At first glance, Xia Chuan thought they were surrounded by a group of giant birds, because they had a thick layer of feathers on their bodies, with a structure very similar to birds.

The back was covered with hard and long thin feathers, while the sides to the abdomen were covered with a layer of fine down, all dark red in color, just like the color of blood after it had dried, which looked a bit creepy in this deep forest.

However, when Xia Chuan got a clear look at one of them, he realized that these strange creatures with bird feathers were not birds, because they neither had wings, nor did they have two more claws than normal birds. Their appearance, no matter how you look at it, was like a group of feathered dinosaurs.

Having seen those traditional dinosaurs with very short forelimbs and lizard-like skin along the way, it was quite a novelty to suddenly see a group of these non-mainstream styles, of course, it would be even better if it wasn't this kind of encounter.

Their feathers were very glossy, and you could even see a pool of water-like light where they curved, from a single look they could tell that these dinosaurs were clearly carnivorous and good hunters, otherwise they wouldn't be so well-fed.

This was not only noticed by Xia Chuan, but also by Professor Linton and Dennis. Xia Chuan could even hear the two of them quietly gasping behind him, seemingly very uneasy. And he himself also felt a tightness in his heart--

The forelimbs of these unknown species of dinosaurs were not much shorter than their hind limbs, and they looked as sharp as their bared teeth. They were about two to three meters long, as tall as a person.

Compared to the shark-toothed dinosaurs encountered before, they were simply petite and exquisite, which meant that their speed might also be much faster, their movements more agile, and they were group-attacking hunters, which might be much more difficult to deal with than a single large beast!

"Pyroraptor..." Professor Linton muttered in a low voice, giving out the name of this group of hunters.

However, just knowing the name did not provide any helpful information. Nearly twenty Pyroraptors were slowly shrinking the encirclement, looking like they were going to trap and kill the prey in this circle.

"Pyroraptor, Pyroraptor..." Professor Linton was still repeating their species, trying hard to recall their characteristics, muttering like a machine gun in his mouth, trying to get some information that would be beneficial to deal with them, "They are relatively light in weight, with very sharp teeth and claws, and a strong lower jaw with great biting force... That's right! Fragile skull! That's it! Their skulls are relatively fragile!"

He finally remembered the weakness of the Pyroraptors and was a bit excited for a moment, not controlling his volume well, and almost shouted out the last sentence.

However, this was exactly the kind of movement that both sides of the confrontation were waiting for--

The group of Pyroraptors that had them tightly surrounded suddenly sprang up when Professor Linton raised his voice, leaping over the low bushes and pouncing on the surrounded people. The speed of this kind of dinosaur was almost as frightening as the Velociraptor's.

In just the blink of an eye, they had already darted in front of everyone. Their forelimbs were not as short as those of the Tyrannosaurus rex, and a swipe of their claws brought up a sharp sound of wind.

Fortunately, Xia Chuan reacted quickly, ducking down to avoid it, followed by a side roll, knocking Dennis and Professor Linton to the side, and also just in time to avoid the sharp claws of two Pyroraptors. The empty claws hit a tall tree on the side, scraping off a thick piece of bark. If it really fell on a person's body, at least a large piece of flesh would be cut off.

Xia Chuan was not the only one prepared. Shen Lan also leapt up at the same time as the Pyroraptors moved. Although the speed of the Pyroraptors was unbelievably fast, Shen Lan was even faster.

This person's physiological functions and qualities could not be judged by normal standards. Both his strength and speed had long exceeded the maximum value of the normal range, and not just by a little bit. He was like a fast shadow among the Pyroraptors, dazzling people's eyes as he came and went.

As early as when the Pyroraptors had surrounded them, Shen Lan had already spotted the positions, so at this moment, he almost went straight for the target he had aimed at in advance.

He flashed in front of one of the Pyroraptors, raised his hand to grab its neck, flipped over and leapt onto its back, then stretched out his long arm and grabbed the back of the head of the Pyroraptor beside it before it could jump out, and then exerted force with both hands towards the middle.

The heads of the two Pyroraptors collided with a "bang--", and the force could be heard just from the sound. There was even a crisp sound of bone shattering mixed in with the impact.

The weakness that Professor Linton had shouted out was thus utilized by Shen Lan, and he neatly took care of two of them in one move.

Even if the Pyroraptors with fractured skulls did not die immediately, they had lost their combat effectiveness. These two were shaking their bodies and struggling wildly in a sharp howl, as if trying to get rid of the pain.

Of course, Shen Lan would not waste any more time on them. He immediately leapt up and landed in front of another Pyroraptor, blocking its forward-swinging sharp claws with one hand, seemingly unafraid of being injured, and grabbed its two forelimbs with the other hand, swinging the Pyroraptor hard into a tree on the side.

Obviously, the lighter weight was also used very well by Shen Lan. Of course, if it were someone else, they would have been swung instead.

Although Xia Chuan's speed of resolution could not be compared with Shen Lan's, it was not slow either. When Shen Lan crushed the fourth one, Xia Chuan had already cut off the forelimbs of one Pyroraptor and broken the spine of another. The military dagger, no matter how good its quality, was now covered in blood, and even splashed all over Xia Chuan's hands.

Even with two such people present, Professor Linton and Dennis were still in grave danger.

Those Pyroraptors pounced forward one after another, and although they seemed chaotic, they were still shrinking the encirclement. One of them opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and bit directly at Professor Linton's head.

The strong smell of blood and the roaring sound frightened Professor Linton so much that he even forgot to scream, only staring at the two rows of sharp teeth, his mind going blank. Dennis beside him reflexively pulled him hard towards himself.

However, this did not have much effect. The sharp teeth of the Pyroraptor almost closed on Professor Linton's scalp, and the huge biting force made the sound of teeth colliding particularly crisp. It made people's hair stand on end.

One strike missed, another strike rose.

The Pyroraptor turned its head and took another bite, attacking Professor Linton and Dennis again.

Just as it looked like Dennis's head was about to be pierced by the sharp teeth of the Pyroraptor, a dagger was inserted horizontally, blocking the row of sharp teeth.

"Chuan!" Dennis shouted Xia Chuan's name as if he had seen a god.

Xia Chuan didn't even bother to respond. With a flick of his hand, he thrust the dagger from the Pyroraptor's mouth upward, piercing through its upper jaw. Then, with a powerful pull, he used the force of the dagger to fling the Pyroraptor onto its side on the ground, while simultaneously pulling the dagger back out.

However, pack-hunting predators never attack in an orderly queue. As Xia Chuan flung off one, the other two Pyroraptors had already pounced. At this moment, Xia Chuan's posture was not conducive to attacking, let alone blocking two at once.

This time, even Xia Chuan instinctively closed his eyes for a moment.

Just as he felt the hot, fishy breath spraying on his body and the sharp teeth touching his skin, an arm wrapped around his waist with a force as strong as a shackle.

Before Xia Chuan could reflexively resist, the arm exerted force—Xia Chuan felt a sudden dizziness, and when he abruptly opened his eyes, he found himself already hoisted over someone's shoulder.

It could be no one else but Shen Lan.

However, as soon as he realized what was happening, he felt his body lighten again as Shen Lan threw him out.

"Northwest! Run!" Shen Lan blurted out these words in an instant as he threw him.

Of course, Xia Chuan wouldn't just let himself fall to the ground without reacting. Instead, he rolled as he landed and quickly stood up. At this point, Shen Lan had nimbly tossed him out of the battle circle, and Professor Linton and Dennis were also pushed out at the same time.

Where the three of them landed, several half-dead Pyroraptor bodies lay. Clearly, Shen Lan had already aimed at the position and cleared out such a gap.

When they were inside the circle, they couldn't see it, but now that they had been thrown outside the battle circle, the three of them could clearly see that even the siege of nearly twenty Pyroraptors was not a particularly dangerous battle for Shen Lan. At most, it would just take more time to resolve.

Instead, the three of them inside would attract the firepower of the Pyroraptors, causing Shen Lan to be distracted and very much in the way.

"What are you standing there for?" Shen Lan, while fighting, still turned his head to glance at them. Seeing that they hadn't moved yet, he called out with great exasperation.

Urged on by Shen Lan, Xia Chuan no longer hesitated. He picked up Professor Linton, pushed Dennis, and ran in their predetermined direction.

In the time that Shen Lan spoke to the three of them, a Pyroraptor on the periphery had a brain fart. It abandoned the group attack and actually chased after Xia Chuan and the others alone.

Shen Lan was dealing with two with his hands and had to block the seven or eight in front. He was too lazy to chase after it. He merely glanced at it and then focused on dealing with the ones in front of him.

Having lived here for many years, he had forgotten many things and even couldn't speak fluently at first. But he dared to be certain that with Xia Chuan's skill, he could be considered an expert whether in normal society or here.

It was just a mere Pyroraptor. He believed Xia Chuan was completely capable of dealing with it. He still remembered how clean and beautiful Xia Chuan's knife moves were in the group attack just now.