Chapter 24: Luring the Demon Wolf

The next day, as the first light of dawn touched the horizon, the grandfather and granddaughter returned to the Thunderclap Swamp.

This time, their objectives were clear, and their actions were more decisive. Relying on Bai Chenxiang’s wind-whisper navigation, they skillfully avoided every trap, arriving once more at the valley surrounded by three mountains by mid-morning.

"Grandfather, the plan begins," Bai Chenxiang whispered, her expression focused. "I'll dash in, throw a stone near the Thunder-Saliva Grass, and run immediately. You wait at the valley entrance to cover me. Remember, do not engage it directly; our goal is to lure it out and exhaust its stamina and patience."

"Throw a stone?" Bai He’s mouth twitched. "That’s it?" He had expected something more dramatic, like setting the mountain on fire.

"That's enough," Bai Chenxiang explained. "To that beast, the Thunder-Saliva Grass is its reverse scale. Leaving a 'I was here' mark right next to its treasure is far more insulting than a direct attack."

Bai He remained silent. *Fine, you’re the strategist; you call the shots.*

With a flicker of movement, he landed silently like a falling leaf atop a scorched tree at the valley’s entrance, suppressing his aura to the absolute minimum.

Bai Chenxiang, moving like a lithe cat, kept low and hugged the shadows of the cliff walls, creeping into the valley. As she drew closer, the lightning elements in the air became increasingly active. Tiny arcs of electricity, like blue-violet sprites, danced across the tips of her hair and the hem of her clothes. She could clearly sense the steady, powerful breathing of the wolf king deep within the cave.

It was sleeping.

*A chance!*

Bai Chenxiang didn't hesitate. She pushed off the ground with all her might. "Wind Flash!"

Her figure vanished, transforming into a blurred afterimage that was difficult for the naked eye to track. She spanned the nearly hundred-meter distance in an instant, appearing right beside the alluring, glowing Thunder-Saliva Grass. She didn't even glance at the precious treasure; she simply grabbed a fist-sized stone from the ground and, with all her strength, slammed it into the empty space right next to the grass.

*Thump!*

The dull sound was jarringly loud in the silent valley. Almost the moment the stone hit the ground, a heaven-shaking roar erupted from the depths of the cave!

"AWOOO—!!!"

The entire valley trembled. A shockwave, mixed with violent lightning and boundless fury, surged out from the cave like a volcanic eruption. Bai Chenxiang could feel the very earth beneath her feet mourning. She didn't linger for a second; the moment the stone left her hand, she triggered "Wind Flash" again, sprinting desperately toward the valley entrance without looking back.

A streak of blue-silver lightning, fast to the point of extremity, shot out from the cave behind her!

The Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf! It was completely enraged! Someone dared to desecrate its guarded treasure while it slept! This was the ultimate provocation to a king! Unforgivable!

Its speed was beyond imagination. In the blink of an eye, it was less than ten meters behind Bai Chenxiang. Within its wide-open jaws, a highly condensed ball of lightning was rapidly taking shape.

Just at this critical juncture, a cyan figure descended from the sky like an eagle pouncing on a rabbit, appearing precisely between Bai Chenxiang and the wolf king.

"Beast, do not be so arrogant!" Bai He roared, but he didn't turn to attack. Instead, he reached out, grabbed Bai Chenxiang by the back of her collar, and hoisted her up like a chick. At the same time, he pushed off the ground, his speed surging as he transformed into a streak of cyan light, dashing toward the outskirts of the swamp. He remembered his granddaughter's instructions well: never engage, just run!

The ball of lightning lost its target and slammed into the cliff wall nearby.

*BOOM!*

The rock shattered, debris flew, and a charred crater several meters deep appeared on the cliff face.

"Good grief, that power is almost on par with a full-force strike from a Spirit Ancestor!" Bai He felt a lingering fear, but his speed only increased.

A heart-pounding chase ensued throughout the Thunderclap Swamp. Held in her grandfather's grasp, Bai Chenxiang felt as if she were riding the bumpiest old-fashioned fighter jet; the wind whistled in her ears, and the scenery blurred past. She endured the discomfort, pushing her wind-whisper perception to the limit to act as the navigator.

"To the left! That black mud is a trap!"
"Poison vines ahead, go around to the right!"
"Slow down, there are other spirit beasts in that fog ahead!"

At this moment, Bai He followed his granddaughter's judgments blindly. Almost the instant she spoke, his body made the fastest possible reaction. His ghostly footwork, combined with Bai Chenxiang’s precise navigation, allowed them to carve an incredibly agile Z-shaped path through the perilous swamp.

Behind them, the Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf was going mad with rage. It possessed earth-shattering power but could never lock onto these two creatures, who were as slippery as loaches. Every time it gathered lightning, the pair anticipated it and dodged by a hair's breadth. Every time it accelerated to strike, they used the complex terrain to make its efforts futile. What frustrated it most was that the little one in front would occasionally look back with a gaze that seemed to say, "You’re not good enough; you’re too slow."

It was as if its dignity as a wolf king was being ground into the dirt.

"AWOOO!" The wolf king roared again. The silver-white patterns on its body flared, and its speed soared once more! It stopped using ranged attacks, deciding instead to crush its opponent with the speed it was most proud of.

"Bad news, this beast is going all out!" Bai He felt the terrifying aura closing in and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Carrying a person was, after all, affecting his speed.

"Grandfather, put me down!" Bai Chenxiang suddenly shouted.

"What?"

"Put me down! I have a plan!"

Bai He gritted his teeth. Though he didn't know what his granddaughter intended, he chose to trust her. He loosened his grip, setting Bai Chenxiang down steadily on a relatively solid patch of ground. "Be careful!"

With that, he flashed away, deliberately charging in another direction to try and distract the wolf king. But the target of the Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf had been that little one who provoked it all along. Ignoring the fleeing Bai He, the blue blur shot in a straight line toward Bai Chenxiang!

Facing the overwhelming aura of death, there was not a trace of fear on Bai Chenxiang's small face. She stepped forward to meet the wolf king. The ninety-pound weight she carried made the earth tremble slightly with that single step. She didn't run; she poured all her spirit power into her legs and body.

A flicker of cruel gratification flashed in the wolf king's icy blue eyes. *A foolish human cub, trying to compete with me in straight-line speed? Death wish!*

However, just as they were less than five meters apart and the wolf king's icy, razor-sharp claws were about to touch her, Bai Chenxiang's figure vanished.

"Wind Flash!"

Not forward, not backward, but... upward! Utilizing the explosive power of the Wind Flash, she propelled herself off the ground, leaping nearly ten meters into the air! The wolf king's full-force pounce missed entirely! Its massive momentum carved a long trench into the ground, kicking up a sky full of mud.

Bai Chenxiang, suspended in mid-air, didn't stop there. Utilizing that brief moment of hang time, she twisted her body in mid-air in a way that defied the laws of physics! Her small body was like a bow pulled to its limit, and her right fist, encased in a Meteor Bracer, was the most lethal arrow about to be loosed!

Gravity began to pull her down. The speed of the fall, the weight of the ninety-pound load, and her own active force—all three combined!

"Grandfather, now!" she shouted in her youthful voice.

Almost simultaneously, Bai He, who had been circling nearby waiting for an opening, moved! He didn't attack the wolf king directly; instead, he moved with even greater speed, appearing at the wolf king's side and performing an action that neither the wolf king nor Bai Chenxiang expected. He lifted his foot—not to kick, but with a highly refined application of force, he lightly tripped the wolf king at the joint of its thick hind leg.

The Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf, a 2,500-year-old king, was looking up, preparing to meet the thunderous fury of the little one descending from the sky, when it was caught off guard by the trip. Its high-speed, forward-charging body instantly lost its balance. It was like a 100-meter champion in a sprint who had been tripped by someone sticking out a foot.

*Thump!*

With a massive crash, the Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf fell face-first into the mud in an incredibly pathetic posture, splashing mud and water everywhere.

The whole world seemed to grow quiet. Bai He remained in the pose of having extended his foot, frozen in place. He had only intended to create a little trouble for the beast as his granddaughter instructed, never expecting such an outstanding result.

Bai Chenxiang, who had descended from the sky, was also stunned. She had envisioned countless possibilities—perhaps her grandfather using a spirit skill to restrain the wolf, or using his speed to harass it and create an opening for her. She never imagined that her own grandfather—an eighty-second-level Spirit Douluo and the Clan Head of the Min Clan—would use a move straight out of a street brawl. And yet, it had worked.

For a moment, the scene became incredibly awkward. The Storm-Thunder Demon Wolf lay on the ground, its head buried in the mud, seemingly unable to process how exactly it had fallen.