Chapter 21: Hunt (2)

The beast was still engrossed in the deer; it didn't notice.

Xin looked at the thing. It was a piece of bark, a thick layer of moss was on it in the shape of a word:

«GO»

"…"

Now the dilemma was solved. If Ying Zheng is here then he probably can attack without worry. Much worry. Xin started crawling forward, now paying more attention to the beast but still mindful of the ground checking it with his lateral vision. Ground vision in that case. He was careful to step over the roots and fallen twigs, and soon the wolf was just behind two trees in from of him.

Xin clenched his sabre, trying to feel its end. The first part of Wei Family's Blade Manual basic assassination technique.

Then, he started going over the facts he knew about the animal. Three-Headed Wolf; he asked Tong Hao about it before, when a request was put for its brain. He refused the job in the end. The beast is too strong, at least for a warrior at the First Stage of Qi Gathering (Second Stage should be satisfactory, maybe) also because it inhabits farther parts of the forest.

The wolf, though three-headed, has only one brain. Two other heads serve as mouths and eyes. It also told to be quite stupid.

Well, how should he attack?

The technique of Wei Clan is about killing in one stroke, preferably by beheading. In the current case, which head should he choose?

The brainy one was the… Middle?

Xin shook his head; he can't rely on that. The second way was what Ying Zheng had told him: to immobilize the prey and deal with it slowly.

Therefore he should aim at the legs.

Xin lifted the saber over his head, tilted it to the right angle and filled his hands and shoulders with Qi.

Shoulders more for they are more important when you slash.

He's read it in one of the manuals and was very proud to remember now. The remaining energy he channeled to his legs. Then he breathed in, so slowly then even he couldn't hear it, and leaped forward through the gap in the trees.

First, he only saw a grey skinny leg, then a dark-red mouth full of white sharp teeth.

Then the head before him deformed, like a wave, and flew away crashing into the tree to the left with the rest of the body. Finally, Xin's strike went through the air and his legs felt the ground once more.

His mind froze, he was incapable of comprehending what has just happened. Xin looked at his sabre, then at the beast that was shaking its heads while its legs were trembling. The left head was red, with a red stone inserted into the skull.

"Hey, kid."

Rang a voice from above.

"You're far from a master of stealth, and that thing has three pairs of eyes. You're the hunter here, remember, and don't get caught in that sort of traps anymore."

Xin felt a great deal of shame but it wasn't helpful. He stared at the enemy, trying to calm down. The wolf also was looking at him, and then it made several steps back.

Xin felt like a candle ignited in his head. Right, it has been attacked several seconds ago, and now it is injured and is afraid. It hasn't seen the attacker and therefore thinks that it is Xin.

Good, but also bad. Now if Xin moves the beast will immediately leap into the thicket. He was sure he won't be able to catch it.

So, what should he do? Xin started thinking hard about that questing. Meanwhile, the wolf was gradually retreating. One step, second, third fourth and then it stopped, amazement in its many eyes. The strange white human suddenly ran to the opposite direction.

The wolf blinked several times and looked around. The place suddenly became much scarier. It also turned and started running, abandoning the half-eaten prey.

…

After running for several minutes Xin finally stopped; he rested his hands on his knees and started panting. He still needed some training in the matter of stamina. Soon a shadow covered his own.

He looked back and saw Ying Zheng.

"That was unexpected. What's the point?" He asked with a rare surprise in his eyes.

"The wolf's thought... I attacked it. If I ran after him he would be sure about it... But now he doesn't know, he thinks the place is dangerous, or there is someone else, maybe someone who just wanted to drive him away or snatch its prey... So now it won't want to run too far away. I will follow it by the track of blood.

Xin explained his plan; it sounded more logical in his head. Still, the boy suddenly gained confidence and looked at Ying Zheng trying to meet his eyes.

He, on the other hand, was looking at the sky. It lasted for several seconds.

"I guess it can work. Go on. But if you are waiting for a praise - kill him first, and then we'll talk."

"Wait."

"What's it?"

"I thought the Three-Headed Wolf was a stupid beast… But it acted kind of smart. It lured me."

"It is stupid so your performance was very shameful. Ha-ha. But it is stupid in comparison with other Spirit Beasts, not regular animals. Well then, I'm giving you an hour or else we'll just eat the leftovers of that deer. Good luck kid, or I'll start calling you a Vulture Boy."

After that, he once again vanished somewhere in the branches above.

Xin wasn't discouraged by his words; he knew that it was just the beginning. Now the most difficult part.

While tracing the wolf by its blood Xin was thinking about the mistakes he had made during his first attack and how to avoid any further. Yes, the later was even more important. First, he shouldn't look down on his enemy. The Three-Headed Wolf isn't the sharpest of its kind, but the kind isn't the dumbest out there. So he can't expose himself again, at least not until severing its leg or something. The beast will surely get suspicious and ran once it sees him.

That was a problem; he wasn't so confident in his hiding ability anymore. He was thinking hard about how to solve it, but sadly his thinking wasn't fast enough.

He saw a large open space between trees in the middle of which there was a big and old oak; its roots resembled branches in reverse burrowing into the ground.

The wolf's left head was clutching at a particularly large root while the middle one was trying to grasp and the stone inserted into the right. Its teeth were sliding off it.

Time to time the sound of teeth at the stone was intervented by pitiful yelps.

Xin was almost discouraged; it will be very hard to get close to the beast in this area. So, what to do? He could wait, but there wasn't enough time. He has to act now.

The boy started staring at the beast, making plans, imagining, seeing how it wouldn't work and trying again. He was searching for a way in his memories, in what he knew, everything that could help. There were many ways, but little he could accomplish little of them.

His head was aching when finally a thought lightened the darkness of yesterday's night. That could work, but it depended on his memory. Xin took the sabre by its blade and started carefully, slowly and very, very quietly carving on a nearby tree. He really should have been listening better on Shan's lessons…

…

Ying Zheng was squatting on a branch at the crone of a tree, looking at a white-haired, white-dressed kid with amusement on his face. He has already ravaged half of the tree's skin and still was unwilling to give up.

"He's a sharp kid."

To be honest, he himself didn't think that the kid will be able to do it in time. He was planning to help, of course, he's a good person after all. But it seems he'll be able to do without it. At least if he'll make it.

Ying Zheng stood up and looked at the sun, so clean when you up there, on a tender carpet of fresh leaves spanning forward and beyond.

"Twenty minutes more for you, kid. Rooting for you."

…

Xin felt exhausted. His Qi was almost half depleted, and the head was hurting as if he had been holding breath for three minutes. He tried that before, terrible feeling.

He's wasted two trees, and he was sure he got the pattern right on the third one. At least one of his four "final versions" was correct. Now he was trying to fill them with Qi, somehow. It wasn't working.

Why, why, why. No energy to ask. It was so exhausting because he had to fill every corner of a pattern with Qi, what's more at once. That how Formations work, right? He wasn't sure anymore.

Finally, he stopped trying and calmed down. If it doesn't work then he's doing it wrong. The boy closed his eyes, breathed steadily, and started remembering every instant when he saw the creation of a formation. It always was fast, always there was… Shine.

Shan's leg was shining when he created that formation.

Ying Zheng's finger was shining when he drew it yesterday.

The Qi… shouldn't be added later. Formations are made with Qi.

Xin was too tired to be happy about his revelation. He put the sabre away and concentrated Qi in his forefinger.

On the first try, he couldn't keep it to the end. The Qi dispersed after a third of the pattern was completed.

At the second, the pattern shined and went out. He missed somewhere.

At the third, he felt warmth on his face. He closed his eyes still seeing transparent redness. Finally…

Finally…

…

The wolf's limbs felt weak, it was trembling all over. Its jaw, full of its own blood, once again tried to get a hold on the thing that was bringing him terrible pain and was covering a third of its vision with red and blue dots.

It heard some shiver in the leaves behind but paid no attention to it. Its canine suddenly went into flesh and it shivered and wailed. Felling very week it vomited some black substance mixed with blood. Then, after some time, it tried once more

Strangely it could smell something beyond the veil of blood. It felt anxiety. At once it rose to its feet and looked back. That smell... smoke! One of the trees behind was on fire. The wolf couldn't think at the moment, its instincts were louder than anything else. It ran in the opposite direction with all its might.

Then, before entering woods it was blinded by something. A sabre went through its open mouth, and then the red consumed it…