Chapter 9: The Harvest
The faint pain on Jié Jié’s back answered his previous doubts; after transformation, the wounds still existed but were significantly alleviated.
At least, the current level of pain excited him just right.
The paralyzing gas was dissipating rapidly, and Jié Jié was locking onto the Scratcher Bird’s weak point. That severely injured arm was really tempting.
Creating a wound is not as effective as expanding it.
Creating an advantage is not as effective as amplifying it.
Hurt all ten fingers, but it’s better to sever one.
The Thief Dragon’s body followed the commands of an alien soul, opening its massive mouth as it pounced toward the Scratcher Bird, twice its own length.
Unable to move, the Scratcher Bird could only watch helplessly as the Thief Dragon bit down on its wounded arm, twisting violently to one side with such force that even the Thief Dragon itself began rolling over.
Death Roll! The full weight and momentum crushed onto the Scratcher Bird’s already cracked and fragile arm, and Jié Jié rolled away with the arm in tow.
“Crunch, crunch.”
Even if the Scratcher Bird wasn’t high-ranking among Large Monsters, its skeleton wasn’t something the Thief Dragon could easily bite through in a few bites. But the Thief Dragon had a decent stomach, and Jié Jié lifted his head to swallow it whole.
There was joy flickering in his vertical pupils—simple, pure joy.
Wanting to do it, doing it, succeeding.
He had reached the third step, but this was merely a small victory.
The Thief Dragon’s gaze grew greedier as it scanned the remaining edible parts of the Scratcher Bird.
The success of the Death Roll made him want to try again. This time, for the bird’s tail.
In games, severing a monster’s tail meant more chances to skin it, but compared to that, most hunters enjoyed the direct satisfaction of overpowering their prey during the hunt, akin to spotting a milestone on the road—a symbol.
The surrounding forest rustled as other Thief Dragons gained courage after seeing Jié Jié’s successful strike.
Jié Jié simply paced around behind the Scratcher Bird, which was still convulsing. All the preceding actions and mental processes had taken less than twenty seconds.
Aiming at the tail, he bit down forcefully without stabilizing his body, allowing himself to roll in the direction of his exertion.
But this time, the Scratcher Bird’s tail didn’t snap as he wished, instead being only torn open into a bloody mess by the Thief Dragon’s teeth.
On the contrary, his excessive force sent him tumbling away. By the time he stood up, the Scratcher Bird had regained control of its body, raising its head and pecking furiously towards him, forcing him to hastily dodge.
The lingering paralysis seemed to make the Scratcher Bird ignore the pain of its severed limb, or perhaps hatred arose from Jié Jié cutting off its thievery. Now, the bird was determined to make the Thief Dragon pay.
Under relentless pecks, Jié Jié was chased around frantically but eventually hid within the tide of approaching Thief Dragons.
Apparently, there were more Thief Dragons lurking nearby than those Jié Jié had brought along. They surrounded the wounded Scratcher Bird and, like usual, used their simple claws and teeth to tear into the enemy larger than themselves.
One fist cannot fight against four hands, let alone now when the Scratcher Bird only had one claw and beak left.
Already injured and frightened by a powerful foe, having its feeding interrupted twice, and losing limbs causing terrifying stamina loss, the Avial’s weakness in stamina was exposed.
It no longer had the strength for counterattacks or escape, only stubbornly resisting amidst the flood of Thief Dragons.
Jié Jié leaped out from the Thief Dragon horde, hugging the Scratcher Bird’s neck, becoming the final Thief Dragon to press it down, dragging it into the tide of the pack.
But Jié Jié quickly released the fallen Scratcher Bird and jumped up abruptly—not out of excitement, but because another Thief Dragon was biting him!
This caused him to shove the biting Thief Dragon hard away. Turning his head, he saw another Thief Dragon performing a death roll on yet another Thief Dragon who had bitten its claw, successfully severing it.
“Whoa!”
This directly stunned Jié Jié. The Thief Dragon that mistakenly bit its comrade sat dumbfounded holding the severed claw while the dismembered Thief Dragon rolled around before moving away, seemingly intending to eat what remained.
Although he had seen crocodiles perform death rolls on each other during food fights in his past life, witnessing it here was extremely, extremely shocking.
Looking around at the various states of the Thief Dragons, Jié Jié shook his head somewhat out of place, a sense of accomplishment rising within him. He thought about fishing.
Why does fishing addict men so much? There’s even the legend of Emperor Hè fishing alone for eternity, never returning, revered as scripture by anglers.
Some say ancient men bore the responsibilities of hunting and fishing, sustaining their clans and families, this responsibility ingrained as an instinct in men’s bones, becoming a desire they carry into modern times; others say the achievement and happiness from fishing create psychological dependence, leading them to repeat the act to satisfy their minds. These two theories don’t conflict.
Fishing is part of hunting. The old man in “The Old Man and the Sea” refusing to let go of the giant marlin dragging his ship, even though the fish would inevitably be devoured by sharks, still found satisfaction lying in bed after returning home with the fish skeleton.
Hunting stronger prey and achieving victory satisfied Jié Jié greatly.
In his previous life, society was quite superior but also filled with pressures. Many people wanted to fish but couldn’t find time to leave, nor could they calmly catch satisfying fish, resorting to games to fulfill their relaxation needs, rather pitiful…
Being able to come here, escaping societal pressures and gaining freedom, although danger lurked everywhere requiring survival, only this kind of freedom where one is responsible for oneself is the most perfect freedom.
Jié Jié felt very lucky.
But if he didn’t start eating soon, there might not be much meat left. He shoved aside a nearby Thief Dragon and joined the regular feast.
The Scratcher Bird’s skin was tough, its meat firm yet tender and not greasy. Jié Jié’s gustatory desires and psychological needs were further fulfilled, and the Scratcher Bird’s Totem gradually shone brightly.
“Crack.”
Jié Jié bit into something hard mixed in the meat. After chewing away the flesh and spitting it out, he saw it was an irregular five-colored crystal bead.
“Avial Jade? No, maybe it’s a bead?”
Jié Jié glanced at it briefly, then clamped it between his claws to avoid losing it, continuing to feed on the remaining scraps of the Scratcher Bird.
A group of Thief Dragons quickly reduced the Scratcher Bird to nothing but bones. Thanks to his size advantage, Jié Jié naturally got the most, finding another crystal bead, leaving him thoroughly content. Then he realized he had overlooked something.
Looking around, he noticed the Thief Dragon missing a claw had its stomach bloated round, identical to how Jié Jié looked when he ate eggs earlier.
But unlike Jié Jié back then, this Thief Dragon repeatedly struck the eggshell with its throat bone without breaking it.
Looks like it’s an egg different from the Herbivore Dragon’s? Jié Jié thought as he heard a sharp dragon roar coming down from the sky.
