"What!?" Feng Luotian turned toward Mei Yue'er, his eyes wide with shock. Sun Wuji stood rooted to the ground, his body trembling.
As a commoner, Feng Luotian couldn't sense the beast's immense power. Only experienced cultivators could identify such a formidable aura.
"W-Why would it be here?" Mei Yue'er's voice quivered with fear, her eyes locked onto the advancing beast.
Right now, Wight Wolf was glaring at the three of them with its ferocious gaze, ready to hunt its prey.
Pah.
Suddenly, a clapping sound was heard.
Sun Wuji was the first one to collect his mind, so he loudly made one clap of his hands to wake his friends from a stupor before he proposed a plan: "Sister Mei, you take Brother Feng and run away as fast as you can while I distract its attention."
"No, I will be the one distracting the beast. I can move faster than you, so I have more chance to get out alive." Mei Yue'er voiced her disapproval toward the plan.
However, Sun Wuji immediately said his piece of mind as he rebuked: "And how am I supposed to bring Brother Feng and get out of this situation safely?! What if this Wight Wolf suddenly ignores your distraction and turns towards us? And yeah, I am slower than you, and that's exactly the reason you have to be the one to bring Brother Feng away."
"But ..." Mei Yue'er hesitated.
"Just do as I say, GO!!" Not waiting for any replies, Sun Wuji fully activated his Theríon, and his whole body gradually turned to stone, drastically increasing his battle capability, before he launched towards Wight Wolf without delay.
Seeing Sun Wuji had already taken off, there was no point in arguing any longer. Mei Yue'er grabbed Feng Luotian's shoulder and let her Theríon shroud both of their bodies.
Streaks of green light connected between two locations as both of them instantly vanished and moved a hundred some meters in every use of the technique, approaching the city wall that was a dozen kilometers away.
At the city wall, there were city guards who were at least Seven Fangs. Their leader, the city guard captain, was a Four Talons Warrior. Once they reached the city wall, they would definitely be safe from this doom.
Meanwhile, as Sun Wuji charged at Wight Wolf, he leaped high up into the air and heavily stomped down as he dropped, causing the earth to break into rock debris and spring up from the ground.
His stony figure repeatedly punched and kicked those floating debris, shooting them at Wight Wolf, creating a series of heavy impact noises.
The sounds might be quite impressive to hear, but unfortunately, such earth and rock debris shot by a Five Fangs Fighter were nothing more than spray drops of water hitting the monster's face.
Wight Wolf indifferently stood still while being subjected to Sun Wuji's continuous onslaught for a moment until it turned its head to Mei Yue'er and Feng Luotian's direction.
With a dash, Wight Wolf finally began to chase towards that direction, ignoring Sun Wuji completely.
"?!" A little confusion aroused up in his mind as Sun Wuji furrowed his brows. Nevertheless, his body moved to follow the beast.
Whilst he was at it, he tackled a house-sized boulder in his path.
After the boulder broke off, Sun Wuji practically used all of Theríon he had left to raise that massive chunk of stone up, aiming at Wight Wolf.
"You are not getting away from me, you prick!!" Sun Wuji threw the stone with his full force along with a loud curse.
With a bam, the attack directly hit Wight Wolf's abdomen while it was leaping up in the air, causing it to stumble and fall down to the ground.
However, even then, Wight Wolf's eyes still extensively focused on Mei Yue'er and Feng Luotian's direction. After it got up, it continued the pursuit, paying no mind to Sun Wuji whatsoever.
Exhausted, Sun Wuji knelt down with a panting breath.
As Sun Wuji used most of his Theríon, his stone body turned back to normal before he muttered: "Not good!! This is no hungry predator. It has come with a target in mind."
Wight Wolf's complete lack of interest in him confirmed his guess and cleared his previous confusion from the first bout. After a few breaths, Sun Wuji stood up to chase after the monster.
"!!" But when Sun Wuji raised his head to look for Wight Wolf, it was nowhere to be found, making him frown in bafflement.
Nevertheless, Sun Wuji knew for certain that Feng Luotian and Mei Yue'er were heading towards the city wall, so he set his path and quickly raced in pursuit.
———
On Feng Luotian and Mei Yue'er's side
"Yue'er, I think we should find someplace to hide." Feng Luotian suddenly spoke after he noticed something wrong with Mei Yue'er. Her previous rosy complexion was wholly replaced by a pale face, indicating her fatigue.
Not realizing the problem, Mei Yue'er insisted on continuing and rejected Feng Luotian's idea: "Why? Even if we lost the monster, for absolute safety, we have to reach the city wall at all cost."
Feng Luotian began to explain the problem outright: "Yue'er, your Theríon is depleting fast with me as a burden. I can see that the distance of your Aurora Treading Step is getting shorter every time you activate. At this rate, you'll be out of Theríon within a couple of miles, whereas we still haven't reached the city wall yet. If the monster catches up, what then?"
Mei Yue'er abruptly paused her steps and thought.
Feng Luotian added: "You should reserve some Theríon for the worst-case scenario. That's why I suggest we find someplace to hide and wait to observe the situation. Furthermore, I'm worried about Wuji. If possible, I want to confirm his status."
"Alright." Mei Yue'er eventually agreed because Feng Luotian's logic was convincing enough.
Subsequently, the two of them found a huge trunk with a huge hole in it. There were plants, moss and fungus growing on its outer layer, giving a good blend to the surrounding environment. They decided to choose this trunk as their hiding place.
A few minutes had passed with nothing but silence going on around them.
"I don't like this. It's too quiet." Mei Yue'er whispered with a low voice. A quiet atmosphere in this kind of situation gave nothing but bad feelings to the two youngsters.
"I don't like it, either. I can't help but feel like someone was watching us. Maybe, it's just my imagination." Feng Luotian commented.
To avert their shaky spirits, Feng Luotian decided to start asking: "By the way, about this situation, I have two questions. First, how is a Talon Monster approaching that close to us when you and Wuji couldn't sense any of its presence? And second, how come there is a Talon Monster appearing in this part of the thicket?"
Mei Yue'er thought for a bit and answered while still paying her attention to the surroundings, keeping her voice as low as she could: "I only have an answer to your first one, for that is a special ability of Wight Wolf called Ghost Walk. I have seen its record in my father's office. Wight Wolf can lower its aura and presence to the point where no one can sense it. The stronger Wight Wolf is, the closer it can approach unnoticed."
"However, there is a downside to that ability. It might be able to erase its presence, but not its existence. It's still there when it activates its ability. So, there will still be a footstep sound and a trace of its footprints. If it wants to get closer without being noticed, its movement must be incredibly slow, not making any unnecessary noises."
"Actually, it should be able to approach us much closer than what happened, giving its strength as a Talon Monster. And we were also talking at the time. There was no way we would notice any sound of footsteps. But for some reason, it chose to reveal itself and use the suppressive force, which is less efficient than Ghost Walk. That would be my question for this situation."
"I see." Feng Luotian nodded. The long explanation actually calmed them down a little bit.
Mei Yue'er continued: "As for your second question, I don't know either. Normally, in this outermost part of Warland Thicket, the highest monster level should be at most Seven Fangs. It should be impossible for a Talon Monster to be hunting in this part of the thicket. After we get out of here safely, I will consult my father about—"
She abruptly stopped in the middle of her sentence, prompting Feng Luotian to ask: "W—?!"
Mei Yue'er covered his mouth with her hand and placed a finger on her lip, signaling him to be quiet, then moved her mouth without a sound: "It's coming."
Feng Luotian imitated her by reticently moving his mouth with fear lingering in his eyes: "Where?"
Mei Yue'er used gestures and hand signals, saying: "Very close. Less than one hundred meters away."
"…?!" Feng Luotian did not see anything in the direction Mei Yue'er was pointing. Thus, he started to closely watch any changes that would happen in that direction.
As a matter of fact, Mei Yue'er did not see Wight Wolf either because the beast was currently activating its Ghost Walk. She only picked its nigh-negligible aura using her keen sense.
A few seconds later, an extremely faint sound followed by a paw mark on the ground gave a jolt to Feng Luotian, who presently could not even see a single hair of Wight Wolf.
"I see. As a cripple, it should be impossible for me to sense a stealth Talon Monster, huh?" Feng Luotian thought.
However, upon a sudden realization, Feng Luotian's expression turned grim before he heavily grabbed Mei Yue'er and quietly yet solemnly said: "Yue'er, this is not good!! We've got to run now!!"
"Why?" Mei Yue'er gave a confused look.
"Why would it use Ghost Walk now if it doesn't know where we are hiding?" Feng Luotian gravely answered with a question.
Yes, if the monster did not know where they were, why would it bother using stealth and approaching this slowly?
"!!" A realization came to Mei Yue'er.
Swish.
The wolf's aura vanished from her perception and—
BOOOMMMMM!!
The monster attacked without warning at all. The trunk they were hiding in was crushed to pieces under its paw.