Chapter 197: Hard to Deal With!

The field, filled with wolf howls and human roars, fell into dead silence in an instant.

In the air, only rapid breathing and the light sound of swaying branches remained.

The giant alpha wolf lay motionless on the ground, its beast eyes, which should have shown ferocity and cruelty before its prey, already closed.

Enveloped in a faint light, its silver-white, pure, and flawless fluffy mane swayed leisurely with the airflow.

The iron-grey sword blade pierced its spine from top to bottom, emerged from its lower jaw, and pinned it to the ground.

Steaming scarlet blood gushed out from the wound, flowing along the straight, smooth sword body, soaking and staining the soil below red.

Following the sword body upward, there were slender fingers with distinct knuckles gripping the hilt in a reverse grip, a snake-scale arm shield with a dark luster deeper than the night, thick grey-black iron plates and metal buckles, and those cold, sharp, pitch-black eyes.

The figure in iron armor rode high atop the wolf corpse.

Behind, in the firmament, was a cold silver moon leaking through the dense canopy, shrouding the entire person within it.

"Chi-la."

Metal rubbing against flesh and bone made a sluggish sound.

Xia Nan pulled the decapitation longsword out of the alpha wolf's body.

His wrist turned, performing a crisp and clean sword flourish, shaking off the blood remaining on the sword's surface.

He sheathed the sword.

His meticulous perception ability and the instinct formed after hundreds of slaughters allowed him to be certain that this leader of the Night-Walking Wolf pack was dead.

He had to admit, he was a bit surprised in his heart at this moment.

Although he hadn't had a direct exchange with the opponent before, in the gaps of clearing out the small fry, he had clearly seen the details of the battle between the alpha wolf and Kashi and Weiruisi.

Its strength was quite formidable.

Under normal circumstances, if he didn't use his trump cards, or if his luck wasn't that good, it shouldn't have been an opponent he could solve in one or two rounds.

Therefore, before launching an attack on the opponent, Xia Nan had already prepared sufficient contingency plans in his heart.

First, use 【Fang Hunt】 for a surprise attack; if the alpha wolf reacted, he would perform 【Spinning Slash】 to expand the range, strengthen the attack effect, strive to cause effective damage to the enemy, and in the gap of force recovery after swinging the sword, launch 【Fang Hunt】 again to retreat, dodging the opponent's possible counterattack.

But what he didn't expect was.

The plan only proceeded to the first step, "use 【Fang Hunt】 for a surprise attack," and the battle had already come to an end.

What happened in between?

Why did the alpha wolf's body suddenly freeze in place?

It was highly unlikely that it hadn't reacted or had exhausted its stamina.

Although he had also secretly applied gravitational control to it to slow down its movement speed.

But with his current level of development of 【Gravity Control】, the effect would definitely not be that strong.

Clearly, it was for other reasons.

"Patta... patta..."

In the sparse forest ahead, hurried and floating footsteps came.

Bo He, who was providing support for everyone at the back of the battlefield, seeing that the battle had ended, was jogging over to join her teammates.

Remembering, the alpha wolf that had now become a corpse, the direction its gaze last looked before death, seemed... to be the position where Bo He was.

Was there some kind of connection between these?

While Xia Nan was puzzled in his heart, he couldn't help but deepen his vigilance.

"Is, is... is anyone hurt?"

"I'll come to... heal."

The water-drop-shaped light green earrings on her left ear swayed with her body's movement.

Her face, pale and lacking blood color from excessive spellcasting, was covered in sweat; before she even arrived, Bo He's panting voice had already come through the air.

Xia Nan did not respond.

He just concentrated his attention in secret, using his perception ability to carefully observe the details of the other party's performance.

Under the moonlight, her body trembled slightly, her lips parted and tightened from time to time, as if enduring something—likely the aftereffects of excessive mental power consumption from multiple spellcasts in a short time.

He had experienced this feeling himself and could understand.

And the other movements of her body were all based on the instinctive reaction of being exhausted after the battle.

Hmm... at least it didn't look fake.

At the same time, behind Xia Nan.

Weiruisi stood quietly in the bushes, her slender and tall body nearly melting into the shadows.

Her eyes, glowing slightly in the night, stared at the giant wolf corpse that was motionless.

Her gaze followed the traces of broken branches in the forest, swept over each broken Night-Walking Wolf corpse, and finally stopped on Xia Nan.

A complex and subtly strange expression appeared on her face.

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Kashi beside her.

But didn't expect that the other party was also looking over at this moment.

The two met eyes; although they didn't speak, they both sensed the meaning in each other's eyes.

"Cough..."

As if hearing Bo He's voice ahead, Weiruisi's expression suddenly changed, deliberately revealing a weak look.

Lightly pressing the wound on her right forearm left during the battle, she called out:

"Over here, little Bo He, come quickly and let sister see your wounds."

Kashi stepped forward two steps, taking the initiative to meet Xia Nan who had jumped down from the wolf corpse.

He nodded at him.

"We need to clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible."

"The Mist Forest in the second half of the night is very dangerous; I'm worried that the smell of blood here might attract some unnecessary trouble."

"Fortunately, the mission is already completed; once dawn breaks tomorrow, we can set off directly back to town."

To this, Xia Nan naturally had no objections.

Honestly, although this battle looked quite dangerous, after he actually entered the combat state, it was actually quite easy.

Not only did he not suffer any injuries, but even the plate-chain composite armor he was worried would be scrapped again, and which he didn't even have time to maintain, didn't have many obvious scratches.

This made him breathe a slight sigh of relief in his heart.

And by comparison, the gains should also be quite good.

Excluding the mission rewards provided by the association, just the fur and body materials of these Night-Walking Wolves on the field could be sold for quite a bit of money.

Even if divided among four people, it should be enough to replenish his nearly dry small treasury.

All being veterans, the four members of the Sea Thorn Squad only spent about half an hour cleaning up the wolf corpses in the forest.

Greeting each other, they rearranged their formation, led by Kashi carrying a lantern, and hurried toward the direction of the camp.

Still trailing at the end of the squad.

Xia Nan looked back one last time at the position where the alpha wolf was.

Gone was its former elegance.

The fluffy silver-white fur had been completely peeled off, and the sharp claws and canine teeth had also been pulled from its body.

Quietly lying in the bushes, there was only a bloody corpse emitting a fishy smell.

The soft moonlight sprinkled on it, making it look even more ferocious and bizarre.

Gaze upward.

The silver moon, like a jade plate, hung high in the night sky, dotted with a few shining stars beside it.

Dim clouds, like thin gauze, drifted by, set off by the moonlight.

Time accelerated quietly.

The bright moon slid silently across the horizon, the morning sun rose, and purple-red clouds rippled across the sky like colorful silk.

Sun rose and sun set, day and night alternated, clouds, whether thick or thin, shuttled back and forth, lingering above the firmament. In the blink of an eye, another month and a half passed.

Hegu Town, White Tit Tavern.

"Creak."

Accompanied by the harsh sound of hinges rubbing, the tavern's wooden door was pushed open slowly.

In the middle of deep winter, the chilling cold from the street outside was dispelled by the warm air inside the house, filled with the scent of alcohol and food.

Weiruisi was still wearing her hollow-out leather outfit that perfectly displayed her figure; the physical fitness of a professional and the Drow blood flowing in her body, plus the relatively warm climate of the Pan Yun Province, allowed her to ignore the impact of the temperature here on her body.

She confidently displayed her exotic dressing aesthetic from the Underdark.

The metal ornaments at the ends of her hair collided and made a crisp sound, and the slightly dark skin overflowing from the hollows of her tight leather outfit looked even more delicate and smooth under the light.

Weiruisi could feel the countless gazes from the surrounding wine tables, some hidden or some fiery.

Long accustomed to it, her mixed-race identity and the experience of having lived in both the surface and underground for a long time made her clearly aware of the differences in culture and habits between the Drow Elves living in the Underdark and the intelligent creatures of the outside world.

And her rich experience as a senior adventurer also allowed her to fully adapt to this environment.

To some extent, regarding the evil tendencies deep in her bloodline, Weiruisi even quite mischievously enjoyed this kind of conflicted gaze—clearly desiring her in their hearts, yet afraid and not daring to approach because of her Drow mixed-race and professional identity.

Pointy leather boots tapped crisply on the ground, moving her two plump long legs, and she came to a corner of the tavern hall where there were few guests.

Kashi was sitting here.

Seeing the half-empty wine bottle on the table in front of him and the food scraps left on the plate, it was clear he had been waiting here for quite a while.

"Are things all ready?"

Raising his eyebrows to glance at the Drow half-elf, he had no extra expression on his face and asked casually.

"Of course." Weiruisi sat directly opposite Kashi and picked up the wine bottle to pour herself a glass. "Don't even say it, this Hegu Town doesn't look big, but the shops and such are quite complete."

"Just that 'Green Grass Crucible,' even the rot poison of the Myconids from the Underdark is for sale; I don't know where that Ms. Edwinna got it from, but it saved me a lot of effort."

"Very normal."

Kashi held his wine glass, his eyes narrowed slightly, as if savoring the taste of the wine.

"With such a large Mist Forest, everything that comes out of it has to go through the town."

"With so many adventurers coming and going every year, everyone has their own needs; if things aren't complete, prices aren't affordable, or there are too many defective products, this shop couldn't stay open."

As he said this, as if thinking of something, his words suddenly carried some memories.

"Back then, the one my family opened in Shoal Islands, they said it was a fishing gear shop, but didn't they sell potions, manuals, and everything else?"

"With money, only a fool wouldn't earn it."

But just after finishing his lament with the help of the wine, he remembered the unbearable past, which made him close his mouth, and even put down his wine glass.

The atmosphere at the dining table fell into silence.

After a while, Weiruisi opened her mouth and asked in a low voice:

"We've been here for so many days, and there's been no progress at all."

"When are we leaving?"

In a month and a half, they had taken many beast-clearing missions from the association, but they had never found any traces of their target.

"No rush." Kashi shook his head. "Wait until we finish this last one."

Hearing him say this, a playful look suddenly appeared on Weiruisi's exquisite face, and she teased:

"Heh, you really intend to fulfill the agreement and help that Grey Sword with the mission?"

"You think too much."

To this, Kashi sneered and explained:

"I just feel that his Beast-kin investigation commission might be related to our target; maybe we can really find some useful information."

"Besides, we've already been in town for so long; if it wanted to run, it probably wouldn't be in the forest anymore."

"A few days more, a few days less, it doesn't mean anything."

To this, although Weiruisi didn't reply, she also nodded silently, agreeing with the other party's view.

"Damn it!"

Seeing the topic come to Xia Nan, Kashi, under the influence of alcohol, had a sudden fluctuation in his emotions.

"So damn unlucky!"

"I originally wanted to take advantage of the mission gap to find two newcomers to earn some extra money; how could I run into this kind of person."

He appeared particularly puzzled.

"I clearly watched him with my own eyes being taken to the second floor by the receptionist; he didn't even know how to level up, damn it!"

"Clearly just a newcomer with no background, who got lucky and gathered three combat techniques, and mixed his way into a professional level."

"Now it's fine; I do some missions, and on the way, I have to guard against him, afraid that he'll chop my head off with one sword at any time, so I have to be polite when I speak."

"If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't find any suitable teammates temporarily, and he was indeed useful in the mission, I..."

Hearing this, Weiruisi, who had always had a smile on her face since entering the tavern, also had her expression sink.

"This kid, he really has some problems."

"In so many days, I haven't seen his back properly a few times; a few times I thought about going up to pry for information, and as soon as I walked two steps, he looked over, as if he had eyes on his back."

"And, those two combat techniques of his, you should have seen them all, right?"

Kashi nodded heavily.

"Troublesome."

"That alpha wolf a few days ago, although we both held back a bit, if we really wanted to take down that beast in a few rounds... we definitely couldn't do it."

"But that kid used one sword; although there was a luck factor, but..."

"Hard to deal with!"

"And I estimate, no, I'm certain."

"He definitely hid something!"

Kashi said with conviction, raised his head, and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

"The risk is too high; let's forget it this time."

"Spare his little life."

"Once this mission is over, we'll leave directly; don't get entangled with him."

Hearing this, Weiruisi couldn't help but reveal a bit of regret on her face.

"It's just a pity for my little Bo He; sister can only see you again later."

Kashi just raised his eyebrows and said pointedly:

"What's a pity? When we leave, why don't we just take her with us?"

"Once we leave Hegu Town, how to deal with her, isn't it all up to you?"

"Heh." Weiruisi's eyes lit up instantly, and she let out a sinister chuckle.

She wanted to say something else, but suddenly saw Kashi in front of her, for some reason, sit up straight suddenly.

The sinister expression originally on his face vanished instantly, replaced by the integrity and seriousness of a squad leader.

Reacting extremely quickly and quite naturally.

Weiruisi also followed suit and changed her expression, a soft smile hanging on her face.

She stood up, turned her head, and waved from afar:

"Xia Nan, here!"

"Why are you only just arriving? Sister has been waiting for you for a long time."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 198 =====