Chapter 20: Got It

Having already seen the Snow-Mane play dead once, Xia Hong naturally wouldn't be careless.

Playing dead is not a simple thing.

Even in his previous life, it was basically impossible for an ordinary person to want to play dead.

Simply closing one's eyes and lying on the ground isn't called playing dead; that's called acting.

To truly play dead, it generally involves three steps:

First, one must stop breathing, and the body cannot move; this is the foundation.

Second, one must know how to control the internal organs. The person doesn't move, but the blood vessels and pulse are still moving. Controlling the internal organs allows the heart to stop pumping blood, the stomach and intestines to stop moving, and the pulse throughout the body will pause accordingly.

The final step is to hold one's breath.

Holding one's breath here doesn't mean not breathing, but stopping the emission of aura.

After a normal creature dies, the body will quickly decay, subsequently producing a very unpleasant odor, generally called corpse gas.

Wanting to fake corpse gas is naturally impossible, but at the very least, one must lock in the aura of a living person on oneself to achieve the goal of confusing the other party.

Xia Hong hadn't observed the Snow-Mane at close range, but judging by the Frostwolf's cunning and caution, to be able to deceive them, cold beasts like the Snow-Mane must have an extremely strong talent in this aspect of playing dead.

Last time, weren't those people from Dashan Camp cautious?

Which human at the Woodcutting Realm isn't surviving at the limit? If even ordinary playing-dead techniques could deceive them, they would have died countless times already.

Just as Xia Hong guessed, the Snow-Mane was indeed playing dead.

The moment the Frostwolf loosened its mouth, the Snow-Mane's two stiff, motionless pupils suddenly rotated, two rough breaths sprayed from its nostrils, and its face became a bit more ferocious.

Although the left hind limb was left with only white bones, the Snow-Mane could still use it to prop up its body, and then with a roll, it crushed toward the Frostwolf with the momentum of Mount Tai pressing down.

The Frostwolf realized it had been deceived and subconsciously opened its mouth, wanting to continue biting, but it was a pity that the Snow-Mane no longer gave it a chance; when it crushed toward it, it used its back.

The Snow-Mane's back was full of thorns.

One could imagine the outcome of the Frostwolf opening its mouth like this.

Several thorns pierced directly into its mouth; it was unknown how far they pierced into the flesh and blood. The Frostwolf let out a painful roar, and dark green blood constantly overflowed from the side of its mouth.

The Frostwolf struggled and twisted on the ground, wanting to break free, but the Snow-Mane kept crushing in the direction it twisted, not giving it a chance at all.

Until the Frostwolf's head was twisted to the Snow-Mane's tail.

A large size certainly has its benefits, but in this kind of life-and-death struggle, any factor will become the key to influencing victory or defeat.

The Snow-Mane's size was too large, so it only used half its body to press the Frostwolf; when the Frostwolf twisted to its tail, its head finally had a chance to breathe.

The Frostwolf suddenly turned its head and bit onto the part below the Snow-Mane's tail, the area on the left hind limb that had already been torn for the most part.

This solid bite caused the Snow-Mane to lose its strength all at once.

The Frostwolf quickly crawled out from under its body, and then with a stride, it burrowed toward the depths of the dense forest.

It actually ran away without looking back.

In this battle, the final winner was the adult Snow-Mane.

Last time, the winner was the Frostwolf; this time, the winner was the Snow-Mane.

It seems that, as low-level cold beasts, the Snow-Mane and Frostwolf didn't have much difference in strength; it was just that their fighting styles had different focuses.

The Snow-Mane had a large size, strong impact force, and high playing-dead skills;

While the Frostwolf was good at using terrain, liked surprise attacks, and was fast and agile; the most critical thing was that it also knew how to run when it couldn't win.

Xia Hong watched the Frostwolf disappear completely into the dense forest, then his gaze shifted and landed on the Snow-Mane that was limping toward the small torch, revealing a trace of hesitation.

But the hesitation only lasted for a moment.

Xia Hong quickly scanned the surroundings, pointed to two of the trees, and said to Yuan Cheng and Xia Chuan:

"See those two trees? Once I engage with the Snow-Mane, you two climb one tree each and stay on the tree. Unless I call you, you must absolutely not move!"

After Xia Hong finished giving instructions, he stood up from the snow, took out a stone axe from his waist, and ran quickly toward the Snow-Mane.

He couldn't afford not to be fast; the Snow-Mane was about to reach the side of the torch.

That torch could heal the Snow-Mane's wounds and would also make it stronger.

In the winter snow forest, scents aren't that easy to distinguish.

In this silent jungle, sound is the greatest weapon for all creatures to distinguish enemies and the environment.

Although it was fifty meters away, the moment Xia Hong spoke, the Snow-Mane had already noticed, but it seemed to instinctively feel that the little crawler over there was no threat, so it continued to lean toward the torch.

It was just a pity that the injury on its left hind limb was too severe, so it walked too slowly, too slowly.

So slowly that Xia Hong had already arrived behind it. The Snow-Mane, sensing danger, could only turn its head and look at Xia Hong with fierce eyes.

Facing a cold beast head-on for the first time, and it was an adult Snow-Mane.

Although he knew that the other party had just experienced a life-and-death struggle and its strength was seven or eight out of ten gone, Xia Hong was still somewhat nervous in his heart.

Calm, calm.

No matter what, it was still a beast.

Xia Hong took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then his gaze met the Snow-Mane's eyes directly, and a trace of ferocity gradually appeared on his face.

This little crawler in front of him actually dared to look him in the eye. The Snow-Mane was clearly angered by Xia Hong's actions, its pupils crimson, and it suddenly lunged toward Xia Hong.

It was just a pity that because the injury on its left hind leg was too severe, its speed was too slow.

Xia Hong's gaze condensed slightly. Facing the Snow-Mane lunging at him, he didn't choose to dodge, but instead put the stone axe in his hand into his mouth and bit it tightly, then spread his hands horizontally.

He actually accurately grabbed the Snow-Mane's two giant, long fangs.

Although because of the severe injury, the Snow-Mane's strength had been greatly weakened.

But this sudden impact still knocked Xia Hong back five or six meters.

Bang...

If it weren't for him forcibly changing direction and kicking a large tree behind him to unload most of the force, he probably would have been knocked back even further.

"With a force of 6,400 jin, I still couldn't block it. The impact force of an adult Snow-Mane in its prime is probably over 10,000 jin. No wonder, no wonder one has to reach the Earth-Digging Realm to hunt!"

Retreat was retreat, but Xia Hong's hands still grabbed the Snow-Mane's fangs tightly.

The Snow-Mane raised its head and opened its bloody mouth toward Xia Hong in front of it.

Xia Hong saw this scene, his pupils condensed suddenly, he suddenly loosened his right hand, gripped the stone axe he was biting in his mouth, and then his body, borrowing the force of the left fang when the Snow-Mane shook its head, leaned to the left.

Pshhh...

A tongue five or six meters long, sharp and pointed, shaped like an ice awl, suddenly flew out from the Snow-Mane's mouth. Xia Hong's lean just happened to dodge it, and that terrifying long tongue pierced straight through the large tree behind him.

This wasn't over; after missing the strike, the Snow-Mane's tongue suddenly became soft, and then the part that pierced through the large tree suddenly softened, then turned, and bundled toward Xia Hong's neck.

The scene of the person holding the large blade from Dashan Camp having his head fly high after being entangled by the Snow-Mane's tongue was still in Xia Hong's mind; he naturally wouldn't let the Snow-Mane succeed.

In fact, after catching the stone axe and dodging the long tongue, Xia Hong had already reacted.

The moment the Snow-Mane's tongue pierced through the large tree, Xia Hong's left hand also loosened.

He gripped the stone axe with both hands, his two legs, which were already stepping on the large tree, kicked hard again, and his body suddenly jumped high, slashing fiercely toward the Snow-Mane's tongue.

Sss... sss...

Compared to the arrows and blades of Dashan Camp, the stone axe was naturally not sharp enough.

But, one had to look at which part was being slashed.

The tongue is basically one of the most fragile parts of any creature's body, and the Snow-Mane is no exception.

One could tell from the painful roar the Snow-Mane let out after the tongue was cut off.

Strike while the iron is hot.

The tongue was cut off, and the section behind the tree naturally lost its function.

Xia Hong had no more worries, and he slashed crazily with the stone axe toward the Snow-Mane's open mouth. The terrifying force knocked the Snow-Mane back wildly, but because of the leg injury, it not only retreated slowly but also retreated chaotically.

It was simply swaying left and right, relying on instinct to dodge.

And at the same time, Xia Hong roared toward the tree:

"Get down and slash its right hind limb, fast..."

Two figures jumped down from the tree and leaped toward the rear of the Snow-Mane.

The cold light emitted by the stone axe flashed across Xia Hong's eyes, which were wide open due to the exertion.

"Got it!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 21 =====