Hunters and Prey

In a dim, damp cave, two green lights flickered without pause.

The chilling sounds of chewing and dripping blood rang especially clearly through the silent night.

Suddenly, the chewing stopped. The green lights swung sharply around to look toward the cave entrance.

Before long, firelight illuminated the dim cave, and two sets of footsteps sounded.

The torches in their hands revealed the entire cave.

A wolf demon with a wolf's head and a human body, covered in thick fur, glared viciously at them.

"Humans... martial artists..."

The wolf demon spoke in a low voice and slowly straightened up.

He was tall, and his thick fur couldn't hide the sharply defined muscles beneath. His pair of bent wolf legs were thick and powerful.

He certainly didn't look like he was injured.

Sun Zhi's expression darkened, and he couldn't help feeling tense.

The sense of menace the wolf demon before him inspired was unlike anything he had ever felt.

"I thought those guys had come looking for me. Never expected..." The wolf demon stuck out his long tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. His annoyance at having his meal interrupted faded, and he said excitedly, "I'd have food delivered right to my door."

"Monster! Sun Zhi of Qiulin County is here! If you surrender obediently, we can make your end quick. Otherwise..."

Sun Zhi rallied his spirits. Remembering that Shen Lin, whose blade skills were superb, stood beside him, he felt less afraid and raised his voice, berating the demon with his sword in hand.

"Sun Zhi? Never heard of him! And what if I don't do as you say?" The wolf demon's eyes gleamed with mockery as he said softly, "You planning to make a fuss inside my stomach?"

As the words left his mouth, his thick wolf legs swelled sharply, and his enormous shadow shot forward.

"Wa—"

The wolf demon was so fast that he crossed more than a dozen steps in the blink of an eye and appeared right in front of Sun Zhi.

Before Sun Zhi could finish shouting "Watch out," he saw a pitch-black wolf claw reaching for him and could only draw his sword to defend himself.

His horizontal slash struck the wolf claw, only to be knocked aside in an instant. The claw continued unabated, heading straight for Sun Zhi's heart.

Fortunately, Sun Zhi had survived many life-and-death battles. He reacted at once and dodged sideways.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a shadow suddenly whistled toward him and slammed squarely into his chest.

Thud!

With a muffled impact, Sun Zhi flew backward and crashed hard into the stone wall.

"Ugh!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned deathly pale, and he cried in disbelief, "You weren't injured... This is... the Opening Meridians Realm?!"

The speed the wolf demon had unleashed in an instant had told him something was wrong.

And the tail strike that had gravely wounded him confirmed his suspicion.

If the wolf demon were merely at the martial artist level, he would never have been able to do this.

With Sun Zhi's physical strength, he could withstand an ordinary martial artist's attack.

"The information certain people gave you doesn't add up, does it?"

Cunning gleamed in the wolf demon's eyes as he gloated, "You think I didn't know about the business that old fox was conducting behind the scenes? I had so many places to choose from. Why do you think I went to his turf to buy medicine?"

He'd been set up!

Sun Zhi's heart sank as he realized that the positions of hunter and prey had switched.

This guy had used himself as bait, just to lure in martial artists like him.

He was quick on his feet; he didn't look injured at all.

He just didn't know whether that old fox from the Bai family had seen through it...

But even if he had, it probably didn't matter to him anymore.

Just as Sun Zhi mocked himself inwardly and prepared to accept his fate, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Hey, big black dog! There's more than just you in this cave, right?"

The wolf demon and Sun Zhi had exchanged a blow, but Shen Lin hadn't reacted at all. Instead, he crouched off to the side, studied the ground for a moment, then suddenly spoke.

"What?"

The wolf demon froze, apparently not even registering the insulting name Shen Lin had called him.

Then he flew into a rage, abandoned Sun Zhi, and charged straight at Shen Lin.

Seeing this, Sun Zhi opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He couldn't use himself as bait to make Shen Lin run.

On the contrary, seeing Shen Lin practically ask for death had bought him a little breathing room, and Sun Zhi was immensely relieved.

He had never even considered the possibility that Shen Lin might win.

After all, this was a demon in the Opening Meridians Realm. The abundant Demon Power inside him was simply beyond what an ordinary martial artist could...

Before the thought could finish, the next scene made Sun Zhi's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Roar!"

The wolf demon roared and brought a claw down, seeming intent on smashing Shen Lin's head to pieces.

But in the next instant, Shen Lin didn't even draw his sword. He simply held out a hand and caught the wolf demon's claw.

His slender, fair arm clamped down on the wolf claw, twice as thick as his own, like an iron vise. The wolf demon couldn't move at all.

"I'm asking..." Shen Lin said, sounding impatient. "You've got accomplices, don't you?"

The wolf demon didn't reply. He just stared blankly at his own claw, bewilderment on his face.

Seeing this, Shen Lin stopped wasting words and lifted his foot, kicking hard.

Thud!

The force of the impact lifted the wolf demon's body off the ground, but Shen Lin still had hold of his claw, so he couldn't fly away.

But after that kick, his body went limp.

"Ugh... ugh..."

His snarling wolf jaws gaped open, drool trickling down as his pupils shrank to pinpoints. It seemed he had even lost consciousness.

Seeing this, Shen Lin grumbled with some dissatisfaction, "What a pain."

Then, gripping the wolf demon's claw, he swung him aside and threw him.

Crash!

Stones flew everywhere as the enormous wolf body slammed into the stone wall. The intense pain brought him back to his senses, and he howled in agony.

Shen Lin walked over and stepped on his wolf claw, saying softly, "I'm asking you a question!"

Crack!

A crisp snap rang out as Shen Lin crushed his wolf claw underfoot. Pale bone fragments pierced through the thick fur.

"Roar!!!"

The wolf demon roared madly, thrashing with all his might.

But even after using every bit of strength he had, he couldn't break free.

Shen Lin's seemingly frail body held him firmly in place.

With another crack, Shen Lin's sheathed sword came down lightly, smashing his knee. Agonizing pain surged through him once more.

"I'm... asking... you... a question!!!"

Shen Lin spoke slowly. With every word, he broke another bone somewhere in the wolf demon's body.

"Ahhh! That was... that was my brother. He's already... already been killed by those people!"

The wolf demon understood that if he didn't answer, this pain would continue.

So, despite the unbearable agony, he forced himself to focus and answer Shen Lin.

"Who are those people?"

"The demons of Black Wind Stronghold. Their leader is Xiong Ze, the fifth-in-command of Black Wind Stronghold!!!"

"Do you know where they are?"

"They... they're usually at Black Wind Stronghold... Black Wind Stronghold is..."

Under the torment of the pain, the wolf demon answered almost every question.

After asking him for a while, Shen Lin learned all the information he needed.

"Kill me! Kill me!"

The wolf demon realized Shen Lin had stopped questioning him and howled in misery.

Shen Lin simply turned and walked away without responding.

With wounds this severe, the wolf demon would soon bleed to death. There was no need to dirty his sword.