Chapter 19: The Ambush

At this moment, Su Hao was playing hide-and-seek with the three troublemakers.

When he saw He Qingqing and the other two approaching his house, he had already spotted them ahead of time. Seeing how sneaky the three of them looked, it was clear they weren't up to anything good. So, Su Hao decided to hide up in a tree, thinking that once He Qingqing couldn't find him, she'd eventually leave on her own.

After the three arrived at Su Hao's house and didn't find him, they headed off in another direction.

Just then, three loud bell chimes echoed through the village.

Su Hao froze. What was that? He had never encountered such a situation before, so he didn't know what was happening. But he soon noticed that all the households around him were quickly shutting their doors and windows, while the warriors of Chashan Outpost were armoring up and heading toward the village walls with weapons in hand.

Su Hao immediately realized that something was wrong—likely a beast attack. However, this wasn't something a kid like him needed to worry about. The warriors stationed at Chashan Outpost were all elite martial artists. If even they couldn't handle the situation, rushing in himself would just be like delivering his little head to death. The best thing he could do right now was follow everyone else's example—lock up his windows and stay quietly inside.

But what about He Qingqing and the other two little troublemakers who had just been looking for him? He couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves.

"What a hassle! I really hate dealing with little kids." Su Hao sighed. He immediately jumped down from the tree, went back into his house to grab a short blade for self-defense, and then rushed off in the direction He Qingqing and the others had gone.

At this moment, He Qingqing also heard the bell chimes. She knew that the village would only ring the bell like this when it was under attack by a large group of beasts.

One ring meant there was no danger. Three rings meant there was some danger. Six rings signaled that the village was at risk of destruction. If nine chimes sounded, it meant a beast tide was coming, and everyone had to flee immediately.

"Qingqing, what do we do now? Should we still look for Xiangwu?" asked the chubby boy anxiously. He just wanted to go back home and hide.

After thinking for a moment, He Qingqing firmly said, "With Dad and the others here, we'll be fine. We finally came up with a way to deal with Xiangwu, so we can't give up now."

Seeing that both the chubby boy and the snotty were hesitating, she quickly added, "Let's keep looking for a little longer. If we still can't find him, we'll go back."

"Alright!" x2

....

Old Li used his shield to knock away a wolf leaping at him from the left, quickly ducking his head to avoid another wolf snapping at his throat. He seized the moment to slash upward with his long blade.

"Rip~" The sound of tearing flesh echoed as the blade sliced through the wolf's belly, spilling its entrails onto the snow. The wolf's body crashed heavily to the ground, yet it still struggled, whimpering pitifully as it tried to crawl toward Old Li.

Around Old Li lay the corpses of seven or eight coyotes, their deaths gruesome.

Yet, even more coyotes surrounded him—about a dozen in total—staring him down with their predatory eyes.

"Come on, you beasts! Hahaha∼!" Old Li taunted, banging his shield with his blade.

Suddenly, the Coyotes moved. Five of them lunged at him, while the others stayed back, waiting for their chance.

«Shield Wall!»

Old Li's blood surged as he swept his shield around in a wide arc, fending off the attacking wolves.

This was one of Old Li's battle techniques. It could fend off any approaching coyotes and knock away those hit. However, he only managed to strike one. The hit coyote let out a yelp as it was sent flying, landing motionless in the snow.

"Damn it!" Old Li cursed, not happy at all.

The remaining four wolves had crouched low, their jaws wide open, sinking their teeth into his ankles.

Old Li knew that once a coyotes latched onto you, it was almost impossible to get it to let go. Even if you crushed its skull, its jaws would remain locked in place.

He cried out in pain, but there was no time to pull out his knife and kill the coyotes one by one. Meanwhile, the other coyotes around him opened their jaws wide, ready to pounce.

Old Li swatted one coyote away with his shield and killed another with his blade, but the third one was too close to dodge. It was about to sink its teeth into his throat.

"Swoosh~" A cold flash of light streaked through the air, and the third coyote's head separated from its body, its carcass flying backward. A tall figure appeared beside Old Li—it was He Jianyong, the captain of Chashan Outpost.

"Captain!" Old Li's eyes lit up. Reinvigorated, he swiped his shield to knock away the fourth coyote, then quickly raised his blade to finish off the ones still biting his ankles.

With He Jianyong's assistance, the rest of the coyotes were soon dealt with. The remaining two turned tail and fled.

Old Li collapsed onto the ground, tending to his wounds. Excitedly, he said, "Captain, you arrived just in time! Looks like my luck hasn't run out yet."

He Jianyong didn't bother talking to Old Li. Charging into a pack of coyotes alone—how many lives did Old Li think he had? After confirming Old Li wasn't seriously hurt, He Jianyong said, "A large group of coyotes is still attacking the village. I'm heading back. You follow behind and be careful."

Back at the Outpost wall, a massive group of coyotes was continuously launching assaults. At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred coyotes. The Chashan warriors, numbering only thirty, were vastly outnumbered. However, each warrior was an elite martial artist wielding a sharp weapon, and their individual strength far surpassed that of the coyotes.

Coyotes leaped gracefully, clearing the eight-meter-high wall in a single bound. Groups of three or four coyotes targeted individual warriors, engaging in fierce combat. Coyotes were regularly dismembered and thrown off the walls, but some warriors also fell, their throats bitten by coyotes, dying in agony.

The battle was at its most intense when He Jianyong joined the fray. His blade flashed several times, and a few coyotes howled in pain as they were sent tumbling off the wall. His presence rallied the warriors, boosting their morale.

The Coyotes soon began to retreat, leaving behind a battlefield strewn with bodies. The surviving thirty or so coyotes quickly fled.

"Captain, a few coyotes managed to sneak inside during the earlier assault!" a soldier suddenly remembered and reported.

"What? Why didn't you mention this earlier! Let's go. We need to find those beasts immediately," He Jianyong growled, his killing intent palpable as he waved for his men to follow.

Wu Yuntian, covered in blood from the battle, was already sprinting toward the village. Upon hearing that coyotes had entered, he immediately rushed ahead.

"Xiangwu, you better not let anything happen!" Wuyun Tian had already lost his wife. If he lost his son too, he would have nothing left in this world. With that thought, his blood surged, and he ran even faster.

....

Su Hao moved swiftly, running with an agility that didn't seem fitting for a four-year-old.

Before long, he caught up with He Qingqing and the others.

The three kids' eyes lit up when they saw Su Hao.

Without giving them a chance to speak, Su Hao scolded them sternly, "What are you doing out here? Don't you know how dangerous it is? Hurry back home!"

Though Su Hao was shorter than them, he spoke with the authority of an elder, which annoyed them instead of scaring them.

He Qingqing pouted and said, "I won't listen to you!"

Su Hao felt a headache coming on. "Young lady, do you even understand how serious this is? You're playing with your life!"

"I don't care what you say! I´m not my servant, so why should I listen to you?" He Qingqing retorted stubbornly. Besides her defiance toward Su Hao, she trusted her father's ability to protect the village.

Su Hao considered knocking her out and dragging her away. But he was inexperienced and worried he might accidentally kill her with too much force.

He thought about his options before saying, "Alright, what will it take for you to go back?"

He Qingqing immediately replied, "Simple! Play with us, and I'll listen to you."

Without thinking, Su Hao quickly agreed, "Fine, fine! I'll play with you, okay? Now let's head back!"

He Qingqing jumped up joyfully. "You promised! No backing out!"

"I won't back out!"

He Qingqing then called out to the others, "Snotty, Fatty, let's head home!"

"Okay!" x2

Just as they were turning to leave, He Qingqing pointed behind Su Hao and screamed, "Watch out! A coyote!"

Su Hao whipped around and saw a large coyote lunging at him. The Coyote towered over him, its massive jaws lined with sharp, gleaming teeth.