The Martial Emperor

Chapter 2 - Price of Honor

The howling of the wolves was not merely the sound of common animals. It was a death knell.

Lin Feng stood firm. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. The black blood left over from the battle against the bear was still wet on his cheek. That fishy stench actually triggered the adrenaline within his chest.

"Feng, there are too many of them!" Zhang Hao shouted. His voice trembled violently.

Pairs of glowing purple eyes emerged from behind the thick mist. One, two, then dozens. The pack of Purple-Eyed Demon Wolves began to surround them. They moved nimbly, circling their prey in a deadly formation.

The glint in the monsters' eyes triggered a hot throb in the scar on Lin Feng’s left eye. That wound given by Dan Wuji two years ago suddenly burned intensely. The memory of the pain as the spiritual knife ripped through his flesh now became the fuel for uncontrollable rage.

Lin Feng did not need a long flashback to remember what a bastard Dan Wuji was. This scar was his permanent identification mark. A reminder that without strength, he would only end up as a doormat.

One wolf lunged forward.

"Bastard!" Lin Feng roared.

His anger exploded beyond reason. When the wolf's snout was inches from his neck, Lin Feng did not dodge. Instead, he moved forward to meet the attack.

His sword was enveloped in bright blue Qi. As fast as lightning, one horizontal slash full of hatred was launched. The sword blade cut through the wolf's neck. The animal's head was almost entirely severed.

Splashes of warm blood soaked his robes. Lin Feng did not stop. He spun, slashing a second wolf until its entrails spilled out.

"Feng, this is crazy! They won't stop!" Zhang Hao shouted behind him.

Three other demon wolves surrounded the two youths, their purple eyes glowing with bloodlust. However, because Lin Feng had killed one of them, the glowing purple eyes of the bloodthirsty wolves were more often fixed on Lin Feng himself.

The position of the two Cloud Sword Sect disciples was increasingly cornered toward the edge of the cliff where the bear had fallen earlier. Zhang Hao kept retreating, his sword trembling. "Feng, fall back! For the sake of heaven and earth, we can't escape this if we keep going!"

"Fall back?!" Lin Feng glanced at Zhang Hao with a gaze more terrifying than any wolf. "Do you want to be a loser again? Do you want to see your lover laughing at your suffering while holding hands with a new man?!"

Zhang Hao froze. That woman's name was a wound to his heart. When he failed the inner disciple examination last year, that woman left him with the cruelest words, calling him a burden that hindered her future.

"If we go home without the Blood Moon Flower, Dan Wuji will step on my head even harder, and you will remain that bitch's laughingstock forever!" Lin Feng shouted again, his voice thundering through the mist. "Our honor is at stake here, Hao!"

Zhang Hao's eyes turned red; his fear instantly vanished, replaced by torn pride. He gripped his sword tightly as it again sparked with lightning. "To hell with them all! For the sake of my honor!"

"Fight or die!" Lin Feng cried out.

The two of them charged blindly. Although the wolves possessed an equivalent level of strength, they had the advantage in numbers. Added to the fact that the two youths were not in peak condition, anyone could tell that the two of them would be the ones to die in this fight.

In the chaotic close-quarters combat, a powerful lunge from one of the wolves caused their slippery footing to give way. Lin Feng, Zhang Hao, and the three wolves free-fell into the darkness of the abyss.

Splash!

The surface of the cold river water slammed into their bodies. Lin Feng’s head felt incredibly dizzy, his consciousness almost snapped if he had not immediately bitten his tongue to send a jolt of pain.

In the middle of the torrential river current dragging them along, the battle continued. The wolves still tried to bite even though they were all being swept away by the current. Suddenly, a very familiar roar echoed from up ahead.

The Black Scaled Demon Bear that had fallen first was actually still alive. Its body was covered in gashes from the sharp river rocks, but its eyes still flashed with rage. Seeing two humans and a group of wolves coming toward it, the monster went on a rampage, attacking anyone within reach of its claws.

Chaos broke out beneath the flow of the water. The wolves were forced to fight the giant bear for their own safety.

"Hao, now!" Lin Feng saw an opportunity at the riverbank filled with large boulders.

Lin Feng exerted his remaining energy, plunging his sword deep into a crevice of a river stone at the edge to halt his body's momentum. His other hand grabbed Zhang Hao’s hand, and with one powerful jerk, he threw Zhang Hao’s body onto the rocks.

As soon as he landed, Zhang Hao immediately pulled Lin Feng’s arm, which was still linked to his hand. Behind them, the bear and the three wolves were still biting each other, roaring in the whirlpool before finally being swept far downstream and disappearing from sight.

The two of them fell flat on their backs on ground that was no longer covered by mist. Zhang Hao groaned in pain, his left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, having hit something in the river earlier. Meanwhile, his sword was gone.

On the other side, Lin Feng’s right leg was bleeding heavily with a gaping tear that was quite wide.

"Swallow this." Lin Feng took a bottle from his spatial ring and produced a Green Lotus Pill.

"Arghh... that is too expensive! Didn't we agree to save it until someone was nearly dead?" Zhang Hao whispered while enduring the pain.

"Shut up and swallow it. You can't fight with a crooked arm like that," Lin Feng commanded sternly. Without waiting for consent, he forced the Green Lotus Pill into Zhang Hao’s mouth and channeled his Qi to assist in the pill’s absorption.

It did not take long for Zhang Hao’s arm to return to its original position. A sickening cracking sound was heard during the process of the broken bones knitting back together.

Afterward, they immediately sat cross-legged to meditate. Beneath this cliff, the air was clean, the purple toxic mist apparently only covered the upper part of the abyss, giving them a chance to recover their nearly exhausted Qi.

An hour passed. Zhang Hao opened his eyes, staring at the mist-covered peak of the cliff in the distance. "Feng... let's go back via the lower path. We have been very lucky to still be breathing. If we go further in, I am not sure heaven will be on our side again."

Lin Feng stood up, the blood from the wounds on his head and leg had stopped flowing. Although he still felt the sting from the injuries that had not yet fully healed, he stared toward the small hill where the cliff crevice and their destination lay only about two hundred meters ahead.

Atop that hill stood a giant statue that had been visible from afar earlier. The rush in his blood grew stronger, and the faint sound of the calling felt by Lin Feng grew more intense. He did not know how to describe it, but the feeling to approach the crevice and the statue was becoming unbearable.

"You can wait here if you are afraid," Lin Feng said with an air of indifference without turning back even slightly.

Zhang Hao gritted his teeth. "Crazy! You are truly crazy!" However, his pride that had been set ablaze earlier would not let him stay behind. He rose to walk after Lin Feng with a bit of reluctance.

Finally, they arrived right at the foot of the giant statue. It was a statue of a man in simple clothing. Both of his hands held the hilt of a sword that was thrust into the ground.

Beside the dark crevice, there was a stone overgrown with thin moss. Lin Feng wiped away the moss, revealing words that were carved very firmly.

"Anyone may enter."

"But not everyone may leave."

The two youths looked at each other with furrowed brows, not understanding.