Fierce Fight

Chapter 39: Fierce Struggle

Xiang Kun followed the scent and tracks for several hundred meters before stopping by the lake, as the trail vanished completely here. Judging by the few drops of blood on the ground, the final direction led into the water.

Had that "thing" flown across the lake with the husky's carcass, or had it tossed it into the water?

Or perhaps, could that "thing" not only fly but also swim?

Just as Xiang Kun looked across the lake, debating whether to head over to the other side, he suddenly caught the scent he had been tracking for three days. He whipped his head around in the direction of the smell.

Standing on a large tree a dozen meters away was a figure overlooking him. Based on its silhouette, it appeared to be wearing a coat that covered its entire body, and its head looked exceptionally large—or perhaps it was wearing a mask or a hood.

What the hell? A flurry of vampire legends instantly surged through Xiang Kun's mind.

But the next moment, the "figure" leaped from the tree, spread its "arms" with a thud—revealing the coat—and dove straight toward Xiang Kun.

"Holy shit! Damn it!..."

Xiang Kun was startled. His muscles tensed, and he leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the "figure's" pounce.

If the "figure" diving at him had truly been a hideous-looking human, no matter how terrifying or bizarre, Xiang Kun would have been mentally prepared and not nearly as shocked.

But as the distance closed rapidly under the bright moonlight, Xiang Kun's superhuman dynamic vision clearly saw what the "figure" actually was. It wasn't a person in a coat at all, but a giant bird with a grotesque, oversized head!

Xiang Kun leaped to the side and rolled across the ground to get back on his feet. He was fast, but the giant bird was faster. With two flaps of its massive wings, it was upon him again, its two giant talons reaching for him.

With nowhere left to run, Xiang Kun turned vicious. He let the bird's talons sink into his ribs, used the momentum to spring up, and grabbed the bird's head, dragging it toward the ground to force it into a close-quarters brawl.

This was the first time since his mutation that Xiang Kun had fully unleashed all his power. He held nothing back, one hand gripping the feathers near the bird's head to keep its beak from pecking him, while his other fist hammered away with desperate, savage force.

Every blow was accompanied by an involuntary roar, and every strike elicited a bizarre, piercing shriek from the giant bird.

At first, the bird used its talons to relentlessly attack Xiang Kun's torso, but he pressed his body as close to the bird as possible, preventing it from striking his abdomen or groin. He simply endured the talons hooking into his back and waist, letting the claws—as thick as his fingers—pierce his ribs.

Xiang Kun was playing a game of attrition, testing whether the bird's claws were sharper or his fists were harder.

After a dozen punches, the giant bird clearly couldn't take it anymore. It released its grip, kicked off with its legs, and struggled to break free. Xiang Kun let go and rolled to the side—he was reaching his limit too. The bird's talons had been tearing at his ribs; had he not stayed so close that the bird couldn't fully extend its legs, he likely would have been ripped open before he could land two punches.

The bird didn't continue the attack. It let out a mournful cry, struggled to fly away, then stumbled to the ground after a short distance, took off again in a clumsy, erratic flight, and vanished into the night within seconds.

In the distance, the sound of barking dogs and human footsteps approached. Xiang Kun knew it wasn't that late yet, and there were still people walking their dogs nearby. The commotion just now had been too loud and had drawn attention.

Xiang Kun didn't linger. He quickly scanned the area, picked up his shattered glasses and the phone he had dropped during the fight, stuffed a few giant feathers shed by the bird into his pocket, and hurried away while clutching his waist.

Xiang Kun didn't go straight home. Instead, he found a secluded, deserted corner and lay half-reclined on the grass to rest.

He was actually severely injured. The bird's talons had pierced several bloody holes into his waist and back, and the heavy bleeding had soaked his clothes. Several ribs were broken, and his internal organs were undoubtedly suffering from significant trauma and hemorrhaging. During the struggle, he could clearly feel his muscle groups spasming and twitching.

His right fist, which had been hammering the bird's head, was also badly mangled. The entire hand was a bloody mess, the metacarpals were fractured, and he couldn't even unclench his fist or straighten his fingers.

If this were an ordinary person, they would be in the emergency room or the ICU by now, with their life hanging in the balance.

But Xiang Kun had no intention of going to the hospital. It wasn't that he would rather die than expose his secrets; it was because he knew he wouldn't die.

He could feel the wounds, from the outside in, rapidly repairing and healing.

Lying on the ground, Xiang Kun recalled the appearance of the giant bird and suddenly realized—that thing was an owl!

But an owl that big?

When those wings spread, they were a full circle wider than his own arm span! The torso alone must have been about 1.5 or 1.6 meters tall!

No wonder he had mistaken it for a person earlier.

Standing in the shadows of the tree, seen from afar, it really did look like a person wearing a coat.

Xiang Kun suddenly thought of something. He raised his mangled right hand and looked at the blood on his arm—some was his own, and some belonged to the giant bird, or rather, the giant owl.

Xiang Kun took a deep breath, then suddenly licked the blood off his arm, swallowing his saliva mixed with the blood.

BOOM!

A flash of white light seemed to explode in his brain. Xiang Kun felt his cells "rejoicing" and "thrilled" once again. This "rejoicing" was far more intense than what he had felt after drinking chicken or rabbit blood for the first time.

The "pleasure" and "euphoria" brought by this blood didn't act on his taste buds or his stomach; it felt like a feedback from the deepest parts of his body, as if every single cell was voicing the same opinion, cheering for him.

Xiang Kun let out a long breath, his expression almost one of indulgence.

If anyone were to see this scene, they would surely be terrified—a bald man covered in blood and wounds, lying on the grass, licking blood off his arm with a look of intoxicated pleasure—it was truly deranged!

Xiang Kun felt a surge of hunger rising within him. By his normal schedule, he shouldn't have felt hungry until tomorrow.

However, this hunger was different from the usual; it felt like a reminder—he needed more of the blood he had just consumed!

After resting on the grass for a while, Xiang Kun lifted his tattered T-shirt to check the wounds on his waist. After wiping away the blood, the wounds were already gone. The injury on his right hand had also mostly recovered, and he could flex his fingers freely.

Xiang Kun climbed up from the ground, but the moment he stood, a flash of imagery crossed his mind.

He felt as if he were wearing a VR headset, viewing from a first-person perspective as he tore open a trash bag beneath him. "His" hand had turned into a claw, and inside the torn bag, he could vaguely see the ears of a rabbit.

The entire vision lasted only a second. Xiang Kun froze for a moment before immediately realizing what he had just seen.