...
Ren Zhong appeared once more at the edge of the Indigo Prairie.
Advance!
Learning from experience, this time he kept a distance of over twenty meters from the Black Giant Bear's hiding mound.
But instead of leaving immediately, he curved around to a spot about twenty meters in front of the mound.
Ren Zhong, the Black Bear Mound, and where the dragonfly was about to appear – the three formed a straight line.
Just as the slightly battered dragonfly showed its head, Ren Zhong turned, raised his hand, and threw.
A pebble the size of an infant's fist traced a parabolic arc, landing right in the bushes on the Black Bear Mound.
Roar!
The angry Black Bear charged out of the bushes.
At this moment, the dragonfly flew close to the ground, skimming right over its head.
The bear swung its paw upward, the iron claws flashing coldly, slapping straight onto the dragonfly's face.
The dragonfly was caught off guard, flying backward several meters.
Seizing the moment, the bear chased after it with a vengeance.
The two ferocious beasts clashed fiercely.
The dragonfly hovered up and down, attacking relentlessly.
The bear roared and swung its massive paws wildly.
Meanwhile, the instigator, Ren Zhong, seized the opportunity to escape farther afield.
This time he managed to run for an additional five minutes, but unfortunately, the further he ran, the more his physical strength waned, and he slowed down considerably.
Finally, he halted in front of a three-meter-wide ravine, unable to move forward.
Unable to jump across, he turned back to look.
Incredibly, the dragonfly was pursuing again.
Much of the Iron-feathered Bluebird's blood had fallen from its body, and the rear half of its nine-segment long abdomen was severed, dangling by a bit of skin.
It flew less steadily than before, swaying left and right.
In its eight long legs, it clutched something round and rolling, gnawed beyond recognition, likely the Black Bear's head.
According to Ren Zhong's understanding of wild animals, with such serious injuries, it should be looking for a safe place to heal, not chasing prey.
Yet the dragonfly pursued him relentlessly, like a monster in Journey to the West drawn to the scent of Tang Monk's flesh.
Though the dragonfly was wounded, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.
Ren Zhong wielded the Alloy Stick to strike the dragonfly's wings and head twice, but still died without dignity.
...
Again reaching the front of the ravine, Ren Zhong brought along a vine this time.
He looped the vine over a protruding rock at the ravine's edge, then released it and slid down the ravine, gritting his teeth.
Midway, his hip accidentally struck an outcrop, losing balance, and he tumbled all the way down to the ravine's bottom, dazed and confused.
But in the next second, he picked himself up in pain, grabbed the lower end of the vine, and leaned back sharply, lifting his legs and launching off the ravine's vertical sidewall, body parallel to the ground.
At that instant, the dragonfly appeared at the top of the ravine, swooping down like a bomber.
Ignoring the incoming dragonfly, Ren Zhong's forehead veins pulsed bulgingly, and he gritted his teeth, straining his waist, abdomen, and legs again.
Above, the rock the vine was looped around shifted.
A two-meter long, one-meter wide, half-meter thick board-like slab of rock toppled from the ravine's wall, falling straight down.
This rock was exactly the detail Ren Zhong had observed with the Underworld God's Eye View after his previous death, which could be used advantageously.
The section below the rock was fractured and teetering, ready to fall if its center of gravity was disturbed.
There was every chance he could yank this thing down.
As the rock descended, with its support lost, Ren Zhong's back crashed heavily onto the ground.
Though his mind was hazy, he firmly recalled the plan. His right hand groped for the pre-placed Alloy Stick beside him, firmly grasping it, thrusting it upward.
The Alloy Stick was slightly longer than the dragonfly's slender legs, perfectly wedging between its head and thorax.
The dragonfly's eight legs thrashed, hacking at the Alloy Stick, making a series of cracking sounds.
The surface of the stick bore notches from the assaults.
Ren Zhong's hands gripping the Alloy Stick trembled fiercely, nearly surrendering the grasp.
Yet a powerful survival instinct compelled him to hold on, refusing to let go.
The dragonfly's wings ceased vibrating, seemingly trying to press down with its weight.
Luckily, the insect's body density wasn't high; despite appearing metallic, the dragonfly only weighed dozens of kilograms, manageable for Ren Zhong.