landed on it, igniting a blaze. When Lin Xuan brought two buckets of gasoline, Yu Ke took them without waiting for Jiang Yuntan to say anything, completely cutting off any chance for Lin Xuan to speak with her.
After they finished, they looked up to find that Shen Hegui and Qiao Chengming had already killed quite a few zombie rats with their abilities. The corpses of the zombie rats lay on the road, but rats were still crawling out of the hole. It was as if they couldn't see their dead companions; they charged forward with red eyes.
Jiang Yuntan saw that when some zombie rats ran through the gasoline fire wall, their fur caught fire. Her heart leaped with joy, proving her method was effective. Moreover, when they ran, their paws picked up gasoline, making the flames burn even stronger. Although the rats didn't feel the pain of the flames, Jiang Yuntan noticed that some, due to the intense fire on their legs, had their limbs burned off and could only flop on the ground.