The Golden-Winged Roc

"I... am I still alive?" Huang Xiao did not know when he had regained consciousness, but when he came to, he found himself in a pool. Fortunately, it was shallow; otherwise, even if the fall had not killed him, he would have drowned.

After climbing ashore, Huang Xiao checked himself over and found wounds all over his body. They were only superficial injuries, though, and were not much of a problem.

"Zhang Ma?" Turning around, Huang Xiao saw Zhang Ma floating facedown on the surface of the pool. He was clearly dead.

Huang Xiao recalled what had happened during the fall. He and Zhang Ma had plunged off the cliff together, but he had still kept Zhang Ma tightly restrained. Perhaps it had been luck. Zhang Ma had been beneath him as they fell, so when they struck the branches and bushes growing out of the sheer cliff face on their way down, Zhang Ma had borne the impacts. Huang Xiao had suffered little more than scrapes.

Those things had cushioned their fall, and there had been the pool at the bottom as well. Of course, the main reason Huang Xiao had survived was that Zhang Ma had cushioned him with his body, while Zhang Ma himself had breathed his last.

Crack! Huang Xiao looked down, and a chill immediately rose in his heart. He had stepped on and snapped a bone that seemed to be human. Looking around, he discovered quite a few human bones scattered haphazardly across the bottom of the cliff. After a moment's thought, he understood. These people had probably all fallen from above and died here.

I have to find a way out, Huang Xiao thought. Although he did not believe in ghosts or monsters, he still felt uneasy in a place like this.

Whoosh! Suddenly, Huang Xiao heard something whistle overhead. When he looked up, he caught a vague glimpse of an enormous dark shape sweeping past.

"What was that?" Huang Xiao's heart tightened. The thing had moved too quickly for him to see it clearly, but he had made out one thing: whatever had swept over his head was enormous.

"Could it really be some ghost or monster?"

Just as Huang Xiao was wavering in alarm and doubt, the enormous creature gave a clear, resounding cry.

Before Huang Xiao could recover, the dark shape plunged down from the sky.

Frightened, Huang Xiao stumbled back several steps, caught his foot on a stone behind him, and fell to the ground.

"It's huge..." Huang Xiao stared at the giant golden bird towering before him.

Indeed, it was an enormous eagle-like bird covered in golden feathers, and its deep crimson eyes were looking down at Huang Xiao.

What kind of bird is this? Could it be the Golden-Winged Roc described in books? Huang Xiao silently wondered.

The Golden-Winged Roc stood over thirty feet tall, and its spread wings spanned seventy or eighty feet. Huang Xiao was a tiny speck before it.

Huang Xiao dared not make the slightest movement. Looking at the Golden-Winged Roc's enormous talons, especially their cold, glittering sheen, he was certain that a casual swipe would tear him to shreds.

Fortunately, just as Huang Xiao was at a loss over what to do, the Golden-Winged Roc beat its wings and flew away.

Huang Xiao watched it land in a cave a few hundred feet above the bottom of the cliff. Only when the Golden-Winged Roc's figure disappeared into the cave entrance did he breathe a sigh of relief and stand up.

It looks like it's spared me, Huang Xiao thought. Still, whatever the case, he had better leave this place as soon as possible.

"What a lovely fragrance!" A breeze blew past, and Huang Xiao's nose twitched as a delicate fragrance drifted into his nostrils.

He hurriedly searched everywhere for the source of the fragrance. After spending quite some time, Huang Xiao finally spotted a bush growing out of the sheer cliff face several hundred feet above, not far from the Golden-Winged Roc's cave. Two grape-sized fruits, yellow tinged with red, hung from one of its branches.

"The fragrance must be coming from those two fruits." Huang Xiao had found no other source for the scent apart from the two fruits before him.

"Although I'm a little hungry, even if I could pick those two fruits, they wouldn't fill my stomach, never mind how high up they're growing." Huang Xiao smiled helplessly. The fragrance had made him realize he was hungry.

What kind of fruits are they, anyway? I've never seen them before. Could they be the Rare Flowers and Exotic Fruits recorded in books? Huang Xiao thought. He suddenly recalled the enormous Golden-Winged Roc. A roc that large was something he had only ever read about in books. Exotic beasts were certain to guard such flowers and fruits; surely that had to be it.

At this thought, Huang Xiao felt tempted by the two fruits, but he merely entertained the idea. If he actually went to pick them, and they really were wondrous fruits guarded by the Golden-Winged Roc, he would probably have nothing ahead of him but death.

"Don't be greedy. Don't be greedy..." Huang Xiao warned himself, then cast the thought out of his mind.

As Huang Xiao searched for a route out from the bottom of the cliff, he also looked for something to fill his stomach.

Thud! Suddenly, something fell at Huang Xiao's feet with a loud impact.

Huang Xiao stopped abruptly and looked down. A wild rabbit lay at his feet, though the fall had reduced it to a bloody mess. It seemed this cliff had swallowed not only many people, but mountain beasts as well.

"Perfect. Now I have a meal." Although the rabbit before him was a bloody mess, it was still edible.

Carrying the rabbit, Huang Xiao headed toward the pool along the way. At the very least, he needed to wash it clean.

"Ow!" A sudden pain shot through the sole of Huang Xiao's foot. He hurriedly lifted it to look and discovered that his shoe had been sliced open, and there was a cut on his sole as well. Fortunately, the wound was not very deep.

Huang Xiao crouched to inspect the ground and discovered a golden dagger. Most of its blade was buried in the dirt, with only a section of its tip exposed.

Huang Xiao dug the dagger out of the soil and carefully examined the golden weapon in his hand. It must have been here for some years, as moss had grown on its blade. Yet he could see no trace of rust at all, and it did not look as though it had been forged from iron. Its golden color made it look as though it was made of gold, but after testing its sharpness and hardness, Huang Xiao was certain it was not gold either.

Huang Xiao merely pressed the dagger lightly into a nearby rock, and the blade sank effortlessly inside, leaving only the hilt exposed.

"Godslayer!" After pulling the dagger out, Huang Xiao saw two small seal-script characters on its blade: "Godslayer."

"So this dagger is called Godslayer. Godslayer? What an arrogant, overbearing name!" Huang Xiao chuckled, though he was certain this dagger was no ordinary weapon.

For Huang Xiao, however, the dagger was just the thing to dress the rabbit he was holding.

Without a fire starter, Huang Xing had no choice but to find dry branches and start a fire by drilling wood.

Watching the rabbit meat glisten with fat over the campfire and smelling its mouthwatering aroma, Huang Xiao found himself even hungrier. He pried open the rabbit's skin and flesh with the dagger and found that it was cooked through, then cut off a hind leg and began gnawing on it with relish.

Before long, he finished off the hind leg in his hand. Just as Huang Xiao was about to cut off the other one, a strong wind suddenly rose, and the Golden-Winged Roc appeared beside the campfire.

Before Huang Xiao could react, it swallowed the rest of the rabbit roasting over the campfire in a single gulp.

Huang Xiao blinked and stared blankly at the Golden-Winged Roc. He had no thought whatsoever of resisting this giant bird.

After eating the rabbit, the Golden-Winged Roc seemed to savor it for a while. Then it lowered its head and gave a soft cry toward Huang Xiao before returning to the cave above.

Of course, Huang Xiao did not understand what the Golden-Winged Roc was trying to express. Still, it was getting late, and he planned to get a good night's rest and look for a way out in the daylight tomorrow morning.