Moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, but the sky was not completely black, instead revealing a deathly dark gray.
Inside the thatched hut, Wang Wen woke in a daze. He only felt freezing cold all over, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
He opened his eyes and checked his surroundings, only to find that he had tossed and turned in his sleep, moving himself away from the bonfire and leaving himself chilled to the bone.
Wang Wen cursed under his breath, then squatted beside the bonfire, shivering as he warmed himself.
The two Fire Workers standing watch glanced at Wang Wen, but they had no strength left to strike up a conversation.
Their eyes vigilantly swept across the deep, boundless night, yet visibility outside extended only about ten meters.
Once his body had warmed up, Wang Wen suddenly felt a pressing urge to urinate. He could not help clutching his stomach as he headed for the door.
Seeing this, a Fire Worker hurriedly warned, "It's so dark outside you can't see your hand in front of your face. Don't go too far."
"Got it. I'll be right back."
Wang Wen moved the furniture blocking the wooden door, then stepped out of the thatched hut.
The freezing wind outside made his legs tremble violently. The air was laden with heavy moisture, drilling straight into his bones.
Wang Wen muttered a few words under his breath and slowly made his way to the nearby grass.
Though it was only a short distance, it felt as if he had entered a different world. The faint moonlight was blocked by the shade of the trees, unable to seep through even a sliver.
His heart began pounding wildly as he fumbled to untie his waistband.
Steam rose.
After relieving himself, Wang Wen hurriedly ran back toward the thatched hut.
Just as he was about to step out of the grass, he suddenly tripped over a tree branch beneath his feet. He tumbled heavily several times and accidentally rolled down a shrub-covered slope.
Worst of all, he realized that he might have dropped his saber in the grass where he had relieved himself.
Wang Wen wanted to call for help.
But then he remembered that he was the oldest in the group. To end up in such a sorry state just from taking a piss was too humiliating, so he kept his mouth shut.
With no other choice, he could only crawl toward the thatched hut in terror.
Thorns tore open his skin, and the stinging pain only deepened his fear.
What had been a journey of just over ten meters by day now seemed impossibly far away in the night.
He finally crawled back up the slope, but before Wang Wen could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard heavy panting behind him.
His expression stiffened as he glanced sideways. Pairs of green eyes were steadily drawing closer—it was a pack of mountain wolves, starved to the brink.
"Aah!!!"
The scream rang out, but it also provoked the wolf pack.
The largest alpha wolf pounced, clamped down on Wang Wen's thigh, and dragged him into the darkness.
The mountain wolves' cunning was displayed in full at that moment.
Rather than continuing their assault on the thatched hut, they withdrew in orderly fashion, intending to slowly wear down the remaining prey's strength.
The people in the thatched hut woke with a start. Looking out at the window where silence had returned, they were at a loss over what to do.
Then, all of a sudden, the window in the corner was smashed open with a creak.
They instinctively turned their heads and found the window wide open, while Ren Qing, who had been lying beside the bonfire, had long since vanished.
In the darkness, Wang Wen tried to struggle, but he immediately felt hot breath exhaled beside his ear. He was so frightened that he did not dare move.
The alpha wolf did not kill its prey. It carried Wang Wen toward some place outside Pingding Village.
Only after the alpha wolf stopped did the discarded Wang Wen get a moment to catch his breath.
The wolf pack snarled around him, as though waiting for something.
A crack opened in the thick cloud cover, allowing moonlight to spill down.
The sight before Wang Wen frightened him speechless. If he had not already relieved himself earlier, he probably would have wet his pants.
The wolf pack voluntarily opened a path, and a small, scrawny Bèi beast slowly made its way in.
The Bèi beast's front legs were short, forcing it to limp whenever it walked.
Yet the intelligence in its eyes was beyond that of any wild beast, and its greed was especially pronounced.
Wang Wen recalled the tale of wolves and Bèi beasts working in cahoots that he had heard from the old hunter.
Legend had it that Bèi beasts were extremely clever. They partnered with wolf packs to hunt, and because their legs and feet were inconvenient, they usually lay atop the wolves' backs.
Once wolves and Bèi beasts worked in cahoots, the wolf pack became as orderly as an army.
What terrified Wang Wen most was that an extra eyeball had grown beneath the Bèi beast's chin, and from time to time, it even licked it with its tongue.
Moonlight was swallowed by darkness once more, and everything sank back into endless blackness.
The wolf pack gradually closed in.
Wang Sheng knew full well that the Bèi beast wanted his life, but before he could resist, four mountain wolves bit down on his limbs.
The Bèi beast lightly sniffed the air, then placed its paw on Wang Sheng's abdomen, intending to begin with the tenderest organs.
Wang Wen's pupils shrank. He suddenly remembered the corpses he had seen when he first left Sanxiang City—the similar blade wounds on their bodies looked like the work of a Bèi beast.
A despairing whimper emerged from his throat. Its claws had already pierced his skin, blood slowly seeping out. He had thought he would meet his end here.
Then a gale blew head-on.
The crisp sound of blades leaving their sheaths rang out, and the wolf pack took a uniform step back.
Wang Wen could not see what was happening in the darkness, but a blade light like a full moon flashed before his eyes, followed by the sound of a blade returning to its sheath.
The heads of the mountain wolves biting his limbs fell cleanly from their necks.
Ren Qing's Double Pupils locked onto the fleeing Bèi beast, and he immediately crouched, gathering strength in his legs.
Dirt sprayed up.
His feet left two shallow pits in the ground.
Clang!!!
The Great Miao Saber left its sheath again. Ren Qing leaped into the air, and its blade naturally pierced straight down through the Bèi beast's body.
As Ren Qing landed, he kicked Wang Wen unconscious to keep him from running about.
However, he put slightly too much force into it, sending Wang Wen rolling several meters.
As the Bèi beast breathed its last, the surrounding wolf pack seemed to wake from a dream. They wanted to counterattack, only to find that Ren Qing had vanished.
The crescent moon emerged, and Ren Qing stood atop the branch of a giant tree.
He looked around but found no trace of Song Rong, so he turned his attention back to the wolf pack.
They were merely wild beasts.
His wolf feet tapped lightly.
The giant tree seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, its leaves raining down like droplets.
Moonlight, falling leaves, blade light.
Ren Qing moved and shifted among them.
He seemed to merge with the darkness itself. Each swing of his blade severed a mountain wolf's head, and the stench of blood spread through the air.
It instinctively drew near the beasts that traveled by night.
Ren Qing flicked the blood from his blade, returned it to its sheath, and grabbed Wang Wen. He also used Strange Mouth to collect some Wolf Blood.
He could only painfully give up the wolf eyes. Corpses with gouged-out eyes were too conspicuous and might make Song Rong notice something strange. Besides, Strange Stomach had no spare space to store them.
Then, after several flashes, he vanished from the spot.
But for the beasts fighting over the wolf pack's corpses, another vicious battle was about to begin.
Inside the thatched hut, everyone had finished preparing. They made torches from wooden sticks, intending to go out and rescue Wang Wen and Ren Qing.
Just as they were about to leave the hut, they saw a figure walking toward them.
Ren Qing carried the unconscious Wang Wen over his shoulder and strode back into the thatched hut.
The others all stared at him with incredulous looks.
"What are you standing around for? Help Wang Wen bandage his wounds. There are herbs in my bundle."
"Oh, oh, oh..."
Xiao Wu hurriedly took Wang Wen from him. Most of the latter's wounds had been caused by being scratched in the shrubs.
Since Wang Wen had barely resisted, the wounds left by the wolf pack were instead not very noticeable.
The main reason he had fainted was the enormous lump swollen on his forehead...
Before you continue