(This story is purely fictional. To make it feel more realistic, some of the place names mentioned are real, while the people and events are fictional. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. Please do not identify with the characters.)
Torrential rain poured down, washing over the mountainside and forming numerous Small Waterfalls. In a narrow crevice between the rocks, Mo Li curled up, doing his best to press himself as far into the back as possible. The rain had already soaked him from head to toe, but he could not spare any thought for that. Compared to being drenched by the downpour, the threat outside the crevice was what truly terrified him.
Mo Li's body was covered in wounds, some from falls and others from the scratches of sharp claws. As the rain washed over him, blood mixed with the water and flowed away. Mo Li could feel his consciousness gradually growing hazy. The loss of blood and the cold had pushed him to his limit. If not for his overwhelming fear, he might already have passed out.
Although the rain was loud, it could not drown out the deep roar from outside the crevice. The roar was filled with fury and agitation. To Mo Li, it sounded like the howl of a Hell Demon.
Just as Mo Li's body gradually slackened and slid downward from his fading consciousness, an arm covered in brownish-gray fur suddenly reached into the crevice. It grabbed the fabric over Mo Li's right arm. The moment the arm seized him, Mo Li's hazy mind instantly cleared, and he desperately struggled to break free of the hairy hand.
Unfortunately, his opponent's strength was simply too great—far beyond anything he could resist. The arm dragged Mo Li toward the mouth of the crevice, and it looked as though he would be pulled out at any moment.
In desperation, Mo Li braced his body and feet against the mountainside on both sides of the crevice. Growling, he exerted all his strength in an attempt to break free.
Riiip! With Mo Li's efforts, the already-damaged sleeve finally failed to withstand the pulling force and tore apart. The huge hand covered in long brownish-gray hair withdrew from the crevice with a piece of sleeve in its grasp. The tremendous recoil sent Mo Li falling backward, and he slammed into the rock wall at the very back of the crevice.
By sheer coincidence, he struck the back of his head. Mo Li had already been on the verge of passing out, and after his skull hit the rock wall, everything went black. The next moment, he lost consciousness completely.
Mo Li had no idea how long he remained unconscious. When he regained awareness, the first thing he felt was cold rain splashing against his face. Something seemed to have hold of his right foot, and his body was being dragged along the ground.
He struggled to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, clearly the result of the mild concussion caused by striking the back of his head. However, his sight soon cleared. He was no longer inside the crevice but in a forest. Lying on his back, he was being dragged forward, and the friction between his back and the ground sent waves of burning pain through him.
Mo Li shook his head hard, trying to clear it, then looked ahead. When he saw what was pulling him forward, an expression of intense terror appeared on his face once again.
It was a gigantic figure nearly three meters tall. Its massive body was covered in long brownish-gray hair, and its arms were extraordinarily long, with fingers that extended past its knees. Although the torrential rain had concealed most of its scent, Mo Li could still faintly smell a rank, animal odor coming from the hairy giant.
People always reacted instinctively when in danger, and Mo Li was no exception. The moment he saw himself being dragged by the long-haired giant, he reacted immediately—he viciously kicked the hand gripping his right foot with his other leg.
The kick carried considerable force. After being struck, the long-haired giant let out a low growl, and the hand around Mo Li's ankle instinctively loosened. Then the long-haired giant turned around.
Although this was not the first time Mo Li had seen the creature's face, seeing it again still made his heart seem to stop for a moment. It had a huge face covered in long hair. Unlike the brownish-gray hair on its body, the hair covering its face was white. A little brownish-gray was mixed in, but most of it was pure white.
Beneath the curtain of long hair was a pair of enormous blood-red eyes. On closer inspection, they were not much different from human eyes, except that they were far larger, with very little white showing and blood vessels covering them.
Below its eyes was a gigantic nose. It was broad horizontally, taking up nearly a third of the creature's face, and it had almost no bridge. Two huge nostrils blasted white vapor with a wheezing sound.
Beneath that enormous nose was a gaping maw. It was so large that the creature could probably swallow a medium-sized watermelon whole. Each of its crooked, uneven yellow incisors was big enough to be used as a mahjong tile. A nauseating stench of rot poured from its mouth, nearly making Mo Li pass out again.
Perhaps because Mo Li had kicked it, the monster became extremely agitated. After turning around and letting out a low growl at Mo Li, it raised its enormous right arm and smashed it down at him.
The monster's fist was nearly as large as Mo Li's head, and judging from its build, its strength was undoubtedly terrifying. If that punch struck his head, Mo Li had no doubt it would smash his skull apart.
His instinct to survive made Mo Li react once again. Almost the instant the monster's fist came crashing down, he rolled across the ground, narrowly dodging the attack. When the monster's enormous fist slammed into the earth, Mo Li clearly felt the ground shake violently.
Mo Li did not dare linger. After rolling away from the attack, he scrambled to his feet and ran. He had no idea which direction he was going and did not care. He simply ran for his life. At that moment, he had only one thought: escape from the monster as quickly as possible.
Seeing Mo Li try to flee, the monster let out another furious growl. It reached down, grabbed a large rock from the ground, and hurled it at the fleeing Mo Li.
Mo Li did not have eyes in the back of his head. How could he have known the monster would throw a rock at him? By the time he felt the gust of wind behind him, it was already too late. The rock, larger than his head, smashed directly into his back. The tremendous impact drove Mo Li face-first into the ground, burying his entire face in the mud.
The enormous impact made Mo Li's vision go black, and he nearly passed out again. Waves of indescribable pain surged from his back. Mo Li knew the rock had probably struck his spine. With that kind of force, his spine might already have been broken.
Just as Mo Li struggled to stay conscious and keep himself from passing out again, a huge hand grabbed his head and lifted him into the air.
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