When Lu Li asked how long they had been there, the Rat n were once again confused. Their mory only reached back to the recent past; anything further was forgotten. Aside from the basic rat habits of eating, sleeping, and wandering, they had no substantial mories.
"I’ll take you to see the Sage. The Sage must know the answer."
The Rat n said, leading Lu Li closer to their companions. As they fed, they no longer scurried about chaotically like typical rats, only maintaining their feeding, moving in a circular motion around the food to avoid Lu Li.
Lu Li observed the souls within their shells. The faces of the souls were blurred and indistinct... These survivors were on the brink of collapse.
They had already lost their essence and self.
The Sage ntioned by the Rat n was easy to identify: its rat whiskers were graying with age, which imparted a sense of wisdom, but only in front of Lu Li and the food. Otherwise, it was no different from others in the community.
They continued to avoid Lu Li and kept feeding.
"This is wrong... this is wrong..."
When the Rat n trembled and mumbled as the Sage did not respond, Lu Li observed the scattered food crumbs. The even distribution of breadcrumbs and at scraps suggested they had not fallen accidentally to the bottom of the well.
Looking up at the well’s illuminated opening, was sothing feeding these Rat n?
"What’s above?" Lu Li roused the delirious Rat n and explained in detail to ensure it understood: "Above our heads."
"The Sage says it’s the source that grants them life," the Rat n said reverently.
Interpreting the feeding behavior this way wasn’t incorrect.
Lu Li continued to gaze at the top of the well, about seven or eight ters above the bottom. The rock walls straightened the higher they went, making it impossible for even a cat to climb.
"Does the light always remain?"
The light source was clearly not natural light, nor a dimly glowing material like fluorite. Only an oil lamp or similar source could emit such light.
To figure out what’s above, one must ascertain the interval in which the oil lamp was replaced.
"No, during the last feeding, there was an eclipse."
The aning of an eclipse was easy to comprehend, but when Lu Li asked when the last feeding occurred, the Rat n couldn’t answer.
"Feeding" equated to humans’ concept of "heaven" for the Rat n, a similar unit for asuring ti. Continuing to ask would only yield confused responses like "slept a few tis" or "went out a few tis."
Lu Li lingered at the bottom of the well for a mont, hoping to communicate further with them and the Sage, but once the Rat n finished feeding, they quickly began to sleep, scattering about if Lu Li ca near.
The Rat n encountered at the mouse hole were the only exception.
Lu Li invited them to leave with him, but they refused. They didn’t want to leave.
Perhaps staying longer might change their minds, but Lu Li needed to return for now, taking the news of the head chef and the Rat n back to Claire and the others.
"Are you thinking of leaving?"
The Rat n hesitated but agreed to lead Lu Li out.
They left the bottom of the well, where the light shone down, returning to the darkness, following the Rat n through the mouse holes.
Rembering the direction and height proved extrely difficult, even with the Doomsday Apocalypse still in possession. After several minutes of squeezing through gaps and tunnels, the dusty Lu Li followed the Rat n to another mouse hole.
Outside was a room equipped with giant cook tables and chandeliers, empty and silent.
The Rat n, however, were not pleased.
"This door should be open..." The standing Rat n muttered, "This is wrong... this is wrong... this is wrong..."
Lu Li walked past them, exiting the mouse hole.
The room wasn’t large; corners were stacked with wooden crates of miscellaneous items, likely a storeroom leading to the kitchen.
The oil lamp placed on the cook table indicated that this room was not completely unattended. Lu Li tried to turn the doorknob, but it didn’t budge, indicating it was locked.
"Why do you always think you’re wrong?" Lu Li asked, observing every corner without turning his head.
"Because I made a mistake..." The Rat n beca engulfed in guilt.
"What mistake?"
"I... don’t know." The confused Rat n could not answer, their scarce rat brains ached from excessive use.
anwhile, Lu Li noticed a brass key hanging on the wall beside the door.
"The key is there."
Lu Li told the Rat n, moving under the brass key.
The key was positioned a bit high; even with their tails stretched, climbing the wall or jumping up wouldn’t reach it, and the storeroom lacked long enough brooms or mops—nor could a cat lift these.
Lu Li glanced at the piled boards and blocks in the corner and the Rat n exiting the mouse hole; an idea struck him.
He knocked over the wooden boards, dragging the boards and blocks beneath the key, arranging them into a seesaw.
Lu Li jumped onto the cook table, directing the Rat n to stand cooperatively on one end of the seesaw, then leaped off.
"Whoa—"
A startled shout followed as the Rat n ascended, brushed past the brass key, and were caught by Lu Li standing at the landing point.
The Rat n clung to Lu Li’s fur, climbing off his back.
"Once more!"
Excited, the Rat n stood on the seesaw again, climbed onto the cook table with Lu Li, and jumped down, taking flight once more.
This ti, the Rat n accurately landed on the brass key, pushing it off the nail.
Lu Li caught the descending key with his tail and caught the falling Rat n.
Lu Li approached the door, inserted the key into the keyhole, turned gently, then pulled the doorknob with his tail.
Click—
The door opened a crack.
Lu Li peeked through the gap. Outside the storeroom, in the quiet hallway, a Lizard Maid polished the inset windows.
The Bat Guards monitored the hallway from its end.
Lu Li silently retreated to the storeroom, closing the door.
The door they painstakingly opened wasn’t an exit.
"Can’t get out this way, are there any other exits?" Lu Li asked the Rat n.
"This is wrong... this is wrong... this is wrong..."
The Rat n were plunged back into intense self-denial.
Lu Li waited for them to recover, then asked again.
"Other exits... I know, but I’m afraid..."
"There’s more than one exit; there’s bound to be one we can use to leave."
Under Lu Li’s "encouragent," the Rat n regained their confidence and guided Lu Li to another exit.
They passed through the bustling kitchen, crawling under tables and between legs. Encountered a Cook stealing a snack in the storeroom, passing behind them. Climbed a rope in front of a napping Cook, exited through a mouse hole in the rafters.
The castle was vast, so vast that even the mouse holes seed like a maze, crisscrossing each other. But the Bat Guards stood sentinel in every corridor. Amidst repeated disappointnt and self-denial, the Rat n led them to yet another unknown exit.
As they traveled through dark, quiet tunnels, gradually, cool breezes from the surface drifted in ahead.
The Rat n brought Lu Li to a new exit: a mouse hole at the base of the castle’s outer wall.
A dark, foul-slling moat stretched across in front of them.
"This is wrong... this is wrong... this is wrong..."
The Rat n cried out painfully, clutching their heads.
Lu Li lifted his cat eyes, gazing at the light reflecting from the Head Maid’s tower window in the distance.
"This is right," Lu Li said.
"This is wrong... this is wrong... this is... right."
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