Volume 2 – Birth of Heaven’s First Dragon Sacrifice
Chapter E – Greedy hunter
This black turtle was so big that it looked like a mansion while its sh.e.l.l was just like a towering mountain. Its sh.e.l.l was covered with mud and moss whereas its limbs were crude like corbels with stacks of folded thick skin.
Liu Zhenhan was most shocked to see two st.u.r.dy antlers on the black turtle’s head that was hanging down due to weakened neck muscles. Its eyes looked like two dark colored bells and even if it was obvious that it was a very old beast; there was still a dim light visible in its eyes. It was issuing painful groans and there were several alarming wounds on and around its nose which looked just like pink baby lips, rolled off, and sticky blood was oozing out from them.
The female wolf suddenly sniffed something and slowly turned around, staring in the direction of Liu Zhenhan. He was hiding behind berry bushes and peeking through the gap when his eyes caught the wolf’s swift and fierce eyes. The wolf did not pay much attention to static berry bushes, just leaned over, sniffed once again and seemed very much puzzled.
The wind slightly changed its path in the bamboo forest and steered away from the wolf.
As soon as the wind changed direction, fallen leaves started spinning and dancing in a whirlpool of wind. The wolf snorted loudly then turned its head toward the giant black turtle and began to observe closely.
The giant black turtle was salivating profusely from the corners of its mouth and appeared very weak and sick.
Liu Zhenhan saw an egg behind the giant turtle. This egg was covered in wisps of blood and tissue and it seemed like the giant turtle had laid this egg not long ago. It was using all the strength in its body to keep the wolf away from its egg whereas the wolf was looking for a chance to somehow reach behind the turtle and get the egg. The giant turtle obviously had a feeble body and was barely managing to block the wolf’s advances towards its egg.
Liu Zhenhan felt as if he was looking at two kids fighting over a football. Both were moving sideways, back and forth but no one was charging head on.
The magical wolf opened its mouth several times but Liu Zhenhan noticed that it was not able to shoot wind blades at will. The discovery made him sneer again and again.
After repeated calling and urging, finally, the long-awaited wind blade came out of its mouth. It was a high-speed rotating wind blade and at least had double the volume of previous wolf’s wind blade. It was headed in the direction of the egg but the turtle immediately moved sideways and barely managed to deflect it with its sh.e.l.l, however, after getting deflected, a section of wind blade went towards its thigh and made an impact, leaving a large wound on the folded skin. Liu Zhenhan was quite impressed when he noticed that this attack had absolutely no effect on the sh.e.l.l.
The magical wolf stuck its red tongue out and began to gasp heavily.
Although it did not have enough strength left to make a direct lethal attack again, it still relied on its own agility to bully the giant turtle by scratching and biting occasionally.
Whenever he laid his eyes upon this giant turtle, felt as if he had already seen it somewhere before.
After thinking for a while, he finally remembered seeing a black turtle in his hometown. When he was just a kid, one day he was playing on the foothills, near the ancient tomb of a great Major General, and saw a large black statue of a turtle carrying the tombstone on its back.
Liu Zhenhan also remembered how he used to play with his elder brother as kids and one time, a black turtle sprinkled its urine on his elder brother. At that time, a fortune-teller was pa.s.sing by and said that the elder brother’s lifespan had increased due to this incident. He must display obeisance to the black turtle and consider it as his G.o.dfather.
The fortune teller said that the black turtle was actually the son of a dragon. According to an ancient legend, the dragon married twice and his second wife gave birth to a son who could not become a dragon, instead became a giant black turtle. The dragon found his son very grotesque but couldn’t do anything about it, after all, this was his eldest son. According to the fortune teller, the frequent floods caused by the Longchuan River in their hometown were also a result of the dragon’s eldest son who liked to fool around.
The fortune teller also said that the dragon had kept the egg buried in the ground for three years, perhaps that was the reason behind the transformation.
Liu Zhenhan couldn’t help reminiscing about those good old days and remembered how he used to be envious of the dragon.
“When I grow up, I also want to have two wives just like the dragon.” Liu Zhenhan and his elder brother used to say this all the time when they were kids.
Liu Zhenhan carefully brought himself out of his childhood memories then slowly pulled out an arrow. He pulled the string back as much as he could and set aim at the magical wolf.
This black turtle was certainly not a dragon. Liu Zhenhan was just lost in his childhood memories. Right now, the black turtle had experienced dystocia and was in a very weakened state. Hence, the magical wolf was taking advantage of this situation. However, Liu Zhenhan was more interested in this turtle’s sh.e.l.l that was simply undamaged, even after taking a direct hit from a rotating wind blade.
As soon as he was ready to attack the magical wolf, suddenly, it attacked the giant turtle.
After that, the scene that unfolded in front of his eyes proved one point – magical beasts really possessed high wisdom.
This time, it did not shoot a wind blade again. Even though it could naturally use wind blades quite easily but not endlessly. It had exhausted its magical strength and could no longer use magic attacks. However, it did not just have the ability of wind magic attacks, its fangs and claws were sharper and deadlier than wind blades. No wonder the black turtle was so seriously injured and bleeding profusely, to an extent of slowly drifting towards death. Just then, the magical wolf issued a strange howl that contained a sense of impatience in it. It was worried about the safety of its three starving cubs and wanted to go back with food as soon as possible.
The magical wolf pretended to bend down and began to lick its front paws, showing off a seemingly relaxed gesture but it was actually just a feint. In a split-second, its back feet pedaled and pushed its body forward in the air at an incredibly fast speed. This was an incredible jump and high enough to guide it straight in direction of the black turtle.
Its body stretched significantly and gained enough elastic force to propel it in the direction of the black turtle like a spring. It used its front claws like a falcon to hook onto its prey’s neck, and the very next instant, it used one claw to gauze out that giant turtle’s right eye, whereas at the same time, its ominous fangs punctured their way into its throat, reaching all the way to the pharynx and larynx.
Along with a loud and terrible ripping sound, its sharp teeth began to tear the flesh out of the turtle’s neck. The magical wolf was using its own weight and strong grip of its jaw to tear off a large chunk of meat. However, the turtle’s skin was very tough and even if the wolf was putting all its strength and pulling as hard as it could, still could not succeed in its plan.
Liu Zhenhan was holding his breath and literally stunned while witnessing an epic deadly battle that was taking place right in front of his eyes. The bow was ready in his hands and the arrow was aimed at the magical wolf’s head. He took a deep breath and pulled back the string as hard as he could and thought of an idiom ‘neighbors who can’t agree lose out to a third party’.
“Ba!” Then suddenly the turtle uttered something in a hoa.r.s.e voice through its severely punctured throat while the magical wolf was still hanging on its thick neck and wouldn’t let go. Red hot blood was gushing out of its punctured throat like a volcanic eruption, puffing out from the gaps of the wolf’s teeth.
The giant turtle’s left front-leg made a seemingly struggling action and it clumsily fell down, bulldozing the magical wolf on the ground.
“Boom!” There sounded a loud thundering sound like a gunshot in a mountain.
The bamboo shoots suddenly trembled due to the sudden rise of strong winds and bamboo leaves began to make rustling sounds and rained down gently on the ground.
Liu Zhenhan was still hiding quietly behind the bushes and did not make any sudden movements. He could not help but be reminded of a tripping bulldozer from this scene.
The b.l.o.o.d.y and terrible scene that unfolded in front of him was terrible enough to make him feel nauseated and a bit dizzy.
He gently took his fingers off the bowstring and put the arrow away. This deadly battle had come to an end without him partic.i.p.ating in it.