Chapter 16: Wild Wolf

The Wild Wolf King led the remaining six wild wolves in a rapid approach. Seeing that the humans on the opposite side were indeed no longer firing their cannons, the Wild Wolf King was smug; without their high-powered cannons, these humans were merely lambs waiting to be slaughtered, left for them to butcher.

The Wild Wolf King raised its head, its fierce, cold gaze fixed on Meng Yifan, wanting to see Meng Yifan and the others in a state of panic. However, it was surprised to find that the corners of Meng Yifan's mouth held a smile and he was calm and composed, seemingly not afraid of the wolves' approach at all.

"Woo..." The Wild Wolf King let out a low whimper, the patch of golden fur on its forehead standing on end. It keenly sensed immense danger ahead, yet it could not figure out where the danger lay.

The Wild Wolf King's sixth sense was very accurate and had saved its life several times before. This time, it felt an unprecedented sense of crisis, which made it tremble with fear and stop in its tracks.

"Awoo! Awoo!" The Wild Wolf King let out a roar, ordering its six subordinates to charge forward first to test where the danger was coming from.

The six wild wolves obeyed the order and quickly approached Meng Yifan and the others.

"To think you'd send your underlings to test my trump cards? It's a pity that six Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beasts aren't qualified to make me use my trump cards."

Meng Yifan grabbed the Bird Gun beside him, lay on the ground, aimed at a wild wolf crawling forward, and then decisively pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" A scorching Lead Bullet flew out, precisely drilling into the wild wolf's right eye, then spinning and tumbling inside the wolf's head, churning its brains into a pulp.

The Lead Bullet finally forcibly flipped open the wild wolf's skull; white brains and red blood gushed out from the bullet hole. The wild wolf's body twitched a few times before it fell to the ground and died.

"Ding! Team hunt of one Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beast successful, gained 5 Experience Value."

After firing one shot, Meng Yifan casually handed the empty Bird Gun to the person beside him, then took another Bird Gun to continue shooting, firing as soon as he raised his hand.

"Bang! Bang!" Following two crisp gunshots, two more wild wolves were headshot.

Meng Yifan possessed Level 2 Shooting Technique; within one hundred meters, he never missed and hit exactly where he aimed. He fired three shots and took care of three Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beasts.

The remaining three wild wolves were startled and wanted to retreat, but the Wild Wolf King's hissing urged them to continue forward.

The Wild Wolf King had already discovered that the humans only had three Bird Guns, all of which had already been fired. It would take at least a minute to reload the empty Bird Guns; even if two or three of them reloaded one gun, it would still take forty to fifty seconds. This gap was enough for the wolves to reach the humans.

The three wild wolves continued to charge forward. Meng Yifan shook his head; the Bird Guns currently in use were too slow to reload. Relying only on the three Bird Guns in hand, it was impossible to achieve continuous fire.

If one wanted to achieve fire coverage and continuous strikes against the enemy, there would need to be at least sixty musketeers arranged in three rows to perform three-stage firing. Unfortunately, Qinghe Village's resources were limited, and it was impossible to arm sixty musketeers.

The three wild wolves were approaching rapidly. Meng Yifan said, "Leave one combat team to continue reloading the Bird Guns, and leave three people to be responsible for the three Elm Cannons. If other wild beasts charge over, fire immediately. The others, form the Changmao Zhen."

Nine men lined up in three rows, each holding a two-and-a-half-meter-long iron spear. The Changmao Zhen that Meng Yifan taught these young men was very simple, consisting of only one thrusting move and one retracting move.

When thrusting, the young men held the spear with both hands, left hand in front and right hand in back. When thrusting, they kicked off the ground with their right leg, transferring the power of their thigh to their waist and hips, then rotated their waist to transfer the power to their arms, then took a small step forward with their left leg and thrust the spear out fiercely, simultaneously shouting, "Kill!"

In groups of three, they thrust forward desperately. After the first row finished thrusting, they retracted their spears and retreated; the second row stepped forward to continue thrusting. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the first row retreated and the third row filled in, taking over for the second row to continue thrusting forward, repeating the cycle over and over.

"Awoo..." The three wild wolves let out a howl, then leaped up, attacking the humans with bared fangs and brandished claws.

"Kill!" Meng Yifan channeled his Manyuujin True Qi into his arms, then let out a shout. The spear in his hand was like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, stabbing straight toward the heart of a wild wolf.

"Puchi!" The sharp spearhead pierced straight through the wild wolf. Meng Yifan then flicked his hands, and the dead wild wolf was tossed in front of the Wild Wolf King.

Facing Meng Yifan's provocation, the Wild Wolf King was furious, baring its sharp fangs, wishing it could bite his neck off in one go.

"Come on, if you have the guts, come over here." Meng Yifan crooked his finger at the Wild Wolf King. He was now a First Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist, and this Wild Wolf King was also a Level One Mid-Grade Beast; even in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't back down.

The Wild Wolf King did not come over. It sensed that Meng Yifan was fearless; even if it charged over, it wouldn't gain any advantage. It was better to wait for the main force behind to arrive, then charge together to tear this annoying human to pieces.

At this very moment, the Wild Wolf King felt some regret. Had it known the humans of Qinghe Village were so troublesome, it wouldn't have led the wild wolves on a mad dash to enter the battle immediately.

It had thought it was leading the wolf pack to enjoy a grand feast, but it didn't expect Qinghe Village to be such a tough nut to crack—traps, Bird Guns, and damn it, they even had cannons. Of the dozen or so clan members in the wolf pack that had already awakened their intelligence, only two were left alive. This made the Wild Wolf King's heart ache.

"Qinghe Village used to be just an ordinary village for beasts to slaughter; how did it suddenly become so powerful?" The Wild Wolf King's heart was filled with doubt and confusion.

Seeing that the Wild Wolf King was not coming over, Meng Yifan ignored it and instead looked at the battle between the nine villagers and the two Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beasts.

The two wild wolves were circling anxiously. They tried to charge over to bite the humans several times, but whenever they dared to get close, three spears would always thrust toward them, which drove them crazy.

Although they were Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beasts with claws and teeth sharper than ordinary beasts and skin tougher than ordinary beasts, they still couldn't withstand the piercing of sharp spears.

The young men of Qinghe Village were all skilled hunters. At first, they were a bit nervous when facing the two awakened wild wolves, but when they realized the Changmao Zhen Meng Yifan taught them was truly effective, they set their minds at ease. Following the squad leader's commands, they thrust their spears out row by row, forcing the two wild wolves to retreat.

The two wild wolves were like they were facing an iron hedgehog, with nowhere to bite. The two sides fell into a stalemate. After about half a minute, the first Bird Gun was reloaded. Meng Yifan took the Bird Gun and began shooting at the wild wolves.

"Bang! Bang!" Two gunshots rang out, and the two Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beasts fell to the ground in response.

"Ding! Team hunt of one Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beast successful, gained 5 Experience Value."

"Ding! Team hunt of one Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beast successful, gained 5 Experience Value."

Another 10 Experience Value was credited.

Meng Yifan held the last reloaded Bird Gun, aimed at the Wild Wolf King, and wanted to take it out with one shot.

The Wild Wolf King was a Level One Mid-Grade Beast; its bones, muscles, and even skin had been strengthened by Demon Power, making it very tough. If they had used the original Black Powder to fire the Bird Gun, it wouldn't even have been able to pierce the Wild Wolf King's hide.

The new type of gunpowder Meng Yifan refined had greatly increased power, capable of piercing the skull of a Level 1 Low-Grade Wild Beast and also the hide of a Level One Mid-Grade Wild Wolf King, which made the Wild Wolf King feel a huge threat.

If it took a shot, it would be injured; if a vital part was hit, it would die.

The Wild Wolf King was very unwilling, but it knew that relying on itself to go up would be suicide, so it used its claws to protect its eyes and then quickly retreated into the mist.

"We won, we repelled the wild beasts' attack." The young men cheered and jumped for joy, celebrating their victory.

Meng Yifan did not cheer; this was just the beginning, and the real battle was still to come. He stared at the mist in the distance. After becoming a First Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist, his hearing had been strengthened. The other young men couldn't hear clearly, but he heard a hissing and rustling sound in the mist, and the air was filled with a fishy stench; it seemed like a large number of snakes were approaching rapidly.

"Awoo..." The Wild Wolf King's voice rang out in the mist.

"Hiss... hiss..." That large group of snakes stopped. The two sides seemed to have communicated something, and neither of them rushed out of the mist immediately, which made Meng Yifan's expression even more grave.

"Could it be that the wild beasts are waiting until they are all gathered to swarm us? Damn it, if there are too many wild beasts, relying only on three Elm Cannons, three Bird Guns, and the young men's Changmao Zhen, we definitely won't be able to hold them off."

Meng Yifan felt it was very tricky. Although he knew that awakened wild beasts had greatly increased intelligence, he didn't expect them to have become so smart. After suffering a loss just once, they started adjusting their tactics. Was this still just a group of wild beasts?