48: Chapter 48 Breaking News! The Frenzied Gray-Maned Wolfhound!

The last rays of the setting sun sank completely into the Western Mountains, and the deep blue sky slowly seeped in from east to west.

In the northern suburbs of Qinglan City, Luoxia Village, located near the edge of the buffer zone of the Duanshan Mountains, was experiencing its most leisurely time of the day.

In the open space in front of several houses, villagers gathered in twos and threes.

The men held large coarse porcelain bowls containing thin porridge or noodle soup, slurping as they chatted loudly about this year's harvest, the latest news in town, or complaining about the wild beasts that kept coming to steal vegetables and cause trouble.

The children were the most jubilant, chasing and playing in the open space, their crisp laughter and shouts carrying far into the twilight.

"Brother Siwen, are those older brothers and sisters really your classmates today?"

A little boy raised his flushed face and asked Zhao Siwen, who was standing in the center of the open space.

Zhao Siwen crouched down his two-meter-tall frame, the huge shadow cast by his burly body enveloping the boy, and he scratched his head and replied softly:

"Not classmates, but schoolmates. They are students from the class next door, but we run into each other often."

"Then are they as strong as you?" the boy asked.

Zhao Siwen smiled: "They are much stronger than me. Not just in academic grades, but they are also better at beast battles than I am."

"Do you all still remember that older sister who didn't like to smile?"

"Remember!" The children had a deep impression.

Zhao Siwen patted the boy's head and continued with a smile:

"She is the champion of this year's Young Eagle Cup, oh, and that boy with the colorful clothes is in the top four of the Young Eagle Cup. The others also advanced to the knockout rounds; they are all very strong."

"Brother Siwen is the strongest!" The boy's voice was loud, drawing a burst of laughter.

Zhao Siwen did not answer, just stood up and looked out at the distant mountains and forests.

In the children's eyes, he was indeed very strong.

He was the only Beast Tamer from Luoxia Village to be admitted to a beast-taming academy in the last two years, and he was the pride of the entire village.

Although he stopped at the top 64 in the recently concluded Young Eagle Cup and failed to break into the finals, for the people in the village, his ability to stand on the stage of the city's new Beast Tamers and compete with those favored children from well-off families in the city was already an incredible achievement.

"Brother Siwen, then aren't your classmates strong?" a girl asked.

"They are also very strong," Zhao Siwen said softly, "Do you remember the older brother I told you about before? He was admitted to the Qiming Beast-Taming Academy. That is one of the strongest academies in our Donghuang."

"By the way, that older sister who didn't like to smile earlier was also admitted to this academy."

"Wow!" Screams rose one after another.

"Did that older brother participate in the Young Eagle Cup?" a child suddenly asked.

"No." Zhao Siwen shook his head.

After the college entrance examination ended, he returned to this remote mountain village, and his contact with his classmates had stopped on the first day after the exam.

This place was too far from the city, so far that it was enough to block all communication and contact.

No matter how good the relationship was in the past, it would be scattered by the wind in the mountains.

"Cree!"

A sharp eagle cry full of panic rang out without warning, the sound high-pitched and piercing, instantly overwhelming all the chatter and play.

Everyone subconsciously looked up.

They saw a gray-black shadow sweeping over the village at a low altitude from the direction of the Duanshan Mountains at an astonishing speed.

It seemed to be a large eagle-type beast, but at this moment it had no majesty or composure of a raptor; its wings were flapping messily and forcefully, and its flight path was crooked, as if something extremely terrifying was chasing it from behind.

It didn't even look down at the village and crowd below, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the silhouette of the mountains in the twilight, leaving only that heart-palpitating cry echoing in the air.

In the open space at the entrance of the village, it became quiet instantly.

The adults' laughter and the children's play all disappeared.

An inexplicable chill crept up everyone's spine along with that eagle cry.

This was unusual.

Villagers living on the edge of the Duanshan Mountains were no strangers to the appearance of wild beasts.

But it was rare to see a raptor so panicked, completely ignoring human settlements, and running for its life.

"That was an Iron-Feather Eagle, right? Why is it flying like that?" An old farmer muttered, putting down the bowl in his hand, his brows locked tight.

"Looks like something happened?" The person next to him interjected, his voice filled with uncertain worry.

As if to verify this ominous premonition, a sharp-eyed young man suddenly pointed to the end of the dirt road leading from the village to the mountains, his voice changing because of fear: "Look over there!"

In the twilight, the shadows of the trees at the end of the dirt road shook violently.

Immediately after, several beasts rushed out of the forest in a panic, running wildly towards the village.

With the last bit of daylight, one could see that these were canine beasts shaped like wolf dogs, covered with dark gray short fur, with prominent snouts and long, powerful limbs—Gray-maned Wolf Dogs.

Gray-maned Wolf Dogs are medium-sized predators with keen senses of smell and are good at cooperative hunting, commonly found in the outer forests of the Duanshan Mountains.

But at this moment, these hunters, usually fierce and alert, could not find the slightest calmness or cruelty of hunting on their faces, only the purest fear and panic.

Their eyes flashed with panicked red light in the dimness, their mouths and noses wide open, tongues lolling, drool flowing, their limbs scratching the ground desperately, kicking up dust, only burying their heads and running wildly forward.

"Are those Gray-maned Wolf Dogs?!"

"So many?!"

"What's wrong with them? Are they crazy?!"

"Quick! Quickly pick up the children! Go home! Close the door!"

The warm and leisurely atmosphere vanished, and panic exploded among the villagers like a plague.

Women screamed and rushed towards their children, picked them up, hugged them tightly in their arms, their faces pale.

The men were also panicked, some subconsciously grabbing the farm tools at hand—hoes, shovels, shoulder poles, trembling and aiming at the direction the wolf dogs were running.

The beasts in the village made fearful calls, one after another, and the scene became increasingly chaotic.

Although Luoxia Village is close to the Duanshan Mountains, or rather, it is located on the edge, there are border patrol teams patrolling here, and there has never been a large-scale wild beast harassment incident.

Occasionally, wild beasts would stray into it, but they would be dealt with by the Beast Tamers in the village or the Beast Control Bureau.

"Don't panic, retreat into the village, hurry!" The village chief was still calm, shouting hoarsely, trying to organize order.

Although these Gray-maned Wolf Dogs were full of fear and panic, it was uncertain whether they would cause harm to the crowd.

In the chaos, Zhao Siwen stepped forward abruptly, blocking between the panicked villagers and the surging Gray-maned Wolf Dogs.

"Dazhuang!" He roared, his voice somewhat hoarse due to nervousness, but exceptionally firm.

"Roar!"

The Thick Rock Bear, which had been lying obediently on the side, heard the sound and stood up instantly.

Its huge body, nearly two meters tall, was like a gray-brown wall that suddenly rose, the V-shaped white hair on its chest trembling slightly, and the originally honest bear face revealed the fierceness belonging to a predator, its thick bear paw heavily slapping the ground, making a dull loud noise, and it issued a deterrent roar at the surging wolf dog pack.

Zhao Siwen stared at the approaching wolf dog pack, his brows locked tight.

He had indeed conducted beast battles, and he had indeed performed in the Young Eagle Cup, but those battles were limited to one-on-one battles under the rules of the battle, not unrestricted actual combat in the wild.

These two types of battles are worlds apart.

He looked at the leading Gray-maned Wolf Dog, which was obviously a size larger and had a powerful aura, and then looked at the few Gray-maned Wolf Dogs following closely behind, his expression grave.

Four Tier 1, one Tier 2, even if he joined the battle, he would likely not be able to resist.

But he had to stand here.

Even if it was just a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Zhao Siwen took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeves, his muscles knotted, his burly body about two meters tall stood on the left side of the Thick Rock Bear, and he actually burst out with a fierce aura stronger than the latter.

"Gagu!"

At this very moment, a sound came from the road not far away, from far to near, quickly.

Zhao Siwen looked up abruptly, only to see an orange figure wrapped in flames, crossing a distance in an instant, and rushing over.

Surging flames followed, and the Flame Claw Beast charged into the Gray-maned Wolf Dog pack, the flames suddenly surging, and the sharp claws wrapped in flame currents slashed down horizontally.

Bang bang bang!

The next moment, two Tier 1 Gray-maned Wolf Dogs were hit hard, their fur charred, and they fell to the ground wailing.

"Gagu?"

The Flame Claw Beast stepped on a Gray-maned Wolf Dog, easily blocking the biting attack of the Gray-maned Wolf Dog beside it with its right claw, while looking up at the road, raising its left claw and slashing across its neck.

Zhao Siwen followed the gaze of the Flame Claw Beast and saw a Beast Control Bureau official vehicle parked on the side of the road, its police lights flashing.