Chapter 5: A Thread of Life and Death

The alpha wolf deserved to be the alpha wolf; in this crucial moment, its power ful survival instincts erupted. With a twist of its waist, it dodged the fatal sword strike, leaving only a wound about a foot long. The stinging pain made it let out a low growl, and it opened its mouth to spray out a ball of frost.

The frost was like fog and like an arrow, shooting rapidly toward Lei Qing’s chest. The traces of cold chill made the already cold air become as sharp as a blade.

“Ice Arrow.”

Lei Qing’s pupils subconsciously contracted. This Bronze-rank demonic wolf truly had amazing talent; it could actually burst out Fighting Qi to form an icy arrow to hurt people.

If that hit landed solidly, even if he survived by luck, he would lose half his life. While Lei Qing was startled, he pushed hard with his toes, and his figure darted backward, leaving several afterimages. This was precisely the Lei Family’s signature movement technique, Thunder Flash. Under the life-threatening pressure, his speed was pushed to the limit, but he still failed to completely dodge the invasion of the Ice Arrow. His arm was touched by a patch of pale white ice mist.

A bone-chilling cold feeling immediately rushed straight into his heart meridian along his meridians. Everywhere it passed, his body froze stiff as ice. Fortunately, he reacted in time and circulated the pure Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi within his body to bitterly resist the invasion of the cold ice mist. At the same time, his feet kept tapping rapidly as he fled backward. No matter the species, the desire to survive is usually extremely intense, and he was no exception. In just a few short clashes, Lei Qing was very clear that this alpha wolf with Entry-rank Bronze strength was a powerful enemy. If he wasn’t careful, he would die at its hands. Moreover, it was not acting alone; it still had half a wolf pack under its command.

Escaping under the oppression of life and death was not shameful.

Reality was not like those hot-blooded brave novels, where the undying protagonist would struggle on the verge of death and rely on an explosion of willpower to kill the Demon King in return.

Perhaps a few months ago, Lei Qing, who was still a pretty-boy Young Master, might have vaguely believed this. But now, he was extremely clear that novels were novels, and dramas were just dramas. Reality was far more cruel and bloody than those works of art. Fortunately, Lei Qing retreated quickly; otherwise, two snow wolves would have killed their way out from the side with strange movements, and their sharp claws would have pounced on Lei Qing’s afterimages.

After months of life-and-death escape, between being hunted and counter-killing, Lei Qing firmly remembered a truth: life only happened once. With just a slight mistake, perhaps this instant would be the last moment of his short life, and his end would be to become the wolves’ winter meal after their successful revenge.

It was not the first time. Lei Qing ran for his life, exhausted and somewhat in a wretched state. The direction he went was still the Hengduan Mountains. He was hungry and thirsty, and his physical strength and Fighting Qi were escaping at the fastest speed. He wanted to stop, and he wanted to make that slaughtered wolf into a delicious dinner to reward his rumbling stomach. But unfortunately, the remaining wolves in the pack, led by the alpha wolf, had firmly latched onto him in their home territory. Amidst the sounds of wolf howls, his nerves were constantly tense.

In some aspects of wild survival and combat instincts, humans were sometimes truly inferior to animals, especially to the existence known as Demonic Beasts. For that alpha wolf, hunting had already become a part of its life. Indeed, if it could not hunt prey, then what awaited this wolf pack was hunger, pain, and even death.

Under the threat of life, the cunning and resilience of animals far exceeded most people’s imaginations. Moreover, wolves themselves were a species with extremely strong vengeance. Even if they had not reached the Demonic Beast level and had not opened their spiritual intelligence, when a member of the pack was killed, they would vow not to give up until they had taken revenge.

How much more so for this alpha wolf, which was already an existence at the Entry-rank Bronze level; its spiritual intelligence was quite remarkable. Among the remaining four Plateau Snow Wolves, one belonged to the wild beast level, and two possessed Black Iron-rank aura, while the alpha wolf had Entry-rank Bronze strength. And being on this high plateau with heavy snow and deep accumulation, it was their most suitable hunting ground.

Although Lei Qing’s Thunder Flash speed was fast, its consumption of Fighting Qi was very intense, especially in such harsh weather and environment, it was exceptionally strenuous.

The reason why the Ghost Wolf Scott, who previously died in Lei Qing’s hands, was nicknamed Ghost Wolf was that he was good at stealth and tracking, making it impossible to hide from him. This showed that the tracking ability of wolves was extremely strong. In the next short distance of just over ten miles, Lei Qing was actually ambushed a full four times by the remaining wolf pack’s relentless tracking. Every time, it was when he relaxed slightly and prepared to rest for a bit, the wolf pack would launch a sudden harassment attack.

What was even more terrifying was that the wolf pack, realizing Lei Qing’s power, began to implement a harassment tactic. After a coordinated miss, they would immediately leave and disappear into the flying snow. This left Lei Qing, whose Fighting Qi and physical strength were nearly exhausted, exhausted from running, without even time or space to rest.

The extremely wretched Lei Qing was now covered in tatters; where was there any trace of the dashing Young Master from months ago? His haggard expression was full of exhaustion, and only his eyes were still full of unyielding spirit. The wolf pack was using a harassment and exhaustion tactic to make the prey use up all its physical strength and collapse on its own.

Under this kind of extremely primitive and bloody fight, humans were not necessarily smarter than beasts. The hunting instincts and tactical calculations of beasts could definitely exceed the expectations of those who had never experienced it. Lei Qing had already stopped running for his life. He propped himself up with his sword, sat cross-legged on the snow, closed his eyes, and used slow deep breaths to rest his body and mind.

He was very clear that if he continued to run, there was only one outcome: dying under the wolves’ fangs and becoming food in the bellies of this group of Plateau Snow Wolves. The only slim chance of survival was to risk his life for a life, striving to kill the Entry-rank Bronze alpha wolf with one strike. Although the chance of winning was very low, Lei Qing had no other choice.

The snow was still falling.

The wind howled wildly. Several off-white figures stepped on the snow, appearing lightly in the wind and snow. The sword wound on the alpha wolf’s waist had stopped bleeding at some point. Its pair of green and indifferent eyes stared dead at the cross-legged and motionless Lei Qing.

“Howl~ wuwu~”

The alpha wolf let out a mournful roar. At this moment, it was no longer just for hunting to fill its stomach. In the world of wolves, it was also full of gratitude and grudges. Including the alpha wolf, four evil wolves darted rapidly from four directions, stirring up gusts of evil wind.

Lei Qing still did not move. His hand holding the long sword Ice Flame was steady and did not tremble at all.

Just as the two sides were only a few meters apart and on the verge of breaking out, Lei Qing, who was almost soaked by the wind and snow like a sculpture, moved. All his remaining physical strength and Fighting Qi erupted in that instant. It was truly still as a maiden and moving as a fleeing rabbit, also like a thunderclap on flat ground. The long sword Ice Flame emitted a cold light, surrounded by sizzling thunder and lightning. Like a meteor, it cut through the sky and stabbed toward the alpha wolf’s throat.

His gaze was as solid as iron, focused only on the alpha wolf’s throat with nothing else in his heart. This sword strike was so resolute and firm, discarding all flashy moves, taking the straightest distance between two points.

One-Character Lightning Sword.

A sword move contained in the Three Changes of Heavenly Thunder battle technique. It was simple and direct, coordinated with the Thunder Flash movement technique, and driven by Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi to form a move of absolute speed. The essence of this move was only one thing: speed. But precisely because it focused only on speed, if it did not succeed, it would mean death; it was a move to risk one’s life.

A distance of several meters passed in just an instant, and the two sides crossed each other. A slightly charred fatal wound appeared on the throat of the Entry-rank Bronze alpha wolf. However, on Lei Qing’s abdomen, under the alpha wolf’s desperate counterattack, several claw marks deep into his belly were torn open. Ice-attribute Fighting Qi poured into his body, freezing his whole body stiff and turning his face pale with a hint of green.

It was over; everything was over. The remaining three evil wolves saw that the alpha wolf was instantly killed and immediately stopped their charge. They wuwu-ed with their tails between their legs and fled in panic. They did not know that the terrifying human who could kill their leader had, at this very moment, exhausted all his physical strength and Fighting Qi, without even the strength to lift a finger.

But the crisis had not been lifted in the slightest. With his Fighting Qi exhausted, Lei Qing could not circulate Heavenly Thunder Fighting Qi to resist the double cold inside and outside his body. His blood and skin gradually became stiff under the ice. Even if his physique far exceeded that of ordinary people, if this continued, it would only take half the time it takes to burn a stick of incense for him to freeze here and lose his life.

“Yu Shanshan, Yu Tianji.” As soon as Lei Qing thought of these two names, a raging fire burned in his heart. It was these two people who forced him to hide like a stray dog, being chased and killed endlessly. In the end, he was forced to die on this desolate snowy plateau.

He was unwilling, truly unwilling. At the very least, he was unwilling to let Yu Shanshan have her way. He was even more unwilling to die so silently, ending it all, perishing together with an Entry-rank Bronze snow wolf. Perhaps, in Yu Shanshan’s eyes, he was just a small figure who could be crushed to death with a wave of her hand. And in the eyes of Grand Preceptor of the Cabinet Yu Tianji, he was not even a speck of dust. But hadn’t he once sworn an oath? No matter what, he must make Yu Shanshan and Yu Tianji taste the anger and power of a small figure? Could it be that the suffering he had endured these past few months was in vain?

Inside his body, from somewhere, some strength seemed to gradually gather, although it was extremely weak. It was this tiny bit of strength that made his fingers seem to tremble slightly. His semi-conscious mind was driven by an abnormally powerful survival instinct, driving him without even knowing it, moving bit by bit to the side of the alpha wolf. He opened his mouth and bit its broken throat, desperately sucking its remaining blood.

The wolf blood still retained some warmth. It was precisely this trace of warmth that made his increasingly stiff body slightly warm, and he gradually recovered some strength.

…