Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Humans Have Come to Save Us Again

The Donkey-Headed Wolf King was filled with grief and fury. He never imagined that a single moment of carelessness would lead him straight into the cunning trap laid by the White Wild Boar King, bringing his tribe into this deadly place.

The donkey-headed wolves were poor at reproduction; compared to wild boars, who could birth four or five, sometimes even seven or eight piglets at a time, they stood no chance. Although their numbers were few, the donkey-headed wolves were ancient, exotic beasts, born with a remarkable affinity for spiritual energy and formidable strength. In the past, when the forest’s spiritual energy was scarce, only beings like them could absorb what little there was, maintaining their power and dominance. Thus, they had always been the undisputed rulers of this woodland.

It was precisely because only here, within this forest, did a thin trickle of spiritual energy exist—any farther afield, and it would vanish altogether—that they never left. All other tribes kept their distance, holding them in absolute awe; the tiger, leopard, and bear clans dared only to claim dominion outside this forest.

Yet in recent years, something inexplicable happened: spiritual energy surged, changing almost daily. Gradually, it thickened, granting even those foolish wild boars a chance to awaken, and among them rose the anomalous White Wild Boar King. With their vast numbers and the sudden flood of spiritual energy, the wild boar tribe grew stronger, eventually gaining the power to rival the donkey-headed wolves.

The Tiger King, Bear King, Leopard King, and Forest Wolf King all awakened their intelligence, but their tribes were too small to challenge the wild boars. Thus, this woodland became a battlefield for the donkey-headed wolves and the wild boars.

Ultimately, lacking numbers proved fatal. In a short time, so many wild boars became spiritual and mutated, far more than he had anticipated. Just this morning, the wild boars launched a full-scale assault. With overwhelming numbers, they encircled the wolves from several directions. The Donkey-Headed Wolf King, seeing their strength, dared not fight head-on and kept retreating, hoping to shake them off and wear them down over time.

With the wolves’ superior individual strength, he intended to wage a guerrilla war, picking them off one by one, until someday they would be completely eradicated. But this, too, was a trap; the direction of the encirclement was no accident, and the donkey-headed wolves were driven straight into this dead end.

As he watched his remaining kin fall, trampled into bloody pulp beneath the wild boar onslaught, the Donkey-Headed Wolf King’s heart bled. If his leadership led the donkey-headed wolves to extinction, he would be a sinner for the ages.

…

The White Wild Boar King was immensely pleased. Under his command, the wild boar tribe had grown swiftly in recent years, soon becoming the largest group in the forest. Even those fearsome humans outside could do nothing against them.

Once the donkey-headed wolves were destroyed, the king of the forest would no longer be the Donkey-Headed Wolf King, nor the Tiger King, Bear King, Leopard King, or Forest Wolf King—it would be him, the White Wild Boar King.

As he pressed the Donkey-Headed Wolf King ever closer, a sudden wave of heat swept from behind, followed by the anguished squeals of his piglets and kin. Turning, he saw raging flames rising at his back, and amidst the sea of fire, a fox darted frantically about.

---

She possessed the same agility as the donkey-headed wolves, and could wield fire—this was disastrous, for now their momentum would be broken beyond repair.

The White Wild Boar King was furious. Foxes and wolves always seemed to share a common stench. If she dared to stand against the wild boars, only death awaited her.

He immediately ordered his followers to split off and deal with the troublesome fox. Watching them work together to stamp out the flames, he felt reassured. Though the fox’s fireballs were powerful, wild boars had little else but their thick skins and brute toughness; their innate gifts lay in defense. It would take the fox a long time to breach the protective demonic energy of his followers.

By that time, they would have wiped out the donkey-headed wolves.

No longer concerned with the rear, the White Wild Boar King shifted his focus forward. In this short span, hundreds of mutated piglets had perished, but their numbers were still five or six times greater than the wolves, not enough to cripple them.

But as he turned back, ready to advance on the Donkey-Headed Wolf King, his massive lantern-like eyes widened in shock.

What did he see?

A human—a human clad in helmet and armor, wielding a large blade—was charging toward the battlefield where the two tribes clashed.

How could a human be here? Had they dared to penetrate so deep into the forest? What was his intent?

The Donkey-Headed Wolf King wondered the same. Though the human appeared behind them, he did not rashly send his wolves to intercept.

A faint hope stirred in his heart: was this human here to save them? Was the fire fox his companion?

It seemed likely, for in the wolf tribe’s legends passed down through generations, humans had always been their friends.

Long ago, so the elders said, a human who wandered the forest gathering flowers, grasses, and fruits had once saved the ancestor of the donkey-headed wolves. Thanks to that human, the wolves learned that many plants and fruits could heal wounds.

The human's help was tremendous, saving innumerable wolves. The panda clan had also benefited from human kindness; later, they left the forest and never returned, rumored to have become mounts for humans.

---

Though the donkey-headed wolves were unwilling to become someone’s beast of burden, their gratitude toward humans endured. He knew that many tribes maintained friendly relations with humans, so it was no surprise that this human was accompanied by a fire fox.

The Donkey-Headed Wolf King watched the human intently, and he did not disappoint: he was indeed here to aid the wolves—the tribe was saved.

Excitement surged within him.

…

Li Yunfei descended smoothly to the valley floor. The Mouse Claw Blade vanished, replaced by the Crescent Blade in his hand.

Seeing the little fox had lured away more than thirty wild boar beasts, the pressure on the wolf tribe at the front lessened greatly, and his spirits soared.

He rushed to the site of battle between the two tribes and leapt high into the air.

Midair, he channeled spiritual energy into his blade, swinging repeatedly toward the slanting ground below.

Blades of energy shot forth, cutting down the largest wild boar monsters at the front.

He deliberately avoided the White Wild Boar King and the wild boar demons, focusing first on halting the wild boar charge and reducing casualties among the ordinary wolves.

This section of the battlefield was quickly cleared by Li Yunfei, who landed in the open space, ceaselessly unleashing his spiritual power without concern for exhaustion.

He drew back his right arm, twisting slightly, the blade head held behind him to his right.

When the blade energy reached its peak, he shouted loudly, twisting left, his waist driving his arm as he swung the blade with force.

“Ha!”

“Swish!”

A solid, crescent-shaped blade energy, more than twenty feet long, sliced forward with a sharp sound.

“Plop, plop, plop…”

The blade energy, unstoppable, flew parallel to the ground, sweeping through the wild boar ranks like a scythe, cutting forward nearly seventy feet before dissipating.

The wild boar horde was cleaved as if plowed, each split in two and falling to the earth.