Chapter Thirty-Two: Thunderwing Silver Wolf

The low growls of demon beasts echoed from the distant forest.

Thud, thud! The heavy sound of running footsteps broke the silence of the night. Judging from the weight of those steps, it must have been humans running.

Whether it was warriors hunting demon beasts, or demon beasts preying on humans, Shi Yan could not tell. Unwilling to get involved, he whispered to Di Yalan, “Hide yourself well, don’t meddle. Remember the lesson of the Fang Mercenaries.”

Di Yalan nodded, then quietly instructed Mu Yudie in a low voice at the tree hollow, “Don’t make a sound. Stay here inside the hollow.”

“Let’s go, find a tree with denser foliage to hide in.” Shi Yan pondered for a moment, then moved swiftly, soon finding an ancient tree with thick branches and leaves to squat beneath.

As soon as he crouched down, Di Yalan followed, pressing herself shoulder to shoulder with him, concealed in the leaves.

Through the gaps in the foliage, the two peered about, holding their breath, suppressing their presence, terrified of being discovered.

Before long, five panicked mercenaries appeared in the distance, looking utterly disheveled. Each of them bore wounds of varying severity. The leader, a man, was of the Human Level, while the other four were all at the Innate Realm.

The group of five fled in utter disorder, glancing back over their shoulders, as though pursued by some monstrous terror.

And indeed, they were.

Barely had the five entered Shi Yan’s field of vision when he saw a Firecloud Demon Python and two Frost Lizards darting through the forest after them. From the left, several Silver-armored Venomous Scorpions, each the size of a washbasin, appeared, seemingly planning to encircle the five in a coordinated attack.

With urgency written all over their faces, the five continued their desperate dash forward through the woods.

Shi Yan’s expression changed—he knew they were doomed.

The five couldn’t see it, but Shi Yan could: ahead in their path stood a silver wolf, four meters long, powerfully built.

The silver wolf bore two wings, each five or six meters in length, shimmering silver and marked with mysterious, intricate patterns. It exuded a cryptic, sinister aura.

Though this was his first encounter with such a beast, Shi Yan had already heard the stories. This was the Thunderwing Silver Wolf—a level seven demon beast, the apex predator of the Dark Forest’s food chain!

At the wolf’s sudden appearance, Shi Yan realized this was no hunt by mercenaries, but rather—demon beasts preying on humans!

The bloody feast began in an instant.

The five, stumbling into the woods and coming face-to-face with the Thunderwing Silver Wolf waiting patiently for them, immediately screamed in despair.

The wolf wasted no time. With a sweep of its thunderous wings, immense blasts of thunder exploded beside the five, and within moments, three of them were torn apart, their flesh mangled and bloody.

The Thunderwing Silver Wolf stood proud and motionless, making no further moves.

But the other demon beasts surged forward, instantly entangling the remaining two. Caught in the combined assault of the Firecloud Demon Python and the Frost Lizards, one was poisoned to death by the Silver-armored Venomous Scorpion, another was bitten to death by a Frost Lizard.

Crunch! Crunch!

In the silent forest, the sound was bone-chilling.

Apart from the Thunderwing Silver Wolf, the demon beasts surrounded the fallen mercenaries, gnawing at their flesh and bones.

Di Yalan was aghast, unable to look for long. Killing men did not frighten her, but the savage feeding of demon beasts was another matter—she fought the urge to be sick.

Shi Yan, however, stared unblinking, calmly studying the demon beasts from his leafy cover, calculating silently.

With the death of the five mercenaries, the essence energy within them would gradually dissipate, eventually dispersing into the world. If he could reach that place before the energy was completely gone, he could benefit from it!

But with so many demon beasts feasting on the corpses, he dared not act rashly, only hoping they would finish soon and leave.

A distant, anguished wail of a human rang out, chilling and filled with despair.

The Thunderwing Silver Wolf, which had stood aloof all this time, suddenly gave a low growl and shot off into the forest.

At the sound of its cry, the demon beasts—nearly finished with their grisly meal—ceased their feeding at once, hurrying after it as if seeking new human prey.

As soon as the beasts scattered, Shi Yan, hidden among the leaves, leapt silently from the tree, gliding like a shadow toward the blood-soaked remains.

Di Yalan gasped in fright from her perch, whispering, “What are you doing?”

“I’ll be right back—stay here,” Shi Yan called back, racing to the site. He stood among the scattered limbs, closed his eyes, and focused.

Fortunately, though he was a bit late, some energy remained. As expected, the Human Level warrior still had about twenty percent of his essence left.

Invisible threads of energy, drawn to him as if by magnetism, streamed into his pores, flowing into the meridians within his body.

Feeling the power contained in that energy, a faint smile touched Shi Yan’s lips.

Soon, all the lingering essence was absorbed into Shi Yan's body.

He glanced at the scattered remains and viscera, wrinkling his nose at the stench. Ignoring the gore, he rummaged through the blood-soaked packs on the bodies.

The food, soaked in blood and possibly tainted with scorpion venom, was unusable. The crystals, of little use here and too heavy to carry, were few and far between in the packs.

After a while, he turned up only some beast materials and a few packets of healing powders.

Penniless wretches.

Shi Yan muttered softly, then used the bloodstained pack of one corpse to wipe his hands clean before slipping away through the shadows of the trees toward the ancient tree where Di Yalan hid.

Howls echoed through the Dark Forest as dawn neared, demon beasts moving everywhere, seemingly organized in their hunt for human warriors and mercenaries.

Hearing the chilling roars, Shi Yan felt not fear, but delight.

The actions of the beasts would surely hamper their pursuers. Anyone daring to move at night would attract attention; the larger the group, the more obvious the target. Perhaps those from the Shadow Sect, the Mo family, and the Fangs would also suffer heavy losses tonight, becoming the focus of the demon beasts’ hunt.

He was right.

That same night, Mo Chaoge and his group received special attention from the beasts. Desperate to catch Shi Yan and Mu Yudie, they had not rested since Hu Long’s suicide, searching through the forest and drawing the beasts' interest. Only after losing five men did they realize the danger and take to the trees to hide.

“What were you doing?” Di Yalan frowned. “Was there really anything on those bodies worth the risk? If a beast had come back, or another one spotted you, there’s no way you could have escaped!”

“Aren’t I perfectly fine?” Shi Yan climbed up into the ancient tree, offering no explanation for what he had truly gained. His face was grave. “Something's strange tonight. For some reason, the demon beasts have gone berserk, hunting mercenaries and warriors everywhere. Someone must have done something to enrage the higher-level beasts, or else this wouldn’t be happening.”

“So what do we do?” Di Yalan asked helplessly. “Should we keep moving?”

“Let’s wait. The beasts have been busy all night—they shouldn’t appear during the day. We’ll set out at midday.”

“Alright.”

…