Chapter 622: Dog Gang vs. Jackal Pack

In the forest was a beast shaped like a dog. It had a wide head, a short snout, and semicircular ears. Its fur was mostly reddish-brown, but its belly and the insides of its limbs were white. It had a thick, bushy tail with a black tip.

It wasn’t large, just a bit bigger than Cyan Dragon, weighing a little over forty pounds. Its dark, glossy eyes glinted with ferocity and cunning.

This was the jackal—the first of the “four great predators” of lore: jackal, wolf, tiger, and leopard. Due to the color of its fur, people also called it the Red Dog.

Black Tiger’s sudden charge startled the jackal. It scrambled to turn and flee, but Black Tiger was already at a full sprint.

The jackal had barely taken a step, its speed not yet built up, when Black Tiger caught up to it.

Instinctively, the jackal twisted its head back. Seeing Black Tiger pounce, it spun around, opened its jaws, and lunged for Black Tiger’s throat.

This was a jackal, whose ferocity and cunning surpassed even that of a wolf.

Black Tiger flicked his lame leg out, and his stout body came to an instant halt as he dodged to the side.

Seeing the jackal’s lunge miss, Black Tiger spun and pounced again, sinking his teeth viciously into the back of the jackal’s neck.

The jackal, in turn, whipped its head around and snapped at Black Tiger’s throat once more.

As the old saying goes, there’s no substitute for size and strength.

In terms of weight and power, the jackal was no match for Black Tiger, but its bite force was far superior. If that bite had connected, it would have undoubtedly pierced Black Tiger’s throat.

Black Tiger recoiled, raising his good front leg and swiftly raking his claws across the jackal’s body, yanking it sideways.

The swipe failed to tear through the jackal’s thick hide, but Black Tiger’s superior strength was enough to yank the creature off its feet and flip it over.

The moment the jackal was on its back, legs flailing, Black Tiger opened his massive jaws and clamped down on its groin. Before the jackal could right itself, it felt a sudden warmth between its legs. Black Tiger had its private parts in his mouth.

“YEE-AH!”

The jackal’s cry was a peculiar sound, like a Copper Whistle—shrill, high-pitched, and rapid.

The jackal struggled, trying to get up, but as they say in the Northeast, its entire “rear end” was pinned down by Black Tiger.

It twisted its body, trying to break free, but its strength lay in its limbs. Its core was weak, and it had no hope of escaping Black Tiger’s hold.

“WOOF WOOF…”

Suddenly, Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon, who were standing not far off, began to bark in alarm. Up ahead, jackals were darting out from the mountain woods, one after another.

Seven of them!

Seven more jackals!

Their limbs were short but powerful, and they were incredibly fast. They raced through the woods, their eyes glinting with a sinister light, letting out sharp, high-pitched cries.

At this, the members of the Dog Gang who had been pinning down the wild boar all got to their feet. As if by a single mind, they abandoned the boar and rushed to Black Tiger’s side.

Meanwhile, Black Tiger was still tearing into the first jackal.

The wretched jackal managed to twist its body around for a desperate counterattack, attempting to bite Black Tiger’s injured leg. But Black Tiger lunged, bit its neck again, and with a vicious shake of his head, slammed the jackal onto the ground.

The jackal still hadn’t given up. It struggled to rise, only for the arriving Little Bear to sink his teeth into its hind leg.

The jackal instinctively spun to attack again, but by now the entire Dog Gang had arrived. Big Fatty latched onto the jackal’s head and forced it to the ground.

In an instant, White Dragon, Da Huang, San Pang, Flower Cat, Hua Lang, and Xiaohua all piled on.

A jackal was nothing like a wild boar.

The boar had tough, thick skin. When dogs attacked it, unless they went for its rear or its soft underbelly, their fangs could barely break its hide.

But dealing with a jackal was another matter entirely.

The jackal let out one last, desperate, miserable howl before it was torn to shreds by the eight dogs.

“AWOO! AWOO!” Black Tiger charged past the Dog Gang, launching himself at two jackals that were rushing toward them.

The two jackals split to the left and right, both trying to circle behind Black Tiger.

These creatures relied on pack tactics, using their numbers to overwhelm their prey. Even a lone Northeast Leopard or Lynx was no match for them.

But today, they weren’t facing one dog. They were facing nine full-grown dogs.

Having torn the first jackal apart, the Dog Gang surged forward like a tide. The two other jackals forgot all about Black Tiger and hastily retreated to regroup with their pack.

It was called a pack, but there were only eight in total to begin with—and one had just been dismembered by the eight dogs.

So, the Jackal Pack was now down to seven. Five of them were larger, all weighing over forty pounds. The biggest one probably topped fifty-five pounds.

The remaining two were smaller, weighing around thirty-three pounds, about the same size as Cyan Dragon and Black Dragon.

These two smaller ones were females.

Wild jackal packs are typically like this, with more males than females.

The seven jackals clustered together, their sharp, bizarre cries a chaotic mess. Not to be outdone, the Dog Gang on the other side answered with thunderous roars.

There’s a strange phenomenon with hunting dogs: when they first take to the mountains, they won’t chase—let alone bite—wild animals they’ve never encountered or eaten before.

But facing this pack of jackals, which they were also unfamiliar with, they didn’t hesitate for a second. They just went straight for the kill.

Even stranger was the fact that hunting dogs are afraid of big cats. Tigers, leopards, and Lynx could all scare a hunting dog into retreat.

And yet, hunting dogs were not afraid of jackals or wolves.

Back when Zhao Jun had led the Dog Gang to hunt the Black Bear that killed Elder Jiang and Tao Dasheng, they had encountered a Jackal Pack attacking a Northeast Leopard on their way home.

The Northeast Leopard was defeated by the Jackal Pack, and the Jackal Pack was scared off by the Dog Gang. The Dog Gang, however, had been too intimidated by the Northeast Leopard’s scent to approach.

Now, the Dog Gang and the Jackal Pack faced off for less than two minutes before the jackals began to retreat again. The moment they moved, the Dog Gang instantly surged forward.