Chapter 33: Burning Boats

Almost in the blink of an eye, with the help of the shrubbery's cover, Li Zhangsheng's figure flashed and vanished, losing all trace.

Due to the mental shock, Lin Zheng was temporarily unable to project his Mental Power, and he did not know if Li Zhangsheng had set traps in the jungle.

"Finish him!"

For the sake of safety, Lin Zheng jumped down from the Dadi Manxiong and commanded the Dadi Manxiong and two Lower Rank Wind Wolves to pursue Li Zhangsheng.

Lin Zheng was very cautious; after all, who knew if there were traps set by Li Zhangsheng ahead.

However, because of this, only two Lower Rank Wind Wolves remained by Lin Zheng's side, and his defensive strength had clearly decreased significantly.

Boom—

Suddenly, a roaring sound erupted from the jungle not far away; the Dadi Manxiong stepped into empty air and fell into a trap.

Because the time was too rushed, the trap was not deep, and no sharp objects like bamboo spikes were set at the bottom.

For the thick-skinned Dadi Manxiong, such a trap could not injure it at all, at most only hindering its pace.

"There really was a trap!" Lin Zheng's mouth curled up, revealing a cold sneer. While feeling happy about his own foresight, he subconsciously focused his attention forward, temporarily ignoring movements in other directions.

"Quicksand Hell!"

At the same time the Dadi Manxiong stepped into the trap, the Burrowing Mouse cast Quicksand Hell again, and bright yellow radiance poured into the earth continuously.

In an instant, centered on the trap, the ground within a radius of several meters began to change; the soil rapidly turned sandy and slowly rotated, causing the Dadi Manxiong's feet to sink into the quicksand.

Compared to a Mid-Rank Beast, the Dadi Manxiong's speed and explosive power were undoubtedly a notch lower, resulting in its inability to step out of the trap before the Quicksand Hell formed.

In the quicksand, the Dadi Manxiong's legs were completely submerged, and for a moment, it could not break free from the quicksand's restraint.

Just at this moment, the two Wind Wolves bypassed the trap and pounced toward Li Zhangsheng.

"Burrowing Mouse, I'm counting on you!"

Under Li Zhangsheng's command, the Burrowing Mouse endured its inner fear and tried its best to entangle the two Wind Wolves.

At the same time, Li Zhangsheng turned and ran, starting to put distance between himself and the trap.

Unfortunately, good times did not last; the Dadi Manxiong was, after all, a Mid-Rank Beast. Within just one or two breaths, it broke free from the Quicksand Hell's restraint, and after stepping out of the trap, it immediately pounced toward Li Zhangsheng.

Even if Li Zhangsheng tried his best, his speed could not be compared to the Dadi Manxiong; the distance between the two rapidly shortened, and it was feared that he would be caught before long.

Just as Li Zhangsheng was drawing the Dadi Manxiong away, from the direction where Lin Zheng was, suddenly, accompanied by the sound of breaking air, an Agile figure attacked Lin Zheng from behind.

The one launching the sneak attack was none other than Aixi, who had been hiding in the shadows.

In order to deal with the Mid-Rank Beast, Aixi had suffered heavy injuries and was temporarily unable to carry Li Zhangsheng.

Unable to escape, Li Zhangsheng could only choose Burning Boats, hiding Aixi and Kailan while he attracted Lin Zheng's attention.

Li Zhangsheng was gambling—gambling that Lin Zheng could not project his Mental Power, gambling that he would not dare to enter the shrubbery. As long as he successfully drew the Dadi Manxiong away, Aixi and Kailan, hiding in the shadows, would strike to assassinate Lin Zheng.

A Low-tier Monster Tamer, even if they mastered some mental techniques, still had limited self-preservation ability without a powerful Demon Pet to Guard them, not to mention that Lin Zheng was currently in a state of mental shock.

"Damn it, stop it!" Upon hearing the movement behind him, Lin Zheng's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly commanded the two Wind Wolves to intercept Aixi.

Just at this moment, several vines as thick as fingers suddenly burst out from the ground, binding the front limbs of the two Wind Wolves first.

It turned out that while Aixi was attacking, Kailan was also gathering energy, casting Burrowing Vine to temporarily restrain the two Wind Wolves' mobility.

Under the pull of the vines, the two Wind Wolves fell heavily to the ground, back-first. It was also at this moment that Aixi bypassed the two Wind Wolves and pounced toward Lin Zheng.

"Damn it!"

At this critical moment, Lin Zheng had to forcibly circulate his Mental Power, which made his Consciousness Sea even more shaken and his face turn even paler.

In an instant, a Blood-colored Hexagram appeared, summoning a Horned Python.

Besides the two Mid-Rank Beasts, Lin Zheng also had three Lower Demon Pets, but limited by his strength, Lin Zheng rarely let them out.

Unfortunately, before the Horned Python could see the situation clearly, Aixi appeared before it, white light appearing on its raised right claw, and it struck the Horned Python's head fiercely.

Crack!

Accompanied by the sound of bones shattering, the Horned Python's brains burst out, its skull shattered, and it fell heavily to the ground. Its body twitched violently a few times, then stopped moving altogether.

The moment the Horned Python died, Lin Zheng's mental shock became even more severe; he only felt dizzy, a sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.

It was also at this time that the two Wind Wolves finally broke free from the Burrowing Vine's restraint and pounced toward Aixi again. Given Aixi's injuries, if it were to endure the two Wind Wolves' attacks again, it would very likely perish directly.

Unexpectedly, Aixi did not dodge, but jumped up again, pouncing toward Lin Zheng with lightning speed.

During this process, Aixi opened its mouth wide, revealing two rows of snow-white, sharp fangs, biting toward Lin Zheng's throat.

"No!" At this time, Lin Zheng was suffering from mental shock and was completely unable to continue summoning Demon Pets or cast mental techniques, having almost lost the ability to resist.

In other words, the current Lin Zheng was no different from an ordinary person.

Under Lin Zheng's terrified gaze, while Aixi knocked him to the ground, it bit his neck fiercely.

Crack!

Accompanied by the sound of bones shattering, blood sprayed wildly from Lin Zheng's neck. His head tilted to one side, his eyes staring blankly at the sky, leaving only Anger, terror, and regret.

Lin Zheng's death had nothing to do with his strength; looking at strength alone, his power far exceeded Li Zhangsheng's. The reason he died in the end was mainly due to his underestimation of the enemy and carelessness, which ultimately led him to his destruction.

In order to snatch the nature spirit, Lin Zheng did not deal a lethal blow to Li Zhangsheng, which allowed Li Zhangsheng to escape the encirclement unscathed.

To pursue Li Zhangsheng, Lin Zheng and the Mid-Rank Beast split into two paths, causing the Mid-Rank Beast to be quickly killed by Li Zhangsheng, while he himself suffered mental shock, stepping step-by-step into the trap Li Zhangsheng had prepared for him.

When Lin Zheng died, the two Wind Wolves also launched an attack on Aixi.

At the critical moment, a surge of cyan energy emerged and suddenly acted upon Aixi.

In an instant, a large amount of Cotton Spore appeared on Aixi's body surface, as if wrapped in thick cotton, and it was then struck by the two Wind Wolves' attacks.

Due to the Cotton Spore, the force of the two Wind Wolves' attacks was clearly weakened, causing Aixi to only suffer injuries on top of injuries, without the danger of perishing.

Just as Aixi wanted to launch a counterattack, suddenly, the two Wind Wolves whimpered, their tails tucked, and without continuing to attack Aixi, they turned and left, disappearing into the jungle.

They were only Lin Zheng's Temporary Spirit Pet, so after Lin Zheng died, not only would there be no negative effects, but their Temporary Contract with Lin Zheng would also be automatically canceled, so naturally, they would no longer fight to the death for Lin Zheng.

Aixi did not pursue, nor did it recover from its injuries, but instead endured the pain and, following the mental connection, ran toward Li Zhangsheng's location.

(End of chapter)