132: Chapter 131: Danger on the Way [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Climbing Snail] 132: Chapter 131: Danger on the Way [Extra for Alliance Hierarch Climbing Snail] Gathering water had continued for over an hour, only ending just before noon.
Next, they were to embark on the most dangerous part of the water retrieval, the return journey.
The path back was very clear, as it was the best option based on many years of experience and the most solid road under the heavy load of ox carts.
Though it required almost half as much detour compared to the way there, Hou Niao had no objections; he respected the wisdom of these ordinary mortals.
After a quick meal of dry food, the team set off.
The heavy water carts made even the sturdy yaks struggle immensely.
On uphill stretches, people had to strenuously push, hunkering down, and pull with all their might on the descents.
This was the challenge of the return trip—not only to avoid getting mired in mud but also to find the flattest possible paths, since both ascents and descents greatly exhausted the yaks.
No one rode in the ox carts anymore.
The entire team consisted of seven or eight men riding back and forth on horseback, keeping watch from high grounds along the route, guarding against possible wild animals.
Hou Niao didn’t ride a horse.
Instead, he consciously trained himself to walk as much as the older men from Jiangyou Town did, which was also an essential fundamental for a sword cultivator.
Cavalry might be sword cultivators, but sword cultivators were certainly not cavalry.
It was a habit that needed to be fostered, assimilated into the blood, deep into the marrow.
So far, everything had proceeded smoothly.
Although the Yinling Wilderness was dangerous, the daytime peril was still limited.
The probability of a real disaster happening was maybe once a month—if disasters occurred daily, even a stronghold like Fang Family’s Castle would become a widow’s fort.
Nobody had the energy to talk anymore, nor dared they rest on the way back.
Gathering water once could sustain a family of five for half a month, which showed how much had been sacrificed by his sisters-in-law to tempt him into bathing; it was nearly their most precious resource, yet here he was, using it for frolicking in the water?
By late afternoon, they had safely passed nearly two more hours, covering most of the return journey.
Just then, a rider responsible for watching the northwest suddenly blew a sharp whistle, signaling the approach of a group of animals.
Nearly thirty ox carts quickly gathered together—they were obviously planning to form a circular defensive perimeter against the beast pack.
Meanwhile, two riders raced toward the nearby fort to send the alarm.
To the current fort, every person was valuable.
However, the beast pack approached rapidly without hesitation, targeting the human water retrieval team.
Usually, such orderly behavior in a beast pack indicated the presence of a Demon Beast in command.
It was a group of Yinling short-tailed wolves, known for their deep hostility toward humans.
Their attacks didn’t need a reason; they were driven simply by bloodlust.
These creatures roamed the Yinling Wilderness and had no fixed territory, making them nearly impossible to eradicate.
Sensing it was too late to form a circle for defense, the mounted men began to charge against the wolf pack, not aiming to kill many wolves but to buy time for the people behind.
In Yinling, everyone was a hero—there was no room for cowards to survive.
This was a medium-sized pack with thirty or forty wolves, led by a massive Demon Wolf, several times larger than the other short-tailed wolves and the leader of this group.
Knowing it was a suicide charge, they had to rush forward; given the build of the leading wolf, even a knight in heavy armor would likely be knocked away, not to mention them in their simple gear.
Yet, the anticipated brutal contact did not occur because a man was already running ahead of the horses.
If endurance was discounted, Hou Niao’s speed had already surpassed that of ordinary steeds, and as his cultivation deepened, this disparity was only increasing.
The leader wolf immediately sensed something was amiss and hesitated whether to continue the attack.
Encountering a human cultivator was rare for it.
But there wasn’t much time for it to react.
The human cultivator accelerated once more while moving fast, closing the distance in an instant.
A flurry of sword light then flashed.
The Demon Wolf raised its paw to block but unexpectedly paid the price of a front paw.
The only stroke of luck was that it dodged a fatal blow to the throat.
But with one leg crippled, it naturally lacked agility.
The impact on its bodily movements couldn’t merely be measured by one crippled leg, even though Demon Beasts had tough bodies, it was currently not in a Realm capable of regenerating lost limbs.
Under Hou Niao’s brutal suppression, the only help it could hope for was to summon its minions for assistance.
“Go outside, do not let a single one escape!”
Hou Niao commanded, and the knights who had already understood his identity as a Cultivator did not hesitate.
They quickly dispersed to the periphery.
In the Yinling Wilderness, not much could be said for certain, but in terms of battle, they would unconditionally obey the commands of a Cultivator.
This was their only way to survive.
Three or forty ordinary short-tailed wolves charged at Hou Niao in desperation.
In the wilderness, if a wolf pack lost its leader, especially one that had become a Demon Beast, the consequences were severe.
Not only would the threat from humans greatly increase, but other packs of short-tailed wolves would also behave lethally toward them.
The male wolves would be bitten to death, not a single cub would survive, and only the females had a chance to live on.
In response to the Wolf Demon’s summons, the wolves charged fearlessly, but such Mortal Beasts posed no threat to a Cultivator like Hou Niao.
The only trouble they could possibly cause was scattering and fleeing, but the cunning humans had tied them to their leader.
The battle was bloody yet not intense.
The Wolf Demon knew the intent of the human Cultivators, but it had no intention whatsoever of sacrificing itself for its pack.
It only thought of how to escape amid the distraction of its minions.
As a result, until its minions were wiped out, it never found a chance to escape.
With a swift stroke of his sword, Hou Niao slew the Wolf Demon.
Such a battle lacked any challenge.
In the distance, a group of human knights huddled together, seemingly discussing something.
He was certain that none of the short-tailed wolves had escaped, so what were these fellows doing?
He hurried over, and a leading knight respectfully said, “My lord, there are a few wolf boars, and we don’t know…”
Hou Niao, without even looking, said, “Kill them and make haste on our journey!”
The wolf boars, a species coexisting with the wolf packs, were naturally timid and scavenged for food.
They usually moved together with wolf packs.
Strictly speaking, they weren’t wolves, and why they could coexist peacefully with the fierce and brutal wolves was one of the many mysteries in nature.
The people of Yinling didn’t generally regard them as a threat.
Fearful of retaliation from the wolf packs, they occasionally let them go if encountered.
This had become a habit.
But under the cold command of the Cultivator today, no one dared question it.
There was no particular reason; it was merely to eradicate them completely.
His compassion was limited and needed to be reserved for truly worthy causes.
After the knights killed the defenseless wolf boars, they immediately regrouped and set off.
Hou Niao, however, didn’t return but instead continued walking forward for a distance before beckoning with a hand gesture,
“Daoist friend has watched for a long time.
May I inquire if you have any advice?”