An hour later, out on the wasteland.
The wolves had reached the vicinity of the antelope herd's grazing grounds. A small river wound through the area toward fertile land lush with grass. Fang Qianyuan watched several lone wolves emerge from the darkness and gradually join them, swelling the pack to nearly twenty.
The overlapping howls had long since subsided into short barks, then fallen silent altogether.
Under the lead wolf's command, the whole pack moved like a well-trained army, silently creeping downwind of the riverbank in preparation for an attack.
Fang Qianyuan followed a mature male wolf with patchy fur and rather ugly looks around to the other side. This was the wolf the pack leader had called Scabby.
Scabby seemed none too pleased to have someone following him. He bared his teeth and growled at Fang Qianyuan for a good while, but finally slunk away at the lead wolf's urging.
He took five other male wolves with him, running at a furious pace as though trying to shake Fang Qianyuan off.
This wolf possessed considerable spiritual awareness. Though he had not cultivated into a spirit beast, he was already very clever-and had something of a temper.
Naturally, Fang Qianyuan was not about to get into a sulk over a wolf. He ignored Scabby's attitude and stayed close to the hunting party, lying in ambush with them behind the weeds along the riverbank.
He had no idea how long they would have to wait, so he quietly recalled the feeling he had experienced earlier.
Now, as though its hot blood had cooled, the Gale Berserker Wolf's excitement and exhilaration had gradually faded, leaving it as uncomprehending as an infant again.
Fang Qianyuan knew this was how a spirit creature behaved before achieving success in cultivation. Transforming from a body of