Chapter 137: Trapped in Peril

Yun Li's glances at her surroundings were too obvious, because she was the person Ge had instructed them to protect especially; she was scouting nearby and responsible for guarding the beastfolk who were resting, and in no time they surrounded her.

"What's wrong? Did you notice something amiss?"

As they said, the two beastfolk who had gathered scanned the surroundings with wary eyes.

Seeing them like that, Yun Li hurriedly said, "It's nothing, probably just my illusion. Haven't you already checked the area? If there were any movement, you'd definitely notice it right away."

Indeed, the two beastfolk relaxed instantly upon hearing that.

However, Yun Li's strength was still too low, and this place was a bit far from the resting spot; if a big creature suddenly appeared and injured her, they wouldn't be able to explain it to her Beast Husband after returning.

So they began to persuade Yun Li, "You should go back, don't stray too far from everyone. Otherwise, if something really happens here, we're afraid we won't be able to protect you properly."

That wasn't a lie; after all, Yun Li's luck seemed rather bad today.

Every time she strayed a bit farther from the Hunting Squad, she encountered unexpected dangers; if the Hunting Squad's beastfolk hadn't kept an eye on her, she might have been injured and sent back to the Tribe long ago.

Yun Li also knew she had caused trouble for the Hunting Squad today; hearing them, she nodded immediately and quickly returned, under their protection, to the Hunting Squad's temporary resting spot.

"A Li, I caught a field rabbit, I fed it, seems fine."

The female who went to catch the field rabbit, after not seeing Yun Li at the spot where she was digging potatoes, immediately rushed back to the temporary resting area, brandishing the rabbit and bundles of potatoes.

"Don't be hasty; after all, it's new food, you need to observe it more. Even if we adults can eat it without issue, that doesn't mean the cubs won't have any problems."

"Oh~"

Hearing Yun Li's words, the female finally suppressed her urgency, prepared a portion of the rabbit—boiled, roasted, or steamed as Yun Li instructed—and let the rabbit be sampled one by one. Seeing no abnormal reaction, she happily dug up several baskets, as Yun Li suggested, for the Hunting Squad's beastfolk to send back to the Tribe.

Of course, sending it back wouldn't let the cubs taste it immediately; they would have to wait until the adults at home had eaten it for a while and confirmed the new food was truly harmless before offering it to the cubs for a change of palate.

…

In the afternoon, on the way back, the Hunting Squad encountered a pack of wild wolves.

Although there were only about twenty of them, they should have chosen to avoid the numerically superior Hunting Squad, yet the wolves behaved oddly: after being driven away, they still fell behind the formation, causing all the Hunting Squad's beastfolk to collectively become suspicious.

Yun Li and another weaker female were shielded at the center, so when a hidden ambush suddenly struck, the two of them were well protected.

However, Yun Li could sense that the hidden assailants were targeting her, because when the rain of arrows fell, three of the thicker dark arrows were aimed at her.

If not for the swift reaction of the eagle-beastfolk beside her, and if not for the instinct she had honed over recent outings with the Hunting Squad, she might have truly fallen here today.

The pack of wolves that had been trailing behind surged forward as if with purpose when the arrow rain fell. Although the beastfolk usually find it easy to deal with such wolves, the chaos made them charge in, causing Yun Li and the nearby female to be forced apart from the males and other beastfolk.

"A Li, watch your back!"

A sudden sharp shout reached Yun Li's ears without warning; she had no time to determine whether it came from the female beside her, since they were standing together—if she were in danger, wouldn't she have said something?

Yet her instinctive avoidance of danger made her subconsciously glance to the side, and in that instant, the female beside her shoved her forcefully.

She intended to push Yun Li out of the eagle-beastfolk's protective circle; at the crucial moment, Yun Li drew the Bone Knife at her waist—this Bone Knife was originally given by Mu Qing when he left the Tribe for Five Salt Mountain for her self‑defense, but now she used it to counter the beastfolk trying to kill her.

"Ah!"

She drove the knife down hard, and the female let out a sudden wail!

The hand that had pushed her froze mid‑air, while the Bone Knife had already pierced from the back of her hand into her palm.

At that moment, Yun Li could have simply clutched the Bone Knife without regard, using it to steady herself, and at least could have pulled the female along, rolling into the foul‑smelling wolf pack.

But she didn't; instead, she went with the force that pushed her and clumsily fell into the wolves' encirclement.

Because, compared to dragging a hostile beastfolk into danger, she preferred a single beastfolk to fight alone; moreover, most importantly, in such chaos the other beastfolk couldn't see the female's sabotage—they would likely think Yun Li slipped and foolishly dragged others to their deaths.

She thought it better to leave the Bone Knife, venture into danger alone, and see how the female would explain her innocence under these circumstances.

Innocent?

Hmph—could Yun Li be the kind of beastfolk who endangers herself just to hurt others?

Ordinary beastfolk wouldn't think that; they'd wonder why Yun Li suddenly fell into the wolf pack and why the female inexplicably suffered Yun Li's attack.

The left‑behind Bone Knife proves Yun Li's reflex triggered by the sudden crisis, and also serves as evidence of the female's wrongdoing.

"Yun Li! Quick, quick, save the person!"

Everything happened too fast: from the female's scream to their realization that Yun Li's body was uncontrollably falling into the charging wolf pack, the Hunting Squad's beastfolk only had time to cast a shocked, puzzled glance at the injured female before calling nearby beastfolk to rush to the rescue.

The beastfolk beside the female, seeing this, immediately shoved her toward the other beastfolk, sending her straight into the wolves.

Fortunately, although Yun Li rolled into the wolves' encirclement, she quickly reverted to her beast form; her beast body is far more agile than her human form in a surround of wolves.

Even if two or three wolves opened their jaws to bite, she could roll on the spot, evading the fatal bites.

Injuries were inevitable, but within just a few dozen seconds, Yun Li accumulated over a dozen wounds; when the Hunting Squad's beastfolk broke through the wolves' encirclement, they saw a Snow Wolf drenched in blood.

"Damn it! Quickly call the Patrol Team's beastfolk for help!"

It's normal for the Hunting Squad's beastfolk to encounter danger while hunting; if they immediately call the nearby Patrol Team for assistance whenever danger arises, it only creates trouble for the Patrol Team and reflects incompetence.

Therefore, unless there is a rogue beastfolk invasion or the Hunting Squad suffers heavy casualties, even if they managed to summon the Patrol Team this time, whether the Patrol Team will respond next time remains uncertain.

But since the injured beastfolk this time is Yun Li, Ji Xuan voluntarily took responsibility for caring for the female, and combined with the earlier arrow rain, it's clear a beastfolk was secretly ambushing.

At this point, if they don't call for help now, will they have to wait until something truly goes wrong?

"Screech!"

Accompanied by a sharp eagle's cry that burst through the forest, the next moment, five arrows, their targets unmistakably aimed at Yun Li, shot her way!

"Move quickly!"