The Beginning of Disaster

On the way back to Jiangzhe University, the professor and students began discussing what they had seen and heard at the Xingyan Group base; for many of the students, this visit was a rare and valuable experience.

However, during the conversation, it was unclear who started it, but the group began discussing the recent pet attacks occurring in various regions.

Because Huaxia had relatively strict regulations regarding pets, the large-scale pet attacks that had appeared in other countries around the world had garnered some attention, but the response was limited to everyone putting leashes on their dogs and banning the ownership of other dangerous pets; there were no further measures taken.

Yet, in the last few days, pet attacks had still occurred, and they had broken out in various places within a short period of time.

Furthermore, it was rumored that the aggression of many wild animals had also increased.

Farms had also reported multiple instances of riots among pigs, chickens, ducks, and other livestock.

Among these, the situation in various zoos was the most severe; animals that had originally become docile began to grow irritable and restless, and the zookeepers were unable to calm them down.

In some places, mice were no longer afraid of cats, moving about in swarms.

Sometimes, carcasses of unknown animals would appear on the roads; after analysis, most were found to be the remains of birds and various abandoned pets.

At this moment, one student suggested, "Hey, do you think the rocks and trees on the roads this time might be the work of the animals in the mountains?"

"Sigh, that's actually possible. Maybe there's a bear in the mountains, punching down a tree with every strike, practicing its boxing these past few days."

"Forget boxing, maybe they've even started practicing sweep kicks."

The entire bus of students began to jeer and laugh.

Among them, one student frowned, seemingly deep in thought.

The person sitting next to him gave him a gentle nudge.

"Zhang Shun, what are you thinking about?"

A female student with ear-length hair joked, "Don't bother him, he's probably thinking about rushing back to see his girlfriend. A day apart is like three autumns, right? It's been seven or eight days since we left and came back, which means he hasn't seen her for over twenty years; how could he not be missing her?"

After snapping back to reality, Zhang Shun waved his hands hurriedly.

"That's not the reason. Do you guys remember the news we heard when we were eating at the base cafeteria that day?"

The short-haired girl said, "Is it about that time you were being set up on a blind date by the people at the next table? You young man, you're not being honest, are you? Have you already made contact, and now you're thinking about how to explain it to your girlfriend when you get back?"

Zhang Shun covered his face in embarrassment and said, "Why are you still bringing that up? How could I possibly do that? I'm not just saying this to you, Huang Zhiqiu, do you really not remember? You remember things like that so clearly, yet you forget the important stuff so quickly."

The student sitting next to Zhang Shun, named Cen Kexian, rubbed his chin as if he had suddenly recalled something.

"Are you referring to what those people sitting behind us mentioned that day?"

Zhang Shun nodded.

"Yes, I remember they mentioned that some people had gone missing in Chuilong Town, and most of them disappeared after heading toward the scenic area in the town."

Another girl sitting behind Huang Zhiqiu, named Yu Jin, was scrolling through her phone incessantly. Suddenly, she seemed to see something and spoke up in a hurry, not even bothering to control her volume.

"I'm forwarding a news link to the group chat, everyone, look at the video in the news quickly."

Everyone clicked on the link in the group chat and browsed through it carefully.

As it turned out, this news was released by the authorities of Hehe County, where Chuilong Town was located, and its content was the investigation results regarding the recent disappearances.

In this investigation, some surveillance footage captured strange shadows—they looked like monkeys but were different, because the monkey-like figures displayed in the shadows had a single horn on part of their heads.

As everyone knew, there was no monkey troop in the vicinity with such characteristics, and among all known monkey species globally, none possessed a single horn.

According to the sampling analysis of hair and other remains left at the surveillance sites, the DNA matched that of several nearby monkey troops, and the presence of skin flakes, hair, and other tissues from some of the missing persons showed that the tracks of both parties were highly consistent.

Combined with the frequent animal attacks occurring now, it was preliminarily determined that these disappearances were the result of attacks by the Taihang Mountains monkey troop.

According to the county government report, the government had dispatched police, firefighters, and other law enforcement personnel to carry out twenty-four-hour patrols, with orders to kill any monkey troop found attacking people on sight.

Nearby military units would also set out in one day to conduct a sweep of the animals in the Taihang Mountains near populated areas.

Beyond this, everyone also followed the recommendations under the link to see various types of animal attacks occurring across the country and even globally.

The intervals between these outbreaks were extremely short; in the last three days, it could be said that hundreds of known attacks had broken out across the world every single day.

Before today, there had only been a small amount of rumors on the internet, and most were limited to injuries.

Today, just now, as if by some unspoken agreement, reports of such incidents began appearing all over the world, as if it were a harbinger of something about to begin.

The people on the bus began to discuss the reports in hushed, worried tones.

"Everyone, be quiet for a second, listen to the outside—I think I heard a wolf howl."

A slightly sturdy student stood up, pointed a finger out the window, and shouted.

The bus fell silent instantly; other than the occasional sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves blown by the breeze, there was no other sound to be heard.

"Gao Mingyuan, don't try to scare us; we were just talking about animal attacks, and now you're pulling this."

A thin student looked at Gao Mingyuan with a skeptical expression.

"Yeah, yeah, Gao Mingyuan, did you actually hear it clearly?"

The other students sitting next to Gao Mingyuan questioned him one after another.

"Didn't you guys hear it? It's still howling now, isn't it? Although the sound is indeed quite faint."

Gao Mingyuan looked embarrassed and a little bewildered.

Suddenly, another long-haired girl with brownish-yellow tips exclaimed, "I heard it too, and it feels like the sound is getting louder."

Because a portion of the Xingyan Group personnel were no longer with them, the group of over thirty people from Jiangzhe University only needed one bus to return, and Lin Chenxing, Jin Zhenwei, and the others were also seated on this vehicle.

Upon hearing the students' discussions, Lin Chenxing and Jin Zhenwei exchanged a tacit glance. Jin Zhenwei nodded, and Lin Chenxing stood up, walking straight toward the driver.

Jin Zhenwei also stood up, facing everyone on the bus, and said, "For the sake of safety, I have decided to delay our journey and return to the Chuilong Base of the Xingyan Group. Everyone, please notify your families so they don't worry."

After speaking, Jin Zhenwei slowly sat back down, took out his phone, and began reporting the situation to the university.

The vehicle successfully made a U-turn. After driving for a short distance, more than a dozen giant wolves suddenly charged out from the woods near the spot where the bus had turned around. These wolves were generally larger than normal wolves, with dark red markings on their bodies and slightly crimson eyes.

One of the wolves was slightly larger than the others, roughly the size of a motorcycle, with a tip on its tail that also shimmered with a hint of blood-red—this was what distinguished it from the rest of the pack.

A student sitting at the back of the bus glanced behind them, their face turning deathly pale in an instant, and they hurriedly shouted, "There, there are wolves!"

Although everyone had their suspicions, hearing this cry caused their hearts to tighten. Several students and professors even began to shout, "Quick, drive faster!"

As the bus began to accelerate, that giant wolf tilted its head back and let out a howl.

Following this, the pack of wolves beside the giant wolf began to chase after the bus along the road.