The source of the scream wasn’t far. He Yan galloped forward, with Shen Hong following behind, calling out, “Hey, wait for me!”

Moving forward from the mountain summit, past the peak, the forest grew denser and more humid in the shadowed area. Sunlight barely penetrated through, making it seem like nighttime, cold and eerie. He Yan halted at a thicket.

Ahead, they saw Zheng Yuan and his two companions, their horses anxiously stamping in place, refusing to move forward. Zheng Yuan was pale-faced, and the other two were nearly in tears.

Around the three men, four wolves crouched low, growling softly at them. When He Yan and Shen Hong arrived, the wolves turned to look at them with fierce eyes.

Why would there be wolves at this time of day and season? He Yan found it strange.

Looking at Zheng Yuan and the others’ disheveled state, He Yan noticed Zheng Yuan’s sword was missing. Wolves would attack lone individuals but wouldn’t attack three people without reason. He Yan asked, “What did you do?”

Zheng Yuan remained silent, his face white, but the recruit behind him spoke tearfully, “We… we went ahead and saw a den with some noise inside. We looked in and found wolf cubs…”

“Did you touch the cubs?” He Yan asked sharply.

Her harsh tone startled the recruit, who quickly answered, “N-no, we just wanted to take them back to raise. We hadn’t gone far when… when we saw these wolves.”

He Yan wanted to crack open their skulls to see what was inside. Finding a wolf den meant the mother wolf was nearby – instead of leaving quickly, they took the cubs, truly believing the adult wolves wouldn’t track their scent.

“Where are the cubs?” He Yan asked.

“…We got scared and threw them back to them, but…”

“But what?” He Yan felt a sudden sense of foreboding.

“One of them hit a sharp rock and seemed to die,” he said.

“You!” He Yan was furious. These wolves wouldn’t leave now.

“Why are you yelling!” Zheng Yuan snapped, “They’re just wolves! We can kill them! How can humans be cornered by mere beasts?”

He Yan sneered, “Is that so? Then where’s your sword?”

Zheng Yuan’s expression worsened. After killing the cub, he had drawn his sword against the wolves, but they were cunning. Though he was skilled with a blade, his nervousness left an opening, and he nearly got injured, dropping his sword in panic. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be in such a desperate situation.

“Stop wasting time. We either all die or find a solution,” he forced the words through gritted teeth.

Just then, Shen Hong arrived on horseback. Seeing the scene, he was terrified, his voice trembling, “So-so many wolves! How can there be so many wolves?”

The wolf pack crouched low, baring their fangs – a sign they were about to attack.

If they had flint, it would help, as wolves fear fire, but they hadn’t brought any since it was daytime. Just as this thought crossed her mind, all four wolves lunged at the three surrounding men.

The three screamed in terror, one horse’s leg was bitten, nearly throwing its rider. Shen Hong was almost crying, “Help!”

What use was calling for help now, with no one else around? He Yan steeled herself and charged in on horseback. Her charge broke the wolves’ encirclement. The wolves turned to charge at her.

He Yan shouted, “Where are your spears? Use them!”

“Oh-oh right.” The two recruits snapped out of their daze, remembering their spears, but when they drew them, they could barely hold them steady. He Yan’s heart sank.

There was no hope in relying on these people. He Yan reached for her blade, then remembered she had lent it to Shen Hong, leaving her with only a bamboo staff. She shouted, “Shen Hong, throw my blade over!”

Shen Hong responded, tremblingly drawing the blade to throw it, but he was too nervous and hadn’t secured it properly. The long blade fell in mid-air, leaving only the short blade in its sheath, which He Yan caught as it was thrown.

The wolves circled them, waiting for an opportunity. He Yan said, “When I give the signal, run back, don’t worry about anything else, run down the mountain straight to camp and get the instructors up here, understand?”

Shen Hong asked, “What about you?”

“I can shake them off!”

“He Yan, how can we run?” the recruit beside Zheng Yuan sobbed, “We’re surrounded, they’ll bite our horses’ legs, if they break the horses’ legs, none of us can escape…”

“There’s still a way,” He Yan said, then suddenly threw her short blade. The Mandarin Duck Blade was already small, and with her swift movement, the others only saw a flash of silver, followed by a painful howl as blood sprayed out.

The largest wolf fell to the ground, blood bubbling from its throat where the blade was completely embedded, only the handle visible. After a few struggles, it stopped breathing.

“Run!” He Yan shouted.

Zheng Yuan and the others, including Shen Hong, didn’t dare breathe, immediately shouting “Ya!” and using all their strength to ride out of the dense forest. They thought the remaining wolves would chase them, so they didn’t dare look back, disappearing in an instant.

The remaining wolves didn’t chase after them. They were confused for a moment, then turned to He Yan with murderous eyes.

He Yan had killed their alpha.

Wolves are pack animals, and the largest one is their leader. They followed the alpha’s commands, and now with He Yan killing it, they were leaderless, not as clever as before when grouped. However, as the price for killing their alpha, she would face their revenge.

One wolf bared its white fangs and lunged at her, its sharp claws capable of tearing apart a human head. He Yan swung the staff horizontally in front of her, forcefully sweeping the wolf away, making it tumble forward and miss its target.

There was a slight “crack” – He Yan’s exceptional hearing caught it, and her heart sank.

This bamboo staff had developed a crack and probably wouldn’t last many more strikes before breaking.

“Just my luck!” she cursed under her breath. It was only three wolves, and she could handle them alone, but now all she had was this nearly broken staff and no other weapons. Was this truly a case of a hero brought low by a single coin? No, more like misfortunes never come alone.

A person shouldn’t be cornered by beasts, she recalled Zheng Yuan’s words and gave a soft laugh.

On the battlefield, besides active combat, she had another specialty – running away.

“Flee!”

The girl’s voice echoed through the mountain forest, startling countless birds into flight. The staff seemed to possess endless power as she struck forward, forcefully clearing a path.

She rode away holding the staff, seeming to disappear into the vast forest.

Behind her, the wolf pack gave chase, like fish in boiling water, with not a moment to spare.