Ordinary Bone

"Baa…"

Just as Xu Taiping was nearing the trap he had set, he suddenly heard the sound of a goat.

"Could I really have caught a yellow goat?"

A wave of joy washed over him.

The taste of roasted yellow goat meat far surpassed that of wild boar, especially when paired with the perilla leaves from his herb garden.

"Looks like I’m in for a treat tonight."

With this thought, he quickened his pace and hurried to the trap.

When he arrived at the trap, Xu Taiping noticed that the branches covering it had been disturbed, confirming that something had been caught.

"Grr…"

Just as he was about to peer into the trap to see if it was indeed a yellow goat, a low growl came from behind him.

"Thud!"

Acting on instinct, Xu Taiping leaped into the air, using his leg strength to vault over the trap and land on the other side.

"Roar!"

The moment he landed, a massive gray wolf, the size of a tiger, pounced on the spot where he had just been standing. A small tree as thick as a bowl was snapped in half by the force of the wolf’s charge.

"A wolf? No… a demon wolf!"

Staring at the enormous gray wolf, Xu Taiping felt his hair stand on end.

He had seen wolves before while hunting with his grandfather, but compared to this beast, those wolves were nothing.

"Howl…!"

Before Xu Taiping could fully process the situation, the wolf leaped again, this time aiming straight for him.

"Crack!"

Xu Taiping rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the wolf’s attack. He then drew the hunting knife from his waist and sprinted toward the eastern part of the forest.

"Roar!"

Despite his speed, which far exceeded that of an average adult, he was no match for the demon wolf. Within moments, the wolf was closing in.

However, Xu Taiping had already calmed down. Instead of panicking, he began weaving through the forest in a zigzag pattern, a tactic his grandfather had taught him for escaping wild beasts.

"Thud!"

The wolf, unable to turn as sharply, crashed into a tree as thick as a person’s embrace, snapping it in half.

Seeing this out of the corner of his eye, Xu Taiping stopped running, nocked an arrow to his bow, and took aim. He didn’t aim for the wolf’s head but instead targeted its lungs.

"Whoosh!"

As the wolf struggled to its feet, Xu Taiping released the arrow.

"Thud!"

Whether by luck or the improved strength and vision from his cultivation, the arrow struck true, embedding itself in the wolf’s side.

"Roar!"

But to Xu Taiping’s surprise, the wolf’s hide was incredibly tough. The arrow only pierced the surface, failing to deliver a fatal blow. Instead, it enraged the beast further.

Without hesitation, Xu Taiping turned and fled deeper into the forest, this time running in a straight line.

The enraged wolf, now in a frenzy, charged after him, smashing through trees in its path.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

"Come on!"

When the wolf was just three zhang away, Xu Taiping suddenly stopped near a tree marked with a cloth strip. He drew his hunting knife, turned to face the wolf, and let out a defiant roar, ready for a life-or-death struggle.

"Roar!"

The wolf, already furious, lunged at Xu Taiping, its fangs bared.

"Thud!"

Just as the wolf was about to sink its teeth into him, Xu Taiping swung his knife, severing a vine tied to the tree.

"Whoosh!"

The moment the vine was cut, a massive wooden spike, as thick as a bucket, swung out from the tree and slammed into the wolf’s chest.

"Howl!"

The wolf let out a blood-curdling scream as the spike pierced its flesh.

This trap had been set for wild boars, but it had come in handy against the wolf.

"Roar!"

However, Xu Taiping soon realized that the wolf’s hide was far tougher than he had anticipated. The spike hadn’t fully penetrated its body.

"I have no choice."

In a desperate move, Xu Taiping gripped his knife with both hands, leaped into the air, and channeled all the qi from his dantian into his arms. He brought the knife down with all his might, aiming for the wound in the wolf’s lung.

"Thud!"

Another loud crash echoed through the forest.

The force of the strike, amplified by his qi, cleaved through the wolf’s lung, causing blood to spray everywhere.

"Crack…"

Before Xu Taiping could react, his hunting knife shattered into pieces, and his arms swelled up like elephant legs.

The pain snapped him back to reality.

"No! My qi is running wild!"

Panicking, Xu Taiping sat down cross-legged and began circulating the Canxia Technique

"Haa…"

After a moment, he finally stabilized his qi and let out a long breath.

He was filled with fear.

The impulsive use of qi had nearly caused a catastrophic loss of control.

"I remember reading that there are no wolves in Yanglu Mountain. How did a demon wolf appear here?"

Xu Taiping stood up cautiously and approached the wolf.

The beast was now on the verge of death, its lung torn open. Even with its incredible vitality, it wouldn’t survive much longer.

"It’s getting dark. I should head back to the cottage. I’ll ask the bronze mirror about this demon wolf later. For now, I’ll avoid hunting here. And no matter what, I need to buy a martial arts technique."

After checking the sky, Xu Taiping decided to return home.

Although his cottage, Qingzhu Residence, was old and rundown, the jade slip had mentioned that the area around it was protected by a formation barrier, making it safe from ordinary beasts and demons.

"Wait, the wolf’s corpse might be worth some merit coins. Well, whether it’s valuable or not, I’ll drag it back first."

Just as he was about to leave, Xu Taiping had a thought. He turned back, grabbed the wolf’s body, and began dragging it out of the forest.

Despite his youthful appearance and slender frame, his strength had grown significantly, allowing him to haul the massive wolf with relative ease.

Not long after Xu Taiping left, a figure with rotting flesh emerged from the forest.

"Stupid wolf! Can’t even handle such a simple task!"

Upon seeing the pool of blood and the large wooden spike, the figure cursed angrily.

"Now that I’ve alerted him, I’ll have to lure him out of that cottage myself. I need to come up with a plan quickly. The king is getting impatient. If I don’t bring back that boy’s heart and liver soon, I’ll end up as the king’s dinner!"

The figure stomped its foot and continued to mutter curses.

If Lingyue Xianzi hadn’t been in a deep slumber, she would have recognized this figure immediately.

Indeed, it was the changeling ghost that had been spying outside the cottage that night.

[--------------------------------------------]

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