Book 2: Studying for the Rise to Prominence of the Human Race – Chapter 152: The Wolf In The Darkness
“So what you’re saying is that those three left without even bothering to fight?”
Su Chen sat atop a large stone at the peak of the mountain. Gu Qingluo was leaning into him.
After going through this experience of separation under life-or-death circumstances, there was no need for them to hide their affection anymore.
“Yes. Those three Ferocious Race youths were quite intelligent; upon seeing that we had the numbers advantage, they immediately retreated. Usually, the Ferocious Race is known for its impulsiveness, but those youths seem to have a brain,” Feng Yigu said.
“Their impulsiveness depends on the circumstances. If they weren’t able to even discern this type of thing, the Ferocious Race wouldn’t even exist anymore,” He Yuandong said.
“The individuals sent here are likely the cream of the crop, chosen from amongst thousands of individuals. Our instructors taught us how to deal with the Ferocious Race, and their instructors likely taught them the same thing,” Pi Yuanhong said.
Su Chen nodded. “That’s right. If I was their instructor, even if I couldn’t teach them anything else, surely they would be able to learn how to retreat against stronger opponents and press their advantage against weaker opponents, right?”
“And that’s not all,” Gu Qingluo sighed. “Perhaps it is because they have fought with us humans for so long, but they have also learned a few of our tactics. The Temple Warrior chasing us is called Danba. He knows how to use his advantages quite well. In a four-on-one, we shouldn’t lose to Danba……”
Gu Qingluo began to describe their encounter with Danba in greater detail.
Gu Qingluo, Yue Longsha, and the others were all quite lucky in the beginning. Not long after entering the ruins, they had managed to find one another.
Even though they ran into Ferocious Race youths twice, they relied on their superior strength to win both of those battles. However, the Ferocious Race youths had been trained as well. They knew to retreat when they were outmatched, so no actual results came from that battle other than one of them had been seriously injured.
Not long after, they ran into Danba.
This Danba was really something; he leapt in to fight four people on his own without hesitation.
Even though he was eventually forced to retreat under their combined assault, no one expected that Danba had only faked his retreat. Instead, he continued to follow them and ambushed them at night.
According to Danba’s estimation, Gu Qingluo and Yue Longsha were the strongest ones in the four-person team, followed by Li Yun and then Han Linxia, who was the weakest.
As long as he could quickly kill one of the two, he could win the ensuing one-on-three battle.
However, there was a small issue with his plan.
It was that he had chosen to target Yue Longsha.
While battling during the day, Gu Qingluo’s Waterstar Chill had left quite the impression on Danba, and he had assumed that she was the strongest one. To ensure that his ambush would succeed in one blow, Danba targeted Yue Longsha instead.
This was originally quite a logical decision. After all, as long as either Gu Qingluo or Yue Longsha was slain, the remaining three would be no match for him.
However, he didn’t know that Yue Longsha possessed the Moonlight Rabbit Bloodline, making her more powerful at night. Thus, though Yue Longsha seemed inferior to Gu Qingluo during the day, Gu Qingluo was actually slightly weaker than Yue Longsha at night.
He had chosen the most powerful target to ambush. In the end, Yue Longsha detected him as he was approaching. In a critical moment, she dodged his most powerful attack and even launched a counteroffensive, injuring him slightly and forcing him to retreat.
However, Yue Longsha was also injured because of this, and her combat ability weakened.
The four-person team didn’t dare remain there. They could only retreat.
Danba, however, continued to hunt them down relentlessly.
He wanted to use his overwhelming strength to kill the humans in front of him with one strike.
Everyone knew what happened next. When Qi Weiyan and the others came to help, this confident guy didn’t run. Instead, he actually dared to continue his sneak attacks. Though he didn’t succeed, everyone was in constant fear of him. He continued to follow behind them and search for opportunities; this time, he had almost wiped them out.
One could say that Danba was superior both in terms of temperament and strength.
Su Chen began to subconsciously feel like Danba was really like someone he knew.
Cloud Leopard.
Back then, when Zhang Sheng’an and the others had forcefully tried to steal away the Giant Adamantine Ape, Cloud Leopard’s plan was identical to Danba’s current scheme. However, Su Chen had stopped Cloud Leopard, preventing him from mounting a guerilla assault against them.
After hearing about the events that had transpired, Jiang Hanfeng suddenly said, “So is it possible that Danba hasn’t left at all but is continuing to tail us and watch us?”
Yue Longsha’s expression sank. “That’s very possible!”
He Yuandong and the others said, “Now we’re in some trouble.”
If Danba hadn’t run, but had instead continued to tail them boldly, this implied that the rendezvous point at the mountain may have already been exposed.
Everyone’s original plan was to use this place as their headquarters, with teams coming and going from this location. They would be able to gather resources very quickly and team up to protect themselves. However, if this place was discovered, their movements could be grasped by their opponents, and it would become very dangerous.
Even something as simple as sending out a team to perform some task would give Danba an opportunity to strike.
But if they didn’t split up, Danba and his one or two allies would essentially be suppressing all of them.
They might not have any success, but He Yuandong, Su Chen, and the others might as well give up on doing things as well.
This was equivalent to giving up on the opportunities that they had created for their comrades.
“We need to think of a way to confirm whether Danba is nearby!” Su Chen said.
“How will we do that? If there are too many people, he definitely won’t appear. If there are too few, it will be dangerous,” Shi Jiangbai said.
“Then we should find a person who seems like they can’t escape but can actually escape,” Su Chen replied.
Hm? What could he possibly mean?
“First, we need to find someone Danba believes he can catch up to……” Su Chen glanced at Gu Qingluo and the others.
Gu Qingluo, Yue Longsha, and the others were quite fast. If it weren’t for the fact that they were held back by Han Linxia, they would have escaped a long time ago.
Using them as bait wasn’t suitable.
Han Linxia was too weak.
Su Chen’s gaze fell onto Li Yun and Chu Anyi.
He said to Li Yun, “Senior Brother Li, how is your speed compared to Danba?”
“There’s not that big of a difference, but if the three of them gang up on me, I might not have an opportunity to escape,” Li Yun replied.
Su Chen tossed him a Wind Agility Medicine. “Using this should be enough.”
Li Yun caught it. His eyes lit up. “Then I can definitely escape!”
Now that the plan was set, all that remained was pulling it off.
After Li Yun left the mountain on his own later that day, the others watched his movements from the top of the mountain.
Li Yun disappeared from their vision, but no one saw Danba or the others appear.
It wasn’t until half an hour later when Li Yun suddenly reappeared, racing like the wind towards them.
Even though they couldn’t see his pursuers, everyone could tell from his ragged appearance that Danba was close.
“It looks like he’s been eyed by the wolf,” He Yuandong said heavily as he gazed at Li Yun.
“Now we need to think of a way to take care of this nuisance,” Su Chen said.
“How will we do that? With too many people, they’ll run; with too little, they’ll keep advancing. These guys really know how to play the situation to their advantage,” Gu Qingluo said anxiously.
“Then we need to create a circumstance where they won’t try and escape,” Su Chen replied.
“That might be difficult,” Wang Doushan said, feeling a headache coming along. “This guy has absolutely received some instruction before coming here. He probably won’t put himself in great danger too lightly.”
“You’re right, but there is a certain circumstance under which they will not retreat, even if they die,” Su Chen replied.
“What kind of circumstance?” Everyone looked intently at Su Chen.
Su Chen replied, “A one-on-one battle!”
“Takusha!”