Eerie Cave (Part 1)

Watching the Yeti draw closer and closer, Mo Li felt a chill rise in his heart. He clearly remembered the image of a Yeti crushing a Bengal Tiger to death with a huge rock at the foot of the mountain. He had fought one of these creatures before as well, and their aggression was simply too strong. In his current condition, how was he supposed to deal with this Yeti's attack?

Of course, Mo Li was not the type to resign himself to death. As long as there was even the slightest hope of survival, he would fight for it. Gripping the handle of his climbing pick with his left hand, Mo Li reached toward his lower back with his right. When he felt the grip of his sidearm, the panic in his heart finally settled somewhat. Hanging from the mountain wall, he was almost at a one-hundred-eighty-degree angle to the Yeti, and it was approaching from his left. Even if he drew his gun with his right hand, he would have to turn around before he could aim at it. That was where he had miscalculated.

The instant Mo Li touched his gun, he realized his mistake. He should have drawn it with his left hand. But the Yeti was already nearly in front of him, and there was no time to switch hands. Gritting his teeth, Mo Li decided to risk it. He pulled out his sidearm, kicked hard against the ice wall with both feet, and swung out using the reaction force. At the same time, his body spun one hundred and eighty degrees in mid-air, and the gun in his right hand pointed directly at the Yeti's head within reach.

At such close range, Mo Li believed there was no way he could miss. As long as the bullet hit the Yeti in the head, even if it was thick-skinned, it could not possibly withstand it.

But just as Mo Li was about to pull the trigger, an extremely discordant sound suddenly came from above his head. It sounded like something shattering. In that moment, Mo Li forgot all about firing and jerked his head up toward the source of the sound. What he saw filled him with despair: a large number of cracks had appeared in the section of ice wall where the climbing pick was embedded. As the cracks multiplied, the ice wall finally broke apart. The climbing pick came loose, and Mo Li felt a sudden weightlessness as his whole body began sliding down the slanted ice wall.

Because Mo Li was still in the middle of turning and his entire body was hanging in the air, when the climbing pick came loose and fell, he slammed heavily against the ice wall. The violent impact made him release his grip on the gun, and his sidearm dropped straight down.

"This is it!" As he slid downward, that was the only thought in Mo Li's mind. From a height of several hundred meters, if they hit the ground, the three of them were certainly dead.

Just as Mo Li was drowning in despair, he suddenly felt the rope around his waist tighten. He had actually stopped sliding. Mo Li looked up and saw that the Yeti had grabbed the rope. It blinked its huge eyes and stared at him with a strange expression.

"Damn it! Can't I even die by falling? Do I have to be eaten by this monster?" Seeing the Yeti holding the rope, Mo Li felt no joy whatsoever. He might not be falling to his death now, but landing in this Yeti's hands was worse than dying from the fall.

The Yeti held the rope and stared at Mo Li for a while. Then, it actually dragged the Mo Li Trio sideways along the ice wall. The slick, smooth wall seemed as easy as flat ground to the Yeti and did not hinder it in the slightest.

Hanging in mid-air, Mo Li could not use any strength in his limbs. Zhong Lichun and Wei Dengke had both fainted, leaving him completely helpless. He could only let the Yeti drag the three of them along. As for where it was taking them, Mo Li had no idea.

The Yeti carried Mo Li and the others sideways along the ice wall for a full hundred meters before beginning to climb upward. Since there was no way to break free anyway, Mo Li simply watched the Yeti. After observing it, he noticed that this one was somewhat different from the one that had attacked him. Its fur was a paler color, the white hair on its head was thicker, and for some reason, Mo Li felt that this Yeti did not seem quite as ferocious.

Through observation, Mo Li finally understood why the Yeti could move across the steep, slippery ice wall as if it were flat ground. Its fingernails and toenails were long and extremely tough. While climbing, they could pierce into the ice wall, allowing it to move rapidly across the surface. Perhaps this was evolution brought about by living creatures adapting to their environment.

The Yeti climbed to the top of the ice wall at incredible speed while carrying the Mo Li Trio, as though it did not care at all about their combined weight of over four hundred jin. However, the Yeti clearly was not very intelligent. It simply tugged the rope and ran forward, making Mo Li and the others suffer terribly along the way. They frequently crashed into protruding ice cubes and rocks. Zhong Lichun and Wei Dengke were already unconscious, so at least they could not feel the pain. Mo Li was the unlucky one. By the time they arrived, his clothes had been worn through from all the bumps and collisions. He was actually starting to envy Zhong Lichun and Wei Dengke for having fainted.

After climbing up the ice wall, the Yeti dragged the Mo Li Trio for another full kilometer before finally stopping. By then, Mo Li had been battered so badly that he was dizzy and completely disoriented.

Since it was night, he could not even make out any change in the light. He could only feel that the bone-piercing wind around him had suddenly disappeared, though he could still hear the wind howling.

Once he no longer felt the tugging force, Mo Li shook his head hard to clear his muddled mind. Then he pushed himself upright and looked around in confusion. This seemed to be inside a cave, but it was pitch-black all around, and he could only make out a vague outline.

After dragging them inside, the Yeti released the rope and went deeper into the cave without doing anything to them. Mo Li warily got to his feet, but after being dragged and battered all the way here, even that small movement made his entire body ache.

After moving his limbs a little, Mo Li felt his way through the darkness toward Zhong Lichun and Wei Dengke. Fortunately, they were still tied to the climbing rope, so even without being able to see, he could follow it to find them.

He reached Zhong Lichun first and felt around with his hands. In the pitch darkness, he had no idea exactly where on Zhong Lichun he had touched. All he knew was that it felt soft. However, perhaps because she had been unconscious for too long, Zhong Lichun's body was somewhat stiff, and her temperature was very low. Judging from her breathing, though, she was not in serious trouble. After resting for a while, she should wake up.

After confirming that Zhong Lichun was okay, Mo Li continued feeling his way along the rope toward Wei Dengke. When he reached Wei Dengke, Mo Li reached out and touched him. The moment his hand made contact, his heart skipped a beat. Wei Dengke's body was ice-cold and extremely stiff all over. Mo Li frowned and instinctively reached for Wei Dengke's face. When he touched Wei Dengke's nose, Mo Li was completely stunned—Wei Dengke was not breathing.