Chapter 53

Lin Bei took a deep breath, suppressing the nervousness in his heart. At this moment, he could not afford to panic.

The jackals, known for being the most organized beasts in the animal kingdom, appeared to be scattered, but in fact, they were organized into pairs. Each pair supported each other, with a distance of no more than ten meters between them. This distance allowed them to quickly provide support. The soldier jackals were at the forefront, while the nanny jackals and the bitter jackals emitted loud roars. In the animal kingdom, the size of a roar often determines the strength of a creature, so their roars could deceive some foolish animals.

The one-eyed jackal slowly approached Lin Bei from the front, its roars and those of the guard jackals being the loudest, used to attract Lin Bei's attention, making it easier for the soldier jackals to surround and attack him.

In modern times, jackals have had experiences of fighting tigers, especially when food was extremely scarce. In every such encounter, the tigers, after killing some jackals, would become exhausted and be killed by the pack. These outcomes demonstrated the strength of the jackal pack. Even a fierce tiger cannot match a pack of wolves, and a pack of jackals is even more ferocious. This is why jackals are often mentioned first among the four great predators: jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards.

Lin Bei slowly retreated. During his weakened state, his strength decreased as he lost blood. Even with his snake-like endurance, he could not escape this rule. Therefore, Lin Bei decided to find a cover. There were two options at Longtan: the Green Dragon Rock or the wooden house. Lin Bei did not enter the wooden house but prepared to fight the jackal pack at the Green Dragon Rock.

Just as the battle was about to begin, the weak cry of a young jackal sounded. The noise from the jackal pack was so loud that it had woken up the young jackal.

Hearing the cries of the young jackals, both Lin Bei and the jackal pack paused, looking at the nest Lin Bei had made for them.

"Damn, will these jackals eat the young ones?" Lin Bei, not knowing the habits of the jackal pack, was worried that they might eat the young jackals first, as most predatory animals have the habit of killing threatening young ones.

As Lin Bei was making this guess, the one-eyed jackal let out a low roar, and the jackal pack began to slowly retreat. The one-eyed jackal, however, moved forward with the guard jackals, approaching the young jackals and letting out low calls. The young jackals responded with their own cries.

"Is this... communication?" Lin Bei hesitated for a moment but did not interrupt.

If the young jackals could return to the pack, Lin Bei would be happy to see it. However, he found it amazing that such small creatures, just one day old, could communicate with the adults. This ability was truly remarkable.

In fact, the young jackals were only emitting distress signals, which the pack needed to confirm.

Lin Bei did not understand the conversation between the young jackals and the pack, but then the one-eyed jackal let out another low roar, and several nanny jackals, which were female and smaller in size, emerged from the back and slowly approached the young jackals. The one-eyed jackal, however, moved closer to Lin Bei with the guard jackals.

"Is this a two-pronged approach or..." Lin Bei was confused. As he hesitated, the nanny jackals picked up the young jackals and slowly retreated.

"Let's wait and see," Lin Bei sighed, feeling somewhat frustrated. He was in a weakened state, having lost a lot of blood, and was not in the best condition to fight. This is why he tolerated the actions of the jackals. If he were in perfect condition, he would not have allowed this to happen.

The young jackals cried again. Lin Bei noticed that it was the one with the birthmark. Although its voice was weak, the nanny jackal carrying it paused and looked at the one-eyed jackal, who seemed to be taken aback for a moment before letting out a roar. The nanny jackal then carefully placed the young jackal with the birthmark on the ground.

As Lin Bei was puzzled, the young jackal with the birthmark sniffed the air, seemingly identifying a direction, and began to crawl slowly toward Lin Bei. It was very small, taking wobbly steps and sometimes falling to the ground, but it stubbornly continued to crawl toward Lin Bei, just like when it was competing for food.

"Looks like you still remember my care," Lin Bei felt a sense of relief and was amazed by the intelligence of the young jackal. Just a special act of care had been remembered by it. Lin Bei found this truly incredible.

The young jackal with the birthmark crawled very slowly. Lin Bei and the one-eyed jackal did not move, so it eventually reached Lin Bei. The young jackal sniffed again, stuck out its pink tongue, and then turned around.

"Uh, what is this..." Lin Bei was confused.

At first, Lin Bei thought the young jackal was reluctant to leave him, but now it was clear that was not the case.

The one-eyed jackal let out another low roar, and a nanny jackal emerged, picking up the young jackal again. This time, the young jackal did not resist and returned to the pack.

The one-eyed jackal looked at Lin Bei again, let out a series of roars, and the jackal pack began to slowly retreat, leaving the dead wolves behind. They quickly disappeared from Lin Bei's sight, as if nothing had happened.

"This..."

Lin Bei, who had expected a major battle, found the situation quite strange. He could not understand the thinking of these animals, but not fighting was a good thing for him. He was just a bit sad that the young jackals, especially the one with the birthmark, had been taken away by the pack so soon after he had adopted them. If he had raised the young jackal himself, would it have become a powerful jackal king? Now, it was too late to think about it.

With the wolf pack dead and the jackal pack gone, Lin Bei had some free time. He looked at the location of the clouded leopard and found that it was gone. It must have realized it could not gain any advantage and retreated early to avoid Lin Bei's anger. In fact, Lin Bei was quite angry because he liked this creature and had let it go several times before. Now, it was taking advantage of the situation, and Lin Bei wanted to teach it a lesson. Unfortunately, this creature was not foolish, as felines are generally very intelligent.

The birds in the sky, however, were not so smart. They circled lower, seemingly targeting the dead wolves. The strong scent of blood was attracting them. Lin Bei suddenly stood up, swinging the wooden stick with a loud whistling sound, declaring his anger and asserting that this was his territory. The birds, after a few cries, finally retreated and would likely not return for a long time, as a top predator had now claimed this area.

Enduring the strong scent of blood, Lin Bei began to rest. He needed to recover quickly. This incident made him realize the dangers of the forest. Even with his powerful snake body, he was still at risk. Maintaining a complete and strong state was the most important thing for now.