Chapter 20.1 - Longing
Another 10 meters!
Su’s green pupil rapidly shrunk. His body abruptly raised to a shocking temperature, and he began to sprint! Almost every single muscle fiber in his body was moving about with incomparable coordination. The amount of force that was going to be sent back through his feet was calculated and a precise amount of force was distributed to all parts of his body. His strength was immediately exerted to the highest level. In just seven meters, or four steps, Su had already approached his maximum speed as he leapt into the thicket like a leopard. From those panicked and dumbstruck eyes, Su had already seen his own inverted image!
A light whoosh sounded. Su rushed past the trees. Under this kind of speed, the dagger made out of composite materials displayed astonishing power as it sliced through everything in his way, including the head that the pair of eyes rested on!
Su needed eight meters before he was able to stop his momentum. He turned around and looked at the dagger. Staining the edge was dark, green-colored blood. He then looked at the cluster of shrubbery he had just rushed past.
Inside the shrubbery was a humanoid existence. It was roughly a meter tall with faint green-colored skin. Its head was a bit too large proportionally. Apart from being only half the height of a normal person, every other aspect seemed to be exactly the same as a human. This creature was wearing clothes and armor that were simple and crude. In its arms was a long spear, and pinned to its waist was an empty tube. There was also a leather pouch hanging from him. Its large head had already been sliced in half by Su’s lighting fast strike, and at this moment, its four limbs were still involuntarily twitching about. From the muscles winding around its body and its slim figure, it was clearly an extremely nimble and fast creature.
Su squatted down by its side. He pried open its head and looked at the teeth inside its mouth. What was different from normal people was that it had a few especially sharp canines. In addition, the gaps of two canines were filled with colorless and transparent poison like a viper’s fangs. Su gave the spear that it was still tightly gripping a look. It was a meter or so in length, and the tip was formed from a special type of hardwood. There were many grooves and engravings on the weapon, making its destructive force much greater than an ordinary sharp object once it pierced another organism. Not only would blood begin to trickle along the grooves, the internal organs and muscles would be torn into a mess.
The short pipe at its waist was pulled off by Su as well. When he turned the short pipe over, a 15 centimeter long short arrow fell out. The arrowhead was created from the teeth of an unknown creature. A few engravings were carved on the teeth, and a faint astringent smell was being emitted. It was obvious that the short arrowhead was highly toxic, moreover from a poison that attacked the nerves.
Su carefully replaced the short arrow. He moved his mouth closer to the pipe’s entrance, and with an exhale, the short arrow flew out with a wu sound, firmly nailing itself into a large tree several meters away.
“It turns out to be a blowpipe dart.” Su thought of this ancient weapon that was considered ancient even in the olden era. However, this type of weapon was extremely effective in the jungle.
After rummaging through its entire body, Su didn’t find a single piece of metal. As for the armor on its body, it was formed from a combination of skin and bones from a certain beast. It seemed rather simple and crude, but it was unusually sturdy. Su exerted some strength, but he wasn’t able to tear the beast skin apart. Su’s body didn’t seem particularly robust, and his skin was even more bright and exquisite, but in reality, his strength was extremely great. These two tearing motions quite possibly could have deformed a slightly thinner metal place, yet he couldn’t do anything to this beast skin. These pieces of beast bone were glossy and fine, and he could tell just by looking that they were extremely sturdy yet also lightweight.
If one only looked at the equipment the creature wore, then one would assume that it came from a primitive tribe. However, the short arrow’s circumference was extremely even, to the point where even Su’s inspection didn’t reveal many deviations. In addition, the arrow fitted extremely well with the pipe’s walls. This type of precision definitely wasn’t something that could be achieved with manual labor. In addition, at the creature’s side were seven or eight other similar blow darts. What startled Su was that these short arrows were of similar precision, implying that they were processed by high precision machinery and not hand crafted.
These were the true natives.
When he saw this pair of peering eyes, Su immediately developed this intuition. However, because he wasn’t clear on what type of special abilities these natives had, he chose to suddenly attack and kill with one strike. From the corpse of a single native, he could still find out many secrets, and the risks were much fewer. As for capturing one alive, Su never had such a thought. After seeing the two poisonous fangs that had naturally developed in the natives’ mouths, Su had already decided that unless he was completely in control of the situation, he would not leave the other party alive. Moreover, he didn’t find any traces of metal on this native’s corpse, leaving Su a bit shocked and alarmed.
Of course, if he wasn’t able to kill this native, Su would only be able to flee.
Su carefully removed the native’s clothes and carefully inspected its joints, soles of its feet, and all angles of its bone structure. He even sliced off a few key areas to look at the interior muscle fibers. This creature was without a doubt one that excelled at maneuvering within the jungle and also of a race that could move extremely quickly. The lower parts of this creature were exceptionally large, leaving Su with a deep impression.
Su stood up and tossed the two pieces of cloth that were dyed with the native’s blood onto the ground. He used the leather clothes on the native’s body to wipe the dagger clean. Only after carefully cleaning up all traces of his presence here did he depart into the forest.
Night fell. The entire forest became abnormally quiet, with the only sounds coming from the rustling of leaves and the ocean beating against the shore. However, during this tranquility, who knew how many people were secretly moving about, whether it be for honor, benefit, or survival.
The native’s corpse quickly began to decay. When Mad Dog reached its side, the wounds on its body already had large patches of white decaying flesh covering it. The corpse released a heavy stench so terrible that no one was willing to stay near it.
Mad Dog stood firmly, as if he didn’t smell the odor at all. He even squatted down and carefully poked around the corpse’s wounds. Then, he observed the surrounding traces. When he saw the broken shrubbery leaves that had been neatly arranged, Mad Dog seemed to have noticed something.
He squatted down again and used the military knife to directly slice open the native’s stomach to insert something inside. Then, he retrieved more than ten sharp, long, and narrow teeth and placed them around the corpse.
These were all the venomous fangs of natives!
Once he finished what he was doing, Mad Dog stood up and disappeared into the night while humming a tune.
When the sky became bright again, this corpse had already rotted beyond recognition. Many parts even had deep white bone that was revealed. This type of rotting speed was several times that of an ordinary person. The surrounding shrubbery began to rustle. Several living trees made their way out from the jungle, and their branches moved about in the air as if they were searching for suspicious traces. A minute later, six or seven natives silently made their way out from the forest, their attire seemingly identical to the corpse that had died.
The vicious and sinister shrubs immediately became docile. Their branches and leaves bent to the side, opening up a route for them.
They first observed the surroundings. When they saw the venomous fangs that were inserted into the ground, they all roared furiously. They stayed near the corpse, moving their hands and feet while uttering a string of urgent syllables, seeming to be emotionally communicating with each other. Then, when one of them bent down to lift the corpse, what he saw was actually a bright-colored red-orange ball of fire!