The King of Black Fog

"Why didn't you notice it!" Yang Qinglan reproached.

She began to suspect that the little radish had intentionally led them here.

"That guy's target is that lizard, it poses no danger to me!" The little radish, scared out of its wits, had its butt pee flowing.

It wanted to jump and run, but as soon as the thought occurred, the instinct of "Avoid Death and Prolong Life" immediately pricked through the idea like needles.

At first it ran on all fours, and then, finally, like a person, it dashed off on its two little short legs.

"Crack!" The water buffalo crushed the stone in its left hand, its bovine eyes swiveling to target Li Qianxia, and swung again.

"Bang bang bang!"

Stones splattered, and a blade of grass snapped cleanly like a twig.

Li Qianxia, in "Wolf Howl" status, moved as fast as lightning, easily dodging the stones.

"Mosquito, let's go."

"Brother, you..."

"Go." Li Changzhou's eyes were as cold as ice while he ejected the empty magazine and reloaded with a spare.

Li Qianxia didn't go.

"You go first," Li Changzhou pulled the bolt, chambering a round, "take Xiao Qing far away to support me."

Li Qianxia bit her lip and raced toward Yang Qinglan as if flying.

Li Changzhou stood in the alfalfa bushes, holding an AK;

The water buffalo stood in the snowy mountain stream, clothed in a black Horned Robe.

The two faced off across a field of purple and blue wildflowers, among which lied the immobile body of the crested lizard.

The water buffalo stepped forward, its legs sturdy as beams, strolling upstream in the creek.

Li Changzhou followed, always standing between it and Yang Qinglan.

If one holds out too long, one is bound to fail. It was much easier for the water buffalo to find an angle to throw its stones than it was for him to block every shard. Moreover, "Skin Enhancement" had a time limit; they couldn't keep the stand-off going.

Li Changzhou removed the fully-loaded AK, tossed it into the bushes, and with long strides walked towards the water buffalo.

Standing at one meter ninety-two, the water buffalo's chest rose and fell. Its solid muscles looked like a mountain breathing. It observed Li Changzhou, who had laid down his weapon and was approaching, and its nostrils flared dramatically before slowly contracting after a second.

It opened its right hand, and the crushed stones it had held fell clattering into the water.

Li Changzhou made a sound of amusement, "Ho—".

"You do have the spirit of a warrior." He smiled with his lips, calm in his gaze.

"Moo!" The water buffalo bellowed to the sky, taking steps towards him, accelerating, running, and launching a ferocious charge at Li Changzhou.

The momentum was enough to frighten one into rolling away in panic, or even to freeze someone in dumbfounded terror.

When a baby unknowingly points a toy gun at an adult's face, the adult instinctively dodges or presses down on the toy gun's barrel.

What was charging straight at him was neither the plastic bullet of a toy gun nor the lethal bullet of a handgun, but rather an impact akin to a cannonball from a wild buffalo.

Li Changzhou was utterly fearless.

The black pupils set within his whites were focused and concentrated, and he could see clearly the vortices kicked up in the creek water, the splashing plants, the water buffalo's muscles, and its expression.

He simply shifted his body to the side and sidestepped the charge.

The water buffalo ran a distance before slowing down and gradually turning, revealing a disdainful smile to Li Changzhou.

The Horned Robe receded like a tide, gathering back into horns atop its head.

Li Changzhou glanced at the AK crushed under a cloven hoof, considered it a hassle, and then feelings of astonishment and frustrated rage surged within him.

"Control Dopamine"

The unnecessary emotions vanished once more.

Without his AK, and with the water buffalo bereft of its invincible Horned Robe, the odds of a one-on-one fight were even, but with Yang Qinglan and Li Qianxia on his side, as long as he could hold the water buffalo off and let Yang Qinglan get far enough away...

'The advantage is mine.'

The water buffalo kicked the broken AK aside, its eyes fixated on Li Changzhou, its nostrils flaring and shrinking.

"Thud thud thud!" It charged step by step.

The sound of its footsteps made the stones on the riverbank flicker and flash.

Li Changzhou dodged while twisting his hips, gathering all his strength in his legs, and kicked towards the water buffalo's knee pit.

The formidable strength made the water buffalo stagger, kneeling on one knee, but it threw a punch back at Li Changzhou.

Li Changzhou turned his head, hearing the whistling of the fist cutting through the air.

The water buffalo threw another punch, forcing Li Changzhou to distance himself.

The opponent's fist was too large and covered too wide an area, making it difficult to dodge in close combat.

The water buffalo stood up, its kicked leg a bit lame, but not yet to the extent that it hindered fighting.

Li Changzhou glanced in the direction of Yang Qinglan. With Li Qianxia's help, the two and the monkey were almost at the edge of the forest.

The water buffalo did not continue to attack; it retreated toward the creek.

Li Changzhou kept silent, pressing forward, forcefully dragging it to prevent it from getting close to the pebbles.

As soon as he moved, the water buffalo delivered a punch with great force and heavy momentum.

With no way to avoid it, Li Changzhou crossed his arms, tensing all the muscles in his body, and took the opponent's punch head-on.

The powerful force shook his body, but it wasn't as overpowering as he imagined; it was not enough to injure him with a 9-point constitution.

Apparently, the Horned Robe could enhance strength as well as provide defense.

He could fight.

Li Changzhou threw a counterpunch, meeting the water buffalo's second punch head-on.

"Bang!"

A large and a small fist collided, evenly matched in strength.

The nostrils of the water buffalo flared, its third punch ready.

Li Changzhou leaned back to dodge, supporting himself with his hands; his legs, far stronger than his arms, thrust him forward like a rabbit.

"Moo!"

The water buffalo's jaw took a heavy blow, with blood spurting from its nose and the cowhide on its neck stretching as if it was about to break.

Li Changzhou rose to his feet, his fist aiming for the cow's neck.

His breathing was steady, his blood flowing smoothly, his fascia stretched ready for a one-punch kill, and he threw the punch out.

Feeling the threat of life and death, the water buffalo's head, kicked upwards, suddenly flashed with blood-red eyes.

"Moo—"

The bull's head, like an arrow off a bow, was abruptly pulled back by its body.

As it lowered its head, Li Changzhou's punch, which had targeted the fragile neck, was now aimed at the exceedingly sharp and hard horns.

Lao She's "Divine Fist" Act III: "Always leave some leeway, don't stubbornly drill into a bull's horns."

There's also a fable about a mouse that stubbornly tried to squeeze into the tip of a bull's horn and ended up dying inside it.

Li Changzhou, thinking about these elementary school stories, maintained his composure while, at the last moment before touching the tip of the horn, he exerted all his strength to dodge.

The tip of the horn, like a red pen, drew a red line from the back of his fist right down the middle of his wrist.

Blood pearls soon began to seep out along the red line.

Li Changzhou's punch ultimately landed on the bull's head, causing the water buffalo's head to spin and his own hand to tingle.

He abruptly raised his knee, aiming for the cow's lower jaw.

The water buffalo instinctively pressed both hands against it, blocking the blow, and then pushed with force, withdrawing from the exchange.

The two put distance between themselves.

The water buffalo was somewhat breathless.

It was feeling not only physical exhaustion but also the shock of a life-threatening crisis.

This upright beast was not normal, unlike other upright beasts he had encountered before; when he landed a punch, they either froze in place or turned tail and ran, or he punched them and broke their backs.

Li Changzhou felt nothing in particular as he glanced again at Yang Qinglan and her group, just in time to see them entering the forest.

'Good, with Yang Qinglan's help, killing this cow will be easy. Damn, that was scary.'

It was over.

Li Changzhou realized something was amiss.

The standoff had wasted too much time, the second "Control Dopamine" had passed, and his intelligence was now at 3 points.