Chapter 49: Leng Xiao Injured
The roars from across the river continued unabated, growing more urgent with each cry.
Leng Xiao frowned as he stared intently.
After a long while, a robust white tiger leaped down first, snarling toward the opposite direction of the river.
Behind the white tiger, three white cubs followed closely.
“Eldest Brother, White Ball is among them!” Leng Tian forgot his fear, his eyes fixed on the unusual scene across the river as he whispered to Leng Xiao.
The main reason was that this large white tiger was acting too strangely!
Shouldn’t it be attacking them?
Why was it snarling at the empty opposite bank instead?
Leng Xiao’s gaze darkened, his eyes unwaveringly fixed on the noticeably more lively and mischievous white fluffball.
From the seemingly empty forest on the opposite riverbank, over a dozen wolves slowly emerged.
Among them, one wolf clearly held a dominant position. Its silver fur shimmered under the sunlight, its body upright and legs straight, its expression resolute, with ears pricked forward—clearly different from the submissive, low-ranking wolves around it.
Leng Xiao immediately understood: this was the wolf king.
“Eldest Brother, something’s not right! I heard old hunters say wolves are cunning and clever, with almost no rivals in the forest, except they fear tigers. Isn’t the white tiger a tiger? Why aren’t they afraid? How dare they come to seize the white tiger’s territory?” Don’t animals care deeply about their own territory?
Especially a forest overlord like the tiger.
Not to mention approaching its den—they shouldn’t even enter the tiger’s activity range.
Why would the wolf pack dare to confront the tiger?
This isn’t normal.
Leng Xiao furrowed his brow, his phoenix eyes dark and inscrutable as he watched the little white fluffball hopping around. He listened intently without uttering a word.
“More wolves have appeared! There must be over twenty now! The white tiger might not be afraid, but it has three cubs. They’re too small—they definitely can’t fight off the wolf pack!”
“Eldest Brother, the white tiger keeps blocking the front. Is it trying to let its cubs swim across the river and scatter? But can they escape at such a young age?”
“Do wolves know how to swim? Or is the white tiger planning to kill the wolves one by one as they cross the river?”
“Eldest Brother, wolves really are as cunning and clever as the old hunters said! Look, they keep testing attacks from the sides, pretending to go for the cubs. When the white tiger goes to rescue them, it gets a chunk of flesh torn off! The white tiger can’t handle it all. It seems the wolf pack isn’t just trying to eliminate the cubs—they mainly want to kill the white tiger. Group tactics are truly formidable!”
“The white tiger is still quite impressive. In this situation, it has already killed two wolves, but it got bitten again! Though not seriously, the bleeding won’t stop. At this rate, it can only wait for death. What about White Ball? It definitely won’t survive either.”
“Ah! White Ball has left the safe zone protected by the white tiger! It’s been targeted by a wolf! Eldest Brother?”
Leng Tian turned his head to look, but Leng Xiao was no longer on the thick tree branch beside him!
He quickly turned back to look across the river, only to see that the wolf that had pounced on White Ball had been struck in the head by a swiftly thrown axe! Dead on the spot!
Leng Xiao sprinted across the river, flipped over, grabbed White Ball, and retreated to the white tiger’s protective zone—all in one seamless motion!
The white tiger only glanced back, seemingly understanding the situation, and expanded the area behind it, shielding Leng Xiao by its side.
With Leng Xiao protecting the cub, the white tiger seemed to have no more worries as it leaped into the fray, killing three wolves that had attempted attacks in quick succession!
The wolf king had already sensed the shift in the situation. After howling, the wolf pack slowly advanced…
Leng Xiao’s phoenix eyes swept over the slowly encircling wolf pack, mentally estimating their numbers. Gritting his teeth, he turned his back toward the wolf king’s position.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the wolf king crouch its front paws and leap high into the air, pouncing toward him. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as his right hand tightened around the iron spike.
From across the river came the sound of rapid footsteps and a heart-wrenching shout from Eldest Brother!
With no time to think, Leng Xiao turned to protect his neck. As a tearing pain erupted across his back, he simultaneously thrust the sharp tip of the iron spike deep into the wolf king’s throat.
Warm blood splattered, unavoidably staining his face and clothes.
With the wolf king dead, the remaining wolves scattered and fled within moments.
Leng Xiao knelt on one knee as if all his strength had been drained.
White Ball approached, tugging at Leng Xiao’s clothes and rubbing against him incessantly.
Leng Tian also rushed over!
On the wide, open ground littered with wolf corpses, the white tiger panted heavily.
After only a brief rest, the white tiger glanced at the two men before its massive body leaped toward the cave entrance.
Leng Tian no longer had the energy to pay attention to the white tiger. His voice trembling, he asked, “Eldest Brother, how are you?”
“It’s nothing. I’ve encountered wolf packs before when hunting in the mountains with a team. As long as you kill the wolf king, it’s fine.” Leng Xiao clenched his teeth, comforting his anxious younger brother, who looked on the verge of tears. “Old hunters say you should never expose your back to wolves—they will definitely attack. It was precisely by using this trait that I could kill the wolf king in one strike. Otherwise, with the enemy outnumbering us, prolonging the fight would have meant certain death.”
And once the wolf king was dead, the leaderless pack would immediately disperse.
“Eldest Brother should have told me earlier. Maybe you wouldn’t have been injured.” If he had discovered earlier that Eldest Brother had come to save White Ball, he would have followed closely, shielding Eldest Brother from danger when it came. He would never have let Eldest Brother get hurt!
Leng Xiao lowered his gaze to the white ball of fur circling anxiously beside him, his tone calm and casual. “This was brought about by the karmic affinity between me and it. There’s no need for you to feel guilty.”
Leng Tian looked at Leng Xiao’s bloodied, flesh-torn back, his eyes welling up. He hastily wiped them with his sleeve before rushing to the other side of the river to fetch their back baskets. Pulling out clothes, he prepared to tear them into strips for bandaging.
Just then, the white tiger leaped down, holding a cluster of emerald-green grass in its mouth. It pushed the grass toward Leng Xiao and glanced at its own injured hind leg.
The wound there was already covered with grass juice!
“Apply it,” Leng Xiao said hoarsely.
Without hesitation, Leng Tian quickly crushed the medicinal herb, spreading it thickly and evenly over Leng Xiao’s back.
The cold grass juice stung the wound, sending waves of burning pain. Leng Xiao clenched his teeth, cold sweat dripping down.
But after enduring the initial pain, the original agony of the wound eased significantly.
“Eldest Brother, remember this herb. Gather more on the way back.” After drying it, they could grind it into medicinal powder and keep it on hand. Who knew what the coming year would bring? It might come in handy.
“Understood!” Leng Tian thought Eldest Brother’s wound was deep and would likely need redressing.
Leng Xiao turned his head. “Help me up.”
“What for?” Leng Tian was puzzled. Eldest Brother’s wound was so deep, and he had lost so much blood. How could he think of getting up after resting for only a moment?!
“To dig up the ginseng as quickly as possible, find a cave to rest in before dark, and head back tomorrow.” Leng Xiao gritted his teeth and stood up, issuing instructions one by one.
Leng Tian wanted to say that with such severe injuries, they should forget about the ginseng. But under Eldest Brother’s sharp gaze, he swallowed his words.
Eldest Brother always made the most rational decisions, cold and logical, for their benefit.