C15 He Was Cheating

The three bosses eyed Qin Biao with looks that seemed to pronounce him dead already. Having witnessed the previous battle, they were acutely aware of the statues' formidable power. Though they were clueless about how Qin Biao had managed to slip in undetected, they knew that only absolute strength could ensure survival against these statues. Clearly, Qin Biao lacked such power.

Trembling, Qin Biao sat on the ground, watching the hound draw nearer, feeling as though death itself was inching closer with every step. "Is my illustrious life really going to end here? The heavens must envy the talented!" Qin Biao inwardly cursed the cave's master while the hound loomed over him, its foul breath seemingly within reach.

The hound raised its paw slowly, poised to strike at Qin Biao's head. Clenching his teeth and bowing his head, Qin Biao braced for impact. The bosses looked away, convinced he was as good as a dead rat.

With a cold glint in its eyes, the hound brought its paw crashing down towards Qin Biao's head. In that instant, Qin Biao snapped his head up and agilely dodged the blow, darting beneath the hound's body as it swiped at him with its hind claw.

"Ah!" Qin Biao cried out, his frail legs pushing off with a surge of adrenaline-fueled strength. He leaped to the hound's belly, extending his small claws in an attempt to latch onto the beast and evade the strike.

To his shock, upon contact, the hound let out a harrowing yelp and crumbled into a heap of rubble. Qin Biao, caught off guard, fell through empty air and crashed to the ground.

Ignoring the pain, Qin Biao sat there, bewildered, staring at the scattered stones. He had barely grazed the hound's body, not even having the chance to brace himself, before the creature wailed and disintegrated as if struck by multiple blows.

"Damn, is this some kind of con?" Qin Biao muttered, still stunned. Equally astonished were the three bosses, including Purple Rat. They had thought Qin Biao's evasion of the first attack was already miraculous. Yet, who could have imagined that the seemingly feeble squirrel would shatter the painstakingly destroyed statue with a single hit? What in the world just happened?

In the blink of an eye, the entire cavern seemed to be suspended in time. The three big bosses sprang into action, striding forward to confront their final statue. By the time Qin Biao came to his senses, they were already locked in combat. He could tell that their gazes upon him had shifted. Where they once saw him as a novice, they now regarded him with a mix of respect and wariness.

What puzzled Qin Biao the most was that he had no idea when he had started to "cheat." The path, however, didn't allow him much time to ponder. The stone tiles vanished one by one, propelling him to keep moving forward.

Reluctantly, Qin Biao made his way to the next statue. Despite having previously "cheated," he remained vigilant, aware that he was still in the dark about the nature of this so-called cheat.

Upon reaching the second statue, the disappearance of the stone bricks halted once more. The demonic aura blocked both Qin Biao's advance and retreat. The statue was of the same Leopard he had just seen battling the wild boar boss, and Qin Biao was well aware of its formidable prowess.

As soon as the Leopard was free, it lunged at Qin Biao in a similar fashion to its fight with the wild boar, pouncing from above with the demonic aura at its heels. Qin Biao, leveraging his physical superiority, dodged beneath the assault. He repeated his previous maneuver to evade the Leopard's attack and reached out to seize its body.

Internally, Qin Biao was torn. He hoped to defeat the statue in one attempt, yet part of him dreaded the reappearance of the cheat, fearing it could lead to a direct confrontation with the three bosses.

Lost in thought, Qin Biao's claws were already firmly latched onto the Leopard's body. Unlike before, the Leopard didn't shatter instantly but instead thrashed about, trying to shake him off.

Qin Biao swiftly shifted into combat mode, his hands clamped onto the Leopard's body, his hind legs straining to climb atop it. After a strenuous effort, Qin Biao's stubby legs finally hooked onto the Leopard, and seizing the moment, he surged upward!

Just as his hind legs grazed the Leopard, Qin Biao experienced the familiar sensation of free-falling once again. In an instant, the Leopard disintegrated into dust, and Qin Biao found himself crashing onto the road below.

This time, Qin Biao was utterly baffled. If the previous incident could be chalked up to accidentally hitting a vital point, how could he possibly explain this one? He refused to believe he could be that fortunate to strike a fatal blow twice.

"Is it possible that I'm actually a 'cheat'?" Qin Biao pondered, staring at his dusty little paws in bewilderment.

"Awoo!" While Qin Biao was deep in thought, a wild boar elder let out a harrowing scream. Blood-soaked and hoisted into the air, a stone horn burst through his abdomen, with a clump of unrecognizable organs dangling from it. The horn belonged to a bull statue that radiated an eerie green glow.

The wild boar elder's struggles on the horn were futile; his blood flowed more profusely, and his last horn shattered completely.

Witnessing this gruesome sight, Qin Biao involuntarily gulped. The Purple Rat and Tiger Man were faring no better, locked in a fierce struggle against the Azure Ox. The Purple Rat's fur was nearly all gone, resembling a hairy potato from a distance, while Tiger Man, reverted to his tiger form, was locked in combat with the Azure Ox, clearly at a disadvantage.

Qin Biao glanced backward and noticed another Azure Ox statue at the end of the path, seemingly awaiting his approach. After a brief look at his paws, he resolutely stood up and advanced toward the Azure Ox.

As he entered its vicinity, the Azure Ox burst into a flash of green light and sprang to life, glaring furiously at Qin Biao.

"Bring it on! Let's see the power of a 'cheat'!" Qin Biao inhaled deeply, steadying his emotions, and challenged the Great Azure Ox with a defiant shout.

The Great Azure Ox, not comprehending Qin Biao's cry, responded with a thunderous roar and charged at him.