Chapter 711 - 8: Rumble (Part 2)

Chapter 711: Chapter 8: Rumble (Part 2)

On their way past the farm, they saw Proteus again.

This time, however, Proteus excitedly bounded over, calling out to Tian Kui.

"Where are you guys headed?"

"Let me come too!"

Tian Kui couldn’t be bothered with him. A couple of days ago, after getting off "work," this guy had wandered out for some reason and tried to start a fight with Tian Kui and his crew.

Naturally, he got his ass handed to him and immediately learned his lesson. Now, seeing Tian Kui, he was more eager to please than when he saw his own master.

When Tian Kui ignored him, Proteus didn’t mind and quickly fell in behind the group.

Excluding him, there were eight dogs in the group.

He tagged along at the very end, following their every step, his head held high.

Tian Kui had assumed their target was nearby, but they left the small town and, to his surprise, ran a good five or six kilometers without stopping.

"How much farther are you going to run?"

Tian Kui barked at Da Mei.

Shen Xin had been busy the last few days and hadn’t been keeping a close eye on Da Mei.

The cat was bold, and she dared to wander wherever she pleased.

Da Mei turned her head. "Enough with the questions. Just follow."

She added with a sharp meow, "And don’t you dare snitch!"

Tian Kui was speechless. ’But we’ve already come this far,’ he thought, so he had no choice but to keep following.

And so they ran, covering nearly ten kilometers in one stretch, until they arrived at the foot of the Murdoch mountain range, west of Monteiro.

The area had sparse woods and complex, rocky terrain, with boulders strewn everywhere.

Da Mei stopped abruptly, raising a paw to point at an area up ahead.

"Right there."

Tian Kui glanced over and was about to approach, but Da Mei stopped him.

"He’s hiding in a hole."

In her mind, fighting in a narrow hole would neutralize their numerical advantage.

"You guys spread out. I’ll lure him out."

Da Mei meowed insistently, pawing at Tian Kui to make him understand her strategy.

Tian Kui twitched his nose. He had already caught an unusual scent.

Ignoring Da Mei’s excited chatter, Tian Kui prepared to go check out this unknown creature by himself.

Da Mei leaped in front of Tian Kui to block him, hissing.

"We do it my way!"

She had picked this fight, so they had to follow her plan.

Tian Kui was at a loss for words. Not wanting to argue with the little feline, he simply lifted a paw, gesturing for her to do as she pleased.

Da Mei gestured back at Tian Kui and the others with her paw.

"Well? Spread out, then!"

Tian Kui rolled his eyes again before turning and barking a few orders.

At once, the eight underlings, including that guy Proteus, all spread out.

In truth, they had all already smelled their target’s scent.

Now full of confidence, Da Mei swaggered forward.

Her target was a crevice between the rocks.

A natural cave.

She had passed by here yesterday when something suddenly shot out and gave her a fright.

Worse, it attacked her. If the Sheriff hadn’t been there to cover her, she would have been done for.

With Da Mei’s vengeful personality, she absolutely had to get even today.

Da Mei stopped three meters from the entrance of the hole.

She could hear it; the creature inside had definitely noticed her.

"Come on out!"

Da Mei let out a challenging cry.

There was no response.

She called out again, but still nothing.

"Coward."

Da Mei scoffed. Then, with a glint in her eye, she had an idea.

Like many animals, cats use urine to mark their territory.

But the intelligent Da Mei had a more extreme method.

Peeing was for amateurs. She slowly approached the entrance to the hole and, right in front of it, dropped a turd.

This was no less provocative than dancing on someone’s grave.

The animal in the hole, despite sensing the presence of others outside, simply couldn’t restrain itself. With a savage cry and a gust of foul air, it shot out from the shadows.

It was as fast as lightning.

But Da Mei was no pushover. She reacted instantly, turning tail and running while letting out a sharp cry to alert Tian Kui.

’Time to block the hole!’

Tian Kui shot out from the tall grass, sprinting to block the entrance to the hole.

From all sides, Tian Kui’s underlings closed in.

The creature, having failed to catch Da Mei, noticed the surrounding dogs. It turned to flee back into its hole, only to come face-to-face with Tian Kui.

Seeing the creature clearly, Tian Kui froze for a second.

’Isn’t this Evil Bully?’

Or rather, it looked like a version of Evil Bully that was several sizes larger—about twice as big, he estimated.

It had the same tabby markings and a short tail.

It really did look just like Evil Bully.

Tian Kui glanced at Da Mei, who was returning to the scene, and couldn’t help but wonder, ’What’s with this? Did she take a liking to this guy?’

He knew that as Evil Bully had gotten more and more "cringey," Da Mei had lost interest in him.

Da Mei meowed a few times.

"That’s him! Get him!"

This was Proteus’s first mission with the big boss, and he was thrilled to be part of the action. But when he got a clear look at the creature, he was startled and quickly warned Tian Kui.

"Boss, this thing is dangerous!"

He’d seen this animal before. It was a North American Bobcat, colloquially known as a lynx.

They were nocturnal and ferocious fighters, preying on small birds, lizards, and rabbits. Sometimes they even hunted deer or foxes.

They were known as "little tigers."

One of the underlings, Dahuang, eager to prove his worth, impulsively lunged forward.

The bobcat cowered on the ground, whimpering in fear, but as Dahuang charged, it reacted instantly, leaping to the right and precisely dodging the pounce.

As it landed, it used a rock to push off, twisting in mid-air to land on Dahuang’s back and sink its teeth in.

With a yelp of pain, Dahuang found himself the first one injured.

But he had been trained as a police dog, after all; he wasn’t helpless. He quickly dropped to the ground, shaking the bobcat off his back, then snapped back with his jaws.

The creature was incredibly agile. After a brief scuffle, Dahuang still couldn’t gain the upper hand.

He only got a mouthful of fur for his trouble and was left staring viciously at his opponent.

A chill went through the other underlings. This opponent was no joke.

"Useless trash."

Tian Kui barked. Dahuang retreated in shame, having lost face.

Only then did Tian Kui slowly advance. Sizing up his opponent, he waited for an opening and then suddenly lunged.

There was a reason he led the pack—his fighting prowess was no joke.

The bobcat was a feline and a formidable fighter, but among animals, a difference in size is often an insurmountable gap.

At twenty to thirty pounds, it was no match for Tian Kui.

Especially since Tian Kui also possessed considerable fighting skill, a high pain tolerance, and a fearless disregard for death.

Thus, after just a few lightning-fast exchanges, Tian Kui had his jaws clamped around the bobcat’s throat.

Just as he was about to tear into its flesh and finish it off, Shen Xin’s words suddenly echoed in his mind.

’Try not to mess with wild animals.’

Tian Kui loosened his jaw slightly.

In that instant of hesitation, the bobcat seized its chance. It bolted, forcing its way through a gap between the underlings.

It was Proteus’s fault. When he saw the bobcat charging his way, he instinctively flinched aside, creating the opening.

Da Mei immediately gave chase.

Tian Kui shot Proteus a glare.

"All that size and you’re still useless trash."

The bobcat leaped nimbly between the rocks, like a bird startled by the twang of a bowstring.

In this kind of terrain, the dogs were at a disadvantage; they couldn’t build up speed.

However, their sense of smell was far more sensitive. The bobcat had been injured in the fight, and the strong scent of blood meant it wouldn’t escape so easily.

At Tian Kui’s command, all his underlings gave chase, gradually fanning out into a pursuit formation.

Tian Kui even had one of the German Shepherds take two other dogs to circle around through the flatter ground on the outskirts to cut off their quarry.

After chasing for another kilometer, Tian Kui suddenly halted.

Ahead, in a rocky corner, the injured bobcat was panting for breath.

Not far from it, five coyotes emerged from behind some boulders, watching the dogs warily.

They had brownish-yellow fur, large ears, and lean bodies, looking more like foxes or even dogs.

In reality, they weren’t wolves in the truest sense, but a close relative.

The one in the lead was slightly larger and more muscular. It gave two short barks at Tian Kui, as if warning him not to come any closer—this was their territory.

Its attention was also drawn to the injured bobcat.

’Anything that wanders into our territory is our prey.’

But in the next moment, its eyes narrowed as it noticed the other police dogs closing in from the perimeter.

Coyotes are smart; the leader immediately realized they were outnumbered.

Proteus was there too, and he let out two sharp barks to alert Tian Kui.

"Boss, those are wolves! Their tails are down!"

Tian Kui kept Shen Xin’s warning firmly in mind; otherwise, he would have delivered the killing blow to the bobcat earlier.

Now, he weighed his options.

’First, I’m not afraid of these few coyotes.’

’Second, I’ve taught the bobcat a lesson and satisfied Da Mei’s demand.’

So Tian Kui considered retreating.

But he couldn’t help but think, ’If we just leave like this, isn’t that a bit humiliating?’

’We clearly have the numbers, but we run into a local crew and flee without a fight? If word of this gets out, my reputation will be ruined.’