Chimera Ants were inherently warlike. Regardless of the genes they integrated from other species, that warlike nature always dominated.
Thus, while the treasure-hunting team scattered and fled, the main force of Chimera Ants focused on the strongest member: Feng Xiaoyu.
This was a one-sided Chimera Ant hunt. Feng Xiaoyu could only run, escape at her fastest speed.
Even so, the prickling sensation from behind never disappeared for a moment.
She knew very well those monsters were still closely pursuing her. And now, ahead appeared an even stronger monster.
Blocked front and back!
Feng Xiaoyu looked at the bull-horned man enveloped in Nen before her, her heart sinking straight to the bottom.
One times? Or two times?
She had no idea what species this bull-horned man was. The vast amount of Manifested Aura he was freely releasing exceeded the level of Ten. The Aura mixed within gave one the illusion of being breathless.
'A magical beast that could use Nen...'
'But it seemed it didn't know Nen techniques, letting the Aura flow out wastefully without even using Ten.'
Feng Xiaoyu finally stopped, stepping into the dangerous situation.
But the next second, the light of dawn shone through.
For some reason, the several Auras that had been closely pursuing her behind suddenly retreated like a tide, vanishing without a trace.
'Did they hide themselves?'
Feng Xiaoyu didn't let her guard down.
As if reading Feng Xiaoyu's mind, the bull-horned man opened his mouth and said, "I told them to leave. Because I like hunting alone."
The voice was very cold and clear, with high recognizability.
Feng Xiaoyu remained fully alert. How could she believe the bull-horned man's words?
"Don't believe me... Right. How could a cornered animal trust a hunter."
The bull-horned man muttered to himself, a faint light slowly appearing in his pitch-black eyes. He raised his claw-like hand and pointed.
Feng Xiaoyu, as if provoked, stumbled backward several steps.
The bull-horned man didn't mind Feng Xiaoyu's reaction. Calmly, he said, "As I thought, you can control the life energy covering your body. Just now, when you stepped back, the life energy in your legs clearly increased."
Then, ignoring Feng Xiaoyu, he looked at his own hand and muttered, "But I can't control it. What's different? Human blood flows within me. So if humans can do it, I should be able to too."
'This monster... what is it saying?'
Feng Xiaoyu's heart trembled slightly. Her mind raced.
She couldn't determine if there were ambushes nearby. If what the bull-horned man said was true, now was a good chance to escape.
But the bull-horned man was showing such an obvious opening, so it was also a good chance to attack.
'If I used the Treasure Vault of The Twelve Bandits...'
At that moment, Feng Xiaoyu felt as if standing at a crossroads without traffic lights, not knowing when to go or when to stop.
Finally, lacking any definite strategy, she launched an attack.
Unexpectedly, she easily left a keyhole mark on the bull-horned man's chest.
'Was it carelessness, or overconfidence?'
Feng Xiaoyu had no mind to guess. She directly activated her ability.
[Treasure Vault of The Twelve Bandits]
Instantly, Nen surged in her hands. A twelve-layer Rubik's cube with scrambled colors appeared in her grasp.
The difficulty displayed was: Twelve Keyholes.
That was... the highest level of difficulty.
Looking at the cube with colors so complex it made one's scalp tingle, Feng Xiaoyu chose to run away again without hesitation.
Time was absolutely not enough.
She was absolutely certain and felt regret.
Why did she set the keyhole on a vital spot? If she had set it on the monster's wing, the difficulty might not have become so high.
'Twelve keyholes... just how terrifying was this monster?'
Feng Xiaoyu ran. The bull-horned man looked down at the keyhole on his chest, a strange expression appearing on his face.
Swish!
His wings spread behind him, he took flight, transforming into a black shadow chasing after Feng Xiaoyu.
There were things that needed digging up. Going slower was fine, and taking a bit longer was also fine.
"Yes, I like digging."
"Good. Come satisfy me."
Vague memories flickered in the bull-horned man's mind. His expression became strange.
…
They say seeing is believing, but it's not absolute.
Feng Xiaoyu's judgment was mistaken because she was completely ignorant about Chimera Ants fused with human genes.
Seeing the Aura on the bull-horned man, she naturally assumed he could use Nen Abilities too, just didn't know the techniques.
In reality, the bull-horned man had no idea what Nen Abilities were. The Aura on his body wasn't released by opening Aura Nodes either.
Ordinary humans, before opening their Aura Nodes, also constantly lose a bit of life force.
Life force is Aura, is Nen, is what the bull-horned man called life energy.
Currently, the bull-horned man was equivalent to an ordinary human who hadn't opened his Aura Nodes. But the amount of Manifested Aura on him already exceeded the level of Ten. That's why he could see the life energy on Feng Xiaoyu, and why Feng Xiaoyu misjudged.
Precisely because of this misjudgment, Feng Xiaoyu completely failed to realize the truly terrifying aspect of the bull-horned man.
If the bull-horned man opened his Aura Nodes...
Perhaps Feng Xiaoyu was lucky not to realize this.
However, she was still a cornered beast, a small animal trapped in a predicament with no escape.
She didn't have enough time or a safe enough environment to reset the cube's colors, so she could only run.
But where to run?
This question she should have considered vanished when her train of thought was interrupted.
A violent blow suddenly came from the right, slapping against her cheek.
In that instant, she barely saw it: it was a webbed hand.
Bang!
Her body, while moving at high speed, was smashed hard into the ground.
Feng Xiaoyu spat out a large mouthful of blood. Her body went limp and collapsed, her vision blurring.
Dimly, from her sideways position, she saw webbed feet approaching.
"Hahaha, a woman, it's a woman! Great!"
An extremely excited and crazed voice came to her ears.
'I'm... done for.'
Feng Xiaoyu's eyelids drooped weakly.
'What about Ponzu? Can she escape?'
'When we scattered and ran, the main monsters chased after me. Does Ponzu have a chance to escape?'
As her consciousness gradually blurred, she suddenly felt her clothes being torn and a certain repressed male panting sound continuously drilling into her ears.
"Get lost."
An angry voice came.
Immediately followed by a loud boom.
The figure that had just reached out to tear Feng Xiaoyu's clothes was knocked flying, crashing through several large trees before stopping.
The bull-horned man came to Feng Xiaoyu's side, coldly looking at the figure he had knocked away, saying clearly and coldly, "This is my prey."
The knocked-away figure got up from the ground. It was a Chimera Ant species with crab shells, possessing both fish and human characteristics.
Like the bull-horned man, this Chimera Ant also had a human face, but its cheeks were covered in fish scales. Its appearance bore some resemblance to the man the Queen had devoured in Devil's Cave.
The fish-scale man angrily glared at the bull-horned man and roared, "Women are all mine!"
The bull-horned man, however, was expressionless. Without a word, he manipulated his slender bull tail to directly curl Feng Xiaoyu behind him.
That action undoubtedly stated his position.
Meanwhile, at a nearly dried-up small pond in the mountains.
Ponzu hid in the mud, closed her aura nodes, entering a state of Zetsu.
Ten people had scattered and fled. As long as the number of pursuing enemies was less than ten, someone was bound to get away.
'Neurotoxin!'
Fear was impossible to disperse from Ponzu's face.