Chapter 20
Standing behind the campsite, Su Xiaoyu looked around, a trace of bewilderment in his eyes. There were more than twenty Blazing Wolves. Could they really survive tonight?
The students who had just lifted their firewood were stunned. Some of them even collapsed to the ground without realizing it.
Perhaps they were amused by the students’ sorry state. The nearly five-meter-long alpha wolf didn’t attack right away, but watched the chaos with keen interest.
“There are more than fifty of us! Don’t look so down! If we can’t beat them one-on-one, what about two-on-one or three-on-one?”
A woman’s voice rang out in the otherwise silent surroundings, and Su Xiaoyu looked toward it.
It was Liu Lin, the girl who had awakened the Chongming Bird bloodline. Lost among the crowd, she looked rather ordinary.
She should have stood out on this outing as the only one in Su Xiaoyu’s former class with an S-rank bloodline. But she was used to keeping to herself and being ignored.
Su Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. He recognized her. He’d once tried to fawn over her... well, he’d added her as a friend. He’d heard her father was a retired soldier from the military who’d lost a leg in the war against the demons and now worked as a school gatekeeper.
She must have learned some martial techniques or something.
Liu Lin’s words struck a chord with these students, none of whom had ever fought demons. Everyone turned to look at her, and the fear on their faces seemed to ease a little.
One of the students quickly shouted, “Liu Lin’s right! There are more than fifty of us, and we’ve all awakened as Warriors. We don’t need to fear these beasts!”
Seeing his classmates using their half-learned “Transformation” skills, Su Xiaoyu felt a spark of courage kindle inside him. Maybe they really could take on the wolf pack.
He was about to press his forehead and use his “Ice Transformation” when someone suddenly yanked him back. It was Lin Wu, who had just been fighting a Blazing Wolf.
She watched the still wolf pack, her expression grave, then said quietly to Lin Liuer beside her, “Cousin, Young Master Su, we need to go!”
“Cousin, let’s go!”
Lin Liuer’s voice trembled. She didn’t want to die alongside these classmates. She was supposed to get into one of the five top schools and become a pillar of the nation!
Lin Wu grabbed them both by the arms and forcefully dragged them in another direction. Her face was stiff as ice, and her eyelids kept twitching.
This was beyond what a few Intermediate Warriors like them could handle. There was a whole horde of demons here!
“If you don’t want to die, follow me. No more arguing.”
Su Xiaoyu glanced at Liu Lin, who was preparing to fight. He felt a strange sense of shame, but from Lin Wu’s expression, he could tell she was probably telling the truth.
“Awooo!”
The alpha wolf howled at the sky. Flames began to gather in the mouths of some Blazing Wolves, while others pounced straight at the students. Their awakened bloodlines kept them from being killed at once.
But that only lasted a moment. With no combat experience, they were soon bitten and covered in wounds, fear once more etched across their faces.
Liu Lin had already used her Transformation. Red wings spread from her back as she fought a Blazing Wolf, leaving her no time to help the other students.
Seeing the pack about to surround them, Lin Wu’s face hardened. She grabbed Su Xiaoyu and Lin Liuer, one under each arm, and charged into the woods.
Leaves and branches kept scraping Su Xiaoyu’s face. He tried to reassure himself: There’s no choice. I can’t do anything. I have no weapon and no martial techniques.
A little over a minute later, the three of them reached a small hillock about a hundred meters from the wolf pack. Lin Wu stopped to catch her breath and called the Lin family for reinforcements.
“We almost died alongside those country bumpkins. Those bastards from the Dragon Hunters let a whole pack of demons run wild! When we get back, I’ll make my dad give them a piece of his mind.”
Su Xiaoyu glanced at Lin Liuer, who was sitting on the hillside, fussing with the makeup on her face. Then he looked through the woods toward the flashes of fire—attacks from the Blazing Wolves...
The students’ cries for help and pleas for mercy reached his ears. Just as Lin Wu had said, if they stayed there, they’d become food.
Right... Sis gave me an emergency flare.
“Setting that off now will draw the Blazing Wolves here. Are you trying to get all three of us killed?”
Su Xiaoyu hurriedly took the flare from his pocket, but the next moment, a cold voice reached his ears. It was Lin Wu’s.
She held a crimson sword in her hand and glared at Su Xiaoyu, looking ready to attack.
“Heh... I was just taking it out to look.”
Su Xiaoyu swallowed, lowered his head, and put the flare back in his pocket.
He continued staring silently toward the campsite, now engulfed in raging flames. He could just make out a figure with fiery wings and a wolf’s corpse beside her. Liu Lin had actually killed a Blazing Wolf...
More Blazing Wolves kept joining the fight. Now three of them had surrounded Liu Lin. Su Xiaoyu kept asking himself: Why wasn’t she leaving?
Awakened bird-bloodline warriors could actually spread their wings and fly.
The fire kept spreading. He pulled out the emergency flare again, his expression full of conflict... The Dragon Hunters might not arrive in time, but the wolf pack would definitely find him.
Just then, a hoarse cry rang out:
“Run! Liu Lin stayed behind to cover for us!”
“Those Lin family people are bastards! They all ran away!”
A few injured students were supporting one another. Their clothes were soaked with blood as they cursed and counted themselves lucky to be alive.
Su Xiaoyu fell silent. Clenching the flare tube tightly, he stood up resolutely and headed toward the campsite.
The Lin family had actually left a female student to cover their retreat...
“Stop! Where are you going?” Lin Wu asked with a frown. She didn’t want anything to happen to the young master of the Su family, or the family head would hold her responsible.
“If I can’t set off a distress signal here, I’ll set one off near the campsite...” Without turning around, Su Xiaoyu stopped and shook his head. His family’s teachings wouldn’t let him retreat any farther.
He vaguely remembered the oath he’d taken a few days ago: to resist the demons, not let them slaughter people, and not stand by while someone who’d called out for everyone died at their hands.
“Big Brother Xiaoyu, you...” Lin Liuer looked utterly confused. She couldn’t understand why the mayor’s son had suddenly lost his mind and wanted to walk to his death.
“...”
Pushing aside the branches ahead, Su Xiaoyu kept making his way toward the campsite. Along the way, he passed more students supporting one another. Soon, he stopped where the trees grew thin.
It was in a small grove just ten meters from the campsite.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his phone, opened Su Jiu’s QQ, and carefully typed:
[Sis, it’s dangerous here. If you see the flare, don’t come.]
Then he casually tossed his phone aside and pulled the cord on the flare. A brilliant light streaked across the sky, and the flare exploded overhead like thunder.
The Blazing Wolves quickly turned toward the flare. The alpha had already begun moving this way. Su Xiaoyu tapped his forehead, and in that moment, he—a mere Intermediate student—successfully activated his “Transformation” skill.
Chill began to radiate from his body, as if preparing to fight for him in his final moments.
Watching the Blazing Wolves draw closer, he clenched his fists and forced himself not to be afraid. As long as he could buy time, the Dragon Hunters would come.
“Were you the one who set off that distress flare?”
A staggering figure appeared, drawn over by the commotion. It was Liu Lin. A huge claw mark gaped across her chest, and the wings behind her were already fading from view.
She was nearly spent. No matter how strong she was, she was still just a high school student.
“Yeah.” Su Xiaoyu quietly studied her dirt-streaked face, then turned to look at the encircling wolf pack.
He could clearly see the cruelty in the alpha’s eyes. He clenched his fists, unable to hold back his anger. Those beasts!
“Crack!”
The wings behind Liu Lin disappeared. She no longer had the strength to use her Transformation. Panting heavily, she said, “Looks like we’re going to die here. The Dragon Hunters won’t get here in time... What a shame. There are still more than ten students who haven’t escaped.”
As if to prove her right, the wolf pack closed in around them. The alpha watched the two of them in irritation. This woman had cost him so much food.
A ferocious glint flashed in the alpha’s eyes. It signaled one of the wolves to attack. The chosen wolf leapt at them, its silhouette blotting out the moon like a night messenger come to devour their lives.
“Watch out!”
Su Xiaoyu hurriedly stepped in front of Liu Lin. He hadn’t learned any martial techniques, so all he could do was hold his arms up to shield them.
With the wolf’s claws less than half a meter away, Su Xiaoyu closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, a sharp whistle split the air. Blue Sword Qi, trailing drifting frost, fell from the sky, cutting through the trees in its path and slashing straight at the Blazing Wolf. The moment it touched the beast, its body split apart like tofu.
“Thud.”
The two halves of the corpse fell to either side, covered in frost that made one’s blood run cold.
That single strike had slashed across the night sky!
It drove the darkness away!