Chapter 26: The Hook-Handed Dragon! A Clash of Mediocrity?
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This was unmistakably a dinosaur nest. Judging by the diameter of the eggs, they had likely been laid by some small or medium-sized dinosaur.
At the moment, the nest’s owners were conveniently away, probably out hunting for food.
But since their nest was here, they clearly lived somewhere nearby and could not be far away.
Liuxing, however, had not the slightest sense of danger. The moment he saw so many dinosaur eggs in the dirt nest, he began to drool and eagerly moved closer.
He had never tasted a dinosaur egg before, but instinct told him that the things must be delicious!
Crack!
Liuxing picked up a dinosaur egg in his jaws, bit through the shell, and began devouring it with relish.
The dinosaur embryo inside had not yet fully developed before it vanished into Liuxing’s stomach.
One egg was not enough to fill him, so Liuxing picked up a second and wolfed it down clean.
Not far away, Chu Xu, who had been secretly following Liuxing, was rendered speechless by the sight.
Had Liuxing mistaken this for a buffet?
Sneaking away with a few dinosaur eggs while their owner was gone would have been one thing, but the little fool had actually stayed right there and eaten them in broad daylight.
Only after devouring three dinosaur eggs did Liuxing’s belly become round and full. Even then, he smacked his lips, still longing for more.
The dinosaur eggs were so delicious that Liuxing thought he could take some home and share them with Mother Dragon, his big brother, and his second sister. He therefore picked up one egg in his jaws and hugged another with his two short little arms.
In the past, his big brother had always gone hunting and returned with plenty of delicious food.
Now it was finally his turn to bring food home!
Kekeke!
Just as Liuxing was carrying the two dinosaur eggs away, a shrill, piercing cry rang out.
Within Chu Xu’s telepathic perception, he detected an adult dinosaur racing toward the nest.
Sure enough, the owner had returned!
It was a Hook-handed Dragon, a small omnivorous dinosaur belonging to the genus Haplocheirus in the alvarezsaur family.
Hook-handed Dragons were about two meters long, stood one meter tall at the head, and weighed roughly fifty pounds. Their appearance was remarkably birdlike, and their bodies were covered in dense feathers. Their defining features were a pair of short, powerful forelimbs and the hooked claws on their fingers.
By comparison, Liuxing, who was not yet a year old, was only one meter long and half a meter tall at the head. His weight, however, was not much different from that of the Hook-handed Dragon.
Kek!
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From far away, the Hook-handed Dragon spotted signs of an intruder and hurried home in a fury, arriving just as Liuxing was about to leave.
You little thief! Prepare to die!
Seeing that Liuxing had taken two of her dinosaur eggs, the Hook-handed Dragon let out an enraged cry and charged at him viciously, looking utterly determined to fight to the death.
Liuxing was startled by the sudden charge. He accidentally loosened both his jaws and his grip, and the two dinosaur eggs crashed to the ground. Their shells split open, and the egg liquid spilled everywhere.
Kek!
Her two children had died inside their shells. The Hook-handed Dragon was driven completely mad with rage. She leapt into the air and pounced straight onto Liuxing.
Her sharp, beaklike mouth pecked furiously at his head, tearing open his flesh, while the hooked claws on her forelimbs raked wildly across his body, ripping one gash after another.
Liuxing fled in pain, but the Hook-handed Dragon pursued him relentlessly, seemingly determined not to stop until he paid for the lives of her children.
After being chased and beaten for some distance, Liuxing finally could not endure it any longer.
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a tyrannosaur!
When the Hook-handed Dragon pounced again and aimed another peck at his head, Liuxing endured the pain and struck back. He opened his jaws and bit down on the dinosaur’s slender neck.
The most important hunting technique he had learned from Mother Dragon was to attack an enemy’s most vulnerable point: the neck.
Kekeke!
The Hook-handed Dragon clearly had not expected Liuxing to counterattack so suddenly. He caught her neck in his jaws, and his sharp teeth immediately sank deep into her flesh.
The Hook-handed Dragon struggled violently and barely managed to wrench herself free, but a row of bloody tooth marks remained around her neck, with torn flesh hanging outward.
The successful strike gave Liuxing confidence. His tyrannosaur battle instincts awakened, and he took the initiative, pouncing on the Hook-handed Dragon.
The Hook-handed Dragon had gone berserk as well. Without hesitation, she charged straight into Liuxing, and the two tumbled into a thicket of horsetails, where they began to fight fiercely.
You bit me, I pecked you; back and forth they went, locked in a furious struggle.
Not far away, Chu Xu, who had initially been preparing to help Liuxing, stopped and leisurely watched the two amateurs flail at each other.
With Chu Xu’s keen eyesight, it was obvious that the Hook-handed Dragon had the upper hand. Relying on her beak, hooked claws, and talons, she launched attack after attack, keeping Liuxing firmly suppressed as more and more wounds appeared across his body.
Yet those wounds were not a serious problem for Liuxing.
Liuxing, on the other hand, fought with only his jaws. Every time he managed to bite the Hook-handed Dragon, flesh was torn and blood gushed forth, gradually hampering her movements.
This was the difference between their weapons. The Hook-handed Dragon’s attacks looked fierce, but they could not inflict much damage on Liuxing’s thick hide and heavy build.
By contrast, the sharp teeth filling Liuxing’s mouth were more than capable of inflicting devastating injuries on the Hook-handed Dragon.
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More than ten minutes passed, and the Hook-handed Dragon began to show signs of exhaustion. Her attacks were no longer nearly as swift and fierce as they had been at the start.
Roar!
Seizing the opportunity, Liuxing bit down on the Hook-handed Dragon’s neck once more. This time, he summoned every ounce of his strength and clamped down without letting go, no matter how violently she struggled.
Gradually, the force of the Hook-handed Dragon’s struggles weakened, until at last she stopped moving altogether, strangled to death within Liuxing’s jaws.
Liuxing still did not dare relax. He waited several more minutes, and only after confirming that the Hook-handed Dragon showed no sign of movement did he finally release her.
The Hook-handed Dragon’s body collapsed limply onto the ground.
Roar!
After confirming that his opponent was dead, Liuxing was filled with soaring pride. He planted one foot on the Hook-handed Dragon’s corpse and threw back his head, releasing a triumphant roar.
It would have been even more perfect if he had followed it with a few suitably melodramatic lines.
Kekeke!
Unfortunately, Liuxing’s moment of glory lasted less than three seconds before another sharp and furious cry rang out.
Liuxing turned toward the sound and saw another Hook-handed Dragon standing before him.
The one he had just killed was a female. This late-arriving Hook-handed Dragon was her mate.
This is bad!
Liuxing had exhausted every last ounce of strength to kill the female Hook-handed Dragon. Now another Hook-handed Dragon, still in peak fighting condition, was attacking him. He no longer had the strength to fight.
Liuxing thought, Farewell, Mother. You do not need to cook dinner for me tonight...
Kek!
The male Hook-handed Dragon had his enemy—the thief who had stolen the eggs and murdered his wife—right before his eyes. Enraged beyond reason, he launched himself at Liuxing.
Whoosh!
Yet before the male Hook-handed Dragon could reach him, a ball of flame suddenly fell from the sky and struck him. In an instant, his feathers caught fire, transforming him into a rolling ball of flame.
…
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