I caught a glimpse of the gunpowder packet, and an idea sparked as I recalled the habits of bats. I rushed over, hauled Man Niao Niao to his feet, dragged him aside, pointed to the ground, then pointed to his crotch, gesturing for him to produce his own furnishings.

Man Niao Niao was initially baffled, glaring at me while clutching his groin, his lips flapping as if protesting loudly. Having no choice, I took the initiative, pulled out my own member, and watered the sandy ground. Seeing my action, Man Niao Niao, though his face was full of confusion, bashfully pulled out his own furniture, and a jet of liquid poured down. Tan Ping’er had already turned her back the moment we started our preparations.

Curiosity knows no bounds. Seeing Man Niao Niao’s display, I was both annoyed and amused. I stole a peek at his equipment, pursed my lips, and arrived at a four-character conclusion—nothing special. Spotting my disdain, Man Niao Niao refused to be outdone. He glanced at mine, then pretended to scratch his ear canal with his index finger, laughing with shameless audacity.

I ignored him then. Seeing the patch of dry sand already dampened by urine, I squatted down and gathered the wet earth into a mound—thank heavens my nostrils were still plugged with two mud nails, or the stench of urine would have suffocated me.

I extracted a bamboo lamp, pulled out the wick, poured out the kerosene, tipped in a portion of the gunpowder, then used the oil-soaked cloth wrapping the gunpowder and a small amount of the powder itself to create a fuse, inserting it into the bamboo tube. I sealed the opening with the wet earth, then firmly packed it down with the butt of my machete. A homemade firecracker was thus successfully completed.

Tan Ping’er was utterly bewildered at first. When she saw the firecracker made, a thoughtful expression crossed her face. Her small mouth parted, and she said something, her gaze filled with suspicion: “Is this thing actually useful?”

Whether it was useful or not, I hadn't much time to contemplate; for now, I could only take things one step at a time. I gestured for Tan Ping’er and the others to hide in a corner and cover their ears. My hands trembling, I struck the lighter and cautiously reached toward the fuse. Sparks instantly burst forth, and I instinctively pulled back, retreating quickly. Unexpectedly, the fuse was made too crudely and burned too fast. Before I could even step back fully, the crude firecracker erupted in a flash of sparks and exploded. I was terrified, thinking my ears must surely be deafened, but to my surprise, I heard nothing at all. Instead, a shard of nan bamboo shot out and happened to strike right on my furniture, causing a sharp pain that made me clutch my groin and drop to my knees.

Tan Ping’er rushed to my side, lifting my head. The sight before me instantly overwhelmed the stabbing pain—the dense swarm of skeletal bats, descending like a burst dam or a collapsing sand dune, plummeted from above and around us like raindrops, while plumes of bloody mist began to rise.

Sensing disaster, I suppressed the agony, bent over, and dragging Tan Ping’er, bolted toward a propped wooden plank, shouting at the top of my lungs to Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao, “Quick, hide under the planks, or we’ll be buried alive!” Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao paused, and whether they heard me or not, their reaction was swift: they scrambled frantically, heedless of themselves, to hide under other planks. Hua’er had already concealed herself under a board while I was making the firecracker.

Hiding under the plank, I stole a glance. The mass of bats overhead looked like a mudslide collapsing, quickly burying the top of the earthen mound. On the other side of the plank was a cliff curving downward, so breathing wasn't an issue, but positioned on that curving edge, watching the bats cascade into the deep gorge was a sight that would remain etched in my memory forever.

As more and more bats fell, the bloody mist grew thicker. However, my hearing seemed to recover slightly; I could faintly discern the whisper of wind accompanied by Hua’er’s frantic squawking. Eventually, the wind grew louder, and the falling silhouettes of the bats became a gentle patter.

—This process lasted for about ten minutes.

When Hua’er’s cries finally became deafening, no more skeletal bats dropped.

I let out a sigh of relief and struggled to poke my head out of the pile of dead bats, feeling the air was much fresher. I fumbled for my flashlight and shone it around. The earthen mound where we had been standing was now a mottled grave mound piled high with countless dead bats. The swarms overhead and surrounding us were gone, leaving only scattered bats flitting in and out of the numerous rock crevices.

Ji Ye and Man Niao Niao also emerged from the “burial mound,” exchanging wry smiles at the scene.

The four of us, plus the dog, kicked and shoved the dead bats surrounding us off the edge into the gorge, clearing a space large enough to stand in. I tentatively pulled one of the mud nails from my nostril and found that the strange, pungent aroma was gone. Reassured, I pulled out the other one. My nose fully resumed its function, clearing the tightness in my chest and greatly lifting my spirits.

The four of them and the dog collapsed onto the hemispherical mound, too exhausted and shaken by their narrow escape to speak, only panting heavily and silently replaying the unprecedented ordeal.

I gestured for Man Niao Niao to pass me a cigarette, lit it, and tucked it into my mouth. I casually picked up a dead bat and examined it closely under the bamboo lamp. In the light, I could clearly see that the bat’s body was only the size of a glass marble, its shape exactly like a miniature skull. It had a pair of delicate, non-sharp toes beneath its belly, but its wings were roughly the same size and shape as those of an ordinary bat.

“Damn it all, there are monsters like this in the world?” I muttered inwardly.

“Ying Ying—” Tan Ping’er suddenly shouted, her voice echoing eerily in the sinkhole, startling even herself. Seeing us all staring, she blushed and lowered her voice, “Sorry, I’m used to shouting loudly, didn’t realize… How did you even think of using a firecracker against those… bats?”

“Heh heh, I thought of it because…” Before I finished speaking, we heard a sharp “Ow!” and Man Niao Niao sprang up from the ground as if stung in the rear, slapping his backside loudly. He held something up to his eyes. As I stood there wondering, Man Niao Niao yelped again, looking as if he’d grabbed a hot coal, and smashed the object onto the ground.

I was instantly alarmed. We hadn't been attacked by the swarm of bats in the entire sinkhole; could these dead ones be staging a final attack, biting someone for revenge? I cautiously approached the object on the ground with my torch. Before I could get a clear look, Ji Ye jumped up as if scalded, trembling, “Mosquito King Wasp… Mosquito King Wasp…”

Mosquito King Wasp? My slightly relaxed heart tightened again! This was truly: when it rains, it pours; when the boat is slow, the headwind blows.

“Look quick, what’s on the ground?—Heavens above, it’s Mosquito King Wasps! Earth-mound Mosquito King Wasps!! Run, run, or we’ll be in deep trouble!” Ji Ye screamed repeatedly, snatching the torch from my hand and shining it hastily on the ground: My god, from those volcano-shaped mud holes I saw earlier, things that looked like a cross between a mosquito and a wasp were continuously emerging. They quickly coalesced into a whirlwind, swooping toward the dead bats, extending the sharp needles on their heads and posteriors to greedily siphon the foul blood from the corpses.

The things called Mosquito King Wasps streamed endlessly from the mud holes on the ground, joining the ranks sucking bat blood. In mere seconds, the dead skeletal bats piled on the mound were completely covered by them.

The four of us and the dog huddled together, watching the scene with slack jaws. I started to move forward to kick the dead bats off the cliff, but Man Niao Niao stopped me in time, his face flushed, “Don’t move! My backside seems swollen—it must be the work of those wasps. Damn it, it’s itchy and painful.” I gave him a contemptuous look. “Didn’t you claim to fear no venomous insect or beast? What, you scared into diarrhea now?”

Man Niao Niao, already smarting from the wasp sting, was provoked by my jab. Gritting his teeth, he snatched the torch from my hand and began whirling it around his body, creating an impenetrable barrier, charging toward the wasps feeding on the bat blood. His face contorted with fury, he roared, “Damn it, your grandpa has eaten your ancestors more times than you can count! You dare mess with me? I’ll burn all you sons of…” Man Niao Niao rattled off a string of curses regarding lineage without realizing the absurdity of the generational hierarchy, coupled with the fact that one of his butt cheeks was larger than the other, which, while making my heart pound, also couldn't help but amuse me.

The Mosquito King Wasps, though voracious in their thirst for blood, were terribly afraid of fire, their natural nemesis. As Man Niao Niao’s torch swept near, the swarm took off with a “whoosh,” scattering as if avoiding a plague. In the momentary dispersal of the wasps, I noticed the skeletal bats’ blood had been completely drained; they looked like heaps of dry leaves.

Man Niao Niao spun his torch and used his feet to kick the dead skeletal bats down the mound. This fellow, his mind clear now, understood the need to move the bats away to divert the wasps’ attention. If more wasps were attracted to swarm the four of us and the dog, we’d be completely stuck, like a cat pawing at sticky rice cakes.

While Man Niao Niao capered about, I wasn't idle. I used the remaining gunpowder to make another firecracker, just in case. This time I was much more careful, twisting the fuse to be both tight and long. Ji Ye wielded another torch, closely guarding Tan Ping’er with Hua’er, occasionally swatting away straggling wasps.

“Guai, guai! Ying Ying, there are so many bees flying up from below!” Man Niao Niao darted to my side, whirling his torch. “What to do, what to do?”

My mind went blank—the very thing I feared was happening. I snatched a torch to protect myself and rushed to the edge of the mound where footing was barely possible. The sight instantly snatched my soul away—the hemispherical mound was of an unknown height. As far as the eye could see, countless Mosquito King Wasps were scrambling out of the earth, joining the swarm in the sinkhole to form a long dragon weaving east and west. The ‘dragon’ grew thicker and longer, winding up around the mound, its buzz echoing deafeningly in the sinkhole. It looked as if the entire mound was about to be swallowed by the swarm. Frantically, I checked above and around; only a few skeletal bats flashed past in the firelight; everything else was pitch black.

This was truly a situation where there was no escape, either up to heaven or down to earth!

What to do? What to do? I paced nervously. The other three were in a panic too. Hua’er was circling the mound top, barking madly along with the ‘wasp dragon,’ kicking up dust that obscured the sky, while the wasps emerging from the mound itself increased, looking like a full-scale mobilization.

There is an idiom: “In times of crisis, wisdom emerges.” I glanced at the wooden planks on the ground and conceived a plan where only the process mattered, not the outcome.

I loudly called Man Niao Niao over to help. We positioned the large planks across the spherical mound top and had Ji Ye light three pine-pitch torches—one for each of us to hold. I pushed the three of them onto the planks to sit firmly, then urged Hua’er to stand on the board too. Then, with a mighty shove, I sent the planks sliding down the spherical slope. Amidst Tan Ping’er’s scream, I leaped onto the board and wildly waved my torch, guarding against any wasp attack. Ji Ye, carrying his basket, sat sideways at the front edge of the board, using his torch to forcefully carve out a gap in the dense swarm—alas, others worry about their front or back, but at this moment, we worried about neither. What would happen next? Only the heavens knew.

The plank’s downward speed increased rapidly; it was about to take flight. Waving my torch on the board, I yelled and shouted, focusing entirely on ordering the people in front to press hard against the wood, completely forgetting the firecracker clutched in my hand. In my haste, the fuse ignited, hissing with sprays of yellow sparks.

Terrified, I threw the firecracker backward wildly, not caring where it landed. In mere seconds, a huge bang sounded behind me, deafening my ears to all else, followed by a sensation of the earth shaking violently. The plank suddenly shot up, separating from the slope and flying directly toward the opposite rock face.

Perhaps it was fate’s decree that we should not die, for just as we thought we were about to perish in the sinkhole, the plank slammed into the rock face, sliding forward for a few seconds before stopping. Due to inertia, the four of us and the dog were thrown forward in a heap, colliding until we were dizzy, seeing stars, and feeling a sting in our noses. The torch in my hand flew free but hadn't extinguished.

I did a quick check; thankfully, all my body parts were still attached, and I secretly rejoiced. I was only astonished by the wood’s apparent hardness—how could it penetrate a rock face?

Once I regained my composure, I realized the plank hadn't actually been hard enough to pierce the rock, but had, by sheer coincidence, flown into a cavern on the cliff face. The cavern seemed impossibly deep, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of foul-smelling skeletal bat droppings—slick and greasy.

It was the bat guano that provided the cushioning, saving us from being smashed to pulp. No wonder I felt a mass of things fly out past my face upon impact. I had assumed they were Mosquito King Wasps, but it turned out they were surviving skeletal bats.

Ji Ye and the others realized they were alive and struggled to their feet, retching violently. Though they knew they had cheated death, the stench of the bat guano was beyond imagining, causing them to curse and spit, nearly bringing up their gallbladders. Strangely, I wasn't as sensitive to the cave’s odor. Nevertheless, the smell flooding my nostrils was one that few ordinary people could endure.

My shock subsiding slightly, I pulled out my flashlight and retrieved the torch, scrambling to the cave entrance. Below the cavern we occupied, it was pitch black; perhaps limited by the flashlight’s range, I couldn't see the bottom of the pit. The opposite hemispherical mound, however, was now clearly visible: on the slope not far from where we’d been standing, the firecracker I’d thrown had blasted a dark hole. Swarms of Mosquito King Wasps poured out of the hole like sewage, joining the masses filling the sinkhole. The mound was covered in wasps crawling out of the earth, packed so densely that their buzzing made sand and grit rain down.

I inwardly felt lucky. It seemed that earthen mound must have been the Mosquito King Wasps’ main base, likely hollowed out inside. We had essentially been sitting atop a giant hive.

When I slid down from the mound, catching a glimpse of a few wasps in the torchlight, I felt an inexpressible, profound dread. If I called them wasps, they had mosquito-like needle mouths; if I called them mosquitoes, they had thin waists, fat bellies, and sharp stingers on their tails, resembling the size and shape of the common Ox-Horn Wasp here. If we hadn't been carrying torches, and if the swarm hadn't been focused on sucking the dead bats’ blood instead of bothering us, how could we have made this desperate flight into the cavern? We might well have become skeletons by now.

Moving away from the mound, no longer in close contact with it, I let out a small breath of relief and turned to check if Tan Ping’er and the others were hurt, bending to look back into the cave.

Man Niao Niao suddenly sprang up, scrambling toward me, “Wasps… no, mosquitoes… no, ah, the little bastards are here, run!” My heart shattered in terror. Instinctively, I spun around just as a rush of wind hit me. I was instantly enveloped by the surging swarm of Mosquito King Wasps. The durable pine-pitch torch sputtered and instantly went out with a poof from the gust.

Before I could even cry for help, I felt a thousand shoemaker’s needles simultaneously piercing my flesh, not even sparing my lips. A searing, bone-deep pain shot through my limbs like an electric current, causing me to immediately fall plop into the slick, fetid droppings.

Fortunately, Man Niao Niao was waving his torch wildly, sealing the cave entrance tightly, which managed to keep the majority of the wasps from flying in. However, hearing Man Niao Niao cry out in pain repeatedly, I knew he must have taken quite a few hits too.

I thrashed and rolled on the ground, howling in agony. I felt the muscles in my head tightening, my eyes swelling almost shut, and my lips becoming thick and fleshy, my face burning with a painful, scalded flush.

The pain became unbearable. I leaped up, shoved aside Man Niao Niao, who was huddling his rear to protect himself, snatched the torch, and, relying purely on memory, hurled it fiercely toward the blasted hole on the earthen mound. Because my mouth was so swollen it resembled a cooked rice cake, I couldn't open it, so I cursed fiercely in my mind: “I have no quarrel with you in the past or present, why torment me like this? I won’t let a slight go unanswered. Though this is your territory, I refuse to believe it! A small measure does not make a true man; without poison, one is not a complete man! I’ll burn you until your children don't recognize your mothers, and your mothers don't recognize your fathers! I’ll show you what iron pots are made of…”

The torch carved a beautiful arc and, by sheer chance, landed exactly inside the blasted hole. The moment the torch flew in, I saw the upper body of a Mosquito King Wasp, the size of a small piglet, poking out of the hole. Its eyes glared fiercely at me, poised to strike, but it was hit by the sudden torch and recoiled back into the mound in fright. Seeing their “boss” driven back to the lair, the swarm lost the will to fight and promptly drilled back into the mound.

I remained uneasy. Who knew if the Wasp King would return with reinforcements? And what formidable tactics would they employ next time? If even one needle or bite from the King landed on me, no one would remain. It was better to strike proactively and eliminate their arrogance in its infancy than to wait passively to be stung and bitten…