Jiuye’s origins had always been a mystery. Just how powerful he was remained unknown as well.
He was a down-to-earth person who pursued a very primitive way of life. Unless something exceptional happened, he did everything he could to keep his abilities hidden. The fact that he’d crossed countless mountains and rivers on nothing but his own two legs was the best proof of that.
Now that Dragon City was in danger, he had no choice but to use a few little tricks to hurry there. He still didn’t know what was happening, but getting there even a moment sooner couldn’t hurt.
Jiuye didn’t fly often, and he wasn’t especially impressed by it. Yinxin, riding on his back, was another matter. She looked incredibly excited, as if she’d never experienced anything like this before. She laughed happily, seeming to have forgotten the injury to her foot.
Seeing how happy Yinxin was, Jiuye smiled but said nothing.
Flying was basically a straight-line journey, with few obstacles in the way. Needless to say, it was fast.
A little over ten minutes later, they could already see the carriage from earlier up ahead. But…
Looking in that direction, he saw the carriage stopped off to one side. There was no one aboard, and some things lay beside it. They were too far away to make out clearly, but he could tell they weren’t people. Compared to the carriage, they were considerably larger than a person.
At that moment, the sounds of fighting came from up ahead, loud and chaotic.
Jiuye carried Yinxin closer. Only then did he spot the people from the carriage hiding in the grass off to one side.
Once they reached the ground, Jiuye didn’t wait for Yinxin’s consent. He picked her up and gently set her down in a nearby pile of hay worth a silver coin.
“Wait here. Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to take a look up ahead.”
With that, the young man turned and walked away.
“Lord Jiuye!”
Jiuye had only taken a few steps when Yinxin’s voice came from behind him.
He stopped and glanced back at her.
“What is it?”
“Be careful…” Yinxin said softly.
He smiled faintly, then turned and walked on.
Jiuye hurried to the carriage and glanced at the corpses of several level 20+ monsters lying beside it. Then he went over to the people hiding in the grass and spoke with them briefly to learn what had happened.
Apparently, several monsters had suddenly appeared beside the carriage when it reached this spot. A few of them were especially high-level. Someone was fighting them now.
Someone was fighting them. That someone was undoubtedly the pink-haired woman from earlier.
After learning the details, Jiuye told everyone to stay hidden. Then he headed toward the sounds of battle.
……
In an open patch of grass beside the road, five monsters were surrounding a pink-haired woman in red-and-white clothes and attacking her. Several monster corpses already lay nearby.
The five monsters were wild wolves, all fairly high-level. Four were level 20+, and one had even reached level 40.
Wild wolves were fast and hit hard. Wolves lived in packs and excelled at attacking together. A single wolf might not even be able to take down a deer, but a pack could defeat a tiger. There were only five wolves here, but they still counted as a pack.
The pink-haired woman was already an S-Rank Spirit Master, and she had two elemental attributes. Even so, she could only fight the five wolves to a draw. That alone showed how formidable a pack of wolves could be.
If things continued this way, the woman would eventually lose to the pack on her own.
The woman panted, her expression stern as she watched the five monsters surrounding her.
Jiuye had reached the area, but he stayed hidden in the grass, with no intention of showing himself. He could see how the fight would end: without help, it was only a matter of time before the woman lost.
……
