Huang Ran glanced at Sun Fatty. He took off his backpack, opened it, and poured out its contents in front of Sun Fatty. Besides air, there was nothing else inside. "Little Fatty, I've already gone all out using the Buddha Ash. What other magical tools do you think I have?" Sun Fatty frowned after seeing this and said, "Old Huang, this Great White Wolf even managed to kill Ruan Liulang. You're empty-handed—how do you plan to deal with it? Strangle it to death?"
"Yin Bai specializes in countering chimei spirits. Ruan Liulang couldn't resist it at all in front of Yin Bai. Moreover, when Yin Bai just broke through the Buddha Ash miasma, it nearly exhausted its demon power. Plus, it just swallowed that little box and needs some time to neutralize it. During this period, it's extremely weak. Now is the best time to deal with Yin Bai." Huang Ran drew a short sword from behind his waist as he spoke. When I saw this short sword, my heart stirred. Looking up, I noticed Sun Fatty was also staring at me. Identical short swords—two others, just like Huang Ran's—were on me and Sun Fatty. It seemed these short swords weren't so rare after all; maybe they were mass-produced?
"That's not right," Sun Fatty said after seeing his own short sword, his thoughts drifting to something else. "That little box was taken out by Ruan Liulang, meaning the box has always been inside this Tomb of a Transcendent Beast. So why did this Great White Wolf not swallow it earlier? Why only now?" After Sun Fatty finished speaking, Hao Wenming seemed to suddenly understand something and turned toward Huang Ran with a half-smile. Director Hao said only two words: "Suppressing talisman?"
Huang Ran looked a bit guilty and seemed unwilling to continue that topic. At that moment, the white wolf had already gotten up from the ground, its blood-red eyes fixed on us. Huang Ran reversed his grip on the short sword and said, "No time to explain, let's attack!" As soon as he finished, he shot forward like an arrow, the first to rush to the wolf's side. That was an inhuman speed. I was more convinced Huang Ran was hiding his true strength.
Hao Wenming glanced at Huang Ran's retreating figure, exhaled sharply, then walked over to Meng Qiqi and the others, helping Po Jun up. He said to me and Sun Fatty, "Forget about Huang Ran. Let him hold on a bit. We'll…" Before he could finish, a loud thud sounded. A figure flew diagonally, hit a stalactite, then a fat man bounced to the ground and immediately lost consciousness—it was Huang Ran, the man who just disappeared in the wind.
"Damn it!" Hao Wenming cursed after seeing Huang Ran fly back and cursed angrily, "I was counting on you to last three to five, seven minutes!" While cursing, he grabbed the assault rifle from my hands. "Forget about Da Jun and the others. You take Meng Qiqi and retreat first. I'll cover you." While he spoke, the white wolf bared its sharp white fangs and moved toward us.
I shoved Hao Wenming aside, raised my gun, and aimed at the white wolf. I didn't bother to be polite: "Cut it out. Shooting in front of me is useless. Even if you had twelve tied together, you'd still be no match." I fired a shot directly into the wolf's left eye. Bang! The bullet hit the eyeball dead-on. The wolf let out a miserable scream and rolled on the ground.
The shot worked! Before I could rejoice, the white wolf staggered back up. Its left eye was swollen red but otherwise fine. My earlier excitement quickly sank to rock bottom. Setting aside that the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation's special bullets were designed specifically for fighting Arcanobeasts, just an ordinary assault rifle bullet would leave a huge hole on any normal person. This bullet should have caused a headshot effect on the white wolf's eyeball. But now, the wound was only red and swollen. Judging by the look it gave me after adjusting, it seemed the damage was minimal. Instead, it thoroughly enraged the wolf. It lowered its head and let out a low, deep roar before suddenly leaping toward me. Then its body vanished before my eyes.
It was charging at me! Though I couldn't see it, I reacted in an instant. Without time to think, as the wolf disappeared, I sprayed a burst of gunfire where it had vanished. Half a magazine of bullets hit their mark, sparking and striking metal at about seven or eight meters away. Then a pale white figure appeared before me. Though the shots didn't deal real damage, the impact slowed the wolf, allowing it to reappear in front of me. Maybe these shots hurt the wolf; its speed clearly slowed, and it fixed its eyes on me as it approached step by step.
Seeing the wolf again in slow motion, I knew this chance couldn't be wasted. I moved my aim upward and fired again at its injured left eye. Bang! The bullet hit the wolf's forehead. Missed… I felt a chill in my heart. This was the first time something like this had happened. I had clearly seen its millstone-sized eye with my Heavenly Eye before shooting. How could I miss? After missing, I gritted my teeth and fired a third shot at its left eye's brow bone. Bang! Still no hit, but I realized the wolf had moved its head slightly left and right the moment I pulled the trigger. That movement was faster than the bullet, causing both shots to miss.
Just as I prepared to shoot a fourth time at the wolf's left eye, it suddenly charged at me at a speed visible within my range, but only as a white blur. I didn't have time to shoot again. I held the assault rifle horizontally in front of my chest. Then came a crack. The wolf had rushed in, biting through the rifle's body and barrel, and raised its claws to swipe at my chest.
Just as my chest was about to be pierced, two hands grabbed my collar and yanked me back over half a meter, letting me dodge the wolf's claws. Without looking back, I knew it was Sun Fatty. He said, "Lazi, you run when you see wolves coming. What kind of stance is that?"
Right after I was pulled back, Director Hao leapt over me, jumped into the air, and waved a handful of white powder at the wolf's eyes. The wolf, caught off guard, was instantly covered head to toe with the powder—not just in its eyes, but also nose and mouth.
After being hit by the white powder, the wolf let out a sudden wail, turned, and fled backward. In a flash, it was a hundred meters away. Whether it felt safe or simply couldn't hold on, the wolf collapsed and rolled on the ground, whining loudly. It clawed and hit its own face fiercely, its once snow-white muzzle turning bloodied and mangled. Hao Wenming hadn't expected such a strong reaction from this attack. He hesitated but still didn't dare to throw more Buddha Ash.
At this moment, Meng Qiqi, who had been taking care of Po Jun and Zhang Zhiyan, came over. She picked up the backpack that Huang Ran had dropped, then knelt down and desperately scooped the Ashes of the Guardian Buddha scattered all over the ground into the backpack. She said urgently to me and Sun Fatty, "Hey! You two, Fatty, stop staring around. It's just the three of us here, right? Hurry up and help pack the ashes. Whether we can get out depends entirely on this bag of Buddha Ash."
Sun Fatty and I caught on immediately and moved over. Half-kneeling, half-squatting, we scooped the ashes into the backpack. In less than a moment, about one-sixth of the ashes were packed.
Sun Fatty looked at the white wolf still rolling in the distance. Since there was no immediate danger, he felt braver. While scooping the ashes, he kept mumbling to himself, "Hao Tou, I'm not trying to be rude, but that big white wolf could walk across such a vast Ashes of the Guardian Buddha formation before. How come it can't handle even a little Buddha Ash now?""Hao Tou, just say something, what's really going on with this white wolf?""Hao Tou, if Buddha Ash is supposed to be the bane of Arcanobeasts, how come it dares to come so close when there's so much Buddha Ash under my feet?"
Hao Wenming kept his eyes fixed on the white wolf's every move. He hadn't planned on answering Sun Fatty at first, but he couldn't stand the incessant questioning. Staring at the wolf, he replied, "That Yin Bai was able to avoid the Buddha Ash miasma just now because it temporarily closed its hair follicles and the seven orifices on its face. I'm not kidding—the Buddha Ash can't penetrate its body. The damage it causes only affects the surface. But now that it's got this handful of sand in its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, it's enough to make it suffer for a while."
Hearing this, I was also shocked. "Hao Tou, it can close its seven orifices and hair follicles? Even if it's an Arcanobeast, can it really be that clever?" By then, the three of us had collected almost all the ashes on the ground. Huang Ran's backpack was already nearly half full.
Hao Wenming said, "According to Hugo and the others' theory, Arcanobeasts are evolutionary forms of ordinary animals. As their bodies evolve, their intelligence also advances rapidly. Large Arcanobeasts are much smarter than ordinary humans."
By the time Hao Wenming finished speaking, we had nearly collected all the Buddha Ash. Meng Qiqi grabbed the backpack full of ashes and said, "Director Hao, that's about enough. Let's go."
Hao Wenming nodded, then gave a subtle look to Sun Fatty and me. We lifted Zhang Zhiyan and Po Jun—Sun Fatty carried Zhang Zhiyan on his back, while Hao and I supported Po Jun—and headed for the exit. We went ahead, while Meng Qiqi followed behind, holding the bag of ashes in one hand and scooping more Buddha Ash with the other.
Not far into our steps, Sun Fatty spotted Huang Ran lying motionless on the ground ahead. He turned back and asked Hao Wenming, "Hao Tou, what about Old Huang? What should we do with him?"
"Mind your own business," Hao Wenming snapped irritably. "If you can carry another person, then carry him. If not, shut up."
"Alright then, just asking," Sun Fatty muttered, stepping over Huang Ran's body. We bypassed him carefully, not touching his body. Only Meng Qiqi hesitated briefly when passing the still unconscious Huang Ran, then also stepped around and followed us down.
After walking about a hundred meters, suddenly a wolf's howl echoed from behind us. Our hearts skipped a beat. We turned around at the same time—and at that moment, Zhang Zhiyan, who was on Sun Fatty's back, suddenly leapt off without any warning. His target was Meng Qiqi. He sprang forward, knocking her to the ground and snatching the backpack from her hands.
The attack was so sudden that none of us were prepared. By the time we realized what happened, Zhang Zhiyan was already running back with the backpack.
Sun Fatty panicked and drew his pistol, shooting at Zhang Zhiyan's retreating back. I had thought Sun Fatty's gun had fallen into the hot spring earlier, but it turned out he had kept it on him all along. The gunshot echoed sharply. The bullet hit Zhang Zhiyan's buttocks, making him stagger, but he still managed to reach the white wolf's side.
Although the white wolf still trembled a bit, it had already stood up and positioned itself between Zhang Zhiyan and us, within the range of the bullet fire, allowing Zhang Zhiyan to continue running toward the upper hot spring.
"What now, Hao Tou?" I asked Hao Wenming anxiously.
"Cold salad!" Director Hao shouted loudly. "There's another Buddha Ash explosion point down below. I'll go block Yin Bai. You two hurry and grab some Buddha Ash."
Before Hao Wenming could finish, Sun Fatty dashed off like the wind toward where Po Jun had triggered the landmine. Meng Qiqi hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and followed after Sun Fatty, sprinting downwards.
I watched their backs but didn't follow. Instead, I took a few steps back, drew the short sword hanging at my waist, and stood behind Hao Wenming. Director Hao no longer paid any attention to me. He drew the dagger Huang Ran had given him. His custom collapsible baton was lost back at the upper hot spring. Now, aside from this dagger, he had no other weapons for self-defense.
By then, the white wolf was cautiously walking down. It seemed much more careful after the earlier setback. The wolf first approached Huang Ran's body but appeared uninterested, merely sniffing before bypassing him and heading toward us.
When it was about fifty to sixty meters away, the white wolf suddenly stopped. It let out a low growl—and then, the worst scene I had hoped to avoid appeared.
Po Jun suddenly stood up straight from the ground. His eyes were still closed, his hands clenched tightly, his face twisted into a strange expression.
Hao Wenming watched without surprise. After a deep breath, he bit down on something in his mouth, then pricked his own thumb with the dagger, smearing the fresh blood on both sides of the blade.
Although Po Jun's eyes were closed, he could still sense direction. Facing Hao Wenming, he said hoarsely, "You two… die…"
"You two?" Hao Wenming was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around and realized I was standing right behind him. He didn't have time to scold me for not going with Sun Fatty to get the Buddha Ash, but only warned, "Lazi, be careful. If it's too much, run. Don't risk your life…"
Before Hao Wenming could finish, Po Jun's huge figure charged forward. He reached out and grabbed Hao Wenming's neck. Hao stood still, not dodging at all, letting Po Jun lift him into the air.
Hao Wenming's face turned purple like raw liver. If Po Jun applied force, he could easily crush Hao's neck.
Just as I rushed to Po Jun's side, sword ready to cut the arm choking Hao Wenming, Hao suddenly raised his hand and slashed a wound across Po Jun's forehead with the dagger.
Po Jun didn't react and let deep crimson blood flow from the wound.
Seeing the blood, Hao Wenming bit his own tongue hard and spat out a large mouthful of tongue-tip blood mixed with saliva.
That had an effect.
Po Jun's grip loosened, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching. White foam dribbled from his mouth. Among the blood on his face were small clumps of particles. It was clear that what Hao Wenming had been holding in his mouth earlier was the Ashes of the Guardian Buddha.
Hao Wenming fell to the ground with Po Jun, no longer caring about himself. He immediately searched his body, took out a wallet, pried open Po Jun's mouth, and stuffed it inside, making him bite down.
Judging by Po Jun's current state, it was clearly a form of epileptic seizure.
"Wooaah…" Suddenly, the white wolf let out a miserable howl from above.
While Hao Wenming and I had been focused on Po Jun, the white wolf was watching coldly from above. It seemed in no hurry to rush down and tear us apart.
Only after Po Jun collapsed did the white wolf prepare to charge.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind the wolf. The wolf's acute hearing did not detect the presence.
The figure held a short sword and, taking advantage of the wolf's inattention, stabbed straight at its neck.
Only then did the wolf notice the person behind it. It whirled around sharply.
The short sword missed the neck but pierced into the shoulder blade. Blood gushed from the wound.
The attacker tried to pull out the sword for another strike, but the wolf vanished instantly from where it stood. When it reappeared, it was behind the person.
The wolf sprang up and rammed the person's stomach with its head. A booming sound like a drum echoed.
The person was slammed off the ground, flying more than twenty meters before crashing to the ground.
As the person fell, they shouted loudly at Hao Wenming and me, "Don't just stand there! Attack!"