Within a few breaths, a massive silhouette appeared behind the middle-aged man.
"Awooo~ Woof woof~ Lululu~"
The giant figure opened its mouth towards the middle-aged man, emitting a strange sound, then accelerated and chased after him.
"Wh-what is that thing?"
Lei Jian was stunned upon seeing the colossal shape.
"Big brother, is that a dog, or a pig?"
"Or a fish?"
Xiao Xiao's bewildered voice chimed in.
"Uh..."
Ye Feng didn't know how to answer Xiao Xiao for a moment.
For what appeared before them was a creature with three heads, four legs, and a body size comparable to a leopard. The three heads were those of a dog, a pig, and a fish.
"Bang!"
At this moment, another gunshot rang out.
It was the middle-aged man, still pursued by the three-headed monster, firing again, expending the last round in his revolver.
"Awooo~ Woof woof~ Lululu~"
Hit by the bullet, the three-headed monster let out a strange cry, becoming ferocious and picking up speed, charging directly at the middle-aged man.
Panicked, the middle-aged man tripped over the scattered stones in front of him.
And the three-headed monster was now mere inches away!
"Tak!~"
At this point, Ye Feng's AK47 fired. A bloody hole instantly appeared on the three-headed monster's body.
"Woof~ Lululu~ Aw~"
The three-headed monster, in pain, widened its six eyes, scanning around. Upon spotting Ye Feng, it immediately changed targets, letting out a strange howl and charging towards him.
"Takatakatak!~"
Another few shots. Ye Feng fired one shot into each of the three heads of the monster. Blood holes appeared in response.
However, it did not kill the three-headed monster. Instead, it seemed to enrage it.
The three-headed monster stopped, growling low at Ye Feng, pawing the ground with its wolf-like forelegs. Its sharp claws left streaks on the stones.
Then, under the gaze of Ye Feng and his companions, the three-headed monster's muscles bulged. Its entire body grew larger, expanding to more than double its size from that of an adult leopard.
"Holy crap, what kind of monster is this?"
Seeing this, Lei Jian couldn't help but curse.
Ye Feng retracted his AK47. The bullets seemed to have little effect on the three-headed monster; it was still alive after being shot in the head.
Thus, not wanting to waste precious ammunition, he directly grabbed his Tang Dao and charged towards the three-headed monster.
"Wooo~ Woof woof~ Lululu~ Aw~"
The three-headed monster leaped up, opening its three mouths filled with fangs, and lunged to bite Ye Feng's neck. Its sharp foreclaws swiped towards Ye Feng's waist.
Ye Feng's eyes narrowed. He gripped his Tang Dao and met the monster head-on!
"Slish!~ Slish!~" kAnshu伍.ξà
"Puff!~ Puff~..."
The Tang Dao flashed with incredible speed. The sounds of its sharp blade cutting and blood spurting echoed.
In a matter of a few breaths, the ferocious three-headed monster lay on the ground, lifeless.
"Damn... No available points?"
After waiting for a while, Ye Feng was speechless when no system prompt sounded.
He had thought the three-headed monster seemed powerful and might yield a good amount of available points upon defeat, but to his surprise, there were none!
"Th-thank you..."
"Mon-monster... there are monsters ahead..."
"...Ghosts... one of the explorers is possessed by a ghost... their skin was ripped off by a ghost... Ah..."
At this moment, the middle-aged man snapped out of his shock.
He thanked Ye Feng somewhat blankly, then became incoherent, his state growing frantic. He screamed and ran out of the ice and snow domain...
"Ghosts? Skin?"
Hearing this, Ye Feng couldn't help but recall the two corpses he had seen a couple of days ago, their faces and features eerily missing.
"What exactly is this three-headed monster? Is it even a real creature?"
"This fish head, with its mouth full of sharp teeth, looks like a piranha. This pig head, those green teeth, must be from a poisonous wild boar. I encountered one when I was little..."
"And this dog head, this... Husky?"
Lei Jian stared at the dead three-headed monster on the ground, muttering after a thorough examination.
"The forelegs of this three-headed monster seem to be those of a wolf... Its hind legs have hooves, like a horse..."
"And it has many strange scars on its body... Can such a monster naturally exist in nature?"
Ling also pondered with a puzzled expression after her observation.
This was like a super hybrid monster!
"Judging from the complex surgical scars on this three-headed monster, its many different body parts must have been surgically sewn together!" Ye Feng stated.
"Surgery? Surgical scars? What are those?"
"This monster is man-made?"
Lei Jian looked at Ye Feng with astonishment.
"You don't know about surgery?"
This time, it was Ye Feng's turn to be puzzled.
Lei Jian shrugged and turned to Ling, who was also looking surprised.
"Surgery... I've heard a little about it. It was a method used in the old world to treat illnesses."
"But now, almost no one dares to use this method for treatment. The mortality rate is extremely high..."
"It seems to be due to the lack of a drug called antibiotics!" Ling recalled and said slowly.
"Ye Feng, Ling, the smell of blood here is too strong. The ice wolves several kilometers away can smell it. We need to leave this place quickly!"
At this moment, Old Liu Tou, who had gone to observe the surroundings, returned.
"Okay!"
...
Over an hour later,
"Is the supply station you mentioned up ahead?"
Ye Feng, carrying Xiao Xiao, asked Ling as they moved forward quickly, almost jogging.
"Ye... Yes!"
"The closest supply station to us is called Elm Supply Station, and it's about 3 kilometers ahead!" Ling replied to Ye Feng, panting.
"Ye... Ye Feng, why are you in such a hurry? There's still over an hour until sunset!"
"We definitely have enou... enough time to reach Elm Supply Station!"
Not just Ling, but Liu Lao Tou and Lei Jian were also very confused.
They had been walking at a normal pace, but midway, Ye Feng heard Liu Lao Tou mention that the Elm Supply Station, where they were to camp tonight, was the closest one on their route.
The subsequent supply stations on their path were at least three days away, and they weren't even guaranteed to be open...
Then Ye Feng immediately picked up Xiao Xiao and started jogging towards Elm Supply Station, leaving Ling and Lei Jian struggling to keep up...
"Is it that way?"
Ye Feng pointed in a direction, confirming with Ling.
"That's right!"
Ling nodded. "After this snowdrift, you'll see it directly. There's a withered elm tree. The Elm Supply Station got its name from that!"
"Oh, you guys can rest here and walk slowly. I have something to confirm, I'll be going ahead!"
Glancing at the watch on his left wrist, Ye Feng spoke to Ling.
After saying that, without waiting for Ling's response, he quickly ran towards Elm Supply Station with Xiao Xiao on his back.
"Damn... How did Ye Feng train his body? It's truly ridiculous..."
Lei Jian looked at Ye Feng's slender figure moving through the snowy landscape and felt speechless.
...
Even on the difficult snowy mountain path, carrying Xiao Xiao, Ye Feng arrived in front of Elm Supply Station in ten minutes.
"Is it in that direction?"
After a quick scan, Ye Feng, with Xiao Xiao on his back, started running again.
"Big brother, you're going the wrong way. The entrance to the supply station is over there!"
As soon as Ye Feng started running, Xiao Xiao's voice rang out.
...