The jackal suddenly recoiled, raising a paw to swipe at Bai Zhe's head.
Just as the paw was about to strike, Bai Zhe tilted his head, dodging in mid-air, then bit down on the jackal's hind leg.
"Woo!"
The jackal let out a miserable scream.
Bai Zhe's venom was highly potent, and judging by previous victims, it caused intense pain in the wound.
The jackal limped, howling, trying to chase Bai Zhe, but the pain in its leg prevented it from moving. Two seconds later, it collapsed on the ground.
The other four jackals were shocked. One went over to check on the fallen one, while the remaining three charged after Bai Zhe.
Bai Zhe sprinted forward at a fast pace. Although slower than the jackals, he was not worried.
He had already chosen a hiding place.
Ahead appeared a hare hole, one he had noted earlier during his travels.
He originally recorded these hare holes for hunting convenience, but now they served as a refuge.
With a swift motion, Bai Zhe dove into the hare hole.
Two seconds later, three jackals arrived, panting heavily with their snouts at the hole's entrance.
Bai Zhe heard their panting but was not disturbed. The hare hole was too small for the jackals to enter.
So he had no reason to worry.
He crawled deeper inside, wanting to see if the hole's owner was home. If so, he planned to make it his dinner.
After crawling three or four meters, the tunnel widened, and he indeed saw a furry hare ahead.
With a flash, he shot forward.
Unfortunately, he bit empty air. The hare darted out another tunnel to escape.
Watching the hare flee, Bai Zhe did not chase.
If the first strike failed, his hunting plan was already ruined.
He lacked the power to kill the alert hare.
But he quickly adjusted his mood and quietly stayed in the burrow. Hunting failure was common for predators.
If they worried too much over failures, carnivores would be frustrated to death.
He planned to stay here overnight and leave tomorrow.
Calming down, Bai Zhe quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, his biological clock woke him on time.
He refreshed himself and casually crawled toward the hole's entrance.
But just as he was about to exit, he froze and retracted inside. From about ten meters away, several jackals were running toward the hole.
Four jackals pressed their heads at the hole's mouth, baring their teeth at Bai Zhe inside.
Bai Zhe was stunned. These four jackals had guarded here all night?
He watched them carefully. Their eyes glowed fiercely as they hissed repeatedly.
If Bai Zhe had been human before, he might have been terrified by this scene.
But now, his heart was calm.
His mind had grown much stronger.
The four jackals stared intently at Bai Zhe inside the burrow. Suddenly, one started digging hard at the entrance with its paws.
"This beast really holds a grudge."
Seeing this, Bai Zhe had the urge to roll his eyes. The jackals didn't guard here for food.
More likely, it was because Bai Zhe killed their companion yesterday.
These jackals wanted revenge.
Thinking this, Bai Zhe slowly retreated deeper inside the burrow, eyes fixed on the four jackals outside.
The jackals dug for about ten minutes, breaking through about sixty or seventy centimeters before hitting harder soil that they couldn't dig further.
So they gave up but didn't leave, instead crouching at the entrance, continuing to wait.
Bai Zhe was not anxious. Snakes endure hunger better than jackals. They can feast once and go without food for ten or fifteen days. Jackals cannot do this.
He glanced at the jackals and thought, "Let's see who outlasts whom." Then he lay quietly inside, drifting to sleep.
A day passed. That evening, Bai Zhe went to check if the jackals had left but found them still guarding.
He quickly retreated inside, and the stalemate continued.
Originally, Bai Zhe thought this tug-of-war might last four or five days, but unexpectedly, by the next morning, the jackals had disappeared.
Waking from sleep, Bai Zhe checked the entrance and flicked his tongue to sense the smell nearby.
Finding no abnormal scents, he slowly crawled out and looked around. The area was empty, with no jackal traces.
He climbed a protruding rock and scanned the surroundings but saw no sign of jackals.
It was certain—the four jackals had left.
Bai Zhe shook his head. He had thought they'd be furious over their companion's death, but they had only stayed one day and night before leaving.
Actually, it wasn't fair to call the jackals heartless. Staying this long was already quite impressive.
With their departure confirmed, Bai Zhe relaxed. His gaze fell on a corpse nearby—the jackal he had killed.
In pack animals, when a companion dies, they usually don't eat the corpse.
Of course, exceptions exist—if starving, they might cannibalize their dead.
But these four jackals clearly were not in that state.
Thus, that jackal had become Bai Zhe's prey.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。