Urban Martial Saint

”Stick close to me, don’t wander off!” Ye Qing softly instructed Old Chen, turned his head, and continued to walk up the mountain.

Old Chen didn’t dare to run without caution, closely following Ye Qing’s footsteps, occasionally turning his head to watch the surroundings, guarding against any possible situations.

The group walked this way for about ten minutes when suddenly, about ten meters to Ye Qing’s left, a spotted leopard sprang down from a tree, directly pouncing one person who had walked to the tree’s side.

”Ah!” The person let out a scream, and everyone immediately turned their heads. Just as the group prepared to help, another leopard sprang down, once again knocking down a person.

”Ah!” This person also let out a scream, which instantly made everyone somewhat alarmed. Fortunately, Ye Qing reacted swiftly. He was the first to rush forward, grabbing the leopard’s tail with force and pulling it away.

The person knocked down by the leopard had already sustained a shoulder wound, but fortunately, it wasn’t too deep. The leopard grabbed by Ye Qing immediately turned and bit toward Ye Qing. Yet Ye Qing didn’t dodge, letting the leopard bite his arm, but the leopard couldn’t injure Ye Qing in the least. Ye Qing seized the opportunity to punch the leopard in the head, causing the leopard to fall to the ground, tumbling over several times before it managed to get back up.

The other side’s leopard was also forcibly pulled away by several people. Those people, fortunately, were slightly prepared, only sustaining some scratches on their arms, which resulted in even lighter injuries. However, the leopard was agile, faced with several people, it didn’t attack but retreated immediately, watching this group of people from afar, apparently waiting for the right moment despite having no intent to attack now.

After both leopards were driven away, the group immediately gathered together. Old Chen pulled out a Luoyang Shovel from the backpack he carried, swinging it as he walked to stand in the middle of the crowd, urgently exclaiming, ”Quick, quick, this is terrifying!”

At this point, no one paid any attention to Old Chen. As the two leopards were driven back, five or six more leopards jumped down from the trees, taking positions all around to encircle the crowd. Each leopard had strong hostility in their eyes, seemingly ready to pounce at any moment, tearing everyone into fragments.

”What the heck is going on?” Fat Wang walked next to Ye Qing, remaining alert to the leopards while urgently asking, ”Aren’t leopards solitary animals? I remembered they each have their own territories. How come so many leopards get together?”

Though leopards aren’t large, can’t compare to tigers, and lack the strong fighting ability of tigers, they’re more agile. Their movements are extremely fast, and they have the ability to climb trees and walls. To humans, encountering a leopard is more dangerous than facing a tiger. Moreover, with so many leopards grouped together, the danger increases greatly.

Ye Qing was also puzzled; he had never seen so many leopards gathered together. Additionally, these leopards attacking in unison was something they hadn’t even anticipated before. Ye Qing himself feared no leopards, but that didn’t mean the people around him weren’t scared. If these leopards attacked all of a sudden, they might lose a few people here.

Beside Fat Wang, an older man said in a solemn tone, ”This should be the mating season. Leopards only gather during the mating season. Now it’s spring, just the season for leopard mating. We must have accidentally ventured into their mating territory, hence the attack!”

Fat Wang took a deep breath, saying, ”We really got unlucky, didn’t we? We ended up in the leopard’s mating area, which explains why there are no animals here, not even birds’ chirping!”

”What do we do now? What do we do now?” Old Chen shouted loudly, holding the Luoyang Shovel. This guy stood at the safest spot in the middle of the crowd but was the most frightened.

The older man whispered, ”Stay calm, as long as we walk out of this area, these leopards won’t attack us anymore!”

Ye Qing slowly nodded in agreement, whispering, ”Let’s form a circle and slowly move up the mountain. Remember, don’t panic; make sure not to scatter, don’t give these leopards any chance!”

After two people were attacked, everyone was already frightened by the leopards. Hearing Ye Qing’s words, they naturally wouldn’t disobey. Following Ye Qing’s instruction, they cautiously formed a circle and slowly moved up the mountain path.

The leopards continued to surround the group, but maintaining a standoff, they couldn’t attack. This way, after half an hour, the crowd finally walked out of the forest area. The leopards indeed didn’t pursue them further, merely lingering at the forest’s edge, watching them go away before dispersing slowly.

Seeing the leopards scatter, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Earlier in the forest, more and more leopards appeared; everyone took stock, and there were almost fifty leopards inside. Had all these leopards attacked them, how many would have walked out of the forest alive?

”My grandpa, was this too dangerous or what!” Old Chen leaned on the Luoyang Shovel, panting heavily while saying, ”Young Ye, I’ve long told you, let me go back first. You insisted on pulling me into this adventure. If grandpa really gets into trouble, how will you compensate me?”

Ye Qing replied, ”If you want to return, you can go back right now; I won’t stop you!”

”Nonsense, how do I go back now?” Old Chen stared with wide eyes, saying, ”I can’t even get past that forest. Asking me to go back is like sending me to die!”

Nonsense, naturally knowing you can’t go back is why I say you should. If there were no danger, who would tell you to return?

Ye Qing muttered in his heart but didn’t vocalize it, waved his hand, saying, ”Leave if you want to, don’t if you don’t, stop telling me so much!”

Old Chen rambled on some more, but Ye Qing ignored him entirely. He went over to bandage the injured people’s wounds. Luckily, the leopards weren’t very powerful, their biting strength not strong either. These two men only suffered minor injuries. However, the situation allowed everyone a deeper understanding of the forest’s condition. Clearly, the forest isn’t safe, and reaching the designated spot on the map won’t be easy.

After a short rest, everyone continued to climb the mountain along the path. Fortunately, after crossing the mountain, they encountered no danger thereafter. This mountain seemed part of the leopards’ activity area, just that in the mating season, they all gathered in that forest area, leaving other places on the mountain safe.

Once they crossed the third mountain, without taking a break, they moved directly to the fourth. This fourth mountain, slightly shorter than the third, though having beasts inside, didn’t exhibit the concentrated leopard presence from earlier. On this fourth mountain, the group encountered a ferocious boar, but it was dealt with by everyone, and they roasted boar meat for dinner that night.

At night, they found a piece of open land, set up several fires around, put up tents, and took turns for night duty with rest. Thanks to the fire, the wild beasts didn’t dare approach, rendering the night uneventful.

The next day, everyone resumed their journey, encountering no danger. The third and fourth days passed safely, almost making them forget about the previous leopard attack. Xiliang Mountain didn’t seem as dangerous as rumored, and instead, the mountain’s beautiful scenery became mesmerizing.

On the fifth day, they reached a towering mountain, the tallest they’d encountered along the way. At this point, they’d already covered over one hundred miles, leaving less than a third of the way to their destination, bringing them closer to the target.

This mountain was too high, its peak covered with snow. Now that spring arrived, the snow began melting, creating streams all over the mountain, making the scenery more beautiful than previous mountains.

Several days without danger relaxed everyone’s nerves compared to before. Though the mountain lacked pathways, climbing had turned almost into a sightseeing adventure, adding to their enjoyment.

Reaching midway up, the forest gradually changed from broadleaf to coniferous.

While most people remained captivated by the surrounding beauty, Ye Qing furrowed his brow slightly, because he smelled a faint stench in the air, a scent unique to large beasts. This indicated they’d likely entered a large beast’s territory.

”Everyone, be careful!” Before Ye Qing could alert them, Big Beard quietly said, ”There may be large beasts around here; let’s quickly get out of this area to avoid an attack!”

”Huh, Big Beard, how do you know?” Fat Wang turned curiously.

”Look at the trees here.” Big Beard pointed to a tree, and as everyone turned to look, they saw claw marks on its trunk, clearly made by a beast.

This sight made everyone’s hearts tighten; having experienced leopard attacks before, everyone was now more cautious. Seeing beast signs, no one dared be negligent.

”Speed up, let’s get out of this area quickly!” Fat Wang whispered, simultaneously pulling a dagger from his belongings for self-defense.