The rat was noticeably rounder than the last time the others had seen him, his belly plump from months of feasting and napping while safely nestled in Han Yu's robes.

As the cold air touched him, the rat twitched, rolled over once in Han Yu's palm, and buried its face against his sleeve as if saying, five more minutes.

Han Yu's lips curled upward. He gave the lazy ball of fur a poke in the side.

"Wake up," Han Yu said in a mock-stern tone. "Time for work. Earn your meals for once."

The rat gave a groggy "chitter," a sound halfway between a groan and a squeak. Its whiskers twitched indignantly, but it opened its beady eyes anyway.

Fatty Kui blinked. "Wait… that's your plan? To send a rat?"

Han Yu stroked Chitterfang's back. "Not just a rat. This one knows how to survive. He'll smell trouble before we even see it."

Duan studied the creature with faint curiosity. "Is it… a spirit beast? A tamed one?"

Han Yu nodded once.

That made Duan's brows rise. To tame a beast required an actual bond, something impossible for ordinary animals. Training, yes, but never true taming. Yet the way the rat responded to Han Yu, as if understanding his words perfectly, was undeniable.

"Strange…" Duan muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It doesn't seem to carry the aura of a spirit beast."

Chitterfang, as if insulted, perked up and squeaked loudly at him, then flicked its tail.

Fatty Kui burst into laughter. "Hah! Even the rat's offended! Look at it puffing up, like a furry dumpling with pride!"

Han Yu smirked. "Don't underestimate him. He's been more reliable than most humans I've met."

Duan regarded both Han Yu and the rat for a moment longer before nodding slowly. "Very well. Let us see this reliability."

Han Yu lowered his hand.

Chitterfang stretched, shook itself awake, then leapt down onto the stone floor. Its nose twitched rapidly as it sniffed the air, swiveling its head left, then right, then back again.

The group held their breath as the rat considered the three paths.

And then without hesitation, Chitterfang scurried forward and took the rightmost tunnel, tail flicking behind him like a banner.

Fatty Kui blinked. "...Wait, that's it? He just… picks one?"

Han Yu folded his arms, utterly serious. "Of course. He's the best navigator I've got."

Wu Shuan tilted his head, skeptical. "And if he picks wrong?"

Han Yu shrugged. "Then at least he's small enough to run away."

Fatty Kui groaned. "I knew it. We're putting our lives in the paws of a fat rodent. Heaven help us."

Duan, however, just smiled faintly. "Interesting."

And with that, they followed the sound of tiny claws tapping against stone, trailing after Chitterfang as he boldly vanished into the darkness of the right path.

The rat twitched his whiskers and gave a lazy squeak as he continued forward, his plump belly bouncing with each step.

The rat looked like he had long since abandoned the life of a feral urban survivor in favor of becoming a pampered noble beast that lived to eat, sleep, and occasionally get poked awake by Han Yu.

Still, despite his round body and languid gait, he sniffed the air with sharp precision, nose twitching rapidly as he scurried toward the depths of passage.

The group followed behind at a cautious pace, weapons in hand, eyes scanning the shadowed stone corridor. Their footsteps echoed softly against the damp floor, the silence broken only by the occasional squeak from Chitterfang as he scouted ahead.

After a few minutes of walking, the rat suddenly stopped and let out a sharp, high-pitched squeak that reverberated through the tunnel. He even hopped in place once, as if trying to emphasize his point.

Fatty Kui immediately leaned forward, eyes shining. "What does that mean? What did it find?"

Han Yu, crouching slightly, tilted his head toward the little rat and nodded in understanding. Then he straightened up and calmly said, "He says he smelled food."

"Food?!" Fatty Kui's eyes practically glowed.

For a brief moment, his fists trembled, not from fear but from sheer excitement. His round face brightened with such intensity that it looked like he had been waiting his entire life to hear those exact words.

Wu Shuan, however, frowned and crossed his arms. "Food for a rat does not mean food for us. For all we know, it could mean mold, rotten wood, or some decaying beast corpse."

Han Yu shook his head firmly, lips tugging into a confident smile. "No. Chitterfang is picky. He doesn't settle for scraps. He eats spirit grain and fatty nuts. If he says 'food,' it's likely something valuable... perhaps spirit fruit or a medicinal herb."

That immediately caught the attention of Senior Brother Duan, whose eyes gleamed with interest. Even Wu Shuan's skepticism wavered, while Fatty Kui practically bounced on his toes, muttering something about juicy fruits and roasted meat.

"Alright," Duan said, his voice calm yet tinged with anticipation. "We'll proceed."

Just as they were about to move forward, Chitterfang let out another squeak, sharper this time, and scratched at the stone floor with his little claws. His whiskers quivered as his beady black eyes darted toward the ground.

Han Yu crouched again, listening carefully before translating. "He says danger ahead. The ground has traps."

The group froze in unison, their eyes flicking down to the seemingly ordinary stone beneath their feet.

Han Yu pointed at a series of faintly indented spots. "Spike traps. Step on them, and you'll be impaled. But for him," he nodded at Chitterfang, "they can't activate. He's too light. Even if they did, the spikes would miss him entirely."

Senior Brother Duan's brows lifted slightly. "So that's why you use him."

"Exactly," Han Yu replied with a grin. "undergorund places like these always end up crawling with vermin and insects. I don't think the creators would be foolish enough to not account for this. It would waste too much energy if their traps activated every time a rat scurried past. Chitterfang can walk freely where we cannot."

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