TRCP 217 PART 2

CHAPTER 217 PART 2

With fewer trees, the view became much wider, and the snow became considerably thicker. As far as the eye could see, it was a vast expanse of white, and the world was eerily quiet.

Someone laughed, “There’s nothing in this restricted zone. We were really scaring ourselves for nothing.”

Rong Lan said coldly, “Be quiet.”

The person clicked their tongue and quickly shut up.

Mr. Sun also said, “Pass it on, no loud talking. The snow on the mountain is thick. Beware of avalanches.”

They continued forward. Once they crossed this mountain, they would be very close to the Puppet Jade. With victory in sight, despite having walked all day, everyone was still full of energy and picked up their pace.

They hadn’t gone far when Cong Xia’s heart suddenly tightened. An extremely powerful energy suddenly appeared without warning, pressing down on him so hard he could barely breathe. His expression changed instantly.

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“R esd’v jdso, kv’p…”

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Ubw Dkdtgbsw pzyrrle Pwsfk byae yde ydtakzu pyke, “Reksv, pbwv wr!”

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Ya. Fwd ulzzle, “Swd!”

Everyone turned and ran down the mountain.

Even though everyone here, both human and animal, had strong physiques, no one dared to challenge an avalanche. Depending on the terrain, avalanches could reach speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour, equivalent to the speed of a high-speed train in pre-apocalypse China, and could exert a force of forty to fifty tons per square meter on any object in its path. Imagine being hit head-on by a high-speed train. No creature on Earth could withstand such an impact. They had to run far enough to allow the avalanche’s force to dissipate along the way to have a chance of surviving.

Compared to those running on the ground, those flying in the sky had a significant advantage, following the crowd at a leisurely pace, ready to rescue anyone who might be buried by the snow.

Everyone ran desperately, almost no one daring to look back. The feeling of a four or five-meter-high wall of snow chasing them wasn’t pleasant. They couldn’t outrun the snow. After running for more than four hundred meters, the rolling snow engulfed them with a loud boom.

At the critical moment, Cheng Tianbi and others erected walls to partially block the snow. The impact was transferred to the evolved humans with nature abilities, causing them internal pain, almost making them vomit blood.

The moment the snow hit, Chu Xingzhou lifted a group of people near him into the air. This group was the luckiest, completely unharmed. Those further away weren’t so fortunate; some were directly buried alive.

Those flying in the sky started pulling people out of the snow, and those who could still move also helped dig out their companions.

After much “rescue” work, everyone and all the animals were finally dug out of the snow. Fortunately, although some were injured, none were seriously hurt.

Chu Xingzhou slapped Duoji’s head hard, “I told you not to bark loudly.”

Duoji lay on the ground, seemingly aware of its mistake, burying its large head in the snow and whimpering.

Cong Xia wiped his sweat. “But what was that just now? Did anyone see anything on the mountaintop?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Duoji might not have seen anything, but its more acute senses had picked up something.

Zhuang Yao said, “I got information from Abu’s mind. It told me something was very dangerous just now.”

Cong Xia smiled wryly, “The pressure from that energy was comparable to a third-level nature ability user. It was indeed dangerous.”

Mr. Sun murmured, “What could it be? A creature?”

Cheng Tianbi looked at the still white mountaintop and said, “Whatever it is, we’ll find out if we go up and take a look.”

After that life-or-death sprint, everyone was still shaken. If there were creatures on the mountain, was this a warning to them? If so, it was quite effective.

After resting for a while, they started up the mountain again, but this time they were much more cautious, constantly paying attention to their surroundings. The journey was as eerily quiet as before, as if the life-threatening scene they had just experienced was merely an illusion.

This time, it took them three hours to reach the top. The sun had already set, and it was pitch black around them. It was no longer suitable to continue, so they set up camp and lit a fire at the highest point of the snowy mountain, preparing to wait until dawn before moving on.

Cong Xia drank hot water, staring unfocused at the dancing flames, his heart full of worry.

Cheng Tianbi handed him a baked barley cake. “What are you thinking about? Eat something.”

Cong Xia said gravely, “I’m thinking about the energy I felt today. It didn’t seem far from us, and it just appeared suddenly. Then it disappeared after the avalanche. What could be so strange?”

Tang Yanqiu said, “I didn’t sense anything that wasn’t part of our group. However, it might not have entered my radar range.”

Zhuang Yao said, “If Duoji hadn’t barked and triggered the avalanche, what would it have done…”

Cong Xia also muttered to himself, “If it was just a single creature, what could it do against such a large group like ours?”

Zhuang Yao pondered for a moment, then slowly uttered two words: “Ambush.”

Everyone’s heart tightened.

The next moment, without warning, that heart-pounding energy fluctuation struck again! Cong Xia jumped up abruptly and shouted, “Watch out for an ambush!”

Before anyone could react, several muffled cries came from the group.

A golden light flashed above their heads. Rong Lan illuminated their surroundings as bright as day. He shouted, “Something’s there! Everyone be careful!”

Tang Yanqiu was the first to see a tiny black dot flash past. He shouted, “There!” The black dot was only the size of a fist and incredibly fast. He drew his bow to shoot, but the black dot was weaving through the crowd, and shooting would inevitably hit someone, so he reluctantly lowered his bow.

Shen Changze ran over. Even with his enhanced vision, he couldn’t see as clearly as Tang Yanqiu. He could only see a black shadow with a long tail trailing behind it, the afterimage left by a creature moving too fast. He simply swept out a fierce flame.

The black dot was fast, but Rong Lan was faster. A golden light shot towards the black dot with lightning speed, a sharp laser beam slicing through its body.

The black dot fell into the snow with a thud.

Cong Xia quickly enhanced his vision and saw a path being pushed through the snow from below, extending rapidly into the distance. It was clear something was escaping underground.

Rong Lan didn’t pursue, stopping where the black dot had fallen. He picked up a blackish object from the snow pit.

Everyone gathered around, wanting to see what creature was so terrifying that it could injure so many people in an instant.

Rong Lan said, “Step aside and let Mr. Sun take a look.”

“Yes, let me see.” Mr. Sun squatted down first, and the other brain domain and nature ability users also gathered around the pot, carefully examining its contents.

It was a palm-sized creature, shaped somewhat like a rat, but with black wings. It had sharp fangs, claws that looked like human hands, and ears bigger than its head. What was this thing? A complete chimera. It had been split in half by Rong Lan, but the other half had escaped, which meant this creature could still live even after being cut in two. So, was this half still alive?

Chu Xingzhou extended his hand. “Don’t move, I’ll do it.” He touched the creature, which remained motionless. Just as Chu Xingzhou was about to pry open its eyes, it suddenly opened them, jumped up, its head suddenly doubling in size, opened its mouth wider than a human’s, and lunged for Mr. Sun’s neck! It was so fast that everyone was caught off guard.

In that critical moment, Chu Xingzhou stretched out his hand and sucked. A black vortex appeared in his palm, and the creature was forcibly sucked into the black hole in his hand.

Recovering from the shock, everyone was speechless for a moment.

Mr. Sun, not even concerned for his own safety, grabbed Chu Xingzhou’s hand and asked urgently, “Xingzhou, can you get it out?”

Chu Xingzhou said, “No, once it enters the black hole, it’s completely gone.” He took a deep breath. It seemed this move consumed a considerable amount of energy, which was probably why he hadn’t used it much before.

Mr. Sun was extremely disappointed.

Li Dao’ai said gravely, “What was that thing? It looked like a rat and a bird, didn’t die even after being cut in half, and its head could instantly enlarge.”

Everyone had the same question as Li Dao’ai, but no one could answer it.

Cong Xia gritted his teeth, “Is this a restricted zone creature?” If the restricted zone creatures could all change their body size at will and were so fast, it was no wonder Rong Lan and Chu Xingzhou hadn’t seen anything. Such a small creature could easily hide in the snow, making it impossible to find.

Zhuang Yao sighed, “We were prejudiced. We assumed more powerful creatures must be large because the outside world, including Golmud, follows this rule. But this place is different. This small creature that can easily ambush so many people is no less formidable than those behemoths.”

Tang Tingzhi said, “Could this be a new species? In the early stages of the first Cambrian period, existing creatures evolved. New species started to emerge in the middle stage. In the late stage, original and new species competed for survival. After millions of years of evolution, the biosphere gradually stabilized. Since this disaster is analogous to a second Cambrian period, it’s possible that we’re now in the period of new species emergence.”

Mr. Sun pondered for a moment and shook his head, “Whether it’s a new species depends on how we define it. I don’t think it can be considered a new species, because we can see the shadows of many existing species on Earth in it. But it can also be said to be a new species, as there was no such strange creature on Earth originally.”

Zhuang Yao nodded. “Mr. Sun is right. Also, new species should have an essential characteristic, which is being part of a population. If there are two or more of these little monsters, all looking like this, then it’s not an isolated incident but a new creature brought about by the new Earth environment. Then they can be defined as a new species.”

Cheng Tianbi said, “What if there aren’t?”

Zhuang Yao said gravely, “If this thing is unique, then it’s even more troublesome. It means we might encounter more strange monsters.”

Cong Xia said with a wry smile, “I’ve got goosebumps all over.”

Mr. Sun said, “I wonder what its purpose was in ambushing us? Whatever it is, this creature is intelligent.”

Tang Tingzhi said, “That’s right. The direction its head was lying in was opposite to Mr. Sun. If it wanted to quickly kill someone, it shouldn’t have attacked Mr. Sun, but rather me or Zhuang Yao, who were closest. It attacked Mr. Sun probably because it heard us say ‘let Mr. Sun take a look’, and Mr. Sun responded, thus judging Mr. Sun as an important figure in the group.”

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat. Was that thing targeting Mr. Sun?

Mr. Sun frowned. “This creature not only has a bizarre appearance but also understands human language and has judgment. What kind of thing is this? It’s really frightening.”

Everyone’s mood became heavy. The appearance of this creature completely shattered the illusion of peace. They finally believed that the restricted zone was full of danger, far more terrifying than Golmud.

Looking at the dark snowy mountains in the distance, fear once again invaded like darkness.

______

Author’s Note: Actually, I’ve foreshadowed the mutation of creatures in the restricted zone a long time ago, and there are many hints in this chapter. I wonder if you guys can guess~