Chapter 41: The Appearance of the Giant Crocodile

“Swish!”

A massive maw, bristling with jagged, uneven teeth, burst forth from the thicket and snapped toward Little White, who happened to be closest. In that split second, it lunged for him.

Fortunately...

Little White had been on guard, and his nimbleness saved him. As the giant crocodile’s jaws descended, he leapt swiftly aside.

“Crunch!”

The monstrous jaws closed on nothing but air.

At this moment, Ye Da finally glimpsed the creature’s true form. It was a colossal crocodile with rough, mottled brown-black skin. Its enormous head alone was nearly a meter and a half long—never mind the size of its entire body.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Woof woof woof!”

Little White and Little Gray circled the beast, barking furiously.

But after its first failed attack, the giant crocodile turned its attention to Ye Da, snapping at him as it gave chase!

“Damn!” Ye Da cried out, scrambling forward on all fours.

The crocodile seemed locked onto him, lunging from the grass and pursuing him relentlessly, as if Ye Da were the finest prey imaginable!

This was absurd! He’d come searching for an injured boar, only to stumble upon a giant crocodile instead.

“Crunch!”

“Crunch crunch!”

The sound of gnashing teeth echoed behind him, accompanied by gusts of foul, fishy wind. Ye Da didn’t need to look back to know the crocodile was dangerously close.

Damn it! The thicket lay ahead!

On the riverbank, Ye Da might barely outrun the crocodile. But in the grass, the resistance would slow him, and poor visibility meant he could trip or stumble at any moment—a recipe for disaster.

Now, Ye Da was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Woof!”

“Woof woof!”

The two wolf pups sensed their master’s peril and tried to help. But their ambition far exceeded their strength; they couldn’t even pierce the crocodile’s tough hide, let alone hunt it.

It was fortunate the crocodile wasn’t hunting them instead!

“Yelp yelp!”

“Crunch!”

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Just as Ye Da was despairing that the pups could do nothing to assist him, he heard a deep, guttural roar from the crocodile, followed by the sound of its teeth snapping together.

“What’s going on?” Ye Da wondered, startled by the beast’s furious cry. He glanced back.

Little White had clamped his jaws onto the crocodile’s tail and was yanking it fiercely.

The crocodile, stung by pain, spun around to bite at Little White. But Little White was even more agile than Ye Da, and the crocodile’s massive bulk made every turn slow and cumbersome—enough for Little White to dodge again and again.

So...

The crocodile failed to catch Little White, instead growing ever more enraged by the pup’s taunts.

“Hah, these two little ones have remarkable fighting spirit!” Ye Da ran on a few more steps, saw the crocodile change targets and chase the pups instead of him, and finally slowed to a stop.

“Whew!!” Ye Da braced his hands on his knees, gulping air until his nearly bursting lungs felt a little relief.

He was exhausted.

If not for the pups’ intervention, Ye Da would have either collapsed from running or been swallowed whole by the crocodile.

“Woof woof!”

“Crunch crunch!”

Little White, realizing biting the tail was effective, kept at it doggedly. Soon, Little Gray joined the fray.

The crocodile snapped its jaws like a giant stapler, but failed to catch either pup, growing ever more frustrated.

Yet, while the crocodile couldn’t catch them, the pups lacked the strength to harm the beast. At this point, the contest was one of agility and stamina.

But if the wolf pups fatigued, death would surely await them.

For the crocodile, missing its prey was only a temporary setback.

For Little White and Little Gray, even biting through the crocodile’s hide was a struggle.

This was an unfair battle from the very start.

Ye Da knew better than to pin his hopes of victory on the pups. He needed a plan.

While the crocodile was distracted, Ye Da scanned the riverbank for anything that might help him deal with the beast.

Dig a pit in the sand and line it with sharpened bamboo stakes?

Impossible. Too time-consuming.

The pups’ stamina wouldn’t last that long.

Perhaps a snare—lure the crocodile in, then hoist it up?

But after seeing the crocodile’s size, Ye Da realized there wasn’t a single tree nearby strong enough to lift a beast weighing four or five hundred pounds. Even if there were, he lacked the strength to rig such a trap.

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That wouldn’t work either!

What else then?

Poison? Hide poison in some meat and lure the crocodile to eat it?

That was a solid idea.

But Ye Da quickly realized he’d left both the meat and the poison sac back in the treehouse, and there was nowhere nearby to deploy the treehouse. If there were, he wouldn’t need to kill the crocodile—he could just hide inside.

“Wait!” Ye Da exclaimed, just as he was at his wit’s end. His gaze fell upon a treasure chest not far away, and his eyes lit up.

He dashed toward it, tying a flaxen rope around its lid.

After finishing, Ye Da whistled to the wolf pups. “Little Gray, Little White, lure the big brute over here!”

“Woof!”

The two dogs barked in reply and raced toward Ye Da.

The crocodile, seeing its tormentors fleeing, assumed they were frightened and gave chase.

“Little Gray, Little White, run! Hurry!” Ye Da shouted.

The pups understood and surged forward, widening the gap between themselves and the crocodile.

Ye Da watched them intently. The moment Little White and Little Gray darted past the treasure chest, he yanked the rope tied to its lid.

As the chest opened, the crocodile was right in front of it.

“Thud!”

A massive, flesh-colored worm leapt out and sank its teeth into the crocodile.

The chest monster’s true form was like a giant earthworm—or perhaps a sandworm. It was an ugly beast, its exposed body even larger than the chest itself, though how it fit inside was a mystery.

And that wasn’t all. Like a snake, it opened its sewer-like maw lined with spikes and actually swallowed the crocodile’s head whole.

The crocodile thrashed wildly!

But the chest monster held fast, refusing to let go, desperately trying to gulp the crocodile down.

“Boom!”

“Boom boom!”

The crocodile’s tail whipped the ground with thunderous force, sending dust flying!

But the chest monster, once latched onto its prey, was like a leech that never let go, intent only on swallowing it, heedless of whether it could digest such a beast.

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