"Are you the Rat King from the Zodiac Twelve?"
I spoke up immediately. As the old rat approached, I realized just how aged he was—his whole body was filthy, patches of white fur stood out against the dirty gray-black, and his eyes were unusually cloudy. Most of his teeth had fallen out, leaving only a single sharp incisor in his upper jaw for gnawing.
"What are you talking about, Tabby Cat King? How could I be the Rat King? Who is the Rat King anyway? I don’t remember. How long have I been here? I don’t remember that either."
The old rat’s voice was weak and feeble, each word seeming to cost him effort. But how did he suddenly appear before me?
"Did you fly over here?"
But then I remembered—there’s no way to use Ghost Aura here. The rat raised a finger and pointed above my head. I looked up and saw lines stretched across the cave walls on both sides of the river. On closer inspection, I realized they were ropes made from animal fur, fastened to the stone with bones. Ropes dangled from the walls, and it looked like that was how the rat had slid across.
"How have you survived in a place like this?"
The rat scratched his head, then pointed to something floating on the river. He pulled a rope from his pocket, tipped with a dog’s paw made of bone, and tossed it out. I watched the paw hook onto the half-dissolved rib of a deer. With a sharp tug, the rat hauled the deer up, then ripped its hide open with a wet tear. Blood splattered everywhere. The sight made my heart pound with dread.
"Not much meat left, but it’s still edible."
As he spoke, the rat dug out one of the deer’s eyeballs with his fingers and popped it into his mouth, swallowing with a gulp. Then, mouth open, he sucked the juices from the socket. The sight made me gag—I covered my mouth with both hands, nauseated.
"After a while, you'll get used to it, Tabby Cat King. If you don't eat what's here, you'll end up dead—there's no other way. Whether you like it or not, you're actually pretty lucky."
The rat said this as he walked away, and I followed. He kept talking as we moved.
"Most of the folks who end up here lose consciousness and get killed by this river. Their bodies dissolve soon after. If you’re still aware, you’re lucky. I’d advise you to eat something."
As the rat spoke, he reached into a hole and pulled out a net. I stared in disbelief—the net was made of animal whiskers. The rat quickly cast it, and the mesh was so fine the gaps were barely the size of a fingertip. When he pulled it back, I saw a heap of animal bones, some organs, and a few insects, all mangled and incomplete. The rat examined them carefully, then picked out some of the firmer insects and handed me a handful.
"Eat quickly."
As soon as I saw the pile of insects with twitching antennae, I shook my head. The stench hit me hard—I could hardly stand it.
"If you don’t eat, Tabby Cat King, you’ll die. Take a look at your rear end."
I let out a cry and twisted around to look. Something was wrong with my backside. As soon as I touched it, a wave of agony made me scream. The rat plugged his ears with two fingers. My rear was bleeding, bone and flesh exposed, but I felt nothing at all.
"Eat a little of this and your rear will heal. Tabby Cat King, do you want your life or your ass?"
I stared at the rat, confused.
"Of course I want to live."
The rat grinned, then shoved a handful of insects in front of my nose. I kept shaking my head.
"Here, let me help you."
With that, the rat pinched my nose with one hand, suddenly pried my mouth open, and stuffed the mangled insect remains down my throat. My stomach churned, and I gaped, ready to vomit, but just as I was about to, the rat balled his fist and punched me in the chest. I collapsed to the ground. The rat held my neck, my stomach still heaving. After a long moment, I finally recovered—I hadn’t thrown up, but I kept retching.
Then the rat flipped me over and patted my back. I couldn’t shed a single tear—otherwise, I’d be crying my eyes out right now.
When I finally caught my breath, I was surprised to find the flesh on my rear had regrown. The rat patted my shoulder.
"Friend, just stick with me. I haven’t talked to anyone else in this place for a long time. You can just call me Rusty."
I blinked and nodded.
"Rusty, are there really others here?"
Rusty sighed helplessly.
"Anyway, every few days someone shows up. Used to be more, actually. Those who fall into this river and keep their consciousness—they’re all like you at first, disgusted by the corpses in the water, can’t swallow a bite. No matter how much I try to persuade them, it’s useless. Most of them end up getting dissolved by the air itself, alive. It only takes a few hours. You have to adapt, Tabby Cat King. There’s endless food here, but you have to eat often if you want to avoid being dissolved."
With that, Old Iron cast the net again. This time, I saw half a fish in the net. He grinned with delight, popped a rotten, stinking fish into his mouth and seemed to relish it, then handed me one. I shook my head.
"Old Iron, I really can't eat anymore right now."
I watched Old Iron eat everything in the net that could be chewed or swallowed. Afterwards, he looked reenergized and led me to slide across the rope to the other side of the river, back to his cave. Inside the cave carved into the rock wall, the rate at which Ghost Aura was devouring me slowed down.
I followed Old Iron carefully. He crossed easily and told me to find a thicker rope, since I was a bit on the heavy side.
Fearful, I finally climbed up, swallowed hard, squeezed my eyes shut, and gripped the rope with both paws, sliding across.
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Once I landed on the other side, Old Iron laughed with joy.
After walking with Old Iron for a while, we returned to the lower part of the cave. There was a rope ladder below; Old Iron climbed up first, and I slowly followed. When I reached the entrance, Old Iron lowered his tail and pulled me up.
Just as Old Iron said, once inside the cave entrance, I felt the rate at which Ghost Aura was devouring me slow down noticeably. But the smell inside the cave was awful.
I saw plenty of scraps of food, some so hard they felt like rocks. Once inside the cave, I realized it was a world unto itself. There were two paths ahead; Old Iron led me down the left one. We passed by many separate caverns, almost like rooms. Old Iron picked one that didn’t smell too bad, with soft animal pelts, and told me to rest there.
"Tabby Cat King, just get some rest. I’ll wake you in four hours—after all, you have to eat."
"Old Iron, is it the same on the right side?"
I asked, and Old Iron shook his head.
"That’s the tunnel I’ve been digging. I want to dig my way out, but I don’t know how many years I’ve spent on it—I still haven’t reached the end. Maybe it’s hundreds of kilometers long, haha."
I stared at him in shock.
"Old Iron, what about the source of this river?"
I asked quickly. Old Iron turned and sat outside my cave, shaking his head.
"Can’t find the source or the end. This place is rotten. But as long as you survive, you’ll find a way eventually. Hang in there, Tabby Cat King."
"Thank you, Old Iron."
I started to feel sleepy, but I didn’t want to fall asleep. Old Iron told me about others who’d come here before—most couldn’t stomach the severed limbs and disappeared, while some stayed too long, went mad, and finally threw themselves into the river.
"Maybe dying like those who lose consciousness is easier."
Old Iron muttered, and I shook my head.
"I will survive, Old Iron."
Old Iron smiled and nodded, then told me to get some sleep. He said he’d go find some food I could actually swallow.
In a daze, I fell asleep. I knew my consciousness had returned to that black space—nothing existed there. I had so many questions for the Lord of Beasts, but he didn’t appear. No matter how much I called out, I was suddenly awakened.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I smelled a strong, fishy scent. It wasn’t exactly foul, but it was overwhelming.
"Eat, I just got lucky and managed to find some organs."
"Do I really have to eat this?"
I looked at the three organs Old Iron set in front of me—each about the size of a fist, though I had no idea what they were. I swallowed hard.
"Just swallow it whole. The taste isn't too strong, and if you eat this, you won’t have to eat again for at least two days."
I gritted my teeth and opened my mouth.
In the end, Old Iron helped me, pinching my nose and shoving the organ down my throat. When I started to choke, he punched me in the chest, forcing me to swallow it.
It felt strange, but I was much more comfortable. Even the patches of missing fur on my body started to grow back.
"Not bad, Tabby Cat King. I’ll go out and look for more."
"Let me go with you, Old Iron. I can’t keep troubling you like this."
Old Iron agreed and handed me a hook. Together, we went to the riverbank and started tossing out dog’s paws whenever we saw a corpse float by. Most of what I pulled up was so hard it felt like stone—impossible to eat.
Old Iron was experienced and managed to catch plenty of edible things. He ate with obvious satisfaction while I sighed helplessly. Just then, Old Iron suddenly looked over at me.
"Tabby Cat King, hurry—another living soul just fell in."
With that, Old Iron took off running, and I struggled to keep up. When I reached the riverbank, I saw two figures standing there: John Chou and the Raccoon Cat King.
Meow........
Suddenly, the Raccoon Cat King yowled, arched his back, and in a flash, pounced, pinning Old Iron to the ground.
"Found you, you ungrateful rat. Let’s see how I’ll swallow you whole today."