Carnivorous Creatures

After seeing the frantic effort to save the life of the fat man, the rest of the Bamboo Sprouts, notably the weak-willed young men and women, turned pale.

It was impossible not to think that these people around them would just ditch them in the same way that they had abandoned the big guy in front of their eyes.

As a consequence of reaching that decision, they were more cautious around the others, and the march that had come to a standstill was quickly resumed once the body of the fat guy was dumped 50 meters away from the spot.

"Damn, that pig didn't have anything noteworthy on him. Having nothing more than a lump of rock in his possession. Sigh, that was to be expected; after all, how could a fatsoo like him have accomplished anything worthwhile in his previous game? Having a rock seems to be a good fit for him, given that they are similar in appearance." The bushy middle-aged guy, who was traveling at the front of the group, ruthlessly commented on the recently dead man when he saw a tiny bulge in his medical apparel.

After barely 100m of walking, the whole group of people was startled by the sound of a yapping sound coming from above them, which was becoming louder by the second.

Whoosh--!

All of a sudden, a gigantic vulture with a 15-foot wingspan rushed down towards the ground, accompanied by his brethren who stayed close to him.

"Are those birds? No. They're vultures! But how did they get to be so big?" Julian was the first to discover these creatures since despite being in the front he had been tense the whole time since this desert had been stressing him out with every step he made.

Yap Yap Yap

As the big vulture's beak pierced the fat man's torso and consumed the flesh in a second, there was no time to blink. And as soon as they saw their boss eating, they followed suit and began to consume food themselves. In contrast, the other vultures engaged in fierce competition for bits of flesh, which they consumed while they struggled.

Not for long, though, as the fat man's body quickly devolves into a bloody mass, rendering him unrecognizable.

As the vultures ripped the fat man's carcass, those at the back of the group watched in horror as the birds devoured it with such ferocity that they were rattled to their very core.

"Take a step back! Avoid getting too near to them!" Bull instantly yelled to the rest of the group as he pondered how he might terrify these gigantic birds into flying away.

"Julian. Aren't those vultures? Is it common for them to grow to that size?" Bull expressed himself gravely.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid not. Vultures with wingspans of 6 feet and higher are very unusual, let alone vultures with wingspans of at least twice that size. There has to be something wrong with this godforsaken desert," Julian responded right away.

"It seems like you have made a discovery; what exactly did you find?" Bull called for the other Mother Bamboos to congregate, and as soon as they saw the signal, they hurried to Julian's side to hear what he had to say.

"First and foremost, it appears that this desert's temperature is astronomical; as I even started to feel that these desert's temperature is rising by the second, and by now, it has reached at least the temperature of the Death Valley in eastern California, which is around 50 degrees Celsius, and it won't be long before it reaches the highest at 56 degrees Celsius," Julian remarked this while eyeing his fellow Mother Bamboos.

When the other Mother Bamboos heard those words, they were horrified, and their looks were filled with fear.

"Second, this desert has got to be huge. As per the information contained in the Hidden Book, they are separated into several regions. As a result, it is correct to claim that there seem to be numerous kilometers between the Western Desert and the Southern forest, and I am not even considering our pace while making this statement. Our journey to the destination would take us a long period of time if we just walked from where we were."

"So you're saying that we should just stay here in the Western Desert and set up camp in the shade? But how would we get enough food to ensure our survival? This location is completely barren." While pushing his spectacles higher on his nose, a scholarly young man asked.

"What I'm trying to say is. The Western Desert seems to be a far more perilous environment than the southern forest. Not only is there a scarcity of food, but the animals within are also much larger than their counterparts in the outside world. The vultures in front of us, in particular, had a sunken face and a thin physique, suggesting that they are toward the bottom of the food chain since they seem to have been famished for days. Furthermore, vultures in particular are superb hunters, since they can discover a cadaver within 24 hours after being alerted to its presence. As a result, it must infer that there are more terrifying monsters lurking in the desert, otherwise, how can you explain why they haven't fed in days?"

"Hold on a sec. You're implying that this area is much deadlier than the rest of the regions? Then, do you have any contingency plans for dealing with this situation?" Bull came out swinging straight away.

"In a nutshell, I believed that it was the safest course of action if we were coursing through the desert with huge groups of people, but I was clearly mistaken. Considering the fact that more humans are equals to a large meal to a deadly predator. And that's without taking into consideration the folks who are already dehydrated and frail, making even walking a challenge. If we take that into consideration, it just serves to diminish their odds of survival even more." Julian expressed himself gravely.

As soon as Bull heard the response, he quickly remarked, "Let's not confront this subject right now; let's return to this issue when we're in a safe spot." Bull hissed, his hands tightly clutching Julian's shoulder as he surveyed the Bamboo Sprouts with his penetrating gaze.

"As far as I'm concerned, our lips are sealed, right guys?" When Bull looked at him, the scholarly young man gasped and turned his sight away from him, instead focused on the others.

"Yeah, we'll keep it quiet," The rest of the Bamboo Sprouts instantly answered in unison, but Anna had second thoughts about abandoning the others, As she gazed anxiously at his teacher.

On seeing that expression, the bushy middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders and whispered in low tones,

"Let us follow the others; for the time being. Since I currently don't have any position to voice my opinions here since the bulk of them have already agreed, but I'll see what I can do."

As soon as Anna heard his teacher's response, she turned her head to the side and saw the frightened stares of the Bamboo Sprouts watching at the vultures' wreaking havoc.

....

While Bryan, who was on the opposite side of the group, peered at the terrible sight in front of him, he suddenly felt his heart sink, and he whispered to Sophia,

"I think we should remain with the group for the time being, and let's not follow out that plan of yours since I don't believe it's the appropriate time to do it."

"How about we do it at night?" Sophia suggested.

Bryan gave a little nod of agreement.

Meanwhile, the vultures, upon realizing that their meal had already been consumed and that tens of them were still hungry, as well as the fact that they had not tasted a delicious piece of meat in days, increased their desire to consume even more food as they stared at the crowd of humans with their reddish eyes.

When the vultures locked their gaze on them, those who were looking at them felt their hearts skip a beat and a chill go down their spines, and they all instinctively took a step back after witnessing those fearsome stares.

"All of you stop and stand your ground! Animals can detect weakness and will always go for the kill if they believe they would be easy prey." Shouted a curly-haired middle-aged man, as he was in the back of the group, and was at the first row in confronting the vultures.

"Oh, crap! These idiots are all blocking my way; I can't get away now! Otherwise, I'll be the first one to die! Please, please Lord, find me someone with monkeys for brains who would back up my claims."

"He is right! Everyone! Scream as loudly as you can! And stand your ground to make them go away!"

Someone within the Bamboo Sprouts instantly screamed to boost their spirit as they battled the vultures less than a second after hearing that response.

"Wholly! Fuck! Thank goodness there are still uneducated morons like him wandering around the world."

When the curly-haired middle-aged man feigned to shout in order to seem brave, he sighed a sigh of relaxation into his heart.

His voice even crackled at times, much like the rest of the group, which was rather amusing. However, as they screamed their first battle cry, the curly middle-aged man felt a wave of weakness sweep through his body and the bodies of everyone else, as their dehydration was accelerated.

Upon hearing that thunderous roar, the vultures were startled, cranking their necks in hunger towards the source of the sound, and in a swift motion straightforwardly bolted their entire bodies going in the direction of the humans.

Seeing that their shouts weren't working, all of them immediately became scared after seeing those massive birds sprinting their way, and as they were about to run away, a booming voice at the curly-haired middle-aged man rang through the hundreds of humans.

"What part of this do you not understand?! We're all going to die if we flee! Now, fucking Shout with me again and frighten these stupid birds away!"

Hearing those enraged yells, the people in the rear instantly came to a halt and yelled once more.

Get the hell out of here, you bastards!"

"Don't get any closer to me or I'll kill you!"

"You think I'm afraid of you? I've fucking murdered tons of birds in my life, and if you don't go fuck off this instant, you'll die!"

Suddenly, a barrage of curse words rang out in the crowd as well as they performed their second war cry as they roared in unison.

It seems that it was successful, as the vultures came to a halt 20 meters away from the curly-haired man, and upon realizing that it worked, the curly-haired guy immediately shouted,

"Don't stop! Keep shouting! It's working! Just keep shouting!"

Upon seeing that the flock of vultures came to a halt, the crowd's morale rose, as they once again did their third war cry.

"That's right, quit or I'll turn you into stew!"

"Hahaha. It seems that you damn birds know what's good for you!"

"This isn't even my full power; I could do this all day."

The crowd immediately became euphoric, clutching their hands in triumph.

"Whoosh"

But all of a sudden, a massive creature descended from the sky and pecked the curly-haired man, causing his head to split open.

Upon seeing that his prey is dead. The humungous vulture devoured the brain matter in utter enjoyment at the same time twisting his neck in at the terrified humans.