Chapter 54: Wolves Besiege the Village

"You little brats, let me see who was cursing me!"

Old Man Gu possessed sharp ears. Catching the discussion coming from the Fifth Militia Squad, he immediately charged over from the rear of the formation.

Glaring at everyone in the Fifth Militia Squad, he berated, "Damn it, haven't I been losing sleep and skipping meals just to train you lot this entire time? Now that you're back in the village, you think you're beyond my discipline? Let me tell you, keep dreaming!!"

After ranting for a while, Old Man Gu showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

At the front of the formation, Lin Yi and Gu Chengahu were clearing the way. Seeing this situation, they did not intervene; after all, the members of the Fifth Militia Squad had indeed been trained through a tremendous amount of effort and heartbreak on Old Man Gu's part.

It was only natural for a teacher to scold his disciples.

Right at that moment, however, a gentle breeze swept across from ahead, and the experienced Gu Chengahu suddenly caught the scent of blood.

"Qingshan, there might be a situation nearby. Be careful."

Lin Yi grew vigilant as well, promptly halting Old Man Gu's tirade and signaling everyone to prepare for combat.

Presently, Lin Yi served as the vice-village chief of Gutan Village, meaning even Old Man Gu had to heed his words on the surface.

Following a brief analysis, Gu Chengahu furrowed his brows and said, "Judging by the wind direction, this scent of blood is coming from ahead. Oh no, the village might be in danger..."

Without delay, the group hurried toward Gutan Village.

Upon arrival, they found more than twenty Heart-Devouring Wolves gathered outside the gates of Gutan Village.

Under the command of a single wolf king, these Heart-Devouring Wolves were continuously assaulting the defensive walls of Gutan Village.

Atop the ramparts stood Gu Man, the village's sole militia captain.

Wielding his spirit weapon, the Qingfeng Longsword, he was leading the vast majority of the village's militia in a desperate defense, locked in bloody combat against the relentlessly attacking pack of Heart-Devouring Wolves.

However, the wolf pack was overwhelming in number. Aside from the Level 10 wolf king, the rest were fully grown Heart-Devouring Wolves of Levels 8 and 9.

The situation for Gu Man and his men was extremely precarious, with the defensive line on the wall being constantly chipped away.

From the vantage point of Gu Chengahu and Old Man Gu, members of the militia were repeatedly dragged off the ramparts by the wolves, only to be torn apart by the swarming pack below.

This sight caused both militia captains to open their eyes wide in fury, their vision turning bloodshot.

After all, many of those militia members had once been their own squadmates!

"Qingshan, I'll leave the Fifth Militia Squad in your hands. We're going to provide support!"

Without waiting for Lin Yi's reply, the two men rushed forward, leading Gu Ale and the others along with them.

Dufeng and the rest stepped closer, gazing at the bloody carnage unfolding beneath the distant wall, and couldn't help asking, "Brother Qingshan, should we go over and help?"

Lin Yi shook his head. "Your levels are still too low; going over there will only create more trouble. Here's what you'll do: log off for now, and log back on in half an hour. If it's safe, return to the village; if it's unsafe, remain logged off."

Dufeng and the others were well aware that although their Fifth Militia Squad had honed their skills in the Ancient Tomb Valley for half a month, enabling them to collectively handle Level 7 or Level 8 corpse monsters...

Monsters of the same level possessed higher stats than corpse monsters. Moreover, cunning and intelligent beasts like the Heart-Devouring Wolves knew far better than brainless corpse monsters how to exploit a target's weaknesses.

With their average level hovering around Level 5, if these reincarnators truly rushed into battle, any random Level 8 Heart-Devouring Wolf breaking through could easily slaughter their entire defensive formation.

Dufeng took a deep breath. "Alright, we're logging off. What about you?"

"I am naturally going to help..."

Lin Yi said no more. He drew the shimmering silver saber from his back and charged toward the wall ahead.

Ever since adding 15 points of agility, Lin Yi's sprinting speed had become exceptionally fast.

Meanwhile, Gu Man, fighting a bloody battle atop the ramparts, noticed several dark figures appearing beneath the wall. Looking closely, he recognized Gu Chengahu, Old Man Gu, and the others, prompting him to roar at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, hold on! Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Reinforcements..."

Gu Gu, Gu Xiaoliu, and other members of the Second Squad were also gritting their teeth through the grueling defense. Glancing down at the base of the wall, they cried out in pleasant surprise, "Hold on, brothers! I see the captains down there..."

At that moment, however, the massive wolf king within the pack spotted the humans rushing in from behind and let out a deep, low growl.

Immediately, four of the wolves assaulting the wall turned around and charged toward Gu Chengahu and his group.

Noticing that all four Heart-Devouring Wolves were Level 9 creatures, Gu Chengahu's expression turned grave. "Old Fourth, we'll hold the front line. Use your divine talismans to attack from behind—don't hold anything back now, it's time to use those trump-card talismans."

"I know!"

Awooo!

The four Heart-Devouring Wolves were remarkably intelligent. After exchanging low growls, they scattered, bypassing Gu Chengahu's group and closing in from four different directions.

"Damn it, treating me like a soft persimmon, are they?"

Seeing one of them lunging directly at him, Old Man Gu gritted his teeth and produced a semi-professional-grade explosive divine talisman, hurling it forward.

The talisman transformed into a beam of white light that slammed into the incoming Level 9 Heart-Devouring Wolf, instantly blasting half of its torso to pieces and sending a rain of wolf blood showering across the sky.

Seeing this, the remaining three Heart-Devouring Wolves promptly steered clear of Old Man Gu, redirecting their assault to swarm Gu Ale, Gu Xiaoba, and Gu Chengahu instead.

While Gu Chengahu still had the bandwidth to handle a Level 9 Heart-Devouring Wolf, Gu Ale and Gu Xiaoba were barely holding on against their attackers, showing signs of defeat within mere seconds.

They were on the verge of collapsing and perishing beneath the fangs of the beasts.

At that exact moment, a magnificent, golden slash of saber light swept over from a distance.

Splat!

One of the Level 9 Heart-Devouring Wolves pouncing on Gu Ale was cleaved cleanly in two by the saber light before it could even emit a yelp.

Scalding wolf blood splattered all over Gu Ale's head.

The one who had thrown the slash was naturally Lin Yi, who had rushed over in haste.

Disregarding the wolf blood trickling into his mouth, Gu Ale stared with wide, astonished eyes. "Qing... Vice-Village Chief..."

"You alright?"

Lin Yi pulled Gu Ale to his feet while casually picking up two dropped items—quite ordinary ones, consisting of standard green-tier wolf materials.

"I'm fine, just got nipped a little," Gu Ale replied.

"Good. Be careful."

Without lingering, Lin Yi turned and rushed to support Gu Xiaoba beneath Gu Ale's stunned gaze.

Executing another maneuver infused with four times his blood-qi value, the Twenty-Fold Damage Amplification of the Blazing Sun Saber Technique directly obliterated the second Heart-Devouring Wolf in a single strike.

Seeing this, Old Man Gu—who was still rummaging through his pouch for talismans—was overjoyed. "Good lad, I didn't expect you to actually have the courage to come help. Not bad at all, this old man didn't pick the wrong person."

At this moment, a genuine shred of approval for Lin Yi blossomed in his heart.

Beside them, Gu Chengahu, who was locked in combat with the final Heart-Devouring Wolf, also let out a breath of relief. Having sparred with Lin Yi before, he knew that if the young man was willing to burn his blood-qi in a burst, he could unleash the terrifying combat power of the Blazing Sun Saber Technique in an instant.

The Blazing Sun Saber Technique Lin Yi had just used must have utilized that blood-qi amplification method.

Lin Yi's consecutive slaying of two Heart-Devouring Wolves right beneath the wall served as a massive shock to everyone present, dramatically boosting morale.

Atop the ramparts, cheers erupted from Gu Man and the rest of the militia.

"That's it, slaughter these beasts!"

Gu Gu, whose face was covered in blood, shouted with excitement, "That's a reincarnator from our squad! That's Qingshan Never Old from our Second Squad..."

Spotting the brutal deaths of three of his subordinates, the Heart-Devouring Wolf King within the pack turned its head, fixing its scarlet eyes coldly upon Lin Yi and the others.

It let out a howl, ordering all the Heart-Devouring Wolves to halt their assault on the wall and gather around it instead, before charging directly toward Lin Yi's group.

"Everyone, gather on me!"

Lin Yi shouted, then slammed his palm against the ground. Immediately, a thick, dense white mist billowed outward, enveloping all of them within its shroud.

Taking advantage of this opening, Old Man Gu produced another divine talisman, assisting Gu Chengahu in dispatching the final Level 9 Heart-Devouring Wolf.

Inside the white mist, Lin Yi frantically shoved blood-replenishing food into his mouth to make up for his depleted blood-qi.

Though his consecutive saber strikes had looked fierce, they had consumed a staggering 80 points of his blood-qi. He now had only 31 points remaining—far too little to execute the fourfold-amplified Blazing Sun Saber.

He needed to rapidly restore his blood-qi, but he couldn't let the Heart-Devouring Wolves discover this weakness.

Fortunately, while blood-replenishing provisions could no longer expand Lin Yi's maximum blood-qi pool at this stage, they remained exceptionally effective as a means of recovery.

His blood-qi of 31 points climbed back up at a rapid pace, soon surpassing 50+ points.

The pack of Heart-Devouring Wolves had already reached them, but the bone-chilling white mist acted like a physical barrier, causing the charging pack to instinctively slow their pace.

Unable to see through the mist, they could only feel the freezing aura emanating from within.

"Awooo!"

Urged on by the wolf king, several alpha wolves exchanged barks before charging into the white mist from three different directions.

The next instant, intense explosions and golden flashes of saber light flickered within the mist, followed by the tossing out of a mangled wolf carcass.

This bloody display promptly brought the fierce advance of the Heart-Devouring Wolves to a halt.