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Ferry Master
墨書 Inktalez
More than forty years ago, on a deep summer night, a meteor streaked across the sky, trailing a long tail of blue phosphorescence, carving a lengthy arc before crashing into the depths of the Taklamakan Desert. It took a long while for silence to settle in.
The next day, a large number of livestock in an oasis near the desert fell victim to an attack by blood-sucking monstrous birds, their bodies shriveled and lifeless.
In the "Desert Eye" of Xinjiang's Taklamakan, four men hid behind a dune, all silent as they stared intently at a massive meteorite engulfed in flames.
The meteorite stood about three meters tall, roughly the size that three people could embrace. Its color resembled dark iron. Flames spread through every crevice like molten lava, smoke billowing into the sky, and the heat radiating from it was so intense that it seemed to melt the sand around it. It emitted a blood-red glow! Suddenly, there were several loud bangs that did not sound like internal explosions but rather like someone hammering from within!
A chilling roar echoed from inside the meteorite… followed by sounds reminiscent of claws scratching against wood… The four men felt a shiver run down their spines…
It was as if someone was trapped inside the meteorite, subjected to torturous heat until they were cooked alive…
“Ah!” A piercing scream erupted from within the meteorite… and then there was an eerie silence!
Suddenly, the meteorite burst forth with an intense white light that could not be shielded even by closed eyes. A nearby iron pickaxe vaporized instantly; shockwaves rolled out, and fierce winds whipped up a sandstorm, erasing half of the dune before burying the four men beneath the yellow sand.
From within the meteorite came an overwhelming force, surging forth like a stampede of horses! A deafening boom shook their chests, leaving them momentarily stunned and their ears ringing. In a fraction of a second, it exploded into colorful fragments amidst the sandstorm, raining down fiery debris! A dark shadow darted out from the rain of fire, moving so swiftly that it vanished into the desert in an instant…
After what felt like an eternity, the world fell silent. The four men crawled out from beneath the sand, staring in bewilderment at the pit created by the meteorite's impact—a deep black hole. A horde of headless, bloody monstrous birds fled from within…
Once the birds had flown away, the four men cautiously approached from behind the dune…
The meteorite had shattered into countless pieces scattered across the ground. Strangely enough, each fragment oozed bright red liquid as if they had been dipped in a pool of blood.
“This is troublesome; we might have encountered something formidable!” one elderly man said dryly. “That thing escaped from the falling star and disappeared in the blink of an eye; it probably jumped into that hole! If we’re not careful, we might all meet our end here!”
“Old Man Xia, what exactly is this thing? Are we sure we can take it down?” muttered a middle-aged man resembling a monkey. The young man Li scoffed dismissively: “Hmph! Who cares what kind of creature it is? One shot from me will make it cry for its mother!”
Old Man Xia chuckled coldly and turned to a burly man with a beard: “Zhang Huzi, this kid talks big but is unreliable when it comes to action; his words are as empty as flatulence!”
Zhang Huzi shot Li a fierce glare and cursed: “Shut your damn mouth… That thing wouldn’t die even if you blew it up; your rusty iron is useless! Keep talking nonsense and I’ll slap you!”
“My trusty weapon was seized from some Easterners; it can pierce through three inches of steel!” Li retorted indignantly.
“Don’t you dare argue with me! I almost gave you a beating; you must be itching for it!” Zhang Huzi’s face darkened like ink as he swiped at Li's face three times… smack! smack! smack! Three red marks appeared on Li’s face as tears welled up in his eyes. It was Old Man Xia who stepped in to mediate.
"Zhang Huzi, what the hell are you showing off for? Back in the day when you followed me... did you think you’d escape a slap?"
Li Ting laughed out loud at the memory of Zhang Huzi getting slapped by Old Man Xia when he was young. Old Zhang immediately got angry: "You little brat, if I don't beat you, you'll be in for a rough time!"
"Come on! Come on! If you can kill me, then you're really something, huh!" Li shouted and laughed at Zhang Huzi.
"What are you babbling about? Stop the noise!" Old Man Xia said, holding a piece of meteorite fragment, deep in thought for a moment. He stood up, looked into the sky, and then threw the stone hard onto the ground. Turning to Old Zhang, he said, "Brother Huzi! You know what Li Gedan and I are capable of! If this old bone dies, it’s no big deal. You and the kid keep watch outside. If anything urgent happens, I'll shake the rope. When that bell rings, you pull me up! Got it?"
Li couldn't take it anymore: "What do you mean 'got it'? There's a young one here, and yet we have to trouble the old man. If this gets out, I won't be able to show my face again!"
Old Man Xia teased Li: "You're not even married yet! If you go into the cave and get into trouble, how am I supposed to explain it to your mother?"
"No way! No way! If both of you old men get into trouble, how am I supposed to explain it to your grandson?" Li huffed angrily.
Zhang Huzi shouted furiously: "Damn it! You little brat who can't even add wind to your farts, go down there? Just stay up top and keep watch! If you say another word... I'll make sure you regret it!" He turned to Old Man Xia and added, "Old Man Xia, as they say, if you're going to fart, at least add some wind! Let me go down too; just having one person outside is enough!" Old Man Xia chuckled: "Fine then, having one person to hold the rope is enough!"
Li's face fell longer than a donkey's; his mouth could hang a toilet seat. Inside, he cursed Zhang Huzi's ancestors for eight generations! Despite that, he had no choice but to stay outside.
Old Man Xia shouted: "Let's go! Grab your gear; we're heading down now!"
Minutes passed as Li watched the rope still being lowered. He couldn't even see the light from the mining lamp; inside was pitch black. All he could hear were stones occasionally falling and splashing into the water below. Growing impatient, Li yelled into the cave: "Zhang Huzi, is there anything down there?"
After several moments of silence, a vague voice came back from inside: "I don't know! My feet are still hanging in mid-air; I can hear stones hitting the ground. It seems like I'm almost at the bottom!"
Just as Old Zhang finished speaking, Old Man Xia chimed in: "I've reached the bottom of the cave; there's a pool of water here that's not even waist-deep... Oh no! There's something in the water!"
Soon after, they heard a loud splash as if a big fish had jumped out of the water. Then there was only an eerie silence. An inexplicable fear gripped Li; he felt like crying. Suddenly, a scream echoed from within the cave followed by another scream that sent chills down their spines. After that came another dead silence!
At that moment, the bell on the rope started ringing loudly. Old Man Xia shouted: "Pull it up quickly!"
Li panicked and slung his gun over his shoulder. He rolled up his sleeves and gripped the rope tightly with both hands; his veins bulged as he pulled with all his might. The other end of the rope was being yanked downward with such force that it left deep grooves at the cave entrance. The strength pulling from inside was overwhelming; Li couldn't hold on any longer and leaned back against the ground to try and anchor himself against it. The rope continued to pull him toward the cave.
However strong he was, Li suddenly sat up straight. With his left hand he grabbed the rope while his right hand took off his gun and wrapped it around the rope to make a tight knot. He then loosened his grip and let the gun slide down with the rope; sure enough, it wedged itself at the cave entrance. This rifle had a steel body; with it holding onto the rope tightly, not even nine oxen could pull it away. The force yanked hard for a moment before suddenly releasing without any further movement.
Inside came Zhang Huzi's voice shouting “Kid, run!” followed by complete silence. Li stumbled forward a few steps before his legs went weak and he collapsed onto the ground. Just then, he heard the bell on the rope ringing again—clanging loudly. The rope tied to his rifle tightened and loosened intermittently. Before long, two iron-like hands appeared at the edge of the cave—smooth as if freshly pulled from water. A long flat head emerged next; its mouth was half a head large and clutched a bloody human head!
The creature leaped out, followed by three dark shadows that swooped down from the sky like a storm, unstoppable in their momentum. Li rolled to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding the attack! The shadows that struck were the creature's three tail-like steel whips!
Li found himself with no options left and could only roll on the ground, managing to escape a few meters away. However, as he avoided one tail, another came at him. The faster he rolled on the sandy ground, the more urgently those three tails came at him. He resorted to crawling and rolling to fend them off. The creature seemed to gain strength, its three tails spinning like windmills. After rolling over ten meters, Li found himself unable to move at all. The creature suddenly stopped its assault, shaking out four barbed spikes from its back and began looking around.
Li had never seen anything like this before. He buried his hands deep in the sand, gritting his teeth and remaining completely still.
Then, a jingling sound echoed as five or six strange beasts emerged from the cave. Li took a closer look; these creatures were pitch black, with thin limbs resembling iron hooks, all sporting three whip-like tails and four barbed spikes on their backs! They were undoubtedly some kind of monster. One of the beasts had what looked like a whiskered head in its mouth. Seeing this made Li's nose tingle, and he couldn't help but shed tears.
"Damn your ancestors! Whiskered Brother, I will avenge you!"
Li rolled over and crawled behind Dune. He pulled out a crooked gun from his Luggage bag and aimed it at the group of strange beasts, firing wildly. Bang! Bang! Bang! A burst of bullets forced the creatures back into their cave. Just as he was getting into the groove of it, he realized he was out of bullets; he had only brought one box with him and had used them all up! Damn it, when misfortune strikes, even drinking water feels like choking!
In an instant, several more strange beasts jumped out. Their long tails whipped around like steel whips, coming in groups of three. Li drew out a large blade and struck at one of the steel tails, sending sparks flying but causing no damage. The groups of "steel whips" became more aggressive with each strike. Initially, Li could manage with his military boxing skills; he would either block the "steel whips" or control the heads of the strange beasts while occasionally kicking out a few blows. However, after several exchanges, he gradually began to falter. Under the chaotic flurry of over ten "steel whips," he took several hits! His body was covered in wounds; he could only resign himself to fate.
One of the strange beasts suddenly let out a terrifying howl and swung its whip tail towards Li's head. Li dodged the whip's shadow and leaped up, aiming a right punch at its face. Transforming his fist into claws—having learned a technique called "One Finger Zen" years ago—he adapted it to use all five fingers instead and aimed for the beast's face. His fingers sank halfway in before the creature twisted its face in pain; unable to withdraw in time, Li heard two cracks as two of his fingers broke...
The beast let out a wretched scream and lashed all three whip tails at him simultaneously. Li met force with force; his left arm was shattered with a loud crack! He took a dragon-riding stance and spun his right hand in front of him before striking fiercely at the beast. The creature retaliated with a "steel whip," crashing against Li’s left shoulder with a loud bang! He took it head-on, causing half his shoulder to collapse. In a flash of lightning, Li pulled a grenade from his waist and shoved it into the beast's mouth; after a deafening explosion, that creature was blown to pieces!
Li was thrown aside by the shockwave. He quickly checked his waist but found no grenades left! Cursing under his breath, he thought: "Damn it! After eighteen years, I'm still a good man!" He simply closed his eyes and lay on the ground waiting for death. The other strange beasts showed no mercy; with several cracking sounds, Li felt multiple ribs break under their assault, pain coursing through him as cold sweat streamed down his face. His hands dug deep into the yellow sand without making a sound! As he looked up at that gaping maw ready to bite down...
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