One has to marvel at the peculiar nature of humanity; even in this absolute darkness, once the eyes adjust, it doesn't seem so black anymore, and due to the extreme concentration of spiritual energy, the senses are honed to their limit, allowing me to actually perceive the vague shadows before me.

The neatly cut edges of the recess where we hid, the jagged, strange stones within the cave, the sharp stalactites hanging from the ceiling—all of these began to take shape as shadows before my eyes.

I once asked *him how he developed his night vision. He initially claimed that during his time in the military, when food was scarce, he ate frogs whole, eyes and all, and over time, this developed into night vision.

Of course, I didn't believe that eating frog eyes could grant night vision. I figured it must have been from executing frequent night missions while in Special Forces, leading to the gradual acquisition of night vision.

This situation felt somewhat similar to my current predicament.

I blinked, and the scene before me gradually became clearer, though I still hadn't seen anything moving outside.

Just as I was about to lose patience, I suddenly spotted something about the size of an ox's head emerging slowly from the ground near the opening of our recess.

Gradually, I could make out that it was indeed the head of an animal, but not an ox, as there were no horns on its head.

It kept its head buried in the ground, seemingly sniffing something with its nose; its movements resembled those of a dog.

I had never seen such a large dog; its head alone was the size of an ox. How massive must its body be? I could hardly imagine.

Boss Wu had clearly noticed something as well, slowly reaching into his pocket for something.

Knowing he was reaching for his gun, I quickly pressed down on his hand and whispered, "Don't draw your weapon, it's dangerous."

Boss Wu seemed surprised and asked, "You can see me?"

I nodded in affirmation. "Yes."

Boss Wu was silent for a moment, then murmured, "It seems I underestimated you. You truly are an extraordinary person, to be able to see in such complete darkness."

I responded somewhat helplessly, "I'm no marvel; it's just... I ate too many frog eyes, so my night vision is a bit better."

Boss Wu inquired curiously, "Frog eyes? They have that effect?"

I didn't tell him it was a joke and remained silent, focusing my gaze on that bizarre dog-like head.

After a short while, Boss Wu spoke again, "Well? Is there something out there?"

To avoid speaking too much and attracting the animal's attention, I replied simply, "A dog."

"A dog? What kind of dog?" Boss Wu's voice was also kept very low.

I looked at the creature, intending to tell Boss Wu that it was a very large dog.

But as the animal's body gradually revealed itself to me, the words caught in my throat.

Because although the head was enormous, the body was not as large as I had imagined.

Furthermore, it lacked the four upright limbs of a dog; instead, its four limbs were spread flat on the ground, resembling a human's posture somewhat.

Yet, calling it human felt inappropriate because there were two sharp protrusions on its shoulders, almost like it was wearing some sort of specialized gear.

Strangest of all, on the back of this strange thing, it appeared to be carrying something humanoid.

I stared at it, puzzled.

This thing, too, seemed to have sensed our presence. Its head slowly turned towards us until it faced me directly.

Then, its entire body arched up like a startled cat.

I watched as its body grew taller and its limbs slowly straightened, lifting its whole mass until it reached a height of over two meters before stabilizing, instantly resembling a tall, imposing humanoid figure.

I was nearly stunned, thinking, what kind of monster could change so dramatically?

After it stopped transforming, the head remained perfectly still, staring at me, emitting a faint, sickly green luminescence from its eyes, which appeared especially eerie and terrifying.

I genuinely had no idea what this thing was, only feeling a chill crawl down my spine, instantly struck by a sense of foreboding.

However, the creature seemed to be assessing something further; the cluster of pointed, dog-like ears on its head twitched slightly, as if listening intently to the surrounding sounds.

I thought to myself that we absolutely must not make any noise now, or this monster, already in an aggressive stance, could lunge at us at any moment.

But just then, Boss Wu beside me whispered again, "What is it? What kind of thing is it?"

I flinched violently and immediately clamped a hand over Boss Wu's mouth.

But it was too late. I saw the ears on the monster's head twitch once more, and then its face slowly split open, as if a lid had been lifted from a furnace, revealing a seam from which firelight spilled out.

I knew that was its mouth, but I had never seen anything whose mouth could contain a ball of flame.

Simultaneously as the fire ignited in its maw, the creature's two eyes lit up like electric bulbs, shining with a ghostly green light.

Since there was light, Boss Wu clearly saw the massive silhouette blocking the exit and was instantly dumbfounded, rendered speechless.

I hadn't expected this fellow to be so easily frightened. I shook his shoulder and urged, "The gun! Draw your gun quickly!"

Boss Wu didn't follow my instructions. He turned to look at me and said, "Quiet down, there's someone behind me; I can't move."

I was shocked, thinking, how is that possible? I hadn't seen anyone come in earlier. Could there have been someone here all along that we missed?

But I had no time to worry about the person behind Boss Wu; the monster at the exit had already opened its huge mouth and lunged toward us like a small whirlwind.

Seeing the flames spitting from its mouth and realizing its incredible speed, I quickly reached for the gun at Boss Wu's waist.

I snatched the weapon out and aimed it directly at the monster's head.

After this sequence of actions, the creature had lunged right in front of us, its mouth gaping wide like a hippopotamus, allowing the flame inside to illuminate a mouthful of jagged, saw-like teeth.

I thought, a bite from that thing would be disastrous! I hurriedly pulled the trigger.

Click!

The gun didn't fire bullets as I expected; it seemed to have jammed.

"It's not loaded!" A cold dread washed over me as I understood the problem. I immediately swung my right fist toward the monster's head.

With a thud, my fist struck the creature's head, forcing it to recoil.

But at the very same moment, fire erupted from the monster's mouth, setting my right sleeve ablaze.