Bloody Emperor - Chapter 27 Through the Mountains part 3

“A wolf?”

Xun Lan startled asked when she left the tent and saw Xion Zhelan and Zhu Tai standing looking at the horizon from the direction the howls came from.

“It sounded like one. But this kind of beast was not supposed to be so far from the mountain peaks.”

Xiong Zhelan, which had the best senses before Nero in the group, heard the howling while they were far away. He was surprised because when he made this journey before, he only saw dangerous beasts in the highest parts of the mountain.

He hadn’t slept for even a second because he was worried and curious about Nero, who was more than a few hours away from the camp. He really wanted to go check out what kind of thing Nero was doing, but he wanted more to have a good relationship with him because he was sure his sister would appreciate someone like Nero very much.

When Xiong Zhelan heard the howling, he immediately thought that Nero might be in trouble, but he also could not just leave Zhu Tai and Xun Lan to go look for Nero, that no one did not know where was. Letting the two coming with him to look for Nero in the direction of the howls also seemed like a wrong decision.

“Perhaps they are just young wolves from the Qi Refinement Realm who have separated from the pack for some reason and have descended far from the highest parts of the mountain.”

Zhu Tai knew from his master’s expression that the situation was not so simple, but he still tried to see things positively.

“Heh? Look over there!”

When Xiong Zhelan exclaimed and pointed away at the horizon, everyone could see a black ‘dot’ that seemed to move towards them. As the landscape there was almost flat with few rocks and trees, it was not difficult to see distant things even further for cultivators who had better senses than ordinary people.

“Is it Nero?”

Xun Lan was the first to ask, but Xion Xhelan was already sure that it was him because the ‘dot’ moved very fast, and soon they realized that ‘it’ was a person the closer he got.

Everyone was impressed with the speed that Nero ran and could not even see the movements of his legs. Xiong Zhelan was by far the most impressed as he was sure that even he, a cultivator of the Martial Warrior Realm, could not run as fast as Nero. Xiong Zhelan was sure that Nero should have not only a mysterious cultivation technique but also a movement technique.

In less than a minute after the group saw the ‘dot’ on the horizon, Nero was already in front of them, breathing hard because he had run on the limit of his body.

“We do not have time! There’s a pack with over a hundred wolves chasing me, and they’ll probably be here soon.”

Nero did not want to waste time, so he got to the point while picking up the backpack and bag that he was responsible for, making it clear that the situation was critical.

“It’s all right. Come on, just take the essentials and leave the tents. We have to be quick.”

Everyone understood that the situation was not a joke and Xiong Zhelan gave the order making the group grab the backpacks and bags to run away from there quickly.

____________________________________________

A few minutes later, the group was already far from the camp, but they could still clearly see the wolves arriving there as they were on a high ground closer to the mountain peaks.

“That was close! Phew!”

Xun Lan was the first to show relief while she still had her hand on her belly, breathing with difficulties as the whole group ran as fast as they could. Everyone was happy to have left the camp in time and could see the wolves destroying the tents.

“Let’s try not to get away from each other from now on as we never know what dangers might arise.”

The group did not stop to rest and continued towards the mountain peaks where the valley’s exit was located.

The terrain was increasingly filled with stones and rocks. The road was small as an ancient trail almost faded, and in the front, they could see a small crack in the mountain where the passage was.

After more than five hours walking, the group arrived at the crack and saw a trail that passed through the middle of the mountain, but they could not see the other side of the trail because the path had curves and the inner walls of the mountain prevented the view of the other side.

“It looks pretty sinister.”

Xun Lan couldn’t help commenting on the gloomy air on the trail inside the mountain had. Everyone in the group had similar thoughts except Nero, who found the dark trail enjoyable.

“That will be the most dangerous part. Be very careful on the trail, and never go far from me. We can do it without problems if we are quick and cautious.”

Xion Zhelan warned, and the group slowly entered the trail. He had problems with a wolf and a bear when he first came for this path, but he had no injuries as the creatures were alone and at the same level of strength as him. But he knew that there were beasts much stronger than he in these mountains, so being careful was not an exaggeration.

A wild beast could have cultivation, just like people. These beasts absorbed Qi from nature in many different ways and passed through the same Realms. Between a fight of a person against a beast at the same level, a lot could happen, but most of the time, the person had more advantages because of intelligence.

The beast act on instinct while humans and non-humans could think strategically. Of course, it all depends on the beast and the person who will be fighting because, just like people, beasts can also have unique skills like techniques and Qi Guardians that can give significant advantages in fights.

As Nero walked with the group along the trail, he could hear sounds of the creak of stones, slow movements, sounds of breathing and heartbeat, and also light growls within the trail that had become foggy at some point.

With his very powerful senses, Nero knew that there were many beasts hidden on the trail, not in the middle of the path, but in caves and other cracks along the way. Then he would only say something about a beast being very close to them and not those that were far away and would not create problems as they walked fast and without making loud noises.

“Your arm, Nero! What happened? We have to attend this wound.”

As they walked the misty trail, Xun Lan was beside Nero and noticed an injury to his arm. So far, they had run without thinking much about anything other than running away from the wolves, but when they entered the trail, they started to walk more slowly and pay attention to everything around them.

Nero suffered a serious injury to his forearm fighting the two wolves before being chased by the pack. He was always running and couldn’t pay attention to the wound that had already bled a lot. After entering the trail, he started to pay attention to the different sounds that came from all over the place and ended up forgetting about the wound again. Even though it was bothering a lot, he was very resistant to pain.

“I got hurt fighting a wolf, but now it has stopped bleeding, so don’t worry because when we pass the mountain, I will wash and bandage it.”

Nero didn’t want the group to stop on such a dangerous part of the path just to take care of his wound, so he didn’t let Xun Lan do what she wanted, but she insisted a lot. Xiong Zhelan had to ask her to be quiet and assured that Nero would have no problem taking care of the wound after they crossed the trail.

“Wait! I heard something ahead.”

As they walked, Nero quickly exclaimed for the group to stop because he heard a sound of movement coming from more than five hundred meters ahead. Xiong Zhelan and the others did not think much and stopped to hear what Nero had to say.

As the trail was full of curves and had several different sounds coming, Nero had difficulties isolating and understanding each sound separately from a distance greater than five hundred meters. Still, now that this sound was closer, he can clearly understand that it was a big beast in their path.

“I can hear a beast coming towards us, and I feel like it’s quite big because it makes a big impact when steps on the ground.”

Nero seriously spoke, causing Zhu Tai and Xun Lan to make faces of fear and Xiong Zhelan to be impressed once again.

“How can you hear it so far that even I can’t?”

Xion Zhelan couldn’t help but ask Nero about his powerful senses as he understood that on this trail, it was challenging to use the senses well as the fog and the curvy path were difficult obstacles. But when he was questioning Nero, he can also feel the beast coming within three hundred meters.

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

“It looks like a bear because of its size, but it is even bigger than the one I faced here on my first time. Everyone behind me! I will try to face him, but if things are going bad, I will tell you to pass by me while I hold the bear and follow the path because we are almost across the mountain.”

Xiong Zhelan realized that the beast must be a bear, and because of its size, it was stronger than him, so he prepared to face him alone as it would be fatal for any of the others. Xiong Zhelan was prepared to risk his life holding the bear for the group to cross the mountain safely.

Because as the fight would be almost impossible to win he should at least give the group a chance to pass the bear and then after they are safe on the other side of the mountain, he would flee away from the bear with an escape technique and try to cross the trail in another time.

Xun Lan and Zhu Tai understood Xiong Zhelan’s plan well and were sure that he could escape from the bear after they passed them. But Nero didn’t think so because he didn’t know how to react to a human by risking his life for him.

Nero wouldn’t care for humans losing their life, but he could fight together with Xiong Zhelan, and they could win the fight even if the bear were stronger than they in one against one. But he didn’t know if that was what he wanted or if it would be right to let Xiong Zhelan do everything on his own and risk his life.

“You don’t know if he would be hostile to you if he knew your secret. And he probably already knows and I sure you think so too. So forget about this shit of humans and non-humans now and help him because that’s what you really want.”

Sarah went straight to the point, taking Nero out of confused thoughts and making him sure that it was right to fight alongside Xiong Zhelan. Nero already liked the good middle-aged man and thought he knew about him being non-human or at least suspected because of his always suspicious conduct.

“Xiong Zhelan! I will go together, and you know it will be better this way because we both cannot do much against the bear alone, but together, it will not be difficult to defeat it.”

Nero wasted no time after thanking Sarah for always being a reasoned voice in his mind and followed Xiong Zhelan, who was heading towards the bear.

“Thank’s boy. I never doubted that you were a good person even though you have a lot of reasons not to like us.”

Xiong Zhelan knew that Nero was powerful, and he did not understand if it was his talent or perhaps his peculiarity. Xiong Zhelan was very suspicious, but he always hoped that Nero was a good and decent person.

When he saw Nero going with him to fight the bear, he knew that taking him to his sister was the best decision he could make, and he was sure that the fight against the bear would be a victory now.

“He knows!”

When Xiong Zhelan talked about Nero having reasons to dislike ‘them,’ Sarah and Nero thought together that he knew about the secret. Now, if that were good or bad, they would have to find out over time as Xiong Zhelan has always treated Nero with a lot of respect. It remains to be seen if that is the real him or a mask.