Xin scanned his surroundings, trying to think up the best course of action. He stepped back and leaned against a smaller tree, fifteen steps away from the wolf corpses. Maybe I should try hiding?
He activated his jade ambush ring, blending seamlessly with the bark behind his back. Although his visage was obscured, his armor was "decorated" in the wolves' innards and blood, and a small crimson trail led from the corpses right towards his hiding spot.
Master, this might not be enough!
Any suggestions?
No.
Shut up, then.
Moments later, Xin heard a rustling sound, as if an arrow pierced the air, then saw a massive creature land on a thick branch of a tall tree on the opposite end of the glade. With feathers matching the colour of the yellow pine trees and eyes as black as the depths of a well, the creature loomed nearly twice Xin's height. It was a giant owl, so round-shaped it almost looked fat, a testament to its appetite and hunting prowess.
The creature emanated a subtle aura, and it was hard to tell how strong it was, as if it was purposefully repressing it. It turned its head diagonally and looked at the dead wolves, then stood still as if trying to scan the area, yet its eyes stood still.
Owls don't use their sense of smell to hunt, yet have exceptional hearing and sight. This owl suspects the wolves' killer might still be here, as it likely heard the fight yet couldn't detect a retreating target. Unlike its smaller cousins, who float above and scan the area when hunting, it landed closer to investigate without much caution.
Means it's not afraid of anything here.
Shit, the creature is probably of rank two combat power. The creature exuded confidence, its sheer presence suffocating. Xin's heart hammered in his chest as the owl's gaze swept the glade, and he barely breathed. Trying to run away was pointless — even without qi infusions and innate techniques, the creature could easily beat any movement method that he had.
Come on, grab a corpse and scram, I don't mind!
Instead, the owl twisted its head diagonally again, this time in the opposite direction, then spread its wings wide! From underneath its thick feathers emerged two slits, each as wide as Xin's shoulders. Moments later, they opened, giving way to a pair of bloodshot black eyes.
Shit. Xin almost backed away instinctively, but held composure. These eyes, never heard about anything like that! What's their point?
The answer came a moment later, when he had his ring's illusory cover dispelled! Xin's heart sunk.
The owl looked like it was about to take off, and Xin knew it would mean trouble — it would circle above, then swoop in for a kill, likely using a qi infused attack… Can't let this happen.
"Come on! Come on, you chicken! Yes, you!" Xin shouted out, his voice filled with feigned bravado. "I was ambushing you, you bloody cunt! Fell for my bait, huh?" My shouting didn't work on a qi active wolf, why would it work on this massive owl? Well, trying won't hurt.
The owl put its neck straight, and Xin felt a subtle gust of qi emanate from its every feather. Heaven qi? Wind qi? No idea, but it looks dangerous! It's probably preparing a surprise attack!
What do I do? What do I do? Think!
Master, take my powers!
Anything specific in mind?
I… I'm not sure!
Clang! Xin hit his palms at each other, producing a loud ringing sound. Resonance Palms!
Autumn Herald's Roar! The sound burst forth, loud and primal, leaving the nearby bushes rustled. Xin felt the move's energy linger in his body — if the owl attacked, his next offensive technique would be infused.
The owl froze, tilting its head toward Xin, its wings still spread. Is this… Hesitation? The owl locked two pairs of eyes at Xin, likely scanning his aura. If it realizes I'm just rank one, I'm done for!
"Don't you dare, peasant! I said, kneel!" Lei once said, pointing at the ground.
"You bumbling monkey, you subhuman yaoguai, you inbred dog. The only chance I die today is from laughter! I know this trick!" Xin then responded. For many people, this would mean a start of a rivalry, but for the likes of these two, it was a beginning of mutual respect that culminated in friendship!
Xin smirked. I'll die if it doesn't fall for it. So be it.
Aura release!
A moment later, Xin was surrounded by an ugly metallic ringing, much louder than that of Lei's mortal aura, his eyes glowing up in a radiant green glow. He even felt the under-armour padding he was wearing started sprouting with little vines and thorns!
Autumn Herald's Roar! Xin relied on the totem's qi reserve to use this invocation once again.
"Get lost, cunt! I'll fucking slaughter you!" Xin bellowed, his voice harsh and unrelenting.
In response, the owl's wing-eyes snapped shut. Without a sound, it leapt into the air.
Fuck. What does that mean?
Xin instantly ate three spirit stones to recover his qi and repositioned. The owl circled above, constantly popping in and out of view. Xin felt his hunter's intuition reach out to him, and he attuned to its guidance.
The owl sees me as an equal, a possible rival threatening its dominance! It hesitated to attack directly, but it will look for an opening. Shit, how strong is this creature, if even imitating a firm rank two aura wasn't enough to deter it from attacking?!
He backed against a tree, his mind racing. He tried to detect the creature using his qi infused hearing, yet it somehow produced no sound!
Fuck.
If I find a dense enough gathering of trees, this will deny the owl its swoop attack, but one hit of its beak and one swipe of its talons will likely make me into a bloody mush. And if I expose weakness, if I make it doubt its estimation of me as an equal — it won't hesitate to attack.
How territorial is this particular owl? Different breeds of owls behave differently, yet this one looks quite audacious, yet not recklessly so — let's assume it's territorial. If that's the case, I should leave its area and it might calm down. But I don't know which area it claimed, the dumb bird forgot to set up a road sign! Curses. I have to take the option with the highest chance of survival, even if it's counterintuitive!
Xin exhaled, chasing his fear away, dispelled his Resonance Palms and sprinted towards a tree twenty steps away from the glade. Half-way through, he turned his back and saw a silhouette in the sky approach him at a rapid speed. As soon as he looked back, the creature took a turn and flew sideways, disappearing behind the trees again.
Xin felt a strong sense of dread loom over his body, this was probably the strongest entity he ever faced, even stronger than the iron mantis — the only thing keeping him alive was his bluff!
Fuck. Hells. What am I doing? This is crazy. Xin scoffed and climbed up the tree with cat-like grace, soon reaching its peak. It wasn't the tallest tree in the forest, but it was tall enough to nullify the owl using other trees as cover.
In response to Xin's ascend, the giant bird made a two li circle around him in what felt like a dozen breaths, trying to intimidate him with its size and speed, then hooted and landed on the same branch it originally did.
"What is this shit, are you intelligent? Awakened bird? Came to parley?" Xin shouted out in a rough voice.
In response, the bird just angled its head again.
Autumn Herald's Roar! Xin infused his throat and threatened the bird once again.
"Why aren't you attacking, huh? Scared of taking chances? Right, I dispatched these four in seconds!" He pointed at the wolf corpses. "Come, eat them, they're worthless to me!"
The bird just stared at him in silence. No matter what its thought process was, it was hard to perceive it from its blank face, and it just froze up like a statue. Should I break the stalemate, or will it be seen as a sign of weakness?
Depends on the execution. Xin exhaled whistlingly, an old Qigong meditation technique to calm himself down, then disappeared behind the tree's back, stepping away from its highest branch onto its thick bark.
Springvine jump! Moments later, he landed on a different tree branch, breaking the line of sight with the owl. This move was a signal to the giant bird — now that I am far enough, grab the wolf corpses and leave, it's not worth it fighting over them. But would it agree?
Ten long breaths followed, and Xin resigned to whatever fate might befall him — if he died here, Erdeni also would, along with their unborn child, yet his destiny wasn't in his hands, but in the talons of a giant owl he randomly stumbled on!
Swoosh. This time, he heard the bird's wings. It landed on the ground, where the four corpses lie, picked up two, the qi active wolf and the albino goredrinker, and quickly flew away, disappearing with the last rays of sunlight.
Xin climbed down, his knees weak, body smelling like fear and arms sweaty — his relief was impossible to put into words.
***
Two hours later, north-east of the incident, Yellow pine forest's outskirts. Xin munched on dried meat and drank a bit of liquor to calm his nerves.
I am a fucking joke. My previous totem corrupted my worldview, making me careless and infecting me with stupid bravado! Well, life always finds a way to put people back in their place. That owl was a true rank two being, not trash like the hag or the mantis yaoguai, but something much scarier… I got lucky again. Yes, I made my own luck by having the right skills to survive, but it was still luck.
Xin knew that he had to analyse what happened if he was to improve and draw lessons from this, so he replayed the encounter in his mind.
It's clear that the goredrinker wolf sensed my blood powder, and led its pack to attack me. It was a small pack, probably newly formed, and it's safe to assume that the wolf was new to the region, or the owl would have killed it long ago. Wait, is this right?
What if it was the owl that was new? Months ago, the popular opinion was that the outskirts of this forest are relatively safe, and no beasts like this one were sighted in these lands, at least according to the sect's intel. Still, judging by the owl's feather colour, it's native to this region, so why did it leave the forest's depths?
Lack of food? Unlikely, it was quite fat.
Lack of shelter? New threats? Yes, these seem more likely.
So, either this creature encountered a natural predator it struggles to match, or its native ecosystem is breaking down… Alarming.
Wait, didn't the wolves come from the same direction as the owl? Yet they weren't spooked, and actively tried to hunt me down instead of running away. Why would the owl leave such juicy, qi active prey alive? It clearly doesn't hate wolf meat, as it grabbed the corpses and carried them away. Hm, perhaps the owl just arrived late?
A few minutes later, as Xin was thinking about his new perception abilities and how they compared to his old totemic sense of smell, he had a thought flash in his mind.
Wait, what is the owl's weakness? Sense of smell. What is the albino goredrinker's strength? Right!
Symbiosis! Whether or not the wolves were willing, the owl used them to hunt! It probably watched the wolves' movements as it patrolled the forest, looking for worthy threats — such beasts can't afford to eat just mortal-level animal meat, and need a steady supply of qi active materials. Using the wolves was a great way to preserve energy — they are endurance hunters, roaming around and barking to each other all the time, it's so easy to track them! Smart strategy.
But what does this mean for me?
Firstly, this encounter probably means that the Demoness isn't here. If they clashed just once, the owl would detect her rank two aura, but also figure out that the hag's defenses are quite subpar. Even if the demoness used her mercury snake ring to drive the creature away, it was still not safe to remain in the area it claimed.
The hag's lear is also not south-west, as that's where our caravan came from the last time. Other than being claimed by the Little Mantis, there were also ghouls in that area, originating from the times of the bonemen campaigns. Her lair was likely set up when Little Mantis was still alive, and if it was there, she would have cleared out the ghouls long ago.
Is the last conclusion a reach? Well, it's something to work off…
With two out of three possible directions cut off, it means my next destination is determined — I need to keep moving further north-east.