Escaping Death (Part 1)

(This story is purely fictional. To highlight realism, some place names mentioned in the story are real, while the names of people and events are creations. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental, and readers are advised not to associate themselves with it.)

The torrential rain poured down, washing over the cliff face and forming small waterfalls. In a narrow crevice, Mo Li curled up, pressing himself as far back into the opening as possible. The rain had soaked him through, but Mo Li couldn't afford to care about that. Compared to being drenched by the rain, the threat outside the crevice was what truly terrified him.

Mo Li's body was covered in numerous wounds, some from falls and others from sharp claws. As the rain washed over him, blood mixed with the water and flowed down. Mo Li felt his consciousness beginning to blur. The excessive blood loss, coupled with the cold, had pushed him to his limit. If not for the extreme fear, he might have already passed out.

Despite the heavy rain, it couldn't drown out the low growls from outside the crevice. These growls were filled with anger and ferocity, sounding like the roars of a demon from hell to Mo Li's ears.

Just as Mo Li's consciousness blurred and his body began to go limp and slide down, a furry, brown-grey arm suddenly reached into the crevice and grabbed the fabric of Mo Li's right sleeve. Suddenly being caught by this arm, Mo Li's hazy consciousness instantly cleared, and he desperately tried to break free from the large, hairy hand.

Unfortunately, the other party's strength was too great, so much so that he couldn't resist at all. Mo Li's body was being pulled towards the outside of the crevice by this arm, and it looked like he was about to be dragged out.

In desperation, Mo Li braced his body and feet against the sides of the crevice. To break free from the hand, Mo Li grunted and exerted all his strength.

With a rip, under Mo Li's efforts, the already tattered sleeve finally couldn't withstand the tearing force and was ripped apart. The large, brown-grey furry hand retracted out of the crevice, holding a piece of sleeve. Mo Li, due to the immense counterforce, leaned back and slammed directly into the rock face at the very back of the crevice.

This impact happened to hit the back of Mo Li's head. Mo Li had been on the verge of fainting before, and after this collision, the back of his head hit the rock face. The next second, Mo Li's vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Mo Li didn't know how long he had been unconscious. In any case, when he regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was the cold rain falling on his face, and his right foot seemed to be held by something, and his body was being dragged across the ground.

He tried to open his eyes, but his vision was blurry, clearly due to the slight concussion from hitting the back of his head earlier. However, Mo Li's vision quickly cleared. He was no longer in the crevice but in a forest. Lying on his back, he was being dragged, and the friction between his back and the ground caused a burning pain.

He forcefully shook his head to clear his mind and looked ahead. When he saw what was dragging him forward, Mo Li's face once again showed an expression of extreme fear.

It was a massive figure, nearly three meters tall, with a sturdy body covered in long, brown-grey fur. Its arms were extremely long, with fingers that reached past its knees. Although the heavy rain masked most of the scent, Mo Li could still faintly smell a fishy, foul odor emanating from the large, furry creature.

When people are in danger, they always act instinctively, and Mo Li was no exception. Upon seeing himself being dragged by this tall, furry creature, Mo Li reacted immediately. He used his other foot to fiercely kick the hand of the furry creature that was gripping his right foot.

The kick was not weak. The furry creature let out a low growl after being kicked, and the hand holding Mo Li's ankle instinctively loosened. Then, the furry creature turned around.

Although it wasn't the first time he had seen this creature's face, Mo Li felt his heart skip a beat when he saw it again. It was a large face covered in fur. Unlike the brown-grey fur on its body, the fur on its face was almost entirely white, though mixed with some brown-grey strands.

Beneath the fur were a pair of blood-red eyes. Upon closer inspection, these eyes were no different from human eyes, but they were much larger, with very little white visible and filled with bloodshot veins.

Below the eyes was a massive nose, wide and horizontal, occupying almost a third of the face. It had almost no bridge, and two large nostrils puffed out white mist, making a hissing sound.

And beneath this enormous nose was a gaping maw. This mouth was large enough to swallow a medium-sized watermelon whole. Its row of uneven, yellow teeth looked like they could be used as mahjong tiles. A sickeningly rotten smell emanated from this mouth, making Mo Li almost faint again.

Perhaps because Mo Li had kicked it, the monster was extremely agitated. After turning around and letting out a low growl at Mo Li, the monster raised its massive right arm and slammed it down towards Mo Li.

One must remember that this monster's fist was about the same size as Mo Li's head, and judging by its physique, its strength must have been terrifying. If that punch were to hit his head, Mo Li had no doubt that his head would be crushed.

The will to survive made Mo Li react again. Almost at the same moment the monster's fist came down, Mo Li rolled on the spot, narrowly dodging the monster's attack. When the monster's massive fist hit the ground, Mo Li clearly felt the ground shake violently.

Mo Li didn't dare to linger. After dodging the monster's attack with a roll, he got up and ran. He didn't care which direction he was running in, he just ran with all his might. He had only one thought: to escape from this monster as quickly as possible.

Seeing Mo Li trying to run, the monster let out another angry growl and then reached down, grabbed a large rock from the ground, and hurled it at the fleeing Mo Li.

Mo Li didn't have eyes on the back of his head, so he had no idea the monster was throwing a rock at him. By the time he felt a strong gust of wind from behind, it was already too late. The rock, which was a full circle larger than his head, hit him squarely in the back. The immense impact sent Mo Li sprawling onto the ground, his face buried in the muddy earth.

The tremendous force made Mo Li's vision go black, nearly causing him to faint again. An indescribable pain shot through his back. Mo Li knew that he had likely been hit on his spine, and with such immense force, his spine might have been broken.

Just as Mo Li was struggling to stay conscious and not faint again, a large hand grabbed his head and lifted him up.