Unexpected

By this time, Bai Chuan had also gotten a clear look at the specific condition of this wolf pack.

Aside from the Alpha Wolf, every single one had drool dripping from its mouth, eyes glowing green, bellies sunken and hollow, even showing the outlines of their ribs.

Clearly, these wolves had been starving for a long time.

This time, it would probably be hard to end things peacefully.

Bai Chuan thought to himself.

And looking at the relatively open surroundings, once he was surrounded and trapped by the wolf pack, he would likely be worn down and killed by sheer numbers—wolves outnumbering the snake.

Seeing this scene before him, a plan formed in his mind.

The next moment, without waiting for the wolf pack to attack first, he gathered his strength and burst forward, his entire serpent body shooting out like an arrow loosed from a bowstring toward one direction, covering a great distance in the blink of an eye.

"Howl?~"

This sudden, unexpected turn of events left the wolf pack momentarily unable to react, and a few confused howls rang out.

This snake's speed was off!

Only then, led by the Alpha Wolf who reacted first, did they all give chase.

For a time, a scene of pursuit unfolded throughout the entire forest.

A five-meter-long serpent, in an extremely bizarre posture, used the ground for leverage and burst forward, leaping and advancing in bounds. From a distance, it looked like a nimble flood dragon skimming low across the ground.

Behind it, seven starving, ravenous wolves chased madly, slowly spreading out to form an encirclement.

"This can't go on," Bai Chuan thought, glancing back at the wolf pack drawing ever closer. He knew that if this continued, he wouldn't last.

Sure, his speed was impressive now, but as a snake, stamina was never his strong suit.

Moreover, because his body lacked legs, his agility manifested differently from creatures with limbs.

It took the form of instantaneous explosive bursts—his body would make brief contact with the ground, then a short burst of power would launch him forward.

This method had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that his explosive power was extremely strong right now; the disadvantage was that it drained his already limited stamina even faster, making sustained movement impossible.

But now, since his speed couldn't completely outclass the wolves, he was at risk of being worn down to death.

As Bai Chuan's mind churned, he scanned his surroundings and suddenly spotted a dense forest in the distance. Joy surged in his heart.

Then, looking back at the wolves closing in, he made a fierce burst, shot forward again, and dove into the tall underbrush.

Immediately after, he changed his crawling posture, no longer moving in explosive bursts, but shifting to a silent, slow crawl, stealthily making his way toward a tree trunk.

Not long after, the Alpha Wolf charged into the forest first, with the other six starving wolves following close behind.

Now, the forest was eerily quiet. Probably because of the commotion from their chase, all the animals had fled.

The Alpha Wolf pricked up its ears, listening for any sound, its sharp eyes scanning the dense woods as it tried to find traces of its prey.

Then it let out a low growl, signaling the pack to spread out and search. It refused to believe the prey could have vanished without a trace in such a short time.

As long as the pack scattered and searched carefully, if even one found it and howled, the snake would be doomed.

But Bai Chuan, watching this scene from the shadows, thought, this is exactly what I want!

He wasn't afraid of them scattering to find him; he was afraid they wouldn't scatter. After all, this forest was his hunting ground.

His forked tongue flicked silently, picking up various distinct scents. Soon, he singled out the farthest and scrawniest Gray Wolf.

His thick, long serpent body began to move nimbly and stealthily through the dense branches, shifting and advancing with incredible flexibility.

Honestly, Bai Chuan had to be grateful that when he first left his original territory, he had trained hard in tree movement. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this agile and concealed now.

Soon, he closed in on that scrawny Gray Wolf. After carefully observing its search pattern, he quietly slipped ahead of it, then lowered himself under the cover of thick leaves.

He waited patiently for it to enter his attack range.

The next moment, as the scrawny Gray Wolf drew near, a sound of air being cut rang out, and a snake's maw, fangs bared, descended from above.

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

Looking closely, Bai Chuan's massive snake head had locked onto the Gray Wolf's neck, preventing it from making any sound.

Soon, the venom took effect rapidly, and the scrawny Gray Wolf began to stiffen. Only then did Bai Chuan release his jaws.

After taking care of the first one, Bai Chuan concealed himself again and went after the second.

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

As wolf after wolf was taken down, a faint scent of blood began to spread on the wind, and the pack sensed something was wrong.

But it was too late. Realizing the pack was catching on, Bai Chuan no longer waited for the venom to take full effect before letting go. Instead, while they hadn't yet regrouped, he relied on his explosive speed to close in quickly, deliver a lightning-fast bite to inject venom, and then retreat just as fast.

Within a few minutes, the remaining wolves also fell, poisoned to death.

Of course, Bai Chuan wasn't in great shape either. Several scales on his body were broken, with obvious scratches and bite marks, and crimson blood slowly seeped out.

Fortunately, compared to Bai Chuan's massive serpent body, these wounds were minor and didn't affect him much.

Now, only the Alpha Wolf remained.

When the Alpha Wolf rushed over from afar, it saw its subjects already lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably, while the snake that should have been their pack's prey remained completely unharmed.

In an instant, it understood that it no longer had any subjects—the entire wolf pack was reduced to just itself.

The snake they had preyed on several times before had now turned the tables and killed them all.

At this moment, the dignity and pride of being the Wolf King would not allow it to flee.

It pricked up its ears, bared its fangs, crouched low, and its wolf eyes were filled with killing intent.

Clearly, it had already prepared itself for a fight to the death.

Though they could not communicate through language, Bai Chuan understood the Wolf King's resolve and warily raised his body, letting out a "huffing" sound of vigilance.

This was an innate trait of the Eye King's lineage.

This was a cornered beast putting up a desperate fight.

Bai Chuan sighed inwardly and began to focus entirely on his opponent. He could not afford to be careless now, so he started circling and shifting his position continuously.

However, at that very moment, an unexpected move stunned Bai Chuan.

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

Bai Chuan could hardly believe it. He froze on the spot, staring dumbly at the Wolf King fleeing into the distance with its tail between its legs, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

What was going on? One moment it acted as if it were ready to die, a do-or-die struggle, and the next it suddenly fled?

Did that make any sense?

So this wolf's acting skills were this impressive—Bai Chuan had truly learned something new today.

Helplessly glancing in that direction, Bai Chuan withdrew his gaze and turned his attention to the wolf corpses on the ground.

Without a doubt, Bai Chuan had no intention of eating these. It wasn't that he couldn't—if he had to, he could barely force them down.

But these wolf carcasses were too large. Eating them would hinder his movements and severely impact his combat effectiveness.

Still, he couldn't let go of the wolf's ability model. It seemed he would have to scan it.