Xie Wolf Pack Again

Exhaustion washed over him like a rising tide.

Lin Yi lay on his back atop the rubble at the edge of the deep pit. Every breath in his chest carried a searing pain, and the weariness in his body made his eyelids feel as heavy as if they had been filled with lead.

The Inkshadow Leopard's corpse lay collapsed not far beside him. Its inky Divine Markings had completely dissipated, leaving only a charred shell with twisted joints.

Just as his eyelids were about to close completely—

Awooo—!

A long, piercing wolf howl came from deep within the dense forest, carrying the thrill of a hunter spotting prey and the summons to gather its companions.

The sound pierced through the leaves and air, slamming into Lin Yi's eardrums.

His eyes snapped open, his pupils shrinking. It was as if a basin of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe, instantly jolting him more than halfway awake.

"...Fuck." He struggled upright, his teeth grinding audibly. "Do I really have to die here today?"

Blood. The thick stench of blood had continuously drifted out during and after the battle, carried by the wind deeper into the Great Wilderness.

And in this world, the scent of blood was the most straightforward invitation imaginable to predators.

If there had only been one or two wolves, he might still have been able to fight them to the death with this battered body. But wolves never moved alone.

If one wolf had called, it meant that at least a pack was gathering.

Gritting his teeth, he climbed to his feet and first glanced at Biao.

The big man was still unconscious. The angle of his twisted left arm was horrifying, and blood was still seeping from the claw marks on his forehead, but his breathing remained steady enough.

Lin Yi bent down and, gritting his teeth, hoisted him onto his back.

In his prime, he could have carried the body of a grown man and still run like the wind with one hand.

But now, his blood and qi had withered nearly to nothing. Only a thin layer remained in his Dantian and meridians, slowly circulating just enough to keep his consciousness from scattering.

With every step, the cracks in his chest bones hurt so badly that his vision turned white in waves.

He gritted his teeth and did not stop.

The howls behind him drew closer and closer. Barely a dozen breaths after the first howl, a second rang out from much nearer.

Then came a third, a fourth—several howls answering one another from different directions, rising and falling like a net slowly drawing shut around the center of the blood scent.

Lin Yi desperately forced his legs onward, but he simply could not pick up speed.

In his current state, dragging along this burden, he could not even manage half his usual speed.

The rustling behind him grew denser. The sound of grass blades snapping underfoot, heavy snuffling breaths, and the deep, excited whines unique to canines came wrapping in from all directions.

At last, at the edge of the clearing ahead, a pair of crimson eyes lit up.

Then a second pair, a third, a fourth—crimson points of light appeared one by one among the low shrubs and tree trunks, like glowing coals being kindled.

Those points of light spread out in an arc, bypassing Lin Yi's front and closing in from both flanks before finally sealing shut behind him.

A wolf pack.

Lin Yi stopped and slowly turned around.

He saw them clearly: gray-black fur, with a patch of scarlet hair atop each head, glaringly vivid as if it had been dyed in blood.

They were nearly twice the size of ordinary wild wolves, with raised backs, sturdy limbs, and sharp claws sunk into the soil.

Every wolf was nearly a zhang long. Their bared fangs were as sharp as bone blades, glistening with damp, chilling light beneath the mottled shadows.

Tidal Surge Realm.

Each one possessed at least fifty thousand jin of strength. And those seven or eight pairs of crimson eyes meant there were at least seven or eight such creatures.

Lin Yi took a deep breath.

His gaze swept over the slowly tightening encirclement, and it felt as though a stone were sinking through his heart.

At his peak, he could have slaughtered this pack of beasts cleanly by himself, one punch for each without any effort.

But now his blood and qi were nearly depleted, his breastbone was cracked, and he still had an unconscious Biao on his back.

He gently lowered Biao from his back and let him lean against a tree trunk behind him.

Then he used his body to shield Biao.

"Fuck... Looks like I'm really going to fall here today."

He cursed under his breath, yet his feet did not retreat even a single step.

Another wolf howl rang out from afar, deeper and fuller than the previous cries, carrying the force of a command.

The instant that sound fell silent, the nearest wolf in the pack abruptly lowered its body, its hind-leg muscles tightening.

The signal to charge.

Lin Yi cursed inwardly and desperately activated the Savage Bull Art.

He felt the final thread of thin blood and qi deep within his Dantian being forcibly squeezed out and spreading through his meridians toward his limbs.

But there was simply too little of it. That blood and qi was as thin as watered-down gruel; by the time it reached the surface of his body, it could not even gather into the most basic patterns.

The Savage Bull Diagram had been activated, but the blood-gold glow merely flashed across his skin before dimming. Not even a complete pattern lit up.

Thirty thousand jin. Less than a quarter of his peak strength.

The first Xie Wolf had already pounced at his face! Its blood-filled maw opened wide, its fangs aimed straight for Lin Yi's throat!

Lin Yi hastily raised an arm to block. The wolf's fangs sank viciously into the flesh of his forearm! Agonizing pain exploded through him, fresh wounds piling atop old ones. Lin Yi let out a muffled groan, twisted the wolf's head with his left hand, and drove his right knee hard into its belly, smashing the Xie Wolf until it staggered back and released its bite.

But in the next instant, more scarlet figures surged in from every direction—left leg, right leg, back. Fangs snapped at him from all sides. He had to protect the unconscious Biao behind him and had no way to free his hands to block them all.

Just as a Xie Wolf's fangs touched the flesh at his lower back—

"Get lost—!"

A hoarse yet violent roar exploded from behind Lin Yi!

Biao had awakened.

Though the towering man's face was pale and his left arm hung limp at his side, the sight of the wolf pack and that slender back before him—bathed in blood yet still shielding him—made fire blaze in his pupils.

He sprang away from the tree trunk and swung a punch with his right hand, directly sending the Xie Wolf that had tried to ambush Lin Yi from the side flying!

The force of that punch was tremendous. The Xie Wolf was blasted more than three zhang away, the crack of breaking bones ringing clear.

Then Biao vaulted over from behind Lin Yi and placed himself in front of him. With one hand, he seized the head of the Xie Wolf that still refused to release Lin Yi's forearm, and his five fingers suddenly clenched!

Crack! With a crisp sound, the Xie Wolf's skull was crushed directly in Biao's palm, red and white matter splattering across the ground.

"Brother Biao!" Lin Yi was overjoyed.

Biao glanced back at him, his eyes sweeping over Lin Yi's pale, drained face and body covered in wounds. He asked nothing.

He turned and stood back-to-back with Lin Yi, the two forming a defensive formation that covered each other.

Biao's right hand clenched until his knuckles turned white. Sweat and blood streamed down his face, but he did not bend at the waist even once.

His gaze swiftly swept over the wolf pack. When he saw those scarlet wolf heads and their dispersed encirclement formation, his pupils contracted slightly.

"...Xie Wolves." Biao's voice was hoarse and heavy. "These beasts are infamous for being relentless. And the wolf king behind them still hasn't shown itself."

Lin Yi's heart sank.

Following Biao's gaze, he looked deeper into the darker forest behind the pack.

There truly was a larger Xie Wolf there, breathing heavily. Completely different from the restless Xie Wolves growling low before them, that thing was waiting.

Waiting for the two of them to exhaust their last shred of strength.