"Are Great Barking Dogs really this huge?" Zhang Ruofeng was stunned as he rushed closer. The Great Barking Dog was several times the size of a normal Barking Dog. Its back stood as high as Zhang Ruofeng's abdomen, and its head was enormous. Each of its teeth was as big as a dagger; one bite would leave him seriously injured. "And it's so fast!" Zhang Ruofeng had wanted to adjust his footing and build up momentum, but the Great Barking Dog that charged around the corner gave him no time. It was almost as fast as a normal Barking Dog. With only about five meters between them, it was about to crash into Zhang Ruofeng. Against a body built like a tank, he figured that if it hit him, every bone in his body would be scattered.
The situation was extremely unfavorable for Zhang Ruofeng. He knew they were too close for him to unleash his full strength, but Xin Mu was right behind him. If he retreated, she might be in danger. He had no choice but to keep moving, raise his left arm in front of his head, and charge forward. As a monster with little intelligence, the Great Barking Dog naturally had no intention of backing down either. They collided. The Great Barking Dog skidded to a stop when Zhang Ruofeng's arm guard struck it squarely on the nose. It yelped and staggered back two steps, while Zhang Ruofeng was sent flying and landed flat on his back.
"Damn!" Zhang Ruofeng's vision had gone black, but he forced himself to scramble up quickly. The moment he stood, his vision was filled with red. He knew he must have split his forehead, and blood was running into his eyes. His right arm had struck the ground, and waves of pain shot through it. When Zhang Ruofeng was knocked flying, Xin Mu had thrown both her daggers. One missed the Great Barking Dog's vitals, merely slicing a bloody groove across its face. The other struck true, lodging in its eye. Its howls rang out without pause.
"Ruofeng!" Xin Mu cried out. She was worried about him; that collision had made it look as if he'd been hit by a car. But seeing him struggle back to his feet eased her fears somewhat. Xin Mu had thrown away both her daggers and had no weapon left to help Zhang Ruofeng. She had no intention of rushing in. While he was still able to fight, charging in would only get in his way.
"Ow, ow, ow." Zhang Ruofeng clutched his left arm, sucking in a sharp breath as the pain from the collision hit him. Without the protection of his arm guard, the impact would certainly have broken his arm. Even so, a faint scratch marked the guard, left by the Great Barking Dog's teeth—a testament to how dangerous that collision had been. Zhang Ruofeng had no way out. Though the impact had sent pain coursing through his entire body, he gritted his teeth and charged forward. If he didn't finish the Great Barking Dog while its eye was injured, he and Xin Mu might never get another chance to kill the brute. Zhang Ruofeng attacked from its blind right side, but despite having lost sight in its right eye, the beast's instincts made it turn its left eye toward him. It snarled with its jaws open. Zhang Ruofeng ignored it and rushed up close. The Great Barking Dog immediately lunged to bite him, but he had already anticipated the attack. He skidded to a halt and leaped backward, dodging its jaws, then raised his left arm and punched it in the head. The Great Barking Dog's head dipped from the blow. Zhang Ruofeng pressed his right hand down on its head to keep it from rising, clenched his left fist, and slammed down another heavy punch. This time, the Great Barking Dog's head crashed straight into the ground. Yet it still growled and tried to get back up.
"How is that not enough?!" Zhang Ruofeng was horrified. In the real world, he had never dared to hit anyone in the head with all his strength. Now he had smashed the monster twice with his arm guard on, and the pain in his arm made him keenly aware of just how hard he had hit. But even that wasn't enough to kill this elite monster.
Zhang Ruofeng's arm was almost completely spent, while the Great Barking Dog was starting to get back up. He hurriedly braced himself, raised his left foot, and brought it down in a chopping kick. His sneaker flew off during the collision with the Great Barking Dog. The beast collapsed to the ground again, unable to rise, but Zhang Ruofeng's unprotected leg was wracked with such intense pain that he could barely stay upright. The Great Barking Dog lay motionless, but Zhang Ruofeng knew that unless it dissolved into black sand, it wasn't dead. He could barely manage another punch.
Luckily, Xin Mu arrived just in time. Carrying the dagger she had retrieved from the ground, she plunged it into the left side of the Great Barking Dog's neck. The beast instantly dissolved into countless grains of sand, and Xin Mu's hand was covered in blood.
"Huff, huff." Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu were both panting heavily. The exertion of that outburst had left Zhang Ruofeng completely drained, and he sank down against the wall.
"I'll get your shoe." Xin Mu started toward the shoe, which had rolled into a corner. But when she reached it, she let out a startled cry. Zhang Ruofeng, who had just begun to relax, sprang to his feet and was about to rush over to her when he saw her returning with two Magic Stones the size of tennis balls. He hurriedly looked back and spotted another Magic Stone just like the two in her hand among the black sand, along with a white fang about fifteen centimeters long. They must have been the Great Barking Dog's drops.
"Isn't this supposed to be the beginner floor?" Zhang Ruofeng said with a bitter smile. "Didn't the guide say you might not even encounter an elite monster on floors three or four?" He carefully compared the three Magic Stones and found that they were almost the same size. He was speechless.
"That person was suspicious," Xin Mu said as she handed Zhang Ruofeng his shoe and picked up the two daggers from the ground.
"If I see him again, I'll have a little talk with him," Zhang Ruofeng said helplessly. The other person had been so fast that Zhang Ruofeng hadn't even seen his face. How was he supposed to know who had brought this trouble down on them? "At least he ran off, and the loot's ours." He tried to console himself. They'd gained four times what they'd put in; it was still a pretty good deal.
Zhang Ruofeng had been hurt badly enough to limp. Without any protective gear, his chopping kick had done serious damage; after all, the Great Barking Dog's head was as hard as stone. His arm was also aching fiercely. After a brief discussion, they decided to call it a day. Zhang Ruofeng was in very poor shape, and Xin Mu was exhausted too. Continuing to explore could be dangerous, so the two of them carefully headed back upstairs. Since Zhang Ruofeng, who had done most of the fighting, was limping, they moved very cautiously. Even so, they were spotted three times on the second floor, and each time it took a while to deal with the monsters. Zhang Ruofeng's right arm also got bitten again, leaving a wound nearly five centimeters long.
After returning to the first floor, Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief. The monsters on the first floor were so weak that an ordinary person with a weapon could handle them easily. Even in their poor condition, they encountered no trouble there and eventually made it back out into the sunlight. After all their exertions, they had spent a full four hours underground, and the sunlight made their eyes sting.
"Looks like the other adventurers will be coming up soon too." Zhang Ruofeng looked at the crowds gradually filling Babel Tower Avenue and knew nightfall was near. The Dungeon grew more ferocious at night: rare monsters became more numerous, and ordinary monsters appeared more often. Entering the Dungeon at night was unwise.
"Come on, let's go exchange our loot for money." Zhang Ruofeng patted his now-bulging Storage Pouch. His whole body hurt, but he was still in a good mood. "I'll make braised pork for you tonight."
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