Attack

At that moment, Su Hao was playing hide-and-seek with the three little ones.

He had spotted He Qingqing and the other two heading toward his house long before they arrived. The three of them looked sneaky as thieves, clearly up to no good, so Su Hao had hidden in a tree beforehand, thinking that if He Qingqing could not find him, she would soon leave on her own.

When He Qingqing and the other two arrived at Su Hao's house and did not see him, they headed in another direction.

Just then, three bells rang.

Su Hao froze. What was that? He had never encountered anything like this and naturally had no idea what was happening. He saw every household swiftly shut its doors and windows, while Tea Mountain Outpost's official soldiers donned armor, strapped on blades, and headed for the village walls.

Su Hao immediately realized that something must have happened, perhaps a Ferocious Beast attack. But this was not something a child like him needed to worry about. The warriors stationed at Tea Mountain Outpost were all Elite Realm Martial Artists. If even Elite Warriors could not hold them off, his little body would only be delivering himself to the doorstep. The best thing to do now was follow everyone else's example: shut the doors and windows, then stay quietly inside.

But what about the three little brats, He Qingqing and the others, who had just come looking for him? He could not simply leave them be.

"What a nuisance! I hate little brats most of all." Su Hao immediately jumped down from the tree, turned and went inside to grab a Short Blade for protection, then hurried after the direction He Qingqing and the others had gone.

He Qingqing had heard the bells as well. She knew they were only rung when the village faced an attack by a large group of Ferocious Beasts.

One ring meant there was no danger. Three rings meant there was some danger. Six rings meant the village was in danger of being wiped out. If there were nine rings, it meant a beast tide had arrived, and everyone had to flee at once.

"Qing Qing, what do we do now? Are we still looking for Xiangwu?" Little Fatty asked with a worried face. All he wanted now was to go home and stay there properly.

After thinking for a moment, He Qingqing said firmly, "With my dad and the others here, there definitely won't be a problem. We finally came up with a way to deal with Xiangwu. We can't just give up like this."

Seeing that Little Fatty and Snot Tao were both hesitating, she immediately added, "We'll look a little longer. If we still can't find him, we'll go back."

"Okay!"

Old Li knocked away a Coyote lunging at him from the front left with his shield. He swiftly ducked his head, evading another Coyote snapping at his throat, then seized the chance to slash upward with his long blade.

"Rip—" The sound of a blade cutting leather rang out. While that Coyote was still in midair, a long gash had already been carved across its belly. Its innards spilled all over the ground, and its entire body slammed viciously into the snow. Yet it still struggled to rise, whimpering mournfully at Old Li.

Around Old Li, seven or eight Coyotes already lay dead in gruesome states.

Yet even more Coyotes remained standing around him. More than ten Coyotes eyed Old Li like tigers watching prey.

"Come on, you beasts! Hahaha!" Old Li smacked his shield with his long blade, issuing a provocation.

The Coyotes suddenly moved. Five sprang from the pack, while the rest crouched poised to strike.

Wall Shield!

Old Li's Blood Qi surged as he swept his shield in a circle around himself.

This was Old Li's combat skill. It could block every Coyote that might approach him and send any Coyote struck by the sweep flying far away. Yet in that swing, Old Li only hit one. The struck Coyote whimpered and flew backward, landing motionless in the snow.

"Damn it!" Rather than rejoice, Old Li cried out in alarm.

The other four Coyotes that had leaped at him had already lowered their bodies, opened their bloodthirsty maws, and clamped their teeth around his ankles.

Old Li knew that once a Coyote bit an ankle, it was difficult to make it let go. Even if he smashed the Coyote's head to pieces, its teeth could still remain locked deep in flesh and blood.

Old Li cried out in pain, but he had no time to chop apart the four Coyotes biting his feet one by one. The Coyotes surrounding him immediately opened their bloodthirsty maws as well and pounced in succession.

Old Li knocked one away with his shield and cleaved another to death with his blade. The third was impossible to avoid; it was about to bite down on his throat.

"Whoosh—" A cold flash streaked past. The third Coyote's head separated from its body, and it flew far backward. At the same time, a tall figure appeared beside Old Li. It was Tea Mountain Outpost's captain, He Jianyong.

"Captain!" Old Li's eyes lit up. Recovering himself, he swept his shield and knocked away the fourth lunging Coyote. With no worries behind him, Old Li raised his blade and brought it down, chopping the four Coyotes biting his feet to death one after another.

With He Jianyong's cooperation, the dozen or so Coyotes were quickly slaughtered. The remaining two tucked their tails and fled.

Old Li plopped down onto the ground and tended to his wounds, saying excitedly, "Captain, you arrived at exactly the right time. Old Li here is lucky; my life wasn't meant to end."

Captain He Jianyong did not want to talk to Old Li. He had dared charge into a large pack of Coyotes alone—no number of lives would be enough for that. Seeing that Old Li was not seriously hurt, he said, "There is still a large wolf pack attacking the village behind us. I'm going back first. Follow after me, and be careful."

When he returned to the walls, he saw a large pack of sturdy Coyotes continuously assaulting them. A glance showed no fewer than a hundred, while Tea Mountain Outpost had only thirty warriors in total. The disparity in numbers was enormous. However, every warrior was an Elite Realm Martial Artist, armed with sharp blades and individually far stronger than a Coyote.

One sturdy Coyote after another made light jumps and leaped onto the eight-meter-high wall. In groups of three or four, they found corresponding Tea Mountain Outpost warriors and battled them back and forth. From time to time, a Coyote was cleaved in two and fell from the wall. Warriors, too, occasionally had their throats bitten by Coyotes and died in agony.

The battle was at its most desperate when He Jianyong suddenly joined it. Flashes of blade light swept out, and several groups of Coyotes howled as they tumbled from the wall. The sight drew cheers from the warriors and greatly boosted their confidence.

Soon, the Coyotes retreated step by step. After leaving corpses strewn everywhere, the remaining thirty-odd Coyotes swiftly withdrew.

"Captain, when the large pack of Coyotes charged the walls just now, a few Coyotes slipped inside," one warrior suddenly recalled and quickly said.

"What? Why didn't you say so earlier! Come on, return immediately and find those beasts." Sha Qi boiled off He Jianyong as he waved his hand and led the others back.

Wu Yuntian was ahead of everyone. Covered in blood from his killing, the moment Wu Yuntian heard that several wolves had gotten inside, he immediately ran toward the village.

"Xiangwu, don't let anything happen to you!" Wu Yuntian had already lost his wife. If he lost his son too, he would have nothing left in this world. With that thought, Blood Qi surged through his feet, and his speed increased another notch.

Su Hao was moving incredibly fast, striding like he was flying, utterly unlike what a four-year-old child should have been capable of.

Very soon, Su Hao caught up with He Qingqing and the others.

The moment the three saw Su Hao, their eyes immediately lit up.

Su Hao gave them no chance to speak and sternly demanded, "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous right now? Go back, quickly."

Su Hao was a head shorter than all of them, yet he scolded them in a tone like an elder. Not only did they refuse to listen, they became angry instead.

He Qingqing pouted and huffed. "I won't!"

Su Hao's head immediately began to ache. "Miss, do you even know what time it is? Are you treating your life like a joke?"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do. Are you my follower? Why should I listen to you?" Seeing Su Hao grow anxious, He Qingqing instead became less anxious. Aside from wanting to oppose him, she trusted her father even more.

Su Hao considered whether he should simply knock this little girl unconscious and drag her away. But he had no experience with it. If he used too much force and killed her, that would be a disaster.

As he considered a solution, he said, "Then what will it take for you to go back obediently?"

He Qingqing immediately said, "That's simple. As long as you're willing to play with us, I'll listen to you."

Without even thinking, Su Hao immediately said, "Fine, fine, fine! I'll listen to you and play with you, all right? Now go back, go back!"

He Qingqing jumped happily. "Then it's settled? No take-backs!"

"No take-backs!"

He Qingqing immediately called out, "Snot Tao, Little Fatty, let's hurry home."

"Okay!"

Just as He Qingqing started walking back, she pointed behind Su Hao and screamed, "Watch out! A wolf!"

Su Hao whipped around and saw a wolf pouncing at him. It was far taller than he was, and its gaping mouth was lined with neat rows of gleaming fangs.