Reinforcements

"The flesh and blood of a Two-Legged Beast King is the most fragrant. I absolutely cannot let it go."

It narrowed its eyes, watching the distant two-legged beasts hurriedly gather together, pointing their bright flames at it. It sneered coldly within.

"First, wear down their strength. Once those two-legged beasts scatter in all directions, I can eat the Beast King."

It cautiously accelerated little by little, weaving through the snow-covered woods. Watching the two-legged beasts grow ever more panicked and their formation ever more scattered, it was immensely satisfied.

Ever since it had eaten that wounded White Deer, its mind had grown clearer and clearer. Relying on that increasingly lucid mind, it had evaded the Patterned Two-Legged Beast's encirclements several times. In the end, it abandoned its pack and staggered all the way here.

It had dealt with many of these two-legged beasts and knew well that such Two-Legged Beast Kings often spat black mist and could also throw dark green bone swords. Pressing too hard would only injure itself.

It had to pressure them slowly, attacking from time to time and wearing down the two-legged beasts' methods bit by bit before it could eat them.

"These two-legged beasts have no patterns on them. I wonder what breed they are."

It casually leaped over a sweeping long staff, ducked beneath a flying arrow, and bit down on a two-legged beast's arm, crushing it to pieces. It thought viciously:

"If those two-legged beasts hadn't killed all my young, why would I need to act personally?!"

Remembering how that Patterned Two-Legged Beast had chased it across seven great mountains, and how the vitality and magical power it had lost to its wounds had yet to recover, an extra chill entered its emerald-green eyes.

These unpatterned two-legged beasts seemed much weaker. The golden radiance they released was not very powerful, yet it came without end, making them thoroughly irritating.

The winter mountain forest was especially silent at night. Thick snow had accumulated among the trees; whenever someone brushed past, snowflakes could be heard rustling down without cease. Every so often came a crack—the weight of the snow had snapped a treetop.

Whoosh!

Li Xiangping fired a glittering golden arrow. Watching the wolf duck beneath it and bite apart a villager's arm, he calmly nocked another arrow and fired again, forcing back the giant wolf that was about to pounce on its next victim.

As they watched blood spray from the villager while he screamed and fell to the ground, painting a blazing blood flower upon the pure white snow, the villagers could not help but shudder. Their long staffs swung weakly in their hands. Chen Erniu, his face cold, picked the man up, hastily wrapped his wound a few times with clothing, slung him over his shoulder, and caught up with the group.

"How much farther to Li Jing Mountain?!"

Li Xiangping shouted low, trudging through the snow, one step deep and one step shallow, as he called to Chen Erniu.

"Another quarter of an hour!"

Chen Erniu immediately understood. He handed the villager on his back to someone else, looked into the distance, and answered loudly.

Hearing that they were gradually drawing close to Li Jing Mountain, the villagers' hearts settled somewhat. They gritted their teeth as they stared at the demon beast, praying that they would not be the next one pounced upon.

"We only need to lure this demon beast into the mountains and ambush it! If we fail to kill it today and let it kill us before returning, then you, you, and you—every woman and child in your homes will become bloody food in its maw!"

Li Xiangping wiped the blood from his face. There was scarcely any magical power left in his dantian. Looking at the terrified, trembling villagers around him, he shouted in a deep voice.

At those words, the villagers looked at one another. Their expressions grew much firmer, and they once more raised arms as heavy as if filled with lead, pointing their torches and long staffs at the demon beast.

Awooo—

The demon beast licked the blood from its silver-gray claws. Looking at the torches and long staffs pointed toward it, it seemed somewhat impatient. It stamped the ground and quickened its attacks, biting down on several more villagers in succession.

Crack!

Then, with a whip crack exploding from thin air, a jade-green vine whip gleaming with a lustrous light lashed straight toward it. The demon beast was caught off guard; its waist was immediately split open, leaving behind a bloody mark.

Awooo—

The demon beast howled and retreated several steps in a row, glaring viciously at the man in brocade robes holding the long whip.

"Patriarch!"

The moment Wan Tiancang saw that vine whip, he let out a long breath. The boulder in his heart finally dropped, and joy appeared on his face.

Wan Xiaohua landed his strike but did not pursue. His face turned pale for a moment. He stood where he was and regulated his breath for several moments before color slowly returned to his face.

After receiving Wan Tiancang's handwritten message, Wan Xiaohua had used three Swift Travel Arts in succession to rush from the Wan Family to Li Chuankou. He had then used that artifact to drive back the demon beast. Even with cultivation at the peak of the Jade Capital Wheel, he was somewhat short of breath, needing several moments of breath regulation before he could recover.

"What a tough demon beast."

Wan Xiaohua looked at the shallow wound on the demon beast's back and could not help drawing in a sharp breath. His expression turned ugly as he said:

"Let the mortals leave first."

His vine whip had originally been a Qi Refinement-stage artifact. Using it with his peak Jade Capital Wheel cultivation consumed a great deal of power, enough to split steles and shatter stone. Yet it had only left a bloody mark on the demon beast's back. Though he had struck hastily, it still showed how hard this demon beast's body was.

Li Xiangping waved his hand. Chen Erniu hurriedly called for the villagers to carry the wounded and trudge westward through the snow toward Li Jing Village.

Watching the man and beast face each other across the snow, Li Xiangping called loudly, "Patriarch Wan, if you cannot defeat this demon beast, head southwest! Li Jing Mountain has an array for protection. Even if we cannot deal with the demon beast, you can still escape with your life!"

Wan Xiaohua glanced down at Li Xiangping and replied quietly, "Understood."

With a flick of his long whip, it whistled through the air and lashed toward the demon beast's waist.

Awoo—

The demon beast lightly twisted its waist and evaded the vine whip. In two steps, it closed the distance to Wan Xiaohua and lunged at him.

A foul wind struck his face, but Wan Xiaohua remained calm. He formed a hand seal, and a small jade-white shield appeared from thin air. Though it shattered under a single strike of the demon beast's paw, Wan Xiaohua used the opportunity to pull away.

The demon beast lightly stamped the ground and lunged at Wan Xiaohua again. Wan Xiaohua's eyes lit up as he thought:

What an opportunity!

The vine whip in his hand immediately blazed with white light and lashed at the wolf's waist. Yet the demon beast neither dodged nor evaded. A trace of cunning flashed through its eyes. Its jaws opened, churning out waves of pitch-black breath that shot straight at Wan Xiaohua's face.

Damn it! What a cunning beast!

Wan Xiaohua cursed inwardly and had no choice but to release the vine whip in his hand, retreating again and again.

The demon beast took Wan Xiaohua's whip head-on and let out a low growl. It pawed at the vine whip on the ground, then stepped on it as it stared at Wan Xiaohua, its emerald-green eyes fixed coldly on him.

"What a cunning demon beast..."

Wan Xiaohua looked at the silver-gray giant wolf, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. The Wan Family did not border Great Li Mountain, and they had little experience fighting demon beasts—let alone a Jade Capital Wheel demon beast like this.

The demon beast scraped with its hind paws, burying the vine whip in the snow. Then it ran toward Wan Xiaohua over the thin snow. He hurriedly formed hand seals, and the jade-white little shield appeared before him once more.

But black qi rose from between the demon beast's four paws as it leaped into the air. With one strike, it smashed the jade-white shield to pieces, its wolf jaws biting toward Wan Xiaohua's neck.