Wolf's Message

In Jinglong District, Li Beichen finished his day of cultivation and returned home.

He did not expect to find Wang Er waiting at his door.

"Brother Wang Er, why didn't you go inside?"

"Brother Beichen, I just arrived myself."

The swarthy butcher was dressed in a long gown, imitating the city folk. He pulled an invitation from his bosom and handed it to Li Beichen personally.

"Tomorrow is my kid's one-month celebration. You must come, Brother Beichen."

"Of course!"

Li Beichen agreed readily.

"Come on, Brother Wang Er, come inside and let's have a drink."

"I can't. There's too much to do at home; I still need to go back and prepare for tomorrow."

Wang Er cupped his hands in a salute to bid Li Beichen farewell, his figure disappearing around the street corner under Li Beichen's gaze.

Li Beichen felt a touch of sentiment; time spent in cultivation flows away like water.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Er's son was already a month old.

He returned to his room and prepared a generous gift.

He then had his maid go out to buy some toys and clothes for the infant.

He would bring them along tomorrow.

In the Market Ward, Wang Er's courtyard was bustling with activity.

Li Beichen was a lone wolf with no ties or burdens.

However, Wang Er had quite a few relatives and acquaintances.

Most of these people were from Clear Creek Village.

Now that Wang Er had struck it rich alongside Li Beichen, he hadn't forgotten his poor relatives back in the village.

He still maintained those social ties.

Upon hearing that Li Beichen had arrived, Wang Er immediately stood up and, together with Sister-in-law Wang, carried their son out to welcome him.

"Brother Beichen!"

"Brother Wang Er, Sister-in-law Wang."

"So this is my nephew. He looks so sturdy; he'll be a natural for martial arts in the future!"

Li Beichen's praise made the couple beam with joy, and they hurriedly ushered him to the main table.

The others present also wore expressions of reverence.

Li Beichen's journey had become a household legend in Clear Creek Village.

In less than a year, he had leaped from a refugee fleeing for his life to a respected martial arts master.

They all sighed, wondering why it was Wang Er who had met Li Beichen back then instead of them.

Otherwise, it would be them living in Ram City today.

The one-month celebration began.

Most of the guests knew each other.

The atmosphere was very lively.

After a few cups of strong liquor, everyone began to open up.

At the table next to Li Beichen sat the villagers from Clear Creek Village.

Zhao Si, the hunter who had once taken Li Beichen up the mountain for Hunting, was among them.

He was currently puffing on a dry pipe while recounting his recent encounter in Small Gravel Mountain.

"I really escaped with my life."

"A ferocious Black Wolf has appeared in Small Gravel Mountain, leading dozens of wolves through the deep forest."

"That day, I wasn't paying attention and wandered too deep into the woods, and I heard wolf howls everywhere."

"I scrambled up a tree and saw a pack of wolves following a Black Wolf as they tore through the forest."

"Neither Yellow Sheep nor herds of deer could escape them. The Black Wolf didn't even need to act; a One-Eyed Wolf in the pack could finish the entire hunt."

"Then it would wait for the Black Wolf to feast."

Hearing this, Li Beichen's mind flashed back to the alpha wolf in Small Gravel Mountain whose eye he had shattered with a single Locust Stone.

He turned his head and asked a question.

"Uncle Zhao, you mentioned that the Black Wolf is followed by a one-eyed wolf. What does it look like?"

Seeing that it was Li Beichen asking, Zhao Si hurriedly extinguished his dry tobacco pipe.

"Master Li, you flatter me. Just call me Zhao Si."

Having spent years roaming the mountains, he occasionally encountered martial artists venturing from Small Gravel Mountain deep into the Lingnan Mountains.

He knew just how vast the gap was between these martial artists and ordinary people like himself.

It was safe to say that offending them was out of the question.

Even though he was acquainted with Li Beichen, he dared not show the slightest disrespect in his attitude.

"No need to be nervous, Uncle Zhao. I'm just asking. I still owe you thanks for teaching me those hunting techniques; they helped me save enough silver to join the martial arts school so quickly."

Under Li Beichen's gentle demeanor, Zhao Si felt much more at ease.

He began to describe the appearance of the one-eyed wolf in great detail to Li Beichen.

After hearing a few sentences, Li Beichen knew that this one-eyed wolf was the very same one he had wounded back then.

It was an exact match.

That one-eyed wolf shouldn't be a beast, otherwise Hu San wouldn't have lasted so long.

But even if it isn't a beast, its constitution is different from an ordinary jackal or wolf.

To be able to make such a fierce beast follow it, that Black Wolf is very likely a beast.

As these thoughts turned, Li Beichen deduced that the Black Wolf was most likely a Ninth-Grade beast.

Small Gravel Mountain could not sustain an Eighth-Grade beast.

Such a carnivorous beast would require too much meat daily if there were no other beasts to serve as prey.

Only the depths of the Lingnan Mountains could support it.

At this moment, Zhao Si finished speaking, placing his hands on his knees as he waited for Li Beichen's response.

"I understand the situation now. Thank you, Uncle Zhao."

"With such a fierce beast in the mountains, you and the other hunters in the village should stop going deep into Small Gravel Mountain."

"You got it."

At the same time, Meng Juxiang also returned from the depths of the Lingnan Mountains.

He wrote a secret letter and sent it back to the Giant Elephant Sect through a covert channel.

After finishing this, he looked toward the Lingnan Mountains and muttered to himself.

"A suspected Third-Grade martial artist has fallen to the jaws of a beast in the Lingnan Mountains. I only hope the fallout doesn't reach Ram City..."

Sharing his concerns were the Sixth-Grade masters of the Thunderbolt, Cloud Crane, and Wang Clan martial arts schools.

After leaving Wang Er's house, Li Beichen headed straight for the blacksmith shop.

He had spent one hundred taels of silver to have the smith forge fifty identical Shuriken out of refined iron, using the small sword as a one-to-one template.

By today, they should be just about finished.

Arriving at the blacksmith shop, he found that the items were indeed ready.

He weighed them in his hand; they were indeed forged from refined iron.

However, the texture was not as good as the small sword that came with the [Shuriken] manual.

"Why are these small swords not as good as the sample?"

"In reply to you, sir, we only realized after smelting the small sword you provided that it was mixed with something else—it is highly likely to be Meteorite Iron."

"One tael of Meteorite Iron is worth ten taels of gold. Such material is far too rare; our humble shop does not have it."

Li Beichen raised an eyebrow. The ten small swords weighed a total of five jin.

If they were truly forged with a mixture of half Meteorite Iron, the material alone would be worth two hundred and fifty taels of gold.

That was two thousand five hundred taels of silver.

Yet, he had only spent three hundred taels.

He hadn't expected to pick up such a bargain at the Black Market.

"Very well. Pack up the other small swords for me; I'll take them today."

"Right away, sir."

Li Beichen carried the tens of jin of small swords as if they were nothing more than two stalks of green onion.

He felt no burden at all.

With light footsteps, he returned to Jinglong District.

Li Beichen carefully tucked away nine of the small swords that came with the [Shuriken] manual, carrying them on his person in his Sword Pouch.

He kept one out to use for practice.

Although the Meteorite Iron small sword and the Refined Iron small sword were identical in size and shape, their texture and weight felt different.

He needed to familiarize himself with both while practicing.

Only then could he unleash their maximum power.

The Sword Pouch contained nine Meteorite Iron small swords and nine Refined Iron small swords.

Against ordinary eighth or ninth-rank martial artists, Li Beichen only needed to use the standard Refined Iron small swords.

Only when encountering a seventh-rank Skin-Refining martial artist would he resort to the Meteorite Iron small swords.

In the cellar, Li Beichen took down a piece of dried Black-White Strange Pig meat.

He weighed the remainder in his hand, estimating there was only five or six jin left, enough for just a few days.

He still had plenty of the ninth-rank Exotic Beast Meat he had purchased from the Black Market last time.

It was currently being kept frozen with ice made from saltpeter.