Bloodthirsty monster

The night was as dark as ink, the vast starry sky like a huge black velvet cloth, dotted with countless glittering stars, like diamonds scattered across the night, shining with captivating brilliance, breathtakingly beautiful. The Big Dipper and Polaris, like two bright lamps in the night sky, echoed each other from afar, shining brightly in the heavens. The line connecting them, like an invisible thread, precisely pointed the direction—the ancient, enormous meteorite, slumbering in some unknown corner, waiting to be awakened, to rekindle its light dormant for hundreds of millions of years.

Along this invisible thread, carrying excitement and anticipation, a group of young Gongshu clansmen embarked on their journey to seek the extraterrestrial meteoric iron. They probably never imagined that this expedition would be so smooth. When they truly stepped into the peculiar geographical landscape surrounding the meteorite, the scene before them shocked them, and also thrilled them!—This, was the treasure trove they had dreamed of! The "land" darker than the night, under the bright moonlight, reflected shimmering light, like a calm lake, mirroring the beauty of the starry sky. The falling snowflakes had already covered the grassland, covered the Gobi Desert, but only in this area, not a single snowflake could be seen, as if the snowflakes had been absorbed by this mysterious land, appearing so abrupt, yet so conspicuous, so unique! This, was far easier to identify than any terrain they had ever explored!

"This is it! It must be here!" The young men's hearts pounded with excitement, they exchanged glances, and could see in each other's eyes an unspeakable excitement and exhilaration. They were absolutely certain that this was the end of their journey! They quickened their pace, running towards the mountain range, their hearts full of anticipation and longing.

However, they did not know that danger and death, like beasts lurking in the dark night, were silently, stealthily, approaching them...

"What's wrong with this animal today? It's usually so obedient, why is it so stubborn and unwilling to step onto this black earth? I've whipped it, I've pulled the reins, but it's still defying me! We've never encountered such a strange situation along the way." The youngest member of the six complained anxiously.

The leading man's thick brows were furrowed, he carefully observed the restless horse, the horse pawed the ground uneasily, making anxious neighing sounds, it seemed to be full of fear for this black earth, no matter how the man whipped and drove it, it would not move an inch.

The man said in a deep voice: "Better safe than sorry. In wilderness exploration, the most taboo thing is to ignore the reaction of livestock. They are often more sensitive to danger than humans. Let's camp here by the horse." He looked around and found a huge rock not far away, estimated to be no more than eight hundred steps away. "It's good that the boulder is not far from us, let's divide into two groups. Second and Third, you two are the best at rock climbing, you will go with me to survey that rock wall. The rest of you three will be responsible for setting up camp and making a fire. To deal with sudden dangers, we will use the torches in our hands as signals, and check each other's situation every half an hour—swinging the arm in a circle means everything is fine, swinging it horizontally means danger."

The six brothers were all well-trained, and immediately took action after receiving the leader's instructions. Second and Third took out ropes and climbing tools from their packs, and followed the man towards the boulder. The remaining three began to busy themselves setting up tents. They moved quickly and tacitly, as if they had rehearsed countless times, and soon set up the camp.

"Second, watch your step!" The leading man, with his thick brows tightly locked, stood at the foot of the boulder, holding the climbing rope tightly in one hand and a torch in the other, looking up at the second man climbing on the smooth rock wall, and instructed worriedly, "This rock wall is very slippery, you must be careful! Figure out its texture, and make marks along the texture, and we will rely entirely on the marks you make to split this boulder later!"

"Don't worry, boss! You don't trust my skills?" Second's voice came from the rock wall, with a hint of confidence and a hint of banter, "The texture of this rock is really rare! It looks like the growth rings of an old tree, the central texture is dense and dense, and the further out it goes, the sparser it becomes. But this texture is straight and long, not curved or bent, and the thickness is very even, just like a skilled craftsman, drawing parallel lines on a blueprint with a pen! It feels so smooth, it's unbelievably smooth, just like a baby's skin!" At this point, he paused, changed his tone, and shouted towards the top of the boulder, "I said, Third, don't just look at the scenery, be careful under your feet! Your second brother's little life is in your hands, haha..."

"Second brother, just watch me! I, Third, have no other skills, but I have a lot of strength! With your weight, let alone tied around my waist, even if you hang on my arm, it's like playing!" Third, standing on the top of the boulder, had a loud laugh like a bell, his legs were as thick as two wine barrels, and his belly was like a thick city wall. At this moment, he was acting as a "human tree", firmly fixing the climbing rope, allowing Second to climb the rock wall with peace of mind.

An hour later...

"Third, give me a hand, let me take a break! I can't hold on anymore!" Second, hanging on the smooth rock wall, was already panting heavily, his hands began to tremble slightly, he shouted to Third above, his voice with a hint of exhaustion. However, after waiting for a long time, there was no response from the top of the boulder, as if Third had disappeared.

"I said, Third, why don't you move a bit! Don't just look at the scenery!" Second was a little impatient, he shouted again, "When drinking, you are more energetic than anyone else, why are you like a wooden stake now, motionless? You...you..."

His voice stopped abruptly, as if something had choked his throat, and he could no longer make any sound. His eyes widened instantly, filled with horror, his body began to tremble slightly, a chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He struggled to look up along the climbing rope, trying to see what had happened.

A huge black shadow blocked the bright moonlight, covering the entire top of the boulder in shadow. Under the shadow, Third's figure seemed so small, so helpless, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Third's neck was tightly bitten by a bloody mouth, his whole body hung in the air, motionless, life and death unknown. Then, the huge black shadow shook its head violently, and Third's body was thrown around like a rag doll, struggling weakly.

A cold, sticky liquid, like a heavy rain, poured down on the man's face, blurring his eyes, making him unable to open them. He subconsciously wiped his face with his hand, and in the faint moonlight, he saw that the back of his hand was covered with dark red liquid, mixed with some sticky saliva.

"It's blood...it's blood! A bloodthirsty monster!" The man instantly felt a chill from head to toe, a great sense of fear surged into his heart, he could no longer remain calm, and cried out hoarsely.

Worse still, because the climbing rope had not been untied, the violent shaking of Third by the monster also affected the man on the rock wall. He was like a broken flag, thrown around disorderly and randomly, his body constantly hitting the hard rock wall, the huge force almost knocked him unconscious. He felt as if his internal organs had shifted, and the pain was unbearable.

However, this was not over yet! Even more terrifying was that there was not just one giant monster! Just a hundred steps away, another one was eyeing him, running towards him on all fours at an alarming speed. The monster was like a huge gecko, with amazing grip, and could actually run vertically on the steep rock wall of the mountain range with such a huge body, as if walking on flat ground! Its scarlet eyes were staring at the man, as if it had seen some delicious prey, full of greed and desire.