Little Leopard spat hard twice, feeling as though even his saliva stank. With a shift of his body, he floated up and headed into the dense forest. He was much faster than the little creature, and within a few bounds, he caught up behind it. Still, he did not pounce straight away. This chipmunk had appeared far too strangely, and its behavior was highly suspicious. He had already fallen for its trick once and had no desire to fall for it again.
Once inside the dense forest, he kept close behind the little creature. Before long, his face turned livid.
The little creature looked incredibly plump, covered in fat like a tiny ball of meat, yet it moved with astonishing agility. Its tail hooked around the roast lamb, while its two short little legs raced along.
Yes, two short little legs. The little fellow was actually running upright, swinging its forepaws like an ordinary human swinging their arms. If it had not been so small, and so unmistakably a chipmunk, Little Leopard would surely have mistaken this creature dragging roast lamb with its tail for a person.
Its two stubby legs churning away were one thing; Little Leopard thought nothing of its speed. The problem was that it farted every stretch of the way, letting them rip as it ran, filling the entire trail with foul fumes. Caught off guard, Little Leopard nearly fell victim again. Only his quick reactions saved him: he stopped breathing just in time, or he would have been struck down on the spot once more.
Precisely because the little fellow farted every short stretch of the way, it met with no resistance at all as it dragged a half-cooked roast leg of lamb through this treacherous forest. Wherever it went, the surrounding beasts and birds scrambled out of its path. Those that failed to get away in time vomited wildly, just as Little Leopard had at the beginning.
Even some of the spiritually aware flowers and plants began to droop uncontrollably once the stench enveloped them, as though they had suffered some injury.
Only the little creature ran along without a care, strutting and swaggering as though flaunting its might.
Following behind it, Little Leopard had already given up all hope for the half-cooked roast lamb trailing behind its tail. Even if he snatched it back, it would no longer be fit to eat.
But he could not swallow this anger. After following it for a while, he realized that the little creature seemed to have no abilities other than farting. The reason every beast scattered before it and none dared challenge it was probably that its farts were far too destructive, while the creature itself offered little reward. Those venomous insects and savage beasts simply did not want to waste their strength.
Plump though it was, it was still only a fist-sized chipmunk. What meat could there possibly be on it?
But Little Leopard was not one of those wild beasts that shied away from trouble. The little creature had blasted him with its farts twice, leaving his belly full of fire. Now that he had followed it into the dense forest, how could he possibly let it off so easily?
Now that he was reasonably certain the little fellow posed no danger, all that pent-up resentment naturally needed an outlet. His figure, hidden among the bushes behind it, suddenly burst out and lunged at the creature.
The little creature was alert, too. Sensing something wrong behind it, it actually let off two consecutive farts-pfft, pfft! But Little Leopard had already stopped breathing, so its ultimate farting trick was naturally useless.
Little Leopard showed no mercy. His ten fingers curled like hooks as he clawed straight at the little creature.
Sensing danger, the little creature squeaked, and every hair on its body stood on end. Its tail released the roast lamb, and it sprang abruptly upward. With agility like that, it looked nothing like a little chipmunk covered in fat. It leaped more than ten feet high and shot toward a tree beside it.
Little Leopard merely sneered. The creature was indeed quick and nimble, but if he let it escape today, he would lose face utterly. Still in midair,
he flipped his outstretched claw upward. With a Golden Leopard Claw, he enveloped the little creature entirely in a blur of claw shadows at blinding speed.
"Let's see where you can run now!" A smug smile spread across Little Leopard's face. Just as his hand closed over the little creature and his five fingers tightened, something strange happened.
His fingers closed. At the very instant he was about to seize the little creature, its body suddenly flickered. With a whoosh, it vanished, and Little Leopard's claw caught nothing but air.
"What's going on?!" Little Leopard's heart jolted as he landed. Suddenly, he whipped his head around and saw that the little creature had somehow appeared on a branch behind him. Its tiny eyes rolled as it studied him, glinting with puzzlement and curiosity, as though it did not understand why Little Leopard had chased after it.
In its world, everything was simple. Whenever it came across something tasty or fun, it ran over and stole it. Whatever difficulties it encountered, a few farts generally solved the problem. Combined with its nimble movements, that meant very few creatures pursued it as far as Little Leopard had.
Besides, this was the first time it had seen a creature like Little Leopard. It was intensely curious, so it stared steadily at him.
In Little Leopard's eyes, however, that curiosity and puzzlement had already become mockery. After easily dodging a strike he had been certain would succeed, it was now lying on a branch laughing at him. This little creature was far too arrogant. His face darkened, and he surged forward, lunging at it again.
Seeing Little Leopard pounce, the little creature's eyes flashed with excitement and amusement. It lay motionless on the branch, waiting for his hand to close over it, as though it was not remotely worried about being caught.
This time, Little Leopard was much more careful. He reached out with one hand while the other moved rapidly. With a Heavenly Net, he sealed off every escape route above and below the little creature.
Whoosh!
Once again, just as Little Leopard was about to grasp it completely, the little creature vanished into thin air. At that moment, his other hand was still sealing off the space all around it.
Instant teleportation!
After it disappeared again, Little Leopard narrowed his eyes slightly. A term he found utterly unbelievable surfaced in his mind. Behind him, the little creature that had just vanished appeared once more, this time on another branch.
This little creature can use instant teleportation?!
Though he found it almost impossible to believe, there was no other explanation. If it were not instant teleportation, then however fast it moved-even if it were fast enough to escape his Heavenly Net-there was no way he would have sensed nothing at all.
The little creature seemed to vanish into thin air and reappear out of nowhere. Such a bizarre phenomenon could only be explained as instant teleportation.
Despite his astonishment, Little Leopard decided to try a few more times. So he lunged again, only to hear another whoosh.
Again. Whoosh!
Keep going. Whoosh!
Fuck! Still whoosh!
After several attempts, Little Leopard finally confirmed that even if the little creature was not using instant teleportation, it possessed a power he could not currently understand.
Still, unless it's deliberately playing with me, the distance between where it disappears and reappears never exceeds a hundred feet. And it can only move itself, not take anything else along. Otherwise, it would have fled with the roast lamb ages ago!
Hot sweat broke out over Little Leopard's body as he pondered silently. That whole chase had been like an eighty-year-old granny crouching in the grass trying to catch rabbits, leaving him thoroughly exhausted.
At last, he understood how the surrounding beasts and birds felt. While dodging him, the damned little fellow had also let off several more farts. The surrounding area was clearly no longer fit for any living creature.
This won't work if I want to catch it! With all his efforts wasted, Little Leopard gave the little creature a disgruntled look and stopped tangling with it. Within a few bounds, he vanished beyond the dense forest.
Seeing Little Leopard leave, the little creature glanced curiously in the direction he had disappeared, then looked at the roast lamb on the ground. An extraordinarily human expression of delight appeared on its face.
With a swish, it jumped down from the branch. Its tail curled around the roast lamb, lifted it, and it continued swaggering on its way.
A few breaths later, Little Leopard's figure appeared in the dense forest again, trailing the little creature from a distance.
I'm studying at the Party School and haven't had any time to touch a computer all day. There's only one update today, too. Tomorrow there'll be at least three!!!!