Nie Jiuluo bolted to the side – the same principle as running in curves when fleeing: while the opponent charged straight, she needed to change direction.
Sure enough, after just a few steps, she heard a heavy thud behind her. Nie Jiuluo gritted her teeth and, without looking back, spun around with a sweeping slash: whether she could wound this creature was purely a matter of luck.
Unfortunately, perhaps because she was running too fast or her arm wasn’t long enough, the blade tip swung through empty air about half a meter from the creature’s eyes.
Missing her strike, Nie Jiuluo quickly raised her left hand, shining the flashlight directly into the creature’s eyes, attempting her previous tactic. However, the creature merely blinked and swung its arm violently.
That swing unfortunately knocked her flashlight away. The beam spun circles through the air as it flew, and worse, her left hand went instantly numb from the impact. She almost wondered if some fingers had flown away with the flashlight.
Nie Jiuluo’s mind went blank.
Just then, something struck the creature’s head, not just once but in rapid succession, accompanied by Yan Tuo’s loud shouts: “Hey, hey! Brother Peng, over here!”
Yan Tuo had rushed to the equipment pile and was throwing whatever he could grab. Too weak to lift anything heavy, he could only throw safety helmets, rubber boots, old oil lamps, and such.
Despite the dire situation, Nie Jiuluo couldn’t help but find it amusing: Brother Peng? They were on brotherly terms now?
Though amusing, she knew Yan Tuo was buying her time. While the creature was momentarily stunned, Nie Jiuluo darted sideways to retrieve her flashlight – it was too dark down here, and though holding the light made her a target, without it they’d be blind.
Just as she grabbed the flashlight, she heard a violent rustling behind her. “Brother Peng,” presumably irritated by the bombardment and familiar with Yan Tuo’s voice, temporarily abandoned her to lunge at him. With one bound it scaled the equipment pile, which was too loosely stacked to hold its weight, causing equipment to cascade down the sides.
Nie Jiuluo shouted: “Yan Tuo, hide! Don’t speak!”
While calling out, she switched the flashlight to strobe mode and aimed it directly at the creature.
Though the Di Xiao had excellent night vision, with one eye blinded it couldn’t help being affected. Its nose was also practically destroyed, likely filled with the smell of blood, severely compromising its sense of smell – it could only rely on hearing and light sensitivity to locate its prey.
Yan Tuo dropped flat against the ground, and by luck, the scattered equipment partially buried him, leaving only half his face visible as he caught glimpses of You Peng perched atop the equipment pile.
Given more time and patience, You Peng could have found Yan Tuo, but between its frustration from injury and the maddening strobe light flashing at its side, it couldn’t endure anymore. With a muffled roar, it turned and charged furiously at Nie Jiuluo.
This was exactly what she’d been waiting for!
Nie Jiuluo met You Peng’s charge head-on. When they were about three or four meters apart, she quickly switched the flashlight to maximum brightness, dazzling You Peng’s eyes before throwing it forcefully upward.
Throughout their fight, she’d kept the flashlight in hand, creating the illusion that “where the light is, the person is.” She was certain that You Peng’s injured eye couldn’t distinguish in that instant that the person and light had separated.
You Peng indeed fell for it, pushing off with its hind legs to leap toward the light.
Now!
Nie Jiuluo didn’t stop moving, swinging her dagger upward with all her might in another vicious slash. This time she didn’t miss: the blade tip cut diagonally from You Peng’s left waist up to its right ribs, practically disemboweling it in midair.
Having landed the strike, she didn’t stop to check the damage but continued her charge forward, scrambling up the equipment pile and rolling down the other side. Seeing her descend, Yan Tuo quickly rose to support her, breaking her momentum.
Both crouched behind the equipment pile, panting heavily but silent.
On the other side, You Peng had missed its aerial grab and taken the gut wound, hitting the ground with a rolling impact and letting out an ear-piercing howl.
Nie Jiuluo had never heard such a bone-chilling cry – it was like ten thousand ghosts wailing, making her skin crawl.
Just as she was about to cover her ears, she felt a violent impact on the other side of the equipment pile that made her stumble. Before she could react, Yan Tuo grabbed her right arm: “Run!”
You Peng had gone berserk, first ramming the equipment pile, then using its hands like giant shovels to dig frantically, as if trying to excavate them by force. With its size, its strength was no joke – picks, lamps, helmets, and shovels flew everywhere like rainfall.
Nie Jiuluo fled with Yan Tuo along the edge, but they’d barely covered any distance when an oil lamp struck Yan Tuo’s head, its thin glass shattering everywhere.
Her heart skipped a beat, and just as she was about to ask if he was all alright, something heavy hit her lower leg – it was an iron shovel handle, striking her shin as it whirled past.
Nie Jiuluo’s body jerked in pain, the dagger flew from her hand, and she collapsed to her knees, hands landing in broken glass, dragging Yan Tuo down with her.
The commotion immediately drew You Peng’s attention. Like an agile beast, it charged over with frightening speed.
Nie Jiuluo tried to stand, but her leg wouldn’t respond fast enough, and her body was unable to move it. Looking up, she felt a foul wind and saw darkness descending.
Her heart went cold as she squeezed her eyes shut, certain this was the end – her body would be crushed by this impact.
But the expected crushing force never came. Nie Jiuluo opened her eyes in surprise to see Yan Tuo had grabbed the iron shovel and was holding its head against You Peng’s chest, barely managing to halt its charge.
In the distant flashlight’s beam, Nie Jiuluo could dimly see the shovel’s blunt edge had sunk into You Peng’s chest, dark brown blood pulsing out, but the beast seemed completely fearless of pain as it surged forward.
Even at his strongest, Yan Tuo probably couldn’t have matched You Peng’s strength, let alone now in his weakened state. Though he gripped the handle with all his might, the force still drove him back against the cave wall.
Nie Jiuluo’s mind was roaring – though the handle end was blunt, with You Peng’s strength, another push would drive the wooden handle right through Yan Tuo’s body.
Ignoring her arm’s condition, she used both hands to help Yan Tuo try to push You Peng back, but immediately realized it was futile. In this pure contest of strength, her presence made no difference – she was insignificant.
The knife was lost somewhere, and there was no time to look for it. In desperation, Nie Jiuluo gritted her teeth and reached for You Peng’s blinded eye.
You Peng wasn’t stupid and knew the danger, instantly turning toward her. The shovel embedded in its chest turned with it, and the handle swept around, catching Nie Jiuluo in the waist and sending her flying.
As she was thrown, however, she suddenly saw a rope being lowered again.
Not just a rope – something was hanging from it…
“Hanging” wasn’t quite right – it looked more like something was climbing down, but it wasn’t Yu Rong, it didn’t even look human.
Before Nie Jiuluo could make out what was descending, it had released the rope and shot down through the air like a lightning-quick weasel or precisely launched missile, landing astride You Peng’s neck. It wrapped its hands around You Peng’s head, scratching, biting, and gnawing.
You Peng let out sharp cries of rage, thrashing wildly to throw off this attacker, but to no avail. Though much smaller than You Peng, this creature was incredibly nimble, climbing and leaping about, its sharp teeth and claws targeting You Peng’s wounds. For the moment, You Peng was entangled by it.
The scene resembled a strong man confronting a troublesome monkey – despite their vast difference in strength, neither could gain the upper hand for the moment.
Nie Jiuluo was completely bewildered by this sudden development: who was this now? Mayi? But wasn’t Mayi afraid of Di Xiao?
No time to think about that – the rope was down, and You Peng was temporarily occupied. This was their best chance to escape.
Nie Jiuluo struggled to her feet, her struck leg almost unable to support her weight. Fortunately, Yan Tuo came to help, half-carrying and half-dragging her along while returning her dropped the knife.
The rope now hung to the ground, though without the hemp bag at its end – the previous one had been lost somewhere when she’d thrown it during the landing, and there was no time to search for it now.
The rope would have to do. Nie Jiuluo reached out and tugged it once.
This was their pre-arranged signal – one tug meant to stop.
Soon, the rope stopped descending.
Yes, Yu Rong was up there. Nie Jiuluo grabbed the rope and started wrapping it around Yan Tuo: “You go up first. It won’t be comfortable, but we’ll have to make do…”
Yan Tuo pulled the rope away: “No, you go first. You can barely stand.”
Nie Jiuluo’s hands trembled with tension as she glanced back at You Peng – time was running out, and the newcomer was gradually losing ground.
She spoke quickly and urgently: “Yu Rong is up there. If I go up first, I can’t help much. The two of you pulling me will be much faster than me and her pulling you, understand?”
Even a broken ship has three pounds of nails – however weak Yan Tuo was, he was still stronger than her for pulling people up.
Yan Tuo understood her logic: getting two people up would require two pulls. If Nie Jiuluo went first, Yu Rong would have to pull two people up alone. But if he went first, he could help Yu Rong with the second pull, saving time.
However, with such danger below, she might be dead before he was halfway up.
He shook his head firmly: “No.”
Just then, a terrible scream rang out as the creature was thrown off You Peng, crashing hard against the cave wall. Though it quickly got up and lunged at You Peng again, its movements were notably slower.
“No” my ass, Nie Jiuluo nearly went mad with frustration: “Stop wasting time…”
Yan Tuo cut her off: “A Luo, that thing can climb walls. If we don’t kill it while we have three people, none of us will make it out!”
Nie Jiuluo’s heart froze.
He was right. Yu Rong had been slow in lowering her down, and pulling up would be even slower. You Peng’s climbing speed was terrifying – intercepting them midway would be easy. It wasn’t a question of who went first – either they all escaped, or none would.
Her palm burned – she’d cut it on the glass when she fell, drawing blood.
Nie Jiuluo’s voice trembled: “Yan Tuo, help me over there.”
As they approached, the creature was thrown off by You Peng for a second time, this time violently. It let out a painful whimper upon landing and took two tries to shakily stand up.
What was this thing? Its form was human-like, but its face and claws were beast-like. Whatever it was, it must be Yu Rong’s – it had avoided them and gone straight for the Di Xiao.
You Peng was breathing heavily, and seeming to realize it had enemies on both sides, shifted its position to face both opponents.
Nie Jiuluo gripped the knife in her left hand, drew out the blade, and wiped it across her bloodied right palm. Transferring the knife to her right hand, she asked Yan Tuo quietly: “Do you have any strength left? I want to attack its skull – if you can lift me, we might have a chance.”
You Peng was too tall for her to reach, and with her injured leg, jumping would be difficult.
Yan Tuo remembered Di Xiao’s two weak points – the skull and the seventh vertebra. The skull was easier to strike; finding the seventh vertebra in this tension and darkness would be impossible.
But lifting Nie Jiuluo – in his current state, he wasn’t sure…
While he hesitated, the creature charged again, leaping and bounding to strike at You Peng’s half-opened abdomen. You Peng roared and swung a fist, but the creature dodged nimbly, instead clinging to You Peng’s arm and making it lean slightly forward.
A flash of inspiration hit Yan Tuo: if Nie Jiuluo couldn’t go up, they could bring You Peng down!
With no time to explain to Nie Jiuluo, he ducked down, grabbed the iron shovel from the ground, and charged. As he approached, he held the shovel horizontally, targeting You Peng’s spread legs. He positioned the shovel head behind You Peng’s right leg and the handle against its left knee, then gripped the handle end and levered hard.
He might not have the strength to trip You Peng directly, but he could use leverage – hadn’t Archimedes said with a fulcrum he could move the Earth?
With a thunderous crash, You Peng fell to the ground. Yan Tuo rolled forward, feeling his bones rattling and his vision going dark as the world spun.
After what seemed like ages, he finally caught his breath and stood up.
The distant flashlight was too dim to see clearly, showing only vague shadows. You Peng lay face-down, its limbs seemingly twitching, while the creature wheezed and limped around it.
No one was standing – where was Nie Jiuluo?
Yan Tuo called out uncertainly: “A Luo?”
After a few seconds, a figure rose halfway from near You Peng’s head and shoulders: “Here.”
Her tone suggested it was done.
Yan Tuo let out a long breath and lay back down.
For the first time since being imprisoned here, lying down felt peaceful.
Around midnight, Yu Rong’s car slowly pulled into a small town hotel.
She had to hand it to Nie Jiuluo – too afraid to stay in Yu Tang, or even in nearby counties, she’d urged them to keep driving. They’d only stopped at a few necessary shops for toiletries, clothes, and medicine. It wasn’t until nearly midnight that she finally agreed to find a hotel in this nameless town.
Caution was necessary, but did they need to be this paranoid? It gave Lin Xirou too much credit.
Nie Jiuluo handled the check-in and got the key cards, then guided the car to the back courtyard.
The small hotel was near the provincial highway and usually had good occupancy from drivers, but during the Spring Festival holiday, it was eerily quiet – the huge courtyard was empty.
Nie Jiuluo has three connecting rooms on the first floor. After showing Yan Tuo to his room and giving him the purchased towels, shower gel, and other items, she asked: “After you’re done bathing, what would you like to eat?”
Suddenly back in the bright, clean civilized world, Yan Tuo felt even more awkward and uncomfortable than when he first saw Nie Jiuluo. Avoiding her gaze, he clutched the bag of toiletries and said uncomfortably: “Whatever’s available is fine.”
Nie Jiuluo understood his feelings and left after giving a few instructions. At this hour, restaurants were out of the question, and delivery was impossible, but during Spring Festival, the hotel owner would surely have food stored away – she planned to buy some.
At the front desk, she ran into Yu Rong, who seemed to be foraging for food herself, carrying a large frozen rack of ribs. She looked surprised to see Nie Jiuluo.
Nie Jiuluo looked at the ribs: “For it to eat?”
In the car, when she’d asked Yu Rong what that creature was, Yu Rong had avoided the question, never giving a straight answer.
She did the same now, mumbling vaguely before walking away.
Nie Jiuluo pushed aside her questions and went to the owner’s refrigerator. She chose some hand-pulled noodles, two eggs, some vegetables, and mushrooms, putting them in a small bag. Seeing some pre-cooked soup bones, she sheepishly asked for two pieces.
She wasn’t gifted in cooking, but she could manage noodles. Yan Tuo’s first meal after escape should be hot and include some meat.
The back courtyard had a kitchen for drivers to heat food and cook. Nie Jiuluo entered with her small bag to find Yu Rong thawing the ribs in a large basin of lukewarm water.
She went to the sink, washed and cut the vegetables and mushrooms, and rinsed the pot, but didn’t start cooking. Instead, she brought over a small stool and sat down.
Yu Rong asked curiously: “Not cooking?”
Nie Jiuluo gestured toward the lit room across the way: “He’s bathing. I’ll cook later – if I make it too early, the noodles will get mushy.”
It felt strange – this was the first time in her life she’d waited for a man to finish bathing.
In the sky, a crescent moon hung surrounded by deep navy space, quiet and gentle.
She was so tired. The exhaustion from that intense battle hadn’t faded even after sitting in the car for so long.
Nie Jiuluo stared absently at the moon: “That thing you trained… it was originally human, wasn’t it?”