Pig-faced giant bat

Being stared at by these "monsters," my scalp was already tingling. Zhang Jinya's voice also abruptly stopped, clearly aware that his loud shouting had put our small team in a very dangerous situation, with the risk of being completely wiped out—these creatures didn't look friendly at all. Just the sight of those pairs of red eyes was enough to send shivers down one's spine, and they looked like they could eat people!!!

"Xiao Tian, turn off your flashlight quickly!!"

At this moment, Fatty whispered to me with suppressed urgency. I turned to look and saw Fatty crouching on the bank, staring unblinkingly at the "monsters" perched on the cavern walls, and he whispered, "These things are phototactic, don't provoke them anymore, or we'll all be done for here."

Hearing this, I was startled and quickly turned off the flashlight. If these creatures were attracted to light, then holding a flashlight was practically akin to seeking death. In a moment, those things would definitely swarm over me, and there would be no escape. I grabbed Zhou Jing, who was beside me, and we slowly retreated towards the bank behind us, moving cautiously for fear of alarming the monsters. It wasn't until we reached the bank that I quietly asked Fatty, "Do you know what these things are?"

"Uh-huh."

Although it was pitch black around us and I could barely see Fatty's face, his voice was strained, "I've encountered them before when tomb raiding in Inner Mongolia. These creatures are called pig-faced giant bats, also known as Desmodus rotundus. They are originally from Latin America, but they can also be found in China, mainly in Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia. They like to live in caves beneath the pastoral areas and come out at night to hunt cattle and sheep. Before the liberation, there were a lot of them. I once heard from a local in Hulunbuir that these creatures used to be a plague. In years when the pastures were poor and there were fewer cattle and sheep, they even attacked people. Back then, children from Mongolian families in the pastures were often eaten. At first, people thought they were attacked by eagles or hawks in the pastures, but later it was understood that these creatures, driven mad by hunger, ate humans. They are one of the most ferocious types of bats, feeding on blood and flesh, and when starving, they'll do anything. However, after the liberation, they were hardly seen following the three-year famine in the 1960s. I heard from the locals on the grasslands that during those three years, the creatures were eaten by the desperately hungry herders. I really don't understand how these things ended up in the Qinling Mountains. This time we've really encountered something. I heard from the locals that the ferocity of these creatures can be judged by their eyes and size. Those with black eyes and slightly larger than average size feed on nectar, but if they have red eyes and are particularly large, they are definitely carnivorous!"

Hearing Fatty's explanation, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. Judging by the size and appearance of the pig-faced giant bats in front of us, they were definitely carnivorous. I asked in a low voice, "What should we do now?"

"Quietly leave this place!"

Fatty whispered back, "We're really screwed this time. When I was in Inner Mongolia, I almost got killed by just a few dozen of them. With so many here, we can't fight them head-on. Let's keep moving forward and see if we can find an exit. The ventilation in this underground cavern is so good, it must lead outside!"

At this time, Zhang Jinya also quietly retreated from the river, and after a quick discussion, we all started to move forward quietly, with Princess Kinskaya silently following behind us.

Fortunately, those pig-faced giant bats seemed to have just fed and were temporarily uninterested in us, so they didn't follow. We moved silently along the underground river for about a mile, and by then we had reached a shallow beach and finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, for some reason, the air here was pungent, filled with a foul stench similar to that of a pigsty, and even a bit fishy, making our eyes water.

"What the hell is this smell? It's almost as bad as Fatty's farts!"

Zhang Jinya immediately started complaining. In fact, not only him, but all of us were struggling to endure it; the smell was a real challenge to our sense of smell.

"Go to hell, why does everything have to involve me!"

Fatty kicked Zhang Jinya in the butt, and with his large frame, how could Zhang Jinya withstand it? He was sent tumbling to the ground with a kick.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Jinya immediately started yelling, "There's liquid shit up ahead, Fatty, I'm not done with you!"

Liquid shit?

Upon hearing this, I was struck with a thought and quickly turned on the flashlight to shine ahead. Sure enough, the shallow beach was covered with a thick layer of feces. Zhang Jinya, kicked by Fatty, was lying in a pile of dung, his face and body covered with oval-shaped feces, choking and retching miserably.

Fatty grinned beside him, "Even hot shit can't shut your mouth, huh? That's what you get for always bad-mouthing me, serves you right!"

I ignored the two clowns and quickly crouched down to examine the feces. Where the river ran aground was usually where birds and beasts were most active because it was easier to drink water. The presence of so much feces here suggested that we might have inadvertently entered the territory of some wild beast. I picked up a piece of dung to observe it closely, to see if I could determine what kind of creature had left it behind. But this close look made my heart sink.

Because I had eaten this kind of feces before...

It's called "night shining sand," a medicinal ingredient. In my early years, I was often sick and needed medication. An old traditional Chinese medicine doctor once prescribed this medicine to me, which has the effects of invigorating blood and digesting food accumulation in the stomach.

Night shining sand is bat feces!!!

The presence of so much bat feces here meant that... we seemed to have not yet escaped the territory of these bats. Not only that, but we seemed to have burrowed right into their nest!

To confirm my suspicion, I quickly shone the flashlight onto the cavern walls on both sides. At a glance, my body went cold with shock!

The walls on both sides were densely covered with pig-faced giant bats, making my scalp tingle, and I was completely stunned. We had indeed burrowed into a bat nest!

"What the hell are you waiting for, run!"

Fatty pushed me hard, then charged forward like a wild horse breaking free. His push sent me stumbling forward, and I stepped right into the bat dung. These bats must have been nesting here for a long time, as the feces had accumulated to several tens of centimeters thick. My foot sank into the soft muck, and I was almost knee-deep in it, losing my balance and plunging face-first into the dung, ending up just like Zhang Jinya, covered in it. But at that moment, I couldn't care less about the disgust and quickly got up, ready to run. However, it was a bit too late. We had already alarmed the pig-faced giant bats clinging to the walls, and several had already pounced on my back by the time I fell. Waves of piercing pain came from my back as those creatures bit into me several times the moment they landed. I could feel my blood being sucked out by the bats, and the pain made my whole body shiver.

Bang bang bang bang!

Gunshots rang out at this moment, and the weight on my back lightened as the bats that had been biting me were shot into pieces, their stinking blood spraying all over me!

"What are you waiting for, run!"

Rosa yelled, firing her gun at the bats that were swooping in, her marksmanship incredibly accurate, taking down a bat with each shot without injuring me. Although a few bullets did graze my scalp, I could still smell the singed hair from the bullets.

She saved me!

A warmth filled my heart, and I quickly got up, drew my broadsword, and killed several bats that were flying towards us. Then I ran forward, only to realize that I was the last one left. Zhang Jinya and Fatty were running the fastest, like wild donkeys breaking loose, splashing through the dung, leaving a trail of bat feces behind them. The scene was quite a spectacle...

Running through this pool of dung was particularly exhausting. The bat feces almost buried my calves, and if I hadn't been wearing boots, I probably would have lost my shoes.

Because I couldn't run fast, I suffered greatly. I was occasionally bitten by the bats, so I had no choice but to escape back-to-back with Rosa. When she reloaded, I used my knife to fend them off. Even so, we were overwhelmed. We were bitten all over, and it was fortunate that we weren't bitten in places like the neck, or else we would have been done for. I couldn't help but lament in my heart—Zhou Jing's damn fortune-telling was accurate. He had just mentioned that I would face a blood disaster, and I was immediately bitten by bats and turned into a bloody mess.

We fled in panic, with the bats chasing us like relentless parasites. In the blink of an eye, I had no idea how far we had run. I could feel my physical strength was not keeping up. Suddenly, Fatty shouted from ahead, "Quick, this way, there's a hidden passage here!"

I turned to look, and sure enough, around a corner ahead, there was a narrow passage about two to three meters wide. Fatty, Zhang Jinya, and Princess Kinskaya had already crawled in, even Heizi had followed them in, leaving only Rosa and me outside.

Rosa and I exchanged a glance, fending off the attacking bats as we broke through to the passage. Once inside, the pressure on us was greatly reduced. At least we wouldn't be attacked from the sides. We blocked the entrance to the narrow passage, preventing any bats from getting through.

At that moment, Fatty's voice suddenly came from deep within the passage, "Eh, something's not right. There's actually a tomb gate here, we've actually discovered another ancient tomb!!!"

"Fatty, stop wasting words!"

Rosa continued to fire her gun at the crazily swooping pig-faced giant bats while cursing, "Who cares if it's some ancient tomb, as long as there's a place to hide, pry the door open for me. Even if there's a big zongzi inside, I'll take it. I'm running out of bullets, I can't hold on much longer!!"