The Martial Saint Started from Scavenging

Chapter 18 Wild Wolves

The wolf was not large, about half the height of a person, with grayish-brown fur all over its body and clearly visible ribs, indicating that it had been hungry for a long time.

It bared its teeth, made a low growling sound in its throat, and had a fierce, wild look in its eyes.

Ye Sheng gripped the wood-chopping knife tightly, lowered his body slightly, and assumed a stance, but he did not turn around and run away.

Encountering wild animals in the mountains is tantamount to suicide. A wolf might pounce from behind and bite your neck off.

The only way is to confront them head-on.

The wolf stared at Ye Sheng for a moment, then suddenly growled and pounced. Its speed was incredibly fast, like a gray shadow.

Ye Sheng's pupils contracted, and he instinctively raised his sword to parry.

"Bang!"

The wolf's front paws slammed into the blade, the force so great that Ye Sheng's hands went numb, and he almost lost his grip on the sword. But he didn't retreat; his stance training allowed him to barely keep his footing after the blow.

The wolf missed its first attack, landed, quickly turned around, and pounced again. This time, it aimed for Ye Sheng's throat.

Ye Sheng dodged to the side, his blade flashing upwards as he slashed towards the wolf's waist.

The wolf reacted with lightning speed, twisting its body in mid-air to avoid the blade, and pounced again. The man and the wolf began to fight in the woods.

Ye Sheng managed to hold his own against the wild wolves by relying on his skills in stance training and basic swordsmanship.

But he soon realized he was at a disadvantage. The wolves were too fast, too strong, and too experienced in hunting, aiming for vital points with every attack.

Although Ye Sheng has the advantage of the [Skill Panel], he has only been practicing for a short time and has almost no practical combat experience.

After several rounds, he was panting heavily, his arms were sore and swollen, and his tiger's mouth was cracked, with blood flowing down the hilt of the knife.

The wolf seemed to sense its prey's exhaustion, and its attack became even more ferocious. It accelerated and pounced fiercely on Ye Sheng's chest. Ye Sheng had no time to dodge and could only grit his teeth and raise his knife to block again.

"Bang!"

Ye Sheng was knocked back three steps and crashed into a tree trunk, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

The wolf pounced again, its jaws wide open, aiming for his throat. In that critical moment, the "Thorn" technique from the piece of paper flashed through Ye Sheng's mind.

"Gather all your strength into one point..."

He exerted sudden force, the tip of his blade aimed straight for the wolf's throat. This was the most dangerous move in the [Basic Sword Techniques], and also his only chance of survival.

The wolf's pupils constricted sharply, and it twisted its body forcefully in mid-air to avoid the blade. But Ye Sheng's thrust was too fast and too powerful; the blade grazed its neck, leaving a deep gash. Blood gushed out immediately, its crimson color glaringly bright in the sunlight.

The wolf howled and retreated, its eyes filled with fear.

Ye Sheng wasn't in bad shape either. That last stab had almost exhausted all his strength; his arm was numb and sore, and even the hand holding the knife was trembling. But he didn't let his guard down, still keeping a close eye on the wolf.

At this moment, the man and the wolf faced off again. The forest was quiet, with only their heavy breathing breaking the silence.

After a while, the wolf suddenly turned around, disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Ye Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling completely exhausted, and slowly slid down to the ground against the tree trunk.

He looked down at the machete in his hand; the blade was chipped, the handle was loose, and it was covered in blood.

He looked at his hands again. His thumb and forefinger were split open, bleeding profusely, and there were several scratches on his arm, from the wolves that had scratched him earlier.

Ye Sheng took out a handful of snake tongue grass from his pocket, chewed it, and then applied it to the wound. Snake tongue grass is cold in nature and has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. Although it cannot stop the bleeding, it can at least prevent the wound from becoming infected.

He sat on the ground and rested for a while until he regained some strength before standing up and picking up the firewood basket again.

The battle he just fought made him realize that his actual combat skills were far from sufficient. Although he had unlocked [Standing Posture] and [Basic Sword Techniques], his progress was too low.

If it weren't for good luck, that stab just now grazed the wolf's vital spot and drove it away, he would probably be the one lying on the ground right now.

Ye Sheng took a deep breath, gripped his machete tightly, and continued chopping wood. This time, he was much more careful, scanning his surroundings vigilantly after each stroke to prevent any further attacks from wild animals.

Before long, the firewood basket was full. Ye Sheng carried the basket on his back and walked down the mountain. By the time he returned to Shuilongdu, it was already afternoon. He placed the basket outside the house and pushed open the door to go inside.

Upon seeing his elder brother enter, Ye Kai's spirits lifted, but then his gaze fell on Ye Sheng's arm, where there were scratch marks, and Ye Kai's expression changed.

"Brother, are you hurt?"

"fine."

Ye Sheng waved his hand and said, "I encountered a wild wolf in the mountains, but I chased it away."

Upon hearing this, Ye Kai's face turned deathly pale, and his voice trembled, "Wild Wolf? Brother, are you alright?"

"It's really nothing."

Ye Sheng showed him the wound.

"It's just a minor injury; it'll be fine in a few days."

Ye Kai bit his lip, lowered his head, and said softly, "It's all my fault. I can only lie in bed every day and can't help you with anything!"

"Silly little brother."

Ye Sheng reached out and rubbed his head.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Staying in bed and resting is helping your brother!"

He paused, then added, "Besides, encountering wolves this time wasn't all bad."

Ye Kai looked up, his face showing confusion, and asked in bewilderment, "Brother, what do you mean by that?"

Ye Sheng walked to the corner of the wall and picked up the wood-chopping knife.

"I just fought the wolves and I didn't lose."

At this point, he closed his eyes, his mind raced, and he opened the panel and glanced at it.

[Basic knife skills: 13/100 → 18/100]

The progress bar jumped five points in an instant. Although I'm still far from mastering it, it's much faster than before. It seems that practical experience is indeed the fastest way to improve skills.

Then, Ye Sheng opened his eyes, put the wood-chopping knife back into the corner of the wall, and sat down next to his younger brother.

"Brother, I just figured something out in the mountains."

"What is it?"

"Making money by chopping wood and gathering herbs is too slow. I need to think of another way."

Ye Sheng paused for a moment, then said, "I want to go to the Ghost Market again."

Upon hearing this, Ye Kai seemed to have guessed his brother's thoughts and asked, "Brother, do you want to sell that piece of bluestone?"

"Not just bluestone."

Ye Sheng shook his head.

"I found a few more things in the mountains today." As he spoke, he took out several items from his pocket and placed them in front of Ye Kai.

A black stone the size of a fist, a piece of withered wood with cracked bark, and a hard animal bone.

Ye Kai observed with curiosity.

"Brother, did you find all these things in the mountains?"

"Um."

Ye Sheng nodded.

"When I found them, I felt that they were something special."

He paused, then added, "Maybe we can make some money selling them at the ghost market."

Ye Kai picked up the black stone and weighed it in his hand.

"Brother, is this another spirit stone fragment? How do you always manage to find them?"

"Maybe I just got lucky, but it's hard to say whether it's a spirit stone fragment or not."

Ye Sheng said in a deep voice.

Ye Kai picked up the piece of dead wood again and examined it carefully.

"This wood looks quite ordinary."

Is it normal?

Ye Sheng smiled.

"Look closely, the surface of this wood has scorch marks, and the grain is very unique."

Ye Kai looked closer and indeed found some fine scorch marks on the surface of the wood, and the texture was indeed different from ordinary dead wood.

"Could this be the lightning-struck wood I saw in the book the other day?"

"have no idea."

Ye Sheng shook his head.

"But it feels cold to the touch, and there's an indescribable feeling about it."

Ye Kai picked up the beast bone again and weighed it in his hand.

"These bones are so hard."

Ye Sheng said in a deep voice, "I stabbed that wolf and it escaped. Later, I saw this bone in that area."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "These bones have a faint white glow; they might be the bones of a demon beast described in the book."

Upon hearing this, Ye Kai's eyes lit up.

"Demon beast bones?"

"I'm just guessing."

Ye Sheng shook his head, unsure of the answer either.