He kept trying to twist his body, but no matter how hard he struggled, he could only manage to stir the yellow sand around him a little. He deeply realized that being in sand was completely different from being in water; sand is solid, and twisting his body to the side was already incredibly difficult, only allowing him to shift two or three centimeters at most. After a few attempts, he gave up. He was pulled down for about twenty to thirty seconds, and he had exhausted all his breath.

If he had experienced many life-and-death situations, perhaps at that moment, a thought like “Damn, I’m done for” would have crossed his mind. But Li Cuo was just a fledgling, and at the critical moment, his mind went blank; he had nothing in his head, and all his energy instinctively went into holding his breath.

The descent stopped just as he was about to roll his eyes. In a daze, he suddenly felt the rope behind him tighten, and a force came from above. This force was even more irresistible than the one pulling him down; he was being forcibly pulled upwards.

At first, the hands that were holding him tried to keep him down, but as the force of the rope increased, those hands slowly relaxed their grip and eventually let go. His face was quickly pulled upwards by the friction against the sand.

Afterwards, he reflected: First, he was glad that his nostrils were facing down; otherwise, at that speed, he would have definitely inhaled a whole lungful of sand. Second, when a radish is pulled from the ground, it must be filled with resentment.

In about thirty seconds, he was pulled out of the pit he was stuck in. After bursting out of the sand, he was yanked into the air, his feet leaving the ground, and he began to sway again.

The limit of his lungs finally burst; he took a deep breath, only to inhale fine sand into his nostrils, triggering a violent cough. His eyes were completely blinded by sand, and he kept shaking his head and blinking hard before he could slowly open them.

Looking down at his feet, he realized he was once again hanging from that truck, his feet off the ground at the height of one arm. Countless hands reached out from the sand below, continuously grabbing at his feet.

He quickly curled up his calves and looked back at the man in sunglasses with a pained expression. The latter was standing at the front of the truck, aiming a gun at him.

“Boss, you’re going too far!” Li Cuo shouted at him, suddenly feeling an infinite nostalgia for Wu Xie. That guy, though arrogant, had actually treated him quite well. Compared to this black-eyed man, he was a complete lunatic.

“Don’t rush; the main character hasn’t arrived yet. I’m not very interested in these small fry,” the man replied.

“Main character?” Li Cuo shouted desperately. Just after he called out, he heard a loud “boom.” Turning his head, he saw that all the withered hands in the sand below had retracted back into the ground. At the same time, a massive shadow began to rise from the sand.

“Your grandma’s leg,” Li Cuo swallowed hard. He watched as the sand continued to heave higher, quickly forming a small sand dune. Then, from the dune, a gigantic object suddenly shot up. It could almost be described as “spouting” from the sand.

Li Cuo first looked down at the object emerging from the sand, but soon had to lift his head to see it. The thing was over three meters tall, and at first glance, it looked like a giant hand reaching out from the sand. However, because it was so enormous, Li Cuo quickly realized that it was not a hand at all, but a strange tentacle.

This strange creature resembled a snake, with seven finger-like tentacles extending from its head.
“What is that?”
“Seven-headed snake?” Hei Xiazi seemed stunned as well.
“What snake?” Li Cu shouted. He saw all seven fingers suddenly spread wide, resembling a giant claw. He suddenly recalled the scar carved on his back, thinking, could it be that what the opponent carved was not a hand at all, but a snake with seven heads?
He stared at the seven fingers, but they didn’t feel like the heads of a snake; they were just a bizarre claw. Just as he was pondering this, the enormous claw suddenly launched an attack, reaching out to grab him.
At the same time, a gunshot rang out behind him, and a bullet whizzed past his cheek, striking the advancing giant claw. The claw recoiled from the impact. Before it could react, there was another sound of a gun being cocked from behind, followed by shot after shot.
The rope shook slightly as Hei Yanjing had already jumped onto the boom of the crane, standing on top and moving quickly. He ran towards the end of the boom with cat-like agility while firing his gun.
His speed was astonishing. The boom was old, and as Hei Yanjing ran on it, it swayed violently. Li Cu, suspended in mid-air, was jostled back and forth like a piece of jerky blown by the wind.
The giant claw was hit by five consecutive bullets, but not a drop of blood was shed; it was as if the bullets were hitting rubber, with no visible bullet holes. However, from the claw’s movements, it was clear that the impact of the bullets caused it pain. By the time Hei Yanjing reached the top of the crane’s arm, he had already forced the claw to retreat three or four meters.
But there was no sixth shot; the rifle could only hold five bullets. After firing five shots, Hei Yanjing threw the gun at the giant claw, which struck it. He then drew a black short knife from behind him.
The knife was almost entirely black and appeared very heavy. The moment the knife was in his hand, Hei Xiazi leaped off the end of the boom, his body arched in mid-air as he turned and slashed down with the knife.
Li Cu couldn’t comprehend how a human could make such a movement. At that moment, the rifle that had been thrown hadn’t even landed on the sand yet, and Hei Yanjing had already landed on the “giant hand,” driving the short knife into its “palm.”
“Boss, if you’re going to commit suicide, at least let me down first!” Li Cu exclaimed as he saw the giant claw shake violently in pain. Hei Yanjing, perched on the “palm,” was tossed around like a cowboy on a bucking bronco, almost as light as a piece of paper.
Fortunately, Hei Xiazi was strong enough not to be thrown off. The creature thrashed around in the sand for a while before suddenly retracting back into the ground.
Hei Xiazi shouted loudly, and before Li Cu could figure out what was happening, the giant claw had already pulled back into the sand. Hei Xiazi landed on the ground and rolled, nearly getting dragged in. When he got back up, he had torn off a piece of something. He quickly ran back and cut the rope binding Li Cu. Once Li Cu’s hands were free, he fell to the ground.
“Get to the truck,” Hei Xiazi said, ignoring him as he leaped onto the truck.

Li Cu was cursing in his heart, “Damn it, I’m not that stupid!” He immediately turned and ran towards the back of the truck. Deep down, he believed that being with this madman was too dangerous; he would rather play hide and seek in this area surrounded by the truck than talk to him again.

After running for more than ten meters, he turned around and saw that the guy in sunglasses had no intention of following him. He slowed down, pondering that after the earlier commotion, this guy must be exhausted. Just then, he saw the guy on top of the truck waving at him, shouting, “Stir-fried shredded pork with green peppers, do you want some?”

Li Cu shouted back, “Screw your damn food! I won’t come within a hundred meters of you!”

The guy in sunglasses continued to call out, “Then I won’t hold back. Once I’m done eating, I’m leaving. You’ve done a great job this time; I was planning to take you out with me. But now, it’s fine, I’ll just have two bowls by myself.”

Li Cu frowned. He thought for a moment and realized that rather than staying in this place, he would rather endure the abuse from this blind guy.