Chapter 7: Life and Death

Zhang Lisheng had never come so close to death in his life. At this moment, it was unknown whether it was because of his instinct of being extra calm when encountering desperate situations or if it was the battle instinct that came with becoming a Rank 1 Wizard that his mind did not panic at all. On the contrary, he was extraordinarily awake when he snapped out of the illusional feeling of having everything under control earlier.

He instinctively blocked the leopard’s huge mouth with both of his hands while continuously chanting an incantation from his mouth to get his wizard worm to retaliate.

Unfortunately, human movements were far behind the agility of a leopard. Before Zhang Lisheng could block the leopard’s mouth with his hands, he could already feel its sharp teeth piercing his flesh.

However, right at that moment, his wizard worm, Qing Hong, leaped hard from the jungle ground with its thousands of legs and got into the leopard’s mouth before it could do anything to Zhang Lisheng.

The leopard had given up attacking its prey further as its tongue was bitten by Qing Hong’s venomous teeth. The leopard began to struggle on the jungle ground while roaring as it proceeded to bite into the venomous worm’s body that was left outside its mouth.

However, an adult leopard was only over thirty kilograms. As soon as its head was poisoned, its resistance would be even poorer than a captive livestock.

Four to five seconds later, there was black and putrid blood coming out of the corner of the terrifying jungle hunter’s mouth. It had lost its life. Meanwhile, the wizard worm that killed it had its body bitten in half by the leopard’s sharp teeth.

Fortunately, wild beasts had rich blood. After killing the leopard, Qing Hong moved its long body and crawled into the leopard’s mouth. The leopard’s carcass began to sink, and soon, it was left with only rotten skin and bones.

Meanwhile, the cracks on the wizard worm’s body vanished as it came out of the leopard’s carcass. However, its movement was slightly slower than it used to be.

The attack of the leopard only lasted less than ten seconds from the beginning to the end, but it gave Zhang Lisheng a direct judgment in the ability that he currently mastered.

Firstly, the incantation could only intimidate insects and reptiles, at least it was limited to this extent for a Rank 1 Wizard like him. The reason why he managed to scare the tiny beasts away while he was chanting the incantation when he first got into the jungle should have been because of the intimidation of his venomous worm.

Secondly, the ability of a low-level wizard worm or a Rank 1 Wizard was more toward attacking stealthily. By controlling two venomous wizard worms, Zhang Lisheng could definitely murder the entire village quietly without anybody noticing. In a fair battle, however, his wizard worm might not be more powerful than a large-sized beast.

Thirdly, the food of a wizard worm. To evolve it, it was clear that it was insufficient to only feed it the wizard power that came out of his body. Blood was still a necessity for the wizard worm.

The tourist who were in trouble not far away began to break down as Zhang Lisheng concluded his Way of Witchcraft. At the moment, she was just crying miserably and even stopped asking for help.

Following the cry as his guide, Zhang Lisheng got up from the jungle ground and carefully crossed the grove that was filled with twisted vines. He then saw the young, blonde lady whose body was covered with mud lying next to a swamp pond that was over ten square meters in radius, and that had dark green moss growing inside of it. She was crying like she had gone insane, with her face looking up the sky.

Zhang Lisheng didn’t know, but the dirty brown jacket barely protecting its master’s life which was scratched by the leopard’s sharp claws was a customized equipment from the top international outdoor sports brand Arc’terx. The price of the equipment that the blonde lady had all over her body was enough for Zhang Lisheng to live a comfortable life in the mountain village for over a decade. However, what he knew was the definition of the pond in a jungle deep in the mountain.

Water represented life as well as endless danger.

Only the most experienced hunters would dare to wait by a pond in a dense jungle since they could hunt endless preys without putting much effort. However, the role of prey and predator could change at any time.

Zhang Lisheng let out a sigh while cursing the lady’s naivety in his heart. He approached the pond step by step as he chanted an incantation from his mouth.

Every step he took, there would be hundreds and thousands of odd worms walking by with a swishing sound. The sound and the terrifying shadows that were moving in the darkness made the pointless shriek of the mentally collapsed blonde lady to grow even louder.

“I’ve killed the leopard, its carcass is on the other side of the jungle. You’re safe now,” Zhang Lisheng calmly said with his low voice as he arrived next to the blonde lady. Without giving any extra explanation, he proceeded to chant an incantation softly and carefully while he observed his surroundings.

He knew that leopards would usually go solo when they were hunting, but from time to time, they might also hunt in groups. He could not take things lightly before understanding what was going on. Moreover, they were next to a pond in a dense jungle, so nobody knew what they were going to encounter next!

To a person who was put in a desperate situation, a strong, careful, calm, and determined rescuer’s comfort was the most persuasive language, even though this rescuer was not even 160 centimeters tall in the dark.

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Ever since Zhang Lisheng appeared, the blonde lady’s cry slowly became softer and finally vanished altogether after about twenty seconds later. She then panted in shock and asked in a hoarse voice, “Sir, was that you who shouted at me just now? Did you say the devil is dead?”

“Yes, it was me who replied to your call for help earlier. Was the leopard that attacked you on its own or in a group?” Zhang Lisheng asked her back when he noticed that she had calmed down.

“There was only one. Oh god, that one devil alone could turn this jungle into hell. If there were a couple of them, I would have been torn into pieces,” the blonde lady exclaimed.

One could tell that she was very young when her face was not distorted. She was pretty, and her features were sharp like what a usual western beauty would have. However, she did not have rough skin like most westerners would have when they reached the same age as asian ladies.

Zhang Lisheng, who was initially nervous, was much relieved when he heard from the lady that there was only one leopard that attacked her. He then chanted an incantation to get Qing Hong next to him and said, “If there’s only one leopard, then it’s already dead.”

“A pond in a dense jungle is really dangerous, we must leave immediately.”

However, what Zhang Lisheng said did not relieve the blond lady who escaped death. After all, looking at an almost one-meter long gigantic centipede approaching her was not much better than encountering a leopard’s attack.

“Oh god! W-What’s that next to your feet? Holy sh*t, that’s a venomous snake with countless toes on it…” the lady cried senselessly.

“Miss, I admire your courage of exploring an ancient jungle without even knowing what a leopard and centipede are,” Zhang Lisheng explained helplessly to the naive lady.

“That’s a centipede? Why is there such a huge centipede?”

“It’s a unique species with special domestication. I’m a hunter who grew up on the Western Sichuan land, and this centipede is just like what the bloodhounds the western hunters keep to hunt foxes, wild ducks, and moose.”

The cultural differences from country to country would sometimes be misunderstood with something ridiculous. Just like how the Chinese and Americans thought that almost all Indians practiced the art of breathing called yoga, or how the Americans and Indians thought that all Chinese knew the martial art called kungfu.

The same theory applied here. Zhang Lisheng might not be able to convince any Chinese of his ridiculous explanation of using centipede as his hound to hunt, but to this blonde lady, she did not have any thought apart from thinking that this Chinese young man who inherited thousands of years of civilization was even more mysterious and unpredictable now.

After calming down a little, she suddenly thought of her boyfriend whose survival was still unknown. She screamed, “Oh god, yes! Henrick, Henrick is still there. I hope he’s okay. No, no, he must be still alive.”

“Although I cursed that he would die right away just now because he brought me to such a dangerous place, b-but I didn’t mean it. I said that just because I was pissed. Oh my god, that’s not what I really meant…” She then crawled and rolled to the gigantic Chinese fir next to the pool of water before dashing toward a rotten soil ground.

Zhang Lisheng looked closer and realized that the pile of soil was actually an immobile young man. It was just that he was wearing an attire that completely blended into the jungle, which camouflaged himself from Zhang Lisheng’s eyes.

Looking at the rough way of ‘rescue’ that the blonde lady was doing to her boyfriend, Zhang Lisheng wished even more that everyone else should just die after he managed to stay away from danger and save two lives. He then walked to the lady and said softly with a forceful smile, “Miss, if you shake your boyfriend’s body so hard, and he has internal bleeding, he might…”

“Y-You can save him. Yes, yes, you’re a jungle hunter. You definitely know about first aid, please save him. I beg you.”

During the ancient time, the rulers of any civilizations would have to carry the responsibility of being a doctor in the beginning. From the priests during the ancient Indian civilizations, the shamans of the Mesopotamia to the voodoo witch doctors that were commonly found in African civilizations, witchcraft in China was naturally not an exception.

Unfortunately, such a rookie like Zhang Lisheng had yet to possess the ability to solve the crisis for others. The medical skills that he mastered were very realistic, utilizing various spices and herbs to boil up a nourishing soup, or using unique techniques to grill meat in order to replenish the loss of blood from a variety of reasons.

Although Zhang Lisheng did not know how to rescue, he could teach the troubled tourist to perform the rescue herself. He then pointed at the huge travel backpack that the strong ‘soil man’ was carrying which had the same color as his attire. He said, “There can’t be nothing useful in such a big backpack, I guess.

“First aid medication and even an emergency injection shot, I heard that all well-prepared tourists would bring these along.”

“Oh god, I’m such an idiot. Yes, we have everything in our backpack.”

After being reminded by Zhang Lisheng, the blonde lady began to grab the backpack from her boyfriend’s back strenuously. She found a mini first aid kit enclosed in black leather after looking around in the backpack.