Dogs Eat Dogs

Tu Ran was curious about how it knew. "You've seen them before?"

"When Fatty came here five years ago, we ran into Paoxiao, and they tried to catch Fatty for a meal. Fatty hid here, and that's when we ran into a Zheng patrolling its territory."

"The three Paoxiao, thinking they had the advantage in numbers, started making a racket at that Zheng, and it bit through their necks without breaking a sweat."

Fatty recalled the moment and couldn't help sighing. "Zheng are incredibly strong. They originally lived deep in the heart of this forest, but for some reason they got pushed out. Maybe some even more terrifying species has moved into the depths."

A more terrifying species?

Tu Ran thought about how even dealing with a single Paoxiao was a struggle for her now.

And yet three Paoxiao couldn't withstand a single Zheng being effortlessly killed.

She'd thought Zheng were at the top of the food chain, but they'd been driven out of the forest's center, which meant something even more powerful lurked there.

Tu Ran couldn't imagine how powerful that species must be.

"Boss, we've been walking for so long—let's rest a bit, okay?" Fatty looked at Tu Ran with pleading eyes.

Tu Ran glanced down at the time. Without realizing it, they'd been walking for nearly seven hours.

It really was time for a break.

"Let's rest. We'll move on after we eat."

Fatty immediately sat down right where it was. Finding sitting uncomfortable, it simply lay flat.

Its whole body was covered in thick fur, so it was comfortable anywhere.

Tu Ran found a stone to sit on.

She took out her collapsible water flask and took a few sips to wet her throat.

She'd eaten quite a few fruits along the way, so she wasn't terribly thirsty.

Putting the flask away, Tu Ran looked up at the canopy overhead, her thoughts scattered.

The mutant creatures in the inner forest were indeed much stronger. Could she really snatch inner cores from these creatures all on her own?

Fatty, rolling joyfully on the ground, said without a care in the world, "Boss, where are we heading next?"

She didn't even know the way—how was she supposed to know where to go?

"Let's go find some mutant creatures that aren't too ferocious."

"Not ferocious? The gentlest mutants Fatty knows are us Danghu. We Danghu birds are all very docile, especially a fluffy one like Fatty." Fatty puffed out the little tuft of orange feathers on its head with a proud look, as if asking for praise.

Tu Ran: "..."

There she was, expecting a serious answer.

Too lazy to waste words on it, Tu Ran stood up directly and patted her pants. "Let's go."

Fatty hurriedly rolled up from the ground, its short little legs scrambling anxiously. "Why is the rest so short? Fatty hasn't rested enough."

"If you've still got the energy to be vain, I think you've rested plenty." Tu Ran said coldly.

"Not true." Fatty muttered quietly behind her.

It didn't dare argue loudly, because it could already sense that the two-legged creature was angry with it.

The lone figure and the ball followed one behind the other, keeping a certain distance.

Leaving the Zheng's territory, they hadn't walked far before three Paoxiao appeared ahead of them.

Tu Ran halted.

Fatty, not watching where it was going, bumped straight into her.

Tu Ran stumbled forward a few steps before steadying herself.

Fatty let out an exaggerated "Ouch!" hoping to win Tu Ran's sympathy.

Having spent this much time together, it figured the two-legged creature still liked fluffy things like it.

But Tu Ran didn't even look at it. Instead, she reached behind her back and gripped the hilt of her long blade, poised to draw.

Even as dense as Fatty was, it sensed something was wrong. It quickly poked its head out from behind Tu Ran, and what met its eyes were three fierce Paoxiao baring their teeth at them.

The eyes in their armpits stared at them, greenish and eerie.

Fatty's heart lurched, and its fur stood on end.

Dead, dead, dead. Bad start.

"Can they climb trees?" Tu Ran suddenly asked.

"No." Fatty tilted its head, not understanding why the two-legged creature was asking.

The next second, Tu Ran spun around, grabbed it by the wing, hoisted it by the waist, and flung it up into the air, shouting, "Get up in the tree and don't come down!"

Fatty immediately snapped to attention. Seeing that Tu Ran hadn't thrown it high enough, it hastily flapped its wings a couple of times, barely managing to hook its plump body onto a branch.

Standing on the slender twig, it worried it might snap the branch and fall, so it wrapped both wings tightly around the trunk.

To be honest, even though it had wings, this was the first time it had flown this high, looking down at the whole forest from such a vantage point.

Below, Tu Ran had already slowly drawn her blade, the sharp edge glinting coldly in the sunlight.

The three Paoxiao paid no attention to Fatty. Their target was the human, and they encircled Tu Ran in a triangular formation.

Tu Ran's gaze settled on the top of one of the Paoxiao's heads.

She saw a shimmering panel appear above its head.

[Adamantine Body]

Rapid wound recovery; resists various types of attacks to a certain degree, including but not limited to physical attacks.

Resistance level: Intermediate.

Intermediate resistance—that she could understand. It meant the Paoxiao's Adamantine Body ability still had room to improve.

Including but not limited to physical attacks?

Tu Ran stared at those words. As far as she knew, all attacks from human weapons at present were physical attacks.

Did that mean there were other ways to attack in this world?

Magic attacks?

She speculated with a straight face.

Either way, this ability delivered right to her doorstep suited her just fine.

Even for this ability alone, she was willing to risk a three-on-one fight.

The leader of the three Paoxiao—the one with the ability—stared back at Tu Ran just as intently, its murky green eyes searching for a weak spot in her defense, while the other two waited for the leader's command.

A tense current surged through the forest.

Tu Ran struck first.

A rapid burst of gunfire.

As she'd expected, their bodies seemed wrapped in a thick layer of non-Newtonian fluid. The bullets slammed into them, decelerated quickly, and then bounced off onto the ground.

They didn't even scratch the creatures.

The Paoxiao leader struck first, leaping two meters into the air and lunging at Tu Ran.

The other two Paoxiao flanked from the sides, closing in to trap Tu Ran in the middle.

Tu Ran activated Blink, leaping out of the Paoxiao's encirclement.

Then she quickly bit her finger and smeared blood onto the fabric at her left shoulder.

The blood seeped in quickly, and a purple-pink mushroom sprouted on her shoulder, radiating a dazzling glow.

Tu Ran silently chanted and activated [Phantom Realm].

The level of [Phantom Realm] was low, so it couldn't fool the Paoxiao leader with its Intermediate [Adamantine Body] ability.

But it could fool its two underlings.

'Stop attacking!' she commanded silently.

The two Paoxiao underlings that were chasing her immediately halted, their eyes vacant.

'Kill it!'

Tu Ran pointed at the Paoxiao leader.

The Paoxiao leader, still unaware that its underlings had been bewitched, was busy issuing orders in the Paoxiao language.

"You two, circle around behind and block its escape. I'll attack from the front. Wait for the right moment and bite through its—hey hey hey! Have you lost your minds?!"