"Bzzzz..." Between the two of them exchanging a couple of words to confirm the situation, two Guard Bees had already poured out of the Food Storage. Zhang Ruofeng was shocked by their terrifying size: they were nearly half a person tall. Their two enormous forelegs had evolved into sharp, sickle-shaped limbs. Their abdomens, which seemed like their relative weak point, were exceptionally... The Guard Bees' coloring was much brighter than that of Earth Bees, and anyone could tell at a glance that their exoskeletons were many times harder.
"Run or not? Run or not?" Zhang Ruofeng heard the adventurer muttering. Before Zhang Ruofeng could react, the adventurer took a step back, turned around, and started running. "Sorry, I don't think we can beat them. I'm leaving!"
Before Zhang Ruofeng could do anything, the adventurer swept past him like the wind. Xin Mu had wanted to stop him, but it had happened too suddenly. The adventurer merely twisted his body slightly and slipped right past her.
"His speed... is incredible." Xin Mu was frustrated for the first time. She didn't know what else the adventurer could do, but his speed and reflexes when fleeing were definitely the result of long practice. It would be difficult for her to stop him.
"Damn that bastard!" Zhang Ruofeng was a moment too slow. The two Guard Bees had already rushed right up to him. Even on the lower floors, elite monsters were not to be trifled with. For low-level adventurers in particular, most elite monsters were nightmares. Even the elite monsters on the Dungeon's first few floors weren't something just anyone could handle, let alone someone like Zhang Ruofeng, who had been an adventurer for less than half a month. Their buzzing filled his ears, and fleeing was no longer a realistic option. Zhang Ruofeng abruptly stopped, pivoted on one foot, and kicked off hard, launching himself straight at the Guard Bees. Their intelligence was clearly too limited for them to react in time. The leading Guard Bee collided head-on with Zhang Ruofeng. He kept pushing, pinning it against the wall with all his strength. The impact of his full-speed charge was so great that even the wall shook.
Xin Mu didn't just stand by either. Seeing Zhang Ruofeng restrain one Guard Bee, she drew both daggers. Since both Guard Bees had locked onto Zhang Ruofeng, she poured all her strength into a lunge toward the back of the other, uninjured Guard Bee. Guard Bees were naturally far stronger than Earth Bees. The first dagger she threw was knocked away by its wing. As Xin Mu threw her second dagger, the first one landed point-first in the ground beside her foot. But the second hit its mark, piercing straight through the Guard Bee's wing. It immediately lost its balance and toppled over.
"Hiss!" Zhang Ruofeng sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth. The Guard Bee he had pinned to the wall was barely hurt. Although his full-force punch had caved in part of its abdomen, the creature seemed unfazed. Its two sharp forelegs came down in a vertical slash, plunging straight into both of Zhang Ruofeng's shoulders. He could even hear his bones scraping against its limbs. The pain-enhancing effect of Dragon Blood made his vision go black. But Zhang Ruofeng knew that if he backed off now, it would be even harder to restrain the Guard Bee again. He turned his head with difficulty and glanced at Xin Mu. She was relying on her agility to keep the Guard Bee at bay. Her supple body made it much easier to dodge the creature's relatively simple foreleg strikes. Although Xin Mu could barely hurt it, the Guard Bee couldn't injure her quickly either.
"Phew." Zhang Ruofeng clamped both hands around the Guard Bee's forelegs, keeping them from doing any more damage to his shoulders. Then he forced himself to take a deep breath and suppress the intense pain. He abruptly stepped back. The Guard Bee didn't react in time and swung its forelegs through empty air, throwing its body off balance. Zhang Ruofeng had deliberately drawn it into that move. How could he pass up the opportunity? He pushed off hard and drove a crushing punch into its head. The Guard Bee reacted quickly too, raising its forelegs to block, but it was too late. Its armored bracer scraped against the Guard Bee's limb with a piercing sound as Zhang Ruofeng's punch landed. The injured Guard Bee began thrashing its forelegs wildly, forcing Zhang Ruofeng to retreat. A gash still opened across his chest. Meanwhile, the pain from his shoulder wounds, combined with the itchy sensation of them healing, was making him increasingly irritable.
But Zhang Ruofeng knew he couldn't let his hands falter, no matter how panicked he felt. He had the advantage right now. If he stopped, the Guard Bee would probably hunt him down without restraint. This was Xin Mu's first time in close-quarters combat, after all. Although she could still barely dodge the attacks, the bloody streaks already appearing on her body showed just how badly she was losing ground.
"Ha!" Zhang Ruofeng spotted an opening in the Guard Bee's attack. The heavy blow he had just landed had apparently blinded it, and now it was only lashing out wildly. Naturally, Zhang Ruofeng seized his chance. He charged in and punched it in the head again. At the same time, its wild attack carved a wound across his back. Zhang Ruofeng didn't stop moving. He sidestepped to the left, letting the Guard Bee's attack pass by his body. Then he changed his straight punch into a hook, clenched his left hand against his bracer, and landed another heavy blow. As the Guard Bee tilted to the right, he grabbed its sharp foreleg with his right hand, not caring that it immediately cut him. He yanked it upward, followed with his left fist, and smashed the Guard Bee into the ground. Then he loosened his grip slightly, drew back his fist, and punched it squarely in the chest. At last, the Guard Bee stopped thrashing and instantly crumbled into a pile of fine sand.
"Hahaha... ha..." Zhang Ruofeng gasped for air. There wasn't a single uninjured patch on his body; he had been slashed more than a dozen times in the space of a moment. The wounds on both shoulders were probably deep enough to expose bone. Waves of heat surged through his injuries. Zhang Ruofeng knew his body was healing at an incredible rate, but instead of feeling the fatigue the goddess had warned him about, he felt surges of hot blood rushing to his head. Anger was fermenting wildly inside him.
"Impossible. No one has made me angry." Zhang Ruofeng knew his anger was growing stronger, but there was no time to figure out why. He saw Xin Mu's dagger, which she had been using to defend herself, land by his foot. Xin Mu had barely managed to roll away from the Guard Bee's lethal attack, but its strike had already carved a huge wound across her shoulder. Zhang Ruofeng sprang toward her almost without hesitation.
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