Chapter 343: This is Bad

Chapter 343: Chapter 343: This is Bad

The Orange Rank Eagle Beast noticed almost instantly, its eyes locking onto the female figure below.

The next second, its enormous body vanished.

Bai Wanwan thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. She blinked, and when she looked again, her laser beam had hit nothing but air.

She immediately whipped her head around, searching for the massive Eagle Beast.

Her eyes swept across the sky, and she finally spotted it again, high up to her right.

’It covered such a long distance, seemingly appearing there in an instant.’ Her heart skipped a beat.

"Zhu Xiu, look! Up in the sky! There’s an Eagle Beast that can vanish in an instant and reappear somewhere else."

After whipping his Snake Tail to bat away the midair Eagle Beasts, Zhu Xiu’s scarlet eyes quickly locked onto the enormous one suspended in the sky.

"That must be an Orange Rank Eagle Beast," Zhu Xiu said, his tone heavy. He turned to Xin Feng. "Xin Feng, can you still hold on?"

Xin Feng’s voice quickly came from the left. "I can."

"Good. Yan Lie, pick up the pace."

Unable to hold on any longer, Bai Wanwan scrambled up from under Yan Lie’s belly to his back, panting. The forest ahead was now less than five hundred meters away.

Ordinarily, they could have reached it in the blink of an eye.

But with the relentless assault from the Eagle Beasts, those five hundred meters felt impossibly far.

With Zhu Xiu protecting her, Jin Yi charged to the front to clear a path.

The Eagle Beasts, sensing their intent, tried to stop them from reaching the forest. The number of beasts attacking Jin Yi swelled noticeably.

"Jin Yi, watch out!"

In an instant, Jin Yi’s back was covered in wounds pecked out by the Eagle Beasts.

If not for their advancement to Orange Rank, which made their hides much tougher, they would have likely been gravely wounded by now.

She couldn’t bear to watch her Beast Husband be attacked by so many Eagle Beasts.

She frantically began searching her system for useful tools.

’Kitchen knife... itching powder, diarrhea powder... vegetables...’

’And... potatoes!’

Bai Wanwan’s eyes lit up when she saw the potatoes.

’She had tons of these. They couldn’t really hurt the Eagle Beasts, but a sudden barrage would definitely confuse them and make them fall back.’

Without a second thought, she grabbed a pile of potatoes and started flinging them forward.

There were so many Eagle Beasts attacking Jin Yi that she didn’t even need to aim; every potato she threw hit its mark.

After being pelted, they immediately flapped their wings and flew higher, trying to assess the situation before attacking again.

But in that brief moment, all the Eagle Beasts blocking their path had taken to the air.

"Now, Jin Yi! Go!"

Zhu Xiu yelled, seizing the opportunity.

Without looking back, Jin Yi dragged his heavily wounded body into the dense forest.

Zhu Xiu and the others, protecting Bai Wanwan, followed close behind.

"Useless trash! We sent so many Eagle Beasts after them, and you still let them get away!"

"Chief, our losses are too great this time!"

Listening to the indignant squawks of the Eagle Beasts beside it, the Orange Rank Eagle Beast looked down. The ground below was littered with the bodies of their own.

Some weren’t dead yet, but their wings were too broken to move.

"Chief, what do we do now?"

The Orange Rank Eagle Beast’s gaze fell upon the lush forest below. "To get back to the Golden Lion Tribe, they’ll have to pass through the cliffs."

"Are you saying we should wait for them there?"

"No. All of you, hide in the caves on the cliff face. Wait for my signal."

*******

After entering the forest, Bai Wanwan and her group didn’t let down their guard. Peeking through the gaps in the canopy, they could see the Eagle Beasts still circling high above.

Yan Lie, who was almost unscathed, leaped onto a high branch to observe the Eagle Beasts’ movements.

"I think they’re leaving..."

Zhu Xiu raised his enormous head, his eyes nearly level with where Yan Lie was perched.

"They won’t. Eagle Beasts are a vengeful race. They’ve attacked us again and again; they won’t stop until they get what they want. Especially after taking such heavy losses. They’re definitely still following us. We must be careful on the journey home."

"Jin Yi, are you familiar with the terrain around here?"

Zhu Xiu turned to look at him, only to see him collapsed on the ground, panting, his body covered in a dense web of wounds.

Bai Wanwan was already kneeling by his side, gently stroking his fur as she examined his injuries.

The Golden Lion turned his head and nuzzled her shoulder. "I’m fine. Don’t worry."

Only then did he answer Zhu Xiu. "I’m not familiar with this area. The Golden Lion Tribe and the Bear Clan have never been on good terms, so we rarely set foot in their territory."

If they didn’t know the terrain, they couldn’t find a safe shortcut.

"We’ll figure it out. Just focus on recovering for now."

Bai Wanwan turned to look at Zhu Xiu. "You’re badly hurt, too. All of you, change back so I can put medicine on your wounds."

Her Points had taken another massive hit. Fortunately, she still had some Extreme Effect Golden Sore Medicine left from before. She squeezed some out and applied it to several of Jin Yi’s most severe wounds.

The ointment quickly formed a thin film, sealing the wounds shut.

Bai Wanwan helped him lean against a rough tree trunk. "You rest here for a bit. I’m going to check on Xin Feng."

Jin Yi was the most seriously injured, followed by Xin Feng.

In his human form, his back and shoulders were a bloody mess. She immediately applied the last of her Extreme Effect Golden Sore Medicine to his injuries.

"Feeling any better?"

Bai Wanwan’s heart ached looking at the gruesome wounds on his body.

Xin Feng enveloped her hand with his own, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I’m fine. Don’t worry."

Though her heart ached for each of her Beast Husbands, there was another one waiting for her to treat his wounds.

After tending to the two most seriously injured, she moved to Zhu Xiu’s side.

Compared to the other two, Zhu Xiu’s injuries were merely superficial.

She breathed a sigh of relief and applied a layer of regular golden sore medicine.

"It’s a good thing you’ve ranked up."

Eagle Beasts and snakes are mortal enemies. If Zhu Xiu hadn’t been so powerful, the Eagle Beasts could have easily worn him down and killed him.

Zhu Xiu gazed at her worried expression and reached up to smooth the crease between her brows. "Don’t worry. With our current healing abilities, even with injuries as serious as Jin Yi’s, he’ll be back to normal in two days, tops."

Zhu Xiu was relieved that this attack had happened after he and Jin Yi had ranked up.

Otherwise, they might not have been able to protect Wanwan.

Yan Lie quickly returned from scouting the area. "There are no caves nearby, and Jin Yi and Xin Feng are too badly hurt to travel. We’ll have to camp in the open tonight. Wanwan, have Xin Feng hold you while you sleep; you won’t get cold sleeping on him. I’ll stand guard tonight. The rest of you get some sleep."

As he spoke, he began to gut the wild boar he had just hunted.

He cut the best portions into three shares and brought them to the three injured males.

Even though they had no appetite, the males forced themselves to eat, chewing large mouthfuls.

They had expended too much energy and needed food to replenish their strength and heal.

The sky gradually darkened. They found a hollow to settle in. Zhu Xiu, being the least injured, took up a position on the edge to stand guard.

Bai Wanwan lay between Xin Feng and Jin Yi.

Yan Lie leaped up into the branches of a tree, his senses on high alert as he watched over their surroundings.

Bai Wanwan wasn’t the least bit sleepy. Every time she closed her eyes, the image of the massive Eagle Beast filled her mind.

A sense of dread coiled in her heart, refusing to go away...