American homeless people, surviving in the city

Under Lynch's tense gaze, a pair of round, green eyes glowed eerily in the darkness, and then a creature the size of a large dog emerged from the bushes.

It was a wolf. To be precise, a coyote.

It was small and thin, with filthy, matted gray-black fur. It stared intently at Lin Qi with its eerie green eyes, not blinking.

When Lynch realized it was a coyote, he actually relaxed for a few seconds.

As is well known, coyotes are not wild animals that like to attack humans. They generally feed on scavengers, but also eat birds, rabbits, rodents, frogs, and small animals such as deer. When extremely hungry, they will even eat grass. In short, they are creatures with an extremely wide diet.

For this reason, coyotes, with their abundant food sources, almost never attack humans, which are large and dangerous creatures.

Lynch was more afraid of seeing large carnivores like American black bears emerge from the grass than coyotes; they would be far more dangerous.

However, when he saw the coyote's behavior clearly, he immediately became more vigilant.

Even without relying on the sense of danger fed back by the [Rat's Sense], just by looking at the coyote's expression, Lin Qi could instinctively realize that the other party was up to no good.

Although the thin coyote didn't bare its fangs as stereotypically portrayed, it kept licking its lips and growling softly in its throat.

Those eerie green eyes were fixed on Lin Qi's back.

Based on its movements, expression, and emaciated body, Lin Qi immediately understood.

It was because both he and Sylvia were bleeding that they attracted the coyote, which was obviously also very hungry. Therefore, it set its sights on Sylvia, who was unconscious on its back, and regarded her as its prey!

...This is really troublesome.

The proverb says, "When you think you've reached the end of the road, a new path opens up," but how come when you're already in such trouble, new enemies keep coming to torment you?

If there were designers in this world, he would definitely be a wicked guy with ill intentions, like Hidetaka Miyazaki.

but...

Lin Qi took a deep breath and gripped the hunting knife at his waist.

Upon closer examination, the appearance of this coyote might indeed be a turning point.

Lynch now shares a similarity with this coyote.

That is, he was also very hungry.

...Since that's the case, let's do it. Perfect, my [Kanto Hunting Knife Techniques] include plenty of techniques for dealing with these large canines.

However, it would be too embarrassing to fight while carrying Sylvia on his back and holding a torch.

As Lin Qi thought this, he slowly backed away.

He needed to find a way to settle Sylvia down so he could free his hands to pick up his hunting knife. This was his biggest, and almost only, problem when facing the coyotes.

The moment he puts Sylvia back on the ground will be the moment when he is most vulnerable.

Fortunately, although the coyote was so hungry that it dared to attack humans, perhaps because it knew that its chosen prey was a powerful enemy, it did not rush to attack Lynch after realizing that Lynch had spotted it. Instead, it began to circle around Lynch as it usually did when hunting, trying to assess the strength and condition of its prey.

This is where waiting for the right moment is crucial!

Lynch immediately realized this.

He kept moving, trying to keep himself facing the coyotes as much as possible, while slowly backing away, occasionally glancing back to find a suitable place to put Sylvia down.

He quickly retreated to a small clearing in the woods.

It was called an open space, but it was nothing more than a patch of bare land, no bigger than a cushion, without any vegetation. But it was enough, whether for settling Sylvia or for the battleground against the coyotes.

After finding a suitable spot, Lin Qi maintained his posture of facing the coyotes to intimidate them and prevent them from attacking, while slowly crouching down.

He would pause briefly every time he crouched down a little, so as not to let the man-eating beast opposite him realize that he was doing something that would make fighting inconvenient.

Fortunately, Lynch's caution paid off. After circling a few times, the coyote realized that its prey was constantly facing it face-to-face, which generally indicates that the prey remained alert.

Therefore, although it noticed that Lynch seemed to be doing something strange, it did not launch an attack rashly, but just kept growling softly, arching its back and bending over, always looking for a more suitable opportunity to attack.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Qi finally squatted down completely and gently placed Sylvia on the ground.

At the same time, the coyote finally noticed that its prey seemed to be taking care of another, weaker prey that it had been eyeing for a long time!

This is the perfect time to attack!

The starving carnivore finally couldn't resist its hunting instincts and bared its fangs.

Seeing the coyote's muscles tense up, finally revealing a posture ready to attack, Lynch's breathing also became rapid.

He knew that, given his extremely poor condition, he absolutely could not launch an attack—his stamina was nearly depleted, and a hasty attack would likely result in a mistake. In that case, he would likely have to scramble to face the coyotes' counterattack. That situation would become exceptionally dangerous.

Therefore, the coyote's first attack will be his best chance to counterattack and even kill it!

After settling Sylvia in, seeing that the coyote seemed a little hesitant, Lynch took the opportunity to feign weakness.

He controlled his body, pretending to be unsteady on his feet, and swayed slightly. His left arm hung limply, letting the blood flowing from his arm slowly drip to the ground. At first glance, he looked as if he could no longer support himself.

Perhaps attracted by Lin Qi's act, or perhaps simply provoked by the increasingly strong smell of blood in the air, the emaciated coyote finally lost its temper, growled, and pounced on Lin Qi!

Its slender body transformed into a gray phantom in the dim forest, leaping high and heading straight for Lin Qi's throat!

Just as it pounced into the air, Lin Qi moved.

As the saying goes, animals like wolves and dogs share the common characteristics of having "bronze heads, iron tails, and tofu waists." Even in the distant Americas, they always follow this pattern.

Lynch had long ago realized that the coyote's weakness was its thin waist, which had become so emaciated from hunger that its ribs and spine were visible!

However, while the coyote was still on the ground, Lynch was likely to be completely unable to keep up with its agile movements—after all, even when neither of them was in good physical condition, coyotes are naturally more adapted to the terrain of the forest than humans.

This would also make it difficult for Lynch to attack the coyote's waist.

But the moment it takes flight—its trajectory is already predetermined!

Lynch had been waiting for this moment, so the instant the coyote pounced, Lynch, with his mind highly focused, immediately sprang into action.

With nimble footwork, he arrived beside the coyote in the blink of an eye!

Then, he thrust the hunting knife from top to bottom, and the blade instantly sank deep into the coyote's waist!