Chapter 41 – Wolves’ Pursuit
Chapter 41: Wolves’ Pursuit
“Fucker!”
Seeing that two of his men had been killed, Xing Lan flew out in rage. A flowing ice aura spiraled onto the tip of his spear as his entire body entered the extreme chill domain. His martial spirit was an Ice Beast, which in conjunction with his ice elemental training, caused his temperament to become cold as ice. Right now, it was as if he himself had turned into an icy spear as he charged straight at Lin Mu Yu.
“Break!”
His spear turned rapidly in his hands, creating an overwhelmingly strong spiraling force. The attack collided with a loud bang onto the Ebony Scale, and Lin Mu Yu couldn’t help but shudder at the powerful penetrating force. In the next second, the Ebony Scale had been directly punctured and a long spear stabbed into Lin Mu Yu’s shoulder. The blood became frozen before it even had a chance to spill out.
The ice’s binding strength was too much, causing Lin Mu Yu to lose all mobility in his left arm.
“Poison spray!”
Responding to their master’s call, rows of green ivy shot out of the ground and encaged Xing Lan along with his horse. Having never seen anything like this, Xing Lan lifted his spear to shield his front. But how could a single spear protect him from the acidic poison? Corrosive liquid squirted out from various gourd flowers on the vines and covered Xing Lan from head to toe. This level 46 Battle Master’s face and chest subsequently began to fester and corrode away while the man fell off his horse screaming in agony.
Lin Mu Yu suddenly tugged on the reins and turned his horse around. Taking advantage of the situation, a sword flash sliced through the air as Prairie Fire slashed open Xing Lan’s neck. Fresh blood gushed out from the gaping wound and after a few struggles, the man lay still as a rock.
Xing Lan, dead.
The other mercenaries stared dumbstruck at the sight before them. They whipped out their weapons as if they wanted to continue attacking, however the Sonic Blade took out two more mercs before they could do anything. Lin Mu Yu did not dare to move his left arm as he carefully manipulated true energy to dissolve the icy energy from Xing Lan’s attack. Chu Yao leapt onto a nearby warhorse and immediately threw out several silver needles, all of which made a shill piercing sound as they blinded several mercenaries’ eyes.
“This kid… killed Captain Xing Lan, bastard!”
An axe-wielding mercenary charged forward in rage, but what met him was a Sonic Punch in the face. Under the rippling clash of the sound waves, blood came spraying out of the brute’s mouth as he died. The surrounding mercenaries didn’t even understand what had happened before them. Only an old soldier of about 50 years of age muttered with a pale complexion:
“That is… Sonic Punch! Oh god, this kid knows Flame Cauldron Qu Chu’s secret technique!”
Perhaps most of the men had no clue who Lin Mu Yu was, but everyone knew of Flame Cauldron Qu Chu. That name was already outstandingly famous on this continent. Of all the practitioners in the Empire, there was no one who did not know of Qu Chu, and even less would not know of the matchless power of Qu Chu’s Flame Cauldron spirit.
“We can’t kill him anymore. Retreat!”
A bow-carrying mercenary quickly retreated while others soon followed behind. However, in the retreating process, one after another, the mercenaries began to fall off their horses. Intoxicating Breeze finally took effect!
Lin Mu Yu had originally planned to kill a few of the mercs with his bow, but the chill in his arm had yet to fade. Being unable to draw the bow with his arm, he had to give up on his plans. Looking at the corpses lying around, he didn’t say much more but tug on the reins and said, “Chu Yao, let’s leave quickly. They will be able to catch up again when the drug wears off, so we can’t stay here for too long.”
“Okay. Ah Yu, your arm?”
Chu Yao spurred her horse closer and anxiously took out two needles to seal off two points in Lin Mu Yu’s arm. “You just have to ward off the chill with your energy now.”
“Alright.”
The two hastily prepared to leave the grounds as starlight fell upon Fierce Wind Ridge. However, right at that moment, a scarlet flicker dashed through the darkness. Chu Yao asked in surprise, “What is that?”
Lin Mu Yu couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart, “Not good. Swift Wolves, let’s go!”
Sure enough, an uncountable amount of Swift Wolves pranced down the the mountain. Leading the pack was a Giant Wolf with a speck of white on its head. With one look, Lin Mu Yu could already tell that this wolf had at least 1000 years of cultivation. The other wolves were mostly around one hundred year or so. However, the wolves were too great in numbers, so only a narrow escape might be possible if they were to be surrounded.
Whipping their horses to speedily ride away, they looked behind them with wariness. The wolf pack had already begun to bite and tear away at the corpses of the dead mercenaries. Who would have known that an expert like Xing Lan would serve as the wolves’ dinner after death. Perhaps it was really karma in the works.
…..
Howl!
About half a minute after the two had set off on their horses, the alpha suddenly let out a sharp howl. The other wolves also let out resonating cries as the pack began to move.
“Shit! They don’t want to let us go!” Chu Yao gritted her teeth.
Lin Mu Yu immediately manipulated most of his energy into dissolving the remaining chill strength while commanding, “Don’t worry about anything else. You head off first, I’ll cover you. As long as I’m able to ward off Xing Lan’s chill strength, then these wolves definitely won’t be able to harm us.”
“Aye!”
Chu Yao spurred her horse on forward, but was only willing to remain shoulder to shoulder with Lin Mu Yu.
The sound of swift wolves became increasingly closer, so much so that it was possible to hear their gasps for air. Swift Wolves were one of the fastest forest-running spirit beasts, so how could the speed of a warhorse be on the same level. After several minutes, the figures of countless Swift Wolves appeared under the starry sky.
Chu Yao glanced back and fished out two silver needles from her pocket. In the next moment, two Swift Wolves howled out in pain as they tumbled into the weeds. After being blinded by silver needles, they were no longer able to continue their chase.
However, killing two wolves only served to enrage the others. The alpha became especially ruthless and caught up so fast that it was no more than 10 meters away.
Lin Mu Yu was still unable to maneuver his left arm. Begrudgingly, he sheathed his sword and threw out a Sonic Punch!
Boom!
The whirlwind of the punch blew fiercely onto the alpha wolf’s face. However, since it was a spirit beast with more than 1000 years of cultivation, the attack was not enough to kill it. Having only been slightly wounded, the alpha continued its chase while its face was covered in blood stains. Lin Mu Yu didn’t let up either, and continued striking with several more Sonic Punches which left the alpha’s face covered in fresh blood and a slightly shattered skull.
Right then, two giant wolves suddenly leapt out from the thickets on both sides!
“Watch out!” Lin Mu Yu yelled out frantically. He didn’t think that these wolves could be sly enough to know how to use pincer attacks.
Chu Yao looked clearly at the situation and charged forward on her horse. Shifting over to Lin Mu Yu’s front, she called out her Violet Mink spirit and charged at a giant wolf in a ball of fire. At the same time, however, the other wolf had already leapt onto the horse and started tearing away at the horse’s rump. Its mouth opened agape as it bit towards Chu Yao’s back. After all that’s said and done, Chu Yao was already at the first stage of Earth realm, so she reacted very swiftly. At the same time that the wolf’s teeth bit down on her, the dagger in her right hand had also stabbed into the wolf’s neck.
*Whimper*
Another wolf corpse dropped lifelessly onto the ground.
Lin Mu Yu asked with a frown, “How’s the wound?”
Chu Yao shook her head, “I’m alright, let’s be on our way.”
Right then, the alpha wolf jumped up and pounced towards Lin Mu Yu’s back like a spark of lightning.
“Ebony Scale!”
The maroon colored gourd immediately materialized out of his body while the Ebony Scale’s flame energy quickly condensed into a shield. The alpha wolf was bounced back with a bang. Lin Mu Yu took this opportunity to slash down with Lightning Chop onto the alpha’s head.
*Snap* *Break*
The sword almost cleaved open the wolf’s skull as its flesh scattered around. Yet this alpha’s vitality was seemingly so tenacious and stubborn that it continued to chase and roar.
As a hint of warmth swept into his left arm, Lin Mu Yu became exhilarated. The chilling strength from Xing Lan’s attack had been completely expelled from his body.
Grabbing his bow, Lin Mu Yu turned and immediately unleashed an arrow at the wolf. Having been infused with true energy, the whole arrow shaft pierced through the alpha’s eye like a meteor striking ground.
“Aooo aooo….”
The alpha was no longer able to continue now that the arrow had embedded itself into the wolf’s brain. It writhed in pain as it tumbled around in the dirt. It was surely unlikely to survive.
Once the alpha had died, the other wolves did not dare to continue. They looked as if they realized that the two people before them were very dangerous, and that a continued pursuit could only mean death.
Not daring to stop, the two riders sped off towards the north.
Without stopping at all, the two hurried frantically for the whole night. They didn’t know how far they were from Scorching Wind Mountain, but at least they were sure that the Scorching Wind Mercenaries would not be able to catch up to them.
As faint pains arrived from his shoulder, Lin Mu Yu whipped on his horse while he checked on his wound. Xing Lan’s spear had almost pierced through his shoulder.
The more that Chu Yao looked at him, the more sorry she felt. Thereupon, she ripped off a strip of cloth from her skirt and used it to bandage his wound. After that, she bit on one end of another strip while she bandaged her own wounds: the bloody holes left by the wolf bite. Lin Mu Yu couldn’t help but blush with shame at this sight. From the last few days, Chu Yao had really transformed from that weak herb-gathering girl into a true martial artist.
As she finished up binding her wounds, Chu Yao looked up at him and smiled, “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” He hastily looked away.
Chu Yao chuckled, “Idiot.”
Although he felt as if he was just insulted, a faint warmth appeared in Lin Mu Yu’s heart.
…..
Several hundreds of Li away from Seven Star Forest.
Dragon Seeker Forest, the deep forest surrounding the Capital, Lanyan City.
The spirit beasts within Dragon Seeker Forest made it a place of dreams for cultivators. However, this forest was heavily guarded by the Empire’s army, allowing only selected practitioners or nobles to enter the forest in search of the spirit beasts they need.
*Du du du*
The sound of hooves broke the silence in the forest as a row of several hundred cavalry troops sped down the narrow path. Leading the way was a beautiful girl dressed in a scarlet mantle. Her face was covered in anxiousness as she looked ahead.
“Princess, please slow down!”
A knight guard caught up to her and said, “The mountain road is too rugged and there are too many spirit beasts in Dragon Seeker Forest. Please don’t rush on so rashly, or else you won’t be able to save that kid called Lin Mu Yu and even throw your own life away as well!”
Tang Xiao Xi’s heart was in disarray. She couldn’t help but close her eyes, not wanting to imagine what would happen if Lin Mu Yu could not escape the pursuit of the Seven Martial Saints.
Right at that moment, suddenly a bird cry sounded in the air as a white dove speedily descended from the sky.
The guard hurriedly raised his hands and removed the letter from the bird’s foot.
“It’s a feather mail from Silver Fir City.”
“New information?”
Without waiting for the knight to respond, Tang Xiao Xi snatched away the letter, only to see three rows of text before her.
One of Seven Saints, Guan Yang. Died in pursuit of Lin Mu Yu.
One of Seven Saints, Ye Liang. Also died in pursuit of Lin Mu Yu.
Don’t fret Princess, he still lives.