Escape from Peril

The wolf pack noticed Lu Xiaotian's movement, and several wolves charged towards Lu Xiaotian and the Spirit Beast Leopard first.

Roar! The Spirit Beast Leopard fiercely opened its mouth and bit directly into the opponent's throat, ending its life.

Lu Xiaotian's expression turned cold. He drew his short sword and slashed at the head of an approaching wolf. Awoo! A gash appeared on the wolf's head, slanting from its ear to its nose. In the blink of an eye, two wild wolves were dead. However, from the white mist in the distance, more than ten wolves of various sizes emerged.

"Escape!" Lu Xiaotian commanded the Spirit Beast Leopard. He pushed back another wild wolf with his sword, grabbed the rope in one hand, and decisively leaped off the cliff. The wolf pack was too numerous, and there were even one or two Yao Beasts among them. Their aura was not much weaker than the leopard's. If he insisted on staying here, he would likely be torn apart by the pack. Thus, Lu Xiaotian chose to escape with the leopard without hesitation. As for whether they could survive, it depended on the leopard's own fate.

The leopard looked back and saw that Lu Xiaotian had already jumped off the cliff. It let out a fierce howl and charged towards a thinner part of the wolf pack opposite them.

Above, the wolves howled incessantly. As Lu Xiaotian slid down, he felt a disturbance from the rope in his hand. He looked up and saw two wolves gnawing at the rope. These beasts were quite intelligent. Lu Xiaotian cursed and accelerated his descent. At the same time, he kicked off a rock on the cliff face, using the momentum to swing towards a Green Vine growing on the cliff. He grabbed the Green Vine with one hand. Just as he gained leverage, the rope above was bitten through by the wild wolves.

Lu Xiaotian inwardly exclaimed at how close that was. He grabbed the severed rope and used the momentum from the Green Vine to safely land on a protruding rock on the cliff.

On the cliff edge, several wild wolves paced back and forth for a while. After a few disappointed howls, they all left.

He wondered how the leopard was doing now. Soon, Lu Xiaotian shook his head again. He could barely protect himself, how could he worry about the leopard?

Putting the severed rope aside, Lu Xiaotian looked up. The Green Vine growing on this cliff was about five or six zhang from the cliff top. He could climb up the Green Vine, then throw the severed rope onto the cliff and hook it onto a tree trunk to escape danger. With his retreat secured, Lu Xiaotian felt relieved. Now, all he needed was patience to outlast the wolf pack.

Although he couldn't hear the wolves from above, based on his past experiences of going into the mountains with his father, wolves were vengeful creatures. Even though the wolf howls had stopped for now, these wild wolves might not have truly left. Perhaps a wolf was still waiting above as a lookout.

Having temporarily escaped the crisis, Lu Xiaotian felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, elbow, and chest.

He lifted his clothes and rolled up his sleeves. His arms and chest were covered in bruises from collisions, a purplish-red color. Some areas were even oozing blood. These were caused by hitting the rocks on the cliff face when he leaped down earlier. Fortunately, no bones were injured; he would recover with time.

However, Lu Xiaotian soon realized his situation was not ideal. He had been trapped in a bizarre terrain, then chased by wolves, and now he had escaped here, completely losing his sense of direction. After meditating to recover some of his vital energy, he noticed the sky had darkened slightly. A cold wind was also picking up in the middle of this cliff, whistling past his ears.

The temperature in the canyon dropped drastically every night, especially at this cliff edge. He was already hungry, and at night, it would be cold and hungry, making it even more unbearable.

Thinking of this, Lu Xiaotian searched the roughly ten-foot-square rock. His gaze finally fell on a spot of withered yellow among the Green Vines growing on the cliff face. His eyes lit up.

He drew his short sword and walked to the Green Vines. He pushed aside the green leaves, revealing many withered vines inside.

"These must have grown here for years and then withered. I can use them to start a fire and warm myself up so the night won't be so difficult."

Crack! Lu Xiaotian slashed at a withered vine with his sword. Just as he reached out to grab the severed vine, a faint hissing sound made the hairs on his back stand on end.

Lu Xiaotian swiftly retracted his left hand and looked closely. He discovered a grass snake, mottled with earthy yellow and green, slithering among the withered vines. It was flicking its scarlet tongue at him. Its triangular head bobbed. The grass snake was hidden among the vines; if it hadn't actively attacked, it would have been incredibly difficult to spot.

Lu Xiaotian inwardly exclaimed at how close that was. If he hadn't cultivated the Primordial Scripture, making his senses much sharper than before, he would have been bitten by this unknown grass snake.

After barely escaping the wolf pack's pursuit, he almost died by a snake's fangs. This canyon was truly treacherous. One careless mistake could lead to unknown dangers.

The grass snake slithered out from among the vines, revealing a body as thick as an arm. The grass snake angrily raised its triangular head and approached the intruder.

Lu Xiaotian narrowed his eyes. Some predators in the wild had a strong sense of territory. It seemed he had stumbled into this grass snake's territory.

However, he was cornered. This protruding rock was only about ten feet square, offering no escape. Since that was the case, he could only fight with all his might.

Hiss! The grass snake hissed and lunged towards Lu Xiaotian's face. Lu Xiaotian quickly dodged his head and simultaneously swung the short sword he had already gripped.

With a soft thud, the triangular snake head fell to the ground. The snake's body writhed among the vines for a moment before falling, spurting blood.

Lu Xiaotian took off his backpack, took out the small iron pot and salt, and then, as if he had found a treasure, picked up the snake's body from the ground. After draining the blood, he nimbly skinned the snake, cut it into dozens of small pieces, and threw them into the iron pot.

Then, he carefully pulled out the withered vines from earlier, tidied them up a bit, and used flint to start a fire, directly stir-frying the snake. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough water, otherwise, a snake stew would have been even more delicious. Fortunately, the canyon was foggy, and every morning, dew would accumulate on the leaves, so he wouldn't die of thirst.

Lu Xiaotian's stomach was full. He patted his belly. It seemed he would have to spend the night here. The Little Green Ants in his Cave Mansion were likely to be few in number if no one fed them.

Lu Xiaotian shook his head and gave a wry smile, mocking himself. In his current predicament, it was uncertain if he would even return, yet he still had the leisure to worry about the Little Green Ants in his Cave Mansion. The Black Robe Old Man had no humanity and wasn't interested in teaching him. That boring Cave Mansion was better left unreturned to, saving him a whipping. The Black Robe Old Man's blows were severe; the last whipping had nearly killed him.

I'm not going back! Lu Xiaotian made this decision silently.

As night deepened, the cold wind howled at the cliff edge, and the temperature dropped extremely low. He couldn't sleep at all in this biting, bone-chilling wind.