Animal World

Chapter 42: Animal World

Even though he had already engaged in close-quarters combat with it once before, seeing the owl standing on the rock under the moonlight, as tall as a grown man, still felt shocking to Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun remained highly vigilant, reading the owl's body language; he could clearly sense the creature's wariness and fear toward him.

Yet, it did not spread its wings and fly away the moment it spotted him—if it had, he certainly wouldn't have been able to catch up, and he would have been forced to track it slowly in the direction it flew, which would have made finding it before dawn unlikely.

Moreover, given the owl's sensory capabilities, it had likely detected him the moment he discovered it; if it had wanted to leave, it would have simply flown off, and there would have been nothing he could do.

Since it didn't fly, it meant it had other intentions.

Either it couldn't fly for some reason, or it was still unwilling to give up and was thinking of killing Xiang Kun.

In Xiang Kun's judgment, the second reason was more likely.

Regardless of the cause, this was his opportunity.

However, he dared not rush in to attack, fearing he might scare the owl away; it would be best to bait it into attacking him first.

Xiang Kun stopped about a dozen meters away from the owl, noticing that its body shifted slightly backward, a sign of hesitation; it seemed to have observed that his recovery was better than expected and was preparing to flee.

Xiang Kun's mind raced. This standoff could not last long; as time passed, the owl would only feel less capable of gaining an advantage and would choose to escape.

Xiang Kun slowly raised the screwdriver he was holding and bit down on it, then reached into his pocket to retrieve his Swiss Army knife. He opened the blade with movements as slow and gentle as possible to avoid startling the owl into flight.

Once the blade was open, Xiang Kun used it to slice a long gash across his left forearm.

Blood flowed out quickly, then dripped onto the ground, drop by drop, down his elbow.

Xiang Kun switched the knife to his left hand and made a similar long cut on his right arm.

He stood there, exposing the wounds on both arms to the owl.

He had previously tasted a drop of the owl's blood left on his arm and felt his body's intense craving for it, so he guessed that the owl was likely coveting his blood as well.

The reason this giant owl had ambushed him by the lake was likely not just because of its aggressive nature, but because it was hunting.

Otherwise, if it had a habit of attacking humans, it would have been exposed long ago, which didn't fit the behavioral patterns he had observed.

The owl's blood held a powerful allure for Xiang Kun—not merely a sensory desire for something delicious, but a primal scream from his body, a temptation far stronger than an ordinary animal's hunger.

Xiang Kun considered himself relatively rational and self-controlled, yet it still took significant willpower to resist the temptation of the blood. In fact, a large part of the reason he was risking his life here, choosing to face this extremely dangerous giant owl, was that very need for blood.

Even if this giant owl possessed higher intelligence than other animals, he did not believe this beast could possess such strong self-control.

The wounds on his arms stopped bleeding after only a dozen seconds; the blood became viscous and lost its fluidity, and the edges of the cuts began to pull together.

So, Xiang Kun used the Swiss Army knife to cut himself again, letting the blood flow freely once more.

While displaying his wounds and blood to the owl, he took two slow steps forward, and Xiang Kun noticed the owl's posture clearly becoming aggressive.

It couldn't hold back anymore!

The owl's massive wings snapped open, and after a powerful flap, it soared toward the top of Xiang Kun's head, then suddenly dove, talons spread wide, pressing down upon him.

Xiang Kun's focus remained at its peak, his sensory abilities pushed to their limit; he could even hear the owl's heartbeat and breathing.

Therefore, the moment the owl prepared to attack, he had already anticipated it.

As the owl took flight, Xiang Kun had already taken the screwdriver from his mouth into his hand, lowered his center of gravity, and prepared to strike.

Xiang Kun's dynamic vision was also pushed to the limit, firmly locking onto the owl's position in the air. Without a hint of dodging or retreating, as the owl dove from above, he gathered all his strength and lunged upward.

Xiang Kun's plan was clear: whether using his fists or the screwdriver, hitting other parts of the owl might injure or even severely wound it, but it would be difficult to strip it of its ability to fly and fight back.

Therefore, his target was clear: the owl's eyes!

Specifically, the eye he had blinded earlier, which had not yet fully recovered!

Xiang Kun's reaction was completely beyond the giant owl's expectations. It was far more intelligent than a typical owl; it could even tell that Xiang Kun was deliberately using his blood to bait it into attacking, but it truly could not endure such temptation, nor did it want to anymore.

In its judgment, Xiang Kun's first reaction to its attack should have been to dodge and then counterattack, just as he had done by the lake. Thus, its initial dive hadn't been at full power; it was confident it could grab him during a second dive after he dodged, then carry him into the air—its true "home turf."

However, Xiang Kun did not dodge to the side; he leaped directly into it, causing the owl to miscalculate. Combined with the fact that one eye had not yet recovered, causing a visual error, Xiang Kun slipped between its two talons and tackled it in mid-air!

As he embraced the owl, Xiang Kun drove the screwdriver deep into the owl's eye, pulled it out, and stabbed it in again!

With a shrill, piercing cry, Xiang Kun fell from the air while clutching the giant owl, rolling down the mountainside. They soon struck a tree trunk and bounced off; the screwdriver flew away, but Xiang Kun kept his tight grip on the owl, refusing to let go.

The owl did not die immediately and fought back desperately; the two engaged in another close-quarters brawl on the ground, this time a far more brutal and bloody struggle.

Warm sunlight fell upon his face, and Xiang Kun slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself lying sprawled on the hillside, one leg hooked over a tree trunk, his body wedged in a thicket of weeds, his entire form twisted like an 'S'.

He retracted the leg hooked over the trunk, and his body rolled down the slope until he hit another tree and came to a stop.

Xiang Kun rubbed his aching waist and ribs as he climbed up, massaged his head, and looked around.

He was still on the small hill; judging by the position of the sun, it was morning.

But Xiang Kun knew that more than just a few hours had passed since his battle with the owl.

He looked upward; the hillside was littered with broken branches, a scene of total devastation—the spot where he and the giant owl had fought their final battle.

Xiang Kun climbed back up to the place where he had lost consciousness and fallen asleep. Aside from one of his shoes, there was no sign of the giant owl—not even a feather or a trace of blood.

Yet, Xiang Kun knew the owl hadn't escaped.

Before he had fallen asleep, he was certain that the owl had died in his arms, and he had consumed a massive amount of its blood.