452: Chapter 449 Before Death

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Jianchuan saw the Wendigo tilt its head slightly to the left.

In that split second, Wei Ziqing lunged from the right, thrusting his Long Spear forward and burying the tip deep into the Wendigo's flank.

The Wendigo's body jolted violently. Without looking back, it twisted its head nearly a hundred and eighty degrees in a posture that defied biological structure. Its long muzzle faced Wei Ziqing as it simultaneously lashed out with a claw.

Wei Ziqing raised his spear to parry.

Bang—!

The immense force caused countless cracks to explode across the ice beneath his feet, and his legs sank half an inch into the ground. He didn't retreat, gripping the spear shaft tightly. The Wendigo's other claw grabbed the exposed part of the spear and yanked it outward, flinging both the weapon and the man away.

Wei Ziqing was swung through the air and slammed into a nearby ice wall.

Shen Mingyuan's gun fired.

Black-red plasma bullets poured out like a rainstorm, all striking the Wendigo. The bullets didn't penetrate—that layer of grayish-white skin was far tougher than it looked—but the high heat instantly scorched large patches of charred marks, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

The Wendigo let out a low growl. The charred flesh quickly fell away, and new granulation tissue wriggled frantically beneath, growing back at a speed visible to the naked eye to fill the burnt areas.

High-speed regeneration.

Lu Jianchuan attacked from behind.

His punch, charged for a long time and carrying the full thrust of his Explosive Combustion Form, smashed directly toward the back of the Wendigo's head. Once again, the Wendigo's head twisted at an impossible angle, while one arm folded backward against its joints to forcefully block the punch.

Bang—!

The shockwave exploded, and the Wendigo was knocked sliding several meters forward, its feet plowing two deep grooves into the ground. It stabilized itself and looked up, stopping right next to the scorpion's corpse.

It glanced down, grabbed the dead scorpion, and stuffed it directly into its mouth.

Chew. Swallow.

The areas scorched by Shen Mingyuan healed a few degrees faster.

Swallowing the last bite, it turned to look at Lu Jianchuan, exerted force through its limbs, and sprinted toward him once more.

Wei Ziqing swept his spear, forcing the Wendigo back half a step before stepping in to shield Lu Jianchuan.

The Wendigo brought both claws down, smashing them heavily against his horizontally held Long Spear. The massive force made Wei Ziqing's knees buckle and the ice beneath him shatter, but he gritted his teeth and held firm, unmoving.

Lu Jianchuan leaped from behind him and landed a punch on the Wendigo's chin.

An uppercut.

The Wendigo's head was knocked back, and its entire body floated up half a meter. Before it could land, Wei Ziqing's Long Spear had already pierced its abdomen and pulled back out, bringing with it a spray of dark red blood.

In the distance, Ye Ouyang was staring at the monkey.

The monkey was squatting obediently in a corner, holding its head with both hands, its eyes darting around. Ye Ouyang stood beside it, watching the battle ahead while asking casually.

"Speaking of which, this Wendigo..." He paused. "Legends say the Wendigo is a monster born from human cannibalism. Could this thing really be one of those?"

The monkey shrank its neck and muttered in a low voice.

"Don't be so superstitious, okay? This clearly evolved."

It stole a glance at the battlefield over there and shrank back again.

"Besides, its original ability seems to be gaining traits by eating other creatures. It ate a deer earlier—actually, when we first found it, it was just a gray, humanoid thing, not very Wendigo-like. Later, a deer companion was eaten by it, and it started growing antlers and its mouth lengthened, looking more and more like the legend."

Ye Ouyang was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to ask more, a muffled thud came from ahead.

Several slender, sharp spikes suddenly protruded from the Wendigo's claws—he recognized those spikes; they were the venomous stingers from that scorpion's tail earlier.

It had eaten the scorpion, and now it had grown the scorpion's stingers.

Ye Ouyang stared blankly at the newly grown venomous stingers on the Wendigo's claws.

"Its original ability... is to gain a portion of the traits of various lifeforms by devouring them?"

The monkey squatted in the corner and nodded obediently.

"It seems so. But I'm certain only the regeneration ability belongs to you. The rest should be its original power." It paused, then added, "I'm very sure your cells only provided the healing effect."

Ye Ouyang scratched his head.

"Then how did it get associated with cannibalism in the legends?"

The monkey rolled its eyes—if a monkey can roll its eyes.

"Who knows? When ancient people saw something they didn't understand, they'd come up with a plausible explanation. Plus, it already gains traits by eating other lives; after eating a human, it looks more human. If it keeps eating humans, people see it and think—oh, I get it, this is a monster born from people eating people. It's probably something like that."

It gestured with its snout toward the Wendigo.

"Look at its body; the fur is so thick, it must love cold places. If it were in a hot place, it would have died of heat long ago. So it runs in the snow every day, which is also why the legends say it always appears in places where food is scarce—the places it haunts were already empty because of the food shortage, but people remembered it as the cause."

Ye Ouyang fell silent for two seconds after hearing this.

"Wow," he said, "your explanation is quite precise."

The monkey shrank its neck.

"What else can I do? I've been captured by you guys. If I don't want to die, I have to listen to you." It spread its two furry hands. "I am a very smart monkey; my goal is to survive."

Ye Ouyang looked at it and nodded.

"Alright then."

While Lu Jianchuan, Shen Mingyuan, and Wei Ziqing were locked in combat with the Wendigo, the monster suddenly turned its head and locked its gaze on the Taoist slumped against the wall not far away.

It wanted to devour that Taoist to gain even greater power.

Hunger was driving it. The regeneration speed was too fast and the consumption was too great; it was getting hungrier and hungrier—this engineered negative side effect, although weakened in its body, still existed. It needed to feed.

Lu Jianchuan saw through its intention at a glance.

"Still want to eat?"

He kicked off the ground, his silver-white figure instantly blocking the path to the Taoist. The Wendigo missed its pounce and turned its head toward the other side—the corner where the monkey was squatting.

Ye Ouyang was there, and Wei Ziqing was also rushing in that direction.

The Wendigo let out a hiss, the venomous stingers on its claws standing on end as it lunged at Wei Ziqing. It had completely abandoned defense, wanting only to tear apart everything in front of it.

Wei Ziqing parried with his spear.

The venomous stingers struck his armor, making a piercing scraping sound. Those stingers were sharp enough to pierce through the gaps in the armor, but the internal structure of Wei Ziqing's Second Form heavy armor was hollow—the stingers pierced in without touching flesh.

No poisoning occurred.

The Wendigo's claws swung frantically, and Wei Ziqing's Long Spear parried left and right, repeatedly warding off those fatal attacks. He found openings to thrust, his spear tip leaving blood holes on the Wendigo, but those wounds healed quickly.

Lu Jianchuan charged from behind, clasping his hands into a hammer and slamming them hard against the back of the Wendigo's head.

Bang—!

The sound of a skull fracturing was clearly audible. The Wendigo fell forward, its head deformed, but before it even hit the ground, the shattered bones began to heal, the twisted bones clicking back into place. It scrambled back up, even more berserk, completely ignoring defense and focusing solely on offense.

Lu Jianchuan landed punch after punch on its body.

Wei Ziqing's Long Spear continued to thrust.

Shen Mingyuan stood in the distance, his dual guns never stopping as black-red bullets exploded into charred pits on the Wendigo's body. His presence seemed a bit low, but every shot was draining the monster's stamina.

The Wendigo tried once more to charge toward the Taoist.

Shen Mingyuan fired two shots into its face, and while it was staggered, he charged forward and slammed his gun butt hard into its head. The Wendigo swung a claw back at him, but Shen Mingyuan dropped flat to the ground, letting the claw sweep over him.

Lu Jianchuan grabbed one of the Wendigo's legs, turned his thrusters to full power, and dragged it backward, slamming it violently into the ice wall.

Boom—!

The ice wall shattered, and the Wendigo was embedded in it. But one of its claws also successfully pierced into Lu Jianchuan's abdomen.

The venomous stinger entered his body.

Lu Jianchuan felt a wave of numbness spreading from the wound, but he didn't retreat. He grabbed the claw that was buried in him and swung his other fist, landing punch after punch on the Wendigo's head.

"Die—!"

Wei Ziqing plunged his spear into the Wendigo's chest from the side.

Shen Mingyuan pressed against its back, his dual guns firing continuously against its spine.

One punch. Two. Three. Four.

The Wendigo's skull shattered and mended, mended and shattered, the healing speed growing slower and slower. The flesh that once regenerated frantically finally couldn't keep up with the rate of destruction.

The final punch landed.

Crack.

The Wendigo's head was completely deformed. The flesh that tried to heal struggled for a few moments before finally ceasing to move.

It was dead.

Nearly every bone in its body was broken, and it was covered in wounds that could no longer heal. This time, those golden cells couldn't bring it back—perhaps this individual was too powerful and the cells' influence had weakened, or perhaps the consumption had finally exceeded the limits of regeneration.