Black Leopard

After reaching Chuilong Town, Gao Zheng and He Qishun split up, each drawing monsters away from different directions to create an opening for the survivors to escape.

To this end, they chose to clear the path for the retreat first before regrouping at the survivors' gathering point.

However, they did not expect that among the few remaining intermediate Beast General-level monsters in the town, one happened to be lurking in the direction Gao Zheng was advancing.

At this moment, a woman in the team suddenly saw something while sprinting, then stared fixedly in that direction, a trace of sorrow appearing on her face.

Looking toward that direction, it was a residential complex where a "Ding" character could still be vaguely seen hanging and swaying in the air at the main entrance, with most of the characters behind it long gone.

The woman took a deep breath, and a sense of determination reappeared on her face.

As the team continued to push forward rapidly, the woman dared not dwell too much on the past, forcing herself to focus and continue sprinting with the group.

Upon successfully reaching the vicinity of the survivors' gathering point, Gao Zheng and the others discovered it was a hospital. The monsters inside had been largely cleared by the Exploration Team, and several members were patrolling downstairs in the inpatient department, continuously killing monsters that broke into the building.

Gao Zheng immediately led his team forward to help the Exploration Team members kill the monsters.

Once He Qishun's team arrived, the two groups officially began their operation.

Everything went smoothly at first, but once a certain number of monsters were attracted, the roars were bound to draw in more from further away.

As they approached the vicinity of the residential complex with the single "Ding" character again, a leopard's roar echoed from within.

This sound caused the woman's expression to change, and her pace became unsteady.

Yes, this woman was Su Mo, the one who had been rescued by Xi Qing at the convenience store in this very complex.

And this roar belonged to that same Black Leopard from back then.

As the Black Leopard appeared before Gao Zheng and the others, Su Mo recalled that night once more.

After her father blocked the Black Leopard, Su Mo had panicked and kept grabbing handfuls of dried goods from the side to throw at the beast, completely forgetting she had a knife in her hand.

Within minutes, the Black Leopard bit into her father's neck, and as he struggled, blood flowed all over the floor.

Su Mo was terrified and began running toward the door, but her legs went weak, and she fell to the ground after only a few steps.

After the Black Leopard confirmed her father was truly dead, it stepped toward Su Mo with an elegant and powerful gait.

Only then did Su Mo remember the knife on her person; she immediately pulled it out and pointed it at the beast.

The Black Leopard's eyes narrowed, and it began circling her once again.

Just then, crackling explosions erupted from the other side of the store. The Black Leopard stopped, turned its head toward the sound, and bolted in that direction.

Just as the Black Leopard vanished from sight, Su Mo was suddenly yanked up by someone and dragged toward the exit.

These memories from back then still lingered deeply in Su Mo's heart, and fear surged once more.

Xi Qing was also in the team. When she saw the Black Leopard, she felt a strange sense of familiarity, but she quickly realized what it was. She immediately looked at Su Mo and saw her face full of terror, her running gait even becoming awkward. She quickly shouted, "Su Mo, you are strong now! There is no reason to lose to this beast again. What you need to think about now is killing it to avenge your father."

Upon hearing the word "father," Su Mo snapped out of her fear and looked at Xi Qing blankly, asking, "What did you just say?"

Seeing this, Xi Qing repeated, "You are strong now; you shouldn't be afraid. You need to become stronger, live better, and then take your revenge."

Su Mo finally steadied her pace, glanced at the Black Leopard, and said, "You're right, I shouldn't be afraid of it."

But how could the Black Leopard, which was already so strong back then, be weak now?

This Black Leopard now had two fangs protruding from its upper jaw like the saber-teeth of a saber-toothed tiger, and two small fleshy lumps had grown on its back, resembling a pair of small wings.

The beast radiated an aura—an aura that had reached the Beast General level, though it was unclear for the moment if it was a low-level or intermediate-level Beast General.

The Black Leopard leaped, covering over ten meters in a single bound to land before the squad.

Gao Zheng swung his long spear rapidly at the beast. The Black Leopard moved, dodging the attack and lunging forward along the shaft of the spear.

Gao Zheng naturally wouldn't let the beast pounce on him; he slammed the spear into the ground and used the momentum to vault upward, successfully clearing the Black Leopard.

The other team members stopped, surrounding the battlefield between Gao Zheng and the Black Leopard at a distance of ten meters to block other monsters and prevent Gao Zheng from being caught in a pincer attack.

Because the Black Leopard had been attacked by Gao Zheng, all its attention was focused on him. After its pounce missed, it planted its front paws firmly, whipped its hindquarters around to change direction instantly, and then raised its claws to strike at Gao Zheng, who had just regained his footing.

Gao Zheng gripped his spear with both hands, blocked the strike with the shaft, circled around the claw, and stopped abruptly when the spear tip reached the beast's belly, thrusting upward with force.

Caught off guard, the Black Leopard was knocked back several meters. After feeling the pain, it began to growl low, circling Gao Zheng with light steps, trying to find a weakness.

Gao Zheng naturally wouldn't let the beast continue to observe him; he twisted his long spear, instantly splitting it into two short spears.

Gao Zheng lunged forward, thrusting his right spear at the beast's face. The Black Leopard bit down on the shaft and whipped its hindquarters forward, intending to strike Gao Zheng with its tail.

Gao Zheng used the short spear in his left hand to block the incoming tail.

Having been hurt again, the Black Leopard released the shaft and struck at Gao Zheng with its claws—this time using both front paws.

Gao Zheng was forced to step back, raising both spears to pierce the claws.

For some reason, the Black Leopard didn't dodge this time; instead, it slammed its paws directly into the spear tips, used them as a springboard to leap into the air, turned its head, and opened its maw to bite at Gao Zheng.

Gao Zheng couldn't retract his spears in time to defend, so he could only shift his body to the side as much as possible.

The Black Leopard bit into Gao Zheng's shoulder, causing him a sharp pain.

Fortunately, he was wearing protective gear. Although it was bitten through, the teeth couldn't penetrate deeply or exert full force, and the beast released its grip after Gao Zheng attacked with the spear in his other hand.

The Black Leopard was also struck by Gao Zheng's counterattack, suffering a gash from the spear tip. Combined with the wounds on its front paws, its movements began to falter.

Seeing the beast's injuries, Gao Zheng realized that this was indeed an intermediate Beast General, even if it had only just reached that level.

Gao Zheng immediately shouted, "Yue Qi, Xi Qing, join me in killing it! Everyone else, stand ready to fill the gaps."

With the addition of two peak-level Advanced Warrior Martial Artists, the battle became one-sided. After some time, the Black Leopard finally fell under Gao Zheng's spear.