"Arghh", groaned Tang Lin as his body bled from rushing through all of the thorny bushes.
It was hard to see in the dark as Tang Lin desperately stumbled his way through the forest. Within the darkness, he then saw a light ahead of him.
"Over there, that must be the exit", Tang Lin thought.
By the time he reached the light, he realised it was a dead-end, a cliff. Standing still, he looked up at the moon in the sky.
"Why must the heavens be so cruel", sighed Tang Lin, now looking down.
The fall wasn't that deep, but he assumed that it would be enough to shatter his body into pieces. Down below, the Forest of Remorse stretched out all the way to the horizon.
*Rustle, grrrr*
He could hear the sounds of the spirit wolves hiding among the bushes now. As he turned around to face them, the spirit wolves slowly emerged out of the shadows, making sure to stay behind the leader. With a dark shade of silver fur, their red eyes were particularly eye-catching, lacking any form of rationality. Despite that, the alpha spirit wolf had kept his sanity, his left eye still clear.
Tang Lin didn't have any kind of weapon with him. All he had was himself against the pack of spirit wolves.
"You've finally caught up to me, but I won't let you eat me, I will prevail. Even if I don't make it out of here, I will make sure to bring you all down with me!" said Tang Lin in a fierce manner.
*Howl*
The alpha spirit wolf scoffed at Tang Lin's threat, obviously not feeling intimidated by him. After giving a signal, the smaller spirit wolves spread out and started to corner Tang Lin further towards the edge.
With a pounce, a spirit wolf from the left side, jumped on top of Tang Lin. The wolf had razor-sharp teeth as disgusting saliva was slobbered all over his face. Using his hands, Tang Lin pushed the jaws of the wolf away for dear life. Luckily, the other spirit wolves couldn't help, since the path was too narrow or they would fall off the cliff.
*Smash*
Tang Lin kicked the spirit wolf's abdomen as it was sent flying back.
"I need to stay calm. THINK! THINK! What can I do?" thought Tang Lin, sweating heavily and still covered in the wolf's saliva.
"The alpha spirit wolf is still underestimating me. I'll have to try and use the crimson energy to kill the smaller spirit wolves. For now, it's letting its guard down right now, so I will only have one opportunity. At this point, it's kill or be killed", Tang Lin judged.
*ROAR!*
The spirit wolf that had just got kicked away was enraged after being humiliated in front of its leader. As it got up it started rushing to Tang Lin again with the same tactic.
"Not yet, just a little more. Just a little closer", muttered Tang Lin patiently as the spirit wolf ran up to him, preparing to leap again.
"Now!" he thought, running to the wolf and sliding under it.
As he slid under it, he released the crimson energy from his hand, attempting to compress and solidify it. However, it was the first time he had tried it, so he was unable to control it well as the sharp crimson energy slaughtered the spirit wolf's insides in a messy fashion. Blood, flesh and organs splattered everywhere as the crimson energy surged outwards in all directions.
The other spirit wolves including the alpha spirit wolf were completely shocked. They previously came out hunting and found Tang Lin running around in the forest, but couldn't sense that much energy or aura exuding from him. He was meant to be easy prey!
Quickly getting up he ran to the half-dead spirit wolf, opened its mouth and crudely sliced off the spirit wolf's canine as it whimpered. Tang Lin looked back and he could see how incensed the alpha spirit wolf was. Not only were their long, sharp canines the pride of the spirit wolves, but his clansman was butchered right in front of him.
Trying to stay calm, he ordered the other spirit wolves to attack Tang Lin and disregard their own life. Sensing the other spirit wolves' hesitation, he released his overbearing aura, oppressing all of them and instilling fear. The spirit wolves stop wavering, because what they feared more than fighting Tang Lin on a narrow cliff was their own leader.
*Awwooo*
As the other eight spirit wolves charged at him, Tang Lin was concentrating on his control over the crimson energy as he slowly punctured the canine with a hole to use as a handle. The canine was almost as long as his arm as he circulated his qi and inserted it inside to toughen it up, while encasing the surface with crimson qi as well to enhance its cutting capabilities.
Not wanting to be cornered too far in, he ran forward, slicing the first incoming wolf in half with Descending Blade. Straight afterwards, he spun to his right to attack the spirit wolf that was trying to ambush him. Tang Lin managed to kill it by stabbing its head, but the impact from its tackle had almost pushed him off the cliff, leaving his head hanging off the cliff.
*Huff, huff*
All his senses seemed to be heightened in a moment of life and death. He could hear the sound of his rapid heartbeat and feel the blood rushing to his head as adrenaline circulated throughout his body.
*Heavy breathing*
With no time to lose, he pulled the canine out of the spirit wolf's head and pushed the corpse off his body. There were six spirit wolves left as they started to falter and slow down. Within the night, rain started to pour as the alpha spirit wolf howled, stamping its right foot down.
*Crack*
The cliff trembled as imperceptible cracks started to appear on the underside.
Regaining their composure, all the spirit wolves assaulted Tang Lin all at once, regardless of whether they fell off the cliff or not.
Three spirit wolves had managed to jump on him, while the two others fell off the cliff. His leg was clamped down by the spirit wolf on the left, while the spirit wolf on the right bit the side of his abdomen.
"ARGHHH!! Descending… Blade!" yelled Tang Lin before he fell.
In an upwards then downwards motion from the right to the left, the canine slit the throat of the spirit wolf on his right. Not controlling the output of his crimson qi anymore, the crimson energy attached to the canine extended, flickering chaotically as crimson energy flowed out of his eyes in a streak of light. It then proceeded to sever the head of the spirit wolf in the middle before it had a chance to attack and came back down to slice the face of the spirit wolf on his left.
*CRACK*
Unknown to Tang Lin, the cliff started to break off and fall down; unable to withstand their weight and violent fights above.
The last thing he saw was the alpha spirit wolf staring at him with contempt as it turned around and left after losing its prey.
"Damn you…", Tang Lin groaned as his body fell deeper into the Forest of Remorse.