Chapter 066: The Rapid Growth of the Wild Child

Even someone like Fatty Bi, who claimed to have witnessed many grand occasions, was now utterly terrified. He cried out in alarm, “Oh my god! Why is there a skull here?”
Fatty Bi’s shriek echoed through the silent space, sounding like a pig being slaughtered—piercing and deafening.

Inside the cockpit, the two men stared at a corpse. The flesh had long since decayed, leaving only a skull and a loose skeleton. Clumps of spider webs hung from the bones of the chest, and shriveled shells of insect eggs were scattered below. From the rusted helmet still clinging to the skull, it was not hard to deduce that this must have been the pilot of the plane.

Just as they reeled in shock at the scene before them, Li Tianque noticed the shadow of death darting swiftly, closing in fast behind Fatty Bi. Li Tianque was ready for this, suspecting that Wu Liangjin intended to launch a sneak attack while they were distracted by the macabre sight within the cockpit.

With a sudden move, Li Tianque lunged toward Fatty Bi, reaching both hands behind him. “Eighty volts!” Electric light crackled as a torrent of current shot from Li Tianque’s hands, enveloping the would-be assailant behind Fatty Bi in an instant.

A blood-curdling scream rang out, the sound strange and muffled as if the person’s mouth was full. Within the blue electric blaze, the figure convulsed violently. Li Tianque saw the shadow collapse to the ground, and in the final moment before the electric shock took effect, a wet tongue flicked over, brushing against Li Tianque’s face.

There was no doubt—the fallen man was Wu Big Tongue, the one who had tricked Yang Tianshu into entering the mountains.

Fatty Bi, still uncertain about what had happened, saw that Li Tianque had subdued their attacker and rushed forward, sitting down hard on Wu Liangjin’s hands. Despite his size, Fatty Bi was agile, swiftly locking Wu Liangjin’s wrists. Wu Liangjin let out a scream, and a slender dagger dropped from his grasp.

“Please… spare me… have mercy…” Wu Liangjin pleaded, his tongue lolling awkwardly.

Li Tianque approached, shining his flashlight directly onto Wu Liangjin’s ghastly pale face. “You must be Wu Liangjin—the so-called Master Wu?”

Wu Liangjin tried to shield himself from the blinding light, but found himself powerless, continuing to struggle in vain. With the disparity in size between him and Fatty Bi, his efforts were no more effective than a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

“Yes, yes, that’s me… Brothers, how do you know me? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Listen to me, no matter what grudges we have, there’s no time now. That thing is coming—we have to get out of here, fast!”

“What thing?” Li Tianque pressed.

Wu Liangjin ceased his futile struggles and said helplessly, “It’s a child. The child has lost control, gone mad, and is eating people! If he catches us, none of us will survive!”

“A child…” Li Tianque’s brow furrowed. “The child you’re talking about—is it Yang Tianshu?”

Wu Liangjin froze, then quickly looked as though he’d had a sudden epiphany, realizing why these two had come.

“Uh… I don’t know any Yang Tianshu. I’m just an ordinary mountain guide, earning a living the way my ancestors did. I came to this rocky mountain just to get by. I never expected to meet a crazed kid here—he really will eat us!”

The terror on Wu Liangjin’s face was so genuine, it was impossible not to believe him.

“Eat people? You saw him do it?” Fatty Bi asked.

“Of course! He just ate one a moment ago! Wait—right, the guy he ate was wearing clothes just like yours!” Wu Liangjin squinted at the logo on Fatty Bi’s shirt. “Rapid Response Rescue Team… Yes, the guy’s shirt had those exact words!”

Hearing this, Fatty Bi snorted, sat forward and grabbed Wu Liangjin’s collar, his eyes blazing. “What did you say? The person who got eaten had this logo?”

Wu Liangjin’s breathing grew more labored, his tongue in an awkward position, so he struggled again, saying helplessly, “Yes, yes, and we’re really out of time!”

Li Tianque was about to ask if Wu Liangjin had seen Wu Miaoran, but just then, he noticed the shadow of death hovering above Wu Liangjin’s head begin to move. It was about ten meters away before, but now it had descended at least two meters.

Clearly, Wu Liangjin’s end was near.

Meanwhile, the three of them felt a violent tremor where they stood. Smoke suddenly billowed from the stone wall nearby. Li Tianque quickly shifted his flashlight toward the source of the vibration, and saw the wall had split open with a massive crack, smoke pouring out.

The earthquake in the mountain hadn’t ended; at the second tremor, even the wreckage beneath their feet began to shake.

“It’s over! We’re out of time!” Wu Liangjin’s eyes were bloodshot, his tongue flicking toward Fatty Bi.

Fatty Bi was already furious, gripping Wu Liangjin’s slippery tongue and roaring, “You Big Tongue, did you really see my companion die? What did he look like?”

Wu Liangjin’s eyes were veined red, almost in tears, begging, “Brother, let me go first, we can talk as we run! That thing is about to break through the wall!”

Li Tianque sensed things were getting dire and said to Fatty Bi, “Brother Bi, let’s retreat for now. If your friend really ran into trouble, there’s nothing we can do now—everything will have to wait until we get back.”

“Retreat? Hell no! Old Wang can’t be dead. Damn it! You Big Tongue, you’re spouting nonsense!” Fatty Bi gripped the tongue even tighter.

“Yes, yes… Brother Fatty, you’re right, I’m talking nonsense, I deserve to die. Let’s run, or none of us will get out! Maybe I was mistaken—maybe you all wear red shirts and I thought you were together. I didn’t see your logo, I saw nothing. In this pitch-dark place, what could I have seen anyway…” Wu Liangjin pleaded, his tongue flapping awkwardly.

Li Tianque reached out to pull Bi Youqian, speaking sternly, “Brother Bi, we really don’t have time. Let’s get out now!”

“I won’t run! If Old Wang is dead, I’ll fight this Big Tongue to the end! I’ll make him pay with his life!” Fatty Bi was beside himself with rage.

“Huh? Your friend came here to die himself, and it wasn’t me who ate him. Why don’t you take revenge on the real killer instead of venting your anger on me? Forget it, brother, spare me—let’s run! I must have been mistaken, your friend must be alive—jumping around, singing and dancing, living it up… Please, let me go!”

Wu Liangjin was on the verge of collapse.

Li Tianque saw that Fatty Bi was completely losing control, knew he could not persuade him, and time was desperately short. He raised his thousand-volt gauntlet and said in a low voice, “Brother Bi, this is getting critical. If we don’t leave now, none of us will escape. He knows this place far better than we do. I need him to lead us out—if you won’t let him go, I’ll have to use force!”

End of chapter.