I couldn't tell you what material these robes were made from, but judging by their dark, thin luster, they seemed to be crafted from high-grade silk.

That wasn't the point, though; the crucial detail was the faces of these beings. They were elongated, particularly the chin, which featured a fleshy protrusion like a growth, making their entire visages profoundly strange. Their skin was a deep, abyssal blue, and their eyes were immense; within the stark black irises, there was no discernible pupil. Their noses were flat with tiny nostrils, and their mouths held a disturbing curve, perpetually set in what seemed to be a smile.

To my eyes, these creatures resembled itinerant street performers, masked and balanced atop stilts. If a living thing genuinely looked this way, it wasn't human; it had to be a specter.

I quickly dismissed the idea of them being street performers. First, why would street performers arrive here to put on a show, and for whom? Second, one of the long-faced oddities, as it passed the wreckage of the cabin where I hid, executed a movement that no stilt-walker could possibly manage.

It bent over, its massive, vacant eyes peering into a rupture in the hull of the cabin.

I dared not move, remaining tucked away in some shadowed recess, my neck stiff as I stared up at that colossal eye.

The giant eye scanned the area for a moment, never quite focusing on me. Perhaps the gloom was too thick; it hadn't seen me.

I thought to myself that if my small bonfire hadn't died down and wasn't currently emitting wisps of smoke, I would have instantly betrayed my presence there, and a cold sweat broke out on my skin.

Just as I was thinking this, the long-faced grotesque withdrew its head from the hull and, with deliberate, enormous strides, followed the several companions ahead of it, moving onward.

Only after they had gone a considerable distance did I finally exhale the breath I had been holding, wiping the cold sweat from my brow.

Straightening up, I remembered that this wasn't the first time I had encountered such things. I had seen these long-faced monstrosities before, depicted in the shifting patterns of the mural within the Golden Hall.

I vividly recalled the gruesome scene where they sliced the flesh off that middle-aged man piece by piece, preparing it as medicine for those afflicted by the plague.

I simply hadn't expected such bizarre entities to have survived until this day.

Looking out through the tear in the hull, I could still see those towering silhouettes continuing their march forward.

The destination they were heading towards was marked by a plume of black smoke rising high into the sky—clearly the site where that aircraft had just crashed.

I grew curious: why would these beings rush out the moment they heard a plane crash? What was their objective?

So, I quietly slipped out of the cabin, cautiously surveyed my surroundings, and then hurried after them.

Of course, I couldn't match the pace of those figures towering over three meters tall, but luckily, they all stopped when they reached the wreckage.

The crash site was roughly two or three hundred meters from my position.

I moved covertly, using available cover to approach the scene, and soon I was only twenty or thirty meters away.

I found cover behind the massive smokestack of a sunken vessel and cautiously peered out from behind it to observe the situation ahead.

It was then I saw the incredibly tall, long-faced beings lifting a person out of the aircraft's cockpit.

The individual wore a helmet and was covered in blood; his body was still twitching spasmodically, and his breathing was ragged. It was evident he had sustained grievous injuries from the impact of the crash and was close to death.

The long-faced entities laid the severely wounded pilot flat on the ground, watching him with utterly blank expressions.

One of them produced a piece of white cotton cloth from who knows where and was meticulously wiping the blood flowing from the pilot's abdomen.

Another carefully unfastened the pilot's clothing while holding a transparent, syringe-like object.

I watched, completely bewildered, as my initial thought shifted: these long-faced freaks seemed intent on saving the pilot.

Keeping my posture still, I watched the proceedings, and sure enough, after the long-faced one injected the transparent fluid from the syringe into the pilot's arm, the man's breathing immediately steadied, and his pained twitching ceased.

I observed the grotesque beings take some wide, black strips of cloth and press them over the pilot's wounds, then re-dress him.

Throughout this procedure, the pilot remained in a state of deep unconsciousness, utterly oblivious to everything.

After tending to the pilot, the long-faced entities dragged another body out of the plane.

This second person's limbs were limp, showing no sign of breath, and the blood had soaked his dark blue jacket, making the sight utterly horrifying.

It was clear this person had likely perished from excessive injury.

Thus, the long-faced beings did not attempt resuscitation. Instead, they all turned their backs to the corpse and formed a circle.

I saw them murmuring repeatedly, as if chanting some kind of spell to usher the deceased soul to the afterlife.

However, after chanting for a while, the long-faced monstrosities extended their hands, their eyes fixed on the distant horizon, seemingly awaiting something.

Feeling perplexed, I followed the direction of their gaze into the distance.

After a brief interval, I began to hear the chittering calls of the spectral flames echoing from afar.

Then, from every entrance of the various caverns, countless plumes of spectral green fire erupted, rushing toward this location, gradually coalescing in the air to form a colossal sphere.

I realized this sphere wasn't composed solely of spectral fire; there seemed to be a substantially large, dark silhouette darting within the core of the flames.

I was astonished that these spectral fires would respond to the summons of the long-faced beings.

The immense ball of fire spun, slowly descending.

A wave of scorching heat swept down from the sky, raising the ambient temperature by several degrees, and I could faintly feel a sheen of sweat forming on my brow.

When the gigantic ball of fire reached a certain altitude, it suddenly emitted a cacophony of disjointed chirps, scattering outward.

It was then I clearly saw, within the vast sphere of fire, a massive, dark shape clumsily beating its wings as it flew.

Once the swarm of wing-beasts dispersed, the shadowy form was fully revealed.

Seeing its sheer black wings, its eagle-like talons, its head like that of a bear, and its entire body draped in black fur that rippled violently, for a moment, I thought I was looking upon the great dragon of Western legend.

But as this thing gradually lowered itself from the sky to the ground, I noticed the fur was absent on its enormous ears, and its snout resembled that of a sow, dripping greedily with saliva. Instantly, my previous assumptions evaporated.

This creature was, after all, nothing more than an unusually large bat.

I observed two patches of bare skin on the forehead of this gargantuan bat, between the black fur, which were smeared with what looked like dried blood plasma. Suddenly, I recalled the fire-spitting monster that Wu Laoban and I had encountered previously—it must have been this very large bat.

Those two marks on its head were the residue of the shots fired from Wu Laoban's pistol.

It seemed that bullets weren't incapable of wounding it, but its skull must be incredibly hard, preventing them from delivering a fatal blow.

This colossal bat was likely the leader of the spectral fire swarm.

Gauging its size, I finally understood how the spectral flames could manage to transport such enormous amounts of sustenance.

Upon landing, the giant bat emitted two raspy squeaks, and wisps of flame and smoke curled from the corners of its mouth, creating a highly unsettling sight.

Those strange, long-faced beings displayed profound reverence toward the giant bat, each bowing their heads in salute.

The bat appeared quite agitated, roaring at the long-faced figures a few times and expelling a string of tiny flames before finally using its snout to gently nudge the corpse on the ground, positioning it upon its back.

Then, the immense bat bellowed a few times, beat its wings, stirring up a fierce gust of sand and wind, preparing for departure.

However, just at that moment, my legs, having been crouched for so long, began to ache. As I attempted to straighten a leg to relieve the discomfort, I inadvertently stepped on a shard of scrap metal behind me, producing a distinct clink.

This small sound immediately drew the attention of all the long-faced beings and the giant bat.

I instantly broke out in a cold sweat, freezing half-crouched behind the smokestack, trying desperately to keep myself hidden from view.

But clearly, the bat's sense of smell and its ultrasonic detection capabilities were formidable.

Suppressing my breath, I heard the massive wings begin to flap as the creature took flight, its trajectory aimed directly toward my location.