Chapter 25: The Wolf Demon of Jade Mountain

Dongfang Mo pushed me out, and I crashed into a tree. Luckily, my immortal arts protected me, so I didn’t break any bones. I clutched the ginseng doll and sprang up, my arm throbbing with pain.

A piercing wolf’s howl echoed. Not far away, a monstrous black wolf with a blood-red eye and blue face, jagged fangs bared, snarled menacingly at me, breath coming in harsh bursts.

The wolf bared its sharp fangs and lunged straight at me, swift as lightning.

I had no time to stand up. Hastily, I cast an immobilization spell at the wolf, but it failed! Quickly, I conjured a boundary shield to protect myself. The wolf slammed into it, scratching and biting in frenzy. I threw up two more shields, barely holding back the beast. Then I suddenly noticed the ginseng doll in my arms had gone limp. I opened the cloth bag in panic—the doll had fainted.

The wolf howled and clawed again. The first shield shattered under its talons. At the moment the shield broke, the ginseng doll’s eyelids flickered open, sneaking a glance.

A sly little thing, indeed! At such a dangerous moment, I could only think of saving myself, so I quickly untied all the bindings on the ginseng doll. “Doll! Stop pretending! These shields won’t last. We’ll both die! When I count to three and open the shield, we split up: I fly, you burrow! Answer me!” I barked.

“Alright!” the doll replied.

The second shield was already cracking under the wolf’s jaws. I counted, “One, two, three!” As I spoke “three,” the shield opened, and at the same instant, I used immortal arts to transform the cloth bag holding the ginseng doll into a puppet dressed in my clothes and tossed it out. I reverted to my true form, a cold crow, and flew away, while the ginseng doll darted into the snowy ground.

The wolf seized the puppet, tearing into it madly, only to find it was just a cloth bag. By then, both I and the ginseng doll had vanished.

I meant to escape, but my wings hurt terribly. When Dongfang Mo pushed me out, my right arm had been torn; he’d scratched it open. I had no choice but to hide among the tree branches, wondering, where had Dongfang Mo gone? Had he fled? Or had the wolf eaten him? What now?

Everything happened too fast for fear to sink in, but now, crouched in the tree, dread crept up on me. The beautiful mountains were fierce but not vicious, and even Lu Wu, whom I met, cared deeply for his wife—though he threatened to cook me, he listened to my pleading. This wolf, however, was wild and brutal, heedless of anything; being eaten by it would surely be a dreadful experience. Thinking this, I shrank deeper into the branches. Unable to use my true form to send a message to Master with the Flying Crane spell, I could only hope the wolf would leave soon.

The wolf, finding nothing to catch, sniffed the air and looked toward my hiding place. Its blood-red eyes widened, fangs gleaming, drool spilling from its mouth. Suddenly, it howled and leaped toward the tree!

With a loud crash, the wolf slammed into a massive, transparent, resilient boundary and was flung several yards away.

A beam of white light descended from the sky. Master stood opposite the wolf, alone, yet his presence and bearing were as majestic as the towering peaks of Kunlun.

The wolf, blocked by Master, was enraged and attacked wildly. Master waved his hand, knocking the beast down several times. The wolf, crazed, leapt up, claws swinging at Master. With a flick of his sleeve, Master sent it back to the ground.

The wolf erupted in black spiritual flames, its claws growing inches longer, slashing at Master with deadly ferocity.

Barely two or three exchanges passed before Master bound the wolf with the Immortal Binding Rope. The wolf roared and shattered the rope, lunging at Master with reckless fury.

A cold gleam flashed—Master summoned the Longyuan Sword! Yet he only used sword aura to fend off the wolf’s claws, never striking with the blade. Watching from the tree, I grew anxious—why wouldn’t Master quickly finish off this fiend!

Unable to bite Master, the wolf grew hysterical, tearing at everything around it: trees bitten down, rocks clawed to pieces. Finding nothing else, it turned on itself, clawing and biting until it was bloodied all over.

Master blocked it with a resilient boundary; the wolf, frustrated, rammed into a rock, only to be bounced back by the powerful shield.

The wolf tumbled backward, then sprang up, pouring all its strength into a leap at Master, jaws wide. Master’s sword moved before its face.

I rejoiced—Master was finally going to act!

But then, to my shock, Master sheathed the Longyuan Sword.

The wolf bit down hard on Master’s arm. Master frowned slightly, unmoving.

“Master!” I cried, leaping down from the tree and returning to my true form.

“Fei’er, stay,” Master commanded, and I halted at a distance.

The wolf gnawed and thrashed, but Master stood firm, letting the beast bite him. After several shakes, the wolf gradually quieted.

Master could not bear to hurt it.

The wolf’s blood-red pupils faded to brown-black, its expression softened, and it slowly transformed into human form—it was Dongfang Mo!

Dongfang Mo let out a breath and collapsed. Master used magic to staunch the bleeding in his own arm.

I rushed over—the sweet fragrance of wine mingled with the wolf’s stench assaulted my nose, an unpleasant combination. I pinched my nose.

“Master! Your arm…” I never expected it was Dongfang Mo, nor could I have imagined Master would let himself be bitten like this.

“It’s nothing,” Master said, healing my right arm with magic.

I grimaced with pain.

“Does it hurt?” Master asked.

“Not at all…” I replied, gritting my teeth.

Looking at the unconscious Dongfang Mo, I couldn’t believe how my gentle senior brother had turned into such a terrifying beast!

“The Greed Wolf poison was in your flesh. I’ve cleansed it. The injury isn’t serious, but it’s very painful and slow to heal. Endure it for a few days,” Master said, checking my arm bone—no major issues.

“Greed Wolf poison?” I asked in confusion.

“A poison born of accumulated resentment. He’s naturally a wolf-man; poisoned by Greed Wolf, he becomes mad, exhausting all his energy,” Master explained, as he treated Dongfang Mo’s wounds.

“No wonder he was dozens of times stronger than usual. Didn’t our elder master cleanse him before?” I squatted, watching Master stop the bleeding and seal Dongfang Mo’s torn wounds.

“Not completely. He lasted this long by sheer willpower,” Master said.

“To think Greed Wolf poison could drive a dignified immortal to such madness!” I exclaimed.

“It’s not only Greed Wolf poison,” Master replied.

“There’s more?” I asked.

“Many kinds. Every war brings new poisons. And it’s not just him; you or I could be affected,” Master’s words were chilling, though his manner was calm.

I said nothing, thinking: If I went mad from poison, I’d just become a crazy little bird—no real threat, even dozens of times stronger. But if you lost control, disaster would surely follow.

Master removed the last traces of Greed Wolf poison from Dongfang Mo and instructed me not to tell anyone that the wolf monster was him. I agreed, feeling sour at heart. Dongfang Mo was poisoned; Master refused to harm him, letting him bite instead. Now Dongfang Mo was safe, but Master always seemed to dislike me.

I sent a message to Senior Brother Baize for help with the Flying Crane spell. Master and I kept watch over Dongfang Mo in the snowbound Kunlun.

“Fei’er, where’s the ginseng doll I told you to catch?” he asked.

“Senior brother went mad—I barely escaped and let the doll go.” I replied truthfully.

“Let it go?” Doubt tinged his words.

“I really caught it, truly! I didn’t lie or cheat! Please don’t make me copy the Art of War ten thousand times!” I pleaded, eyes full of sincerity.

“Oh? How can you prove it?”

“Senior brother can vouch for me,” I said, pointing at Dongfang Mo, deeply unconscious.

“Memory is lost before, during, and after Greed Wolf poison’s onset,” Master stated, though it felt like he was deliberately making things difficult.

I was at a loss, silent…

After struggling so hard to catch the ginseng doll, nearly becoming my mad senior brother’s snack, my arm so hurt I couldn’t move it, and now I’d have to copy the Art of War with my left hand ten thousand times… I felt utterly wronged.

“I have no proof. I’ll copy the Art of War, then,” I said, my eyes wet, turning away…

“When did I say you must write it ten thousand times?” Master’s voice was gentle behind me.

“So I don’t have to?”

“No.”

I was about to smile when he said, “One more hour of martial practice every day.”

His tone, gentle as ever, struck me like a heavy blow.

So it was martial practice as punishment… My heart, briefly lifted, crashed back to earth. A single tear slipped down.

“Unwilling?”

“No, my arm hurts.”

“Didn’t you say it didn’t hurt?”

“It hurts now.”

Back at Yuqing Realm, Master instructed Fifteenth Senior Brother to bandage my wound and apply pain medicine, then returned to his own quarters.

No one dared question Master, so everyone gathered around me.

I told the story of the wolf monster, hiding the truth that it was Dongfang Mo’s transformation. I simply said the wolf monster caused his injuries and Master was wounded protecting him.

“If you go out on errands, be careful. If you meet trouble, flee,” Fifteenth Senior Brother advised.

Seeing everyone’s cautious demeanor, I understood why Master forbade me to tell them the truth. If they knew Dongfang Mo had become the wolf monster, they’d surely be wary and distant. Even with my close relationship, I was unsettled; others would be far more so. Master truly cared for him, thinking everything through.

When Dongfang Mo awoke, I told him his “glorious” deeds while mad. He went to Master and knelt for a long time, vowing to repay him well. He apologized to me over and over, saying if Master punished me with ten thousand copies of the Art of War, he’d do it for me. I told him Master hadn’t made me write, only ordered more martial practice, which he couldn’t substitute.

Spring Breeze, who came for meals, laughed at my foolishness, saying there were plenty of ginseng dolls in the cold caves of Hundred Flowers Island; he could have given me one for show, and I wouldn’t have had to face the wolf monster.

The wounds from the wolf’s claws truly healed poorly. Both Master and I were right-arm cripples for several days. Eating, drinking, writing with the left hand… Quite awkward.

The messenger from the Heavenly Palace, not knowing what had happened, took Master’s notes and exclaimed, “The Immortal’s writing lately is wild and splendid—so mysterious!”

Afraid Dongfang Mo would be shunned as a “dangerous person,” Master and I concealed his transformation. Yet, ever since I entered Yuqing Realm, I myself had always been a “dangerous person” in someone’s eyes.