Chapter 5: Dangerous situations everywhere
Yuan Ming’s heart, which had just been put down, immediately hung up again. He quickly got up and looked down.
He saw the black bear running towards him with all four legs like flying from a distance. Its huge body rushed forward and suddenly turned, using its extremely thick back to hit the banyan tree.
With a dull sound of "boom"!
The old banyan tree shook violently, and a crack appeared on the already somewhat withered trunk.
Yuan Ming had already found out early on and hugged the tree trunk tightly, so he did not fall off the tree. However, when he saw the crack on the tree trunk, he couldn’t help but feel worried.
After the black bear’s attack, it ran again and charged towards the old banyan tree.
"Crack"
Before it rushed up, the crack on the tree trunk widened again.
"I can’t hold on anymore."
Yuan Ming frowned. At the moment when he saw the black bear about to rush up again, he turned his body, ran a few steps on the horizontal branch of the old tree, and jumped towards a ancient tree seven or eight zhang away.Yuan Ming could not jump over this distance from the ground, but at this moment, the force of the tree branch bouncing added to his body, and his body seemed to fly in the air, leaping towards the opposite side.
As the old banyan tree collapsed behind him, his body jumped to the highest point, and then began to fall again, but there was still some distance from the tree.
Yuan Ming stretched out his arm and grabbed towards the front, just like a monkey picking peaches.
At the moment before falling, his palm grabbed the horizontal branch of the opposite ancient tree, and he swung it again in mid-air, jumping towards the tree trunk.
When he was about to fall on the trunk, Yuan Ming did not let himself fall directly, but stretched out his other arm and grabbed the tree branch again, swaying it again, and leaping seven or eight zhang away.
It was not until this moment that Yuan Ming felt that he had truly controlled his body.
He swung his arms one after another until he felt that his arms were sore and powerless, and then stopped on a tree.
When he looked back, the black bear had already disappeared.
Yuan Ming slowly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little weak, and sat down leaning against the tree trunk.
His whole body had already been soaked in sweat, and this feeling was very strange, as if the monkey skin on his body really grew out of his flesh and blood, and even sweat could penetrate from the fur.
As his mood gradually calmed down, Yuan Ming closed his eyes and his fingers silently traced in the air in front of him, starting to reconstruct the path he had escaped from in his memory.
Although he was in a hurry before, he did not forget to leave marks at every turning point. Now, a map of the route he had escaped quickly formed in his mind.Yuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, his stomach rumbling loudly.
Since he arrived at the Biro Cave, he had not eaten anything. After the intense chase earlier, the strong hunger finally became unbearable.
Yuan Ming glanced at the sun, which was already starting to set. He knew that the primitive forest would become even more dangerous at night. If he didn’t find food and a place to rest before nightfall, he might not survive until tomorrow.
With this in mind, Yuan Ming had to gather his strength and stand up. He turned his body to look into the distance, carefully observing his surroundings. Although the mountain forest seemed quiet, there were many subtle movements.
He saw a grayish-brown snake slowly slithering around an old tree, with skin patterns that almost perfectly matched the scars on the tree trunk, making it a near-perfect camouflage.
Under another mound of earth not far away, a small beast with crocodile-like armor poked its head out of a hole and looked around, only to be startled by a large bird flying overhead and quickly retreated into the hole.
A clump of wild grass not far from it rustled, and a plump gray rabbit jumped out of it and ran away.
Yuan Ming immediately jumped towards the direction of the rabbit. In mid-air, he grabbed an old vine with one arm and lowered his body, while the other arm reached out like a fishing rod towards the rabbit.
Yuan Ming’s palm had already touched the soft fur on the rabbit’s tail when a strong gust of wind, along with flying debris, hit his hand.
The rabbit bounced up like an arrow, leaping three or four zhang away and disappeared into the grass.
Yuan Ming remained suspended in mid-air, his movements somewhat stiff, his heart full of bitterness.
He found that none of the beasts in this forest were normal.
Yuan Ming slowly landed on the ground and was about to look for other targets when he heard a faint sound behind him.
He instinctively wanted to turn around and look, but he suddenly caught a glimpse of a green shadow approaching from his left blind spot.
He quickly stopped himself from turning and immediately lay down on the ground. Almost at the same time, a nearly eight-foot-long green wolf pounced from his back. If he hadn’t dodged in time, he would have been knocked down and bitten in the throat.
Yuan Ming didn’t have time to be scared and ran forward with both hands and feet, with the sound of wind behind him.Suddenly, his forward momentum stopped abruptly, and he swiftly turned around, his long arm swinging back as he launched a straight punch towards the rear. The posture was like wielding a spear, executing a move called "turning horse spear."
There was a sonic boom from his fist, making a "pop" sound as it landed on the open mouth of a green wolf that was leaping towards him to bite.
A muffled sound of impact followed. Yuan Ming felt a sharp pain in his fist, and the large green wolf was sent flying, crashing into a sturdy old tree and falling to the ground.
The wolf got up, its mouth bloody and a broken canine tooth, emitting a low growl of anger, but did not immediately pounce again.
At this moment, Yuan Ming was also surprised. There were some vague memories floating in his mind, recalling himself practicing with a spear on a vast open square.
Accompanying these images was a lingering sense of drowsiness in his mind. Yuan Ming knew that now was not the time to think about these things. He quickly shook his head, suppressing all those thoughts, and focused on looking ahead.
He saw another larger green wolf appearing on the side of the first one, coming towards him.
The two wolves separated and flanked him from both sides. Yuan Ming’s previous punch was indeed unexpected, and the power it exerted was twice what he thought he was capable of. However, even with that kind of strength, he was still unable to inflict serious damage to the green wolf.
"I can’t beat them, I have to run." Yuan Ming made a decision in his mind.
At this time, the two green wolves suddenly accelerated, rushing towards him from both sides.
Yuan Ming quickly ran forward, glancing left and right, but found that the two green wolves were maintaining the same speed, without any difference, obviously intending to attack simultaneously, making it difficult for him to deal with both at the same time.
His speed was already slower than that of the green wolves, and both sides of the road had been blocked. Even if he wanted to climb up a tree again, it was already too late.
At this moment, the sound of wind suddenly rang in Yuan Ming’s ears from both sides, and the two green wolves attacked at the same time.
Without hesitation, Yuan Ming suddenly stopped and twisted his waist to the right, pretending to punch the injured green wolf on the left. The latter, out of fear, instinctively shrank back.
This momentary delay gave Yuan Ming a chance. He twisted his body again, changing his fist that was going to hit the injured green wolf into an elbow strike, fiercely smashing towards the green wolf on the right.
With a loud bang, the green wolf was hit hard by Yuan Ming’s elbow and flew out. However, at almost the same time, the green wolf on the right bit Yuan Ming’s shoulder.The sharp wolf fangs pierced through the flesh, causing intense pain that made Yuan Ming gasp for breath. He grabbed the fur on the back of the green wolf’s spine and threw it forward with all his might.
The green wolf, having lost a tooth, couldn’t bite down with full force and was thrown off Yuan Ming’s shoulder with a shoulder toss, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Taking advantage of the gap, Yuan Ming quickly ran towards a tall ancient tree and climbed up with both hands and feet in just a few moments.
The green wolf that had been hit by his elbow followed closely but bit the air, unable to stop Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming climbed up to a horizontal branch near the top of the tree and stopped. Looking down, he saw that both green wolves had already gathered under the tree.
The green wolf with a broken tooth and a bloody mouth looked somewhat embarrassed. The one that had taken Yuan Ming’s elbow strike, however, seemed to have no injuries at all, its reddish eyes staring at him unblinkingly.
Seeing that the two wolves couldn’t climb trees, Yuan Ming felt a little relieved. He glanced at his shoulder and saw three bloody holes oozing fresh blood.
He slightly moved his shoulder muscles, immediately causing him to grimace in pain.
The green wolf below circled the tree for a while before suddenly raising its head and letting out a howl.
The sound echoed through the mountains and forests, reaching far away.
Yuan Ming immediately realized that the wolf was calling for reinforcements. It seemed that even in the strange forests of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, wolves still maintained their habit of living in groups.
"I can’t stay here. Once I’m surrounded by a pack of wolves, there’s no escape."
With that thought, Yuan Ming tore a vine from a nearby tree branch, wrapped it around his shoulder, and once again used his aerial skills to leap between the ancient trees.
The two green wolves followed him relentlessly from below.
Unlike the bulky black bear, the green wolves had more patience and endurance, and they wouldn’t let Yuan Ming, their prey, escape.
No matter how Yuan Ming leaped and ran, they could keep up, occasionally howling to report their position to their companions.
Yuan Ming dared not stop. He saw shadows moving in the forest, but the injuries and blood loss, combined with not having eaten for a long time, were pushing his body to its limits.
His vision began to blur, and even the pain in his shoulder couldn’t stimulate him enough to stay awake.
The shade of the trees ahead grew darker, and his arms ached unbearably. He couldn’t help but slide down when grabbing the vines, and perhaps the next time he jumped, he would fall.