Chapter 1 An Unpleasant Surprise

"To think a mere dog chased me for so long!" Realizing this, Feng Bujue felt extremely annoyed. Moreover, he had already activated his skill; if he stopped now and fought in his normal state, that minute or so of Survival Value would be wasted.

He quickly darted out, wanting to use the shortest time and the quickest, most brutal attack to blast that hound into smithereens.

Feng Bujue slid sideways, his left hand holding the flashlight backward, shining it forward. His right hand gripped the pipe wrench tightly, ready to strike a dark blow at any moment.

However, when that monster entered Feng Bujue's line of sight and was illuminated by the light, he was immediately shocked and secretly glad that he had activated the Ling識聚身術 (Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu, Gathering Spirit Body Art) in advance...

A burst of hurried footsteps pierced through the thin mist formed by the humid air as a huge, terrifying shadow came through the fog barrier.

Its neck was proudly raised, eyes almond-shaped, head flat, and ears erect. Its white, strong teeth formed a scissor-like bite. Its muscles were developed and compact, its neck slightly arched, gradually widening, and combined with the body. Its back was short and strong, with sufficient width, its thighs long and wide, and the proportions of its front and rear bodies were very balanced.

These were all characteristics of a well-trained, well-exercised, and well-bred animal. Of course, as a monster in Thriller Paradise, its purpose was to scare and kill, not to participate in the Westminster Dog Show, so it had some things that normal dogs did not possess.

Its entire body was as black as coal, its eyes as bright as flames. Its body was unbelievably large, making a tiger look like a cat in comparison.

Its bared mouth revealed fangs, saliva dripping from the gaps in its teeth. Most exaggeratedly, the hound's snout, mane, and lower neck were shimmering, making it look very much like the legendary hellhound, except this monster only had one head instead of three.

"This thing must be made by alchemy!" As Feng Bujue exclaimed in dissatisfaction, the hound had already pounced forward with big strides.

This monster could stand on its hind legs and directly bite Feng Bujue's neck, so Feng Bujue dared not be careless. He jumped backward with all his might, dodging the hound's pounce.

Feng Bujue jumped very far this time, even surprising himself. The bonus brought by the Ling識聚身術 (Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu, Gathering Spirit Body Art) greatly exceeded his expectations. It was the first time he had experienced this kind of physical quality that was significantly higher than ordinary people. This even made him a little unaccustomed. For example, his dynamic vision had greatly improved along with his speed and strength... As long as he concentrated, everything in front of him seemed to slow down. He could even see a mosquito flying by clearly, and he felt that he could accurately catch that mosquito with two fingers with a reach of his hand.

At the end of the first "Matrix" movie, Neo after awakening seemed to have this kind of feeling. When Smith attacked him for the last time, he easily took the opponent's attack, looking puzzled and changing the hands that were receiving the attack to one hand. This was the normal reaction after one's own strength suddenly increased several times... a slight unsuitability.

The hound's attack did not stop. It howled and leaped out in an arc that was not inferior to Feng Bujue's jump just now, pouncing again.

Clang—

The sound of metal clashing rang out in the jungle. Feng Bujue was knocked down by the monster, but he was not bitten because the [Mario's Pipe Wrench] in his hand was stuck in the dog's mouth like a bone.

This hound had extremely strong bite force, its teeth as strong as steel. Its upper and lower jaws bit hard on the pipe wrench, an iron tool, and it was actually fine. If it were an ordinary dog, its teeth would probably have shattered.

At this close distance, Feng Bujue could see more clearly. The breed of this dog was really hard to tell. Its head and hair were like a Doberman, but its body was like a mastiff. Its size was even larger than a lioness. He increasingly wanted to complain that this thing might be a synthetic beast.

Feng Bujue's strength was also great now. He held the pipe wrench tightly with his right hand, propping it horizontally in the dog's mouth, temporarily stalemating the monster. With his left hand, he released the flashlight, took out the small knife Zaroff had given him from his backpack, and stabbed it into the dog's soft belly.

In an instant, Feng Bujue was sprayed with a face full of dog blood, but he knew that the battle was not over. The attack could not stop until the enemy was completely out of breath. He ignored the blood on his face, continued to exert force on his wrist, and cut down in a straight line from the hound's neck to its abdomen. After all, the monster was still a dog. When its most lethal mouth was suppressed, it was difficult for it to have any other way to fight a human being who was more flexible in its joints and could use weapons.

Before its death, the hound burst out with astonishing power, even leaving deep tooth marks on the pipe wrench, but unfortunately, its strength was not enough to destroy this equipment. The terrifying howl finally turned into a wail. Its blood and entrails poured all over Feng Bujue, and then it announced its demise, its body slumped down weakly.

Feng Bujue quickly pushed its huge body away with force, letting it fall to the side. He was almost exhausted and was afraid that he would be pinned under the hound's corpse and unable to crawl out.

Having solved this ferocious… probably a dog, Feng Bujue immediately canceled the Ling識聚身術 (Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu, Gathering Spirit Body Art). In this short period of less than three minutes, he had been burning Survival Value at a rate of 2% every five seconds. Coupled with the fact that his blood was already low before the battle started, his Survival Value had dropped to 32% at this moment. There were still more than three hours before sunrise. If this continued, without Zaroff personally taking action, another dog like this, or encountering another one or two "leech incidents," Feng Bujue would die on his own.

"Haa... haa..." After canceling the skill, Feng Bujue gasped for breath, lying on his back. The pain, fatigue, discomfort, etc... came surging in like a tsunami. It seemed that there would be some sequelae after using Ling識聚身術 (Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu, Gathering Spirit Body Art). This kind of symptom could not be explained clearly with attributes or the description text in the menu. It was similar to the fatigue after a mental overload.

However, there was no time for Feng Bujue to rest. He had to continue on his way. Every step he took towards the southeast was a step further away from danger. The plan of exchanging space for time meant that while fighting for space, he couldn't waste time either.

After breathing a little more evenly, Feng Bujue picked up the flashlight, put away his weapon, and continued on his way.

He felt extremely uncomfortable. His body was covered in the blood and filth that had flowed out of the hound's body, making his clothes stick to his skin. The humid environment and the increasingly hot temperature tormented him.

However, Feng Bujue had a tenacious quality. His endurance was very good, almost terrifying in the eyes of others. This quality was reflected in many aspects, in addition to surviving for a long time with only clear soup noodles to support him, there was also... for example, he could be bullied by some middle-aged women who liked to lean on others when standing on a crowded bus for more than forty minutes without erupting; he could maintain a very calm expression after eating the extremely unpalatable food made by his friends, and finish it all, saying "not bad"; he could also not shower or change clothes for a week...

In short, physical discomfort had very little impact on Feng Bujue. A little dog blood and filth on his body was not enough to challenge his ascetic-like endurance.

If a female player encountered this situation, she probably couldn't stand it anymore. If she couldn't find a water source or something to clean herself up in a short period of time, she might just log off directly.

Speaking of female players, things weren't looking good for Yijian Qingcheng and Cai Bupa Ne either.

They also encountered a hound, which was basically the same monster that Feng Bujue encountered. Fortunately, there were two of them, and Yijian Qingcheng was, after all, a player known for his combat skills. In terms of combat strength alone, he was definitely stronger than Feng Bujue before he activated Ling識聚身術 (Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu, Gathering Spirit Body Art).

At the beginning of the battle, Yijian rushed forward, relying on his fast movement to constantly circle around the hound with his long sword. But as time went on, he gradually fell into a disadvantage. He knew very well that if he was pounced on by this monster, it would bite his throat and he would die instantly. Therefore, he could only engage in guerilla warfare, consuming his stamina to exchange for some of the monster's blood.

After more than a dozen moves, Bupa, who was standing aside, also saw that Yijian probably couldn't handle it alone. If he died, she would have to continue the game alone, which was something she was very unwilling to see happen. Her title, 【躲貓貓】(Duǒ Māo Māo, Hide-and-Seek), granted a special ability that was an active skill called 【數到十】(Shǔ Dào Shí, Count to Ten). This skill was best used with a teammate, so she had to try her best to avoid being alone.

Therefore, Bupa decided to temporarily abandon the weakling act of "needing someone to protect her". She took out her weapon and quietly approached the rear of the hound...

Not far away, Yijian's range of movement was being constantly compressed by the hound. He gradually retreated to a tree, and the space to dodge and evade was gradually being lost. He had a relatively accurate assessment of the comparison of combat power between himself and this monster in his heart... His speed at full strength was indeed a bit faster than that of the hound, but that was all. The gap in strength was very large, and it was almost impossible to confront it head-on.

That's how battles are. Before and halfway through a fight, the mindset of the person involved will change. Simply "observing" the opponent can only obtain far less information than actually exchanging a couple of moves. The fluke mentality of "how strong can the other side be" that you have before the fight will generally be quickly shattered after the fight begins.

The consumption of stamina doesn't wait for anyone, and the changes in the situation are not completely under Yijian's control. Now he faces a decision: to lose a large amount of health and go up and fight a few moves to exchange for a relatively stable but miserable victory; or to continue to exhaust himself like this until he finds another way.

Just as Yijian was hesitant and unable to make a decision, a scene that made his jaw drop appeared.

The place where they were fighting happened to be near a stone wall. The surrounding trees were relatively sparse, and the night sky above was bright and beautiful. The stars twinkled with clear, cold light, and the moon hung high in the sky, immersing the place in a soft and hazy light.

In this moonlight, a petite figure suddenly leaped high, drawing an arc, and descended from the sky from behind the hound. Both the monster and Yijian Qingcheng were stunned in place at the same time. The former was because it felt danger, and the latter was stunned by the sight in his eyes.

Bupa Meimei (Meimei = cute girl) was raising a long-handled hammer high with both hands, like a tiger descending a mountain, swinging it straight down at the monster.