Unexpected

By then, Bai Chuan had also gotten a clear look at the wolves' condition.

Aside from the Alpha Wolf, every one of them had drool dripping from its mouth, green eyes, and a sunken belly with even its ribs showing.

The pack had clearly been hungry for a long time.

This time, it would be hard to get out of this peacefully.

Bai Chuan thought.

And the area around him was rather open. If the pack surrounded him, he'd probably be worn down to death by their numbers—too many wolves against one snake.

Taking in the situation, he came up with a plan.

The next moment, before the pack could attack, he gathered his strength and burst toward one direction. His whole body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, and in the blink of an eye he had covered a great distance.

"Awhoo?"

The sudden turn of events caught the pack off guard. For a moment, confused howls rang out.

That snake was way too fast!

Only then did they begin their pursuit, led by the Alpha Wolf, who had been the first to react.

In an instant, a game of chase unfolded through the forest.

A five-meter-long Great Serpent could be seen launching himself off the ground in an extremely strange posture, bounding forward in great leaps. From a distance, he looked like a nimble Flood Dragon skimming low over the ground.

Behind him, seven ravenous wolves pursued him frantically, slowly spreading out to form an encirclement.

"This won't do." Bai Chuan glanced at the wolves drawing ever closer behind him, knowing that if things continued like this, he'd eventually run out of strength.

He might be moving fast now, but snakes weren't naturally built for endurance.

And because his body had no legs, his agility worked differently from that of other creatures with legs.

Instead, he moved forward in short, explosive bursts. The instant his body touched the ground, he launched himself ahead with a brief surge of power.

This way of moving had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that his bursts of speed were now incredibly powerful. The disadvantage was that they further drained the already limited stamina of his snake body. He simply couldn't keep it up for long.

But since he couldn't overwhelm the pack with speed, they could easily wear him down.

As Bai Chuan pondered, he surveyed the surroundings. Then he spotted a dense stretch of tall woods in the distance, and his heart lifted.

He glanced at the wolves closing in, then burst forward once more, racing ahead before plunging into the tall undergrowth.

Right away, he changed how he moved. No longer launching himself forward in bursts, he began crawling slowly and silently, winding his way toward a tree trunk.

Before long, the Alpha Wolf charged into the woods, followed closely by the other six wolves.

The forest was quiet. Probably because their chase had made such a racket, all the other animals had fled.

The Alpha Wolf held its ears high, listening for the slightest sound. Its sharp gaze swept from side to side as it searched the woods for their earlier prey.

Then it gave a low growl, signaling the pack to spread out and search. It didn't believe the prey could have vanished without a trace in such a short time.

As long as the pack spread out and searched carefully, the moment even one of them found the snake and called out, he'd be doomed.

But Bai Chuan, watching from the shadows, could only think: This is exactly what I wanted!

He wasn't afraid of them spreading out to search for him. What he feared was the pack staying together. After all, this forest was his hunting ground.

His forked tongue flicked out silently, tasting the distinct scents around him. Before long, he picked out the skinniest Gray Wolf, the one farthest away.

His long, thick body began slipping nimbly from branch to branch through the dense trees.

Bai Chuan had to be grateful that he'd spent some time practicing how to move through the trees back when he left his original territory. Otherwise, he would never have been this nimble or stealthy.

Soon he drew close to the skinny Gray Wolf. After carefully checking the direction it was searching, he quietly moved ahead of it, then lowered himself behind the cover of concealed leaves and branches.

He waited patiently for it to enter striking range.

The next moment, as the skinny Gray Wolf approached, something tore through the air. A snake's mouth, its sharp fangs bared, plunged down from above.

After a faint whimper, the Gray Wolf could no longer struggle.

A closer look revealed that Bai Chuan's massive jaws had clamped around its neck, leaving it unable to make a sound.

Before long, the venom took effect. The skinny Gray Wolf had already begun to stiffen, and only then did Bai Chuan release it.

After dealing with the first one, Bai Chuan hid himself again and went after the second.

The second... the third... the fourth...

As one Gray Wolf after another was dealt with, a faint smell of blood began to spread on the wind. The wolves sensed that something was wrong.

But it was too late. Once Bai Chuan realized the pack was growing suspicious, he stopped waiting for the venom to take effect before releasing his bite. Instead, before they could regroup, he relied on his explosive speed to close the distance, bit them to inject venom with incredible speed, then quickly pulled away.

Within just a few minutes, the remaining wolves had all been poisoned and dropped dead.

Of course, Bai Chuan hadn't come away unscathed. Several of his scales had shattered, and unmistakable scratches and bite marks marred his body, with bright red blood slowly seeping out.

Fortunately, compared to Bai Chuan's enormous body, these were only minor wounds. They didn't affect him much.

Only the Alpha Wolf remained.

When the Alpha Wolf came running from afar, it saw its pack members lying on the ground, writhing, while the snake that should have been their prey remained unharmed.

In an instant, it understood: it had no pack left. It was the only wolf remaining.

The snake they'd eaten several times before had now turned around and slaughtered them.

At that moment, the pride and dignity of a Wolf King wouldn't allow him to flee.

He raised his ears, bared his fangs, and lowered his body, his wolf eyes brimming with murderous intent.

Clearly, he was prepared to fight to the death.

Though they couldn't speak the same language, Bai Chuan still understood the Wolf King's resolve. He warily raised his body and let out a cautious "huff, huff."

This was instinctive to the Eye Kings.

The cornered beast fights back.

Bai Chuan sighed inwardly, then fixed his full attention on his opponent. He couldn't afford to be careless now, and his body began circling and weaving restlessly.

However, just then, an unexpected move left Bai Chuan stunned.

The Wolf King ran away... He ran away...

Bai Chuan could hardly believe it. He froze, staring blankly at the Wolf King as he fled into the distance with his tail between his legs. For a moment, he couldn't react.

What was going on? A moment ago, he'd acted like he was ready to die fighting, like it was kill or be killed. Then the next moment, he suddenly ran away?

Did that make any sense?

So this wolf's acting was that good. Bai Chuan had really seen it all now.

He glanced helplessly in the direction the Wolf King had fled, then looked back at the wolf carcasses on the ground.

There was no doubt about it: Bai Chuan wasn't going to eat these. It wasn't that he couldn't; he could probably manage to eat them if he tried.

But the carcasses were too big. Eating them would hamper his movement and inevitably have a huge impact on his fighting strength.

Still, he couldn't let the wolf's ability model go to waste. It seemed he could only scan it.