Chapter 26: Chapter 25 The Friend in Adversity

From above the ramparts, a cry of alarm was heard. A young man sprung open his eyes, pushing away the headless corpse in front of him. It was Shen Luo.

“Resurrected…again. Could it be…”

When he woke up again, the second time he saw that gruesome face smothered in blood, he was first astounded, then realized the fact: he appeared to have fallen back into that perilous nightmare.

“Roar …”

The stench of blood surged forth abruptly, accompanied by noise ringing in his ears. Shen Luo quickly remembered something. His body immediately rolled to its left side, narrowly avoiding the oncoming gray wolf.

Before he could rise, he caught sight of a long narrow knife soaked in blood under the city wall not far from him. Taking advantage of the situation, he rolled once again, grabbing hold of the knife hilt and clutching the knife in his hand.

The gray wolf, having missed its initial pounce, twirled its body around in an instant, its hind legs pushing off the ground, lunging toward him once more.

Having already killed ghosts with his own hands and dying multiple times, Shen Luo’s courage surpassed the imaginations of common people. Far from dodging, he fixed his gaze upon the gray wolf, waiting until its head was almost touching his nose and its pungent, offensive breath fanned his face, before abruptly dodging, causing the gray wolf to bite at empty air.

Seizing this opportunity, he grasped the knife with both hands and thrust it upwards fiercely.

With a “hiss” sound…

The long knife tore straight through the gray wolf’s throat, piercing out from the back of its neck and creating a large wound due to the momentum of the wolf’s pounce.

Blood gushed out from the wolf’s neck, splattering half of Shen Luo’s face with blood.

The gray wolf collapsed heavily onto him, twitched for a moment, and then lay motionless.

Shen Luo took a deep breath, half of his body soaked in wolf blood. He pushed the wolf corpse aside and, using the knife as support, stood up. But before he could steady his position, a man’s voice yelling “Watch out!” rang out from not far away.

At the same time, he felt a chill breeze from behind. His heart tightened, but before he could react, there was a “whoosh” sound by his ear as something shot past close by.

‘Thud’

Shen Luo whirled around and couldn’t help but gasp.

He saw a gray wolf pinned in a distorted position against a crenellation, whimpering. Blood was gushing from its left eye, where it had been shot through by a crossbow bolt emitting a faint golden glow, pinning it to the stone bricks behind.

The bolt was swift and powerful, hence it was doubtful whether he could have avoided the vicious wolf’s ambush without it.

On the red bolt shaft, a golden charm pattern was revealed as the faint golden glow gradually faded.

He looked towards where the warning had come from.

About ten feet away, a man of average build with tiger-like eyebrows had just tucked a small, black crossbow back into his waist. The old quiver at his side was empty, and it seemed the bolt just now had been his last one.

The man saw Shen Luo looking at him, gave a slight nod, and swung the broad horse-chopping saber in his other hand. With a flash of cold light, another gray wolf that was sneaking up on him had its head separated from its body, and died on the spot.

The entire process went smoothly, without the slightest hesitation.

Not far from the man, there were three or four sturdy young men in armor, each holding the same type of horse-chopping saber. They seemed to be his retainers, fighting back to back and on guard against wolf attacks.

The man with the tiger-like eyebrows, however, was running high on killing intent. He charged alone at a group of gray wolves, his followers trailing behind with their own sabers, but constantly being entangled by other incoming wolves.

Shen Luo shifted his gaze, wiped the blood off his face, and with a deep breath, started walking cautiously towards the corner tower along the inner side of the city wall with the knife in hand. But before he could take a few steps, a head came rolling to his feet.

He looked down, half of the face was a bloody pulp, full of anger and unwillingness, which startled him enormously.

“My son … beasts …” a wailing cry rang out.

Shen Luo turned his head and saw: about fifteen to eighteen meters away was a tall old man, around fifty, full of sorrow and indignation. The man clutched a red tassel spear and, with a determined demeanor, charged out. He thrust his spear, piercing straight through the neck of a gray wolf.

But before he could withdraw his spear, another wolf lunged at him, bit his throat, and he slumped over onto the ground.

Upon seeing this, Shen Luo quickly gripped his single-bladed sword and rushed toward them, hoping to save the tall, old man. However, he was stopped in his tracks by another man. Looking up, he saw two, thick, upward-curving eyebrows—

It was the man who saved his life earlier, the man with the tiger-like brows.

“It’s too late,” said the man in a grave tone.

Just as he finished speaking, another gray wolf slammed forward, struggling for food with its kin. In moments, it tore the old man’s body into several pieces.

Shen Luo’s brows furrowed tightly, unable to bear looking at the scene any longer.

“Young priest, is this your first city defense?” The man with the tiger-brows asked, on guard as he scanned his surroundings.

Shen Luo was unsure of how to respond and vaguely affirmed with a sound. Attire he wore was that of a Spring and Autumn Pavilion disciple. Even though it was somewhat ragged, one could still make out that it was Taoist clothing.

“Not bad, fending off a wolf alone on your first try. What’s your name? As long as you survive this, I’ll buy you a drink later,” The man with the tiger brow spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, asking.

“Shen Luo.”

“Good, Brother Shen! My name is Yu Meng. If you don’t mind, you can call me Brother Yu,” said the man with the tiger brows, chuckling.

“Brother Yu,” Shen Luo replied immediately, without any hesitation.

If it weren’t for this man’s earlier arrow, he would already be dead… again.

“Straightforward! Just stand behind me in a bit and watch my back from attacks. I’ll be blocking in front, I’ll make sure you get that promised drink,” Yu Meng roared with laughter.

Shen Luo then stood behind Yu Meng, knife in hand. The two of them stood back to back, relying on each other—it was as if they were seasoned soldiers on the battlefield, fighting side by side.

At this moment, Shen Luo really wanted to ask where he was and what was going on with these giant wolves. But, given the circumstances, there was no room for such questions.

Not long after he had positioned himself, Yu Meng blocked an oncoming gray wolf with his knife.

The wolf’s sharp claws met the blade of his knife, producing a grating metallic sound that made one’s teeth ache.

Seeing this, Shen Luo immediately stepped forward. Gripping his long knife with both hands, he forcefully jabbed from above Yu Meng’s right shoulder, stabbing the wolf’s left eye. The wolf let out a blood-curdling howl, and the pressure on Yu Meng’s arm immediately eased.

Unlike Shen Luo, Yu Meng was a seasoned warrior and would not miss such an opportunity.

He suddenly crouched down, kneeling and rushing under the wolf. With both hands, he swirled the horse-chopping saber above him, creating a swath of blood that sprayed out as the wolf’s head was hacked off.

Being right in front of the wolf, Shen Luo was instantly covered in blood.

“Good job, little brother!” Yu Meng crawled out from under the wolf’s corpse, giving a thumbs up in praise.

Just as Shen Luo was about to reply, he noticed some commotion nearby.

An enormous black wolf suddenly sprang onto the city wall, turned, and slammed into the breach in the city wall a few times. After creating an even larger gap of about nine to twelve meters, it spun around, pounced, and slit the throats of four or five city defenders with just a few swift movements of its claws.

Contrary to the blood-lusting gray wolves, it did not feast on the corpses. Instead, it flung the bodies aside with a swipe of its claws, and leapt towards several more young men.

With this unexpected move, the city’s precarious defenses were broken through, immediate chaos ensued. Several dozen more gray wolves took this chance to rush to the city walls, partaking in the battle.

The black wolf, however, vanished without a trace amid the turmoil.

Various scattered wolf beasts have effectively separated Shen Luo and Yu Meng from the others.