Chapter 4: Desperation

Before the forest wolf could get within a meter of him, Li Rui raised his leg.

Then, he kicked out with all his might!

"Crack!"

A sickening sound of bone fracturing suddenly rang out. Perhaps luck was on his side; the kick was precise, swift, and ruthless to the extreme. It landed squarely on the wolf’s lower jaw, which had naturally dropped open mid-lunge!

As the forest wolf was sent flying, the adrenaline ebbed away, and Li Rui, previously driven by the instinct of fear to fight back, finally regained his senses. Influenced by the immediate rush of dopamine, his mood shifted rapidly—

"You pathetic mutt, clearly weighing no more than sixty pounds—who gave you the courage to try and pick a fight with a terrifying upright ape like me, standing six feet tall and weighing a hundred and sixty pounds? Liang Jingru?"

"Whimper... ugh..."

After being kicked sideways, the forest wolf struggled for several seconds before it could barely climb back up.

Li Rui squinted to get a better look. Its state was miserable—its jaw hung at an eerie, distorted angle, and blood mixed with saliva dripped incessantly from the mouth it could no longer close. Every painful twitch was accompanied by the faint, rhythmic "clicking" of grinding bones...

Its jaw had been ruined.

Whether it was dislocated or fractured, for the wolf, it meant only one thing—

It had lost the ability to bite prey or chew food. In this forest governed by the law of the jungle, only one dead end awaited it: to starve to death amidst endless hunger and agony, with no chance of survival.

Seeing this outcome, Li Rui felt a sense of relief, and his entire body felt a bit lighter.

But just as he began to contemplate whether he should kill the wolf, eat its meat as rations, and keep its pelt as a souvenir, a series of low growls suddenly echoed around the grassy area beneath the cliff.

Li Rui turned his head, and sweat instantly drenched his back.

He had forgotten one thing.

Wolves are pack animals.

But... they lacked the ability to make him perish here!

The moment the pack lunged, he turned and leaped toward the cliff wall, every cell in his body straining.

On this nearly vertical cliff face, a normal human being would have no way to stand steady.

But he had his cheat code!

[Colloidal Body Fluid]!

With a soft "slap," Li Rui stuck firmly to the cliff face like a poster covered in glue.

***

Up until now.

At this moment, he was spread-eagled, pressed tightly against the rock face in the shape of a "big" character, not daring to move an inch.

Normally, an average person wouldn't be able to stand steady on such a nearly vertical terrain without falling, especially in his position, where his only points of contact were the two small stone protrusions under his big toes.

Under normal circumstances, given his weight of a hundred and sixty pounds, those two tiny, pebble-like protrusions would have snapped off the moment he stepped on them.

But because [Colloidal Body Fluid] provided a certain degree of stickiness, the two small protrusions actually managed to support his weight!

Thus, the forest wolves, having finally found their prey, could only stare longingly at the meal stuck to the cliff—they could see it, but they couldn't eat it.

After a half-hour standoff, a loud growl erupted from Li Rui’s stomach.

"Grumble..."

The distinct sound even reached the ears of the wolf pack below, causing them to howl and yelp in excitement, thinking their prey was about to give out and fall down to become fresh meat.

However, another half hour passed, and Li Rui remained glued to the cliff.

But his condition had become dire.

He hadn't eaten for most of the day, he’d been constantly exerting himself, he was injured, and his nerves were stretched to their limit.

He felt that if things continued this way, he’d be meeting his ancestors soon.

With a hardened heart, he focused his mind on a patch of tree roots and moss on the cliff face before him. He summoned his cheat code and equipped the [Strong Digestion] trait.

He began to gnaw on the tree roots!

Li Rui swore that this was the most disgusting thing he had ever eaten in his life.

The moss was relatively easier to swallow, but the earthy, musty taste underneath it almost made him vomit.

As for the tree roots, most of them were lignified. Although they only had the bitter, astringent taste of vegetation, they were extremely difficult to chew.

He was practically grazing on a roadside green belt.

After consuming these plants, which no normal human could digest, [Strong Digestion] immediately took effect.

Instead of feeling stomach discomfort, he felt a warmth in his gut, and every cell in his body seemed to cheer because his stomach was finally filled.

Half an hour later, he didn't feel any signs of diarrhea or the like.

Li Rui couldn't help but sigh to himself; a goblin’s digestive system was truly overpowered.

***

Before crossing over, his stomach had been incredibly weak. If the temperature dropped even slightly, eating an apple would make his intestines churn and gurgle, potentially requiring an immediate trip to the bathroom.

But now, with his belly pressed against the cold rock face and filled with a bunch of things a normal person would never dare to eat, he actually felt quite comfortable, his entire body glowing with warmth.

Even the muscles that had been locked in place against the rock face felt a bit less sore and weary.

He then looked down at the cliff with a smug expression.

"Too bad for you, I’ve got hacks!"

The wolf pack saw him gnawing on the moss and roots. Hungry and growling, they began to bark at him, hoping their roars would scare the prey into falling.

"Stupid dogs! If you're so tough, jump up here and bite me!"

The wolf pack clearly lacked the jumping ability to do so, so they could only bark helplessly below.

And so, the sun soon set, and the night passed in the blink of an eye.

After the standoff lasted until the next morning, Li Rui noticed that, for some reason, only five wolves remained watching him.

"Tsk, keeping such a close watch?"

When he was bored, Li Rui had carefully observed every forest wolf below and found that they possessed no peculiar supernatural powers; their body lengths, including their tails, were only about five or six feet.

Facing a medium-to-large creature like Li Rui, who stood six feet tall and weighed a hundred and sixty pounds, a single forest wolf was clearly at a disadvantage.

If he included the dagger he possessed, the forest wolf would be at a massive disadvantage. Unless they were lucky enough to land a bite on his neck, it was highly probable that Li Rui could kill them while suffering only minor injuries or none at all.

If only one wolf had remained, Li Rui swore he would have jumped down to feast on wolf meat immediately.

Unfortunately, the forest wolves likely had the self-awareness to realize this, so they didn't dare to be careless.

Thus, Li Rui could only helplessly turn back, open his mouth to continue gnawing on moss, and out of sheer irritation, he even bit into a few mouthfuls of dirt.

By noon, another incident occurred: the forest wolves that had left managed to climb to the top of the mountain from the other side of the cliff. They stood on the peak of the small, dozen-meter-high hill and poked their heads out, barking wildly at Li Rui, which truly gave him quite a scare.

Fortunately, the forest wolves weren't intelligent enough to think of bringing rocks to throw down, otherwise, this would have been Li Rui’s burial ground.

By the afternoon, Li Rui felt he could no longer hold on.