Chapter 18: Ambush

Atop a high mountain within the Devastation Range, Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling crouched silently, gazing into the distant horizon.

“Uncle Zong,” Dongbo Xueying asked, “we’ve already been inside the Devastation Range for twelve days, searching nonstop, yet we haven’t found any trace of the Scimitar League.”

“The Scimitar League always flees into this area of the Devastation Range. Based on information gathered over the years from various regions, the area we’ve pinpointed should be correct,” Zong Ling replied.

Their primary mission in coming to the Devastation Range was to hunt down the Scimitar League!

For far too long, the Scimitar League had been wreaking havoc across Yishui. They repeatedly emerged to commit atrocities, then fled back into hiding. Because they were often seen, collected intelligence allowed them to roughly determine the Scimitar League’s general location.

Even the location of their external camp had been carefully chosen.

Starting from the camp, they had defined a range extending five hundred li deep into the Devastation Range as their search area.

They were certain—ninety-nine percent sure—that the Scimitar League was within this range.

“These fugitives of the Scimitar League frequently enter and exit the mountains, so naturally they have a relatively safe old path. However, this is still the Devastation Range—there could be Magic beasts at any moment, so they can’t have ventured too deep. Otherwise, wouldn’t each entry and exit take seven or eight hours? Their walking speed can’t match ours; many among them aren’t even knights,” Zong Ling continued. “Be patient. We’ll find them eventually.”

“Mm.”

Though a five-hundred-li range might seem small, searching it thoroughly by themselves was still very difficult.

After all, the Scimitar League would have chosen a hideout that was extremely well concealed.

…

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling continued their careful search. Although they occasionally encountered Magic beasts, Dongbo Xueying’s power could briefly reach the Silver Moon Knight level, and his spear techniques were formidable enough to handle any threats. After all, outside the deeper regions, Magic beasts stronger than third-tier rarely appeared.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~”

Within the dark, gloomy forest, snow lay thick and unmelted from countless years, and the cold air was pervasive.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling moved silently, inspecting the area and searching for traces of the Scimitar League.

“Hmm?” Dongbo Xueying’s ears twitched. He whispered lowly, “Uncle Zong, let’s check over there,” pointing toward a distant high ground.

“What did you find?” Zong Ling quietly moved closer while asking.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Dongbo Xueying carefully climbed up the high ground.

Zong Ling followed, and both cautiously peeked over.

In the distance lay a vast lake, beautiful like a giant emerald. Around its shores was a massive pack of snow-white wolves. They were scattered about—some drinking from the lake, others lying lazily on the grassy banks. At a glance, there must have been two or three hundred of them! These wolves were much larger than the Black-Scaled Jackals—each one comparable to a Frost-Flight Magic horse, with sleek, snow-white fur, quite beautiful.

“Silver Moon Wolves!” Zong Ling swallowed hard, his face paling.

“There’s even a Wolf King!” Dongbo Xueying looked toward the far end, where the largest Silver Moon Wolf lay reclining, surrounded by over a dozen larger wolves.

“Didn’t expect I’d actually run into a Silver Moon Wolf King,” Dongbo Xueying muttered with a bitter grin.

“Let’s go. We can’t fight them. We don’t stand a chance,” Zong Ling shook his head.

Dongbo Xueying kept staring.

Indeed.

Not a single chance.

From their size alone, the Silver Moon Wolves—third-tier Magic beasts—were far larger than Black-Scaled Jackals. Their charge was extremely powerful; each wolf weighed eight thousand jin, and when galloping, their impact could reach several tens of thousands of jin—how terrifying! Dongbo Xueying could easily sweep aside four or five Black-Scaled Jackals with a single horizontal strike of his spear. But a Silver Moon Wolf? He might barely manage one. And with two or three hundred of them, even three or five Meteor Knights would be overwhelmed.

And then there was the strongest Silver Moon Wolf King.

“Using footwork to dodge, trying to face only a few at a time,” Dongbo Xueying calculated inwardly. “But with the Wolf King leading and commanding, things won’t go as I hope. If anything goes wrong and I get surrounded by the pack, I won’t even be able to escape.”

“Let’s go!” Dongbo Xueying decided to abandon the fight.

He had spent some time in the Devastation Range and understood the terrifying power of Magic beasts. Fighting the entire Silver Moon Wolf pack now would give him less than a ten percent chance of success, while the likelihood of death was seventy or eighty percent!

It wasn’t worth the risk.

…

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling continued their arduous search for the Scimitar League’s hideout.

“These Scimitar bastards are hiding really well,” Dongbo Xueying gritted his teeth. It had already been half a month, and they had searched most of the five-hundred-li range twice.

“They’re afraid too, afraid their hideout will be discovered,” Zong Ling smiled. “Xueying, your patience still isn’t enough. Your father, mother, Uncle Tong, and I once searched for a treasure for three whole months.”

“Did you find it?” Dongbo Xueying asked.

“No,” Zong Ling replied.

“You didn’t find it?” Dongbo Xueying was surprised, thinking Zong Ling had mentioned it because of some great discovery.

Zong Ling chuckled, “Strange, isn’t it? Does searching for treasure always guarantee success? Most things in this world don’t go as people wish.”

Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly.

He felt a quiet realization stir in his heart.

In most matters—such as managing finances in his domain or various cultivation techniques—he considered himself far superior to Zong Ling and the others. But in terms of life’s deeper truths, he still had much to learn.

The two continued their relentless search.

At that moment—

A blurry, grayish, small four-legged beast stood silently on a tree trunk, gazing down at Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling below.

Yet Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling remained completely unaware.

Whoosh.

The beast leaped lightly, landing silently on another tree, continuing to watch them. Even Dongbo Xueying, with his keen senses, didn’t notice the movement.

It had a sleek, streamlined body, about the same size as a Black-Scaled Jackal.

Yet its fur was like satin, creating illusions that made its body appear like a ghostly shadow.

This was a terrifying predator—a fifth-tier Magic beast known as the Shadow Leopard.

The Shadow Leopard was extremely terrifying. It moved silently through shadows, and when it revealed its fangs, its target was usually already dead. It was a top-tier predator in the Devastation Range.

Legends even spoke of sixth-tier Shadow Leopard Kings that could completely merge their bodies into shadows—so completely that even with wide-open eyes, people couldn’t see them!

Hoo, hoo, hoo…

The Shadow Leopard silently crept closer, its eyes fixed carefully on the black-clothed youth.

As a top-tier predator… it could sense that this black-clothed youth posed a far greater threat than the silver-haired snake beside him. Eliminating the youth first would make things much easier.

“Whoosh!”

The Shadow Leopard’s dim gray eyes suddenly flared with killing intent, and it lunged forward.

A gray afterimage!

Too fast.

Even Dongbo Xueying’s peak speed couldn’t match the Shadow Leopard’s. This was a terrifying speed that even Silver Moon Knights would dread.

“Hmm?” Walking side by side with Uncle Zong, Dongbo Xueying’s expression suddenly changed drastically. His body hair stood on end, and his heart constricted.

“Die!”

Dongbo Xueying didn’t have time to turn around. He lunged forward abruptly, unable to perform any defensive maneuvers. He only managed to thrust his spear backward instinctively. The butt of the spear struck with immense force—enough to stop an ordinary fourth-tier Magic beast. But this time, the attacker was a fifth-tier Magic beast specializing in ambushes—the Shadow Leopard!

The Shadow Leopard’s claws struck the spear shaft Dongbo Xueying thrust backward, pressing it down. Using the rebound force, it Go with the flow slashed viciously across Dongbo Xueying’s back. A terrifying impact surged into Dongbo Xueying’s body, sending him flying forward uncontrollably.

“Boom!”

At the same moment the Shadow Leopard’s claws struck Dongbo Xueying’s spear shaft, Dongbo Xueying—nearly a master of the spear—naturally used the force to his advantage. His spear spun one hundred and eighty degrees in an instant, lashing out at the Shadow Leopard mid-air before it could dodge. Though Dongbo Xueying’s body was flying forward, he still twisted his body with force, delivering a powerful rotational strike.

The Shadow Leopard slammed onto the ground, but its soft, boneless body instantly absorbed the impact and retreated swiftly.

As Dongbo Xueying fell toward the ground, he flipped mid-air and landed crouched on the earth, spear in hand, glaring fiercely at the Shadow Leopard. He felt pain in his back, his internal organs shaken, and blood uncontrollably rose into his mouth.

“Phew!” Spitting out the blood, Dongbo Xueying’s teeth were stained red. He stared deathly at the Shadow Leopard.