Deep in the forest, wolves howled mournfully.
Qin Meng's vision suddenly opened up. His gaze was cold as lightning as he swept it over the scene.
A dozen or so paces away, more than ten gray wolves surrounded two trees, snarling and lunging wildly.
These wolves were as big as calves, with coats of pure gray and astonishingly thick limbs. Their hind legs were especially powerful. They could even rear halfway upright, their claws digging deep into the bark as they tried to climb the trees or ram their trunks.
The wolves in this world were utterly unlike the ones Qin Meng remembered.
These forest wolves were a match for more than ordinary hunters; even an average martial artist would be hard-pressed to deal with one. If they came in numbers, even Body Forging Realm martial artists had to steer clear.
Especially the Red-Haired Alpha Wolf. It was as big as a tiger, its eyes as red as blood. Killing Intent rolled off it with every snarl. It clearly possessed Demonic Beast blood, and it was exceptionally ferocious.
Qin Meng recognized the three people in the trees at a glance—Li Tiezhu, Qin Xiaoshan, and Wang Tieniu.
His cheek twitched violently.
Li Tiezhu was his childhood friend, someone he'd grown up with since they were both in split-crotch pants.
The Qin family was a prominent clan in Luming Fort, so Qin Xiaoshan was at least some sort of distant relative.
And Wang Tieniu went without saying: he was Old Hunter Wang's grandson, and the one who had taught him Martial Skills.
Qin Meng had heard the shouts as he approached, and already had a rough idea of what had happened.
The last time they sold a deer, he'd noticed something off in the boy's eyes. With that itching-to-try-something look, he was bound to get himself into trouble sooner or later.
That was why he'd specifically warned Old Man Wang that the mountains had been dangerous lately and told him to keep a close eye on the hotheaded youngster. He mustn't go into the mountains rashly.
He hadn't expected the boy to end up in trouble after all.
Up in the trees, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Qin Xiaoshan leaned against a fork in the branches, his face drained of color, now more ashen than pale. Li Tiezhu had tightly bound the wound on his leg with strips torn from his clothes, but blood still seeped through, staining the coarse cloth dark red.
His breathing grew weaker and weaker. Every breath came with a strained rasp.
"Xiaoshan, hang on." Li Tiezhu kept a wary eye on the wolves crashing against the tree below as he slapped Qin Xiaoshan's cheek hard.
"Hold on. The pack will leave soon."
"As soon as we get down, we'll head straight to town and find the best doctor. You'll be fine, I promise."
He spoke with unshakable certainty, but the cold sweat rolling down his temples betrayed the worry in his heart.
Qin Xiaoshan managed a faint smile. He wanted to say something, but only a breathy sound escaped him.
In the other tree, Wang Tieniu clung desperately to the violently shaking trunk, his knuckles turning white. He looked at Qin Xiaoshan, then at the increasingly frenzied wolves below. At last, the stubborn look on his face faded.
"It's my fault... I insisted on going deeper into the mountains..."
"I didn't leave the prey behind, and I brought the wolves down on us." His voice was hoarse, with a barely perceptible tremble. "Brother Xiaoshan's like this... I..."
"What good is talking about that now?" Li Tiezhu growled, his eyes fixed on the Red-Haired Alpha Wolf. "Hold on to the tree. Don't let go!"
The Red-Haired Alpha Wolf seemed to sense the humans' despair. A cunning, vicious glint flashed in its eyes.
It backed away a few steps and raised its neck, giving a low, smug whine. Then—
"Awooo—!"
Its long howl tore through the forest, cruel with the certainty of victory.
The pack went wild at its call, slamming against the trees with even greater force.
The spreading cracks in the ancient tree Wang Tieniu clung to made a clear cracking sound.
"Looking for death."
A cold voice came from the forest to the side.
Qin Meng's face was dark as a storm cloud. Without the slightest hesitation, he reached back and snatched the Three-Stone Heavy Bow off his back. His fingers drew three arrows in quick succession. He nocked, drew, and aimed—all in one fluid motion, so fast it left only a blur.
The bowstring thrummed!
The Three-Stone Heavy Bow packed far more power than an ordinary Hunting Bow. The arrows screamed as they cut through the air, moving too fast for the eye to follow!
The Red-Haired Alpha Wolf was no fool. Almost the instant the bowstring rang, it sensed mortal danger. Its red fur bristled as it sprang violently to the side.
But it was a fraction too slow.
"Thwack!"
The arrow missed its intended target, the wolf's neck, but punched straight through the joint in its hind leg. Blood gushed like a spring!
"Awooo!" The pain cut off the Alpha Wolf's howl, turning it into a shrill cry of agony. The pack's assault faltered, plunging into brief confusion.
The three people in the trees froze.
Then wild joy blazed in Li Tiezhu's eyes. "Someone's here! We're saved!"
Before the words had even left his mouth—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The arrows' shrill whistles ran together! Qin Meng's gaze was cold as ice, his wrist steady as stone. He drew and fired so quickly he barely seemed to aim.
In the space of two breaths, he fired five arrows.
Each shot was viciously precise, aimed at the wolves' throats and eye sockets—their most vulnerable spots.
Wails erupted all around.
Five gray wolves fell where they stood, some dead on the spot, others badly wounded and writhing.
The remaining wolves immediately stopped ramming the trees. At the wounded Alpha Wolf's snarling command, they wheeled around. More than ten pairs of blood-red eyes locked onto Qin Meng, and the pack charged like a gray tide.
Qin Meng remained unfazed. He slung the longbow over his back, gripped the Zhanma Dao in one hand, and stamped hard against the ground. He didn't dodge or retreat; he charged straight at the pack. To catch the bandits, first seize their king. He would kill the Red-Haired Wolf!
"Brother Mengzi? It's Brother Mengzi!" Wang Tieniu had the sharpest eyes. His excited shout cracked. "Brother Mengzi's here too! We're saved!"
Li Tiezhu and Qin Xiaoshan also recognized the newcomer. The huge stone in their hearts crashed to the ground. But before they could even breathe easy, their pupils suddenly contracted—
Qin Meng had already collided head-on with the Red-Haired Alpha Wolf at the front of the pack.
Though the arrow had pierced its hind leg, the Alpha Wolf's ferocity had only grown more frenzied. Its eyes bulged with rage, and its gaping jaws shot toward Qin Meng's throat as its foreclaws swept out, bringing a wave of foul wind. It looked ready to tear him to pieces.
Qin Meng's gaze turned colder still. He didn't dodge. Taking advantage of the saber's reach, he thrust the Zhanma Dao upward in a streak of black light.
The blow was fast, precise, and ruthless!
The Zhanma Dao was already hard and sharp, and an invisible cutting edge coiled around its blade—the power of "Keen Edge," the special effect of the Evil-Slaying Blade-Breaking Saber.
"Pfft—!"
The long blade plunged viciously through the wolf's mouth, pierced its upper palate, and emerged from the top of its skull.
Qin Meng twisted his wrist sharply and torqued the blade. Inside the wolf's skull, the blade spun savagely! He shoved it forward, then twisted it back, instantly reducing the wolf's brain to mush.
Even the Red-Haired Alpha Wolf, a Demonic Beast, couldn't withstand such devastating destruction.
The giant wolf convulsed violently and let out a muffled whimper. The ferocity in its eyes gave way to shock and unwillingness. Its limbs twitched a few times before its massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The instant he slew the Alpha Wolf, red light flickered in Qin Meng's palm. A strange force spread along the blade, frantically draining the creature's life essence.
[Life Source +18%] [Bloodline Talent of the Blood Wolf Seized: Blood Shadow]
Two lines of pale golden text flashed across his vision and vanished.
Qin Meng's expression didn't change. He kicked the still-twitching wolf carcass aside, swung his long saber, and charged into the remaining seven or eight gray wolves like a tiger bursting into a flock of sheep.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The remaining wolves abruptly halted their charge. They saw the Alpha Wolf's mangled state, then caught the scent of blood and death, now several times stronger in the air.
"Awooo!" The seven or eight gray wolves whimpered in terror. The bloodlust in their eyes gave way to the most primal fear. The pack instantly fell apart. All thoughts of fighting vanished, and they turned to flee in every direction!
Qin Meng sprang into motion, unleashing his full speed!
In just a few strides, he caught up with the last wolf, which was stumbling because an arrow had pierced its leg. The Zhanma Dao stabbed in through its flank and out through its chest.
[Life Source +6%]
Without stopping, he turned toward another wolf. It was so terrified that it ran for its life, pushing itself to go faster.
But Qin Meng was faster still. He darted up from the side and slashed horizontally!
The wolf's head went flying.
[Life Source +6.5%]
Next, he caught up with another gray wolf and killed it on the spot. Then he turned back and finished off the five gray wolves that had fallen to the ground with arrows in them.
In the blink of an eye, wolf carcasses littered the ground beneath the trees, and the smell of blood hung thick in the air. The pack that had just been so savage, forcing the three men up into the trees to await their deaths, had been wiped out or driven off in a flash.
The three men in the trees stared in stunned silence, unable to recover for a long while.
"Th-this is really Brother Mengzi?" Wang Tieniu murmured, disbelief written all over his face.
He knew full well that Qin Meng had yet to begin cultivating and was still, by all accounts, an "ordinary person."
An ordinary person... could slaughter a wolf pack like this?
That saber, those arrows, that speed... He was leagues beyond Wang Tieniu!
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