Ambush

At the summit of a high peak within the Destruction Mountain Range, Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling crouched, overlooking the distance.

"Uncle Zong," Dongbo Xueying asked, "we have been in the Destruction Mountain Range for twelve days now, searching for twelve days, yet we haven't found a single trace of the Curved Blade Alliance."

"Every time the Curved Blade Alliance flees into the Destruction Mountain Range, they head for this area. Based on the information gathered from various places over the years, the perimeter we've circled should be correct," Zong Ling said.

This trip to the Destruction Mountain Range was primarily to hunt down the Curved Blade Alliance!

The Curved Blade Alliance had wreaked havoc within Yishui for too long, emerging time and again to commit evil before fleeing back into hiding. Since they were frequently spotted, the gathered intelligence allowed them to pinpoint the general geographical location of the alliance!

The base camp they had established outside was also strategically chosen.

Using that outer camp as the origin, they had marked a radius of five hundred miles deep into the Destruction Mountain Range. This was the area Dongbo Xueying and his companion had cordoned off.

They were ninety-nine percent certain that the Curved Blade Alliance was within this range!

"These desperate outlaws of the Curved Blade Alliance come and go frequently, so they naturally have a relatively safe, established path! But this is the Destruction Mountain Range after all; magic beasts could appear at any moment, so they cannot venture too deep. Otherwise, every trip would take seven or eight hours? Their walking speed can't compare to ours, and many of them aren't even knights," Zong Ling said. "Keep searching slowly; we will definitely find them."

"Mm."

A five-hundred-mile radius might not seem large, but searching it slowly as just the two of them was still a difficult task.

After all, the lair chosen by the Curved Blade Alliance would certainly be hidden extremely well.

Dongbo Xueying and his companion continued their careful search. Although they occasionally encountered magic beasts, Dongbo Xueying's explosive strength could briefly maintain the level of a Silver Moon Knight, and his spear technique was so formidable that he could fend them off. After all, magic beasts above the third rank rarely appeared in the outer perimeter.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~~"

In the gloomy mountain forest, the snow never melted, and a biting chill permeated the air.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling walked quietly, scouting everywhere in search of the Curved Blade Alliance's tracks.

"Hm?" Dongbo Xueying's ears twitched, and he whispered, "Uncle Zong, let's go take a look over there." As he spoke, he pointed toward a high ground in the distance.

"Did you find something?" Zong Ling walked over quietly with Dongbo Xueying and asked.

"You'll see once you look."

Dongbo Xueying carefully climbed up the high ground.

Zong Ling also climbed up, and the two of them poked their heads out to look toward the distance.

In the distance lay a large lake, beautiful as a giant emerald. Beside the lake was a massive pack of snow-white wolves. The wolves were packed densely, standing in groups of two or three, some lowering their heads to drink water, others lying on the grass beside the lake. At a glance, the pack must have numbered two or three hundred! These wolves were much larger than Black-scaled Jackals, each one comparable to a Frost-Flying Magic Beast Colt, with snow-white, sleek fur that was quite beautiful.

"Silver Moon Wolves!" Zong Ling swallowed hard, his face turning pale.

"There's a wolf king, too!" Dongbo Xueying looked toward the furthest point, where the massive Silver Moon Wolf King lay on the bank, surrounded by a dozen clearly larger Silver Moon Wolves.

"I didn't expect to actually run into a Silver Moon Wolf King." Dongbo Xueying grinned, revealing a bitter smile.

"Let's go. We can't fight this; there's no hope at all." Zong Ling shook his head.

Dongbo Xueying stared on.

Indeed.

There was absolutely no hope!

One could tell from their size alone that as third-rank magic beasts, Silver Moon Wolves were far larger than Black-scaled Jackals! The impact force of a Silver Moon Wolf was also incredibly strong; a single wolf weighed eight thousand jin, and its charging force could reach tens of thousands of jin—how fierce was that? Dongbo Xueying could easily sweep away four or five Black-scaled Jackals with one thrust of his spear. But Silver Moon Wolves? He feared he could only sweep away one! And with two or three hundred of them, even three or five Meteor Knights wouldn't be able to hold them off.

And that was not to mention the strongest of them all, the Silver Moon Wolf King!

Use movement techniques to dodge, trying to ensure I only face a few Silver Moon Wolves at a time, Dongbo Xueying calculated inwardly. However, with the Silver Moon Wolf King commanding and directing them, things won't go as smoothly as I hope. Once a complication arises and I get trapped in the pack, I won't even be able to escape.

"Let's go!" Dongbo Xueying chose to give up.

He had been in the Destruction Mountain Range for some time now and knew well the terror of these magic beasts. If he were to fight the entire Silver Moon Wolf pack now, his chance of success was less than ten percent! The probability of death, however, was seventy or eighty percent!

It was not worth the risk.

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

Dongbo Xueying and his companion had been searching hard for the Curved Blade Alliance's lair.

"This Curved Blade Alliance, they hide so securely." Dongbo Xueying gritted his teeth. It had been half a month, and they had already searched the five-hundred-mile radius roughly twice.

"They are afraid, too—afraid of their lair being discovered," Zong Ling said with a smile. "Xueying, your patience is still lacking. Back when your Uncle Tong, your father, your mother, and I were searching for a treasure, we looked for a full three months."

"Did you find it?" Dongbo Xueying asked.

"We did not," Zong Ling said.

"You didn't?" Dongbo Xueying was stunned. He had assumed Uncle Zong mentioned this because they had a great harvest.

Zong Ling laughed: "What, is that strange? Does searching for treasure mean you must find it? In this world, most things do not go as people wish."

Dongbo Xueying nodded gently.

His heart was stirred.

In the affairs of the world, eight or nine out of ten things do not go as one desires.

Although in many aspects, such as the finances of his territory or certain cultivation techniques, he considered himself far more capable than Uncle Zong and the others, he still lacked much when it came to the truths of life.

The two continued their search.

Just at this moment—

A blurry, grey, and small four-legged beast stood upon a tree trunk, peering down at Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling below.

Yet, neither Dongbo Xueying nor his companion had noticed it in the slightest.

Swish.

The four-legged beast leaped lightly, landing silently on another tree, continuing to stare at them. Even with Dongbo Xueying's keen senses, he failed to detect the movement.

It possessed a streamlined physique, similar in size to a Black-scaled Jackal.

However, its fur was like satin, creating an optical illusion that made its body appear as a mere phantom.

This was a terrifying predator—a Rank 5 Magic Beast, the Shadow Leopard.

The Shadow Leopard was incredibly fearsome; it walked through shadows without a sound, and by the time it bared its fangs, its target was usually already dead. It was a top-tier predator within the Destruction Mountain Range.

The legendary Rank 6 Magic Beast, the Shadow Leopard King, could even merge its body completely into the shadows, making it invisible even to those staring right at it.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The Shadow Leopard approached silently, keeping a cautious eye on the youth in black.

As a master predator, it could sense that this black-clad youth posed a far greater threat than the silver-haired snake-man beside him. If it could kill the youth in one strike, the rest would be easy.

"Swoosh!"

Murderous intent suddenly flared in the Shadow Leopard's dim eyes, and it lunged forward.

A grey afterimage!

It was too fast.

Even Dongbo Xueying's limit speed could not compare to that of the Shadow Leopard; it was a terrifying speed that gave even Silver Moon-Rank Knights a headache.

"Hm?" Dongbo Xueying, who was walking side-by-side with Uncle Zong, saw his expression change drastically. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his heart contracted violently.

"Die!"

There was no time for Dongbo Xueying to turn around; he lunged forward, unable to perform any other defensive maneuvers. He could only thrust the butt of his spear backward! This thrust was immensely powerful, enough to stop an ordinary Rank 4 Magic Beast, but this attack came from a Shadow Leopard, a Rank 5 Magic Beast specialized in assassination!

The Shadow Leopard's claws struck the shaft of the spear Dongbo Xueying had thrust backward, pinning it down. Using the rebound force, it took the opportunity to rake its claws fiercely across Dongbo Xueying's back. A terrifying impact surged into his body, sending him tumbling forward uncontrollably.

"Bang!"

At the same moment its claws struck the spear shaft, Dongbo Xueying—a master of spear techniques—naturally leveraged the force. The spear spun one hundred and eighty degrees, instantly whipping against the Shadow Leopard's body as it hung in mid-air, unable to dodge. Although Dongbo Xueying was flying forward, he forced his body to twist and exert strength; the power of this rotating whip-strike was immense.

The Shadow Leopard slammed into the ground, but its boneless, supple body instantly dissipated the force, allowing it to retreat and dodge.

As Dongbo Xueying fell toward the ground, he performed a mid-air roll and landed in a crouch. Holding his spear, he glared at the Shadow Leopard in the distance. He felt a sharp pain in his back and a tremor in his internal organs; a mouthful of blood surged into his throat, which he could not suppress.

"Pah." Spitting out the blood, Dongbo Xueying's teeth were stained red as he stared fixedly at the Shadow Leopard.

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