Though we desperately wanted to understand what manner of thing haunted this place, there was no need to risk danger, and since Grandpa and the others hadn't come here, our priority was catching up with them now.

So, I patted *, and said, "Let's go. I've collected this specimen; we can study it back later. I don't think we should linger here."

agreed, rising to his feet, re-sheathing his machete into his boot, then pointing ahead and saying, "We have no choice but to cut through the mushroom thicket, or we'll have to take a long detour."

Thus, the two of us pressed on, circumventing the pile of Yu corpses before plunging back into the jungle of fungi.

Unexpectedly, the mushroom cluster on the opposite side of the corpse pile was even taller and denser than the direction we had come from. However, we soon noticed something unusual.

Many thick stalks of mushrooms had been snapped cleanly in the middle, and the breaks looked startlingly fresh.

Moreover, I discovered a fine, grayish-brown powder clinging to the severed stems and the edges of the caps of those broken mushrooms—residue left by something else.

The powder carried a distinctive, pungent odor that instantly made our heads swim slightly.

covered his nose and cursed, "Damn it, what is this stuff?"

I covered my nose too, then smeared a bit of the powder with my finger to examine it, but I couldn't identify what it was, though it was certainly left by some kind of animal.

Looking at the scene before us, I conjectured that a fierce chase must have just occurred here, very likely the animal haunting this area ambushing Grandpa's party.

Just then, two distinct shots rang out nearby: "Crack! Crack!"

"Quick! Let's see what's ahead!" reacted faster than I did to the sound of gunfire and was already sprinting forward.

I hurried to follow, dashing deeper into the mushroom thicket.

The wind whizzed past our ears as * and I covered about a hundred meters in a short time.

I saw that the mushrooms ahead were growing sparse; we were clearly nearing the edge.

At that moment, * ahead of me suddenly halted. Fortunately, I knew he had such tendencies, so I stopped abruptly too, avoiding a collision.

"Quick! Turn off your flashlights..." * whispered to me, quickly switching off his own beam.

Once I had extinguished mine, * tapped my shoulder, signaling me to crouch down.

We concealed ourselves behind a mushroom stalk as thick as a water vat and peered out.

Above us and to the side, several beams of flashlight beams danced. In the hazy light, I glimpsed a dozen figures clinging to the cavern wall, their lights sweeping the overhead entrance of the tree hollow.

Someone was cursing loudly, someone else was reloading a rifle, and others, covered in blood, were groaning while clutching their wounds—it was utter chaos.

"Old Man, hold the ladder tight! Watch out above, that thing is climbing!" a deep, booming voice cut clearly through the din.

I recognized it as Da Xiong's voice and looked his way.

Da Xiong was positioned at the highest point, his massive, bear-like frame braced against the wall, holding a long weapon, aiming into the darkness somewhere high above him at an angle.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, both * and I clearly heard something flapping its wings somewhere in the pitch-black ceiling, creating a tremendous sound.

Whatever it was, it must have been large; the displaced air from its wings caused the enormous mushrooms on the ground to sway slightly, sending clumps of dry grass and debris fluttering around.

Da Xiong, occupying the highest perch, waved a hand and shouted, "Everyone, watch out! It’s coming!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden, fierce gale erupted from above, and a colossal black shadow shot out of the darkness at incredible speed.

Da Xiong spat out a curse, "Damn it, will you never quit!"

Then he squeezed the trigger, and a tongue of flame shot out toward the creature, which was five or six meters long.

As Da Xiong fired, the people below also pulled their triggers, illuminating the night sky with seven or eight streaks of fire that impacted the creature’s body.

But the creature emitted no roar. Instead, it exhibited a bizarre reaction that stunned everyone present.

Unidentifiable parts of its body suddenly flared with a cluster of eerie red light, and then its entire form lit up; countless red spots coalesced into a pattern resembling a human face.

I quickly made out an extremely distorted human visage, roughly four meters wide and five meters long, with huge, hollow eyes, its mouth stretched wide to its limit, as if intending to swallow the dozen people below.

"What the hell is that thing!" Da Xiong yelled, his whole body trembling.

The creature looked extremely enraged and directed its entire mass toward slamming into Da Xiong—a blow that would surely crush him into paste.

But just as the monstrous wind roared, unstoppable, Da Xiong didn't panic. He cursed "son of a bitch," released his grip with both hands, and dropped straight down from the height.

He had only slid down two or three meters when the monstrous, ghastly face slammed into the tree wall with a Pang! The sound of splintering wood, accompanied by a shower of wood chips, burst forth, causing a noticeable tremor across the entire ground.

The sheer force of the impact drowned out everyone else’s voices. I held my breath for Da Xiong.

About three seconds later, Da Xiong yelled from below the creature, "Son of a bitch, I’m fine! Old Man, hold the vine tight, don’t fall! Leave this thing to me!"

Only then did I clearly see that Grandpa and the others had ascended by climbing the vines hanging down the cavern wall. Da Xiong had slipped down two or three meters along the vine just in time to evade the impact.

As he spoke, the creature that had struck the tree dimmed its light and vanished back into the darkness.

Da Xiong hastily aimed his flashlight beam upwards, but it caught nothing; clearly, the creature, realizing its strike had missed, had already flown up again, melting back into the shadows.

"Quick! Climb up, we’re almost at the boardwalk!" Da Xiong commanded with authority.

Saying this, every one of them scrambled desperately up the vines.

Through the beams of their flashlights, I saw the boardwalk Da Xiong mentioned—a wooden walkway built along the curved tree wall, spiraling upwards.

However, the structure looked utterly dilapidated, with only the section directly above them appearing relatively intact. The lower parts must have long since collapsed, which was why Da Xiong's group needed to climb the vines first.

In the darkness, we couldn't discern where the end of the boardwalk led, but it must conceal something Grandpa desperately sought, which was why they had endured such hardship and risked their lives to reach this spot.

The top of the tree hollow above our heads was about fifty meters above the ground. Da Xiong and his group had climbed about twenty meters and were still five or six meters short of the overhead boardwalk.

The group climbed desperately, fearful that the creature from the darkness might attack again.

But they hadn't climbed more than a few meters before the eerie sound of flapping wings resonated again nearby, this time at a much higher frequency, indicating much greater speed.

The people clinging to the wall seemed to realize this attack was different and quickly froze in defensive positions, but it was too late.

A flash of red light suddenly appeared in the darkness, and a needle-like object, as thick as a bowl, shot out, instantly piercing the chest of one man clinging to the rock face.

It moved faster than a bullet, giving no one a chance to react.

The man pierced through the chest didn't even manage a scream before he was dead.

The needle then retracted with extreme speed, preparing for another strike.

The victim of the attack seemed to have been completely drained; his body was withered and skeletal as he slumped helplessly from the vine.

As the body fell, I saw some powdery substance scatter from him in the air, raining down.

Recalling some of the creature's known characteristics, a jolt went through me, and I turned to * saying, "I think I know what that thing is!"

rarely showed interest in anything, but now he turned his head to look at me and asked, "What is it?"

I paused, "I’m not certain yet. You’ll know soon enough."

Hearing this, * suddenly looked as if he wanted to choke me to death.

By this time, Da Xiong's group had successfully reached the boardwalk and were running desperately upwards along the circular wall.