It was Huang Ran! The one who had ambushed the white wolf this time was none other than Huang Ran himself. Last time, he had only been pretending to be dead. But this time, he had fallen hard. After several attempts, he finally clutched his stomach and barely managed to crawl over toward Sun Fatty and me. Judging by the way he walked, it was clear that more than just two or three ribs were broken.
The injured white wolf kept letting out miserable howls. The shoulder where the short sword was stuck continuously dripped fresh blood. After raising its injured paw, it dared not put it down again; it looked like that limb was temporarily useless. The white wolf was now in a state of furious rage. After several mournful wails, it charged toward our direction.
Fortunately, the heavy wound on its shoulder limited its speed. My first reaction was to grip my short sword tightly and try to block it, but unexpectedly Hao Wenming grabbed me and pulled me backward as we ran. I followed Director Hao for a few steps, running while saying, "It's no use. We can't outrun it. It runs faster than we do!" Hao Wenming retorted with irritation, "I never asked you to outrun Yin Bai. Just outrun Huang Ran!" When Director Hao said that, Huang Ran was still about twenty or thirty meters behind us. This time, pretending to be dead was probably useless. Judging by how furious the white wolf was now, it probably wouldn't calm down until it tore Huang Ran to pieces.
Hao Wenming and I ran forward only a few steps before we heard a muffled thud behind us. When I looked back, Huang Ran had already been knocked down by the white wolf. At this point, there was no time or heart to worry about him—let's just hope his pain would end quickly.
Before Huang Ran was knocked down, he suddenly shouted loudly, "I know where Hao Zhengyi is!" Hearing this, Hao Wenming, who was sprinting wildly, suddenly tripped and fell. But almost immediately, Director Hao jumped back up, spun around sharply, and threw his dagger straight at the white wolf.
At this moment, the white wolf was about to bite Huang Ran and was completely unprepared for Hao Wenming to run back and attack again. With a clang, the dagger struck the hilt of the short sword stuck in the white wolf's shoulder. Hao's strength was considerable, and the short sword, lodged in the wolf's shoulder blade, was pushed several millimeters deeper into the bone. The bone-piercing pain made the white wolf shiver uncontrollably. Its mane bristled instantly, and it let out a series of agonized howls while retreating.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Huang Ran rolled over and climbed to his feet. When he stood up, the deep claw marks on his chest were clearly visible—a bloody, mangled mess. Fresh blood dripped down from the wounds all the way to his feet. Judging by the injuries, the white wolf had scratched him. This was after the wolf's shoulder injury had limited its strength—otherwise, even three Huang Rans tied together wouldn't withstand a few swipes from the white wolf.
Despite being freed, Huang Ran did not immediately run away. Instead, he stepped back a few paces, clutching his wounds and gasping heavily. He glanced at Hao Wenming and said, "Help me..." Director Hao shook his head vehemently, eyes wide: "Don't try anything foolish. Come here quickly." A strange expression appeared on Huang Ran's face. His lips moved as if to say something, but no sound came out. Seeing this, Hao Wenming's brows furrowed into a deep frown. Then Huang Ran gave his signature smile and suddenly turned, charging straight at the white wolf.
At this point, the white wolf no longer cared whether Huang Ran lived or died. The intense pain was driving it mad. It started running wildly and without purpose. The wolf was so disoriented it crashed headfirst into a stalactite. The collision snapped the stalactite—one even larger than usual—cleanly in two. The broken fragments scattered around. Unexpectedly, this accident turned into a blessing in disguise for the white wolf: the short sword stuck in its shoulder blade was knocked loose from the bone crack. Although the short sword still hung from flesh and skin, the pain was greatly reduced. The wolf's injured paw could barely bear weight again.
Fueled like he was on adrenaline, Huang Ran ignored his wounds and, taking advantage of the wolf's instability, charged beside it and reached out to grab the short sword. The white wolf's consciousness had returned. It backed up to evade Huang Ran's grasp, turned to face him, and leapt forward, baring its fangs as it bit toward Huang Ran's neck. It seemed Huang Ran was about to meet the same fate as Ruan Liulang.
Just then, Hao Wenming rushed over, wielding a section of stalactite about the size of a wine jar, which had just been broken off by the wolf's crash. He smashed it forcefully against the white wolf's head. The wolf was focused on Huang Ran and did not expect Hao Wenming's sudden attack. With a loud thud, the stalactite shattered, and the wolf's body staggered. That strike saved Huang Ran's life.
Instead of retreating after narrowly escaping death, Huang Ran leapt up wildly. Risking everything, he jumped toward the wolf's shoulder where the short sword was still embedded. As Huang Ran sprang up, the wolf also lunged upward. Though injured, it was several times faster than Huang Ran. A white shadow flashed as the wolf lowered its head and rammed Huang Ran's abdomen, sending Huang Ran flying along a parabolic trajectory.
Huang Ran was thrown more than twenty meters, rolling several times before he shakily got back up. Without hesitation, he limped onward toward the wolf again. After a few steps, a flash of white suddenly appeared before his eyes. The wolf had already charged at him. Huang Ran was too slow to dodge and could only raise his arm to block. The wolf bit down on Huang Ran's left forearm.
Huang Ran screamed in pain, but strangely, no blood flowed from the bite. Through his torn sleeve appeared a flesh-colored arm guard. Unable to bite through Huang Ran's arm, the wolf jumped up and shook its head violently, flinging Huang Ran—who weighed as much as Sun Fatty—over ten meters away. This time Huang Ran truly couldn't get up. He collapsed on the ground and spat a mouthful of fresh blood mixed with dark clots. It looked like his internal organs were injured.
After coughing weakly a few times, Huang Ran lay motionless on the ground.
Seeing Huang Ran was about to be finished, Hao Wenming grew anxious. He scooped up a chunk of stalactite from the ground, hoisted it onto his shoulders with both hands, and charged quickly toward the White Wolf. The White Wolf was alert this time; before Hao Wenming could reach it, the wolf lunged toward him again.
At that moment, I rushed to Director Hao's side. I couldn't just watch my own director die, so I gripped my short sword and slanted a stab toward the White Wolf. The wolf even managed to retract its neck midair and snapped its jaws at my short sword.
This gave Hao Wenming the opportunity he needed. The wolf's fangs had already touched the blade guard of my short sword. At that moment, Director Hao swung the stalactite down hard onto the wolf's head. Boom! The blow slammed the White Wolf, which had leapt halfway into the air, back to the ground. After landing, the wolf shook its head slightly, growled lowly at me and Hao Wenming, then finally fixed its gaze on the short sword in my hand.
Perhaps it recognized that the short sword I held was the same as the one lodged in its shoulder (which puzzled me—how could it see that?), the White Wolf sensed danger and bared its teeth fiercely at me. Seeing its expression, I instinctively took a few steps back. At the same time, I smoothed the Wyrmvine Threads tied to the hilt of the short sword, then slipped the pre-knotted loop on the other end of the threads onto my right index finger.
Hao Wenming picked up a dagger from the ground and joined me, forming a pincer formation against the White Wolf. But the wolf didn't even glance at him; its yellow, piercing eyes stared straight at the short sword in my hand. Possibly the sword embedded in its shoulder left a psychological scar. After a tense standstill, the wolf stopped baring its teeth. The fur along its chest and back flattened out, and surprisingly, the White Wolf tucked its tail and slowly retreated.
It backed up for nearly twenty meters, seemingly giving up on continuing the fight. Just as my heartbeat began to steady, a gunshot suddenly rang out behind me. Bang. The bullet struck exactly on the hilt of the short sword lodged in the wolf's shoulder. The blade tip pierced the wolf's scapula, tearing open the flesh. The short sword dropped to the ground. The bullet severed some blood vessels; bright red wolf blood gushed out, staining half of the wolf's body crimson.
The shot came from Huang Ran, who remained lying on the ground. In his palm was a Palm Mine pistol, its muzzle slowly emitting a thin wisp of white smoke. This pistol only held two rounds per load; although it could fire once more, shooting the wolf now was pointless. Hao Wenming looked at the White Wolf showing signs of going berserk and gritted his teeth, saying to Huang Ran, "Why can't you just be normal?"
Huang Ran gasped for breath and said, "I can't... let it go."
The White Wolf let out a miserable howl. Its fur, which had just calmed around its neck, instantly bristled again. The previous wound caused it intense pain, making it shiver on the spot. After a brief respite, it let out a long howl to the sky, glanced at Huang Ran behind me, then stared at the short sword in my hand for a while. Then, as if disregarding its own life, it lunged straight at me.
It wasn't me who shot you just now! I almost shouted this out loud.
Seeing the wolf rushing at me, I had no choice but to go all out. I gripped the short sword and stabbed fiercely into its open jaws. The moment the sword thrust forward, the White Wolf suddenly vanished before my eyes. My short sword stabbed into empty air, and the force almost knocked me off balance.
The wolf's disappearance made me realize what was happening. I shouted loudly to Hao Wenming, "It's attacking Huang Ran!"
Just as I expected, the White Wolf reappeared about three to five meters away from Huang Ran on the ground. It let out a wild howl and leapt at Huang Ran. Huang Ran flailed in panic, blocking with his arm. The wolf bit his arm, but fortunately Huang Ran wore a special protective bracer. Although the wolf's teeth grated loudly, it still couldn't bite through his arm.
At that moment, Hao Wenming rushed up close to Huang Ran, gripping the dagger in his hand and stabbing the White Wolf's shoulder wound. The wolf seemed to expect this. Clamping down on Huang Ran's arm, it shook its head violently, swinging Huang Ran straight into Hao Wenming. Thud! The two collided hard. Weighing over two hundred pounds, Huang Ran pinned the little over one hundred pound Hao Wenming beneath him. Huang Ran lost consciousness again and showed no sign of awareness. Director Hao pushed him off, then crouched on the ground, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood.
The White Wolf set its sights on Huang Ran and charged again. Hao Wenming flipped over to block in front of Huang Ran. His dagger had been dropped earlier, lost somewhere. Now unarmed, he was basically going to die. The reason Director Hao was risking his life like this must be because of the "Hao Zhengyi" Huang Ran kept talking about.
I was too far away to intervene in time; by the time I got there, Hao Wenming was probably already seriously injured. Just then, a familiar voice shouted, "Mangy mutt, here's something special for you!" As the words fell, a cloud of white powder spread around Hao Wenming and Huang Ran. Seeing the white powder, the White Wolf panicked. It made a sharp turn, abandoning the idea of killing Huang Ran, and fled. I saw it run towards me, and just as I raised the short sword, a burly Fatty appeared behind the wolf. He was holding a small pouch and pulled out handfuls of Buddha Ash, tossing it towards me.
It was Sun Fatty. He was shirtless, with that giant rat perched on his shoulder. Sun Fatty had run all the way back without shaking it off. The pouch in his hand was his shirt sleeve tied off at the cuff. There was still about half of the Buddha Ash left inside. The wolf's shoulder wound refused to touch the Buddha Ash, so it desperately ran beyond the ash's range. After running over a hundred meters, it finally stopped and looked back at us.
Then Meng Qiqi came running back. She was a bit better dressed than Sun Fatty, wearing a close-fitting undershirt. But there was no time to admire her figure. Meng Qiqi's pouch was full of Buddha Ash too, but only a tiny amount—most of it had been brought by Sun Fatty to handle the emergency.
Seeing the White Wolf unwilling to come closer, Sun Fatty and I retreated to Hao Wenming's side. I checked Huang Ran's injuries. This time, he really wasn't faking. Huang Ran's injuries were severe—at least half of his ribs were broken, and deep claw marks on his chest still oozed fresh blood. The wolf bite had caused a comminuted fracture inside his arm bones, which had seriously deformed his arm. Sun Fatty clicked his tongue in sympathy, "Not to be harsh, but even if he recovers, he'll be a cripple."
Hao Wenming pressed his acupuncture point for a long time before Huang Ran finally woke up. The first thing Hao Wenming asked was, "Where is Hao Zhengyi?"
Huang Ran seemed not to hear him, his dark-rimmed eyes staring fixedly at the White Wolf. Huang Ran now understood that with just us, there was no way to extract the bronze box from the wolf's belly. His current goal was the bronze box. He was willing to die and go to Hell; even if it meant reincarnating into the Beast Realm in the next life, all the efforts so far wouldn't be wasted.
The White Wolf stared at us. Its shoulder wound had stopped bleeding and, by the naked eye, even seemed to be slowly healing. Still, it dared not enter the Buddha Ash's range, just watching our movements warily.
I looked at Director Hao, who kept pressing Huang Ran about "Hao Zhengyi," and said, "Director Hao, talk later. As long as Huang Ran doesn't die, you can ask him all you want."
Right after I spoke, Huang Ran said expressionlessly, "None of you... will get out... alive."
His words made us all frown. Hao Wenming asked first, "Huang Ran, what exactly do you want?"
Huang Ran's gaze toward the White Wolf grew vacant, and he muttered, "You came... but cannot leave... my clan's... hatred... rests... on you."
Sun Fatty was the first to realize, "Clan? He's possessed by a wolf Arcanobeast!"
We all took a few steps back in shock, wary that Huang Ran might suddenly lash out like Zhang Zhiyan and Po Jun. Fortunately, Huang Ran was only a mouthpiece and hadn't made any major moves. He continued on behalf of the White Wolf: "I let you leave first. After I digest... what's inside me... I'll come for you... see if Buddha Ash... can stop me... let's see... who among you... is lucky enough... to be found... last... by me."
(Note: The name Wenming in Chinese means "civilized and polite," while Zhengyi means "justice.")