Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 395 - 21: The Hunting Wolf Pack_1

Chapter 395: Chapter 21: The Hunting Wolf Pack_1

A sizable caravan moved across the land, already far from the Warhammer Stronghold, situated amidst the vast expanse of a grassland.

Under the clear blue sky, all around was a sea of green. The thigh-deep grass released a unique fragrance; dewdrops on the grass evaporated into an invisible gas under the sunlight, dissipating into the air. With the rustling of the grass and the sound of horse hooves, a few insects that emerged earlier than usual were startled and hastily took flight. Everywhere, snakes and rodents scurried back into the soil shaken by the trembling of the earth, trembling in fear as they waited.

The grass rustled and parted to either side as dozens of prairie deer stood up and revealed half their bodies initially hidden by the grass. They turned their slender necks in every direction, their pointed ears trembling. They trotted nervously on the ground, uttering anxious deer sounds.

This herd consisted of over seventy prairie deer. On the grasslands, such a scale of beasts was pretty common. Having had their fill of fresh wild grass, the resting herd sensed something. One after one, they stood up in chain reaction. Over a dozen fully-grown stags with huge antlers huffed and presented their antlers outward, shielding the does and fawns within. The scent carried over by the wind put the stags on edge; the scent of a predator, the dreadful scent of a carnivore, and the scent of death itself.

"Awooooo~" A series of wolf howls emanated from the west of the deer herd, bringing panic to their eyes. The terror of a wolf pack was etched deep into the souls of the beasts of the prairie. Each howl seemed like a hammer dropping heavily onto the heart of the deer herd.

The frantic herd started moving nervously, retreating towards the eastern side away from the incoming pack at an accelerating pace, finally breaking out into a mad dash under the pressure of the closing-in wolf howls.

A silver shadow flickered. Right at the location where the deer herd originally stood, a silver-haired girl, crouched on all fours, appeared out of nowhere. Given the height of the wild grass, the crouching girl was almost completely hidden, with only the back of her white robe and her silver hair barely visible at the tops of the grass. The silver-haired girl sniffed the air, threw her head back and let out a howl. Responding to her call, fifty silver wolves fanned out behind her, each answering with a howl of their own.

Compared to the black wolves seen in the Shining Forest, these silver wolves were larger, with sharper claws and teeth, and were superior in strength, speed, and agility. Among them, the fifty silver wolves following the girl constituted the strongest batch. These silver wolves, even while standing on all fours, would reach the height of an adult human’s chest. Despite being tall, they didn’t look stocky at all. Each wolf had a very well-proportioned body, radiating powerful intimidation. Even these powerful wolves were more than willing to follow behind the girl. They paced leisurely behind the fleeing deer herd, trailing their scent, and never allowed the deer to gain distance.

Cornered and left without choice, the deer could only continue their desperate flight. Occasionally, one or two would fall behind due to tripping and be quickly caught and killed by a chasing silver wolf. Prairie deer were large creatures, not smaller than silver wolves, and were also quite heavy, often weighing nearly three hundred pounds. However, silver wolves, being natural predators, could easily kill these preys without any hindrance. The wolves were unable to carry the bodies of their large kills, yet they were unperturbed, willingly abandoning the carcasses to continue the chase. A few minutes later, a handful of slightly smaller or injured she-wolves arrived with a group of nearly-grown wolf-pups. Several wolves collaborated to drag a carcass along the path trampled by the larger wolves and followed the scent.

The chase lasted less than half an hour. Suddenly, the darting herd came to an abrupt halt. In the grass in front of them, hundreds of silver wolves stood their ground. And not just at the front, wolves were stationed in every direction, working with the chasing pack to completely encircle the deer herd.

The herd, with no way of escape, huddled together once more. The desperate stags brandished their only weapons – their antlers, threatening the encroaching wolf pack. However, the wolves remained undeterred. Prairie deer were merely beasts, while silver wolves were magical beasts. Much like the difference between common people and Professionals, unless there was a vast discrepancy in size and strength, an attack from a beast would rarely cause much harm to a magical beast. Even if a stag’s antler pierced a silver wolf, it wouldn’t penetrate its outer skin. The wolves simply had to avoid their eyes and a few other particular weak spots to avoid getting injured.

"Awoooo~" The girl leading the pack, radiating with Divine Spell energy, lunged like lightning at the largest stag that seemed to be the leader. Immediately following the girl, a large number of silver wolves also sprang forth. The screams of imminent death and the strong smell of blood permeated the grassland.

"Diana seems to be having a fun time there." A hundred yards away, a group of people peered at the wolf pack’s hunting ground from atop their horses. Pannis joked, "I wonder what Lina’s reaction would be when finds out she’s been ripping the throats of a herd of deer with her teeth and nails."

"Don’t worry." Catherine picked up on Pannis’s underlying anxiety in his tease and reassured him, "Since Lina is willing to trade body control with Diana, she must’ve prepared for this. Diana hasn’t done anything outrageous, so they won’t have any conflicts. Diana is pitiful, too. In her understanding, she must’ve been suppressed for hundreds of years and only came out in the Shining Forest once. There’s nothing wrong with letting her enjoy a bit this time."

After having a false alarm two days ago, under Lina (or rather, Diana)’s mediation, the wolf pack backed off even further, and the Warhammer Stronghold also relaxed its defenses. This should have been a cause for celebration, but the Beastman civilians returned home in disappointment, seemingly filled with dejection at the reality of not being able to participate in the battle. Once the border was lifted, Diana and Catherine and a few others negotiated and bought ten head of cattle and ten prairie sheep from the residents of the stronghold. There was never a lack of livestock on the grassland. Buying cattle and sheep was as simple as buying bread in human cities. The transaction was completed quickly. With the tiger man Parqi and Marcia from the Hall of War God, the five of them accompanied Lina, driving the cattle and sheep into the grasslands and offering the hungry wolves a grand gift.

It was only when countless huge silver wolves suddenly emerged that Catherine saw their interaction with Diana. Even though Diana was standing upright at the moment, the wolves didn’t see her as an outsider. Instead, they behaved like children seeing their stern mother, wanting to get closer but being intimidated by the majesty of the mother, unwilling to run away and hence, maintaining some distance and expressing their affection through their calls. Some of them even lay on the ground and exposed their white bellies, making a whining sound.

Instead of lying down or maintaining the dignity of a queen, Diana gently smiled and sat amongst the wolves, tickling each silver wolf that lay exposing its belly. The tickled silver wolves purred like puppies, appearing very happy.

The feast only began after the head wolf, presenting what should have been his fattest sheep in front of Diana, was rejected. The wolves howled before they started their meal. For the wolves, the amount of livestock was barely enough to satisfy their hunger, but they were still satisfied. They watched Diana and the others return to the stronghold reluctantly.

In the evening, Lina swapped back to her own body and told Catherine and Pannis that Diana wanted to help this pack of Silver Wolves, so she might show up frequently in the next few days. They didn’t need to worry about her. After saying this, Lina handed the control of her body back to Diana, shrugging off any further responsibility.

From Lina’s words, Catherine, Vivian, and Pannis all understood that the trouble wasn’t over yet. Sure enough, just when they were setting off yesterday morning, they encountered a pack of huge silver wolves hiding in the bushes, panting and looking expectantly at the galloping humans. Under Diana’s howl, the wolves leaped up and ran beside the horses; Diana also couldn’t help but jump off the horse and run on all fours with the wolves, as if she had returned to the time when she led countless giant wolves, dominating the grassland.

Parqi and Marcia, who had no knowledge of these events, were too shocked to respond. They felt that their common sense had been completely shattered by what they had seen in the past two days and would never recover. Especially Marcia, who had lived in the wilderness for years and mixed with magical beasts. She thought there would be few people in the world who are closer to the magical beasts than she was. But now, she realized that compared to Diana, she was nothing. She only had an affinity for magical beasts, whereas Diana had completely transformed into a magical beast. These were two entirely different realms.

Through a day and night of companionship, the wolf pack also gradually relaxed dealing with the strange creature accompanying their king, especially seeing their king getting so close to them. Some wolves even shared a bit of their prey with the group after hunting. This benevolence from the fierce magical beasts left the group with a feeling of mixed laughter and tears.

With half a day’s journey left until arrival at Parqi’s tribe, Diana led the wolf pack on their final hunt of the day. The catch was plentiful enough to keep the wolf pack from starving for two days, ensuring they wouldn’t attack the livestock kept by the herders in Parqi’s tribe due to hunger.

"This is my prey, isn’t it nice?" Diana, biting on the neck of a stag, dragged the prey in front of the few bystanders. She only resumed her standing posture when she reached the horse, holding the antler she showcased to everyone, "Pannis, you need to be in charge of cooking when we get to Parqi’s tribe. It’s been a long time since I had the pleasure of enjoying my own hunted prey."

"You want it cooked?" Pannis made a surprised face and purposefully said, "I thought you would just jump on it and start eating."

"I see." Diana glanced at Pannis, nodded and said, "I finally understand why Lina always has the urge to smack you." (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to recommend and subscribe at qidian.com. Your support is our greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)