Chapter 749: Crocodile, Python, and Wolf

A crocodile's bite force is terrifying — once it clamps down and drags its prey underwater, a few death rolls are enough to tear the victim's body apart.

What if it's not torn apart after a few rolls?

Then the crocodile will pin the prey underwater and wait for it to suffocate, or a second or third crocodile from the same stretch of water will rush over, clamp onto different parts of the prey, roll together, rip it open, and devour it.

Since the disaster, Xia Qing had been sent on missions to the Evolution Forest and had personally witnessed, up close several times, squad members stumble into mud pits and be torn apart by crocodiles. Tan Qi, still in elementary school, had also seen similar pictures and videos in class.

So when this four-meter-long small crocodile opened its jaws wide and lunged at Yan Long, Tan Qi was so scared her eyes went wide, she clenched her fists, and held her breath.

Even knowing Aunt Yan was incredibly powerful, Tan Qi was still very worried.

Xia Qing also widened her eyes, watching every single one of Yan Long's movements.

After the crocodile rushed forward and opened its mouth, Yan Long in the water spun quickly to dodge, pushed off the water with her feet, shot toward the crocodile like a cannonball, and punched it square on the lower jaw.

The small crocodile that had been so overbearing a moment ago was sent flying above the water surface, then landed on its back, smashing up a huge splash.

No matter how small, it was still a crocodile weighing eight or nine hundred jin! She'd known Yan Long was tough, but she hadn't expected her to be this tough!!!

Yan Long had already taught the key points of turning in the water, pushing off the water, and punching inside the Number Three Territory reservoir. Xia Qing had mastered them, but her speed wasn't that fast.

If a crocodile lunged at her, could she dodge?

If she turned to dodge early, that would give the crocodile time to react — could she still land an accurate punch on its lower jaw?

Seeing Yan Long wave them over, Xia Qing and Tan Qi immediately jumped into the water and swam toward her.

Yan Long circled around the small crocodile she had knocked out with one punch — belly-up, skin peeled, floating on the water surface — and began that day's lesson.

After Xia Qing and Tan Qi had practiced a few times on this unconscious small crocodile and learned how to land an accurate punch on a crocodile's lower jaw that would knock it out without killing it, Yan Long spun through the water and shot toward the other side of the lake, somehow released a hungry four-meter-long small crocodile, and beckoned to Xia Qing to test the results of the lesson.

Xia Qing took a deep breath, and when the crocodile rushing at her was still two meters away, she suddenly kicked with her webbed feet and surged forward, throwing a punch.

Her movement was still too early; the crocodile turned its head to dodge and deployed its second attack skill: the tail sweep.

The two-meter-long crocodile tail churned the water like a boat oar, the crocodile spun around quickly and lunged to bite, and Xia Qing's body involuntarily moved along with the churning water. Xia Qing couldn't be bothered with the routine anymore — she grabbed on with both hands and feet, clinging tight to the crocodile. Seeing this, Yan Long pulled back her fist.

Finding its prey stuck to its belly, the crocodile deployed its first attack skill: drag underwater and death roll.

Xia Qing held her breath, locked her arms and legs, and clung to the crocodile without letting go. Because her strength was so great, the crocodile was actually warped out of shape by her grip.

Just as Yan Long had explained, a crocodile's bite force is terrifying, its swimming speed is fast, and its death roll really is deadly — but it has one very obvious weakness: poor stamina.

After rolling more than a dozen times without shaking Xia Qing off, the small crocodile slowed down and could only keep diving, trying to pin Xia Qing at the bottom and suffocate her.

Xia Qing seized the chance, released her right arm, and punched the crocodile on the spot just below its lower jaw. Hitting that spot would knock the crocodile out.

Afraid of punching straight through the crocodile, Xia Qing only used sixty percent of her strength.

After confirming the crocodile was out, Xia Qing immediately let go of it, grabbed her right big toe and stretched it upward and forward, keeping her knee joint straight, with the big toe hooked upward. Only after the cramping, stabbing pain in her right leg faded did she push off the water and surface, taking a deep breath.

Yan Long, who had been protecting Xia Qing at close range in the water, surfaced with her, clearly pointed out her problems, then released a smaller crocodile over two meters long for Tan Qi to deal with.

Tan Qi was a speed evolver; her swimming speed in the water was faster than Xia Qing's, but her strength was far smaller. She tried more than a dozen times back and forth and still couldn't knock the small crocodile out.

Tan Qi was exhausted and cramping, so Xia Qing took over.

Once both Xia Qing and Tan Qi could successfully take down a crocodile, Yan Long began teaching how to face two crocodiles at the same time.

At five in the afternoon, the first day's crocodile-punching special training ended. The training squad changed back into their protective suits and headed home.

Yan Long drove on the way back, because Xia Qing was already completely drained — her hands and feet wouldn't obey her. Not long after they left, a black giant python with a bright red wound-snake coiled around its body crawled out of the dense forest to the north, slithered into the lake, swallowed a dazed crocodile over four meters long, and slowly sank to the bottom.

On a densely vegetated mountain peak by the lake, two little wolf cubs crouched in a bamboo basket, eyes wide, staring hard at the ripples on the water surface.

Broken-Waist Wolf lowered its head to lick its cub, picked up the basket in its mouth, and headed back.

At the same time, a black evolved wolf by the python pool on Number Fifty-Five Mountain was using its claws to scratch at stones, smashing to death a third wound-snake. A brown-gray evolved wolf missing a chunk from its left ear, carrying a bag in its mouth, slipped into a crack in the rocks not far from the python pool.

Yan Long drove up to the south gate of Number Three Territory and stopped. Just as Xia Qing was about to struggle out of the car to open the gate, Tang Huai darted out from Number Two Territory. "Sister Yan, Xia Qing, give me the key, I'll open the gate."

"Thanks." Xia Qing handed the key to Tang Huai.

"Don't mention it. Where did you go today? How come you're this worn out?" Tang Huai grinned brightly as he used the key to open the big iron lock, then pushed the gate open and returned the key to Xia Qing. "Are you going again tomorrow? I'll come along!"

Xia Qing answered, "To fight crocodiles in the lake."

Uh… Tang Huai immediately changed his mind. "How about I drive for you tomorrow? Don't worry, my driving's great — I absolutely won't shake your car apart."

Yan Long floored it, and the off-road vehicle roared into Number Three Territory, drifting through the S-bend by the wild-grass wall, and vanished.

Tang Huai, whose driving skills couldn't compare to Yan Long's, closed his mouth in the dust, silently shut the big gate behind Xia Qing, and locked it.

Yan Long drove the car straight into the garage in one go. Carrying the already-sleeping Tan Qi on her back as she left, she saw the orange and fig trees nearby, the few saplings protected by thorns, and on the other side the lively chicken coop, the chattering swallows under the eaves, and the furiously glaring evolved sheep — and a smile rose in her eyes.

Even though Xia Qing was all alone, she took very good care of herself. Yan Long hoped Tan Qi would grow up quickly and be able to take care of herself this well too — then she could leave with peace of mind.

"Sister Yan, wait a moment, let me pack some eggs for you to take back and eat." Xia Qing, propping up her two aching legs, hurried into the house, found a pouch, packed ten eggs for Yan Long, and instructed, "Can't trade them, only eat them yourself."

Yan Long didn't stand on ceremony with Xia Qing either. She nodded, took the eggs, and carrying Tan Qi on her back, left Number Three Territory through the north gate. After Xia Qing also saw off Er Yong, she pulled a handful of dark purple-black grass from her bag and called over her huffing companion.

"Boss, have you ever eaten this kind of grass? I tested it — non-toxic, and it's on the green-light list."

Sheep Boss immediately rushed over, sniffed it, and started eating.

Xia Qing took the chance to climb onto its back, with the grass hanging in front of its head. "Boss, I hurt all over. Will you carry me back?"

The final training item this afternoon was "how to dodge a crocodile's attack and escape while exhausted" — harder than taking down a crocodile while full of energy, but this was a skill that could save her life at a critical moment.

After finishing learning this skill and running back up to the Third Peak of Number Fifty Mountain, Xia Qing really was completely drained, but she'd recovered a bit in the car. Still, if the Boss was willing to carry her, she didn't want to rely on her own legs to walk.

Sheep Boss had no objections, and carried its little brother — who weighed only a little over a hundred jin — back.