Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 342 - 4: Lynx, Array

Chapter 342: Chapter 4: Lynx, Array

In the pitch-black of night, Xiao Jie hurried through the streets, searching for prey in the dark avenues.

The scent of food filled his nostrils, and the instinct to hunt made him restless.

Yet, Xiao Jie didn’t rush to act, moving silently in the darkness like a ghost in the night.

A young couple caught his eye, cooing and cuddling on the stone path under the gleam of streetlights, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

(They’ll do! The two of them add up to a nice big meal for me.)

Chaotic thoughts flitted through Xiao Jie’s mind, his eyes glinting with bloodlust as he silently quickened his pace, closing in on the unsuspecting prey.

However, just as he was about to strike, the instinctive awareness of danger in a wild beast made him abruptly halt. He turned around and saw, not far off in a green belt of bushes, a pair of eyes as cold as frost staring intently at him.

It was a ferocious beast!

The instinct of a fellow predator stopped him in his tracks, and he stood motionless, confronting the cat.

His nails grew silently, sharp as hooks, and his teeth gnashed together, a pair of elongated fangs protruding from the edges of his lips.

At this moment, his body seemed no longer human, but something more eerie, a life existing between man and beast.

(Ordinary prey is easy to catch, but it’s the challenging hunt of a powerful beast that really gets the adrenaline pumping!)

This thought echoed in his mind, teasing Xiao Jie’s nerves as a sinister smile appeared on his lips, he slowly approached the lynx.

Perceiving the threat, the lynx let out a defiant meow and then turned and fled.

(Humph, trying to run? Just try!)

Xiao Jie suddenly accelerated, his feet whisking like a gale, swiftly closing the distance with a lunge through the air. But the lynx, even more agile, rolled to the side, avoiding Xiao Jie’s blow and, in a fluid motion, lashed out with its claws, leaving three scratch marks on Xiao Jie’s back.

Xiao Jie roared and spun around furiously.

The lynx, smugly licking its paw, then spat it out as if suddenly remembering something distasteful, stuck out its tongue at Xiao Jie, and took off again.

The pain did not fuel Xiao Jie’s anger; instead, it excited him.

He couldn’t wait to pin the lynx down and tear its body apart.

Leaping into the air, he pounced out like a beast, hot on the chase.

The lynx dodged nimbly through the streets, quickly disappearing back into the darkness, but the lingering scent in the air meant Xiao Jie didn’t lose track.

He kept right on its tail.

Before they knew it, both pursuer and pursued had raced through numerous streets, arriving at the foot of a hill in a park.

Facing Huqiu Mountain, Xiao Jie felt a hint of familiarity and surprise. His human consciousness returned slightly, but was soon drawn by the meowing coming from the distant woods. It seemed like a trap, yet his consciousness was completely dominated by his beastly nature, and he did not hesitate to pursue the sound.

On the summit of Huqiu Mountain, the lynx’s figure leapt onto the platform and instantly reverted to a human form—it was An Ran. Not far from her stood a man in white. Who else could it be but Chen Tianwen?

"You really predicted it. What’s wrong with Xiao Jie? Is he possessed?"

"Like you were before, his consciousness is blinded by his bestial nature," Chen Tianwen replied calmly, completing the task in his hands.

He clapped his hands together, looking at the makeshift work he had cobbled together, nodding with satisfaction.

"Really? But that doesn’t make sense. Demon Masters are level 30 with a Dual-profession. He’s just a Beast Tamer... No way, he must’ve been possessed by his pet! He must’ve caught a fox spirit as his pet and then been bewitched by its Demon Art, for sure."

Chen Tianwen was somewhat bemused. Suddenly, the sound of breaking branches came from the woods below, and his expression grew stern, "He’s here! I owed him a favor, and you owe him one too. It’s time to repay it."

An Ran looked towards the darkness, her gaze piercing through the shadows to see Xiao Jie swiftly climbing the mountain on all fours.

"He’s so fast, his Agility must be at least fifty. It wouldn’t be hard to kill him, but controlling him... that might be a bit tricky."

"Don’t worry, my Maze will trap him for sure. You just have to lure him into the Array," Chen Tianwen said, pointing to the Array Flag behind him.

"Alright, just don’t be bluffing," An Ran said with resignation.

Speaking, she transformed back into a lynx and ran to the edge of the platform, letting out a meow at Xiao Jie.

"Lynxes don’t sound like that!" Chen Tianwen’s teasing voice followed from behind.

An Ran turned back and retorted with an annoyed meow, then led Xiao Jie towards the Array.

The Array was actually nothing more than dozens of colorful flags, railings, signs, and some market stall equipment arranged to look the part.

There was no helping it given the rush; Chen Tianwen had to make do with what he had.

But the rudimentary nature of the Array had one advantage—Xiao Jie, without any suspicion, chased right into it, and then—

Xiao Jie’s vision blurred momentarily, and suddenly he found himself in the midst of a dense forest. Layers upon layers of trees and wild grass obscured his view, and a fog filled the forest. Although his mind was controlled by his beastly instinct, the remaining rationality made him stop subconsciously. Instead of blundering through, he tried to find a way out.

Chen Tianwen was somewhat surprised on the outside of the formation, "It seems it’s not an ordinary possession; he even knows how to analyze the situation. This isn’t good; the Array is too rudimentary. I can’t let him slowly find the flaws. It seems I need to get tougher."

"Creature of the four directions and demons of the six realms, heed my command, unfathomable divine might! —— Swiftly!"

With a wave of the Command Flag, the colorful Array Flags at the corners of the Formation began to flutter. Inside the Formation, Xiao Jie discovered that a gale had suddenly picked up around him, with sand and stones flying. He didn’t change direction for a moment and let out a beastly howl,

And ran frantically toward a direction where the gale was weaker.

"Five Dings and Five Armors, Possession Separation, execute the Pan Tuo Step, and intimidate the demonic evil! —— Swiftly!"

An advertisement billboard was immediately thrown into the formation.

While Xiao Jie was trying to find a way out amid the sand and dust, he was caught off guard when a Golden-armored Warrior appeared before him, wielding a Great Sword, with a blank expression.

Demacia!

The Golden-armored Warrior roared and chopped down at him with his sword.

Xiao Jie felt threatened and quickly dodged. Thankfully, the Golden-armored Warrior seemed fierce but moved clumsily, and Xiao Jie easily avoided the attack, searching for an opportunity to grab the warrior. However, his golden armor was as hard as steel; it didn’t suffer any damage.

"Eh, how is he wrestling with a game advertisement stand? What Spell are you using?"

"That thing left by the guy who attacked me last time. I studied it and, combined with the Qimen Dunjia Skill, it turned out to be quite useful," said Chen Tianwen nonchalantly. With a wave of his Command Flag, two more advertisement boards flew into the Formation.

The sword stroke of the Golden-armored Warrior fell on Xiao Jie, forcing him to retreat continuously, and just then, two more figures emerged from the mist on either side—one a disguised ninja with double scythes and one a red-haired, black-clad assassin with Dual Blades.

The three figures encircled and attacked from all sides.

Xiao Jie saw that the situation was bad, but he suddenly turned and fled.

"That’s the way, just exhaust his energy. When dawn comes tomorrow, he should naturally be able to recover his senses."

As Xiao Jie was spinning around in the Formation, he suddenly gave a powerful sniff and bolted toward a certain direction.

From the perspective of the two outside the Formation, although Xiao Jie was still circling inside, walking the Pan Tuo Step, his path was becoming straighter and he was getting closer to the exit. His gaze was fixed on an Array Flag as if he could see through the illusions of the Maze.

Chen Tianwen was a bit surprised, "It’s impossible, he can’t possibly see through my Formation!"

But An Ran responded immediately, "He’s not looking, he’s smelling!"

Chen Tianwen looked under the Array Flag and was speechless; it was, in fact, a cart selling grilled sausages that he had carelessly moved from a temporary shack nearby to be used as the focal point of the Array.

It had now become a flaw.

It seemed the smell of the sausages had drawn him over.

"It looks like we’ll have to be forceful. When he breaks through the Formation, I’ll trap him temporarily, and you knock him out!"

An Ran reluctantly said, "Knock him out? I don’t know how to do that. I can only make him lose consciousness. As for whether he’ll faint or get a concussion, I’m not sure. What if we end up making him stupid?"

"Don’t worry, his Constitution is enhanced. He won’t be so easily made stupid."

An Ran sighed, "This is on you then, if anything goes wrong."

With a Furious Roar, a rapid expansion occurred in his body.

In the blink of an eye, he became a giant bear about four to five meters long; his coffee-colored wool sweater turned into brown bear fur, and the Hello Kitty logo on his chest transformed into a blurry pink pattern.

Just at that moment, Xiao Jie suddenly leaped out from between the Array Flags, and in an instant, the dense forest changed to an open-air platform.

In the distance, the man in white immediately caught his attention.

A beastly instinct told him that it was this man who was responsible for everything.

With a howl, Xiao Jie pounced towards Chen Tianwen.

Chen Tianwen hurriedly waved the Command Flag.

"Now!"

Xiao Jie suddenly couldn’t move his feet. Looking down, he saw that more than a dozen twisting serpents were coiling around him tightly, climbing up his legs,

Xiao Jie, mad with rage, tore at the snakes, and in an instant, the serpents broke apart and fell to the ground, turning into strands of colorful lights.

Even though he had no idea what was happening, the residual lucidity within him made him realize right away that he had been played.

A wild rage turned Xiao Jie’s head around, preparing to tear the man to shreds.

But he turned his head only to see a large, looming bear paw greeting him.