Chapter 322: Old Man

We immediately stopped and turned around, and at the same time someone else let out a scream.

That scream was like a vicious ghost; we only saw a commotion over there and didn't know what was happening. We froze for a moment, then immediately grabbed our gear and ran toward the sound of the scream.

It wasn't far away; we could hear dogs barking wildly, but in the swaying shadows of the trees we couldn't see why they were shouting. Agui called out, "What's going on?"

"Watch out! There's something in the grass!" the people ahead shouted. As soon as they finished, the forest beside us suddenly stirred, as if something was quickly moving through the bushes, making a lot of noise—seemed to be a large animal.

Agui raised his gun and fired. It was impossible to see where the shot went; the thunderous blast startled all the birds in the distance into flight. The animal bolted and vanished into the darkness.

We rushed over to them, and the ones from the mountain also came running. Flashlights swept through the forest, revealing a trail of trembling shrubs. Agui immediately shouted, "Release the dogs!"

Several hunters whistled, and the hunting dogs charged out instantly—their momentum completely different from city pet dogs. Chaos erupted ahead: the rustling of bushes and barking of dogs were endless. Agui and the others immediately followed. They all seemed experienced in hunting, shouting a few words in the local dialect before dispersing and running into the forest after the dogs.

We wanted to follow, but Agui turned back and shouted something to Yuncai. Yuncai stopped us, saying not to go—they couldn't look after us. In the pitch dark, hunters couldn't fire recklessly, and a cornered beast might hurt people. Wild animals, especially leopards and such, were ferocious; a single scratch could be a serious injury, so we had to be extremely careful. We lacked experience and could easily get into trouble, and besides, I didn't know how to hunt in a group—going would only cause trouble.

I naturally refused, thinking to myself: when it came to skill, could Poker-face possibly cause you trouble? I chased forward a few steps, only to realize that her "trouble" was something else entirely.

The hunting dogs were well-trained; the three of them spread out in formation and charged ahead of whatever it was. The creature, cornered, immediately turned and ran back, only to find the hunters closing in from behind. The dogs and people, front and back, formed a perfect encirclement. This required everyone in the circle to be experienced; otherwise the prey might find a breakthrough and escape.

Agui and the others kept shouting, confusing the prey so it didn't know which way to flee, only running back and forth within the circle. At the same time, the hunters raised their shotguns and steadily tightened the encirclement. This was the method for hunting wild boar; I'd seen similar situations back in my hometown—this was how they hunted slightly larger animals.

It had been too long since I'd seen real hunting. We watched breathlessly as Agui and his men closed in. Soon the prey was within shotgun range, but it kept moving, making it impossible to lock on with the flashlights. These hunting dogs were all medium-sized, used mostly for small game like pheasants and hares, so they didn't dare rush in recklessly. If they were the big northern wolf-hunting dogs, in a three-on-one situation, they'd have already charged in for a fight.

After dawdling for a long time, Agui and the others still hadn't fired. Normally, prey would make a mistake at this point, suddenly charging in one direction; once it got close to a waiting hunter, a shot at close range was a sure thing, and then the dogs would chase it down—it would be almost impossible to escape. But this one not only didn't break out immediately, it actually calmed down, and in no time it had hidden in the grass somewhere unknown. This made Agui and the others hesitate to get closer.

I watched in astonishment, thinking: impressive—it turned the tables. What kind of creature was this, so cunning? Could it be a giant fox?

But how big would a fox have to be to attack a person? Was this the Schwarzenegger of foxes? Agui shone his light a few times but couldn't be sure. These hunters weren't like the old mountain spirits who spent their whole lives in the hills; they lacked experience, and had no better idea, so they told Yuncai to throw stones to flush the prey out. We picked up stones and were about to go over, when both of us were grabbed by Poker-face. I looked up at him and saw his expression had changed somehow. He wasn't looking at the

I followed his gaze and was surprised to see a ripple spread through the grass behind Agui, as if blown by the wind, but there was no wind around, and it seemed as if something hidden in the grass was slowly closing in on Agui.

Agui immediately turned around, and the ripple instantly stopped.

"What is that?" I asked in alarm. "There's another one?"

"No," Poker-face said coldly, looking around. I swept my flashlight around and immediately spotted several strange ripples passing through the distant grass around us, converging toward us.

The hunters here had never seen such a scene; they were all dumbfounded. It was Yun Cai, that girl, who reacted first, immediately whistling and calling the dogs back.

I yelled for them to gather together. The group huddled up and carefully watched the surroundings, seeing those ripples like waves in the grass, appearing and disappearing.

The three hunting dogs sensed the strangeness of the situation even more than we did, barking furiously in all directions, extremely agitated. Several ripples moved irregularly, gradually approaching us. Though I wasn't scared, I inevitably grew tense, my heart pounding like a drum.

"Get in the middle of us," Agui said to Yun Cai, though he himself didn't understand the situation. But these mountain folk were truly tough — not one of them was afraid. Several raised their guns, now forgetting about us. I picked up a rock as a weapon, surveyed the surroundings, and said, "There's too much grass here. Let's retreat to the ancient tomb on the slope."

The group immediately set off, moving quickly up the mountain while staying alert. Unexpectedly, as soon as we moved, those ripples immediately surrounded us. When they were about thirty meters away, they suddenly vanished. We had almost no time to be nervous before we panicked. Abandoning the main path, we went straight up the slope.

The mountain mud was completely wet. The men climbed up, but then Yun Cai sprained her ankle and slid down several meters. I reached out to pull her, but ended up slipping myself, and the mud under my feet gave way completely.

Poker-face and Agui stopped to pull me up, and the group's distance stretched to several meters. The slope was densely covered with weeds like a curtain. I could hear the sound of stalks being trampled everywhere in the grass around me, very dense, and a strong unease rose in my heart. After being pulled up, I looked for Yun Cai. She had sprained her ankle and was crying from the pain. Cold sweat was pouring off me, my legs uncooperative. Gritting my teeth, I parted the grass and barely managed to help Yun Cai up the slope, where the mud had already collapsed into another pit. I gave her small bottom a push, and Poker-face above pulled her up with one hand.

I climbed a few steps but found that due to my weight, the mud couldn't bear me without someone pushing from behind, so I tried to go around the side. But as luck would have it, after just a few steps, the mud gave way again, and I fell and slid several meters down the slope. Struggling to get up, I heard Agui above shout, "Run! Run away!"

From his voice, I instinctively knew he must have seen something. I immediately moved left, then heard Agui yell again: "Wrong! Not that way!" Suddenly I saw the grass in front of me stir, and then I saw an animal about the size of a calf, with protruding eyes and a white forehead, like a leopard but not quite, emerging half its body from the grass. Its two emerald eyes gleamed coldly, its face fierce and ferocious, like a malevolent demon from a Peking Opera mask.

As soon as I locked eyes with it, I knew what this creature was, and I was incredibly astonished — it was actually a lynx.

The lynx is a large cat, smaller than a leopard but much larger than a domestic cat. Its feline face is like a demon's, embodying evil, venom, and ferocity. The most obvious difference between a lynx and a leopard is the two long tufts of coarse hair on the lynx's ears, like the pheasant feathers in Peking Opera.

This animal is highly intelligent. Though it prefers to live alone, it will cooperate in hunting when food is scarce, making it the only feline besides lions that can hunt in groups. In Tibet, large lynxes are called "forest demons," and it is said they carry young women back to their dens to mate. However, due to their fur, they have been almost hunted to extinction in modern times. How could one appear in Guangxi, where poaching is so severe?

If it was a lynx, that could explain why Old Man Pan Ma was attacked but didn't die. Lynxes are like cats; they like to toy with their prey until it is exhausted before killing it. Moreover, they are extremely cautious and won't easily engage in close combat.

In the blink of an eye, another lynx poked its head out on my other side. This one was even bigger. At the same time, mud fell from above, and Poker-face had already come down from the slope, sliding to my side. Agui's hunting knife was in his hand. After coming down, Poker-face immediately grabbed me and said resolutely, "Step on my back and go up."

"Ah, that would be too rude," I said, not having time to think.

"Get up here!" Agui shouted from above, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Felines love to attack the throat for a one-hit kill. I shrunk my neck and thought to myself, I'll stop being polite. Scraping at the mud, I stepped onto Poker-face's shoulders. He suddenly lifted his body and sent me up. Agui above grabbed my hand, and I kicked and scrambled, barely stabilizing myself on the slope. Then I heard Yun Cai scream in surprise. From the grass below, a huge creature suddenly burst out, leaping onto the slope to gain momentum. I watched as a "giant cat" flew toward me, splattering mud, almost as if scaling walls.

Agui reflexively let go, and I fell, getting bitten in midair.

Fortunately, the lynx was still too small to pin me to the ground. I crashed into the grass and rolled several meters down, then kicked it hard, sending it flying. When I got up, I saw my shoulder was almost bitten through.

All the grass around seemed to be moving. The one I had kicked had just landed and already resumed its attack posture, lunging at me again.

I had absolutely no time to feel fear or terror. My years of adventure had given me a strong survival instinct. I protected my throat, was knocked down, and then simply rolled over and tumbled down the slope, rolling rapidly.

That roll left me dizzy and disoriented. After getting up, I didn't care about anything and stumbled as I ran. Behind me, Agui and the others had already started shooting. I couldn't tell direction and charged deeper into the valley. After running just a few meters, I heard a gust of wind behind me. I knew it was coming. I absolutely couldn't expose the back of my head; my skull would be bitten right through. So I immediately turned around.

Almost as soon as I turned, I saw a black shadow chasing after me with lightning speed. I couldn't even estimate its speed; in an instant it was right in front of me. I thought to myself, it's over. This time after it pounces on me, I would have no time to defend myself. By reflex, I closed my eyes and waited for death.

Before my eyes were even fully closed, in the blink of an eye, suddenly the grass beside me parted. Then a flash of cold light, and a figure sprang out of the grass like lightning, instantly embracing the black shadow.

The black shadow had come with fierce momentum. The two shadows collided and rolled far away. I stood there dumbfounded, completely unable to react, as if in a dream. I only heard the lynx's roars and groans, the grass in chaos.

After who knows how long, the grass fell silent, and a black shadow stood up from within. I breathed a sigh of relief. The figure walked out, stepped into the moonlight, and only then did I see that it was a thin, unfamiliar old man, covered in blood, holding a hunting knife typical of the Yao and Miao people. The large lynx was slung over his back, seemingly already dead.

He walked up to me, paused upon seeing me, and asked me something in the local dialect. I didn't know what he said, only shook my head subconsciously, thinking to myself, who is this godlike grandfather? And the next second, I saw an even more shocking sight—I saw that on the old man's body, there was actually a tattoo of a black qilin.

Deer antlers, dragon scales, treading fire and walking on wind—exactly the same as the one on Poker-face's body.