Awakening

The Qinmeng Ruins are not without a moon; Proxima Centauri and Proxima Centauri II will appear at night, creating reflected light that illuminates the earth from a distance.

However, the timing of their actions coincided with the dimming of the two large stars, resulting in a pitch-black night.

Last night was pure black, but this night carries a faint glow.

If you look closely, you can barely make out the outline of the mountain's shadow.

But in such dim light, it was difficult to clearly see the appearance of the attacking beast.

"Light the lanterns behind Zhou Rihui to provoke the beast's eyes!"

Changkong Luo was so badly injured that he felt like he was going to vomit blood, and he was in extreme pain. Changkong Kongyinghao temporarily took over the command.

He called out, and Qin Zhong didn't object, changing the direction of the searchlight he was carrying.

"It's a giant ape!"

Above the hundred-meter-high stone forest, a humanoid creature with long arms and short legs raised a stone the size of a millstone and hurled it downwards again, making the beast that had launched the night attack easily recognizable to everyone.

"Roar!"

Perhaps stimulated by the searchlight beam, or perhaps as a warning, the two-zhang-tall giant ape bared its teeth and roared downwards.

This roar was not the cry of an ape, but rather the roar of a tiger.

Zhang Xuezhou was even very familiar with this tiger's roar.

As the ferocious beasts confronted the snake king, one of them let out a particularly loud roar.

After the tiger's roar, the giant ape's massive body rapidly shrank, transforming into a tiger cub before everyone's eyes.

With a powerful leap after pushing off, it disappeared above the stone pillar.

"You bastard, you think you're the only one who can smash rocks!"

Zhou Rihui, who was being chased from behind, seemed somewhat exasperated. After much effort, he climbed to the top of the stone forest only to find that his opponent had escaped.

After grabbing some rocks from the top of the stone forest, Zhou Rihui couldn't help but smash them indiscriminately.

Only when a muffled, low gasp reached his ears did Zhou Rihui's face light up with joy.

Another gunshot rang out, and the low gasp in the darkness turned into a roar of pain.

"What a pity!"

Zhang Xuezhou's voice came and then quickly faded away. Zhou Rihui couldn't help but leap as well. The feeling of exhaustion and the inability to fly any further overwhelmed him, and Zhou Rihui had no choice but to glide and fall.

"How about it?"

As he landed, Zhou Rihui saw a small flashlight beam shining erratically about a hundred meters away, which prompted him to rush towards it.

"I don't know if it hit the front leg or the hind leg!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied with a hint of regret.

He was carrying Song Xianzong's 20-kilogram penetrating rifle.

Twenty kilograms does not pose a significant burden on his leaping ability; he can still leap a certain distance while holding a firearm, although his speed will be reduced.

However, Song Xianzong's gun had extremely strong recoil. Zhang Xuezhou had no problem firing it, but accuracy became a major issue.

He locked onto the target and fired twice; one shot missed, and the other hit either the beast's front or hind leg, though he couldn't tell.

"These bastards are too good at camouflage. Who would have thought that such a big creature could turn into such a small one?" Zhou Rihui complained. "It's normal that you can't hit them after they change size!"

"The recoil of this gun is too strong; I can hardly hold it steady. I feel like I've aimed correctly, but I miss the target!"

Zhang Xuezhou had to offer an explanation.

He stopped talking when light shone from afar, picked up his rifle, and ran back.

"You're not physically strong enough; using Committee Member Song's gun is too much of a strain. We'll have Old Song design a special one for you!"

After returning to the group and saying a few words, Ren Yisheng sighed with regret and then mentioned having Song Bu'er design firearms.

"Professor Song designed a gun for me; it's passable for shooting people, but not quite enough for fighting ferocious beasts!"

Hunting ferocious beasts is a low-probability event, and the requirement of shooting Seventh Sequence individual is too absurd. Song Bu'er's firearms obviously do not cover this aspect.

Ultimately, it wasn't that Song Bu'er was incompetent, but rather that Zhang Xuezhou was in a team he shouldn't have been in, which was completely beyond Song Bu'er's expectations.

Zhang Xuezhou responded, but he didn't dwell too much on the night raid.

This giant ape is adept at traversing mountains and valleys, and also possesses the ability to shrink its body, making it an extremely agile and ferocious beast. It's already quite an achievement to hit its target.

Although they failed to kill or seriously injure the opponent with a single shot, the chances of the opponent returning are not very high, which may even affect the plan of the hairless tiger beast's night raid.

Changkong Luo and the others were extremely worried about the silent attack by the hairless tiger, fearing the chaos it might cause in their old age. However, after this night raid, and with the giant ape being wounded, Zhang Xuezhou felt that as long as these ferocious beasts remained in a group, the possibility of another night raid would be greatly reduced.

"The hairless tiger is extremely sensitive to risk and is not by any particularly fierce nature. It's more likely that it's a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong. There's at most a 10% chance it will launch a night attack!"

If the hairless tiger and the giant ape were together, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the giant ape's night raid was more like a rehearsal.

The Gigantopithecus maintained a sufficient distance and attempted to flee after being discovered.

However, the other party's escape was not perfect.

This may correspond to the hairless tiger's sneak attack from a certain distance, followed by a related retreat plan.

If the agile giant ape fails in its operation, the hairless tiger's night raid could be fatal, a high risk that would deter the hairless tiger from taking action.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng whispered to each other for a while, which made Ren Yisheng gasp slightly, realizing that Zhang Xuezhou's research on the psychology of alien beasts was no joke.

However, Ren Yisheng did not make a big announcement, but remained silent and let the team proceed in order.

If Zhang Xuezhou's judgment is accurate, that's fine; but if it's inaccurate, the problem is huge. It could even lead to a shift in judgment if everyone relaxes their guard, potentially resulting in death or injury.

Ultimately, their hunting of ferocious beasts, ambushes, or the use of the snake pit's power did not involve directly crushing the beasts, and some personnel were injured. This resulted in the beasts not being overly afraid, which led to this repeated ambush.

Apart from Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou, who appeared somewhat relaxed, many others in the team remained on high alert.

Only when it got light did some of the people breathe a sigh of relief.

Changkong Yinglian let out a soft cry of surprise.

As the first rays of morning sunlight shone through, Zhong Rang, who had been unconscious, cried out in pain and finally regained consciousness.

Zhong Rang's demeanor was not that of someone in their twilight years experiencing confusion, but rather one of utter clarity, without even touching the activation of the Mental Strengthening Chapter.

"I think I was bitten by a lot of snakes, killed a lot of snakes, and then fought a ferocious beast... But these memories are very blurry, and I can't remember the details at all... Committee Member Zhang, didn't we meet in the snake pit?"

Aside from the numerous painful memories and the somewhat hazy related recollections, Zhong Rang not exhibit any particularly unusual behavior.

He felt as if his body had been injected with adrenaline, and even after the initial surge subsided, the effects lingered, giving him an energy far exceeding his usual levels.

This was not Zhong Rang's illusion, but a true reflection of his physical condition.

Zhong Rang looked at his bound legs and feet, and felt the strong and resilient power in his hands and feet. He even saw the age spots left after the injection of the life-sustaining drugs disappear without him noticing.

He felt that during his unconscious state, when his body was out of control, he experienced a complete upheaval.

Zhong Rang's body seemed to have truly rejuvenated, rather than merely maintaining a temporary illusion through the stimulation of life-giving drugs.

And all of this may have started from the moment of the Qin Meng Secret Stone.

He tried hard to recall, but all he could feel was a huge rock in his memory.

Besides that, he remembered that there seemed to be another person next to the boulder at the time.