Chapter Seventeen: The Megatherium

In the underground fortress, there were only three of us: me, Yingzi, and Fatty, who sat across from us. No matter how skilled we were, we couldn’t possibly spit on him from where we were.

All three of us found it strange and looked up to see what liquid was dripping down. The fire from the broken wooden crates lit up the area, casting a bright glow, but beyond the reach of the flames, darkness still enveloped everything.

Just above us, at the point where the firelight met the darkness, a huge face emerged. It was more than twice the size of an ordinary person’s face, pale as if covered in flour, with no expression to show whether it was happy or angry. It had a hooked nose and a pair of blood-red eyes that fixated on the roasted bat meat in Fatty’s hands. Its thick, protruding lips formed a wide, dark mouth, with a blood-red tongue hanging out, drooling as if it were about to flood the place.

The owner of that face had a long neck and dark, tough skin. Because the ceiling of the underground storage was high, its body was hidden in the darkness where the firelight couldn’t reach. We could only see its face and part of its neck. It seemed very interested in the roasted bat meat we were eating, wanting to pounce down and snatch it away, but it hesitated, afraid of the flames below.

But it seemed that the aroma of the roasted meat was too tempting for it to resist; it was ready to jump down from the ceiling at any moment.

What was this creature—human or monster? As we three looked up, we were both shocked and curious. Although I didn’t know what it was, I could tell it wanted to eat the roasted bat meat.

We had brought five large bats out of the cave. Yingzi and I each ate half, while Fatty devoured a whole one. That left us with three bats. Fatty had cut the largest bat, the bat king, into three pieces and was roasting one of them on a skewer with his rifle’s bayonet.

At that moment, I couldn’t think too much. Seeing Fatty frozen in fear by that expressionless face above, I quickly snatched the bayonet from his hands, spun it in front of the strange face, and threw it aside with all my strength.

I threw it hard, but it didn’t go far. The bat meat slipped off the bayonet and landed not far behind Yingzi. Before she could turn around to look, a massive beast leaped down from the ceiling, snatched the roasted bat king in its mouth, and swallowed it whole without even chewing.

Thanks to the firelight, we could see clearly that this creature was not human. Its face resembled that of a baboon, with a human-like appearance. It had a long neck, and its body was the size and shape of a bear, but it was much more agile. Its figure was slightly flattened, with bow-shaped hind legs that were short and thick, while its forelegs were unusually long. When it moved, it could grip the crevices of the walls and hang above, making it more comfortable to climb on the walls than on the ground.

Yingzi had never seen this animal before, but Fatty and I had seen its pictures at the zoo. As soon as it revealed itself, we immediately recognized it as the Megatherium—no doubt about it.

Megatherium live in underground burrows deep in the grasslands, primarily found in South America, Africa, and the vast steppes of Outer Mongolia. Unlike the jungle-dwelling marmots, megatherium are quite different from their distant relatives, the tree marmots. They inherit many traits from their ancestor. They are carnivorous, rarely venture out in sunlight, and prefer to hunt underground animals like large bats, ground squirrels, and pythons.

Megatherium hunt by remaining still and hidden in the darkness, rarely making the first move. They can stay motionless for days without eating or drinking, waiting for prey to pass by before suddenly lunging out with their large mouths to catch it.

When the country was newly established of China, a nation in Africa gifted a Megatherium to the Beijing Zoo, but it couldn’t adapt to the environment and died shortly after. When Fatty, some classmates, and I visited Beijing for a rally, the Red Guards who met us took us around, and we saw the huge empty cage that once housed the Megatherium. The animal had died, leaving only the empty cage behind. We found it strange and looked at it closely, reading the introduction and seeing its pictures on the cage.

Years later, we still remembered this incident vividly, but we never expected to encounter such a large one in the underground fortress of the Kwantung Army.

It must have tracked the pig-faced bats here. The number of bats in this fortress was countless; we had only seen one nest in a cave, which housed over a thousand bats. The fortress extended for dozens of kilometers, and there could be several more nests hidden somewhere.

With tough skin and thick flesh, Megatherium have many small bone fragments beneath their skin, resembling armor. Once they reach adulthood, this armor becomes nearly indestructible.

The fierce pig-faced bats have sharp claws that can easily tear through the skin of cows and sheep, but they can’t harm the Megatherium. Even if they scratch it a few times, it wouldn’t feel a thing. With no natural enemies here and countless pig-faced bats to hunt, the Megatherium was in its element.

However, I wondered how such a large Megatherium managed to enter the fortress. It was possible that an earthquake or a landslide had caused some large cracks in the underground structure, allowing it to crawl in to search for food. If we could find that entrance, we might be able to escape through it.

The Megatherium that jumped down from the ceiling devoured the roasted bat meat and licked its long tongue around its mouth. Clearly, that piece of meat was not enough to satisfy its hunger, and it only heightened its appetite as it stared at the three of us, seemingly plotting something. In this underground world, it was the king.

In that moment of confrontation, several thoughts raced through my mind. The terrain of the underground fortress and dealing with wild beasts were somewhat unfamiliar to me. Should we strike first? The submachine gun was right beside me, but the firepower of the Type 100 submachine gun was limited. The tough skin of the Megatherium could likely withstand it. I didn’t want to provoke it and risk being attacked without a way to escape.

The Japanese Arisaka rifle had strong penetration and should be able to take down the Megatherium, but we only had a few bayonets. The two rifles that were already loaded with bullets were placed about twenty to thirty meters away. Someone would need to distract the Megatherium so I could run over and grab a rifle. This back-and-forth would take some time, and the Megatherium was too close to us…

As I considered these thoughts, Fatty stood still and quietly said to me, “Old Hu, I remember this thing only eats warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals, not humans. I think we’re safe.” After saying that, he gently kicked a dead bat toward the Megatherium, as if to say, “Here, take this and leave us alone.”

To our surprise, the Megatherium didn’t even glance at the dead bat; instead, it kept drooling while staring at us.

Fatty turned to me and asked, “Why isn’t it eating the bat? It keeps looking at us like it has bad intentions.”

I couldn’t afford to be distracted by Fatty’s words; I kept my eyes fixed on the Megatherium’s every move. If it showed any signs of attacking, I would have to grab the submachine gun on the ground and fire at it first.

Yingzi said, “We’ve eaten quite a bit of roasted bat meat; it might be… mistaking us for bats…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the Megatherium could no longer resist the aroma of the roasted bat meat and began to slowly approach us. Wild animals typically eat raw meat, as they have never tasted cooked food. Once they have a bite, the flavor of cooked meat becomes the greatest temptation for them.

I noticed that it was moving slowly and thought it might be better to run instead of fighting. I called out to the other two, and we turned to flee. Just as we took a couple of steps, I tripped over something hard on the ground, and I fell, nearly injuring my knee. Fatty and Yingzi also fell to the ground at the same time.

I was puzzled about what had tripped me. As I fell, I glanced at the ground, which was flat and even—there was nothing there to trip me. A thought crossed my mind: “In my rush to escape, I forgot to bring the bodies of those two young ones. Could it be that their ghosts are tripping me?”

The Megatherium had probably never seen a two-legged creature like us before. It caught the scent of roasted bat meat on us and had mistaken us for bats. However, it couldn’t quite accept that we looked like this, and it was also afraid of the fire, hesitating to approach. It was calculating how to devour the tasty morsels that had come so close. Seeing us fall to the ground, it sprang forward.

With its strong hind legs, it leaped right in front of Fatty, likely thinking that he would make a good meal first.

Fatty, realizing the danger, struggled desperately, his hands scrambling on the ground for a weapon. He found the bayonet used for roasting bats and quickly stabbed it into the Megatherium’s arm, driving it all the way to the handle.

The bayonet had been heated for a long time, like a glowing iron rod. When it pierced the Megatherium, a foul, burnt smell filled the air. The Megatherium, which was invincible in the underground cave, had never experienced such pain. It was both hurt and angry but dared not bite Fatty. Instead, it slowly retreated a few steps, waiting for another opportunity to strike.

After the hot bayonet pierced it, the temperature quickly dropped. The Megatherium’s blood sizzled on the bayonet, and Fatty’s successful strike was entirely due to the bayonet’s heat; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to penetrate its tough skin.

Taking advantage of the moment the Megatherium was pushed back, Yingzi and I each grabbed a military coat that contained the bodies of the two children and slung them over our backs, hoping that the little ghosts wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

With the bodies of the deceased children on my back, I bent down to grab the submachine gun. I knew that the Type 100 submachine gun wouldn’t be enough to kill the Megatherium, but I hoped it could at least provide some defense in a critical moment.

Before I could pull back the bolt, a claw suddenly emerged from the wall behind me, aiming straight for my head. The claw came too quickly and with too much force for me to duck. I had no choice but to use the submachine gun to block it. The claw swept across, knocking the gun from my hands, and it flew far away into the darkness where the firelight couldn’t reach.

Unbeknownst to me, four more Megatheriums had crawled down from the wall—two large ones and two smaller ones. The smallest was nearly the size of an adult. Clearly, they were also drawn by the aroma of the roasted bat meat and had come to hunt.

The five Megatheriums surrounded us, and if one of them charged, the others would follow and tear us to pieces.

Our only refuge was the fire. The three of us huddled together back-to-back. Fatty held the bayonet, Yingzi had the submachine gun, and I was left empty-handed.

The fire from the wooden pile was growing dimmer, and it would extinguish in no time. If that happened, we would become the Megatheriums’ next meal. I couldn’t help but silently lament, “One of these beasts is already hard enough to deal with, and now the whole family has shown up in this fortress. How can we possibly fight our way out of this?”

Stalling was not an option. I grabbed a burning log from the fire and swung it at the smallest Megatherium blocking our path. It was indeed startled and shrank back in fear, creating a gap in the encirclement.

The flame from the wooden stick was small and nearly went out with a swing. We didn’t dare to stay longer and rushed out. A few drooling Megatheriums hesitated for a moment before charging at us.

Yingzi fired her submachine gun, sending a stream of bullets toward the leading Megatherium. It was hit, and blood splattered, but the thick skin of the Megatheriums protected them. The bullets penetrated their skin but didn’t reach their bones, which only made them angrier. They closed in on us, determined to eat us.

Only Yingzi had a submachine gun. Whenever she reloaded, Fatty and I waved our flaming sticks to keep the Megatheriums at bay, preventing them from getting too close. We fought while retreating, but our escape route was blind, and we ended up further from our weapons, finally cornered by the large iron gate of the warehouse.

Beyond the gate was the Red Monster. We had planned to eat and drink our fill before carefully plotting our escape, but the sudden attack from the Megatheriums caught us off guard. Now, we were backed against the gate, the flames on our sticks dwindling to mere embers, and our bullets were running low.

The Megatheriums were huge, and a few of them together formed an almost insurmountable wall. A swipe from their claws could easily break bones. The circle of Megatheriums closed in on us, leaving us no room to maneuver.

At this point, we had to take a risk. Fatty and I threw our burning sticks at the Megatheriums, while Yingzi used her submachine gun to push them back a few steps. Fatty then turned and pushed open the iron gate, while I pulled out a black donkey hooves to smash outside.

To our surprise, the Red Monster was not in front of the gate. We didn’t have time to think and hurried into the passage behind the gate. Just as Fatty was about to close the heavy door, a tremendous force slammed against it. The strength of the Megatheriums was incredible, and despite our efforts, we couldn’t budge the door.

Suddenly, a cold wind rushed at me, and I quickly dodged. The Red Monster had been lurking nearby. It wasn’t very smart, but it attacked anything that moved.

The Red Monster came silently and swiftly, like a flash of lightning. If I hadn’t had much combat experience, I would have been taken down. I rolled on the ground, trying to get up and dodge, but the iron gate was already smashed open, and the largest Megatherium charged out first.

The Megatherium used its strong hind legs to leap out of the door like a giant frog, crashing into the Red Monster and knocking it down. The Red Monster fell to the ground, unable to bend its body, and quickly sprang back up, its ten knife-like fingers stabbing into the Megatherium’s chest.

The Megatherium let out a strange cry and opened its mouth to bite back. Soon, several other Megatherium of various sizes rushed out from the warehouse. Seeing their companion injured, they all attacked the Red Monster.

The smallest Megatherium had its head torn off by the Red Monster, while two others bit into the Red Monster. The two sides were evenly matched in strength, and they became entangled in a fierce struggle. Blood from the Megatherium splattered across the walls, floor, and iron gate, and pieces of flesh flew everywhere, while the Red Monster lost one of its arms to the bites.

We were stunned by this shocking scene. If the Red Monster had managed to flank us with the Megatherium, we would have had no chance of survival. By sheer luck, we had unintentionally created a situation where two powerful foes were fighting each other.

Seizing the opportunity, we carried the bodies of the two children and fled toward the hole in the back wall of the ancient tomb. We regretted not having two more legs to run faster, feeling like lost dogs or fish that had slipped through the net. There’s no need to elaborate on our desperate situation.

The large hole in the tomb wall was just as we had left it when we escaped earlier. We had gone in a big circle, leaving empty-handed and attracting so much trouble, now burdened with two bodies filled with mercury. It was truly a mix of laughter and tears. Although the underground fortress didn’t have anything valuable, it did contain some clothing and equipment, and we might find a few simple generators somewhere. We could inform the village about what happened, making our time spent in the underground fortress worthwhile.

As long as we could climb out of the vertical shaft, we were all at our limits, both mentally and physically. But in desperate times, people often find hidden strength. Yingzi used her submachine gun to shoot at the coffin board blocking the hole, firing two full magazines, sending wood chips flying. The coffin lid was embedded in the wall, and the bullets shattered the middle. Fatty ran and used his shoulder to break the coffin board in two, revealing the hole again. I pushed Yingzi up the shaft first, then helped Fatty lift the bodies of the children. Yingzi caught them above and reached down to pull me up.

In the end, only Fatty was left behind because we needed to pull him up. Just as he was about to climb, two bloodied Megatheriums charged into the tomb. They were frenzied, roaring like thunder. It seemed their family members had all been killed by the Red Monster. Despite its strength, the Red Monster likely couldn’t withstand the combined assault of the Megatherium and was torn to pieces.

The two injured Megatheriums, now enraged, chased after us into the tomb. Fatty looked back in panic and hurried to climb the shaft, but the more he rushed, the harder it became. The Megatheriums reached the hole, but fortunately, it was too narrow for them to squeeze through. They clawed at the ground, trying to widen the hole to escape.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, I grabbed Yingzi’s submachine gun and tossed it to Fatty. He understood immediately, firing a few shots to push back the Megatherium blocking the hole, then aimed at the glazed ceiling of the tomb and opened fire. The tiles shattered, and bags of flammable oil poured down, igniting the entire tomb, including the two Megatherium, in flames.

At the same time, Yingzi and I used our last strength to pull Fatty out of the shaft. In the process, Fatty’s pants caught fire from the flames spewing from the hole, and he screamed in pain, slapping at the flames on his backside. Yingzi quickly doused the fire with her water bottle, but his pants were already burned away, leaving him exposed.

The hunting dogs sat faithfully nearby, watching as we emerged from the hole. It was noon, and the sunlight was bright and dazzling. I rubbed my eyes; compared to the dark underground fortress, it felt like a different world.

Fatty, one hand covering his backside and the other holding up two jade discs he had found in the tomb, couldn’t help but recite a few lines from a famous poem about the world war:

“The flames of war have been extinguished, the smoke has cleared.

Oh sun, never has it been so warm;

Oh sky, never has it been so blue;

The smiles on children’s faces, never have they been so sweet.”

Yingzi and I couldn’t help but laugh, but then something unexpected happened that quickly froze our smiles…