Chapter 91

The barking of the hounds announced the approach of danger, and this danger was clearly aimed at Feng Bujue.

He opened the game menu and glanced at the quest bar, which now displayed: [Time until sunrise: 203 minutes]

It had been 37 minutes since General Zaroff set out. Although Feng Bujue had hurried for over an hour, the possibility of the general catching up to him at this point was still very high.

As the barking of the hounds grew closer, the giant python nearby abandoned its meal, leaving the wild boar and hastily retreated into the dark forest. It seemed that the animals on this island clearly understood what the barking meant. Even if they were not afraid of the dogs, they would still fear the dogs' owner.

Feng Bujue realized that the situation was now critical. He had to take effective action, even if it was certain that he could not escape, he should try to buy more time for his other two teammates, increasing their chances of completing the game.

Hiding was probably not an option. Feng Bujue had left some footprints along the way. With the general's tracking skills, it was not just the footprints but even broken branches and trampled grass that could not escape the eyes of the Cossacks.

Moreover, Zaroff had his hounds. The scent left on the ground was as clear as a road sign to these animals, whose sense of smell was a hundred times stronger than that of humans.

In this situation, the prey should be extremely tense. In the dark and complex environment, hearing a powerful boss gradually approaching, but not knowing when or how the hunter would attack, was a feeling that needed no explanation. In most horror or action games, being chased by something was often a part that tested the player's mental fortitude and skills.

If it were another player, they would probably have fled in any direction, just to get away from the barking, running wherever they could. But Feng Bujue remained calm. He did not feel fear and quietly and quickly put away his knife, using the flashlight to confirm which direction had a more gentle terrain before setting off.

He was not worried that the flashlight's light would expose his position, because even if he turned it off, it would not slow down the pursuers, and it would only make it harder for him to move in the dark.

After observing, Feng Bujue decided that the path to the north was slightly more gentle. He used the flashlight to light the way and ran as fast as he could. The barking of the hounds continued to grow closer, but he ignored the auditory pressure, never looking back or getting distracted. He focused all his attention on the road ahead to ensure his speed was not affected.

When fleeing in such an irregular terrain, the fugitive should avoid frequently looking back at the pursuer, as this was entirely detrimental and had no benefits.

In the countless horror movies Feng Bujue had seen, a common scene was a character (usually a beautiful woman) being chased by a monster, often in a forest. The woman would run and scream, occasionally looking back with a terrified expression. The camera would follow her from the monster's perspective, shaking and switching. After running for a while, the character would almost certainly fall, followed by chaotic editing, a screen full of ketchup, and a pig-like scream, as the monster claimed its first kill.

Feng Bujue would not make such a mistake. Tripping him was impossible; he might trip the monster instead.

The chase continued for some time, and the barking finally approached to about 15 meters behind Feng Bujue. He knew he was definitely in the other's line of sight. By logical analysis, Zaroff had two choices: first, to release the hound's collar and let the dog charge forward to tackle the target; second, to use his boss-level shooting skills to shoot and finish the job.

Either way, Feng Bujue would be killed in a few seconds. The difference was whether he would be torn apart by the dog's teeth or shot in the back of the head.

However, as the saying goes, a swordsman's shame is a wound on his back. Hmm... it didn't seem very relevant to the current situation.

In any case, Feng Bujue decided that even if he was going to die, he should put up a last stand. Since he was about to be over, the remaining survival points and stamina would lose their meaning. He activated the [Spiritual Body Concentration Technique], suddenly accelerated, and leaped to the side, hiding behind a tree.

This was the first time Feng Bujue used this skill, and the feeling after activation was very peculiar, as if the blood in his body had instantly boiled, and a faint heat energy radiated from his entire body. This "heat" was different from the oppressive heat of the environment; it did not make him feel sticky or uncomfortable but brought a sense of mental excitement, almost like a surge of fighting spirit.

For a skill that required no consumption and purely burned survival points, this was exactly the effect it aimed for.

"Something's not right..." Feng Bujue suddenly felt suspicious behind the tree.

After activating the skill, all of Feng Bujue's physical abilities were enhanced, and his five senses were slightly improved. His hearing became extremely sensitive, and his reaction speed was beyond normal. Intuitively, it felt as if time itself had slowed down. At this moment, he could clearly distinguish and separate the various subtle sounds entering his ears, and he noticed that under the cover of the hounds' barking, there were only the sounds of four legs trampling the ground, with no human footsteps at all.

He then slightly poked his head out from behind the tree and, as expected, saw no light from a flashlight or any other lighting device. General Zaroff could not possibly be chasing with the hounds while being completely blind, so... it was almost certain that only a dog had been chasing him since the beginning.

Feng Bujue quickly understood that this was the script giving the players a way out. His estimate of the script's difficulty was a bit too high. He had thought the general would catch up with the hounds in just over half an hour, but now it seemed that Zaroff had first released the large pack of hounds he had shown in the castle and was slowly pursuing.

Perhaps due to Yidao's early death and Siyu's disconnection, or perhaps the script's difficulty was adjusted based on what the players could achieve in the hour before the boss set out. In any case, this setting was indeed consistent with the system's usual meticulous style.

Since the players could split up, the monsters could also split up, preventing one team from easily completing the game while another quickly fell into a hopeless situation. Each team of players would inevitably face this advanced challenge, and the boss would appear later accordingly. (To be continued.)