Chapter 44: Encirclement

In the dead of night, the Xiluo Forest was frighteningly silent. Aside from the crackling of the campfire, not a single sound could be heard throughout the camp. Lingyu sat perched on a tree branch, her body languidly leaning against the trunk, yet her gaze was sharp and wary as she scanned her surroundings. Her hand never left the hilt of her Kanli Sword, ever ready.

They were now deep within the heart of the Xiluo Forest, a domain ruled by fierce beasts. Every step required vigilance, especially at night. The past few days had been relatively uneventful—other than the encounter with a few tiger demons, the beasts they’d met were not particularly strong. Still, no one could predict what awaited them further ahead.

Amidst the stillness, the wind rustled the treetops, carrying with it a faint sense of unrest. The moment Lingyu caught that scent, her lazy eyes sharpened to full alertness. She straightened, took a light sniff, and nimbly leapt down from the tree.

Pushing aside branches and vines, she walked several dozen steps. The scent in the air grew more pronounced, tinged with a nauseating tang of blood and musk. Lingyu glanced around, her nerves tightening. With a sharp ring, her Kanli Sword slid from its sheath as she sprang back, retreating swiftly to the camp.

“Senior brothers, senior sisters—there are demon beasts!”

No sooner had the words left her lips than the others sprang into action.

“Junior Sister Cheng!” The first to emerge was Sheng Yangqiu, the most skilled and vigilant among them.

“A pack of demon beasts—at least a dozen. Their cultivation is between the third and fourth layers of Qi Refinement,” Lingyu reported grimly. “From what I can tell, they’re pack beasts—possibly wolves.”

“A dozen?” Yu Xiyin gasped in alarm. A dozen beasts of the third or fourth layer were much harder to deal with than a single one of the fifth or sixth, especially wolves—fierce, untamable, and deadly when gathered.

“Stick to the plan,” Sheng Yangqiu said, now that the scent and low growls of the demon beasts drifted through the air. “There’s no need for fear. We haven’t used our talismans these past few days. Even if it’s a dozen, there’s nothing to fear.”

The group responded quickly, packing up the tents and rushing to a defensible hollow in the hills, where they prepared for battle. They had already set up a simple talisman array—one provided by their sect for this very purpose. Each night, they would find a site like this, prepared for moments such as this.

The stench of musk and blood grew ever stronger, so foul it made one gag. Footsteps rustled through the trees, growing louder and more numerous. Lingyu gripped her Kanli Sword tightly, her eyes fixed unblinking on the source of the sound. Then, she saw countless green points of light flickering in the darkness—the eyes of wolves!

The wolf pack, now demon beasts, emerged slowly from the dense forest. Their eyes gleamed with savage light, low growls rumbling from their throats as they advanced menacingly.

“Ready—” Sheng Yangqiu commanded in a low voice. “Attack!”

Yu Xiyin and Zhang Qingshu quickly formed hand seals, activating the array.

A burst of fireballs, golden light, and blades of wind streaked toward the wolves.

The wolves howled and fell back—spells blasted the earth, and one wolf, unable to dodge, was struck by a wind blade. Blood spurted, and it let out a wretched scream.

The scent of blood agitated the pack, but their coordination revealed a cunning unlike ordinary beasts. Two wolves darted from the group, seized the wounded one, and dragged it swiftly to the rear, shielding it from harm.

Lingyu thought to herself—demon beasts truly were different. Even if they had not fully awakened intelligence or taken human form, their cunning far surpassed that of wild animals.

One wolf threw back its head and howled. The pack scattered, encircling the small hollow, but did not attack.

“What are they trying to do?” Zhang Qingshu wondered aloud. “Do they really think a dozen wolves can trap us here?”

Individually, the wolves were not formidable—any one of them could handle a single beast with ease. If the wolves attacked together, breaking through would be difficult, but scattered, they could be picked off one by one.

But Tantai Yu shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Did you see how they responded just now? These wolves are highly intelligent.” In their five-person team, each had a unique strength—Zhang Qingshu was personable and managed logistics; Yu Xiyin was an excellent cook and caretaker; Lingyu’s swordsmanship was sharp and alert; Sheng Yangqiu, with the highest cultivation, was a steady leader; and Tantai Yu, despite his rugged appearance, was keenly insightful and quick to grasp the heart of a problem.

“Then what are they planning?” Yu Xiyin began, but was cut off by an even denser rustling from the forest.

The five of them paled as, one after another, pairs of green eyes appeared in the darkness, surrounding the hollow.

Hundreds—hundreds of demon wolves!

Lingyu gripped her Kanli Sword and exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay calm. This would be a bitter battle. Though these wolves were not powerful individually, their sheer numbers meant any lapse could spell their doom.

There was a crunch of fallen leaves as a particularly large wolf slowly emerged from the woods. Wherever it passed, the pack parted like a tide, creating a path for it.

“Sixth layer of Qi Refinement!” Zhang Qingshu whispered.

Sheng Yangqiu studied the wolf for a long moment, then turned to Tantai Yu. “What do you think?”

“That’s likely the alpha,” Tantai Yu said, brows furrowed. “This is bad. Wolves, once roused to bloodlust, rarely retreat. We’ve already drawn blood with the array.”

“So it’s a fight to the end,” Sheng Yangqiu said, gripping his sword hard. Though his cultivation was high, in over a decade since joining the sect, he’d only sparred with fellow disciples—never truly fought for his life. Nerves he could not control gripped him. The others felt the same.

The calmest was Lingyu. Though her past five years at Xuanyuan Temple were much like anyone else’s, the ordeal she’d survived at twelve—tempered on the edge of life and death—had left her with a rare composure in the face of crisis.

“We’ll use the array first,” Tantai Yu decided after a moment’s thought. “It’s our greatest advantage. Kill as many as we can—if we can force them to retreat, even briefly, we’ll have a chance to catch our breath and survive.”

“Agreed,” Sheng Yangqiu said after only a moment’s deliberation. “Junior Brother Zhang, Junior Sister Yu—you two will control the array. Junior Sister Cheng, Tantai Yu, the three of us will cover the gaps and seize any chance to strike.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The wolves lingered a moment longer, then could restrain themselves no more. With a long howl from the alpha, the entire pack surged forward.

Nerves taut, Zhang Qingshu and Yu Xiyin fumbled several times with their hand seals, but managed to activate the array just as the wolves pounced.

“Use the fire talismans first,” Lingyu suggested. Wolves feared fire—even as demon beasts, that instinct should persist.

Zhang Qingshu nodded, quickly striking the talismans. With a series of thunderous bursts, fireballs streaked out, setting the dead branches ablaze.

At the sight of flames, the wolf pack shrank back, but when the alpha howled again, they charged forward once more.