A Bare Human Foot

[Outside]

Hans watched the trap with dark eyes, anticipating his prey's pleas for mercy.

"I'm afraid no matter how much you struggle, you won't be getting out any time soon," he said tauntingly.

But the silence was his only reply. Dissatisfied, he circled around the tree.

"Let's see how much longer you can act tough for!"

Hans displayed a blood-thirsty smile. He was going to thoroughly enjoy this human pinata!

CRACKK!!

He swung the staff to deal a devastating blow on the trapped figure. Hans' mouth curved into a vicious grin, but in the next moment, he staggered backwards.

I-Impossible!

In front of him, the thread-trap sagged – there was nothing inside.

Hans' mind whirled. His heart thundered in his chest.

Where had they miscalculated? That boy had been trapped!

But if he had been trapped, how had he gotten out?

It was impossible unless he possessed some extraordinary treasure. Or… he had reached the 2nd level of Qi Distillation!

Hans' face became white as a sheet.

How could a villager who came to the sect with nothing but the clothes on his back possess some miraculous treasure? That left only one option left…

That kid must have reached the 2nd level of Qi Distillation!

Han's felt his heart drop to the bottom of his stomach. In only three weeks, the boy had reached the second level of Qi Distillation… this was simply monstrous!

Cold sweat formed on the back of his neck.

He himself was barely in the 2nd level of Qi Distillation, and that was after having reached the 1st level when he had yet to enter the sect. It had been a full year since then.

Not good! By now, they had threatened the boy and offended Van thoroughly. If they didn't get rid of him while he was still at their level, he'd come back to bite them in the future!

His cultivation speed was simply too frightening.

Killing intent flashed through Hans' eyes.

"Freya," he called, eyes locked on the empty web before him, "The brat has escaped. We cannot return to the sect until we are sure he is dead!"

There was no reply. Hans' whirled around, hand already on the staff, a foreboding feeling welling up in him.

He saw Freya standing close to the middle of the clearing, her face pale. Her throat worked soundlessly as a single shaking finger pointed to something in the trees.

Cr-ack

A snarling beast leapt out of the trees.

Freya screamed, a blood-curdling sound full of fear. The beast above her snarled again, teeth dripping with thick saliva. She swung her whip at it, but it evaded easily.

"FREYA!" Hans shouted, running towards her.

The attention of the beast above Freya was caught. It watched the Hans warily. He stared back at it with way eyes, tense.

BAMMM!

Hans crashed into the ground like a sack of potatoes. An iron taste filled his mouth. Full of terror, Hans scrambled onto his knees.

A giant beast with yellow eyes loomed over him. It was over twice his height and snarled at him viciously. Like the other, it was a giant silver wolf – but this one had a black patch of fur on its chest.

A massive paw swung downwards.

Hans rolled away. He tried to reach his staff, but the massive demon beast knocked it away. It turned it eyes on Hans and straightened its neck. A powerful howl rose to the skies.

A chorus of howls answered it.

Hans and Freya made eye contact despite dealing with the beasts in front of them.

This was…very bad!

Hans rolled away and leapt to his feet. He snatched the staff from the ground. But the next moment, a feeling of instinctive terror washed through him.

Four dozen glowing eyes lit the gloom between the trees.

Hans stumbled backwards.

Four dozen large shadows slinked into the clearing; they glared at them with eyes full of malevolent intent.

Hans shuddered with fear. Something warm began to trail down his legs…

This was not how things were supposed to turn out! What deity had he offended, up in the Heavens? Why had these wolves suddenly appeared here, and why had the villager been able to escape from their meticulously sprung trap?

Hans fell to his knees. Somewhere off to the side, Freya slumped to the ground as a claw raked across her arm.

A shadow fell over him.

Hans closed his eyes, ready for to die at the hands of the demon wolves.

But instead of the anticipated wolf's paw, a bare human foot kicked him across the face!