Hidden Wolf

"Kill them! Hold the city gate!"

Seeing this, Yu Meng immediately raised an arm and shouted, preparing to lead everyone toward the gate.

Just then, a huge shadow suddenly plummeted from above amid a violent gale.

"Scatter!"

Yu Meng shouted and leaped to the left.

Shen Luo rolled fiercely in the opposite direction, barely avoiding it while clutching the Minor Thunder Talisman from earlier in his hand.

But the shadow had come too quickly, and several people still failed to evade it.

A series of cracking bones sounded. Those struck spat blood and collapsed unconscious without even managing a scream, their fates unknown.

The shadow that had fallen from the sky was a massive Black Wolf. It rolled over and climbed to its feet, though one of its forelegs had been broken and hung at an unnatural angle. The skin at the break had split open, faintly revealing the stark white bone beneath.

Yet it seemed unable to feel pain. Kicking off with its hind legs, it immediately pounced viciously at the nearby crowd, its movements barely slowed at all.

A middle-aged man closest to it failed to dodge in time and had his throat seized in the Black Wolf's jaws.

"Ah..." The miserable scream had barely begun before it stopped abruptly.

Blood gushed from the Black Wolf's mouth, and the man's struggling body went still. He was clearly beyond saving.

"Beast!"

Yu Meng was nearby. Seeing this, his tiger-like brows rose as he roared and charged forward first.

The others nearby saw Yu Meng attack and rushed forward as well.

A vicious glint flashed in the Black Wolf's blood-red eyes. It flung its head, sending the middle-aged man in its mouth flying away, then swept out a huge wolf claw at the charging crowd, instantly batting two people aside.

Yu Meng sharply arched his upper body backward, his back nearly touching the ground as he narrowly avoided the sweep of the Black Wolf's massive claw. Still on his knees, he continued sliding forward at high speed and reached the Black Wolf in the blink of an eye.

His right arm shook, and the black blade turned into a fan-shaped arc of dark light as it slashed across the Black Wolf's lower abdomen.

The black blade was exceptionally sharp. With a wet rip, it carved a deep wound across the Black Wolf's belly. Blood sprayed everywhere, and its bright red internal organs could be clearly seen through the gash.

Suffering such a grievous injury, the Black Wolf abruptly turned its head and pounced at Yu Meng.

Yu Meng's vision blurred. A blood-smeared maw was suddenly before him, hooked fangs nearly touching his face as a choking stench washed over him.

Fortunately, he was highly skilled. He abruptly rolled backward, barely avoiding the Black Wolf's jaws.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a gigantic wolf claw descended from above with a shriek of wind, stomping viciously toward his body.

If that stomp landed solidly, even Yu Meng's iron-like body would be finished here.

But his momentum had already been spent. He had no time to rise and evade, so he slapped the ground with one hand. A layer of red light glowed from his palm, and borrowing the force of that strike, he slid sideways.

Still, he was not fast enough. He was about to be injured beneath the Black Wolf's claw.

At that moment, a brilliant light flashed, and a white bolt of lightning shot over from the side, striking the Black Wolf directly in the head.

A deafening boom of thunder exploded!

The Black Wolf's head burst apart completely, spraying blood in every direction. Its enormous body was blasted away and crashed heavily to the ground. Fortunately, it landed in an open area and did not crush anyone.

Several yards away, Shen Luo held a shattered talisman and slowly lowered his hand.

Seeing the Black Wolf die so swiftly and so horribly, the others nearby all gasped. Then every gaze turned toward Shen Luo, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The chaotic scene fell silent for a moment.

Yu Meng sprang up from the ground, a trace of surprise appearing on his face as well.

But the situation was dire, and he had no time for thanks. He merely nodded at Shen Luo, raised his black blade, and charged toward the defenders at the city gate.

The others also came to their senses and joined the battle to defend the city.

Shen Luo tossed aside the ruined talisman paper. His expression remained calm, but inwardly he was thrilled. This activation of the Minor Thunder Talisman was a true talisman in every sense, unlike the crude half-finished products he had previously drawn onto his own skin with blood essence and could only activate through sheer luck.

Shen Luo turned his gaze back toward the brutal fighting ahead. He gripped the black blade at his waist and was about to join the fray, but after taking only a few long strides, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the Black Wolf's corpse.

Shen Luo carefully examined the Black Wolf's body, then looked around, but found nothing unusual.

"Was I seeing things..." A trace of doubt flashed through his eyes.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

A blue shadow flickered in the nearby air, and an Azure Wolf about the size of an ordinary Gray Wolf silently appeared. Its narrow wolf eyes gleamed with human-like cunning.

Shen Luo was shocked at once and tried to roll away, but it was already too late.

The Azure Wolf moved even faster. All its fur suddenly stood on end, its belly swelled, and it opened its mouth in a roar. A gigantic azure wind blade over ten feet long appeared beside its mouth, then vanished with a whoosh.

Only after Shen Luo's pupils contracted did he feel a sharp pain at his waist, and his body slowly collapsed without strength.

At the same time, the people who had been guarding behind the city gate also fell one after another like cut grass as the azure wind blade flashed.

Shen Luo's vision rapidly darkened. The last thing he saw was a massive pack of wolf beasts howling as they rushed into the city, after which he sank into endless darkness.

No one knew how long had passed before Shen Luo heard the sudden sounds of battle at his ears.

He still seemed half-awake, unable to make sense of the situation for a moment, and almost thought the noises were merely an illusion.

Then a piercing, miserable scream made his eardrums tremble, jolting him fully awake. The scream had stopped as soon as it began, and it sounded strangely familiar.

Shen Luo's vision brightened, and everything around him came into view.

The young and middle-aged guards battling the Black Wolves at the city gate, and the figures fighting Gray Wolves atop the city walls in the distance...

I came back to life again?

The thought flashed through his mind, and then he discovered that he was holding the Minor Thunder Talisman in his hand, and it had not yet been activated.

Not far ahead, a Black Wolf with a broken foreleg was flinging the corpse of a middle-aged man from its mouth with a toss of its head.

After clearly seeing everything before him, Shen Luo could not help but freeze.

The previous times he had "died and come back to life," he had returned to the moment when he had just entered the dream. This time was clearly different.

But now was not the time to investigate. He quickly took off his clothes, grabbed several handfuls of dry ash-gray dirt from the ground, and wrapped them in the garment.

Several people around him noticed Shen Luo's actions, and puzzled expressions appeared on their faces.