Yuan Ming pondered briefly, then bent down and lowered the firebrand, wanting to see more clearly.
But the blue wolf seemed to be provoked by the firelight. With a sudden furious roar, its entire body shot upward. Its two claws scraped against the earthen wall of the pit, and it sprang violently out from within.
The net and logs above it failed to stop it. The blue wolf smashed straight through the logs and fell out wrapped in the net.
Its limbs were tangled in the net, and though the blue wolf struggled several times, it could not break free.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming flung away the firebrand, drew the longsword at his waist, and leaped up, swinging it down at the blue wolf.
The blue wolf immediately rolled across the ground. While dodging the sword, it also tore free through a gap in the net.
The instant it rose, the blue wolf returned to its four-legged stance, baring its fangs at Yuan Ming and revealing a mouthful of sharp, snow-white teeth.
Yet the moment Yuan Ming clearly saw the blue wolf's appearance, he froze.
The blue wolf's body was covered in bloody wounds. There was no ghostly green light in its eyes; instead, they glowed blood-red, while saliva continuously dripped from the corners of its bared mouth.
Though the eyes did not match, Yuan Ming was no stranger to that appearance.
"Hagon, is that you?" he asked tentatively.
The blue wolf, which had been growling low, suddenly showed a look of struggle in its blood-red eyes upon hearing Yuan Ming's question. The dark green gleam that should have been there reappeared.
But it lasted only an instant before blood-red once again swallowed its eyes, and it lunged fiercely at Yuan Ming.
*Has he suffered a backlash from the Fur