Xiang Beifei had no idea what had just emerged from the swamp. It seemed like a large bird had flown by in the sky, angering something in the marshland. That thing appeared to be chasing after the bird, moving so fast it was soon out of sight.
The Three Souls Desolate Snake, judging by the name, must undoubtedly be a snake. However, the creature that had crawled out of the swamp made such a ghastly sound, it didn't sound anything like a snake.
Still, he decided to follow and check it out; he had to at least determine what the target looked like.
He wriggled out from behind the tree branches and leaped towards the edge of the forest on the left of the swamp; the noise had just passed by there, and he wondered if it had gone far.
The ground was overgrown with weeds, squishy underfoot, but the area looked as though it had been flattened by something recently, seemingly by some kind of reptile. He became even more certain it should be the Three Souls Desolate Snake.
Walking cautiously, Xiang Beifei followed the trail ahead, but he hadn't gone far when he suddenly sensed something wrong. A sharp whooshing sound attacked from the side, fierce and rapid. He sharply caught the noise and dodged in an instant.
A black tentacle slammed right where Xiang Beifei had just been, against the tree, snapping branches as thick as a wrist!
Xiang Beifei focused his eyes and saw the creature vanish into the woods in a blur of motion, too fast for him to get a clear look.
At that moment, the branches rustled noisily; taking advantage of the cover, the creature moved rapidly, instantly circling to Beifei's rear and once again launching a tentacle at him.
Xiang Beifei clutched the breath soil in his hand, turning it into a giant hammer, and without a second thought, swung it behind him!
His reaction was quick. The hammer struck the tentacle mid-air. The tentacle was quite long, about two meters, and after being hit, it whipped around the branches and then quickly retracted.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Six consecutive times the opponent struck from different angles, its movement swift, the shadowy strikes darting back and forth, dazzling to the eye. Fortunately, Xiang Beifei's strength was also considerable, and his reactions were quick enough to evade such attacks.
However, he soon realized that this creature was aiming to change positions and engage in hit-and-run tactics!
Forests are the dominion of desolate beasts; if it turned into a guerrilla fight, he would be at a disadvantage – he had to end the battle quickly.
His mind, relying on the "Learn by Analogy" learning ability, quickly analyzed the enemy's six striking positions. Desolate beasts all have fixed habits; their timing and direction of attacks can be discerned, and a pattern can usually be found. Once you grasp that pattern, it's easy to find their weaknesses.
Soon he deduced where the next attack would come from!
"Still thinking of ambushing me?"
Xiang Beifei turned the breath soil in his hand into a large cleaver, and before the creature could strike, he chopped towards the top. Halfway through his swing, the tentacle reached down from above, meeting Xiang Beifei's cleaver head-on.
Xiang Beifei's breath soil sliced right through the tentacle.
As the tentacle fell from above, Xiang Beifei finally saw that it somewhat resembled a monkey's paw.
A painful howl echoed through the forest. The severed tentacle tried to retract, but with a tap of his toe on the trunk, Xiang Beifei released a ripple of Spiritual Power, propelling himself high into the air. At the same time, the "Abruptly Stop" aura swept over, striking the shadowy figure and instantly taking effect on his opponent!
The fleeing figure paused mid-air, then fell down, but after dropping half a meter, it broke free from the binding of Abruptly Stop.
Xiang Beifei's "Abruptly Stop" required hitting the target first in order to bind their movements, but if the opponent was strong enough, they could break the bondage.
However, even if the bind lasted only two seconds, Xiang Beifei had seen the opponent's appearance.
It was an extremely vicious-looking black monkey with sharp fangs protruding from its mouth, each at least three inches long, drool dripping down the fangs. Its body was covered in luxuriant fur, but most importantly, it had two tails. The tails were so long, about two meters, and while they had no fur, each end had a claw. One of those claws had been chopped off by Xiang Beifei, and the stump was still bleeding.
This black monkey had a total of six claws, including the two on its tails, which were particularly nimble. But now, one of them had been severed by Xiang Beifei, and the creature looked exceedingly furious as it leaped onto a tree branch, roaring at Beifei.
Based on Xiang Beifei's estimation, this Twin-Tailed Beasthand Monkey had a strength roughly at the mid-stage of Qi-Controlling; it was very fast and somewhat difficult to handle. However, fortunately, he had cut off one of its tentacles and had figured out its attack pattern so he should be able to deal with it.
But this was clearly not the Three Souls Desolate Snake, so likely not his target.
"Don't provoke me, or you're going to regret it."
Xiang Beifei didn't want to waste energy on this strange black monkey, but the monkey's shape flickered and vanished again amongst the trees, apparently trying to attack him again using the cover of leaves.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
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The branches around him trembled rapidly, as the black monkey shifted its position just as quickly. It moved so fast that shadows appeared on branches in every direction, as if many were encircling Beifei.
"Told you not to provoke me!"
A gleam of light flashed in Xiang Beifei's eyes. As the black monkey dashed from behind him, he threw a punch towards a tree branch ahead!
His fist accurately struck the black monkey's forehead, eliciting a miserable shriek from the animal as it fell to the forest floor, struggling a few times, clearly not going to survive.
Dealing with one peculiar black monkey was simple enough. He was about to deliver a finishing blow when suddenly, countless roaring sounds emerged from the woods, followed by one... two... three...
More and more black monkeys were racing towards them from the distance, and in the blink of an eye, seven or eight were charging his way.
"Stirred up a hornet's nest."
Xiang Beifei didn't hesitate to turn and run, without a moment's doubt.
He could handle a Twin-Tailed Tendril Monkey at the mid-stage of Qi-Controlling by himself, and even eight or nine of them—by his reckoning—it would be touch-and-go. But once their numbers exceeded ten, he definitely couldn't beat them since they would take cover among the branches, flickering around, dealing low blows now and then.
Each black monkey had two absurdly long bizarre tails with claws on them—if ten attacked at once, that would mean twenty clawed tails.
In the forest, he couldn't possibly fend off twenty tails with his bare hands!
He must lure them into an open area. Without the camouflage of the branches, the monkeys' agility was sure to fall a notch, giving Xiang Beifei a chance to fight this horde of monkeys.