Chapter 38: Wolves Dare Not Advance

A feral wolf lunged to bite. Li Chaosheng only felt wind beneath his groin and knew things were bad. He spun and dodged the strike, then countered with a backhanded grip on his blade, thrusting at the wolf’s head. With a swish, the ghost-head blade pinned the feral wolf to the ground. The wolf struggled a few times, then ceased to move.

But before Li Chaosheng could recover, several more feral wolves pounced. He felt no fear. Instead a surge of heroic spirit rose within him and he could not help but chant, “Kill the million troops of Jiangnan, the treasured blade in hand still smells of blood. Wolves and dogs do not know what a hero is, but today I will make you understand clearly. Hahaha… Great! This is exhilarating! Come at me!”

Li Chaosheng laughed aloud. The ghost-head blade in his hand seemed to move even faster. The pack charged, and seeing Li Chaosheng so imposing they felt some dread. At that moment the pack leader appeared behind the wolves and roared loudly, driving them forward to fight!

Seeing the pack falter, Li Chaosheng’s laughter grew louder. “Good beasts, if you will not come, I’ll go up myself!”

With that he raised his blade and charged into the pack, taking the initiative and cutting through them. The ghost-head blade flashed up and down. Though his movements lacked formal technique, each cut was lethal. The pack kept dodging in fear, thinking this man was even madder than the beasts.

The old temple keeper stood between them, anxious as he watched Li Chaosheng enter the pack. He knew Li Chaosheng had caught the taste for killing and could not be called back, so he had no choice but to stand with Du Yi and guard the window.

Zhou Bo at the other side was also fighting the pack. Zhou Bo used the ancestral Zhou family spear technique. The spear style was elegant and beautiful, a peerless method. It was said to be passed down in the Zhou family. Among the Zhou ancestors there was one named Zhou Tong, skilled with the long spear, who once shook the jianghu with his fame.

The Zhou family spear method originated with Zhou Tong. It emphasized speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness; every move was deadly. There was a saying: one stab gathers the brows, two stabs the heart, three stabs the navel, four teases the groin, five cuts into the ribs, six covers the crown, seven stabs the shoulder and splits left and right.

When Zhou Bo unleashed the spear technique it was truly like continuous fine rain. The long spear was everywhere. Any wolf struck would be wounded and withdraw. A moment’s inattention would mean death.

While Zhou Bo fought steadily, he saw that Li Chaosheng had already plunged into the pack and felt his own martial spirit soar. His moves suddenly changed and grew bold. At that moment a wolf leaped. Holding his long spear, Zhou Bo timed it perfectly, pushed off the windowsill with his toe and sprang up. He thrust the spear into the wolf’s mouth. The next moment the spear pierced out through the wolf’s back.

Zhou Bo leapt up and grabbed the long spear at the wolf’s back. Nearly two meters long, he pulled it straight from the wolf’s body. In an instant blood stained the ground red and the spear was splattered with wolf blood.

“Good spear technique!”

Li Chaosheng, intoxicated by the slaughter in the pack, saw Zhou Bo’s elegant spear strike and could not help but praise. Zhou Bo then laughed heartily, “Brother Li, good blade technique!”

With that he also plunged into the pack. Seeing both juniors cut into the wolves, the old temple keeper grew anxious. “You two save some energy, the most terrifying wolf demon has not yet acted!” he thought.

The old temple keeper worried, but Li Chaosheng no longer heeded such thoughts. The bloodthirsty impulse within him controlled his actions. He only wanted to swing his blade and kill, the more the better.

Rain pounded down from the sky, mingling with feral wolf blood splashing on Li Chaosheng’s face and into his mouth. The metallic smell of blood struck Li Chaosheng’s spirit and drove him further into madness.

With the long blade in hand and wild wind at his side, rain soaking the ground, bloodstained vigor pierced the heavens. Ghosts wailed and wolves howled, the colors of earth and sky shifted. His long cry did not cease, his heroic spirit surged to the clouds.

This bout of killing lacked fine wine. If wine were here his spirit would be boundless. Where his blade passed, wolf heads flew, corpses lay in piles underfoot, and he hardly felt the strain of stepping in the mud. All beasts shivered at the sight. This man’s madness surpassed a fierce tiger and approaching him meant likely death. He seemed a fiend dancing with blade and sword, like a vajra descended to the mortal world.

As he reached a frenzy of killing, Li Chaosheng could not help a long howl, “Who else!”

At that cry the wind and clouds shifted, and the surroundings fell silent as if no one dared reply. Then the tiger-like wolf demon suddenly moved. Its huge body possessed an incongruous speed. With a whoosh it leaped over the pack and charged straight at Li Chaosheng.

Li Chaosheng saw a dark shape rushing in and hurriedly put his blade across in front to block the strike. But the wolf demon was truly powerful. With a crash it slammed Li Chaosheng and sent him flying.

Li Chaosheng felt as if hit by an eighty-mile-an-hour truck. With a boom he was flung back and crashed into the doorframe with a crack. The frame split wide open. Mind you, that doorframe was pear wood and very hard.

Li Chaosheng felt his spine nearly broken. Thankfully the Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit had strengthened his bones to the Postnatal Training Bones realm. Otherwise this blow would have shattered his spine and ended his life.

“Brother Li, are you all right?” the old temple keeper shouted anxiously.

“Cough cough cough… I won’t die just yet.”

Li Chaosheng replied and then propped himself on the ghost-head blade to stand. The pack had already encircled under the pack leader’s command. Li Chaosheng leaned against the doorframe, looked at the wolves closing in, and though badly wounded he showed no fear.

“Come on, say something. Let me see what tricks you have.”

Li Chaosheng’s eyes shone with ferocity, fiercer than the wolves. When facing a beast, one must be fiercer than it to make it tremble. Fear alone was useless. Only fighting offered a chance to survive.

At this moment the bloodthirst in Li Chaosheng still showed. Standing there with glaring eyes, the pack dared not advance, all terrified by Li Chaosheng’s killing. He stood like a god of slaughter.

Although the pack knew he was injured, they did not dare gamble that Li Chaosheng had lost the power to fight and could not kill them.

“Trash!”

As the pack hesitated, a voice rang out. The pack leader strode forward step by step. The wolves cleared a path and gave way. The pack leader glared and locked eyes with Li Chaosheng. Li Chaosheng propped on the ghost-head blade, his face neither fearful nor sorrowful, crimson still at the corner of his mouth.

“Human, this is the second time you have harmed us.”

The pack leader bared its teeth and spoke. Li Chaosheng glared at the pack leader and said, “Pathetic wolf demon, you dared to eat people. How could I let you have your wish?”

“Heh heh heh… you humans always act so high and mighty. You humans are also beasts, and we are beasts too. Why can you eat wolves and all things, but we wolves cannot eat humans?”

The pack leader glared and questioned Li Chaosheng. Li Chaosheng was momentarily speechless at those words. What answer could he give? That humans had double standards, that humans eating animals was natural and animals eating humans was a heinous crime?

Could one say that? No. Why not? Because Li Chaosheng was human. The world did not have that much right and wrong or good and evil. Ultimately it was the backside that made the head decide what to eat.

Li Chaosheng was human, so of course he was going to judge everything by human standards. For example, humans eating wolves was not wrong, while wolves eating humans was going against nature itself!