A long winter night.

A small village away from the hustle and bustle, always quiet.

But one night, after a strange murder, the original peace of the village was completely broken......

——

Humble huts.

A pot of hot water was boiling on the fire, gurgling and boiling.

A sturdy hunter, dressed in a dirty old fur coat, was inspecting his hunting gear.

At this time, the sky is getting dark, the clouds are thick, and the cold wind is strong outside, and it looks like there is going to be a heavy snowfall, and it seems that it is not suitable to go out.

"Dad, are you really sure you go up to the mountains to hunt at night?"

A young man, pushing open the door of the house, walked in from the outside, plucked his fur and looked at his father with a worried face.

"Xiusi, it seems that the wild animals on the mountain can't hide recently, and they can't see it during the day, and they can't find more prey, this winter, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive! We've got to go out and try our luck! ”

Listening to his father's words, Xius nodded helplessly, picked up his share of hunting equipment, and kept up with his father's pace in a muffled voice.

On the other side of the room, the mother ran out, the worry in her eyes could not be hidden, she took her son's hand, only said "be careful", and then watched the backs of the two fathers and sons gradually move away, towards the largest forest near the village......

Night, fleeting.

Hughes carefully lit the oil lamp, the faint light barely illuminating the path under the feet of father and son.

After a few traps, they returned disappointed, finding nothing but snow and dead branches blown by the wind.

"Dad, let's go back!"

Seeing the darkness around him gradually engulf him, Xius was a little frightened, and the night birds chirped from time to time, which exacerbated his inner unease.

"Don't be afraid, check the last trap again, and we'll go back!"

Straightening his hat, his father glanced at his surroundings, it was so quiet that he couldn't even see the traces of an animal, and he also retreated in his heart, and he was afraid that if he turned around, he could only pounce on it.

Just as the two fathers and sons walked disheartenedly towards the next trap, the sound that stood out from the surrounding environment made them stop at first, and after looking at each other, their lonely faces were suddenly full of joy.

The trap was located at the bottom of a slope, and it was the only way for the animals of the forest to go to the mountain stream, and the sound was like the sound of the prey struggling, and the father and son were very happy, and strode on the thin snow, wanting to get the prey in hand and return home.

But when the father and son rushed to the slope with joy and leaned down to look down, the trap was empty, and in the light of the oil lamp, they seemed to see the large blood stains left in the snow.

Puzzled, father and son, slid down the slope and looked at the trap.

"Could it be that the wolf took it?"

Theseus looked at the blood stains on the ground and asked aloud.

The hunter's father, looking at the blood stains all over the ground, squatted down, twisted his fingers a little, rubbed them between his fingers, and sniffed between his noses: "The blood stains are still very fresh." ”

Then they looked down at the messy snow, and looked at the range of struggle, the prey seemed to be the size of a deer, but they had heard the sound not long ago, why, but now it disappeared out of thin air.

It stands to reason that injured prey should not run so fast, if a fierce beast really takes it away, it will take time for a wolf to drag the prey, and it will definitely leave traces.

Seeing that his father did not speak, Xius became worried: "There are fierce beasts in this forest, Dad, let's go back!" ”

But the father, who has not successfully hunted for a long time, how could he let go, this time the prey who finally fell into the trap: "My son is not afraid, I have a shotgun, if you are afraid, just stay here and wait for me to come back, I will come back and tell you if I find a trace!" ”

At the age of fifteen or sixteen, Hughes was not bold enough to stay alone in the dark forest, and he quickly shook his head, indicating that he would follow his father.

So, the father and son followed the clues near the trap and found a little bloodstain, but the strange thing is that the trace did not look like a beast dragging its prey, but like a human carrying the prey and escaping on foot.

"Someone else poached prey?"

His father's displeasure was revealed between his frowning brows, and he withdrew his palm, stood up, cursed shamelessly, clenched the shotgun in his hand, and quickened his pace.

Hughes didn't dare to say more, hugged the big knife in his arms, and followed his father's steps.

After a while, they followed the trail to a dirt slope, and when they looked closer, they saw that among the chaotic vines there was a neat cavern mouth, large enough to accommodate an adult, as if it were the habitat of some large animal.

The astonished hunter father pushed aside the vines and stepped in.

"Daddy!"

Hughes cried out in a low voice, grabbing his father's sleeve.

The hunter ignored his son, looked ahead, said "oil lamp", and raised the shotgun in his hand at the same time.

"Dad, let's go back!"

Theseus was terrified, and his uneasy eyes were glancing around, for some reason, he always felt that there was something terrible in the cave.

The hunter snorted impatiently, warning his son not to make a fuss, and thinking in his heart that finding the thieves' lair, as long as all the stolen goods were seized, it would mean that they would not have to starve this winter!

As he went deeper, the hunter's sensitive nose sniffed, he could smell blood, very close!

At this time, Xius was already afraid that his legs trembled, although he was the son of a hunter, his courage was very small, and his father took him out to hunt very early in order to exercise his courage, but he was still this virtuous.

The road ahead was illuminated by the lights inch by inch, and the disappeared bloodstains were obvious again......

After a while, a deer's hoof appeared in the light, which made the hunter happy, and turned his head to look at his son: "Look, Hughes, a deer!" ”

Hearing his father's voice of joy, coupled with the fact that the prey had been found, the fear in Hughes's heart subsided for the time being, and he followed his father to rejoice, and the two fathers and sons rushed to the deer one after the other.

But in the next scene, they were so frightened that they gasped, and they saw that the part above the deer's hoof was completely gone, as if it had been torn apart by something.

Only the deer hooves and deer heads connected to the fur remained, and the whole body was directly dug up!

This can't be the work of a thief, and to say that the fur on a deer is worth a lot of money, wouldn't that be a breach of value?

The father, who realized that something was wrong, wanted to retreat with his son, but he heard the sound of falling stones around him, as if something was coming towards them from the depths.

"Son, run!"

The hunter shouted.

Frightened by his father's shout, Theseus clenched his hand tightly and kept asking, "Father, what do you see?" What was waiting was my father's nervous panting.

The sound is getting louder and closer......

"Ahh I only heard a scream from Xiusi, and a huge force pulled him into the cave: "Dad, save me!" ”

The hunter was shocked, and he grabbed his son's hand tightly, and he didn't care about the oil lamp in his hand, threw it aside, and raised the shotgun on his shoulder with one hand, and shot it behind him.

"Bang!" There was a loud bang, a brief flash of gunpowder, illuminating the tunnel, and the creature that had grabbed Hughes briefly revealed its approximate figure, which seemed to be a humanoid creature, and its whole body was pitch black.

Seeing only the blink of an eye, the hunter was so shocked that he quickly pulled his son back, picked up the oil lamp on the ground, and handed it to his son, fortunately, this shot repelled the monster, but he believed that the humanoid creature just now was definitely not a human!

But the sound behind him did not stop after the gunfire ended, but there were many more.

At this moment, the hunter and his son Hughes began to numb their scalps.

With the instinct to survive, the hunter overcame his fear, dragged his son hard, and galloped towards the mouth of the cave.

However, their speed does not seem to be comparable to that of the mystical creatures.

"Rustle!"

Countless pieces of dirt suddenly fell overhead.

The hunter suddenly felt bad, and hurriedly raised and shot a shot at the top of his head, and in the firelight, on the top of the cave, there was a group of humanoid black shadows, like geckos.

This shot did not hit the monster, but broke the cave wall above the head, and countless sand and soil fell down one after another, making a "bang" sound.

"Keep running!"

The hunter shouted.

Hughes closed his eyes, let his father pull with one hand, and hold the oil lamp tightly with the other, if he let go at this moment, he might not be able to fully control his hands, and the speed of his legs was obviously not able to keep up with his father's rhythm when he ran.

Fortunately, the cave they entered was not deep, and there were not many twists and turns, and soon, father and son saw the dim light outside the cave.

"Quick, run out and be safe!"

The corners of the hunter's mouth hooked, as if he saw hope, urging his son to hurry.

But because he was so frightened, Hughes kicked the door and fell near the entrance of the cave!

Looking into the depths of the cave, then at his fallen son, and listening to the desperate, rustling sound of pursuit, the hunter's greatest sanity made him choose to shoot a few shots blindly into the cave.

The firelight lit up the cave again.

At this time, the hunter's gaze could no longer erase those mysterious black shadows.

"Ho!"

A terrifying hiss.

In the dim light of the oil lamp, a dark shadow could be faintly seen, rushing towards the father and son.

Before he could shoot, the butt of the hunter's rifle slammed forward, and the strong collision caused him to take a few steps back.

At this time, the son who was not angry was already paralyzed on the ground in fright and couldn't get up.

"Bang bang" a few more times, the hunter shot one after another to cover, while trying to pull up his son, but was caught by a black shadow, and his body fell backwards uncontrollably.

"Uhh

In an instant, the hunter screamed in pain as if he had been bitten open by something.

"Daddy!"

Hearing his father's screams, Theseus cried.

This cry brought back the hunter's senses, and he grabbed the gun instead, intending to shoot the monster behind him, but the monster behind him was extremely cunning and moved away from him in advance.

"Get up, Hughes, run!"

The hunter endured the sharp pain in his neck and pulled up his son on the ground.

But the monster wouldn't give the father and son a chance to breathe, and the next second, they approached aggressively again, fortunately with a gun in their hands, the hunter fired a warning shot, busy replenishing ammunition, and continued the stalemate.

In the narrow tunnel, the monsters were afraid of muskets and did not dare to step forward easily, which gave father and son a chance.

"Can you still run? Good boy! ”

He could clearly feel the blood flowing from his neck, and the hunter knew that he was afraid that he would not be able to get out of this cave.

Theseus was afraid, but also nodded: "Hmm! ”

"Remember, when you go out, run along the route home and don't look back! Do you understand? ”

At the sound of gunfire, the hunter shouted loudly.

"Understood!"

Theseus trembled and cried.

"Good boy!"

The hunter spoke softly, then let go of Hughes and shouted, "Run, boy! ”

And himself, holding a gun, took firm steps, shot after shot towards the cave, resolutely facing the group of monsters, and fighting for his son to escape.

Hughes ran for his life, and the fear in his heart made him not think about it, and he ran until he was out of breath, fell at the entrance of the village, and passed out......