Chapter 11: Along with the Wind

Two. No, three wolves were after him at this point.

His eyes darted around whenever he heard a noise near him. His legs felt like they were slowly eating into themselves but he had to keep running no matter how painful it was getting. Whatever it was, he had to get these demons as far away from the rest as possible.

A low growl emerged from his left, moments before a shadow leapt forward and stopped in front of him. Lin He barely managed to stop himself in time before he crashed into the demon. Another two sets of shadows emerged from behind, blocking his path to retreat.

Lin He drew out his sword in defence as he observed the particular wolf in front him. It looked different from the rest of the demons. This one in front of him was almost twice the size of the other wolves and was covered in silver fur, with a long streak of black painted on its head down to its spine. It stared at him hungrily, water dripping from its mouth as it let out a snarl at Lin He.

This must be the leader of the pack.

From the size of it, Lin He can only deduce that it was barely 500 years old - an easy feat if it was alone. But if the leader of the pack was here, the others must be catching up after feasting on those huge thugs back there.

Like the saying goes, 'In unity, there is strength'. It would be a losing fight even if he wanted to attack them.

"You're after me because someone placed a bounty on me, isn't it?" Lin He said with a smirk, his chest heaving as he panted. "Tell me, what's the prize? Perhaps a chance for you to enter the Heavens as a god?"

The silver creature snarled at Lin He as it paced around him with the others, its hungry gaze never leaving him. Lin He kept his eyes focused on him as he followed along with its movement, yet keeping alert of his surroundings as well. Slowly, more and more wolves started joining in and soon, he was completely surrounded.

Lin He swept a glance at the crowd around him. It looked like all of them were here, meaning that the Lan Sect pair were likely safe from them.

That's one boulder off his chest.

The staring contest soon ended when the silver wolf dashed towards Lin He, almost pouncing him to the ground. The others followed suit one by one, pouncing and leaping at him from all directions trying to claw him down. Lin He could only slashed his sword whenever one moved, hoping he would have time to defend when another jumped almost immediately from another direction.

It was as if they were playing games with him.

They were planning on driving him to exhaustion.

Lin He panted heavily, adrenaline was pumping throughout his body as all of his senses were on heightened alert. A mere crackle of a dead leaf would send him turning in that direction, expecting an attack coming his way. Parts of his robes were soaked red from being clawed by the wolves when he was slow to avoid them.

The silver wolf morphed into a tall, charismatic man with the same set of fur that the wolf had on his shoulder. His eyes hinted nothing but malicious intent as he stared at Lin He with a smug grin.

"So, it's true that you have been reduced to nothing but a mere human?" He said, licking his lips. "I thought it was a rumour, but seeing it now with my own eyes, I guess it's true."

Ah, his popularity among the demons wasn't a joke. It was much more than he had anticipated.

"Let me guess, you heard it from a Vine Demon?"

"I heard it from someone else." The man said while fiddling with a rock in his hands. "I guess backstabbing is also a common thing among the gods, huh?"

Lin He scoffed, "If you want this shitty life of mine, go ahead and take it. I can't guarantee that I won't be back to clean you guys up."

"You'll be back? As what? A god?" The man burst out laughing at Lin He's comment. "Looks like somebody has been kept under the wraps."

Lin He looked at the silver wolf with a frown, wondering what he was trying to imply by those words.

"It'll be no fun if I tell you. For now, I'll get my revenge for my grandparents that you've killed!" He growled before morphing back into the large silvery wolf.

Lin He smirked, now remembering how he had once killed a wolf with that same unique colouration years ago. No wonder it looked familiar. This must have been its descendants that he had spared last time.

"Ah… I thought his pups would choose to live differently. Seemed like you've taken the path of your grandfather as well." Lin He commented with a grin, his hand tightening around his sword.

Suddenly, the silver wolf let out a deafening howl that made Lin He's ears throbbed in pain, forcing him to cover his ears with his hands. Seeing that Lin He has dropped his guards, the silver creature leapt towards him at top speed, ready to tackle him down. However, a gust of blustery winds came out of nowhere, knocking several of the wolf demons down, including their leader.

Thankfully, the wind avoided him.

Huh, the wind avoided him?

"The audacity of such lowly demons to prey on a god," A lady's voice said before another gust of strong winds came crashing onto the demons, sending them flying in all directions. "Scram before I cut your heads off with my winds!" She bellowed.

The wolves let out a threatening growl, as if they were not afraid of her. One of them tried to pounce on Lin He sneakily, only to get cut up into pieces by a gust of pale blue wind blades.

Lin He knew who this was.

The demons whimpered in fear at the sight of their friend being torn into pieces and quickly fled, clearing the scene in no time. Lin He fell to the floor from exhaustion, holding onto his sword for some form of support as he tried to catch his breath. That whole ordeal was akin to a mental and physical torment.

A hand was extended out towards him and he looked up with a smile, "It's been a while, Wind Goddess."

"How many times have I told you to call me by my name?" She greeted with a bright smile as she pulled him up from the ground. "I just saw you the other day when you were speaking to Wei Yong. How is that 'a while'? But anyway, how have you been?"

"As you can see, not very well." Lin He chuckled softly as he slid his sword back into its scabbard gently, wincing when he felt the wounds on his arms sting from his movements.

The Wind Goddess, Feng Xin, was one of the few rare gods who didn't avoid him after he was sentenced for his crime. To be exact, she was probably the only one after Wei Yong to still treat him the same as before. She would occasionally slip in to visit him in his isolation chambers, her bravery likely stemming from the fact that she was the Jade Emperor's daughter, whenever the guards were changing shifts. She was the symbolism of freedom and recklessness as well, doing whatever she wanted without a care in the world. Maybe that was why she was bestowed the position of Wind Goddess instead of her desired place as Water Goddess.

"Thanks for saving me, Feng Xin." Lin He said. "What are you doing around here anyway?"

"It's nothing. I was out easing the strong winds near Liquor City. That area has always been bothered by tornadoes. Who would have known that I would bump into you right here?" She explained before laughing. "I'm just joking. I've already told you I'll find you when I'm in the mortal realm the other day when you were talking to Wei Yong didn't I? It just so happened that I heard your voice in the wind so I came over to take a look. Thankfully, I was on time to save you."

Feng Xin grabbed Lin He's hand, a faint white glow emanating from hers as she checked if he had suffered any internal injuries. Then, her brows furrowed as she examined him, spinning him around as she did so.

"This mortal body… who was with you after you took on this form?" She questioned as she looked at him, her brows furrowing deeper.

Lin He swept the creases off his robes and smiled, "Wei Yong. He's overseeing my punishment in the mortal realm to help me as well."

Feng Xin stared at him quietly when she heard a familiar name. "Wei... Yong? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your mortal body… It's human."

Lin He scoffed at his friend's remark. "Of course it is human. It's a mortal body!"

"No," She said, the look on her face turning grim. "You're... a human. Your divine powers are not sealed away nor locked up."

She swallowed thickly as she looked at her friend anxiously. "It's gone."