Chang Haojie had initially expected his elopement journey to be smooth, but at this moment, he finally realized something was amiss. This world was fraught with danger. He had once thought the sky was the most perilous place, but now, even the sky was no longer safe.
As birds from all directions rushed into the clouds, they immediately lost all sense of direction. It was said that swans could fly above the cloud layers, even over Mount Everest, but not all birds possessed such abilities. Most birds had never ventured into the white clouds before; now, upon entering them, they were disoriented.
Instantly, countless birds began to crash blindly through the mist. Chang Haojie was caught off guard, and several birds slammed into him, sending feathers flying and their cries becoming chaotic. The violent impact terrified Hua Jingran, who screamed, "Ah..."
Hearing her scream, Chang Haojie quickly displayed his manliness and embraced Hua Jingran, preventing them from being separated.
However, it was Hua Jingran's scream that allowed the blue peacock to pinpoint their location. Although birds might not appear to have ears, their hearing is quite acute, and they possess the ability to locate targets by sound. Once the target was locked, the blue peacock immediately attacked.
With a powerful beat of its wings, the blue peacock soared upwards. Within five seconds, it had reached above the mist. It then violently flapped its wings, dispersing the surrounding clouds, and subsequently dive-bombed.
At this moment, Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran were nervously looking around. Having never experienced aerial combat, they had no idea what to do under the onslaught of the birds.
But then, the mist around them began to dissipate. Before they could react, the peacock descended from the sky, the clouds parting to either side. Their plan to use the mist for cover had failed.
"Swish," the blue peacock descended from the sky, its gaze sharp, and attacked Chang Haojie directly.
Unprepared for the assault, Chang Haojie pulled out a dagger from his person, intending to fight back. When he escaped the spire, it was this dagger he had used to cut through the climbing vines. Now, it was the only weapon he carried.
Facing the formidable blue peacock, Chang Haojie had no choice but to grit his teeth and confront it head-on. He tightly gripped the dagger and, as the peacock approached, thrust it forward.
The dagger was aimed at the blue peacock's head. A successful hit would inflict damage, as Chang Haojie was, after all, an ability user with strength far beyond that of ordinary people.
However, just as the dagger was thrust out, the blue peacock dodged to the side. Its massive wings slammed down heavily. The dagger struck the peacock's wing, causing injury, but then its immense body followed.
Despite its wingspan of ten meters, the peacock, being a bird, was much lighter than animals of similar size. Yet, as it descended, its entire weight bore down. For Chang Haojie, it was like Mount Tai crushing him – utterly unstoppable.
"Bang," Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran were struck by the blue peacock's blow, suffering severe injuries. Chang Haojie spat blood, his expression weak, his right arm broken. Hua Jingran fared even worse, blood flowing from her nose and mouth, and she fell into a coma. If Chang Haojie hadn't held onto her tightly, she would have fallen who knew where by now.
With just one attack from the blue peacock, Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran were heavily wounded and plummeted from the clouds. Without the cover of the mist, the surrounding birds also converged.
Mutated sparrows, now as large as hens, flapped their wings vigorously, enveloping Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran and began to peck at them.
Chang Haojie quickly held Hua Jingran in his arms, trying to shield her with his body. Within seconds, their clothes were torn to shreds.
"Ah, it hurts so much! Am I going to die?" Surrounded by countless sparrows pecking at him, Chang Haojie soon felt the pain. He could only think with despair.
Even though the sparrows surrounding Chang Haojie lacked significant combat ability, as the saying goes, "Many ants can kill an elephant." Even an elephant would struggle to withstand the gnawing of ants. Now, with countless sparrows, each peck would reduce Chang Haojie to bare bones.
Regret was futile now. Encountering danger in the wild required true skill to survive. Without it, one could only await death.
Chang Haojie tried to gather clouds again to shield himself, but as soon as he used his ability, the surrounding white clouds were immediately torn apart by the countless sparrows. The birds flapped their wings vigorously at this moment, and the air currents were chaotic, scattering all the moisture.
Just as Chang Haojie was in despair, unable to do anything, a helicopter flew in from a distance. It turned out that Chang Jianyi had dispatched a helicopter to search for his younger brother's whereabouts. They happened to find this location and noticed the strange behavior of the mutated birds.
"Hurry and get closer, the eldest young master is in great danger," someone in the helicopter said urgently.
Although they couldn't see Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran, there was a large sphere of sparrows in the air. Only Chang Haojie could fly in the sky, so it was clear that the eldest young master was under attack.
The helicopter immediately approached the flock of birds. Its altitude was much higher than the birds. As it slowly drew nearer, it exerted immense pressure on the flock. The blue peacock noticed the uninvited guests and immediately let out a cry, directing the surrounding birds to attack the helicopter.
"There are too many birds, fire quickly!" The pilot was stunned by the situation. Below, the ground was covered in a dense mass of birds, and countless birds were approaching them like a torrent.
The helicopter carried a pilot and combat personnel. The combat personnel were naturally responsible for shooting and dropping ordnance. In this situation, both of them had to fight.
The helicopter's guns were aimed at the birds below, and they began to strafe. "Da da da..." Fire erupted from the muzzles, and hot bullets were fired, instantly creating a mist of blood in the air.
The machine gun bullets were no match for the flesh and blood of sparrows. Each bullet could pierce through more than a dozen sparrows. Upon impact, the sparrows exploded like balloons, scattering blood and feathers into the air. Countless birds fell from the sky.
The machine gun continued to sweep below, and the hot bullets carved a bloody path through the flock. Yet, even so, the birds did not cease their advance.
The commotion caused by the helicopter was immense, especially as it hovered above the flock. Its commanding position instilled fear in the birds. The blue peacock, fearing it would be attacked, ordered the flock to continuously attack the helicopter. For a time, Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran were left unattended.
They plunged directly towards the ground. Without the birds to support them, gravity began to take its toll.
Seeing himself falling continuously, Chang Haojie refused to be dashed to death. He was over seventy meters above the ground, and a fall from that height would mean utter annihilation. He quickly used his ability.
White clouds successfully gathered, shielding them just as Chang Haojie and Hua Jingran were about to hit the ground. The buffer provided by the clouds saved them from certain death.
As Chang Haojie rejoiced in his rescue, he suddenly noticed it had started to rain. Water dripped onto his face and body. He wiped it away and realized it was blood rain. Looking up, he could only see feathers and shattered bones mixed with blood falling from the sky. The sky had also turned dark, the sunlight obscured by the flock of birds.
Chang Haojie didn't know what was happening, but he knew he had escaped. Seizing this opportunity, he had to flee quickly. If the flock caught up, he would be in danger.
Chang Haojie dared not fly further. He controlled the white clouds to descend slowly, placed the unconscious Hua Jingran on his back, and fled into the distance. One of his arms was broken, but his legs could still run.
Chang Haojie avoided entering the forest, fearing it was the birds' base. If he went in, it would undoubtedly be walking into a trap. Therefore, Chang Haojie deliberately moved towards open areas, trying to avoid the forest.
Near all airports, there are specialized devices to deter birds. This is because bird interference during aircraft takeoff can lead to crashes. Such incidents have occurred abroad. Once, an airplane flying in the sky collided with birds in flight. The birds were instantly pulverized, but several large holes were also created in the cockpit glass.
When flying at high altitudes, an aircraft is in a sealed environment. The appearance of large holes in the glass allowed a gale to rush into the cabin, ultimately causing the plane to lose balance and crash. It was never found.
And now, under the blue peacock's command, the flock of birds flew directly towards the helicopter.
Despite the continuous strafing from the machine gun, causing heavy casualties among the birds, there were simply too many of them. Birds were flying from all directions, making it impossible to stop them.
Once the birds surrounded the helicopter, they employed the same attack method as before, pecking at the helicopter. For a moment, the sound of "ding ding ding" came from the helicopter. The helicopter remained unharmed, and the two people inside breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that steel's defensive capabilities were indeed superior, and the birds could not peck through it.
The helicopter was made of steel, incredibly tough. It was a fantasy for a flock of mutated sparrows, birds the size of hens, to break into a helicopter. At most, these sparrows could only peck off the paint.
However, at this moment, an unlucky sparrow flew towards the rotor. With a "dong," the sparrow instantly turned into powder. The helicopter's rotor was spinning at high speed. It could sever a human body in half, let alone a flock of sparrows.
The pilot thought they were temporarily safe, but unexpectedly, the rotor continued to spin, and countless birds flew towards it.
The rotor became a meat grinder. "Clang clang clang," no matter how many sparrows flew towards it, they were ruthlessly shredded by the rotor. Feathers and flesh rained down from the sky, as if it were a downpour.
The combat personnel sensed something was wrong and quickly said, "Hurry and ascend, otherwise the rotor might not be able to take it."
The pilot agreed and immediately began to raise the helicopter's altitude. As long as they flew high enough, these birds would not be able to reach them.
But, as the helicopter ascended, the rotor encountered a problem. Metal is one of the hardest substances in nature, but even metal experiences fatigue. When metal becomes too fatigued, it breaks.
The rotor had already endured numerous impacts. The mutated birds were also charging fearlessly. While the rotor pulverized the birds upon impact, during this process, the rotor blades also experienced fatigue and began to deform.
Ultimately, the helicopter lost its balance and crashed into the forest below. Ten seconds later, a loud "boom" echoed through the forest, flames erupted, and the helicopter's signal was lost.