pdf-ebookys Chapter 1065 You're not good enough
Chapter 1065 You're not good enough
The thought was—
"Good boy."
Su Wanwan's tears finally fell, silently sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the futon she was sitting on, leaving a small dark water stain on the fabric.
She did not open her eyes, did not stop her practice, and did not even slow down her breathing.
She shed tears for a while, then continued to guide the lunar energy, continued to cultivate, continued to overflow, and continued to fill the seal left by a very old fox with its own life many years ago.
The tears have all dried up, but the moonlight still pours down.
Her eyes were closed, but the corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards.
Outside the circle of light, Chu Yang and Sun Wukong were taking turns. When Chu Yang got tired, he would retreat, and Sun Wukong would step in; when Sun Wukong got bored, he would retreat, and Chu Yang would step in again. The two didn't speak, but their coordination was seamless, like old partners who had worked together for many years.
The three-headed mist wolf was repeatedly scattered and reborn, scattered and reborn again, countless times, but each rebirth was slower than the last. This wasn't because Chu Yang and Sun Wukong had become stronger—although they were indeed getting better under the nourishment of the moonlight—but because Su Wanwan was cultivating.
She is repairing it, and the seal is being reinforced.
The more the seal is strengthened, the less power the wolf clan can leak out.
This is a long time.
Bai tide's voice finally came from the void: "The time has come. Come out, all of you."
The sound of the stone gate reopening came from above, like a heavy sigh.
Su Wanwan opened her eyes and found that her vision had changed. It wasn't that she could see further, but that she could see "deeper". She could see the patterns of every rune in the hall, she could see every flow of the silvery-white liquid inside the moon, and she could see the thin, silvery-white halo on Chu Yang's body that she had never seen before.
That was the residue of the moon's energy.
He stayed outside the halo for more than an hour, and his body was nourished by the moonlight.
Sun Wukong also had it, but it was much fainter than Chu Yang's. Su Wanwan thought about it and figured it was probably because Sun Wukong's aura was too strong and intense, making it difficult for the moonlight to cling to him.
Tang Sanzang also had it, but the color was different. The halo around Tang Sanzang was not silvery-white, but a faint golden color, like moonlight and Buddha's light mixed together. It looked strange, but not out of place.
Su Wanwan stood up from the futon, her legs a little numb. She stumbled and grabbed the stone platform beneath Yuexin for support.
Chu Yang walked over and reached out to help her up.
There was still some moonlight on his hands. When he touched her wrist, Su Wanwan felt a slight electric current spread throughout her body from the point of contact. It was tingling and numb, not uncomfortable, but strange.
She pulled her hand back slightly, then realized it was too obvious, so she deliberately put her arm back on, pretending she had just lost her balance.
Chu Yang either didn't notice, or he did notice but didn't say anything.
"Let's go," he said. "We'll talk outside."
Su Wanwan hummed in agreement and followed him up the stone steps.
As she reached the archway, she glanced back.
The three fog wolves were still outside the circle of light, but they didn't chase after her. They stood at the edge of the circle, their six dark red eyes fixed on her, but they were helpless.
The training in the inner mound has entered its seventh day.
Su Wanwan had already gotten used to the rhythm here. She entered at dawn and left at noon, meditating for two hours straight, the lunar energy flowing into her body, overflowing, replenishing the moon's core, and reinforcing the seal layer by layer. For the first three days, she needed Chu Yang or Sun Wukong to take turns blocking outside the light circle, helping her stop the mist wolves seeping out from the seal's gaps. By the fourth day, the mist wolves' regeneration rate had become pitifully slow; Chu Yang could easily hold them off for two hours by himself, and Sun Wukong even started to get bored, squatting by the light circle and yawning.
But today is different.
As soon as Su Wanwan stepped into the inner hall of the tomb today, she sensed an indescribable strangeness in the air. It wasn't that the moonlight had changed; the moonlight was still so thick and impenetrable, its silvery light pouring down from the moon's center, illuminating the entire hall as if it were immersed in milk. Something else had changed.
She couldn't explain it, but the tip of her tail knew.
The tip of her tail was trembling.
This wasn't fear. It was an instinctive warning, like a mouse smelling a cat, or a rabbit hearing the eagle's wings. Her body was telling her: something was coming. Not those mindless, reckless fog wolves, but something real and intelligent.
Chu Yang also sensed it.
He stood at the edge of the aperture, his hands tucked into his sleeves, seemingly casual, but Su Wanwan noticed that his heels were slightly raised by half an inch. This was his habitual movement—when faced with something that truly required serious attention, he would unconsciously lean forward, allowing himself to unleash his fastest speed at any moment.
Sun Wukong stood up from the edge of the halo, twirling his golden cudgel twice in his hand, the tip of the cudgel pointing at the largest black wolf skeleton deep in the hall.
"Those bones don't feel right today," he said.
Su Wanwan followed his gaze.
The largest black wolf skeleton—the remains of the wolf king—was indeed different today. Before, it simply lay there quietly, the two dark red lights on the skull like flickering embers, occasionally flashing but mostly remaining dark. But today, those two red lights were constantly shining, and not steadily, but flickering intermittently, like a spark about to go out that had been blown away.
What's even more unsettling is that the wolf king's skeleton is moving.
It wasn't the kind of movement you see when you stand up. It was the dark red light flowing through the cracks in the bones, like magma crawling through the crevices of rocks. The light flowed from the ribs to the spine, from the spine to the skull, and from the skull to the limbs. Each time it flowed over a bone, that bone would make a soft "click," as if a joint that had been dormant for many years had finally been moved.
Sun Wukong frowned.
Bai tide's voice came from the void, more urgent than usual: "Be careful. A crack in the seal is widening today. The wolf clan may send something even more advanced than the mist wolves."
"More advanced?" Chu Yang asked.
"It has a physical form," Bai tide said. "It's no longer mist. It's a real wolf demon."
Before the words were finished, a deep, real howl came from the depths of the hall.
It wasn't the silent howl from before; it was a real, guttural howl that vibrated the air. The sound wasn't loud, but it was very low, so low that Su Wanwan felt her internal organs resonating with it. The white donkey was outside—no, the white donkey hadn't come in today; it had been left outside the stone chamber—but Su Wanwan felt that even if the white donkey were here, it would be terrified by that howl.
She calmed herself, sat down on the futon beneath the moon, closed her eyes, and began to guide the moon's energy.
But her ears were not closed.
She heard footsteps.
It wasn't the sound of human footsteps, but the sound of a four-legged animal treading on the flagstones. Claws, sharp claws, scraped against the stone with each step. The footsteps were slow and steady, carrying a sense of unhurried pressure—what was coming wasn't in a hurry; it knew what it was going to do, and it knew no one could stop it.
Su Wanwan couldn't help but open her eyes a crack.
A wolf emerged from the shadows deep within the hall.
It wasn't a mist wolf. Mist wolves are intangible, dark blobs that look frightening but disintegrate easily. This wolf, however, was real—its grayish-black fur was rough like old tree bark, and the mane on its back stood up like a row of steel needles. It was a whole size smaller than a mist wolf, only about the size of an ordinary mongrel, but Su Wanwan knew at first glance that it was more dangerous than all the mist wolves combined.
Because of its eyes.
The fog wolf's eyes were dark red, empty, devoid of emotion, filled only with instinctive hatred. This wolf's eyes were different—they were amber, clear as two polished stones, reflecting the moonlight and Su Wanwan's face.
It is watching her.
It wasn't the kind of stare a mist wolf gives with a "I'm going to tear you apart" look, but rather a very calm observation, like a hunter sizing up its prey. Its gaze moved from Su Wanwan's face to her neck, from her neck to her chest, and from her chest to her legs as she sat cross-legged, as if searching for the weakest point.
Then it tilted its head.
That movement sent chills down Su Wanwan's spine. Because it wasn't the movement of a wild beast, but the movement of an intelligent being. It was thinking.
Bai tide's voice rang out again, this time with obvious urgency: "These are wolf clan sentries. Their cultivation level is higher than yours, Su Wanwan, don't move, have your people block them—"
"Wait a minute," Chu Yang suddenly spoke, interrupting Bai tide.
He turned around from the edge of the aperture and glanced at Su Wanwan.
Su Wanwan was puzzled by his gaze.
"You just said that this wolf demon's cultivation level is higher than hers?" Chu Yang asked Bai tide.
"At least one realm higher," Bai tide said. "Su Wanwan's current cultivation level is around four tails, while this wolf demon is at least at the five-tail level."
Chu Yang nodded, and then did something that surprised everyone.
He took a step back.
He retreated to Su Wanwan's side, crossed his arms, and leaned against the stone platform beneath Yuexin.
Sun Wukong, who had already gripped his golden cudgel and was about to step forward, paused for a moment upon seeing Chu Yang's action, and then retreated as well. He squatted at the edge of the circle of light, placed the golden cudgel horizontally on his knees, tilted his head to look at the wolf demon, and gave him an expression that said, "I think I know what you're up to."
Su Wanwan looked at Chu Yang, then at Sun Wukong, and finally at the wolf demon walking towards the circle of light. Her mind raced for a moment before she finally realized what was happening.
"Wait." Her voice trembled slightly. "You wouldn't be thinking of...?"
"Mm," Chu Yang said.
"No way." Su Wanwan's voice trembled even more.
"Exactly." Sun Wukong grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. "You've been meditating for seven days, just sitting around without practicing. Isn't that a waste of time?"
"But its level is higher than mine!"
"That's perfect," Chu Yang said. "It's no fun playing against people who are weaker than you."
Su Wanwan thought these two people must be crazy.
The wolf demon had already stepped outside the circle of light. Unlike the mist wolf, it didn't charge straight in. Instead, it stopped at the edge of the circle, lowered its head, and sniffed the silvery-white light barrier. The light barrier glowed slightly where its nose touched it, as if confirming its identity, before dimming again.
The wolf demon raised its head, its amber eyes piercing through the halo and staring straight at Su Wanwan.
Then it opened its mouth.
It wasn't a prelude to an attack; it was laughter.
A wolf is laughing.
Su Wanwan felt her worldview shatter at that moment. She had seen talking monsters, monsters that could cast spells, and monsters that were more cunning than humans, but she had never seen a wolf grin at her like that, with a smile that clearly said: "Come out here."
"It looks down on me," Su Wanwan's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.
"Yes, it's obvious," Chu Yang said.
"So you're just letting it look down on me?"
"So go prove it shouldn't look down on you." Chu Yang straightened up, patted her shoulder, and said, "Go ahead. We'll watch from here and won't let it hurt you. But you have to fight it yourself."
Su Wanwan took a deep breath, then another, and then stood up.
Her legs felt a little weak when she stood up, but she pretended they weren't. As she stepped out of the light circle, she felt the silvery-white light wall close behind her, like a transparent dome separating her from Chu Yang and the others. Inside the dome was safe; outside was a wolf demon of a higher cultivation level than her, and a darkness containing unknown things.
The wolf demon's ears perked up when it saw her come out.
It wasn't wariness, it was excitement.
Its body sank slightly, its front legs bent, its hind legs taut, and its tail changed from drooping to horizontal—a standard attack posture. But it waited, not immediately pouncing. It was waiting for Su Wanwan to make the first move.
Su Wanwan stood three steps away from the circle of light, her palms sweaty.
She went through everything she had learned in her mind—the three chapters of "Moon Breath Instruction," the three basic courses of Moon Gazing, Breath Listening, and Form Concealment, as well as the few minor spells Bai Xi had taught her during her breaks from cultivation these past few days. She went through all of this in her mind and realized that none of it was used for fighting.
She learned only the basics.
Some are meditating, some are drawing in their breath, some are hiding, and some are watching the road.
There are no offensive spells.
She suddenly felt like cursing, but she didn't have time to, because the wolf demon moved.
It moved much faster than she had imagined. Instead of charging straight at her, it arced around her left, moving so fast that Su Wanwan's eyes only caught a fleeting, gray-black afterimage. Instinctively, she dodged to the right, slipped, and nearly fell.
The wolf demon did not pounce on her and bite her.
It swept past her left, stopped behind her, turned around, and tilted its head again.
The "you can't do it" expression became even more pronounced.
Su Wanwan gritted her teeth, suppressing the rising anger. Anger was useless; it would only lead her to make mistakes. She closed her eyes, refusing to look at the wolf demon, and instead used "listening to its breath"—using its aura to sense its location.
This was one of her lessons she had been learning these past few days. Bai tide said that a fox demon's eyes could deceive, but its aura could not.
She sensed the wolf demon's presence in the darkness. It was about five feet behind and to her right, its aura thick and pungent, like a pile of burning, damp firewood, but its location was crystal clear.
The wolf demon moved again. (End of Chapter)