茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Chapter 42: Animal World

Even though he had faced it in a close combat before, Xiang Kun was still taken aback at the sight of the owl standing under the moonlit sky atop of a rock, about the size of an adult human.

Xiang Kun remained highly cautious, deciphering the body language of the owl. He could clearly feel the hesitation and fear the owl held towards him.

But it didn’t fly away upon spotting him- if it did, he could never catch up. He would just have to keep tracking it in the direction it chose to fly, but it would be tough to find it before dawn.

Given the owl’s ability to detect, it must have spotted him shortly after he had spotted it. It could have flown away instantly, but it didn’t.

Not flying away suggests it had other plans…

Either it was unable to fly temporarily due to certain reasons,

Or it was still not reconciled to its defeat and wanted to eliminate Xiang Kun.

According to Xiang Kun’s judgement, the latter seemed more probable.

No matter the reason, it was an opportunity for him.

However, he did not dare to startle the owl by rushing upon it. He’d rather let it attack him of its own accord.

Xiang Kun stopped at a distance of about ten meters away from the owl, as he noticed that its body slightly retreated, it seemed like it was intending to flee after observing his recovery.

Xiang Kun thought quickly. This standoff couldn’t last long. As time passed, the owl would be more likely to decide to escape, realizing it could not gain an

advantage.

Xiang Kun slowly raised the screwdriver in his hand, bit it in his mouth, then slowly pulled out the Swiss Army Knife from his pocket, and opened its blade. He did this as slowly and gently as possible to avoid scaring the owl and causing it to fly away.

After opening the blade of the Swiss Army Knife, Xiang Kun drew a long cut on his left arm.

Blood started to flow quickly, and it dripped onto the ground one drop after another from his elbow.

Xiang Kun then held the knife in his left hand and made a similar cut on his right arm.

He bared his bleeding arms to the owl to see.

After tasting the owl blood that was left on his arm earlier, he felt a strong craving for it from his body. Therefore, he deduced that it was highly possible that the owl was coveting his blood too.

The giant owl’s ambush near the lake was probably not purely out of aggression, but for the purpose of hunting.

If the owl had a habit of attacking humans, it should have been exposed long ago, which contradicted its demonstrated behavior.

The blood of the owl was highly tempting to Xiang Kun, which was not a plain sensory craving for delicacy, but a strong natural outcry, a craving even stronger than a typical animal’s desire for food.

Xiang Kun, who considered himself rather rational and restrained, still needed significant willpower to resist the temptation of the blood. In fact, he is risking being here and choosing to face this incredibly dangerous giant owl mainly because of his need for the blood.

Even if the giant owl is smarter than other animals, he didn’t believe that the beast could resist this strong desire.

After about a dozen seconds, the cuts on his hands stopped bleeding. As the blood turned thick and lose its fluidity, the wounds began to close up slowly from both ends.

So, Xiang Kun took the Swiss Army Knife and cut it again to keep the blood flowing.

While demonstrating his injuries and bleeding to the owl and stepping forward slowly, Xiang Kun noticed the owl’s posture becoming noticeably aggressive.

It couldn’t hold on any longer!

The owl’s enormous wings suddenly spread open, flapping overhead towards Xiang Kun, then swiftly descended, its claws outstretched, bearing down on him.

Xiang Kun had strategically maintained his high level of concentration; his sensory abilities were at their peak. He could even hear the heartbeat and breathing of the owl.

So, he had already sensed the owl’s imminent attack.

By the time the owl took flight, Xiang Kun already had the screwdriver clenched in his mouth at hand, lowering his center of gravity, fully prepared for the attack.

Using his dynamic visual ability to the fullest, Xiang Kun locked onto the owl’s position in the air. There was no evasion or retreat. As the owl swooped down at his head, he too, mustered all his strength to surge forward.

Xiang Kun’s plan was clear. Whether he used his fists or his screwdriver, striking other parts of the owl might injure or even severely hurt it, but it would be difficult to render it incapable of flight and counterattacking.

Therefore, his target was things clear — the owl’s eyes!

Especially the eye which he had previously blinded and was yet to completely recover!

Xiang Kun’s reaction was completely unexpected to the Giant Owl. The owl, with a higher intelligence quotient compared to others, could even see that Xiang Kun was purposely luring it with blood, forcing it to attack. Despite being able to resist this temptation, it chose not to.

In its judgement, Xiang Kun’s primary reflex would be to dodge its attacks and then counter. Just like previously at the lakeside. Hence, its initial attack was not its full force. It was confident that it could capture Xiang Kun after he dodged, take him into the air, and bring him to its real “homeground”.

However, Xiang Kun did not dodge to one side but lunged directly towards it, leading the owl to misjudge the situation. As one of its eye was not yet fully recovered, it saw a blind spot. This allowed Xiang Kun to slip between its claws and hold onto it in mid-air!

The moment Xiang Kun managed to grapple onto the owl, he plunged the screwdriver harshly into its eye, pulled it out, and thrust it back in!

With a shriek of agony, Xiang Kun fell from the sky, tightly clasping the enormous owl. They rolled down the mountainside, slamming into the tree trunk, causing the screwdriver to be flung away. Still, Xiang Kun kept his grip on the owl unyielding.

The owl was not dead yet and began to fight back vigorously. The two became locked in another intense close combat fight on the ground, this time more fiercely.

The warm sunlight fell on his face, Xiang Kun slowly opened his eyes.

He found himself sprawled out on a slope, one leg hanging off a tree trunk while his body was wedged among wild grass. He was shaped almost like an

He retrieved his leg from the tree trunk, which caused him to roll downhill before he came to a stop after colliding into another tree.

Xiang Kun then rubbed his sore waist as he got up, rubbing his head, he looked around.

He was still on the same hill, judging by the sun’s position, it was morning.

However, Xiang Kun knew that his fight with the owl had certainly lasted more than a few hours.

He looked up; the slope was littered with broken branches – a scene of destruction. That was where he last fought with the Giant Owl.

Xiang Kun climbed up to where he had lost consciousness and collapsed. Apart from one of his shoes, there was no trace of the Giant Owl — no feathers or bloodstains.

But Xiang Kun knew; the owl had not run away.

Before he passed out, he remembered that the owl had died in his arms, and he had drunk a considerable amount of blood..