Man-Faced Black Panther

Having finalized the task, Chu Danqing planned to head outside the city first to deal with the beast infestation in the mines.

1000 contribution points could directly complete the trial task and obtain the qualifications to return.

It was equivalent to having a life-saving measure, allowing him to run away directly if he encountered any irresistible danger.

No matter how numerous or good the rewards were, the prerequisite was that he had to survive.

If he was quick enough, he could resolve the mine issue in the morning, visit the Ji Estate at noon to discuss the grain matter, and maintain order during the porridge distribution in the afternoon.

"Esteemed Sir, this is the mine," the steward said, lifting the curtain of the carriage for Chu Danqing.

"Since there's a beast infestation, why haven't you stopped work?" Chu Danqing asked as he exited the carriage, seeing miners working diligently.

On the way, Chu Danqing had read the intelligence, which stated that more than a dozen people had been snatched away and eaten.

The culprit was a feline beast, extremely stealthy and incredibly strong.

"We can't stop, the business of this mine belongs to the officials," the steward quickly explained. "If we miss the deadline, the Lu Clan will be held responsible."

"The government doesn't care about what happens in your mine, they only want enough ore to meet their quota."

Chu Danqing disagreed; he didn't believe the Lu Clan didn't have enough ore reserves. It was simply that human lives were cheap during times of great disaster.

There were plenty of people willing to mine in this mine for a bite to eat.

"What about the panther, are there any clues?" Chu Danqing didn't want to continue discussing this topic and instead turned to the main issue.

"That's unclear. It comes and goes without a trace, snatching away more than a dozen people, but it's only been seen once or twice."

"Two esteemed cultivators have come here to investigate, but they returned empty-handed," the steward said.

Hearing this, Chu Danqing understood that these thousand contribution points wouldn't be so easy to obtain.

"Da Bao, what do you think?" Chu Danqing looked at Da Bao, placing his hopes on Da Bao's keen senses.

Da Bao's gaze swept around before he shook his head, "First, look, traces."

He hadn't found any clues.

"Take us to the scene of the incidents," Chu Danqing said to the steward as he got out of the carriage.

The steward readily agreed, instructing someone to watch the carriage before leading Chu Danqing and Da Bao away.

Along the way, he introduced the situation of the mine and roughly explained the descriptions given by previous witnesses.

"A black panther, with fur on its head that looks somewhat like a human face," Chu Danqing muttered.

A panther that snatches people was indeed rare.

Otherwise, there weren't many issues.

After wandering around for a long time, Chu Danqing hadn't found any clues, but Da Bao had.

He tugged on Chu Danqing's clothes and pointed in a direction, saying, "There, something."

Chu Danqing paused, his gaze landing on the spot Da Bao was pointing at. From afar, there seemed to be nothing wrong.

He casually picked up a stone and threw it over.

As the stone landed, ripples appeared, similar to those in water.

"Mimicry?!" Chu Danqing retreated decisively, while Da Bao stepped forward to shield him.

The mimicry, full of ripples, slowly rose, and the colors corresponding to the environment began to reverse, turning into a black panther.

The panther was quite large, comparable to a tiger. The most striking feature was the human face on its head, vividly lifelike.

After estimating the distance between them, Chu Danqing didn't hesitate and directly threw out five Energy Links. At the same time as he summoned the Repeating Crossbowman, he used Appraisal Technique.

[Man-Faced Black Panther]
[Attribute]
[Health: 100%]
[Mana: 1]
[Strength: ???]
[Agility: ???]
[Constitution: 6]
[Spirit: 3]
[Perception: 5]
[Talent]
[???]
[Skills]
[???]

The Man-Faced Black Panther staggered slightly, a human-like surprise appearing on its face.

Chu Danqing immediately severed two Energy Links, then added two more, instantly reducing the Man-Faced Black Panther's energy value to zero.

Because the Man-Faced Black Panther bore the brunt of Chu Danqing's energy expenditure, the data in the stat screen only showed 1 point of energy remaining.

The sudden loss of most of its energy caused the Man-Faced Black Panther to stagger after getting up.

Now that it was reduced to zero, it caused a secondary effect.

The Repeating Crossbowman adjusted its magazine behind him, and in an instant, all the bolts within were fired in rapid succession.

Da Bao followed closely behind the bolts, activating Rending Claws.

"Strength and agility must be at least 8," Chu Danqing muttered, then saw the bolts hit the Man-Faced Black Panther, followed by Da Bao's claws.

The Man-Faced Black Panther was riddled with bolts, and Da Bao tore a huge wound in its vital areas.

Killing it instantly.

The Repeating Crossbowman began reloading its bolts, while Da Bao prepared to reach for the Treasure Box.

Five seconds passed, but the Treasure Box didn't appear.

"More than just this one?" Chu Danqing looked at the Man-Faced Black Panther, certain it was dead.

The lack of a Treasure Box meant they hadn't killed them all.

But black panthers were solitary creatures, and this was a male, so there wouldn't be any cubs.

Suddenly, Da Bao retreated, his gaze fixed on the panther's corpse, sensing an unusual aura emanating from it.

The next moment, the human face on the panther's head stretched out, snapping at empty air.

If Da Bao hadn't retreated, it would have been too late to dodge.

The human face quickly re-merged with the panther's corpse and slowly spread out.

The dead panther shook its head, the bolts being forced out of its body, and stood on two legs.

Its fur writhed constantly, eventually transforming into a new monster with a panther's head and a human body, though its injuries remained.

Chu Danqing immediately severed the Energy Link, but unfortunately, the one-minute cooldown on the Analyze skill hadn't ended, preventing him from seeing what this resurrected panther-man monster was.

Da Bao didn't hesitate, immediately approaching and launching an attack.

[Brutal Beast, Child of the Cave deals 20 physical damage + 9 rending damage + 9 bleed damage to the target, and recovers 3.8% health]

The Repeating Crossbowman, having reloaded halfway, also began firing in bursts.

[Repeating Crossbowman deals 10 physical damage to the target]

The damage wasn't high, and the critical damage descriptions that originally appeared when hitting vital spots had changed to physical damage.

The panther-man monster stiffly extended its right claw, launching its first attack at Da Bao.

[Target deals 17 physical damage to Brutal Beast, Child of the Cave]

Seeing this Combat Log entry, Chu Danqing understood the panther-man monster's strength and constitution were probably 9 or 10.

Almost half of Da Bao's damage output.

And as the battle progressed, its originally stiff body gradually became more agile.

Making its attack speed faster and faster. Fortunately, Da Bao had a life-steal effect, which allowed him to barely withstand it.

As soon as the Analyze skill's cooldown ended, Chu Danqing didn't hesitate and used it again.

However, the results of the analysis were beyond his expectations.