Chapter 1: Streamer, There’s a Dinosaur Behind You

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Liang Xiaoyu was an outdoor streamer.

Unlike other female outdoor streamers, her broadcasts focused primarily on rock climbing, skydiving, surfing, skiing, and mountain biking.

She was addicted to these extreme sports.

That sense of crisis, where life and death hung by a thread, made her soul tremble with excitement.

And now was just such a moment.

She was free-climbing a sheer cliff hundreds of meters high, surrounded only by bare rock.

Now and then, she glanced at her livestream.

The camera was aimed at her face, and the yawning drop behind her.

The bottomless abyss made many viewers dizzy just watching.

Seeing so many people typing things like “I’m afraid of heights” and “This is too dangerous,” she quickly looked away.

She’d been climbing for nearly an hour.

Now her arms ached, every cell in her body urging her to give up.

The thrill was real.

But maybe it was a bit much.

Liang Xiaoyu looked up; her view was blocked by a jutting rock.

She felt a pang of regret—why hadn’t she listened to the warnings?

This place was called Yunling Mountain, a branch of the Qinling Range.

There was only one entrance, blocked by a gate, with sheer cliffs several hundred meters high on either side.

Even many expert climbers dared not make this their goal.

It was only after her last successful wingsuit flight that she’d gotten cocky, and, upon hearing about this place by chance, set her sights here.

“Giving up means death!”

“There’s so much beauty in the world—I can’t just die here!”

Liang Xiaoyu gave herself a pep talk.

She no longer had the energy to check her stream.

Planting her feet firmly, she pushed herself a little higher, her right hand grasping a protruding rock above.

Her head rose above the previous obstruction, and she was delighted to see the summit now in sight.

Just five or six meters to go!

Whether it was joy turning to calamity or sheer bad luck, the rock beneath her suddenly cracked with a snap.

The sudden sense of weightlessness made her grip falter; she was about to fall.

Panicking, she grabbed wildly and, by chance, caught hold of a vine.

It was right in front of her, though she hadn’t noticed it before.

Taking a deep breath, she searched for a foothold, then, mustering all her strength, began to climb, gripping the vine inch by inch.

Three minutes later.

Liang Xiaoyu collapsed on the ground, panting.

She looked back; the base of the cliff was almost invisible from here.

On the desolate cliff face, only that thick vine swayed in the wind.

A wave of dizziness swept over her. She hurriedly stepped back, clutching her heaving chest, and smiled into the stream: “Cuties, I survived again!”

The comments scrolled by in a torrent.

[Congratulations, streamer.]

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[Honey, promise me you won’t do this again.]
[I almost thought Xiaoyu wouldn’t make it, sob sob.]
[I already called the police, what do I do now?]

Liang Xiaoyu sat cross-legged a little distance from the cliff, opened her pack, and downed a bottle of Red Bull in one gulp.

She wiped her mouth.

“My legs are still shaking. If I had to climb again, I probably couldn’t make it.”

“But that’s the fun of climbing, isn’t it?”

As she spoke, her phone rang.

Glancing at the caller, she spoke to her viewers, “It’s my mom. Hold on, everyone.”

After a round of nagging and reassurances, Liang Xiaoyu hung up.

She ate a little, refueled her energy, then stood and said, “Now, our adventure officially begins.”

“I found out in advance that this mountain was contracted out five years ago, and the only entrance was walled up with an iron gate.”

“Today, I’ll take everyone to see it.”

She glanced at the stream.

[I heard there are bears out there.]
[My house isn’t far from there. I used to hear wild animal calls—maybe tigers.]
[I think wild boars are more likely.]
[Xiaoyu, stop streaming. I’ll take care of you, even three kids!]

Liang Xiaoyu laughed and shook her head.

She’d trekked through uninhabited zones alone, searched for forest pythons in the Amazon, and filmed lion prides on the African savannah.

Her closest scrape was one night when lions tried to get into her tent—she’d thought her time had come.

To her, a forest just fifty kilometers from the city was child’s play.

“These trees are ridiculously big,” she remarked, stopping in front of a tree she couldn’t name.

She stretched out her arms, but couldn’t encircle it.

And this was the smallest tree in the forest.

It was an odd sight.

Many viewers began speculating wildly.

Liang Xiaoyu joked along with their banter.

She liked chatting with people through her stream.

The adventurous life was too lonely, and she didn’t enjoy company.

As for money…

Her family owned a pharmaceutical company worth billions, and she was an only child. She lacked nothing.

Chatting idly, she trekked through the forest.

This time, her challenge was not just climbing—the goal was to survive here for a week.

For someone with Amazon jungle experience, it was as easy as a baby wetting its bed.

To her surprise, she still had a phone signal even after walking so far.

She’d been prepared to face it all alone.

Without realizing it, Liang Xiaoyu suddenly noticed the birds and animals around her had grown quiet.

“The wildlife’s thinned out,” she laughed. “Hope it’s not a tiger from Mount Jingyang.”

The rotting branches and leaves beneath her feet creaked.

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Liang Xiaoyu slowed her pace.

She scanned her surroundings, looking for a place to rest.

Occasionally, she glanced at the live chat, bantering with her audience.

After another ten minutes or so, she suddenly felt something sticky underfoot.

She moved her foot and looked down—a pile of fresh droppings, still steaming.

A chill ran through her.

“Does anyone know what kind of dung this is?” She pointed the camera at the ground.

The pile was as large as a Nordic matron’s bottom, and she’d stepped right on the edge.

[Something that big can’t be from a small animal.]
[Could it be a bear?]
[A bear with an upset stomach, to leave that much?]
[Be careful, streamer. Bears are dangerous in the wild.]
[Bear? That’s a dinosaur’s ‘dog head’ if you ask me!]

Reading the comments, Liang Xiaoyu thought it could indeed be a bear.

She cursed her luck.

She’d rather run into a tiger than deal with that creature.

Bears eat people alive, sometimes devouring half a person while they’re still conscious.

She looked up, trying to deduce the bear’s path from the tracks on the ground.

Wild animals have their own trails—if you’re careful, you can avoid them.

That thing probably wasn’t far; she needed to be extra cautious.

She pointed the camera at herself.

As she checked left and right, suddenly the barrage of comments in the stream exploded.

The screen was filled with comments, like tadpoles in a swimming race.

Liang Xiaoyu frowned and reflexively looked up.

When she saw the messages, she froze.

[Dinosaur!]
[Streamer, there’s a dinosaur behind you!]
[No way—is that real? Dinosaurs don’t exist anymore!]
[Xiaoyu, run!]

What kind of joke was this?

Were they all teaming up to prank her?

She could believe there was a bear behind her, but a dinosaur...

Who were they trying to fool?

She was mostly annoyed, but a little uneasy, as she turned around.

A massive head suddenly filled her vision.

In those fist-sized eyes burned a fierce, bloodthirsty light.

A piercing chill shot from her feet to her scalp.

Liang Xiaoyu’s face went pale, her whole body trembling. After a long moment, she finally managed a scream: “Ah!”