Wolf Pack

Awoo~

Within the forest blanketed in white mist.

Atop a small hill.

Ling Wuyuan, who had been trying to dig up some ginseng nearby based on knowledge recorded in books, immediately raised his head.

"?"

"A wolf howl?"

Having searched the hill for half the day and found only some Matsutake and other mushrooms, Ling Wuyuan immediately became interested in the wild wolf that had howled.

After all, the mushrooms he had just found were truly worth very little.

Even the so-called Matsutake was no exception.

In this world, Matsutake was merely an ordinary kind of mushroom. A pound could be bought for ten copper coins, about the same price as pork.

But ferocious beasts like wolves were different. Their meat was often bought in large quantities by cultivators, generally fetching around three times the price of pork. If the breed was relatively rare, it would be even more expensive.

Moreover.

While some wolves in this world were about as large as big dogs from his previous life, certain varieties could weigh several hundred jin!

So long as he could hunt a large wild wolf, this trip would count as a full harvest. More than a hundred silver coins would come rolling in with ease.

After roughly judging the direction of the howl.

Ling Wuyuan immediately took a short bow and a sharp arrow forged from refined iron from his back, then decisively rushed in that direction.

At this moment.

Though he had not exerted his full strength and still retained plenty in reserve, his speed had reached nearly a hundred meters in three seconds. His figure flashed through the forest like a phantom at Extreme Speed.

Neither dense undergrowth nor thick tree roots hindered his movement in the slightest.

Before long.

He had crossed more than a thousand meters.

He could now more clearly tell that the wolf howls were drawing nearer and becoming more numerous.

"More than one wolf howling?"

"A wolf pack?"

Ling Wuyuan slowed his pace slightly in confusion.

Though he did not understand the precise meaning of the howls, he could clearly hear an incomparably greedy yet somewhat uncertain feeling within the rising and falling cries.

Clearly.

The wolf pack had likely discovered prey of great value, yet lacked confidence in taking it down.

So the question was.

What sort of prey in the outskirts of Fog Sea Forest could make a wolf pack both so wary and so desirous?

"..."

After thinking carefully.

Ling Wuyuan immediately stopped.

Then he listened closely to the wolf pack's howls.

Before long, based on the howls, he roughly determined that the pack contained at least nearly thirty wild wolves. A wolf pack of that size would certainly have a wolf king far stronger than ordinary wild wolves.

Unlike in his previous life, where a so-called wolf king was generally only a little stronger than an ordinary wild wolf, in this world of Extraordinary Power, because it ate the best and most nutritious meat, coupled with the influence of all kinds of strange bloodlines, a wolf king could often be two or three times stronger than an ordinary wolf. It might even be comparable to higher-grade ferocious beasts, such as adult tigers.

Recalling the adult tigers sold at the apothecary—beasts whose weight was measured in tons, whose single swipes might carry ten thousand jin of force, and which were said to be difficult even for [Bone Forging Realm] cultivators to confront head-on—Ling Wuyuan found his answer...

"If it's only a wolf pack, it shouldn't be much of a problem..."

Yes.

Even with a wolf king capable of fighting a tiger, along with twenty or thirty somewhat weaker wild wolves, Ling Wuyuan still felt there was not much of a problem.

Though he was only in the [Body Tempering Realm] and had not cultivated it to perfection, he still possessed almost absolute confidence.

"Still, something that makes a wolf pack this greedy yet wary... could it be an injured demon beast?"

At that thought.

Ling Wuyuan's mood grew even more eager.

To avoid alerting the enemy.

He swiftly climbed toward the crown of the nearest large tree.

Then, using the branches connecting tree to tree, he darted rapidly through the treetops. Without his feet touching the ground, he swiftly approached the direction from which the wolf howls came...

Several minutes later.

Without making a sound, Ling Wuyuan successfully arrived near the source of the howls.

However, the instant he saw the scene, he was somewhat disappointed.

The wolf pack's targets were not the injured demon beast he had imagined, but three adult men covered in wounds and looking rather bedraggled.

Standing on a branch.

After secretly observing the scene for a while beneath the cover of the surrounding leaves.

Though he still did not know what had happened, he could clearly see that none of the three men took the wolf pack particularly seriously.

Each of them had eyes only for the other two.

As if the more than thirty vicious wolves around them were merely a pack of whining foolish dogs.

Only the wolf king, whose body was roughly as large as a water buffalo, drew a few extra glances from the three men.

Though the wolf pack surrounding the three men all looked fierce and savage, one could easily see from their eyes that they truly lacked confidence.

Even though they held an absolute advantage in numbers, and all three targets were injured, they did not dare make any rash moves.

If the situation were divided into four camps, then the wolf pack was clearly the weakest camp.

"[Blood Strengthening Realm]?"

"[Organ Fortification Realm]?"

As Ling Wuyuan looked at the three men, these two guesses surfaced in his mind.

If they were only in the [Bone Forging Realm], it was unlikely that they would be so confident when facing the wolf pack.

As for realms even higher?

That was equally unlikely. The wolf pack would not dare encircle and hunt opponents of that level.

Ants might dare to hunt cockroaches or beetles.

But they would never dare hunt birds in flight.

That would be nothing but courting death.

While automatically judging the targets' strength, Ling Wuyuan's mind also began analyzing everything else.

1.

2.

3. [Those three men appear to be fighting one another. After discovering me, they will likely attack me.]

...

After silently weighing things up, Ling Wuyuan, who felt the danger far outweighed the benefits, immediately began to think of retreating.

He felt that getting involved would bring more harm than good.

"Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best!"

However, just as he was about to slip away.

One person's words directly kept the boy, swift as an eagle, where he was.

"Hand over the treasure map!"

That was a genuine hard crowd-control skill!

Only seven words, yet they instantly locked Ling Wuyuan in place.

"If you're discussing something like that, then I definitely have to stay and see what's going on!"