"Hah...hah..." The coachman's chest heaved with ragged breaths as he scrambled back to his feet on the grassy field.

Sweat beaded his brow, hands gripping the hilts of the twin jians tightly, one clutched in each trembling fist. His wild eyes darted around, locking onto the monstrous forms of the gigantic wolves closing in from all sides, their fangs bared menacingly.

'Why are these creatures so strong?!' The thought rattled through his panicked mind, disbelief and confusion swirling. He was fully aware of the risk of being a coachman in this situation because, just a day after the announcement of Tower's 3-month break, he'd encountered strange creatures akin to beasts.

But none had been so immense, so overwhelmingly powerful as the snarling pack now circling him like vultures.

Because of that, he'd felt confident continuing his duties as coachman, not mentioning he regularly witnessed the disciples effortlessly cut down such feral threats. A foolish arrogance, he now realized with a bitter taste of fear.

"HAHROOOO!" One of the towering wolves threw its head back, unleashing a spine-chilling howl that seemed to shake the very air. The rest of the pack responded in kind, their eerie cries merging into a haunting chorus.

Under this broad daylight, their figures shrouded in black furs began circling tighter, their bulky forms weaving in and out, taunting him with feinted lunges that made his heart lurch.

The coachman's footwork was sloppy, his martial stance lacking the crisp form of the sect's disciples. He gripped the jian swords like an amateur, their weight awkward in his inexperienced hands. But he was keenly aware of his deficiencies. His confidence came from elsewhere.

As the gigantic wolves prowled around him, the coachman sucked in a deep, steadying breath, filling his lungs. "HA!" he shouted, a sudden surge of force exploding from his core. His hips twisted as the jians whirled in a clockwise arc, his body whipping around like a spinning top.

In that dizzying moment, a faint azure aura flickered to life around him. The startled wolves looked on, their crimson eyes widening, as the coachman launched himself into a back tuck, legs kicking up towards the sky.

SHRIIIILLLL!

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Like a crashing wave, a shimmering blade of blue energy expelled outwards in a devastating arc to all sides. The ethereal slash tore through the air, rending deep gashes along the flanks of the circling wolves. Agonized howls split the air as spouts of blood erupted from their lacerated bodies.

But then, just as the coachman was still staggering after performing the attack that he used a skill that he brought from the Tower, he was caught off guard as the obsidian-furred pack leader suddenly lunged with startling ferocity.

"GRR!" Its crimson eyes burned with a feral hunger as it closed the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Ugh!" The coachman grunted, caught off guard by the vicious assault. Rolling desperately across the trampled grass, the coachman's eyes widened in shock as wicked fangs the size of daggers tore through the fabric of his hanfu.

He narrowly avoided having his throat ripped out, those snapping jaws snicking shut a mere hairsbreadth from his face.

Panting harshly, he found himself flat on his back, jians crossed in a desperate defensive X as the monstrous wolf loomed over him. "Damn you beasts!" he snarled, muscles straining to keep those razored fangs at bay.

In his periphery, movement registered - the rest of the pack closing in like sharks scenting blood, jaws agape to rip into his vulnerable body. Panic gripped the coachman's pounding heart.

But then...

SWOOSH!

An unexpected breeze gusted through the tall grasses, setting them dancing. In that instant, agonized howls split the air as sprays of crimson erupted all around the coachman.

Tears of relief stung the coachman's eyes at the familiar figure now weaving through the fray with ethereal grace. "Fairy..." A tremulous smile stretched his lips as Song Jia danced amidst the wolves like a butterfly on the wind, jian flashing with liquid precision.

Runnels of blood arced through the air as her sword scored lethal hits, each strike perfectly angled to pierce vital points. Her flowing white robes whipped around her lithe form as she spun and whirled, evading the pack's snapping maws with an ease that bordered on supernatural.

She attacked, yet she looked like she was also performing a sword dance, which was quite beautiful and deadly in his opinion.

In addition, gone was the hesitation, the doubt that had clouded her eyes that fateful night he tried to counsel her. Now her gaze burned with the pure clarity of unwavering purpose, her movements almost hypnotic in their sublime lethality.

So transfixed was the coachman by Song Jia's breathtaking martial prowess that his guard wavered for but a moment. But a moment was all the obsidian-furred alpha needed.

"Argh!" A strangled cry was torn from his lips as ivory fangs punched through flesh and muscle, sinking deep into his chest. Agony blossomed like a crimson flower, the wolf's jaws clamping down with bone-crushing force.

"Uncle!"

Song Jia's shout of alarm shattered the coachman's daze of anguish. He watched, eyes blown wide, as her graceful form blurred in a desperate feint.

The flashing arc of her jian opened a crimson furrow across the gaping maw of another wolf lunging to rip out her throat. But the strike came at a cost - her sword stuck fast, embedded in the beast's writhing flesh.

"No!" The anguished cry tore from her lips as she wrenched futilely at the trapped blade. In that moment of distraction, the obsidian-furred alpha sensed weakness. Its jaws clampeddown with renewed ferocity, serrated fangs boring deeper into the coachman's heaving chest.

Crimson eyes glittered with feral intensity, the rich scent of his blood fueling the wolf's insatiable hunger, driving it into a frenzy of ravenous bloodlust. Rows of fangs inched inexorably closer to rending flesh from bone as the coachman's strength rapidly waned.

But then...

BANG-!

Like the thunderous impact of a meteor, the enormous body of the pack leader was hurled aside with staggering force. The coachman's eyes flew wide, his battered form jolting with the violent upheaval as over 2,000 jin of rippling lupine muscle was flung clear.

Even through the haze of growing torpor induced by draining blood loss, he could scarcely comprehend the scene.

"You are so unreliable, Uncle."