Wolf Tracks

Tang Yin naturally wasn't about to tell Tang Hao that a year ago, he'd happened to buy a thousand-year-old piece of Whale Rubber from a traveling merchant passing through Nuoding City for over ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

The Whale Rubber had been of excellent quality, and he'd only gotten such a bargain after talking the merchant's ear off and haggling the price down. Afterward, without Third Sister or Xiao Wu knowing, he'd gradually mixed it into their food. By now, all three of them had completely absorbed it.

"You..." Tang Hao's face darkened, but inwardly he was immensely relieved that he'd already separated the two siblings. Otherwise, he couldn't imagine what this rebellious son would have done to Third Sister.

To avoid wasting time, Tang Hao had planned to pay for information about the Shadow Gale Wolf pack. He didn't want money to be the obstacle.

He naturally had no money on him, but he hadn't expected Tang Yin to be broke either.

After all, though he'd rarely slipped into the courtyard where the siblings lived over the years, he still knew a little about their daily lives. Under normal circumstances, they could hardly have spent much.

He hadn't expected this rebellious son to lie so shamelessly. Tang Hao was certain Tang Yin was deliberately making things difficult for him.

"Wait here for a while!"

Tang Hao didn't want to waste time. He had to get the information; otherwise, even as a Titled Douluo, finding the Shadow Gale Wolf King in the vast, boundless Star Dou Great Forest would take quite a while. He didn't want to spend another moment with Tang Yin and only wanted to hurry back and keep an eye on Third Sister and Xiao Wu from the shadows.

Leaving those words behind coldly, Tang Hao vanished from the alley in an instant.

"I wonder who's about to lose a fortune." Watching Tang Hao leave with a dark expression, Tang Yin guessed what he was going to do. It could only be some robbery-the-rich-to-help-the-poor business.

Unfortunately, he really didn't have much money—not enough to buy information, at least.

It had to be said, if a Titled Douluo really wanted to get his hands on money, nobody could stop him. Sure enough, Tang Hao returned in less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense. Not only had he gotten the money, he'd also picked up the information along the way.

"Come with me!" Tang Hao turned and headed toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Heh." Tang Yin smiled breezily, silently mourning some unlucky soul.

Above a canyon somewhere on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, Tang Hao looked down into the endless stretch of primeval forest below. He then compared it with the red X marked on the map in his hand and frowned slightly.

According to the information Tang Hao had bought from a Soul Hunting mercenary group, they'd happened upon two solitary Shadow Gale Wolves while hunting a month ago.

Shadow Gale Wolves were a fairly popular choice among Soul Masters looking for Soul Beasts. And since these two were alone, the group had planned to capture them and sell them.

But just as they lay in wait, ready to strike, a wolf's howl suddenly rang out from the distant canyon. The two Shadow Gale Wolves immediately turned and raced toward the canyon in the direction of the sound, like soldiers who'd heard a bugle call.

As an experienced Soul Hunting mercenary group, they knew what that howl meant. Only the Shadow Gale Wolf King's cry could have such an effect.

Once, a Soul Hunting group led by a Soul Ancestor had been wiped out by a Shadow Gale Wolf King and its pack of more than ten Shadow Gale Wolves, ranging from ten-year to hundred-year Soul Beasts. Only the Soul Ancestor leading the group had managed to escape the Wolf King by relying on a Soul Bone's flight ability. Even so, he'd died not long afterward from his grave injuries.

A pack of Shadow Gale Wolves led by a Wolf King was an extremely dangerous presence for Soul Masters.

So the mercenary group's leader had immediately decided to abandon the hunt and ordered the entire group to withdraw from the canyon.

What happened afterward proved the leader had made the right call. Before long, word spread that a group of students from some backwater academy had gone Soul Hunting in that canyon without an instructor—and every one of them had died.

After accepting the Gold Soul Coins, the group leader seemed to feel bad about it and even kindly warned Tang Hao of the Shadow Gale Wolf King's danger.

Tang Hao had simply laughed it off.

"By the habits of Shadow Gale Wolf packs, they usually roam within a radius of about a thousand li over the course of a month. But it's currently breeding season for Soul Beasts. To care for their newborn pups, the pack's range will shrink considerably. Sometimes, they'll even stay in the same place until the pups can walk."

As Tang Hao recounted what he'd learned from the mercenary group, it was unclear whether he was speaking to Tang Yin behind him.

"Activate your Sharp-Tailed Swift Martial Soul and scout the area above the canyon."

As he spoke, Tang Hao seemed to worry Tang Yin might be frightened, so he added, "Don't worry. This is the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. The Soul Beasts here are mostly ten- and hundred-year ones. Even if a thousand-year Soul Beast appears now and then, it won't pose a threat to you while you can fly."

"Alright!" Tang Yin knew that Tang Hao, as a Titled Douluo, could fly too. But Tang Hao didn't know that Tang Yin knew, and Tang Yin didn't want him to know that he knew...

Since he was hunting for a Soul Ring anyway, Tang Yin couldn't be bothered to argue over it. He activated his Martial Soul, a pair of wings growing from his back, then leaped into the canyon. With a beat of his wings, he shot back up into the air.

The Star Dou Great Forest truly was a treasure trove for every Soul Master on the Douluo Continent. Even on the outskirts, the variety and number of Soul Beasts living there far surpassed those in other places.

Even this remote canyon alone was home to countless Soul Beasts. Tang Yin had flown only a short distance, yet he'd already seen dozens of different kinds of ten- and hundred-year Soul Beasts along the way.

"Hmm? What's that?"

As Tang Yin marveled at the sight, the corner of his eye caught a large black spot with two smaller ones following behind it. They flashed past between the trees.

Sensing something unusual, Tang Yin flicked his wings and switched to low-altitude flight. Keeping an eye on his surroundings, he searched for the black spots he'd just seen.

"They're Shadow Gale Wolves after all—and it's a mother with two pups!" Tang Yin eventually spotted three wolves, one large and two small, beside a stream.

Since there were pups around, the pack's den was surely somewhere near this stream.

With that in mind, Tang Yin decided not to disturb them. He took a quick look, then spread his wings and flew back to Tang Hao.

After he left, several more wolves darted out from the trees. They glanced suspiciously toward the direction Tang Yin had gone, then lowered their heads and drank as usual.

To them, he was just some passing bird.

"Found them!" Tang Yin returned to the spot above the canyon where they'd started, paying no mind to Tang Hao's lazy nap.

"Where?" Tang Hao's eyes snapped open, a sharp glint flashing in them.

"On a tributary more than ten li from the canyon's main river. If I'm not mistaken, that little stream is where the pack goes to drink, so their den must be nearby."

Tang Yin pointed toward the stretch he'd just passed. There were plenty of Soul Beasts along the way, but Tang Hao was a Titled Douluo. As long as he revealed a little of his aura, no Soul Beast on the outskirts would dare block their path.

"Very good. If you join a Soul Master team in the future, your work will be much like this. The Sharp-Tailed Swift may lack offensive power, but its speed gives it an advantage no other agility-type Soul Master can match."

As Tang Hao spoke, he rose to his feet and clenched his right hand. An ancient-looking great hammer appeared in it.