Wolf Hunting!

It was Blind Old Three!

Li Yan had already guessed as much.

He had never smelled this kind of scent on an ordinary wild beast.

Could it be that, just as people said, Blind Old Three had truly gained cultivation?

Li Yan became vigilant. He took the bow from his back, nocked an arrow without drawing it, then signaled Hei Dan to bend low and follow behind him with softened steps.

That alone revealed the difference between them.

Guanzhong had always been home to many wandering heroes. Coupled with countless wars large and small over the millennia, martial traditions had never ceased in every region. Li Family Fortress, for example, had once been a Military Fortress, and many children began practicing martial arts from a young age.

Even with Red Fist alone, every village had its own inherited forms and stances.

Hei Dan had practiced martial arts since childhood as well. During the farming off-season, his only entertainment was shaking the great spear and practicing fist forms. The shaft of the spear on his back had long been polished bright as porcelain.

Yet when he walked, his heel touched down first, followed by the sole. Even when he tried to tread lightly, his weight pressing onto the weeds still made faint sounds.

Li Yan, however, was different.

He landed on the balls of his feet, his bow steady and arrow level. He moved like a nimble cat, his spine remaining balanced as he slipped forward without making the slightest sound.

Steadiness and lightness—two opposing states—were perfectly fused in him at that moment.

Hei Dan watched from behind, filled with envy.

Martial arts required bitter effort, but talent mattered just as much. This Light Body Movement Technique alone was a realm he could never reach in his lifetime.

The villagers praised Li Yan mostly out of respect for his veteran grandfather and his father, once a blade wielder and now long dead.

After all, how capable could a fourteen-year-old boy really be?

But Hei Dan was different. He had secretly watched Li Yan practice before and had been utterly awestruck. That was why, when trouble came, Li Yan was the first person he sought for help.

As his thoughts ran wild, Li Yan suddenly stopped ahead.

Hei Dan hurriedly halted as well. He craned his head for a look, and his eyes instantly widened.

There were still many earthen walls behind Li Family Fortress Village. They had been part of the Military Fortress from the previous dynasty, but now only crumbling ruins remained.

The hour before dawn was the darkest, and the light was poor.

At the broken wall, a huge mass of Black Shadow was writhing.

It was a mangy giant wolf covered in mixed-colored fur, stealing a pig.

It clamped its sharp teeth around the pig's ear, its great tail swinging back and forth like a horsewhip. The fat pig followed wherever it went.

Pigs were very clever creatures. When the butcher grabbed them during the New Year, they knew their end had come and would squeal miserably. But this one seemed possessed. Its head was covered in blood, yet it did not even dare grunt.

The wolf had only one eye. It was Blind Old Three!

Blind Old Three had actually entered the village at daybreak.

And why were none of the village dogs barking?

The bizarre sight made Hei Dan's scalp prickle, but hatred swiftly overwhelmed his fear. Eyes reddening, he slowly took the long spear from his back.

Li Yan was somewhat surprised as well, but he became even calmer.

He signaled Hei Dan not to act rashly, then slowly raised his bow.

Yet he did not immediately loose the arrow. As he drew the bow, he adjusted his breathing, narrowed his eyes slightly, and gathered a cold gleam within them.

In the few years since arriving in this world, his greatest passion had been practicing martial arts.

The martial arts of this world resembled traditional martial arts from his former life. There was no talk of Spiritual Energy or True Energy, but there were many formulas related to breath. Breathing, for example, was extraordinarily important.

Only when one's breath was steady could all the Martial Power in one's body be gathered.

Just like when he had stalked forward earlier: with his mind steady and breath unruffled, the Martial Power of his tendons, bones, and muscles obeyed him like his own arms and fingers. Only then could he move like a nimble cat, harmonious and whole.

Do not underestimate this. The essence of entering the path of martial arts lay entirely here.

Even if an ordinary person swung stone locks and shook great spears every day, developing great strength and learning many moves, they would still breathe unevenly and have their minds roiled in battle. Their heads would go blank, and what they threw would still be Wild Fists.

The skill of archery lay in this as well.

No matter how powerful the bow or how much one practiced, it only counted if the arrow hit.

And breathing was the switch for controlling the Martial Power of the body!

The vicious wolf Blind Old Three might indeed be unusual, but it had fallen into a trap and had one eye shot blind. That proved it was ultimately still flesh and blood.

They were currently downwind, which was why they had smelled Blind Old Three first. By lowering their steps and sneaking closer while it was stealing the pig, they had closed the distance to a hundred meters.

Li Yan believed that as long as he hit it, one arrow could kill it!

Creak...

The bowstring rapidly tightened, and the arrowhead became astonishingly steady.

But at that moment, Blind Old Three's fur suddenly bristled as it raised its head.

They had been discovered!

Li Yan did not know where he had gone wrong. Perhaps the creature had sensed his killing intent, but there was no time to think further.

Buzz!

The arrow flew out, swift as a streak of light.

Li Yan had aimed for the wolf's neck.

There was an old saying about wolves: Copper Head, Iron Tail, Tofu Waist. This was because between their hips and ribs, only a spine connected them, with little skeletal protection. That area was relatively soft and contained vital organs.

Few people knew that the bones between a wolf's eyes and nose were at their weakest. A blow there could knock it unconscious, while an arrow could kill it outright.

But that area was extremely difficult to hit, and Blind Old Three was no ordinary wolf. Thus, Li Yan had chosen its neck as his target.

Squelch!

The arrowhead pierced its fur.

Blind Old Three had dodged at the last moment. The arrow did not strike a vital point, instead punching through its right foreleg as blood burst forth.

Without another word, Li Yan nocked another arrow, preparing to finish it.

Though the first shot had not killed it, the long arrow piercing through its limb would hinder its movements. So long as he was fast enough, it would still have difficulty escaping.

But something that surprised him happened.

Blind Old Three did not flee at once. Instead, it leaped behind the wall and used its sharp teeth to tear and bite at the arrow, trying to bite it off and pull it out.

Damn it, this thing was cunning as a demon!

Li Yan directly threw down his bow and charged forward.

He shot ahead like an arrow, one hand pressing down on his knife hilt.

His knife was around Three Feet long and less than two inches wide. Its design was unusual, and the knife guard meant to protect the hand was especially narrow.

It was a fast knife produced in Guanshan Town near Lintong.

The Guanshan Knife was also the standard weapon and symbol of Guanzhong Blade Wielders.

Over the hundred-meter distance, Li Yan ran faster and faster. Dust rose beneath every step. With a click, his left thumb pushed out the knife guard while his right hand rested loosely on the hilt, yet he never drew the blade.

The inherited fast knife technique: Waist Strike Style.

It looked somewhat like the Sword Drawing Technique of the Eastern Isles from his former life, yet it was completely different.

The fast knife's Waist Strike Style was a blade art used for surprise attacks. It could kill while charging straight ahead, and its swing was like thunder and lightning.

When crossing paths with an enemy, it revealed no killing intent. The blade came out and returned, the man moved on, and a corpse remained behind.

The vicious wolf Blind Old Three was flesh and blood, yet the intelligence and awareness it displayed were astonishing. It could not be judged by ordinary standards.

The instant the blade left its sheath, killing intent would flow with its cold gleam and certainly alert it.

Li Yan chose the Waist Strike Style just as a ferocious beast pounced—revealing its claws only at the final moment.

And as he had expected, Blind Old Three was no ordinary creature either.

Just as Li Yan charged out, the vicious wolf had already bitten off the arrowhead and pulled the shaft out from behind, handling it exactly like a human would to minimize the damage.

An arrow piercing through the body was difficult for ordinary people to endure.

Yet Blind Old Three seemed entirely unaffected. It bared its fangs, wrinkles forming along its snout, its blood-red lone eye narrowing. With a swoosh, it sprang onto the earthen wall, then vaulted over it.

That leap reached five meters high. Its timing was impeccable as well. Descending from the air, it pounced directly toward the charging Li Yan.

Beasts honed their killing skills in the wilderness.

As apex predators, when wolves surrounded prey, they often howled and confronted it, probing without pause. Then the strongest among them would leap for the throat, delivering a fatal strike, before the pack rushed in to tear the prey apart.

A lone wolf's pounce also emphasized ambush. It often hid beside a road, then suddenly sprang out to attack when a passerby or prey went by.

As if by instinct, it always found the most suitable method.

This was the same.

Blind Old Three used the earthen wall to leap down from above. Whether ordinary prey turned to flee or looked up in panic, it would expose the weakness of its neck.

Once wolf jaws tore the throat, even the largest body was doomed.

But the one it faced was no ordinary person either.

Sensing the rank wind from above, Li Yan grew even calmer. His Phoenix Eyes narrowed slightly, and a fierce chill blazed in his Suspended Pupil Dragon Eyes. As Blind Old Three descended, he targeted its vital point, twisted sideways and bent at the waist, while his right arm flicked.

Clang!

As they crossed paths, the Guanshan Knife swept upward at an angle.

Cold light flashed, and blood sprayed.

Blind Old Three crashed to the ground with a thud. A huge gash split its neck, blood spurting as it whimpered and thrashed its limbs.

Li Yan had already reached a point five meters away. With his back to the wolf, he flicked the blood from his blade behind him and sheathed it in one fluid motion.

"Excellent blade technique!"

Hei Dan, watching from afar, felt his blood surge and shouted in praise.

The clash between man and wolf had lasted only an instant, yet it made his entire body tremble. Cold sweat covered his forehead and palms.

Meanwhile, Li Yan did not turn around after sheathing his knife.

It was not for show. There was another reason.

His expression darkened as he touched his neck. A cut had appeared there as well. Though it had only grazed the skin, blood seeped out, and it had missed his artery by a hair's breadth.

Blind Old Three was indeed flesh and blood, but its movements and reactions surpassed those of ordinary wild beasts by far. Even as Li Yan cut open its neck, it had managed to rake him with a claw.

"Yan-ge, are you all right?"

Hei Dan came running up from behind with his long spear in hand, asking anxiously.

"What could happen to me?"

Li Yan replied and slowly turned around.

Something strange happened. As he turned, the wound on his neck vanished instantly. The little blood that remained looked as though it had merely been splashed there by wolf blood.

Hei Dan had not seen it at all. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward Blind Old Three on the ground.

This vicious wolf truly was ferocious beyond measure. Even with blood all over the ground, its breath faint as a thread and its body unable to move, it still bared its teeth and glared viciously at Li Yan.

Its eyes brimmed with venom, as if it wished to carve Li Yan into its memory.

"You beast, why aren't you dead yet!"

Hei Dan flared up. With a shake of his long spear, he drove its tip into Blind Old Three's remaining good eye with a squelch, straight into its brain.

Even so, Blind Old Three struggled a few more times before finally falling still.

At that moment, Li Yan seemed to sense something and frowned.

Blind Old Three was dead beyond doubt, yet the distinctive rank smell from its body grew stronger and stronger, spreading into the surroundings.

Like an invisible wind, it became dense to the extreme before suddenly Disappeared.

Li Yan did not know whether it was an illusion, but he inexplicably felt a chill down his back.

Yet when he looked carefully, there was nothing around them.

"Hei Dan, do you smell something rotten?"

"What? No..."

New book now available. Please add it to your collection, send monthly votes, and leave sharp reviews.