Heaven’s Shadow

With a look from Lu Chen, Yi Xin felt unconfident all of a sudden. She hesitated for a moment and with a doubtful voice, she asked softly, "Brother Lu, it... it's only a young hound. It can't be some powerful demonic beast who could kill us, right?"

Lu Chen gazed at her and spoke impassively, "Given its size, there's no way it can kill us."

Yi Xin heaved a sigh of relief, and it felt as though her heart, which seemed to have come to a standstill, started to beat once more. "Then, can we save it?"

Lu Chen harrumphed, "You were almost killed by the Black Jackals yesterday, so why are you suddenly showing mercy now?"

"Ah?" Yi Xin was taken aback. "This little hound is a Black Jackal as well? But its appearance..."

"This isn't a purebreed." Lu Chen interrupted Yi Xin's words. "It is a hybrid between the mountainous Snow Wolves and the Black Jackals. Very few of them survive to adulthood. Your effort will just be wasted."

Yi Xin was astonished, "Why?"

Lu Chen opened his mouth, only to close it without saying a word. His face suddenly darkened and he seemed displeased. With a rare tinge of impatience to his tone, he said, "In any case, it carries the bloodline of a Black Jackal. Even so, do you still want to save it?"

In response to the rebuke, Yi Xin cowered immediately. Then after a moment, she replied fearfully, "I'll listen to your words."

Lu Chen harrumphed and continued walking forward. Yi Xin heaved a sigh of relief and followed suit.

Behind them, the mournful cry of the small hound echoed. Yi Xin felt her heart ache, but her rationality told her that Lu Chen's behavior was correct. Thus, she held back her urge to turn around and take a look.

Walking out of the river valley, the small hound also disappeared from their sights.

At this point, the river bent sharply, flowing toward another direction. Lu Chen stopped and surveyed his surroundings. Then, he peered into the sky, seemingly trying to discern their position and ascertain the directions. While waiting for Lu Chen, Yi Xin began to waver and eventually, she could no longer hold herself back and turned to look back at the river valley.

With this single look, Yi Xin abruptly let loose a hushed cry. Using her uninjured hand to cover her mouth, her face was filled with shock and fear.

Noticing Yi Xin's aberrance, Lu Chen turned to take a look as well and frowned.

A short distance away from the young hound, a large yellow panther had appeared. Revealing its sharp fangs, it slowly approached the young hound. At the same time, greed and hunger flickered in its eyes.

Immediately, that young hound started to yell in despair, sensing the calamity it was in. It struggled with all of its might to pull back, dragging its broken leg. However, no matter how much it tried, it was futile.

The yellow panther had obviously sensed the weakness in the young hound. Nevertheless, as a demonic beast, it was still wary of its surroundings. It surveyed its surroundings first to ascertain that there were no enemies waiting in ambush. Simultaneously, it seemed to be extremely fearful of the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flowers, keeping a good distance away from it.

That young hound was around thirteen zhang away from the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flower cluster, and glancing at the same cluster, the yellow panther seemed to have determined that it was a safe distance from alarming the demonic flowers. Thus, it howled, leaped up, and pounced at the young hound.

(1 zhang -> 3.33m| 13 zhang -> about 45m)

The young hound howled in agony, and its despair could be heard. Hearing its call from afar, Yi Xin's body shuddered. She closed her eyes, not daring to take another look.

However, at this very moment, a black shadow, from nowhere, flew across the sky in an arc unexpectedly, landing on the ground between the young hound and the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flowers.

Lu Chen focused his sight and his eyes narrowed abruptly. The object thrown was a bloodied piece of meat.

"Hu..."

A gentle wind blew across, and in the massive valley, everything seemed to have suddenly stilled.

In an instant, the yellow panther, which was already in midair, roared furiously. The ground before it tremored violently and numerous spiked vines appeared from the grounds, coiling around the piece of bloodied meat.

However, the piece of bloodied meat was too small, and furthermore, it was motionless. The vines moved once more, and suddenly, they seemed to have noticed something and shot in another direction. This time, it was toward the yellow panther which was still suspended in midair.

※※※

The savagery that existed in the yellow panther's eyes from before disappeared without a trace, and fear had taken its place. With a change in its circumstance, it couldn't care less about that young hound. With a cry of agony, it landed on the ground and immediately tried to flee.

However, the fearsome vines were shockingly swift. As though a strike of lightning, it shot straight for the yellow panther. The sand in its path was blown aside by the force of its movement, and a piercing shrill could be heard as the vines ripped through the air. In the blink of an eye, amidst frantic howling, the yellow panther was forcefully grabbed and dragged back, just as it was about to successfully escape from danger.

The yellow panther yelled furiously and struggled relentlessly. However, several vines had coiled itself tightly around its body and soon, countless spikes had pierced into it.

Slowly, its voice drifted off and its struggling weakened. Eventually, it laid paralyzed and helpless before the vine.

At this moment, a black rope shot out, and at the end of the rope was a sharp claw. It fell accurately on the yellow panther's back legs, clutching tightly onto it. The sharp edges tore apart the flesh, and the yellow panther cried in agony. In an instant, its back leg was separated from its body.

However, what was bizarre was that the Bloodthirsty Demonic Flowers didn't react at all. It continued to pull the dying yellow panther. Soon, it was dragged into the cluster of beautiful flowers and after another few moments of activity, the entire field fell quiet once more.

On the other hand, the rope that grabbed onto the leg of the panther was slowly retrieved. At the same time, a human figure slowly appeared. He spat impatiently as he grabbed the panther's leg with one hand and the wounded young hound in another before turning around to walk away.

Under the sunlight, that human seemed like a demon which had just stepped from the purgatory of hell. His back was hunched, and his skin was dark and dry. He seemed to be just a pile of bones wrapped within skin, and on his fearsome face, two broken fangs hung from his mouth. On a whole, he resembled more like a wild beast instead of a human.

Before his departure, the bizarre-looking man seemed to have thought of something and glanced at the exit of the river valley. However, it was completely empty and not a single figure was in sight.

He muttered something, and it felt as though he was cursing someone. Then, carrying the bloodied leg, he disappeared swiftly into the river valley.

After a long while, from the bottom of the rock cliffs outside the river valley, Lu Chen and Yi Xin's figures slowly emerged. Lu Chen had grabbed onto Yi Xin's mouth tightly whereas Yi Xin's eyes reflected with fear. She seemed to be unable to comprehend all that had just happened.

In contrast, Lu Chen's expression seemed frosty. He coldly glanced at the valley, as though contemplating. After a brief moment, he muttered, "Barbarian?"

...