Chapter 84

For the entire afternoon, Zhang Tie spent his time cultivating. When one is in the midst of cultivation, time flies by the fastest!

When he stepped out of the mine again, the setting sun's afterglow once again bathed the entire Wild Wolf Valley in a golden hue. Zhang Tie squinted his eyes, gazing at the tranquil and beautiful valley before him. After a while, his eyes slowly adjusted.

The cultivation effect this afternoon was indeed surprisingly good. The bright spot on his coccyx, after an afternoon of cultivation, was now emitting a faint red light. And after an afternoon of cultivation and recovery, his entire body felt better than ever before. If it weren't for the torch, which was almost burned out, reminding him that it might already be late outside, Zhang Tie would have really wanted to stay inside for a few more hours to add a bit more basic energy to the Black Iron Castle.

Before leaving the mine, Zhang Tie entered the Black Iron Castle once more in the mining pit. The entire process took less than three minutes. Inside the Black Iron Castle, Zhang Tie brought dandelion, wild blueberry, and hawthorn seeds, ran a small circle, and scattered the seeds randomly. He then checked the growth progress of the second No-Leak Fruit and exited.

There were still 56 hours until the second No-Leak Fruit matured, which made Zhang Tie very satisfied. However, he was slightly disappointed that the Iron Embryo Body Fruit on the small tree had not progressed at all since he started the trial. Looking at the unripe Iron Embryo Body Fruit, Zhang Tie was surprised to find that he had a masochistic tendency, feeling a bit itchy! Damn!

At this time, in Wild Wolf Castle, the gentlemen, who were outwardly polite but inwardly savage, were inviting girls to dinner. After more than a week, some couples were already walking down the hill, holding hands and chatting, making Zhang Tie feel a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment. He could only touch his nose in self-mockery and head towards the tree house.

He wondered how Baley and the others were doing today. Did they invite a bunch of girls to the tree house?

On his way back to the tree house, Zhang Tie's mind was filled with such thoughts. Before the trial, all the rumors about the dangers of the trial were thrown to the back of his mind. Even Zhang Tie couldn't think of what dangers a wretched miner like himself, who spent his days digging in the back, could encounter. A wolf?

Thinking of wolves, Zhang Tie, who was enjoying the intoxicating evening breeze in the valley, laughed. If he encountered a wolf at this moment, he would feel lucky, thinking that heaven had sent him a gift—a Level 1 Warrior. With a weapon in hand, even if it was just a dagger, dealing with a wild wolf would be as challenging as carrying a 100-kilogram ore basket and walking 1.5 kilometers. It would be tiring, but not very dangerous...

However, danger is dangerous precisely because it often catches you off guard, appearing suddenly like a mountain collapsing or the sky falling, and can crush you to pieces with the slightest mistake.

Less than twenty minutes after leaving the mine, Zhang Tie had walked a few miles. Just as he turned a hill and was about to cross the small patch of grass he passed every day, he suddenly stopped.

His heart began to beat violently, and the increased blood flow to his brain made him feel slightly dizzy. He suddenly felt a strange unease, and his face changed dramatically.

A premonition!

The same premonition he had two weeks ago when he encountered Hake and Sneider.

The patch of grass, about half a person's height, was about thirty meters in front of him. A small path ran beside the grass, which he took every day to the mine. The wind blew, and the grass swayed like waves in a field of wheat.

Zhang Tie broke out in a cold sweat, telling him that something terrifying was hiding in the grass. He didn't know if it was a person or an animal. At this moment, he thought of Gris and the others. Could they have the nerve to ambush him here?

Zhang Tie slowly took off his ore basket, took out the pickaxe inside with his right hand, and pulled out the dagger he used for self-defense with his left hand. The dagger was just a regular one given by his brother; the one given by Tang De was for stealth, and Zhang Tie had left it in the Black Iron Castle.

With two weapons in hand, Zhang Tie's heart calmed a bit. He stared at the grass, trying to see what was hiding there. If it was really Gris and the others, Zhang Tie was determined to make them pay...

The wind grew stronger, and the grass waves continued to roll. In the rolling waves, Zhang Tie noticed something like rocks, which altered the shape of the waves that hit them.

Before his mental power increased, Zhang Tie wouldn't have noticed such subtle changes. After the increase, he immediately caught them. He swallowed hard and slowly backed away. As he took a few steps back, the "rocks" in the grass also moved, parting the waves and approaching Zhang Tie step by step.

A wolf, staring intently at Zhang Tie, emerged from the grass...

It was a wolf? Zhang Tie's nerves relaxed slightly, then tightened again. Behind the first wolf, more wolves emerged from the grass, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

There were seven wolves in total. All the wolves that emerged from the grass stared at Zhang Tie with bloodshot eyes, and just from a glance, Zhang Tie could feel their emotions—hatred, deep and intense, a hatred that could not be washed away even if all his blood were drained.

Why did these wolves hate him so much? Zhang Tie didn't know. He only knew that this time, his chances of survival were slim. Seeing the white fangs gradually bared by the wolves, their bodies lowering, and hearing the growls in their throats, all the hair on Zhang Tie's body stood on end...

Zhang Tie turned and ran. As he used all his strength to sprint, his mind became crystal clear, and information flashed through his brain...

He was less than thirty meters from the wolves. If he ran at full speed, the wolves would catch up to him in just over twenty seconds. His current abilities were not enough to outpace these wild wolves...

Once the wolves caught up, he would have less than thirty seconds to decide his fate. In those thirty seconds, he could kill one or two wolves, but the remaining wolves would tear open his belly or bite through his throat. The moment he was knocked down by the wolves would be the end...

Entering the Black Iron Castle required ten seconds of calm... no, nine seconds. During this time, he couldn't be disturbed. It was too late now; the Black Iron Castle was no longer of any use...

There was no one nearby. In the fifty seconds that would decide his fate, no one could come to his rescue. So, he had only about twenty seconds to escape. If the seven wolves caught up to him in those twenty seconds, he was finished...

He couldn't rely on others, and he couldn't rely on the environment. In those twenty seconds, his only hope was to use the terrain and trees within two hundred meters behind him.

The best terrain to use would be water—unfortunately, there was none. There were many trees, but his tree-climbing skills were poor, and he couldn't climb to a safe height in a few seconds. So, climbing trees was not an option. Therefore, he had only one choice left, which offered a glimmer of hope, while the others meant certain death.

These thoughts flashed through Zhang Tie's mind in less than a second. In that instant, he decided on his escape plan. If it were anyone else, 90% would instinctively run towards the direction of Wild Wolf Castle, hoping for a miracle. However, Zhang Tie saw this path as ending in fifty seconds. The remaining 10% would run in panic, hoping to get away from the wolves, but this path also ended in fifty seconds, and even sooner. Zhang Tie, however, made a clear decision to run towards a different path, determined to find a way to survive...

Of course, running alone was not enough. One should never give up even the slightest hope, especially as a young and promising individual. So, as Zhang Tie turned to run, he used all his strength to shout—

"Help!..."

The shout echoed through the valley, startling countless birds...

After shouting, Zhang Tie used all his strength to sprint. Behind him, seven wild wolves with bloodshot eyes pursued him, gradually closing the distance.

...

Zhang Tie's last shout for help was indeed heard. On a small hill about three hundred meters away, a group of about thirty men and women were having a barbecue in the forest. When they heard the distant cry for help, they all rushed out with their weapons. Among them was the red-haired beauty who had kicked Zhang Tie. From the hill, they witnessed Zhang Tie's "last few seconds"...

Zhang Tie was finally caught by the wolves. One wolf pounced, but he dodged, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. As the wolf leaped, Zhang Tie's forward momentum shifted to the side, and he slashed the wolf's belly with his dagger. Another wolf pounced, and he struck its jaw with the pickaxe, the wolf's howl even clearer than his cry for help. In that instant, a wolf had already bitten his calf, pulling him to the ground. As the other wolves were about to pounce, the young man, without hesitation, plunged his dagger into the wolf that had bitten his calf and, with one hand, dragged the wolf and, without hesitation, rolled into a large, dark hole beside him...

The determination, decisiveness, and bravery Zhang Tie displayed in those "last few seconds" deeply moved the young men and women on the hill. Many of the girls cried as they watched Zhang Tie and the wolf roll into the deep, dark hole. Among them, only Christina recognized the black-haired young man fighting the wolves with a pickaxe and a dagger.

Perhaps, I shouldn't have kicked him on the square. Even letting him think about it in his mind would have been fine... Christina felt a bit guilty, and a breeze blew, making her realize that her face was already cold...

For ordinary people, it was an era where youth was like morning dew and life was as fragile as grass...