"Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da..."
There are sounds like hoofbeats rapidly approaching, and something in the air is flapping its wings, synchronized with the hoofbeats.
There are more than one sound in the air, and from the wind, Lu Xi'an can discern that the flapping in the air varies in size, with different flying heights.
"Big brother, big sister, what's wrong?"
Luo Ping noticed the change in expression on Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's faces and asked, before turning back to look, but saw nothing.
The sounds are still far away, and he can't hear anything either.
Lu Xi'an said, "Seems like they're riding something, and also brought a few flying ones."
"Brought a few flying ones?!"
Luo Ping instantly realized something, his nerves tightened, he reached for his gun at his waist and said, "It's that guy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shu became alert and vanished immediately.
Yet, Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei, and Luo Ping could still hear the old man's voice: "Brothers and sisters, Junior Luo, I'll hide first to avoid causing trouble for you."
This old man is truly both self-aware and considerate.
Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei, and Luo Ping didn't mind him.
Shu hiding is indeed the best choice, after all, he only counts as half a Neo-Human, not as capable as real Neo-Humans, and now he can only hide, trying to help might actually cause more harm.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei also confirmed, the incoming person is indeed the Neo-Human Luo Ping mentioned from Henan County.
A Type C one, not sure if after Liu Hua's training, they can withstand the pheromones wrapped in sweat.
Luo Ping pulled the slide, chambered the bullet, squinted and looked hard towards the south, but still couldn't see a thing.
Inwardly, he couldn't help but admire the Type A Neo-Humans' comprehensive abilities, saying, "Last time I saw that guy, he only had those flying or crawling, didn't see anything riding, didn't expect now there's something to ride, wonder what he's riding?"
Lu Xi'an asked, "What's crawling on the ground?"
Luo Ping said, "Ants. That guy keeps a few Ant Queens, by controlling them, he controls quite a few ants, guess when we came over, he detected us through the ants."
Lu Xi'an thought to himself, no wonder he didn't notice, if it's ants, scattered around, it is indeed hard to notice, and he wouldn't pay attention.
Seems like he still knows too little about Type C Neo-Humans, didn't expect this at all.
But who would have thought? Type C Neo-Humans are not just Beast Tamers, they can control anything flying, swimming, or crawling from birds, beasts to insects.
Dealing with Type C Neo-Humans, seems far more troublesome than he anticipated.
He grasped the short needle, stood by the car, increasingly vigilant.
Facing such a tough opponent, it's okay for him, after all, he and Yao Wei have gone through so much training, as Type A Neo-Humans there's still some strength.
But the problem is the RV is quite fragile, in case those ants have mutations that can damage the car, that'll be problematic.
Not to mention, even simply damaging the car tires is something neither he nor Yao Wei want.
Luo Ping said, "No more, controlling too many consumes too much of that person's energy, these many things already are his limit.
"But now I don't know, he surprisingly controls something to ride, means he's made progress..."
Lu Xi'an said to Yao Wei: "Yao Wei, let's be careful."
Yao Wei nodded, understanding what Lu Xi'an meant to be careful of, and she began listening closely.
The road, the weeds, the wind blowing dirt were all recorded in her ears, and Lu Xi'an's.
After Luo Ping's reminder, the two Type A Neo-Humans quickly sensed movements of ants from the subtle sounds.
—Or perhaps movement suggesting ants.
The sounds were too subtle, too chaotic, making it hard for them to confirm.
Together they looked into the distance towards the sound, gradually seeing the figure of a person.
The person had a scruffy beard, messy hair, somewhat resembling Luo Ping. However, he was wearing a black trench coat, looking more fitting than Luo Ping's green overcoat.
But that trench coat had several holes, large and small, seemed drafty.
He was indeed riding a horse, tall and powerful, quite impressive.
One man and one horse came from afar, like a dirty cowboy from the west, making Lu Xi'an suddenly think of Mike from Red Dead Redemption.
He clenched the short needle in his hand, ready to jab the man right away.
Luo Ping noticed the gazes of Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, and then he too noticed that person.
"Don't act hastily, brother and sister. This person can still barely speak. Let me talk to him first."
Luo Ping told Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, then got into his pickup truck and pulled out a microphone.
It was pulled out because the microphone was still attached to its coiled wire, which unraveled as Luo Ping pulled, extending from the inside of the truck to the outside.
"Tang, stop right there. If you move forward, things won't end well."
Luo Ping held the microphone pulled from the truck up to his mouth and said.
The person on horseback in the distance didn't have a microphone, so he couldn't speak like Luo Ping. He had to shout, "If you think things won't end well, what are you doing here?"
"We agreed back then that this place counts as my territory. If you dare to come, don't blame me for taking action."
He completely dismissed Luo Ping's words, loudly speaking while continuing to ride forward.
Luo Ping said, "Henan County is your territory. Since when did this place become yours too?
"You escaped from the south, with hardly any men at your command. Yet your ambitions are so large. Once you swallow this place, are you planning to come towards mine too?
"Besides, I'm not here to start anything. I just have a friend passing through to somewhere else. I'm here to see them off."
He might've been better off not saying that, because once he did, the one called "Tang" got even more spirited. He let out a cold laugh and loudly said, "Oh right, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten. This person is your friend, huh!
"Passing through my territory without permission! I knew about him before, but I was too far away in Henan County to catch up with him quickly, so I had to come slowly.
"If he had left, it would have been fine. But who would've thought, after such a big cold spell, he dared to linger in my territory waiting for you to see him off! Now that I've caught up, do you think I can let him go, or can you stop me?"
Tang didn't say a word about the "territory" dispute Luo Ping mentioned, as if he couldn't even be bothered to argue with Luo Ping.
After speaking, Tang took a deep look over at Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei. Thıs content belongs to 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝
Then Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei heard a whistling sound.
The whistling was so sharp and swift, like a sharp cone piercing the air, rushing towards Lu Xi'an at unimaginable speed.
Lu Xi'an was shocked inside.
This speed even far surpasses the time when Yang Guan, a Type C Neo-Human, enhanced Chang!
But fortunately, after so much training and cultivation with the Fungus Stone, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei's reflexes and explosiveness have improved significantly.
And the swooping figure seemed to only dive straight down; although it was much faster than Chang, it didn't turn or change direction like Chang would.
The body's strength also seemed inferior to Chang's.
Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei almost caught sight of a small, slanting figure through the whistling wind sound, and immediately acted, each throwing a short needle.
The figure indeed could only dive blindly down, and even if it hit the flying needles head-on, it would not change direction.
At this moment, it was like that line often mentioned in martial arts novels—the move had been exhausted, and the figure could no longer dodge.
Both short needles simultaneously pierced the figure, but unexpectedly, the figure was somewhat fragile, unable to withstand the two needles, directly penetrated by the flying needles, drawing two slanting blood lines upward in the air.
The figure had lost consciousness, relying only on inertia to fall towards Lu Xi'an. Lu Xi'an reached out and caught the figure in his hand, the slanting blood lines in the air spreading into a mist right into Lu Xi'an's hand.
Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei, Luo Ping, and even Shu, who was lurking, fixed their eyes and saw that the figure caught in Lu Xi'an's hand, already shot dead, was a not-too-large bird, completely black with striped markings on the head and black spots on the body, looking somewhat familiar.
Lu Xi'an called out the bird's name, thinking no wonder this thing could dive so fast.
Known as the fastest bird in the world, in flight, no bird can match it. With this kind of speed, it can become the bully of the skies, swoop onto an eagle's head, leaving the eagle nowhere to hide, only letting this thing step on it, possibly falling from the sky if it can't keep steady.
Owls couldn't do much against this bird and could only wait until evening, taking revenge in the Peregrine Falcon's nest under the cover of night.
Now this Peregrine Falcon, perhaps enhanced by Tang or changed by decades in this world, seems even faster than the original one.
No wonder Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei couldn't see it clearly.
But it doesn't matter; if they could sense it, that's enough. Now that the Peregrine Falcon is dead, it's time for a counterattack.
Lu Xi'an thought in his heart, tossing the Peregrine Falcon onto the fake engine hood of the RV in front, planning to grill it later, then clutched a short needle, ready to attack Tang.
Luo Ping shouted into the microphone, both angry and surprised.
He stopped there, speaking no more. Because he'd already noticed that Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were about to take action.
This couple is truly in sync, they tackle birds together and take action together.
But unexpectedly, the one who noticed the couple was not just Luo Ping, but also Tang, who had moved closer again on the opposite side.
Tang suddenly raised his hand and said, "I surrender, stop!"