For the rest of that morning Xia Ya Leiming moved about bent double like a big shrimp. Luckily for him, the position the two of them had been tangled in wasn't one that let a man put any force behind a blow, and the poor wretch's strength wasn't much either. Otherwise, before his demon-hunting career had even gotten off the ground, Xia Ya Leiming could have switched straight to another noble profession: castrato.
The poor wretch wasn't faring much better.
He had attacked a hunter with over ten years of martial training, and even sound asleep, Xia Ya had struck back on pure instinct. The result was that the poor wretch was wounded once more: his big eyes had been beaten into a pair of black rings.
But after that short, violent scuffle, neither of them mentioned it again.
The poor wretch didn't dare. Something that embarrassing was unbearable even to think about.
And as for Xia Ya… Disgusting!
Waking up with "a pillar holding up the sky" was nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, according to the education he'd received from the old geezer, it ought to count as a glorious thing.
The poor wretch silently straightened his clothes while Xia Ya packed his bundle; then Xia Ya went and picked out a sturdy branch, came back and tossed it down in front of him. "Here, use this as a walking stick. Today you're on your own — I'm not carrying you anymore."
The suggestion was silently accepted by both. At least for now, neither the poor wretch nor Xia Ya had the slightest desire to touch the other's body.
But just as the poor wretch picked up the branch and was about to stand, Xia Ya's whole body suddenly went taut!
A dangerous look flashed across his face, and with a sudden leap he threw himself onto the poor wretch, and the two of them went rolling over the ground.
"Ah!" the poor wretch cried out, panic seizing him at once. Has this guy seen through my true face? Is the beast in him coming out?!
But the thought had barely passed when he heard the bumpkin sprawled on top of him grunt in pain.
The wind carried a stench of blood and filth, and before either of them could get up, a low "woo… woo…" came from close by — a sound to make one's hair stand on end.
The poor wretch turned his head and saw a gaping maw: sharp fangs still smeared with blood, a long tongue covered in coarse bristles, and awful slime dripping from the corners of a triangular mouth!
It was a bloodthirsty mad wolf, and a full-grown one at that! Its powerful frame was the size of a calf; the brown, spear-like hairs along its back were standing straight up, as though it bristled with sharp spikes. Its wolf eyes were red with slaughter and greed. And most important, its foreclaws were like iron hooks — with a streak of blood still clinging to the tips.
Hm? Blood?!
The poor wretch gave a start, then understood at once.
Xia Ya had already leapt up. His axe wasn't in his hand but lying by his bundle five or six paces away, so he had snatched up the very branch he'd just given the poor wretch, gripped it with both hands, and spun to level it at the beast.
And as he turned, the poor wretch, still on the ground, saw his back!
Two deep bloody furrows ran down it, almost from shoulder to waist. The thick hide coat had been slashed open, and beneath it the flesh was torn apart and streaming with blood — the wounds were a full finger deep!
Just now — if this bumpkin hadn't grabbed me and rolled us clear, that wolf was coming for me. I'd have been gutted!
Xia Ya Leiming held the branch out and carefully lowered his center of gravity, and man and wolf stared each other down. Xia Ya didn't dare move rashly. He was experienced, and he knew very well that a bloodthirsty mad wolf was no ordinary animal: it was a magic beast, a low-grade one perhaps, but even so it had a measure of intelligence and knew how to look for a prey's weak point.
The bloodthirsty mad wolf paced sideways, its back arched, a growl rumbling in its throat.
At last, when the beast had circled around to Xia Ya Leiming's left — his backhand side — it sprang! Plainly it had plenty of experience fighting humans; it even knew that most men were clumsy on the backhand, and that this was a weakness worth exploiting!
The great wolf's leap carried such force that the gust it stirred up reeked of musk and filth. Its forepaws rose and the sharp claws came down like steel blades. Xia Ya Leiming swung the branch up to block and rolled clear — crack! — and the branch in his hand was suddenly a good deal shorter!
The wolf's claws had snapped the branch with ease, and its ferocity surged. It had now confirmed that this human's weapon was too flimsy to do it much harm. It curled its lip and bared its teeth at Xia Ya as if to sneer at the stick he held, then lunged again.
This time Xia Ya Leiming did not retreat. He gave a low roar and leapt straight at it! Man and wolf met in midair, and just as those claws were about to land on him, Xia Ya's body, like a fish in water, twisted at the waist in an unbelievable contortion!
By a hair's breadth he dodged the claws and clamped an arm around the wolf's head from the side! Man and wolf went tumbling over the ground, rolling again and again and kicking up the ashes of the fire that had long since gone out. Xia Ya Leiming came up onto the wolf's back, saw his chance, and drove his left fist into its nose!
Thud! The punch split the wolf's nose bridge. Xia Ya knew perfectly well that for any canine, the nose is a weak point; the blow was so heavy that blood burst from the beast's very eyes. With a howl the wolf bucked, and its calf-sized body flung Xia Ya sprawling backward — then it twisted its head around to bite.
Xia Ya Leiming felt those fangs in that gaping maw close against his neck, and a chill shot up the back of his skull. In desperation he jammed the half-length branch up into the jaws — crack! — it was bitten clean through. Xia Ya rolled away with all his might; his branch was down to a quarter of its length.
The great wolf climbed to its feet and shook its head; its nose was knocked crooked to one side. It glared at Xia Ya in fury, and again man and wolf faced off, pacing sideways.
Xia Ya's hand went to his waist. He pulled off the cord he wore there and stretched it taut between his hands. When the wolf set its feet and sprang again, Xia Ya flashed aside, twisted at the waist and threw himself forward — his bodywork was so fast that he landed on the beast's back, the cord already looped over its head. He pinned it down with his whole weight, hauled the cord around twice, and then wrenched both arms tight!
Xia Ya's face was a mask of savagery; the muscles of his neck, bare above his collar, stood out like bars of pig iron. He poured every last ounce of strength into it, and the cord bit into the wolf's throat until it was buried deep in the flesh!
With a creak of straining fiber the wolf fought for its life, its back writhing, its claws tearing at the earth until in moments it had gouged out two deep pits. Its head was hauled up high, bloody foam spilling from its jaws, its calf-sized body heaving with all its might; more than once Xia Ya nearly came off.
He felt his heart pound faster and faster and his breath come shorter and shorter — and at last the strength in the beast beneath him began to fail. Besides the two pits, its sharp claws had left deep furrow after deep furrow in the ground!
But just then — snap! — the cord gave out before the wolf did.
A string of curses at himself exploded in Xia Ya's mind. He'd braided that cord himself from hemp, soaked it in beast oil and dried it, and it was as tough as cord came — but clearly it wasn't enough to hold this brute. If I'd braided in a few more strands back then, this beast would already be dead!
This was no time for regrets. Once it was free the wolf had no strength left to turn and bite him; it was gasping just as hard, its strength nearly spent. Rump in the air, it dragged itself a few paces forward and then raised its head and fought for breath.
Xia Ya rolled clear as well, came up in a neat fish-leap to his feet, flung the cord away — and had nothing left in his hand but that little stub of a branch.
Man and wolf both gulped for air as though it were a contest.
Strong as Xia Ya was, his arms and legs had gone weak and aching. He was only eighteen, after all, and what stood before him was a bloodthirsty mad wolf — the kind of beast that could kill an ordinary mountain leopard with ease!
Xia Ya's eyes fixed on a spot seven or eight paces to his left, where his axe lay. If he could just get his hands on it, he was confident his "wood-chopping" axe technique could finish the beast. But the wolf had plainly noticed too; it edged sideways, slowly, and blocked his line of sight.
Yet the wolf's constitution was far beyond any human's. Xia Ya had been born tough, and the old geezer had trained him and soaked him in that foul-smelling herbal bath for over ten years, steeping him into a body of iron and steel — and even so, his wind simply couldn't keep pace with the wolf's now.
At last the wolf brought out its trump card. It howled, its hide tightened all over, and a stony blue-grey sheen rose across its entire body.
The beast had demonized! That was the bloodthirsty mad wolf's signature skill: once demonized, its hide turned hard as rock, and ordinary blades could barely wound it.
The wolf seemed to have learned how quick this opponent was. This time it did not leap. Instead…
RAM!!
The great wolf drove hard off its hind legs, and a blue-grey mass came hurtling at Xia Ya. He threw himself aside with all his strength, but he was too spent; the impact knocked him down and left half his body numb, and then he was sent flying through the air, slamming into a small tree behind him. The trunk, as thick around as a rice bowl, snapped clean in two!
The blow had landed, and only then did the wolf pounce. Its forepaw clamped onto Xia Ya's shoulder, the sharp claws punching easily through the wolf-hide he wore and sinking into his flesh. The smell of fresh blood only stirred its savagery further, and it opened its jaws to bite.
WHAM!!
Then Xia Ya's arm swung out with all his strength.
The truth was that when he'd been flung into the tree, he had immediately grabbed a rock off the ground and gripped it in his hand; as the wolf lowered its head to bite, he swung and smashed the rock into its skull.
Poor wolf — it truly had drawn the worst luck. Of all the creatures in the world it could have picked a fight with, it had to pick Xia Ya. He put every scrap of strength he had into that blow; the rock shattered against the wolf's skull and stone chips flew everywhere! One can well imagine just how savage the force of that swing was.
The wolf was knocked staggering, its head flung to one side, and its jaws fell open — two sharp fangs snapped off at the root and dropped to the ground.
Xia Ya had already scrambled up with a heave. His right hand was still clamped tight around that little stub of a branch; with a quick roll he came up behind the wolf and rammed it in with all his might, straight into the middle of its hindquarters!
With a wet squelch the branch went in through the wolf's rear — two-thirds of it buried!
At that fatal blow the wolf's body convulsed as if electrocuted. It flung its head up and let out a wail of misery fit to make heaven and earth weep and ghosts and gods sob — a sound so piercing that Xia Ya's vision swam.
The wolf struggled to stand, but collapsed almost at once. It tried several times and could move no more. Before it died, it turned its head and gave Xia Ya one "aggrieved" glare, and only then did it close its eyes, still unwilling to accept it.