41: Chapter 41 Fighting the Thorn Beast Alone

If they wanted to completely wipe out the Parasitic Fungus Vines, they wouldn't even need to use guns; they could just find a windward spot, set a fire, and burn down the entire forest. The Parasitic Fungus Vines definitely wouldn't be able to escape.

But the problem was that what they needed was precisely the timber from this forest.

If they did that, a single fire would burn it all away, and it would be they who did all the hard work for nothing.

"Boss, what should we do now?"

Everyone's gazes fell upon Wang Ting. The decision was entirely in his hands—whether to temporarily retreat or find a way to give it a try was up to Wang Ting to decide.

Wang Ting's gaze swept over the surrounding environment as he began to observe carefully.

The location where they were mostly consisted of sloping terrain, with no terrain features to provide much cover.

If the Parasitic Fungus Vines launched a massive charge, it would probably be difficult to deal with them, and what was actually the hardest to withstand was the Thorn Vine Beast.

"If only the Parasitic Fungus Vines charge over, can you guys stop them?"

Wang Ting's question was somewhat abrupt, causing Feng Bo and the others to be stunned for a moment. However, they quickly and confidently replied, "Ten people with a thousand bullets—even if there are a few more Parasitic Fungus Vines, as long as we keep our distance, we aren't afraid of them at all."

No matter how troublesome the Parasitic Fungus Vines were, they were merely ordinary individuals among low-tier abnormal entities and had no way to withstand bullet attacks. As long as they could maintain distance, dealing with dozens or hundreds of Parasitic Fungus Vines was completely unproblematic.

Hearing Feng Bo's affirmative reply, Wang Ting's gaze traced along the forest all the way to the opposite bank of the small river.

"That sloping land over there." Wang Ting pointed at the slope on the other side of the stream, "The slope over there is higher, farther away, and also faces the direction of the forest, separated only by a river."

"Using the river as a quarantine zone, you guys can set up a stronghold on the slope over there. The obstruction of the river will greatly reduce their speed, and some Parasitic Fungus Vines won't even enter the river."

"What about the Thorn Vine Beast?"

Wang Ting said, "Leave the Thorn Vine Beast to me; it won't be able to rush up the hill."

A confident expression revealed itself on Wang Ting's sharply-defined face. Although the Thorn Vine Beast was strong, his, Wang Ting's, current strength was even greater.

Wang Ting's confidence also infected Feng Bo and the others.

"Do it! We can still run if we can't beat them anyway. We have plenty of ammunition right now; if worst comes to worst, we'll just fight a war of attrition."

Xiang Nan made sense, and none of the others objected. One by one, they rubbed their fists and wiped their palms, getting ready to make a move.

The team cautiously waded across the river from a downstream location. There were also Parasitic Fungus Vines hidden in the grass on both sides of the river channel, but their numbers were small.

Wang Ting's Vibration Perception was fully activated. Before those two Parasitic Fungus Vines could launch an attack, he directly raised his hand. With a swish, a bolt from the hand crossbow in his hand shot out instantly, piercing through the body of a Parasitic Fungus Vine.

Another Parasitic Fungus Vine lunged forward. Wang Ting grabbed it with one hand, directly pinching its tentacle, then drew his machete and cleaved the Parasitic Fungus Vine in half with a single strike.

Without any dangerous mishaps, the team waded across the stream and arrived on the slope on the opposite side.

Dong Hu, Feng Bo, and Ren Chuan set up firepower points in three locations.

They took out their ammunition and placed it on the ground to facilitate quick magazine changes and continuous suppression.

At the same time, along the edge of the riverbank, they splashed about three or four bottles of gasoline. This was prepared for clearing paths and disposing of monster corpses, but they hadn't expected to use it here.

Although there wasn't much gasoline, combined with some gathered dry firewood, it could barely form a flame barrier.

Everything was ready.

At this moment, everyone lay down at their established firepower points, their gazes fixed tightly in the direction of the forest.

Holding a rifle, Wang Ting currently aimed his scope at a Parasitic Fungus Vine exposed within the forest.

"Let's begin."

Wang Ting fired the first shot. The bullet streaked a white line through the air, passed through the obstructing leaves, and landed on the core of the Parasitic Fungus Vine.

The roaring gunshot broke the tranquility of the forest. Accompanied by the sound of the Parasitic Fungus Vine dropping to the ground, the entire forest instantly became stirred up.

Rustling sounds rose and fell one after another, and the tree trunks swayed incessantly as if a fierce wind had swept through. One Parasitic Fungus Vine after another began to emerge from the branches and the bottom of the tree roots.

They captured the direction from which the gunshot came, and like a swarm of bees that had discovered prey, they surged forward directly.

"Motherfuckers, there really are quite a lot of Parasitic Fungus Vines here."

Dong Hu cursed, his rifle aiming at the appearing Parasitic Fungus Vines, continuously pulling the trigger with a series of bangs. Every single bullet took away a Parasitic Fungus Vine.

Team members fired one after another, their gunfire merging into a cacophony, and those suddenly appearing Parasitic Fungus Vines were shot down one by one.

However, their numbers were simply too great—fully one to two hundred Parasitic Fungus Vines. Even though twenty or thirty of them were shot down by the team, the rest still rapidly swarmed to the riverside, and quite a few Parasitic Fungus Vines couldn't brake in time, plunging straight into the river water and thrashing about incessantly.

The obstruction of the river caused the speed of some Parasitic Fungus Vines to slow down, and the speed of the ones in the water was obviously even slower, trapping them on the bank for a time.

Seeing this scene, Dong Hu, Feng Bo, and the others lit up in their eyes and immediately accelerated their sniping speed.

However, before they had killed many, the sound of thudding footsteps came over, and the behemoth inside the forest finally awoke.

The Thorn Vine Beast rushed out fiercely, jumping straight into the river. The river water couldn't even completely submerge its body as it charged over like a battleship.

With the Thorn Vine Beast taking the lead, the Parasitic Fungus Vines no longer hesitated and jumped into the river one after another.

Compared to the massive body of the Thorn Vine Beast, the river happened to be a bit deeper for the Parasitic Fungus Vines.

Their tentacles churned constantly in the river, propelling themselves to swim toward the opposite bank, except that their speed was significantly slower, looking just like wild dogs splashing about in the water.

The Parasitic Fungus Vines that fell into the water became targets, but the Thorn Vine Beast stepped ashore a step ahead.

Flowing water slid off the Thorn Vine Beast's body. Its flailing tentacles looked like strands of green venomous snakes, full of a captivating aura.

The Thorn Vine Beast's eerie single eye instantly locked onto the location of Wang Ting Team, and from deep within its throat came an earth-shaking roar.

Then, its giant green limbs grabbed the ground, and it charged toward the group like an out-of-control heavy truck.

"Stop it."

Its charging speed was simply too fast, and an invisible momentum pressed down upon them instantly.

Feng Bo immediately wanted to turn his gun muzzle and, together with his nearby companions, block the Thorn Vine Beast's attack.

At this moment, a large hand pressed down on Feng Bo's rifle, stopping his action of turning the muzzle.

Wang Ting's calm voice came over: "Go attack the Parasitic Fungus Vines and don't let them ashore. The Thorn Vine Beast won't affect you."

Having finished speaking, Wang Ting had already stood up, holding his rifle and charging directly toward the Thorn Vine Beast.

"Wang Ting!"

Feng Bo shouted loudly, but at this moment Wang Ting's speed was no less than that of the Thorn Vine Beast, and in the blink of an eye, he had already rushed down the small hill.

He was also holding an ignition device in his hand—a lit torch. He tossed it directly into the place by the river where gasoline had been splashed.

"Whoosh!"

The flames ignited instantly, and a blazing fire immediately broke out on the river surface.

The Parasitic Fungus Vines that wanted to climb ashore couldn't help shrinking back when they touched the flames.

The thudding sounds continued to echo, but the Thorn Vine Beast had long since crossed the fire defense line and was charging toward Wang Ting.

Wang Ting's hand holding the rifle remained steady. Even under the momentum of his stride charge, he could still attack steadily, and bullets landed one by one on the Thorn Vine Beast.

Just like when attacking the Thorn Vine Beast earlier, the bullets landing on its body merely punched out small holes and completely failed to seriously injure it. Moreover, more of the bullets were blocked by its flailing tentacles and the spikes all over its body.

The Thorn Vine Beast grew increasingly furious, its single eye filled with furious murderous intent.

Wang Ting's gaze was like a blade, yet his expression was calm to the extreme.

"I'd like to see just how formidable you can be."

He tossed his rifle aside, took down one of the two spears on his back, and hurled it forward with all his might. That terrifying force was added onto the spear, turning it into a black shadow straight toward the Thorn Vine Beast.

The Thorn Vine Beast waved its tentacles, attempting to intercept this spear.

However, under the enhancement of Wang Ting's physical attributes, the speed of the spear was as fast as a shooting star across the horizon, piercing into the body of the Thorn Vine Beast in an instant.

With a piercing rip, the spear almost completely impaled that bull-like massive body. The tip pierced right through and nailed into the ground, tilting the entire body of the Thorn Vine Beast and making it unexpectedly difficult to struggle free for a moment.

Wang Ting took down the second spear, held the spear in one hand, and strode forward with big strides straight toward the Thorn Vine Beast.

Seeing Wang Ting approach within a distance of less than 10 meters, the Thorn Vine Beast's two longest tentacles abruptly whipped toward him. The speed was as fast as a fired bullet, with the sound of breaking air following right behind.

Wang Ting used the spear to parry the tentacles' attacks. The tentacles were covered in barbs, and those sharp barbs were like steel needles, clashing against the spear and surprisingly producing clanging sounds.

The tentacles swarmed in unison, launching attacks against Wang Ting from all directions. Even with the spear blocking, it was difficult to stop them completely.

However, when such sharp barbs grazed across Wang Ting's arm, what they produced was a harsh friction sound, yet he himself emerged completely unscathed.

At this time, a set of sand scorpion armor had long since appeared on Wang Ting's body. The tentacles striking his body merely knocked him back and completely failed to seriously injure him.

A heavy attack weighing over a thousand catties landing on him was merely equivalent to a gentle bump, knocking his figure to sway slightly.

The powerful defense of the sand scorpion armor exceeded Wang Ting's expectations, and the sharp edge of confidence in his eyes at this moment was like a knife.

Breaking free, the Thorn Vine Beast rammed its huge body toward Wang Ting. Its single eye was filled with endless fury, and the roar from deep within its throat resounded like earth-shattering thunder beside Wang Ting's ears.

"It's time for you to die."

He felt no fear whatsoever; his eyes were calm, and his face was like a tranquil lake.

Facing the Thorn Vine Beast's charge, he rushed forward holding the spear in hand.

The tip of the spear stabbed into the body of the Thorn Vine Beast that had just broken free, causing the Thorn Vine Beast to let out a painful roar.

Wang Ting completely ignored whatever movements it made, directly exerting all his strength and planting his feet firmly, his body shaped like a strong bow. Then, with a single heave, he flipped the entire Thorn Vine Beast over onto the ground.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Ting leaped forward in a single step, holding the spear high from top to bottom, and drove it fiercely into the Thorn Vine Beast's body.

Pfft.

This thrust directly impaled the Thorn Vine Beast through and through, striking its core. The Thorn Vine Beast's massive body instantly lost the power to resist, turning instead to emit whimpering, sorrowful cries.

Casting aside the spear that pinned down the Thorn Vine Beast, Wang Ting swung his sandbag-sized fists. With violent and decisive actions, he pinned down the single-eyed head of the Thorn Vine Beast and rained down blows with loud bangs.

One punch, two punches, three punches... until the final heavy punch fell, and the green blood had long since completely soaked the surrounding area, did he finally stop his actions.

[Thorn Vine Beast cataloging progress 100%, obtained 200 monster points]