19: Chapter 19: The Battle of the Mane Wolves 19: Chapter 19: The Battle of the Mane Wolves As the sound of beast hooves arose, Xia Hong and the others hurriedly held their breath.
From the west, a colossal creature, two meters tall at the shoulder and over four meters long, slowly approached the torch step by step.
Its back was covered with spines resembling icicles, and two long tusks stood upright.
Its fierce eyes, though focused intently on the torch, occasionally scanned its surroundings.
Its massive size made each step scatter snowflakes into the air.
Hiding in the snow pit, Xia Hong’s heart thumped in rhythm with its footsteps.
“An adult Snow Mane, this must weigh over a thousand pounds!”
Compared to the juvenile one from last time, this Snow Mane was noticeably larger.
And from its tentative steps,
it was apparent that this adult Snow Mane was much more intelligent than the last one.
The Snow Mane slowly walked up to the torch.
Like the last one, it first nosed up to the torch, feeling the warmth emanating from the flames.
Within seconds, it clearly felt the benefits of the torch, its pupils dilated, and its movements became light and relaxed.
This system, what on earth has it given me?
It can heal the Cold Beast, enhance the Cold Beast.
Watching this scene, Xia Hong felt a slight heaviness in his heart.
If a small torch is so effective, what about the small campfire in the camp?
If the Cold Beasts discover it, they might go utterly berserk.
“Before gaining strength, the small campfire must remain hidden.”
Xia Hong reminded himself and continued watching.
The Snow Mane stood by the torch for more than ten breaths, its actions growing more excited, even resting its chin on the flame.
The hair on its chin didn’t burn; instead, it became shinier.
Xia Hong could even feel that the Snow Mane’s aura became stronger than before it approached the torch.
Afraid of alarming the captivated Snow Mane, Xia Hong dared not look east.
But as the Frost Wolf didn’t appear, doubt crept into his heart.
“Could it be the Frost Wolf is scared and didn’t dare to come?”
He had tested before; the torch only burned for fifteen minutes.
By now, nearly one-third had passed.
It seemed today’s torch would be wasted.
Fortunately, it was the first time, so waste was normal.
However, just as this thought emerged,
a tremor-like sound suddenly came from the snowfields.
Xia Hong turned his eyes eastwards but found nothing.
Yet the disturbance in the snow was real.
By the torch, the Snow Mane also sensed the vibration, its gaze turning ferocious, the expression shifting from enjoyment to fury.
It stared intensely in the direction of the disturbance, its pupils slowly reddening, and the high-standing tusks exuded brutality.
The air was suddenly pierced by a sharp sound of a spike.
Suddenly, a ring of spines sprouted from beneath the Snow Mane, rising rapidly from the snow, aimed directly at the Snow Mane’s vulnerable abdomen.
No matter how clever, the Snow Mane never expected spines to emerge from beneath its feet.
Despite its swift evasive movement to the side, a meter-long wound was still cut across its abdomen.
As the spikes fully extended out of the snow, their owner revealed its true form.
Xia Hong recognized the familiar Cold Beast, his expression turning rigid.
It was not any special Cold Beast but the very Frost Wolf he had seen before.
Of course, it was an adult.
The spikes that had just attacked the Snow Mane emerged from the collar of spines around the Frost Wolf’s neck.
This Frost Wolf not only knew how to burrow under the snow but also approached silently, launching a surprise attack.
While Xia Hong marveled at the Frost Wolf’s intelligence, the wounded Snow Mane also sprang into action.
Green blood oozed from its abdomen, and the Snow Mane steadied itself, roaring furiously towards the source of the spikes.
The sharp cry pierced the night, shattering many icicles on the surrounding trees.
Its eyes burned with hatred, fixated on the Frost Wolf, its hind legs stamped down, and it charged with all its might, nearly reaching in an instant.
The Frost Wolf clearly recognized the Snow Mane’s rage and was unwilling to meet it head-on, retreating back into the snow and sprinting towards the torch that had flown away.
What a clever move, missing a strike, and it immediately grasped the core conflict.
Xia Hong could see it clearly—the Frost Wolf planned to snatch the torch and run.
It wasn’t just him who realized this.
The Snow Mane, in its fury, also noticed.
More than its abdominal wound, the Snow Mane seemed to value the torch more.
Without hesitation, it quickly changed course, bowing its head deeply and charging towards the torch.
At first, Xia Hong thought it was bowing to gather strength.
But he soon realized it wasn’t so.
The Snow Mane’s tusks plowed into the snow as it thundered forward, and the snow on the ground was completely upheaved.
As it charged through, its limbs intentionally churned, tossing snow aside, revealing the ground beneath.
This was deliberately preventing the Frost Wolf from burrowing through the snow.
Before the Frost Wolf could reach the torch, the Snow Mane’s tusks flicked it out of the snow.
The Frost Wolf wasn’t very large, but the massive force stopped it halfway, slamming it into a Red Frost Tree behind.
Even so, the Frost Wolf quickly stood up, its blood-red eyes fixed on the Snow Mane, baring thin fangs as its ferocity surged to the peak, its hind legs suddenly propelling it towards the Snow Mane in a fierce lunge.
The Snow Mane was least afraid of a brute force collision.
Facing the lunge, it didn’t dodge but charged forward head-on.
However, the Frost Wolf’s lunge was a feint.
As it neared the Snow Mane, it abruptly dropped its body low, dodging past the Snow Mane, and sunk its fangs into its back left leg.
The Frost Wolf had considerable bite strength.
The Snow Mane cried out sharply in pain, trying to bite the Frost Wolf in turn; failing once, it switched to trying to shove the Frost Wolf away.
But the Frost Wolf, having gained an advantage, wouldn’t let go easily.
Using its agile body to dodge constantly while maintaining its grip, within a short time, it had the Snow Mane’s back left leg bleeding profusely.
As it made tearing motions, the white bones within became faintly visible.
The Snow Mane, increasingly pained, realizing it couldn’t shove the Wolf off, rolled to the side.
Then, with a frenzy of thrashing, its thousand-pound body and inherent horrific strength, spurred by a will to survive, soon had the Frost Wolf battered and bleeding from nose and mouth.
Even so, it held on steadfastly, refusing to let go.
The Snow Mane’s battering continued for over hundreds of times and persisted.
Yet the Frost Wolf didn’t release its grip.
Whether due to blood loss or exhaustion, the Snow Mane’s thrashing frequency dropped and its strength waned.
Until its back left leg was torn from the shank up to the hip, nearly revealing the entire leg bone.
The Snow Mane finally collapsed!
By this point, the area for dozens of meters around was in shambles.
Even Xia Hong, fifty meters away, felt the impact on the snow covering the ground.
If not for previously digging the snow pit far enough, the three might have been shaken out.
Though shocked, Xia Hong managed to keep his composure, seeing it was his second encounter.
Beside him, Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng were wide-eyed with astonishment, staring blankly, their eyes in the snow filled with amazement and horror.
They originally thought that after breaking through the Logging Realm, they wouldn’t say they could hunt Cold Beasts, but at least self-protection should be assured.
Now they realized just how terribly wrong they were.
And then, what happened next,
further astounded them beyond belief.