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They scavenged every flammable item they could find in the service station, using the remnants of the fire they’d built earlier to heat canned food. The flames flickered weakly, struggling to catch hold of the damp wood. Huddled together for warmth, they even resorted to removing their jackets and draping them around the feeble fire to shield it from the biting wind. Slowly, painfully slowly, the fire began to grow, offering a sliver of relief—or perhaps it was just the placebo effect.
Here they were, surrounded by an endless expanse of ice and snow, staring at that pitiful flame. It might have been one of the most hopeless moments Li Xingyuan had ever experienced. His thoughts drifted back to Jiangcheng, where people had long forgotten what winter truly felt like. How many households still kept heavy coats or blankets for such frigid conditions? And how many lives would this sudden calamity claim?
The ominous thudding sound had faded into the distance. Whatever divine force pursued them moved with terrifying speed—even on foot, its pace defied comprehension. There likely wasn’t a vehicle on Earth capable of carrying something so immense.
But the storm raged on, unrelenting. Its icy grip showed no signs of loosening. Amidst the deafening roar of the wind, slicing through the air like razors, another presence drew closer… and closer…
A faint glimmer caught Li Xingyuan’s eye, drawing his gaze toward one of the nearby windows. Stumbling away from the fire, he staggered toward the glass. Outside, a grotesque creature hovered in the gale. Its tattered, bat-like wings stretched over three meters wide, and its body resembled some unholy fusion of horse and lion. With predatory precision, it dove straight for their fragile shelter.
Li Xingyuan knew the thin pane of glass wouldn’t withstand the impact. But as he braced himself to move, his attention snapped to a small point of light gathering on the windowpane—a pinpoint, like the keyhole of a lock. Without thinking, he reached out to touch it. The surface wasn’t cold glass but something else entirely—something indescribable. A strange pressure pressed against his fingertips, rolling gently past them with an odd, dull ache. An invisible force seemed to guide his fingers, coaxing him to twist as if turning a hidden mechanism.
The light vanished, the "keyhole" sealed shut, and his hand was pushed free. Only then did Li Xingyuan realize the monstrous creature was already upon him, too close to evade.
Thud!
The beast slammed into the window with full force—but instead of shattering, the glass held firm, as though transformed into steel or some even harder material. The collision sent the creature reeling backward, blood streaming from its head as it collapsed onto the frozen ground, whimpering in pain.
What had just happened?
Had he done this? Locked the window somehow?
There was no time to ponder. More creatures had spotted their location, swooping down one after another. Why now? Why had these beasts suddenly discovered them?
He didn’t have time to figure it out, nor could he “lock” every door and window in time. Another monster lunged at the same window, only to meet the same fate. It crashed to the ground, injured and defeated, while the glass remained untouched.
But not all entrances fared so well. One creature smashed through a different window, thrusting its head inside. A chilling howl accompanied the blast of freezing air that flooded the room. Lin Song raised his rifle, firing a burst of bullets that shredded the creature’s elongated, horse-like face. Yet it didn’t die immediately; it thrashed and tried to retreat, only to have its neck torn open by the jagged edges of the broken glass. Blood gushed forth, and the beast let out a final mournful cry before collapsing.
More monsters poured into the service station, ferocious and relentless. They charged wildly, smashing through shelves and furniture as they closed in on Lin Song, Old Liu, and the others.
Lin Song ignored the training drilled into him about avoiding automatic fire indoors. Bullets sprayed like rain, tearing through several of the creatures. They weren’t invincible—but there were too many of them, and they kept coming.
When the horde broke through the shelves and surged forward, Old Liu stepped up. In his right hand, he wielded the Tibetan dagger gifted to him by Pasang Dorje, and in his left, his pistol.
In a normal world, what kind of animal would someone have to fight hand-to-hand to be considered a hero? A lion? A tiger? Or some other kind of predator? But Old Liu faced something far more formidable—creatures humanity had never encountered before. Savage, powerful, and brutal, their very breath carried a toxic chill. Ignoring the biting cold, Old Liu sprang into action, launching himself at the nearest monster.
The creature let out a pained screech as Old Liu wrapped his arms tightly around its neck, wrenching it backward until the dagger sliced cleanly through its throat. Hot blood spurted out, steaming in the frigid air before freezing almost instantly. Before the body hit the ground, Old Liu raised his pistol, aimed at another approaching monster, and fired. The shot struck true, killing the beast instantly.
These creatures weren’t skilled fighters, Li Xingyuan realized. If they had been dealing with Zan gods instead, without enough distractions to split their focus, they would have been torn apart in seconds.
Ugly and imposing though they were, these monsters weren’t true predators. In the bizarre ecosystem created by the divine entity, their hunting strategy likely amounted to little more than diving from above, snatching frozen prey, and tearing it apart mid-air. Once inside the building, robbed of their aerial advantage, they posed less of a threat.
Still, Old Liu panted heavily, visibly drained by the effort. Fighting in such extreme cold sapped his strength quickly, while the creatures seemed impervious to the temperature. Prolonged conflict would inevitably lead to his defeat.
Li Xingyuan’s mind raced with anxiety when he noticed something peculiar. One of the monsters ignored him, Old Liu, and Lin Song entirely. Instead, it charged directly at the fire they had painstakingly lit earlier.
It stomped out the flames, then clawed and pecked at the smoldering embers as if attacking something vital. In that moment, Li Xingyuan understood how the creatures had found them.
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