Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Crimson Meteor

Jié Jié groggily flipped his head out from the rock crevice. The sky was still dark, but there was no sign of that big black rat perched on the tree roots.

That big black rat had been crouching on the corpse of the Savage Jaw Dragon, its long tail swaying leisurely as if in a good mood?

A cold wind blew, startling Jie Jie awake. What was on the dragon’s corpse wasn’t a big black rat—it was a monster! A Swift Dragon!

The Swift Dragon took advantage of my deep sleep at night and dared to steal right in front of me!

The small body of the Smoky Snow Weasel suddenly expanded. Its black-purple shell had just blended into the night when it was illuminated by the surging flames.

The heatwave arrived before the fireball, singeing the Swift Dragon’s fur, causing it to instinctively slide around and cling to the side of the tree root. The fireball reflected in its pupils gradually shrank and moved away.

Its raised Wing Blades were still exposed outside the tree root, but that position was hard, not afraid of being scorched by fire.

The Swift Dragon lowered its head, looking through the gap between the tree root and the lake surface to see the shadow flying towards it.

It tilted its arms gripping the tree root and leaped up with force, its tail flicking the tree root, using the reaction force to spin like a top in the air, then landing on the shore and stopping with its Wing Claws, glancing at the Black Wolf Bird on the tree root before running deep into the forest.

“Escapes quite skillfully.”

The Black Wolf Bird emitted a piercing screech, but the Swift Dragon didn’t look back and disappeared directly into the darkness where the tree roots hung.

Jie Jie looked down and saw that the flesh-exposed corpse of the Savage Jaw Dragon still had many carnivorous insects clinging to it, refusing to let go.

“Huff!”

Flames surged from his beak, roasting the surface of the dragon’s corpse, burning off a layer of meat along with the insects.

Pecking open the charred layer, Jie Jie forcefully tore at the meat, ripping it apart and swallowing it down, venting his anger while replenishing his strength. The meat was a bit dry, so Jie Jie hung upside down from the tree root and used his lower beak to scoop some water to drink.

After doing all this, he flapped his wings and glided to the shore, chasing after the guy who came to steal from him twice in one day.

Doesn’t even give you time to recover your breath? You’ll pay double for what you’ve taken.

It’s not entirely the Swift Dragon’s fault for being greedy. As a “poacher,” the Swift Dragon always avoids large monsters of similar size, so it rarely gets to eat their meat, which is quite tempting for it.

When predators of the same level in the ambush area die, the Swift Dragon often becomes bolder.

Considering that the Black Wolf Bird tracks slowly and easily scares off the opponent, Jie Jie transformed back into a Thief Dragon. The Thief Dragon has a more sensitive sense of smell than the Black Wolf Bird, and its four-wheel drive speed is faster.

Following the scent of the Swift Dragon, Jie Jie passed through the gaps in the roots of the Ancient Tree and reached the other side of the Ancient Tree Forest before sunrise, spotting the Swift Dragon he had been pursuing.

The Swift Dragon’s body surface showed no signs of shell or scales; instead, it was covered with a layer of sleek black fur, resembling a beast more than a dragon. Due to its ambush skills and head shape, hunters called it Swift Meow.

Jie Jie had already seen the Swift Dragon, but before he did, the Swift Dragon had been staring at him.

This reminded him of the wild cats by the village in his previous life. Every time he saw them, they had already been staring at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry to disturb.”

The Thief Dragon shook its head and stepped out of the Swift Dragon’s line of sight.

By the time he saw the Swift Dragon again, Jie Jie had already transformed into a Hate Bird, harmlessly hopping closer to it on the ground.

At this moment, the Swift Dragon was hugging a rib rack it had somehow obtained, happily munching on it, tilting its head. There were also some Hate Birds nearby that weren’t within its guard range, which was why Jie Jie chose to transform into a Hate Bird.

The Swift Dragon merely glanced at him with its peripheral vision and continued munching on the rib rack. Some of the other Hate Birds approached to peck at the crumbs falling from its mouth, but Jie Jie didn’t get any closer.

This position was good enough.

The tiny Hate Bird grew with the wind, transforming into a 19-meter-long Savage Jaw Dragon lunging toward the Swift Dragon.

The Swift Dragon didn’t even have time to be stunned as its body instinctively dodged to the side.

The heavy teeth of the Savage Jaw Dragon grazed past the hard, sharp Wing Blades, missing due to a hair’s breadth.

But the fiery pillar spewed from the Blood-filled Mouth was like a club, sweeping toward the Swift Dragon as Jie Jie swung his head.

The distance between them was too close, and the Swift Dragon couldn’t evade in time. This fiery pillar directly singed half of its body, melting its scales and burning away its fur.

But since the fiery pillar wasn’t a solid object, it couldn’t split the Swift Dragon in two.

“Uruu…”

The Swift Dragon groaned as it jumped back, its once glossy black fur burned and scarred, the wounds exposed to the wind causing even more pain.

Jie Jie licked his ulcerated mouth and felt the heat rising throughout his body, so he opened his dorsal membrane to cool down.

The Swift Dragon’s counterattack arrived—its tail struck like a stick, with thorns on the tip standing upright.

Some loose tail spines had already pierced Jie Jie’s neck before the tail tip.

This attack aimed for the neck—if it hit squarely, it would surely be unbearable.

But when monsters move, their bodies often sway significantly, making it harder to accurately hit the target.

It’s like in games where monsters are clearly lying on the ground, yet players wielding katanas can still jump in the air, and great sword wielders end up striking the ground.

Both being monsters, with double variables, Jie Jie ultimately managed to withstand the seemingly fatal blow with his shoulder.

The tail spines pierced through the body of the Savage Jaw Dragon and broke off as the Swift Dragon’s tail returned to its original position because it was spinning its body, supporting itself with its right claw and raising its left claw upward.

In this spin, the Wing Blade on the Swift Dragon’s left foreclaw slashed toward Jie Jie’s other cheek.

The tip of the Wing Blade gleamed silver-white, and this bright streak was thrown out like the arc of the moon.

Striking the right side after the left, but Jie Jie was not afraid at all, opening his Blood-filled Mouth wide toward the incoming Wing Blade.

The Wing Blade cut the corner of the Savage Jaw Dragon’s mouth but couldn’t sever half of its head. Instead, it was firmly bitten down upon.

Thus, the Savage Jaw Dragon lifted the Swift Dragon, and the Swift Dragon fought back like a feline, wildly striking his face with its other claw.

“Bang.”

Jie Jie slammed the Swift Dragon heavily onto the ground, pausing the claw strikes for a moment, only to become even more frenzied, creating one bloody scratch after another.

One hit wasn’t enough, making the Savage Jaw Dragon’s eyes turn red, unsure whether it was from anger, pain, or blood entering them.

He furiously bit down on the Swift Dragon’s arm, lifting it again and slamming it onto the ground.

This time, he didn’t lift it up but pressed down on the Swift Dragon with his head.

He felt that if this thing scratched a few more times, it might gouge out his eyeballs.

Lifting his head slightly, the bloody smell from the Swift Dragon’s mouth entered his already crusted nose.

The Swift Dragon was opening its mouth to bite at the air, trying to find leverage to reverse the situation by biting his head.

But Jie Jie calmly stopped further lifting his head, feeling the hot breath from the Swift Dragon’s mouth, and stretched his dorsal membrane open.