Chapter 105 - 93: Slaying the Unihorn Catfish, the First Successful Hunt of an Extraordinary Creature
Under the boost from the Comprehensive Enhancement Card, all aspects of his abilities had long surpassed those of an ordinary person.
Strength, speed, reflexes, and incredibly precise control over his body.
And his Water Mastery skill gave his abilities in the water yet another boost.
With these two effects stacked, Chen Chong’s power skyrocketed.
As he dodged its bite by diving into the Unihorn Catfish’s mouth, he had quickly drawn his dagger and plunged it into the flesh and bone of the creature’s lower jaw. A sideways tug lodged the blade, stopping him from sliding any deeper.
An ordinary person could never have pulled off such a maneuver, not even Wang Biao...
But Chen Chong could!
The drastic improvement in his own strength was the source of his confidence to take such a risk.
Although it was still a gamble, thankfully, it had paid off!
Attacking the Unihorn Catfish from the inside was the optimal solution at the moment.
Even if attacking from the inside failed, he would just have to give up on killing it; Chen Chong had a way out.
From the very beginning, he had noticed that the Unihorn Catfish would occasionally open its massive mouth as it swam.
He didn’t know if it was to filter oxygen or just a habit.
If he failed to kill it from the inside, Chen Chong just needed to wait for an opportunity when its massive mouth opened and then dive out, just as he had dived in.
With his Water Mastery and enhanced body, he was quite confident he could manage it...
Although the Unihorn Catfish’s mouth was wide, the distance between its upper and lower jaws wasn’t great. He only needed to crouch and reach up to touch the roof of its mouth.
Chen Chong managed to straighten his upper body. He kept one hand on his dagger while slowly drawing the Tang Blade from his waist with the other.
The crisp sound of the blade being unsheathed echoed.
’This spot... should be where the brain is, right?’
Chen Chong couldn’t see; he could only rely on his sense of touch.
Unsure of the exact location, he could only probe upward little by little with the blade.
He felt resistance and applied a bit of force...
The sensation of the blade easily piercing flesh came back to him, just like cutting meat for a meal. It slid in with surprising ease.
’Just as I expected.’ The Unihorn Catfish’s outer skin was the only thing difficult to pierce. Its insides had the structure of a normal creature—extremely fragile!
The sharp Tang Blade could pierce it with ease!
It wasn’t just the flesh of the lower jaw; the upper jaw was the same!
Having found his target, Chen Chong hesitated no longer. He used all his strength and drove the entire blade upward...
BOOM!!!
The Unihorn Catfish leaped out of the water, its massive body crashing down and sending up a wave several meters high. A strange noise escaped its mouth.
Immediately after, it began to thrash wildly in the water as if in immense pain.
THUD! THUD! THUD—
The Unihorn Catfish continued to roll over and over. The intense pain made it impossible for it to swim, leaving it to struggle frantically between the riverbed and the surface in an attempt to alleviate the feeling.
The tributary was simply not wide enough to accommodate the thrashing of such a massive creature.
As the Unihorn Catfish leaped about wildly, its body slammed against both banks.
Its body, already covered in gashes, became even more grievously wounded. Blood quickly stained the surrounding soil and dyed the water’s surface red...
On the bank, the pursuing group froze, staring at the distant Unihorn Catfish, unable to understand why it was suddenly reacting this way.
’Could it be a side effect of its horn breaking?’
With no time to overthink it, they resumed their pursuit of the Unihorn Catfish.
Even with the group in hot pursuit, a considerable distance still separated them...
Meanwhile, inside the Unihorn Catfish’s mouth.
Chen Chong, his head spinning from the violent shaking, desperately clung to the dagger lodged in the lower jaw.
If his physique hadn’t been strong enough, the constant vibrations alone would have been enough to fling him away.
But at this moment, he wasn’t concerned with his own safety. Instead...
’It’s still not dead?’
’Did my strike miss its brain?’
’That shouldn’t be possible, should it?’
’The Unihorn Catfish is huge, but I’m standing right inside its mouth. The upper jaw is only so big; the Tang Blade should have been long enough to hit the brain.’
’Could its brain be too small? Did I miss it?’
’If one stab isn’t enough, then I’ll just have to do it a few more times!’
Chen Chong pulled the Tang Blade out from the upper jaw and, mustering his strength again, thrust it upward. This time with more force, more ferocity.
He didn’t stop until the entire meter-plus-long Tang Blade was buried to the hilt.
Considering that even this blow might not kill the Unihorn Catfish, Chen Chong quickly withdrew the blade and stabbed again.
This time, he deliberately angled it slightly differently, in case the previous position was wrong and had missed the brain.
He pulled it out again, and stabbed again...
Chen Chong frantically repeated the same action.
One hand gripped the dagger tightly while the other repeatedly stabbed upward, even faster than when he had been hacking at its horn with the axe...
THUD! THUD! THUD!!!
On the tributary’s surface, the Unihorn Catfish’s thrashing grew even more violent. Its enormous body churned the entire surface into a murky mess.
Agonized wails continuously escaped its mouth.
SPLASH—
The Tiger Striped Dog was the first to arrive, and it leaped straight into the water.
Although it was a top-tier hunting dog with decent swimming abilities, it was still difficult to maintain its balance on such a chaotic surface, and it was constantly knocked back by the waves.
But no matter what, it continued to struggle forward, swimming desperately toward the Unihorn Catfish.
The Tiger Striped Dog’s thoughts were simple.
’My master was swallowed by this massive prey. I have to save him...’
「...」
’Damn it, the dagger is about to slip...’
Chen Chong felt like he was on a roller coaster. The world was spinning as he was tossed about inside the dark, slimy mouth.
If not for his immense arm strength, which allowed him to hold onto the dagger wedged in the jawbone, he would have long since been thrown into the stomach or flung out of its mouth.
But even with his formidable physique, he couldn’t withstand this kind of abuse for long.