Free Web NovelChapter 280: Chapter 31: Garuda
An old highlander named Balha had left his hometown in his youth, taking his young son and daughter to a big city to seek their fortune and establish a modest foundation.
But once his children were grown and had found their footing in the city, he returned to his hometown in accordance with national policy. He brought a large sum of capital with him, collected a subsidy, and opened this very yak ranch.
Now, over a decade later, the once-modest ranch had grown considerably. He had hired a few fellow villagers to help out, and the income from yak milk and beef alone was enough to sustain the operation, allowing him to live out his retirement in peace.
Winter was approaching, and Balha had wanted to move his herd from the summer and autumn pastures to those for winter and spring. However, a large group of government officials had recently arrived in the mountains to build a camp. They were supposedly observing fluctuations in Spiritual Qi, and they had hired away all the local labor to help, forcing him to postpone the move again and again.
"Sigh... the Spiritual Energy Revival. Just when I’m getting old, a change this big has to happen."
Even though he lived in the mountains in his old age, it wasn’t as if the highlands had no reception. Balha still kept his habit of watching the news every day, so he knew exactly what the Spiritual Energy Revival was. He took a drag from his cigarette, his face etched with worry. ’My grandson will be starting kindergarten soon. The schools back home aren’t great. Looks like I’ll have to sell some yaks and send him to a big city for his education and Cultivation.’
’But the snow this year is so heavy, and it came on so suddenly. It’s been falling all day. I didn’t have time to move the herd, and the grass in this pasture is almost gone.’
For a nomadic ranch, failing to move the herd in time had severe consequences. Malnourished livestock would lose weight and stop producing milk, causing the value of his assets to plummet.
But those were minor concerns. What truly twisted Balha’s gut was how unnatural this snowstorm felt. It looked like it wasn’t going to stop. Yaks are hardy and can withstand the cold, but they hadn’t had time to prepare. If this snow kept up, there was no telling how many would die.
’All those years of back-breaking work... My heart aches just thinking about it!’
The snowstorm didn’t care what he wanted; at least, not yet. Having knocked about the world for so many years, Balha certainly understood that. He took another drag from his cigarette, trying to suppress the anxiety welling up inside him.
But then, he heard a sudden gust of strong wind nearby, followed by the agonized bellow of a yak.
It was a deafening sound, like the squeal of a pig at slaughter—yaks just sound like that. Balha’s heart leaped in alarm. He instinctively moved to snuff out his cigarette and grab the flashlight from his belt to see what was happening.
But before he could act, an invisible, crushing pressure washed over his very soul, paralyzing him. He found it difficult even to draw a breath.
’Spiritual Pressure... It’s the Spiritual Pressure of a dangerous, abnormal creature—just like they described on the news!’
The old man held his breath. He retreated bit by bit, ducking behind his tent. Then, narrowing his eyes, he cautiously peered in the direction of the sound.
And then, he choked back the gasp that instinctively rose in his throat.
Because there, in the swirling snow and wind, was a gigantic Golden Eagle. One of its talons had crushed a yak’s skull, and it was now tearing open the animal’s abdomen, feasting on its entrails.
A typical Golden Eagle has a wingspan of about two meters. Forget killing a yak—they can’t even take down an antelope. On a normal hunt, the most they can manage is a highland wolf or some other small animal.
But this Golden Eagle was absurdly large. Its wingspan was at least seven meters, and it stood nearly a story tall. Its plumage was as brilliant as gold—yet this wasn’t merely for show. One could sense a hard, cold, metallic glint within the shimmering golden light.
The huge Golden Eagle had arrived on a foul wind. Its eyes glowed a dark, menacing red, and its powerful muscles rippled beneath its feathers. With one talon, it had crushed the yak’s skull, and with the other, its spine. Then, it had simply lowered its head and begun to feast. The surrounding yaks were frozen in terror. Aside from the initial, wretched scream from the one being killed, not a single one dared to make a sound. They could only cower, allowing the predator to hunt them as it pleased, offering up their own flesh and blood.
’What kind of monster is this...’
There was a long tradition of revering the Golden Eagle in the highlands; it was the Divine Bird of the plateau. But the Golden Eagles Balha knew were nothing like this colossal, monstrous creature. For one, real Golden Eagles weren’t *literally* gold. He watched as the monster’s enormous beak opened and closed. With a flick of its head, it ripped the yak’s spine clean out, flesh and blood still clinging to it, then cracked the bone to suck out the marrow. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’With that kind of power, hiding in my stone house would be pointless.’
Just then, the massive Golden Eagle’s eye swiveled and locked onto the area where Balha was hiding. Their gazes met. In that instant, an extreme, soul-piercing terror washed over him. Balha had to draw on all his resilient spirit just to force his body to move. He scrambled behind the tent, limping, and cowered there, trembling like an Ostrich with its head in the sand.
Fortunately, the Golden Eagle seemed uninterested in Balha, who didn’t look like he had much meat on his bones. How could a bony human that would just get stuck in its teeth compare to a delicious yak? It was best for humans to be humble in this respect. The eagle lowered its head and continued to quietly devour its ’prey.’ One yak, it seemed, was not enough. After it had mostly finished off the first one, it killed another and kept eating.
’I can’t just let it eat its fill! If it gets used to this, it’ll come back every single day to feed!’
’My grandson’s future tuition is tied up in these yaks!’
