Salt field.
Yu Wu was about to start his new day of patrol. As he walked out of his house, he heard shouts from afar.
"Captain, Captain, something's wrong!" The approaching person was also from the patrol team. "There are monsters approaching!"
Yu Wu was surprised and hurriedly asked, "What's going on, explain!"
"I-I was digging a bird's nest on the north side of the salt field's swamp, and unexpectedly heard voices from the nearby mountain hollow. Worried that they were here to plunder the salt field, I secretly went to see. To my surprise, I saw a group of terrifying monsters!"
Yu Wu frowned, "Beasts?"
The person shook his head, "Not beasts, they have human bodies and limbs, but their faces are like wolves, and their bodies are covered in wolf fur!"
Yu Wu felt a chill; these were monsters he had never heard of before!
"Are those monsters coming this way?"
"I don't know, I saw them resting in the hollow and didn't dare to disturb them. I quickly ran back to report."
Yu Wu breathed a sigh of relief, but since those wolf-furred monsters were near the salt field, they would inevitably discover it and attack.
"Immediately call back everyone who's outside, and close the gate of the salt field tightly!"
"Yes!"
After giving orders, Yu Wu whistled, summoning a messenger hawk.
He quickly wrote a letter for the hawk to take back to Yu Village.
...
Yu Village.
"Lord Yu Su, Hong Ming wants to see you."
Yu Su had just come out of the alchemy room and heard that Hong Ming was looking for him. "Understood."
Yu Su returned home, and Hong Ming, who was sitting, quickly stood up and bowed to him. "Lord Yu Su."
Yu Su gestured for him to sit and asked, "What brings you here?"
Hong Ming, now a member of Yu Village and the younger brother of Hong Shan, should have consulted the village chief and Hong Shan for matters. However, he came directly to Yu Su.
Yu Su noticed Hong Ming's apologetic expression and his reluctance to meet his eyes.
"If you have something to say, speak up." Yu Su said.
Hong Ming lowered his head and said, "Lord Yu Su, I apologize to Yu Village."
Yu Su looked at him, "Tell me, what have you done to apologize to Yu Village."
Hong Ming took a deep breath and told Yu Su the true reason for the destruction of Hongshan Village. He also mentioned that those wolf-furred monsters might track the scent back to Yu Village.
Yu Su frowned slightly. Wolf-furred monsters?
This didn't sound like beasts; it sounded more like a demonic race.
How could this be? Were there demonic races living in this land?
Yu Su immediately asked, "Where did those wolf-furred monsters come from, and why did they attack Hongshan Village?"
Hong Ming: "Those monsters live deep in the forest to the north of our village, far from us. Our village and nearby villages are aware of their existence. However, due to a large mountain and a deep cliff within it, we've coexisted peacefully, never crossing the boundary of the cliff."
"But for some reason, this winter, those monsters suddenly crossed the cliff, ran out of the forest, and attacked our village."
"Our village and several nearby villages joined forces to barely drive them back into the forest."
Little did they know, as soon as they drove the monsters back into the forest, a heavy snowfall collapsed their houses.
Forced to flee, they traveled south and finally arrived at Yu Village.
Yu Su: "Why conceal it then, and why reveal it now?"
Hong Ming, feeling guilty: "We encountered several villages along the way, but none would take us in after hearing about this. I was worried that Yu Village might also refuse us because of this, so I persuaded others to keep quiet. The reason I'm revealing it now is because Yu Village is much stronger than we imagined, and this matter has been weighing heavily on our hearts."
After confessing, Hong Ming knelt down and said, "It's all my fault for not letting them speak. Please don't punish them. If you must, punish me alone."
Yu Su remained silent, only speaking when Hong Ming seemed uneasy: "Get up. By speaking up, you've made amends. However..."
"Squawk!"
A sharp cry from a messenger hawk outside interrupted Yu Su. He went outside, extended his arm for the hawk to land, and frowned after reading the message.
He glanced at Hong Ming.
Yu Su: "Those wolf-furred monsters have appeared."
Hong Ming turned pale, "Lord Yu Su..."
Yu Su: "We'll discuss your matter later. Now, go tell this to Lu Yan and my father."
Hong Ming nodded quickly, "Yes!"
In the next moment, he saw Yu Su summon a flying sword, hop on it, and suddenly soar into the sky.
Hong Ming stared with his mouth agape, looking at Yu Su flying away. He took two steps back, sitting on the ground with a thud. "Lord Yu Su, he... he flew away!"
Hong Ming was almost scared out of his wits.
...
Salt Lake Salt Field.
After recalling the people who were outside, Yu Wu had the gates of the salt field tightly closed.
Everyone held out their spears, watching the gate intently.
Captain, will those monsters really come?" Yu Yan's voice trembled.
He hadn't expected to encounter such a situation shortly after arriving at the salt field.
Yu Wu said sternly, "Are you afraid?"
Yu Yan gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and said, "Not afraid."
He, too, was a warrior trained in the warrior camp, having fought on the battlefield and killed enemies. Even if monsters came, he absolutely couldn't be afraid.
Yes, he absolutely couldn't be afraid.
Yu Su: "Good. Remember, you are all warriors. Protecting those behind you is your responsibility. No one is allowed to retreat, understood?"
"Understood!" all the warriors shouted.
After a while, Yu Wu's ears twitched, and he whispered, "Don't make a sound; something is approaching."
Others immediately tightened their grip on the iron spears, nervously watching the direction of the gate.
The gate was a thick and tall wooden door supported by sturdy pillars. Even if beasts came, they couldn't knock down the door all at once.
Yu Wu held his breath, carefully walked up the lookout tower, and stood on top, observing cautiously.
Then he saw a group of wolf-furred monsters approaching from the north side of the salt lake swamp.
There were about twenty of these wolf-furred monsters, carrying bone blades and walking towards them shoulder to shoulder, speaking loudly in a language Yu Wu couldn't understand.
Soon, the monsters noticed the salt field.
They stopped, vigilantly watching the salt field, their eyes gleaming.
Worried about being spotted, Yu Wu crouched down, using the wooden fence around the lookout tower to shield himself. He peered through the gaps, making a gesture to the people below.
They're here.
Yu Yan and the others became tense, gripping their iron spears.
Yu Yan looked at the others, swallowed hard, walked to the side of the gate, and looked outside through a small gap in the wooden wall.
Then he saw a group of monsters he had never seen before!
His eyes widened, about to scream, but someone covered his mouth.
He turned to see Yu Wu.
Yu Wu glared at him, suggesting that if Yu Yan dared to scream, he would knock him unconscious.
Yu Yan quickly suppressed his scream.
After a while, they could hear footsteps.
The monsters were approaching.
Yu Yan dared not move, watching through the gap with Yu Wu.
After a while, Yu Yan noticed that one of the monsters seemed to be missing. As he wondered, a pair of beast-like eyes suddenly appeared in the gap.
This time, not only Yu Yan but even Yu Wu was startled.
Unable to contain himself, Yu Yan screamed, "Ah!"
The creature outside grinned, raised the bone blade in its hand, and swung it towards the wooden wall.
The wooden wall shook forcefully.
Yu Wu frowned; these creatures were quite strong.
Yu Wu pushed Yu Yan away, climbed the lookout tower in a few steps, drew the bow on his back, and shot an arrow, hitting one of the wolf-furred monsters directly.
The monster howled in pain, and they quickly noticed Yu Wu.
Yu Wu saw their claws exposed and ruthlessly stuck in the wooden wall, quickly climbing up.
Yu Wu, with the Fire Spirit root, gathered energy on the arrow and shot it again, hitting the front few wolf-furred monsters. The others continued climbing.
They lunged at the lookout tower, rapidly approaching Yu Wu.
"Ah!! Die!!"
Several sharp iron spears stabbed out, stabbing the climbing monsters.
It was Yu Yan and a few warriors who had come up. They had noticed these wolf-furred monsters climbing the wall and attacked them with iron spears.
Yu Wu freed up his hands and shot arrows again.
The injured wolf-furred monsters increased, but they also became more frenzied, desperately attacking the wooden wall.
Their claws scratched on the wooden wall, producing a piercing and sharp sound.
Everyone's scalp tingled.
"Quick, stab that monster out!"
Another monster tried to break through, being stabbed out.
"Howl!" Seeing that they couldn't attack inside the wooden wall, the monsters outside began to howl.
Yu Wu thought it was bad, and the next moment, he heard several howls coming from the direction of the swamp to the north. These monsters' reinforcements were coming!
With several holes in the wooden wall already, another wave would be challenging to withstand.
"They're calling reinforcements. Quickly patch the holes!" Yu Wu shouted.
The people below quickly brought wooden boards and iron pans to forcefully plug the holes.
Wooden boards weren't as effective as iron pans, so they replaced each board with an iron pan and jammed them in the holes.
The scraping of wolf claws on iron pans sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"Quick, block the holes with those pots!"
Yu Wu saw about thirty more wolf-furred monsters running towards them from the north!
Yu Wu's heart sank; this time, it seemed dire.
Just at that moment, a sword shadow descended from the sky, instantly cleaving the leading wolf-furred monster in half!