Chapter 141 Silent Words
On the fourth day, Ruan Ning and his two companions continued their exploration deep into the eastern section of the Qilian Mountains, carrying a large fire.
They searched for samples of a "carnivorous plant" with serrated leaves that secreted a sticky substance on the edge of a relatively sparse coniferous forest. This plant was not very aggressive, but its sticky substance had a paralyzing effect and was a basic ingredient in the production of certain medicines.
Suddenly, a violent collision of energy and the sharp cries of birds, accompanied by a man's roar, came from afar. The sound came from the direction of the cliff on the other side of the forest.
"Someone is fighting with a mutated beast." Lin Yan immediately became alert.
“The energy fluctuations are not weak, at least level three, and there are two of them.” Zhou Min responded, his expression changing slightly.
Ruan Ning frowned. In the apocalypse, the danger between strangers could sometimes be no less than that between mutated beasts. She didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble. "Go around it, take the other way."
The three people and the dog were preparing to leave quietly when the sounds of fighting rapidly approached them! Accompanied by the loud crash of trees breaking and the thud of heavy objects hitting the ground.
A blood-covered figure crashed through several small trees and tumbled awkwardly onto an open space not far in front of them.
He was a man in his thirties, wearing a combat uniform made of a special material. His face and body were covered with deep, bone-revealing scratches, and his left arm was bent unnaturally, clearly broken. He was still tightly gripping a half-broken alloy longsword in his hand.
Immediately afterwards, two enormous shadows swept across the treetops, swooping down with a gust of wind!
They were two mutated golden eagles, with wingspans exceeding five meters. Their feathers shimmered with a metallic sheen, their beaks and talons were like curved steel hooks, and their eyes pulsed with a ferocious red light. The energy fluctuations had clearly reached the peak of the third tier! One of the golden eagles had a deep knife wound on its wing, making its movements slightly sluggish, but the other was unharmed and exuded a murderous aura.
The man struggled to get up, but coughed up blood, clearly indicating internal injuries. He saw Ruan Ning and the other two, his eyes initially filled with wariness, but the next second, when his gaze fell on Ruan Ning's face, he froze, blurting out, "Ruan Ning? You are... Ruan Ning?!"
Ruan Ning paused, looking at the man. His face was covered in blood, but a vaguely familiar outline could still be made out; it was Shen Yan.
The man was both shocked and anxious, and shouted hoarsely, "Ruan Ning! Run!"
Shen Yan. This name unlocked a corner of Ruan Ning's memory.
Three years ago, during C University's centennial celebration, several promising young alumni were invited back to give speeches. One of them was Shen Yan, a physics PhD who was already making a name for herself in a key national laboratory. The university assigned her as one of the student representatives to receive and guide them.
In my memory, he was a gentle and refined senior with clear eyes and a scholarly air. He spoke with clear logic and was full of enthusiasm for the future.
The man before her was vastly different from the image in her memory; only his eyes, which he was trying to keep clear-headed and anxious even now, still showed a trace of his former self.
The moment Shen Yan shouted, the intact golden eagle had already locked onto him. With a flap of its wings, it shot out like a golden arrow, its sharp talons aimed straight for his head with a piercing sound! The other wounded golden eagle also screeched and pounced on the seemingly most threatening fire.
In a flash, Ruan Ning made a judgment.
"Help!"
She flashed forward, her water whip striking the golden eagle that was pouncing on Shen Yan, attempting to disrupt its trajectory. At the same time, several condensed water arrows shot towards the golden eagle's eyes and the base of its wings.
With a roar, the fire surged with flames as it charged at the wounded golden eagle, its flaming talons tearing at it fiercely.
Lin Yan and Zhou Min acted immediately. Lin Yan, knife in hand, protected Ruan Ning's flank, wary of possible aerial attacks. Zhou Min, meanwhile, unleashed a full-force mental attack, targeting the intact golden eagle in an attempt to disrupt its nerves.
The water whip struck the golden eagle's wing, producing a metallic clang, leaving only a white mark, but successfully deflecting its attack by half a step. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shen Yan rolled to the side with all his might, sharp claws grazing his shoulder, tearing off a large chunk of flesh, and blood spurted out.
The golden eagle skillfully dodged most of the water arrows by swinging its head, with only one grazing its eyelid, which enraged it even more.
Zhou Min's mental shock caused the golden eagle to freeze momentarily, its eyes flashing red light erratically.
Now!
Ruan Ning did not use water-based skills again. She activated her newly awakened wood-based ability, her mental energy mixed with a faint emerald green energy, like invisible seeds, and suddenly scattered it onto the grass and bushes on the ground below the golden eagle.
"Grow!" she thought to herself.
Under the forceful stimulation of the wood-elemental energy, the ordinary weeds and shrubs twisted and grew wildly, turning into tough vines and thorny brambles in the blink of an eye, like living green traps, suddenly wrapping around the golden eagle's claws and wings!
Caught off guard, the golden eagle was caught completely off guard by the plants that suddenly sprouted from the ground. It struggled fiercely, tearing at the ground with its talons and flapping its wings, but the plants, which had been forcibly grown, were exceptionally tenacious and clung to it tightly.
On the other side, the battle between the raging fire and the wounded golden eagle was even more direct and bloody. The flames had some effect on the feathers, but the golden eagle was incredibly ferocious, ignoring its injuries and attacking and biting wildly.
The fire had several deep, bone-revealing wounds, and the golden eagle had large patches of its feathers singed by the flames, making it increasingly unsteady on its feet.
"Attack its eyes and old wounds!" Ruan Ning shouted to Lin Yan and Zhou Min. At the same time, he conjured several highly compressed ice spikes and, taking advantage of the golden eagle's restricted movement due to being entangled by plants, shot them swiftly towards the joints at the base of its wings and its eye sockets!
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Yan moved with lightning speed, dodging the golden eagle's wildly flapping wings, and plunged her knife deep into the existing wound at the base of its wing, twisting it forcefully! Zhou Min also focused her attention again, disrupting the golden eagle's sense of balance.
"Screech—!" A shrill scream rang out. The golden eagle, which had been given special attention, had its wing base almost completely torn apart by Lin Yan, and one of its eyes was also pierced by an ice spike, with blood gushing out mixed with ice shards.
It went completely mad, struggling desperately, and finally broke most of the plant vines, but it had lost its balance and crashed into a large tree next to it, unable to get up for a while.
Ruan Ning immediately switched her focus to support Da Huo. She used the same method, channeling wood-based energy to power the plants in the fighting area, hindering the injured golden eagle's movement. Da Huo seized the opportunity, biting down on the golden eagle's neck, and flames erupted from within!
"Boom!" A charred hole was blown open in the golden eagle's neck. It struggled a few times and then lay still.
Upon seeing this, the other golden eagle let out a shriek of extreme grief and anger, struggling to pounce again.
Ruan Ning's eyes turned cold, and the water whip condensed again. This time, the tip of the whip was covered with sharp ice spikes. Combined with the flames spewed by the raging fire, Lin Yan's sword light, and Zhou Min's continuous mental interference, the severely injured golden eagle was finally killed.
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