Li Rui knew that Daina had been bitten by the leopard in order to save him. Seeing the leopard pouncing on her, scratching, biting, and tormenting her, he was shocked, pained, angry, and hateful. He walked forward and swung the half-broken piece of firewood in his left hand at the leopard's skull.
With a soft thud, the piece of firewood hit the leopard's head accurately, but it didn't have any effect. The leopard didn't even look at him and continued to bite Daina's arm.
Li Rui was anxious. He wanted to use the torch in his right hand as a club, but he was afraid that the torch would be extinguished, and he and Daina would be in more danger. He could only raise his right leg and kick the leopard's right neck. This kick was powerful and heavy, at least one or two hundred pounds. The leopard only wanted to bite Daina to death and didn't pay attention to the kick at all. It was hit squarely by the kick, and its head was immediately sent flying. Its body was also sent flying in the direction of the kick. When it landed, it was already a meter away.
The kick wasn't light. Its head shook twice, and it stuck out its thorny tongue to lick Daina's blood on its mouth. Only then did it resume its attacking posture and aim at the two of them again.
Li Rui didn't care if it would pounce on them again. He first bent down to help Daina up, and helped her back two steps, trying to get as far away from the leopard's attack range as he asked anxiously, "How are you?"
Daina's face was pale, and her eyes were blank. Her eyes flashed with fear, but her tone was still calm, "It's not very serious. It's just that my arm was bitten through. We have to leave quickly. If you're hurt too, then we'll die here."
Li Rui felt that the current situation wasn't as terrible as she said. If he really fought with the leopard to the death, he could still win. Not to mention other strategies, he could use Daina as bait to lure it to bite him. He could then pounce on it from the back and use his arm to firmly lock its throat, and he could strangle it to death. However, that was a method that could only be used in a desperate situation. Even if he could win, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and both sides would be injured. Therefore, he tried not to use it if he could.
"Hmm? Is there wind? "
Just as Li Rui was thinking about how to safely retreat, he suddenly felt a cool breeze blowing in from his back. It was very comfortable. Just as he was about to turn around to look, he found that the position of the leopard on the opposite side was where he and Daina were just now. Only then did he realize that after the short confrontation, the positions of both sides had been swapped. The two of them had switched to the position where the leopard first appeared, and the leopard was not in this stone chamber at first. In other words, it came in from the place where the wind came in from, which was also the other door of this strange cave in the mountain. Thinking of this, he was overjoyed. Just as he was about to tell Daina, the flame of the torch suddenly dimmed and was about to be extinguished.
Daina endured the sharp pain in her arm and took off the sportswear jacket she was wearing. She handed it to him and said, "Quick, set the jacket on fire."
Li Rui took it over and his heart skipped a beat. That's right, it can burn clothes and delay the extinguishing of flames. Why didn't I think of this earlier? He quickly held the sportswear with his left hand and lit it with the torch.
The leopard didn't know what the two of them were doing, but as a hunter, it knew that this was a good opportunity to attack. It let out a muffled roar and was about to pounce.
Li Rui was about to wrap the lit sportswear around the torch when he saw the leopard pouncing at him from the corner of his eye. He was so scared that his hand trembled and he subconsciously threw the lit sportswear at the leopard. The leopard was afraid of fire. Seeing the fire coming at it, it twisted its waist in midair and made a circle before retreating.
Daina saw this and her eyes lit up. She said, "Quick, take off your jacket and set it on fire."
Li Rui had also thought of a way to retreat. He said, "Don't be in a hurry, let's retreat first. Behind us is another door that leads to the outside of the mountain. Let's retreat while burning the jacket to block the leopard's attack." As he spoke, he supported her and retreated step by step.
Daina pushed his hand away. She said, "I don't need to be supported for now. Use your left hand to take off the jacket!"
Li Rui agreed and used his free left hand to unzip the jacket. His feet didn't stop moving and he retreated step by step. Daina didn't need his order. She turned around and looked at the road ahead to see where the door was.
When the leopard saw the two of them escape, it was anxious and angry. However, the sportswear was burning fiercely. It ignited a ball of fire and emitted a lot of thick smoke. It blocked its path like a flaming mountain. When it saw this, it was very afraid and kept growling to vent its anger.
Daina quickly found the door. Although it was called a door, it was actually the same as the crack that Long Baoyu and Xie Duzhong had retreated through. It was a crack in the mountain. It was as wide as two people and very high. She couldn't see the top. There were gusts of mountain wind blowing in from the outside. It seemed that it wasn't far from the outside of the mountain. It seemed that the huge crack from the Stone Scripture Cave to here was completely formed by the movement of the mountain. After the founder of Qingtai Temple, Master Pu Wu, discovered it, he used this huge crack to dig a stone room to worship Buddha's sarira. He also dug a passage and stairs leading to the Stone Scripture Cave for easy access and maintenance.
Daina didn't hesitate and stepped into the crack. She didn't forget to pull Li Rui back with her good right arm so that he wouldn't be unable to find the entrance with his back facing the crack.
The two of them advanced and retreated. When they were less than two meters into the crack, the burning sportswear in the stone room had been extinguished. The leopard roared and rushed over like a gust of wind. Li Rui knew that it was bad when he heard the roar. He quickly lit the jacket that he had taken off and wrapped it around the torch. He kept rushing forward like a gun. Before the leopard rushed in and chose its target, it saw a ball of fire rushing toward it. It was scared and stopped immediately.
"Let's go!"
Li Rui saw that the leopard was blocked by the fire. He quickly turned around and walked forward with Daina. Daina also sped up. She was like a gust of wind under her feet. Blood kept flowing out of her injured left arm, drawing a bloody line on the ground.
The width of the crack was uneven. Some places could allow two people to pass through side by side, while some places could only allow one person to squeeze through sideways. However, this had a good effect of gathering light. All the flames emitted by the torches were gathered in the crack, allowing Daina, who was leading the way, to see the environment at close range.
After walking for a few meters, the jacket that Li Rui had taken off gradually burned out. The fire became smaller again. The leopard that had been chasing after them saw an opportunity. It roared and pounced again. At the critical moment, Daina handed Li Rui a white V-neck T-shirt and said, "Burn it!"
Li Rui was stunned when he received it. He asked, "How many clothes are you wearing on your upper body?" As he spoke, he also set the T-shirt on fire. He was too lazy to bother with it. He directly used the torch to block the leopard's attack.
Daina replied angrily, "There won't be any more if you take them off again!" She then exclaimed in surprise, "Eh, we're out?"
She said this because she found that the crack they had just passed through had ended. They had entered another space. This space was a cave. It was unknown how long it was, about a meter wide, and more than one person tall. When they walked here, they could already smell the refreshing mountain breeze with the fragrance of grass and trees. It was obvious that they were closer to the exit. In fact, they could also see that there was a lot of light coming in.
"Really? That's great. Let's run out!"
Li Rui stepped into the cave and found that they were not far from the exit. He simply threw the torch at the intersection of the crack and the cave to block the leopard for a while. Then he took Daina's hand and was about to run out. However, before they could move, they heard a low growl from their left.
When they heard this familiar sound, they felt their scalps tingle. They looked in that direction at the same time. With the light from the torch on the ground, they could see that another leopard was coming out from the depths of the cave. This leopard was a few times smaller than the one that was chasing them. It looked like its offspring. It was still underage and was only the size of a firewood dog. Even so, it was still an extremely dangerous existence.
"Oh my god, we're in a leopard's den!"
Li Rui was shocked, scared, angry, and anxious. He almost spat out blood. He hurriedly picked up the torch on the ground and pretended to burn the leopard. This leopard was more afraid of fire. When it saw a ball of fire coming, it was so scared that it screamed and retreated a few steps, hiding in the darkness again. Li Rui did not dare to be negligent. He turned around and pulled Daina to run towards the light. At this time, the big leopard had also rushed into the cave. Seeing the two of them running away in panic, it roared and pounced on them. When the small leopard heard the movement, it also roared and quickly followed. Together, the two leopards chased after the poor couple who had mistakenly entered the leopard's den.
The structure of this cave was very strange. It was very high inside. Even someone as tall as Li Rui could stand inside. However, the further they went, the lower it became. At first, Li Rui did not notice this change. When he was running halfway, his head hit the ceiling of the cave and he almost scraped off a layer of skin. He cried in pain and lowered his body to continue running. Of course, he did not forget to remind Daina. When the two of them turned a corner, the front suddenly opened up. A cave entrance that was half a person's height appeared. Outside the cave entrance was the blue sky and white clouds.
Daina was surprised and happy. She blurted out, "God bless us!"
Li Rui also sighed in his heart, "Oh my god, we finally escaped!"
Neither of them thought further. Even if they escaped from this cave and ran to the mountainous area outside, how could they outrun two leopards?
Li Rui threw the torch on the ground in surprise. Of course, it was meaningless to take it down. It could still block the two leopards for a while. Seeing that they had run to the cave entrance, he reached out and pushed Daina's waist and butt. He said, "You go out first!"
Daina also thought that there was a mountainous area outside the cave entrance. She was not careful at all. When she came to the cave entrance, she lowered her head and rushed out. Her upper body also rushed out. Her eyes had already seen that there was only half a foot of solid ground outside the cave entrance. Below the solid ground was a sudden deep cliff.
"Ah, it's a cliff!"
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