"Baa…"
Just as Xu Taiping was about to approach the location of the trap, he suddenly heard a sheep's cry.
"Could it be that I really caught a yellow sheep?"
Xu Taiping's heart was filled with joy.
The taste of roasted yellow sheep meat was much better than wild boar, especially when paired with the purple perilla leaves from his family's medicinal garden.
"It seems like I'll have a good meal tonight."
As he thought this, Xu Taiping quickly ran towards the trap.
***
Arriving at the trap.
After Xu Taiping saw that the branches covering the trap were gone, he became even more certain that there was prey caught in the trap.
"Moo…"
Just as Xu Taiping was about to lean in and take a look at the prey in the trap to see if it was really a yellow sheep, he suddenly heard a low growl from behind him.
"Bang!"
Almost instinctively, Xu Taiping leaped from his original position and landed on the other side of the trap using his agility.
"Roar!"
Just as Xu Taiping landed on the other side of the trap, a gray wolf, the size of an ordinary tiger, pounced on the spot where he was originally standing, breaking a small tree the thickness of a bowl next to it.
"A wolf? Or a demonic wolf!"
Looking at the huge gray wolf, Xu Taiping's hair stood on end.
When he went hunting with his grandfather, he had seen wolves more than once, but compared to the wolf in front of him, it was nothing to speak of.
"Howl!"
While Xu Taiping was full of shock, the gray wolf once again leaped towards him on the other side of the trap.
"Bang!"
Xu Taiping rolled with the momentum and successfully avoided the wolf's attack. He then pulled out his hunting knife from his waist and ran towards the east side of the mountain.
"Roar!"
Although his running speed was already much faster than an ordinary adult's, it was still no match for the wolf in front of him. In just a few breaths, he was caught up.
However, Xu Taiping had already calmed down at this point and did not panic just because the wolf was behind him. Instead, he agilely ran through the forest, following the teachings of his grandfather. When encountering wild beasts in the mountains, one must not run in a straight line, but instead take a roundabout route.
"Bang!"
Just then, because the wolf turned too sharply, it accidentally crashed into a tree the thickness of a person's embrace, breaking it.
After catching a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, Xu Taiping immediately stopped and decisively prepared his bow and arrow.
He didn't aim for the wolf's head, but rather its lungs.
"Whoosh!"
Just as the wolf stood up again, Xu Taiping pulled the bowstring taut and released the arrow.
"Bang!"
Perhaps due to luck or the significant increase in his vision and strength after cultivation, Xu Taiping's arrow accurately pierced the wolf's body!
"Howl!"
However, to Xu Taiping's surprise, the wolf's fur was incredibly tough. The arrow only pierced its skin and did not cause a fatal wound, instead making the wolf even more ferocious.
Seeing this, Xu Taiping did not hesitate and immediately ran towards the east side of the mountain with his bow and arrow.
This time, the frenzied wolf didn't care whether there were trees in front of it and broke them all.
As a result, the distance between Xu Taiping and the wolf quickly closed.
"Come on!"
But just as Xu Taiping was less than ten meters away from the wolf and arrived next to a large tree with a cloth hanging from it, he suddenly stopped, drew his hunting knife from his waist, and turned around, shouting loudly at the wolf, assuming a life-or-death stance.
"Roar!"
The wolf, already provoked by Xu Taiping, immediately roared and pounced towards him, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, fiercely attacking Xu Taiping.
"Bang!"
Just as the wolf was about to swallow Xu Taiping in one bite, Xu Taiping suddenly turned his knife and slashed at a vine on a nearby tree.
"Swish!"
In the instant the vine was cut, a wooden spike, whittled from a log the thickness of a water bucket, flew out from beside Xu Taiping, hanging from a thick vine, and met the incoming wolf head-on.
"Ah!"
With a scream, the huge wooden spike, carried by its momentum, forcefully pierced the wolf's chest.
This wooden spike was originally used by Xu Taiping to deal with wild boars, but unexpectedly, it came in handy at this moment.
"Roar!"
However, Xu Taiping soon discovered that the wolf's skin and flesh were unimaginably thick. Even the wooden spike couldn't completely pierce through it.
"I can only give it a try."
At this critical moment, Xu Taiping held the hunting knife in both hands, leaped into the air, and without caring whether it would cause his True Qi to go awry, he forcefully gathered the True Qi from his dantian onto his arms. Finally, he fiercely slashed at the wound on the wolf's lungs.
"Bang!"
Another loud noise echoed through the forest.
The strike Xu Taiping made with his True Qi managed to cut open the wolf's lungs, and blood immediately sprayed out like raindrops.
"Crack…"
Before Xu Taiping could react, his hunting knife broke into several pieces, and his two arms began to swell rapidly, becoming as thick as elephant legs in the blink of an eye.
The intense pain woke him up.
"Oh no, my True Qi is starting to go haywire!"Seeing the situation, Xu Taiping's heart tightened. He immediately sat down cross-legged and began to operate the "Fading Sunset Scripture", guiding all the chaotic True Qi in his arms back into his dantian.
"Phew…"
After a while, Xu Taiping, who had finally stabilized the operation of the True Qi in his body, let out a long sigh of relief.
At this moment, he was filled with fear.
Just now, he impulsively operated his True Qi, which almost caused the True Qi in his body to lose control. The consequences were unimaginable.
"I remember in the description of the Sheep Deer Mountain, there have never been any jackals here. How could a wolf suddenly appear, and it's a demon wolf at that."
Xu Taiping stood up and walked cautiously to the side of the demon wolf.
The demon wolf was now on its last breath, its abdomen had been opened by Xu Taiping's hunting knife, and no matter how strong its vitality was, it wouldn't live much longer.
"It's getting dark, I should go back to the small courtyard first. I'll ask the bronze mirror about this demon wolf later. For now, I should stop hunting here. Also, I must purchase a martial arts technique this time, no matter what."
Looking at the sky, Xu Taiping decided to go back first.
Although the Green Bamboo Residence where he lived was dilapidated, according to the instructions in the Jade Scroll, the courtyard of the Green Bamboo Residence was also protected by a formation barrier. Ordinary beasts and demons couldn't get close, so it was very safe.
"Wait, the body of this demon wolf should be able to exchange for some Merit coins, right? Never mind, whether it's worth it or not, I'll drag it back first."
Just as Xu Taiping was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something. So he turned back and dragged the body of the demon wolf, then dragged it out of the forest.
Although he still looked like a teenager and was slightly thin, he was now very strong and had no problem dragging such a demon wolf.
***
Not long after Xu Taiping left, a rotten figure walked out of the forest.
"This stupid wolf, can't even handle such a small matter!"
Seeing the bloodstains on the ground and the thick wooden spike, the figure suddenly cursed.
"Now that I've alerted the snake in the grass, it seems that I have to personally lure him out of that courtyard. I need to think of a way quickly. The king is already urging me. If I don't bring back this kid's heart and liver soon, I'll become the king's dinner!"
The figure stomped his foot and muttered to himself.
If Fairy Lingyue hadn't been asleep, she would have recognized this person.
Yes, this was the Evil Ghost who had been peeping outside the courtyard that night.