The line of more than ten people had grown considerably with Zhao Si and the two strangers joining them. They set off in a grand procession toward the Sunset Mountains on the outskirts of the city.
They had only just entered the forest, still on its outskirts. A winding trail, trampled by hunters and herb gatherers, stretched beneath their feet, flanked by lush trees. Sunlight filtered through layers of branches and leaves, casting dappled shafts of light. The air was fresh and damp, fragrant with grass, trees, and earth. Now and then, small beasts startled by their footsteps darted from the underbrush—squirrels, rabbits, and the like—rustling as they vanished into the depths of the forest. A few of the young constables let out quiet gasps and chuckles, easing the tension a little.
But as they followed the trail deeper into the forest, the surroundings began to change. The trees grew taller and thicker, their crowns blotting out the sky. The light dimmed abruptly, as though they had stepped from daylight into dusk. The path beneath their feet grew harder to make out, while vines and ferns grew unchecked, nearly swallowing it whole. The fresh scent of plants and earth gradually mingled with the faintly sour stench of rotting leaves and dead branches, along with the barely perceptible rankness of a predator's territory.
"Wooo—roar!"
"Roar!"
Low, savage growls and cries began to echo from the distance, piercing the dense forest with their primal menace. These were no harmless little beasts from the outskirts. They were the declarations of large predators. And the sounds seemed to be drawing closer, growing clearer, as though the beasts making them prowled on a nearby ridge or somewhere in the woods just ahead.
The tension in the group tightened once more. The smiles faded from the young constables who had set out with something of a picnic-going air, replaced by solemnity and wariness. They instinctively gripped the hilts at their waists, their knuckles paling with the strain, eyes anxiously searching every shifting shadow and suspicious patch of grass. The three carrying bows quietly took them from their shoulders and held them ready, one hand resting on their quivers.
Ye Yun walked near the rear of the group, his mind on high alert, his senses reaching out in every direction like invisible feelers. He noticed that though Yan Xiao Liu remained wary, his steps were steady and his sharp eyes swept over the surroundings. The confidence of a Ninth Rank martial artist made him far more composed than the others. The newly joined Li San and Wang Wu, meanwhile, seemed unusually casual. Wang Wu walked in the middle of the group, gazing straight ahead as if the perilous surroundings had nothing to do with him. Every so often, he rolled his neck, producing a faint crack of his joints. Li San seemed more like an onlooker. His gaze rarely lingered on the path ahead; instead, he casually scanned everyone in the group, letting it rest a little longer on Ye Yun and Yan Xiao Liu. Deep in his eyes was a hint of appraisal and a hard-to-detect curiosity. Ye Yun keenly noticed that several times, Li San's assessing gaze had fallen on him, like the cold flick of a snake's tongue.
The group pressed on in oppressive silence, accompanied only by the heavy tread of their footsteps, their rough breathing, and the occasional snap of a dead branch underfoot. The air seemed frozen. Every stir in the grass set their taut nerves on edge.
"Rustle..." A dense patch of waist-high ferns to the front left suddenly swayed, though there was no wind.
"Careful!" an older constable barked.
Before the words had left his mouth—
A bolt of black lightning shot out of the ferns without warning! It was fast—faster than most of them could react! Its target was neither Yan Xiao Liu at the head of the group nor Wang Wu, whose aura was the strongest, but a young constable named Zhang Ping in the middle.
A foul, reeking gust struck Zhang Ping in the face. A shadow flashed before his eyes, and he let out a startled cry, instinctively drawing his saber and swinging it up to block! He was quick—but—
"Rrrip!"
The sound of cloth tearing set their teeth on edge!
The shadow was simply too fast, its angle too treacherous. Zhang Ping's blade barely grazed it, but failed to block the attack. The shadow's claws, curved like hooks of forged steel, tore effortlessly through the sturdy leather armor on his chest and the clothes beneath, leaving three foot-long gashes! Blood began to seep from them!
The sudden attack caught Zhang Ping off guard. The tremendous force knocked him back, and he stumbled to the ground.
"Something's here!"
"Protect him!"
"Form a circle!"
The group erupted into chaos! Cries of alarm, the ring of drawn blades, and the creak of bowstrings being pulled taut tangled together. Still reeling from the shock, they quickly closed ranks around the injured Zhang Ping, their blades pointed outward as they anxiously searched for their attacker.
The attacker had not fled far.
About ten zhang ahead, beneath the shadow of a gnarled old tree, two points of ghostly green light appeared, like ghost flames burning in the darkness. Then a graceful yet deadly figure slowly emerged, exposed to the horrified gazes of the group.
It was lithe and powerful, a size larger than an ordinary leopard. Its sleek, glossy black fur seemed to absorb the light, without a single spot of another color. Its smooth muscles rippled beneath its coat, brimming with explosive strength. It arched its back slightly, its long tail swaying behind it like a steel whip, stirring faint clouds of dust each time it swept the ground. Most unnerving of all were its eyes. Their ghostly green glow was cold, cruel, and utterly devoid of emotion as they fixed on the group, especially the spot where it had just struck. A cruel hint of amusement and a predator's greed glimmered in its gaze.
It was an adult Shadowless Leopard, a killer of the mountains renowned for its speed and stealth! That probing, lightning-fast strike had bared its sharp fangs to the unwelcome intruders who had trespassed on its territory!
The Shadowless Leopard stood proudly at the edge of the shadows, its ghost-fire eyes sweeping coldly over the humans, who had drawn together in a bristling defensive formation out of fear. Beneath its sleek, glossy fur, which seemed to devour the light, its powerful muscles rippled faintly. Its poise was so leisurely it seemed almost contemptuous, as though it were judging the quality of the meat laid out before it. It did not attack again right away. Instead, a low, restrained rumble rolled from deep in its throat, like distant thunder.
In the suffocating silence—
"Rustle... rustle... rustle..."
A sound, so faint yet so dense it made their scalps prickle, came quietly from all around them—from the thick underbrush, the towering ferns, even beneath the shadows of low, gnarled branches. It was like a snake gliding over dead leaves. The sound did not come from the wind. Living creatures were stalking them!
Then, in the pupils constricted by their terror, more despairing points of ghostly green light appeared!
One, two, three... Five figures, just as black and lithe, radiating the same icy aura of death, seemed to peel away soundlessly from the thickest shadows of hell itself, revealing their deadly outlines! They padded out from their hiding places, their movements so light they seemed weightless, their paws making no sound as they touched the ground.
Like their leader, the five newly emerged Shadowless Leopards were covered in fur as dark as night, without a single spot of another color. Smooth muscles surged beneath their skin, charged with raw, explosive power. The moment they appeared, they spread out in perfect coordination like a band of trained assassins. Some crouched behind waist-high waves of grass, others silently leaped onto thick branches to look down on their prey, and one blocked the path behind the group, sealing off any chance of retreat.
Six pairs of ghostly green eyes, like cold jade set in the darkness, locked onto every person inside the defensive circle. There was no curiosity or hesitation in those gazes, only the purest, most primal savagery and cruelty of apex predators! Beneath their slightly parted jaws, sharp fangs glimmered bone-white in the dim light. Threatening growls rumbled from their throats, low and hoarse. Together, the growls formed a muffled, soul-rending chorus of death that echoed through the silent forest, pounding against every heart.
The growls grew denser, more aggressive, like the prelude to a storm repressed to its limit. The leopard pack arched their powerful backs, their taut muscles like great bows drawn to the breaking point, storing enough terrible strength to rip through steel. Their ghostly green eyes fixed on their chosen prey, while their deadly claws unconsciously dug into the rotting soil beneath them, carving deep furrows. They were poised to strike, like bowstrings pulled taut to the limit; the slightest provocation would unleash a thunderclap!
Just as the silent terror drove the group to the verge of collapse and fear caused a momentary lag in their defenses—
"Roar—!!!"
The Head Leopard, which had stood motionless as if carved from stone, suddenly raised its head and unleashed a sky-splitting roar, full of savagery and absolute command! The roar was a spark that set off a powder keg, the hammer blow that rang in a death knell!
Before the roar had even faded—
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Six jet-black figures, swift as lightning, burst from their hiding places in the shadows at the very same instant! They tore through the frozen air with shrill whistles, becoming six black bolts of thunder wrapped in the stench of blood and death. In a relentless, all-consuming assault, they pounced on Ye Yun and the others, trapped at the heart of the encirclement like turtles in a jar!
Before you continue