A night in the Forest

The Northern Mountain Forest is one of the forests around High Cloud City. A towering dark mountain could be seen from any place in the forest.

Hiss, hiss...

Roar, roar, roar...

Growl, growl, growl...

It's already night and the monsters' roars filled the forest, each one louder than the last. It's as if every monster is trying to impose its control over the remaining monsters.

Two young ladies could be seen running in the outer periphery of the forest.

"Young lady, we should be safe now. They aren't following us," whispered Wan'er to the young lady beside her.

Hiss, hiss...

"Don't lose your caution. The danger we are in is no less than the bandits that were chasing after us," warned the young lady.

"Young lady, do you hear this? Someone is coming in our direction!" said Wan'er, worryingly.

"Quick, grab anything on the ground," ordered the young lady as she grabbed a big rock from the ground.

Two shadows could be seen, one tall and one small. The figure of Lin Tian and Uncle Jiang emerged from the darkness.

"It's you!" shouted Wan'er when she saw Uncle Jiang's figure.

"Greetings, young ladies. It's good that you are fine," said Uncle Jiang as he waved at them.

The young lady looked at them, surprised and said, "I didn't think that you would venture into the forest too."

Uncle Jiang smiled and didn't say anything, but Lin Tian laughed and said, "If we stayed on the road, we would have to face the black-robed men, so we had to head to the forest too."

A look of understanding could be seen in the young lady's eyes as she apologized, "I am sorry we have dragged you into this."

Then she took her headdress off and introduced herself, "I am Ling Zi, and she's my sister Wan'er. I hope we could help each other to get out of this place."

"I am Lin Tian and the one here is Uncle Jiang. Nice to meet you," replied Lin Tian.

Suddenly Uncle Jiang's voice could be heard as he started to rub the wood together. "Enough of that, let's make some fire."

Soon a fire was made as the four of them sat around it.

"So, where are you heading?" asked Uncle Jiang.

"We are heading to the High Cloud City," replied Wan'er.

"What a coincidence! We are heading there too, hahaha," replied Uncle Jiang, laughing.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard all around them, and soon twelve pairs of shining eyes could be seen all around them.

Howl, howl, howl, howl...

The twelve pairs of eyes seemed to be closing a circle around them.

Lin Tian and the two young ladies were frightened by the sudden change.

Uncle Jiang's expression became ugly, but he didn't seem to be frightened as he said in a low voice to the three of them, "Each one of you should take hold of a branch and light it on fire. It should scare the wolves."

Uncle Jiang ignored the three of them as he unsheathed his sword.

One of the wolves soon walked out of the darkness, staring at them with its cold eyes, as if there were some sheep about to be slaughtered.

Howl, howl, howl, howl...

Seeing the wolf attacking Uncle Jiang, Lin Tian shouted, "Be careful!"

Uncle Jiang raised his sword, swinging it towards the attacking wolf. Blood spattered all over the ground as the wolf's head was cut off, leaving a lifeless body.

Intimidated by Uncle Jiang's ferocity, the rest of the wolves started to retreat.

The two young ladies were stunned by what had happened. It was evident that they had no idea of Uncle Jiang's strength.

Lin Tian smiled when he saw the expressions on their faces and said in a proud voice, "Uncle Jiang is a martial arts expert. He is said to be the strongest in the village."

Suddenly, a roar was heard, and bright eyes like the brightness of the moon appeared behind the retreating wolves.

As if that roar restored the wolves' courage, they all set out to attack Uncle Jiang.

Uncle Jiang was quite surprised by the sudden event, but he wasn't scared as he swung his sword all around him, cutting many of the attacking wolves and forcing the others to retreat.

Suddenly deep steps could be heard, and a huge white wolf soon appeared in front of Uncle Jiang, leaving him no time to swing his sword.

All Uncle Jiang could see were the giant claws heading towards his face. With a quick reaction, Uncle Jiang was able to avoid those claws and stabilize himself again.

When Uncle Jiang saw the creature standing in front of him, his features turned pale, and fear appeared in his eyes for a moment, but he hid it well.

He shouted to the three behind him, "Run quickly!"

None of them were stupid, and soon each one of them ran in a different direction.

Uncle Jiang let out a sigh of relief when the three of them disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Then he smiled and shouted towards the giant wolf, "I was about to die anyway. That poison has spread all over my body. I'm glad I can die facing a creature like you."

The giant wolf roared towards Uncle Jiang, and a look of disdain flashed in his eyes as if he didn't see Uncle Jiang as a threat from the beginning.

Soon, the wolf attacked Uncle Jiang again. Uncle Jiang raised his sword, trying to block the giant wolf's claws, but he was pushed back by the force of the blow and fell to the ground.

The giant wolf growled at the rest of the wolf, signalling them to attack as if he despised ending the life of this weak man himself. Soon, all the remaining wolves attacked Uncle Jiang, and blood stained the forest floor.

The sound of hasty footsteps could be heard in the dark forest, and the figure of a young boy suddenly appeared. The boy stopped suddenly and felt a sharp pain in his heart as if he had lost something forever. He hesitated for a moment but quickly turned around, running towards the place from which he had come, repeating in his heart, "I hope Uncle Jiang is well." After a little running, he returned to the place from which he had run.