Between the ravines, the night was so black nothing could be seen at all—only the clatter of hooves pounding past at a full gallop. Before long, mournful howls began drifting down from the hilltops, and soon the whole valley echoed with the wolf pack’s answering cries.
The moment the pack howled in unison, wolves’ calls suddenly answered back from several nearby ridges and cliffs—anyone who understood such things would recognize this at once as the sound of a wolf king desperately calling for his pack.
In an instant, birds and beasts throughout the entire ravine scattered in every direction, as if some great slaughter were about to descend.
Ziqing lay flat against the horse’s back—the blood-sweating horse, frantic to save its master, was more wild and desperate than even an unbroken wild horse, its speed now twice what it had been back on the hunting grounds.
Hearing the whole mountain erupt with howling wolves, Ziqing thought grimly: this was bad. That original pack of wolves had already been formidable enough to deal with—if Jun Beiyue hadn’t killed the wolf king, with his skill, escaping alone would have been easy enough. But now that he’d killed the king in full view of the pack, what did that mean?
It meant Jun Beiyue had incurred the wrath of the entire pack—it meant these wolves would never let him go easily, not unless every last one of them was dead.
And now, they were summoning the rest of the wolves scattered through the mountains as well. If she couldn’t think of something soon, not even the gods themselves could save him.
But what could she possibly do?
The blood-sweating horse, driven purely by its desperate loyalty to save its master, had carried her here without realizing that her legs were already gravely wounded—she could barely even walk. Aside from becoming a burden to Jun Beiyue, what use could she possibly be?
If she had any choice, she would have thrown herself off the horse’s back—but the price of that would be death.
Was Jun Beiyue worth dying for? Absolutely not.
Just as Ziqing was turning this over in her mind, the blood-sweating horse suddenly slowed and came to a stop. There, ahead of them, beyond a narrow gap in the rocks, was a sheer cliff—and on that cliff, the wolf pack had already surrounded Jun Beiyue. He had already dismounted, sword drawn, braced and ready, the fighting about to erupt at any moment.
At this very instant, half the wolves turned their heads to look at her—there was no doubt the blood-sweating horse had alerted them to her presence.
Jun Beiyue’s face turned icy with fury. “What are you doing here?”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Ziqing’s eyes; she couldn’t be bothered to answer—it wasn’t as though she’d come here by choice.
To her surprise, the blood-sweating horse, seemingly unafraid of death, let out a series of soft, insistent whinnies, as if pleading Ziqing’s case for her.
Was it certain she could save him, or certain he could handle the wolf pack himself?
“It brought you here?” Jun Beiyue frowned.
Of course—this was his own horse; he knew it better than anyone. Ziqing nodded innocently, her gaze flicking sideways toward the hills on either side, where she saw tall, imposing wild wolves stepping forward one after another—as expected, the entire mountain’s wolf population had converged here.
Jun Beiyue said nothing more. The blood-sweating horse, seeming to finally grasp the gravity of the situation, went utterly still, not daring even to breathe heavily. The tension in the air stretched to its absolute limit, and in the silence, the wolves’ rhythmic, heavy breathing carried with a clarity that chilled to the bone.
What should they do?
Jun Beiyue stared coldly at Ziqing; Ziqing stared back at him just as coldly. What either of them was truly thinking, neither could say without speaking.
Suddenly, Ziqing rolled off the horse’s back and dropped to the ground!
At once, every wolf turned toward her, fangs bared, several already advancing.
What was this woman trying to do?
Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed tightly, his attention fixed on the movements of that towering wolf king on the hilltop.
As long as the wolf king held still, no matter how eager the pack grew, none of them would act rashly—that was the pack’s own law.
He knew the terrain around the hunting grounds well; he’d deliberately led the wolves to this cliff on purpose. Below lay a sheer drop with rushing rapids—even these wolves from Western Jing, skilled climbers as they were, wouldn’t be able to follow him down.
This was meant to be his easiest escape route—who could have known the blood-sweating horse would bring this woman here of all places!
Could it be the blood-sweating horse actually believed this woman could save him?
Now that she was here, if he leapt off the cliff to escape, the wolf pack would surely turn and converge on her instead!
And now, a hundred wild wolves stood between the two of them. Wolves weren’t fools—if he tried to reach her, he would inevitably pay a heavy price.
At this very moment, the wolf king’s gaze shifted back and forth between Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, its eyes a ghastly green, like some hellish beast, utterly terrifying.
Ziqing had been lying on the ground for a long while now, her attention also fixed on the wolf king. Back in her old life, on the plains of Africa, she had fought countless beasts—no one understood the nature of predators better than she did.
Even tigers and leopards carried an innate fear of humans. The main reason these wolves still hadn’t moved was their lingering wariness of Jun Beiyue—a man who could kill their own king was not someone to be trifled with carelessly!
They were waiting, watching, searching for the perfect moment to tear Jun Beiyue apart all at once.
Ziqing quietly gathered a handful of pebbles, glanced once toward the cliff, and murmured, “Your Highness, let the blood-sweating horse go.”
Just like him, she had spotted the cliff as their escape route. Jun Beiyue understood at once, several silver needles readied in his hand, and without warning let out a sharp whistle.
The blood-sweating horse was utterly, absolutely obedient to Jun Beiyue—it glanced once at Ziqing, then immediately wheeled around and bolted.
At the very same moment, the wolf pack suddenly surged into motion. Jun Beiyue’s silver needles shot out instantly, and the wolves in front dropped dead on the spot at once; Ziqing’s pebbles flew in secret, striking down several wolves chasing after the blood-sweating horse, killing them instantly.
For a moment the whole pack stirred restlessly, growling low and continuous, yet none of them dared act rashly—Ziqing’s judgment had been correct; they were still wary.
But at that very moment, the wolves on both hillsides, having learned their lesson, leapt down one after another, sealing off Ziqing’s escape route completely.
Seeing this, the corner of Jun Beiyue’s mouth curved into a wicked smile as he teased, “Han Ziqing, so you let the horse escape and sealed off your own way out instead.”
Ziqing looked up at him, and for the first time, an expression of pure defiance crossed her face as she looked at this man. “It’s already mine,” she said coldly. “If it dies, it dies by my hand alone. Let alone a beast—not even a person is allowed to lay a finger on it.”
Jun Beiyue watched her, the wicked curve of his lips growing wider and wider—this woman had finally shown her true colors.
Well then—let’s fight together.
“Catch!”
He barked suddenly, and a silver-white dagger flew arcing through the air toward her—the very dagger he had kept treasured away ever since their first close combat together.
Nothing suited this woman better than a blade.
Ziqing couldn’t stand, but she could still fight sitting down—her arms weren’t so injured that they’d lost all their strength.
She gave a cold smile and caught the dagger firmly in her grip, and at the very same moment, Jun Beiyue suddenly launched himself into the air, hurtling toward her!
Seeing this, the wolf king on the hilltop was the first to leap through the air toward him, and at once, five wolves from each of the two packs on the ground charged forward as well—ten wolves alone would be more than enough to bury her small frame entirely.
The wolf king landed on Jun Beiyue’s back, claws sharp and stabbing, fangs sinking in—Jun Beiyue jerked violently and threw the wolf king off with brutal force, while the wolves on both sides pressed forward one after another, all converging on his back.
He had no attention to spare for anything else, channeling all his internal strength into his sword and swinging it down hard—the blade’s edge cut through the air like splitting bamboo, sending the wolves that had been charging at Ziqing from behind scattering backward like a collapsing mountain.
Suddenly, fangs sank into his shoulder, tearing away a fist-sized chunk of flesh without mercy. He gave a fierce surge of internal energy, force bursting out from both shoulder blades at once, throwing off the two wolves gnawing at his back without so much as a flinch, and landed beside Ziqing.
The instant he landed, the several wolves swarming over Ziqing were all sent flying at once, blood spraying in every direction, each one struck down with a single fatal blow to the heart.
Ziqing’s face and body were streaked with blood; she didn’t look at him, gripping the dagger tightly, her cold gaze fixed straight ahead—because at this very moment, over a hundred wild wolves were charging at them all at once.
Facing such an overwhelming, mountain-crushing assault, she didn’t dare relax for even a single moment.
To her surprise, in that very instant, Jun Beiyue suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and, without warning, hoisted her up onto his blood-soaked shoulder, saying coldly, “Han Ziqing, you’re already mine as well. If you die, you die by my hand alone. Let alone a beast—not even a god is allowed to lay a finger on you!”