Chapter Eight: Once Again in Dire Straits
At this moment, even if Qin Feiyang wanted to evade, it was already too late!
A flash of madness surged in his eyes. Gripping his dagger, he charged toward the three arrows flying at him.
Clang!
Sparks sprayed in all directions as two arrows were deflected, whizzing past his ears and leaving two glaring blood marks across his face. But the third arrow, with a dull thud, pierced his right shoulder.
Almost simultaneously, his left leg lifted, and the three arrows aimed at the Wolf King shot straight through his calf, lodging between his leg bones. Blood gushed forth!
The searing pain contorted Qin Feiyang’s face. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the arrow from his shoulder and planted it in the ground to support himself, scanning the scene ahead.
“White-Eyed Wolf, I know you’re weak now, but whether we can escape depends on you. I saved you, so don’t leave me behind,” Qin Feiyang said in a deep voice.
Before his words faded, a man in black emerged from a thicket a hundred meters away. Behind him, a young woman stepped out from another cluster of shrubs. Both appeared around eighteen or nineteen, striking in appearance—the woman beautiful, the man handsome. Their silk clothing marked them as scions of a great family.
“Lin Gu, Lin Guo!” Qin Feiyang glanced before and behind, his pupils narrowing. He knew these two well—they were young members of the Lin family. Both were Seven-Star Martial Artists; not to mention his current injuries, even at full strength, he was no match for them.
Each held a pitch-black iron bow. Lin Guo’s was slightly smaller, and she carried more than a dozen gleaming arrows on her back. With an icy expression, Lin Guo drew three arrows, nocked them, aimed at Qin Feiyang, and shouted sternly, “You’ve got some nerve, daring to kill Lin Feng and Lin Shi. Now you have only one chance: surrender, come with us, and await the patriarch’s judgment!”
Lin Gu also drew three arrows from his quiver, aiming at Qin Feiyang, ready to shoot.
“What if I say no?” Qin Feiyang glared at them darkly, cursing his luck that these two had found him.
Lin Gu sneered, “If you so much as utter a word of refusal, I promise your body will be riddled with bloody holes in the next instant!”
Qin Feiyang growled softly, “White-Eyed Wolf, how much longer do you need to rest?”
The Wolf King lay on the ground, breath weak as silk, looking on the verge of death. But Qin Feiyang knew this beast was only pretending.
Lin Gu said, “So you keep company with wolves—no wonder you commit such beastly acts.”
At these words, a flash of ferocity surged in the Wolf King’s eyes.
Qin Feiyang sneered, “And what of it? Wolves may be cunning, but in my eyes, they’re a thousand times better than you hypocrites.”
“Then I’ll just kill you and rid Iron Ox Town of this menace!” Lin Gu pulled his bow taut, his gaze murderous.
“If not for Lin Yiyi, you would’ve killed me long ago. If you want me dead, just say it. Don’t hide behind these pompous excuses,” Qin Feiyang mocked.
Aside from Lin Yiyi, he had no fondness for anyone in the Lin family.
“Stubborn to the end! Die!” Lin Guo’s eyes flashed coldly as she released the bowstring. Three arrows shot like lightning, slicing through the air straight at Qin Feiyang.
A howl!
At that very moment, the Wolf King let out a long howl at Qin Feiyang and suddenly sprang to its feet.
Without hesitation, Qin Feiyang leapt onto the Wolf King’s back, gripping its fur tightly.
Whoosh!
The Wolf King unleashed its full speed, darting into the thickets and racing deep into the forest.
“Die!” Lin Gu roared, pulling his iron bow to its limit. Three arrows, whistling with a shrill screech, shot toward Qin Feiyang and the Wolf King!
“Watch out!”
Qin Feiyang shouted a warning.
The Wolf King veered sharply left, and the three arrows missed, burying themselves with a crunch into a tree as thick as a barrel.
“What incredible power!”
“They’re holding nothing back now!”
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Feiyang’s forehead. Had those arrows struck him, he’d have died on the spot.
“After them!”
Lin Guo waved her hand.
The pair gave chase at full speed, searching for any opening—should the opportunity arise, they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
The Wolf King carried Qin Feiyang, rushing in all directions. Within a few breaths, it was already panting heavily.
Qin Feiyang shouted, “White-Eyed Wolf, can’t you go faster?”
Lin Guo and Lin Gu, as Seven-Star Martial Artists, were naturally faster. If this dragged on, they’d soon catch up.
Hearing his shout, the Wolf King’s huge eyes flashed with irritation. If it could speak, it would surely explode at Qin Feiyang—You sit up there comfortably doing nothing, but I have to haul your weight. Maintaining this speed is no easy feat, so how can I go any faster?
Of course, it couldn’t say any of this.
Actually, Qin Feiyang weighed barely a hundred and ten pounds—a far cry from “heavy.” But to the battered, exhausted Wolf King, it felt little different from carrying a cow.
“Today, you’re trapped with nowhere to run!”
“Qin Feiyang, stop struggling and surrender!”
Lin Guo and Lin Gu radiated bloodlust. If Qin Feiyang and the Wolf King stopped, they would show no mercy.
Qin Feiyang’s voice turned icy. “Lin Guo, Lin Gu, just wait—you’ll end up worse than Lin Feng and Lin Shi!”
“Still mouthing off on the brink of death!”
Though Lin Guo was a woman, her ferocity was unmatched. She swiftly drew and released another arrow.
Whoosh!
Crunch!
The arrow zipped through the air, shattering shrubs and wild grass. Qin Feiyang felt its razor edge pierce his senses.
“What’s happening?”
But now, he couldn’t spare a thought for the arrows behind him.
He stared ahead in shock and anger—there was a cliff!
Most crucially, the Wolf King didn’t slow down at all before the precipice.
“White-Eyed Wolf, stop! I don’t want to die…”
“No, no, no…”
Qin Feiyang shouted in panic, but the Wolf King ignored him and, without hesitation, leapt off the cliff!
“White-Eyed Wolf, I hate you…”
Qin Feiyang’s furious roar echoed from below the cliff, reverberating through the land.
Lin Guo and Lin Gu stopped at the edge, looking down, their brows tightly knit.
“What now?” Lin Gu asked.
“It’s bottomless below. Jumping down like that—they’re doomed,” Lin Guo replied, her lips curling, her gaze ice-cold.
Lin Gu nodded and sneered, “Dare to kill a member of our Lin family—even if Qin Feiyang is dead, Qin Yuan won’t escape punishment. Come, let’s report to the patriarch.”
The two turned and vanished into the dense forest.
…
“This time, there’s truly no hope.”
“I haven’t even returned to the Imperial Capital!”
“White-Eyed Wolf, I know you’re ruthless, but this is too much!”
Now, Qin Feiyang ignored the wound in his right shoulder, clinging desperately to the Wolf King as he looked at the ground below, worry filling his eyes.
Would there be any chance of survival from such a fall?
“Wait!”
Suddenly.
A hint of surprise appeared in his gaze.
On the ground below, he saw a river.
Could it be…
Qin Feiyang was overjoyed.
Wolf Valley was nearby; the Wolf King must know this area well. Clearly, it had jumped without hesitation because it knew there was a river below.
“That scared me to death.”
Qin Feiyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Had he fallen to the ground, he would have been smashed to pulp with no chance. Falling into the river, with his Six-Star Martial Artist physique, there was still risk, but at least a hope of survival.
Now, all he could pray for was that the river wasn’t just a few meters deep or filled with rocks—otherwise, he’d still die.
Thud!
A few breaths later.
Man and beast plunged into the river like two boulders, sending waves several meters high!
The force from such a fall was unimaginable.
The instant his body struck the water, Qin Feiyang felt himself torn apart, an agonizing pain flooding him like a tide.
“Now is not the time to lose consciousness!”
He bit his tongue hard, clearing his mind.
He knew nothing about this river. What if some powerful aquatic beast lurked below? If he passed out now, he’d be nothing more than a meal.
Even without water beasts, sinking down would mean drowning sooner or later.
Enduring the pain, he moved his hands and feet.
His hands were fine, but his left leg wouldn’t obey.
He looked down and saw his left leg was fractured, the break torn open and bleeding, staining the river red.
“Thankfully, just a broken leg.”
Qin Feiyang actually felt relieved. Gritting his teeth, he swam toward the riverbed.
The Wolf King was already unconscious, sinking deeper.
The river was deep; so far, Qin Feiyang had not seen the bottom.
The water was clear.
He dove after the Wolf King, grabbed its tail, then turned and swam upward.
After five years living by the lakeside, his swimming skills were excellent. Even with a broken leg, his speed was not less than most, though he endured excruciating pain with every stroke.
A dozen breaths later.
He finally surfaced, greedily gulping air.
But then, his face turned green.
The air was thick with a pungent fishy stench!
“Aquatic beast!”
His body shook as a desperate thought entered his mind.
If a water beast appeared now, he and the Wolf King were truly doomed.
He looked around warily, his gaze locking onto his left.
There, floating on the water, was a massive body!
His first impression: a colossal monster!
He followed the body upward, and when he saw its full face, he froze, his complexion pale.
It was more than a colossal monster—words failed him.
It was a fish!
But not an ordinary fish; it had evolved into a water beast!
Only half its body was visible, but it was as large as a house. Who could imagine how huge it was in total!
Its eyes, as big as basin lids, gleamed with terrifying ferocity, making Qin Feiyang’s scalp tingle.
[This chapter is late. New book, especially at the beginning, is super taxing to write. Brothers and sisters, forgive me. Shamelessly begging for recommendation votes—are there any? ^_^]