Chapter 33: The Hunt

The standoff held for a moment.

Song Ren held his karambit in a reverse grip, pressing it against the vicious canine teeth of the pit bull. The blade had already sliced through a section of the dog's masseter muscle.

However, catching a glimpse of another snarling pit bull in his peripheral vision, he immediately withdrew. With a flick of his wrist, he angled the blade downward to clear the sharp fangs, swiftly carving a chunk of bloody flesh from the muscle. He pulled the blade back, retracted his arm, and retreated in a series of rapid, backward leaps.

The moment he gained a sliver of distance, he twisted his torso and followed through with a kick, his heel successfully driving back the second pit bull as it lunged at him.

The entire sequence was fluid and executed in one seamless motion.

Yet, there was no denying that the pack of pit bulls was a troublesome ordeal. They possessed immense stamina and strength. Once they went into a frenzy, they seemed almost oblivious to pain, charging forward with reckless, biting aggression. Throughout the struggle, Song Ren had to ensure he was never clamped down upon. If he were caught, it would trigger a chain reaction, leaving him in dire straits against the remaining two dogs.

Song Ren’s dark pupils darted back and forth as he retreated, adjusting his stance. The pit bull that had just had its masseter muscle sliced open did not retreat; instead, its ferocity intensified. It lunged straight for Song Ren’s ankle.

Coldness bloomed in the depths of Song Ren’s eyes. He raised his heel, hooked it back rapidly, and slammed it downward with a fierce, mid-air stomp. He struck the pit bull’s head at an angle, knocking it over and sending it crashing heavily to the ground.

Only after these several exchanges did the pit bull that Song Ren had kicked with maximum force earlier manage to scramble back up. Its mouth was matted with blood, bits of meat, and scraps of internal organs, and its small eyes still burned with a fierce, manic light. But it had only charged two meters before its body began to sway, and with a soft thud, it collapsed once more, finally falling completely still.

Song Ren’s previous, full-force kick had channeled a significant amount of power from the "Hoof Print" inheritance. Through the thick layer of fat, he had not only shattered the dog’s ribs but pulverized its internal organs as well.

However, the death of one dog only slightly eased the pressure on Song Ren. The other two were still acting as if possessed. The black-coated, short-haired pit bulls were charging at him from two different directions. Song Ren scanned left and right, stepping backward in quick succession, centering his focus as he sought the perfect opening to strike.

The two pit bulls accelerated, snarling as they closed in on him once more. One of them, as if refusing to believe in its own defeat, leaped into the air, aiming directly for Song Ren's side. The other abandoned the leap, instead lunging to tear at his lower leg.

High and low, both opened their gaping maws, their bared fangs gleaming with a cold, metallic light.

Song Ren held his breath, pushing his concentration to its peak. In a split second, he shifted his body, creating a slight angle, and drove his bent knee into the neck of the dog on the ground. At that moment, he dropped his weight, using his entire mass to force the pit bull to flip onto its side. Its thick, muscular neck was pinned firmly under his knee; the dog could only snap its jaws in futile rage, unable to touch a hair on Song Ren.

Simultaneously, he caught the other lunging pit bull by the muscle of its neck with his free hand. Using the momentum of his body dropping into a single-knee stance, he executed a side throw.

One dog was pinned by the weight of his knee and his entire body, its limbs flailing in useless, frantic struggle. The other was held fast by his right hand, the inertia of the mid-air throw paralyzing it for a fleeting moment.

Song Ren seized the opportunity, his eyes flashing with a chilling, ruthless light. He gripped the karambit in reverse, flicking it in a half-circle. The curved tip traced around the back of the pit bull's neck, digging in and carving upward. As the blade pierced the flesh, the muscular layer beneath the dog's neck was torn wide open.

The pit bull began to struggle violently. Song Ren could barely hold it down with his right hand alone. Looking at the other dog still writhing under his knee, a look of murderous intent filled his eyes.

He pressed the karambit deep into the torn muscle, then pulled back with all his might. The blade followed the gash in a circular motion, slicing through the flesh and spraying a ring of crimson blood droplets.

At the same time, the pressure from his right arm began to weaken. As Song Ren retracted the blade, he launched himself backward in a sudden, powerful leap. By the time he stood his ground, the pit bull that had broken free from his knee was already lunging at him with renewed madness. These high-strung fighting dogs, once in combat mode, felt almost no pain—they were consumed entirely by the drive to kill their prey.

Song Ren nimbly dodged the dog. The one following behind, its neck stained with a gore of blood, was noticeably slower in its charge, yet its ferocity remained undiminished.

This was exactly what Song Ren was waiting for. He seized the split-second opening, pivoted his waist, and delivered a side-whip kick, striking the open wound with devastating force.

*Splat!*

The gash burst open under the impact, spraying a fountain of crimson liquid. The pit bull let out a whimper and collapsed to the ground. It tried to rise several times but failed, the pupils in its small eyes growing increasingly unfocused. Only in its final moments did it seem to register the tearing of its own body; it let out a shrill, mournful howl before falling silent once more.

With this, only one of the three pit bulls remained. It weighed roughly fifty kilograms, making it one of the larger specimens among adult pit bulls. However, without the coordinated threat of the others, this lone dog was less intimidating than a Doberman. While pit bulls were the most prominent of the fighting breeds, they lacked true dominance in terms of fang sharpness or raw frame. Their terror lay in their lack of pain, their fearlessness, and their "fight-to-the-death" mentality. A group of them, knowing how to coordinate their attacks, was truly terrifying.

But now, with only this single dog left, the shadow weighing on Song Ren’s heart finally dissipated.

The pit bull charged again, completely undeterred. Song Ren shook out his wrists and, for the first time, stopped retreating, walking forward to meet the beast.

The dog accelerated, its powerful, broad limbs granting it immense explosive force. But Song Ren’s reflexes were faster. As he nimbly sidestepped, he reached out and grabbed the pit bull’s tail. In mid-air, the tail was pinned firmly in his hands. With his feet planted in a solid horse stance, he swung his arms, immediately executing a powerful over-the-shoulder throw.