Chapter 46: The Fiery Golden Lion

“Huh?” Ling Yao pulled his hand out from under his cloak and excitedly said to Chu Xihen, “Brother Chu, the fur’s gone, eh!”

It turned out that whenever he used his ability, the white fur on his body would recede on its own; he hadn’t known that before!

“Then let your head out to get some air,” Chu Xihen said.

After he spoke, he also lowered his hood, which he had been wearing to match Ling Yao.

If Ling Yao wore it alone, it would attract even more attention from others, but if the three of them wore them together, the strange looks would be reduced.

“Wow, finally breathing in some fresh air.” Ling Yao opened his arms and shouted with his head raised.

Then he compared his two hands, wanting to see if the newly grown left hand had any defects.

“Does it look the same?” Seeing his actions, Chu Xihen knew what he was thinking.

Ling Yao nodded vigorously, “It’s the same! Brother Chu, I really like my ability now!”

He had always felt that his ability was useless. Not only did it lack any offensive power, but it also caused his biological parents to abandon him at birth.

Now, after Chu Xihen’s reminder, he discovered a new use for his ability and was extremely happy.

“Also, I’ve noticed that after losing my hand, my ability seems to be stronger than before. I wonder if it’s leveled up?” Ling Yao himself wasn’t sure.

Chu Xihen said, “Use your brain more; don’t waste such a good ability.”

“Yeah, I’ll study it properly in the future!” Ling Yao nodded seriously.

Lou Su, who was beside them, felt that Chu Xihen’s words seemed to be directed at him as well? After all, his ability was also somewhat complex, and if it weren’t for Chu Xihen’s reminder, he wouldn’t have been sure that his ability was time regression.

But Chu Xihen, seeing him use time regression, didn’t seem surprised at all?

“Three elder brothers, look quickly, it seems everyone’s scores are increasing rapidly,” Wang Heng said, pointing to the sky.

“It seems the number of mutated creatures in all areas has increased,” Lou Su said after looking.

Now, the mutated creatures in this forest were appearing in groups, unlike before when they appeared one by one.

Now Lou Su and Ling Yao couldn’t slack off anymore, and they joined Wang Heng and his wife in killing mutated creatures. Only Chu Xihen still occasionally released an arrow, like an old man going out for a stroll.

“Number Thirteen was devoured by Number Twelve. Number Twelve’s score has exceeded fifty thousand,” Chu Xihen, who was relatively relaxed, was responsible for broadcasting the scores of other teams to his teammates.

“Is this Number Twelve so strong? They’ve been ranked first since yesterday, and now they’re even taking the lead in killing people. It seems there’s going to be chaos soon,” Wang Heng said with some worry.

Yesterday, he was still complacent about his ability, but now he was starting to feel inferior.

“It shouldn’t be that bad, right? They have the highest score right now; they should find a place to hide. Fighting head-on with others would be a disadvantage for them,” Ding Hui had a different idea.

It was like their current score of a little over ten thousand. Teams with lower scores wouldn’t come to kill them for points, and it wouldn’t be worth it for teams with higher scores to take the risk of a mishap.

“That’s not necessarily true. What if the team ranked first isn’t just a team of five?” Chu Xihen immediately thought of Hu Gang, whom Ling Yao had mentioned.

This arrogant Number Twelve team was likely Hu Gang and his little brothers.

Ling Yao instantly understood his meaning and said to Lou Su in a negotiating tone, “Brother Lou, if we encounter Hu Gang and his group, leave him to me.”

Before Lou Su could speak, Chu Xihen raised an eyebrow and asked, “So confident?”

Yesterday, Ling Yao was still afraid of being discovered by the other party, but today he had the guts to say such a thing?

“That’s right, I’m someone with combat ability now!” Ling Yao patted his chest boldly, looking like he could fight Hu Gang for three hundred rounds.

Wang Heng and Ding Hui found Ling Yao’s words strange. Did that mean he didn’t have any combat ability before?

But he had just cooperated well with Lou Su and instantly killed a group of mutated creatures.

“We’ll discuss these matters later. Let’s kill mutated creatures first and get the minimum score of fifty thousand,” Lou Su said, taking advantage of the current chaotic situation to earn points.

The others had no objections and worked together to advance forward.

The number of uncolored codes on the leaderboard was increasing. A score of zero meant they were killed by other teams, and a score that hadn’t been cleared meant they were killed by mutated creatures.

After looking around, Chu Xihen frowned slightly, “There are more teams wiped out by mutated creatures.”

This meant there was something more powerful ahead than the elite mutated creatures here.

Before the others could respond to Chu Xihen’s words, they suddenly felt the ground shaking slightly.

The shaking came from far away and gradually got closer, making it difficult for them to stand still.

Then they saw a figure running desperately towards them.

“Help, help!” The man shouted as he ran. Seeing Chu Xihen and the others standing in front, he used all his strength to leap forward and landed behind them.

Then, the thing chasing him revealed its true form.

It was a golden-haired lion the size of a car, with flames rising from its body. Every time it ran, the ground shook, and the nearby trees caught fire upon touching the flames on its body.

“Quick, get out of the way!” The fiery golden lion charged directly at them. After Lou Su shouted, he pulled Chu Xihen, who in turn pulled Ling Yao, and the three of them jumped to the right.

Wang Heng and Ding Hui also held hands and jumped to the left.

Although they had dodged quickly, Ling Yao’s cloak was still singed. Seeing the flames on the cloak, he subconsciously reached out to pat it, wanting to extinguish the fire.

But Chu Xihen stopped his action and directly reached out to tear the cloak off and throw it on the ground.

Chu Xihen reminded, “This is a mutated creature. The flames may also be corrosive, so it’s best not to let them touch your skin.”

“Oh, oh, oh.” Ling Yao nodded as he retreated.

Fortunately, the fiery golden lion’s target wasn’t them. It brushed past them and charged towards the fleeing man.

The man got up and ran, his legs moving so fast they appeared as a blur.

But he didn’t run far before turning back and running circles around Chu Xihen and the others.

“Hey, what do you mean by this?” Wang Heng, holding Ding Hui’s hand, stood on the spot and shouted at the man being chased by the fiery golden lion.

“He probably wants to force us to take action. Once we attract the lion’s aggro, he can run away.” Although the man was fast, he couldn’t completely shake off the lion and could only divert the trouble.

Fortunately, the lion was also single-minded, focusing on its enemy and never randomly attacking people nearby.

“No wonder there are so many teams on the榜 (bǎng – leaderboard) that have been wiped out. If you’re targeted by this lion, you’ll be hunted to the ends of the earth as long as there’s one survivor,” Ling Yao quipped. “Let’s just hold back and not attack, let him tire himself to death!”

After running three laps, the man’s face became increasingly ugly. He hadn’t expected Chu Xihen and the others to be so patient.

“Several elder brothers, please have mercy and help me!” The man begged, panting for breath.

As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes went blank for a moment, and he stood motionless on the spot. The fiery golden lion seized the opportunity to leap forward and bit his neck off…