The Art of the Tactical Retreat

Faced with a pack of wolves, they had clearly stumbled into a grave crisis.

Fortunately, the expert Bai Xia had placed so much hope in remained utterly unperturbed, a composure that subtly bolstered her own confidence.

As the pack relentlessly closed in, Tian Zheng finally broke the silence.

“Don’t resist in a moment.”

“Huh?” Before the word had fully left her lips, Bai Xia found herself abruptly scooped up by him, too stunned to even react.

In the very next instant, a faint, blood-red glow erupted from the man’s form, signifying the immediate activation of ‘Vigor,’ a warrior-exclusive buff skill.

Attack speed surged, movement speed accelerated, accuracy sharpened—he was poised and ready!

And then…

He turned and bolted!

Her hair whipped wildly in the wind as she watched Tian Zheng, who, without a moment’s hesitation, had simply turned tail and fled with her. Even Bai Xia’s typically unreadable expression cracked, and she exclaimed in utter disbelief, “You actually ran away? Expert, aren’t you being a bit of a chicken?”

“Hmph.”

Tian Zheng let out a cold scoff, offering no further explanation. This was not cowardice; this was a tactical retreat! To charge headlong into battle right now would be the height of folly, wouldn’t it?

While the Forest Wolves were indeed a level lower than the Jade Serpents, they were still on par with Tian Zheng himself, and their threat level was by no means significantly diminished.

What’s more, there had only been one Jade Serpent, but now they faced a formidable pack of six Forest Wolves.

In the nascent stages of the game, devoid of proper equipment, a warrior’s physique, while considerably sturdier than an assassin’s, was utterly incapable of enduring the simultaneous onslaught of multiple wolves.

Even if Tian Zheng himself harbored no fear, Bai Xia was a mere Level 1; a single touch from a wolf would result in instant annihilation. No matter his own formidable strength, he lacked the confidence to protect Bai Xia from harm while simultaneously fending off attacks from several wolves.

Thus, while fleeing might seem ignominious, it was undeniably the most effective course of action.

Furthermore…

“Who said I was running away?”

‘Isn’t this still running away?’ Watching the Forest Wolves hot on their heels, Bai Xia could already envision the grim scenario of herself being ganged up on and beaten to death by this pack of ‘perverted wolves’ (TL Note: A playful pun, where ‘forest wolves’ (森林野狼 – sēnlín yěláng) sounds similar to ‘perverted wolves’ (色狼 – sèláng), often used as slang for perverts), with Tian Zheng possibly dragged down with her.

In truth, the Forest Wolves’ movement speed wasn’t overly exaggerated; with his acceleration skill active, Tian Zheng could very likely outrun them. That, of course, was assuming he wasn’t carrying Bai Xia.

Fleeing with another person undoubtedly hampered his speed significantly, yet abandoning her was not an option, for falling behind even slightly would result in her immediate demise.

Bai Xia felt utterly like a cumbersome burden, held firmly around the waist by Tian Zheng, who swung her about as he navigated.

Even the system, it seemed, could no longer tolerate the situation, for the next moment, a prompt appeared, offering the option to issue a system warning.

In the world of *Otherworld*, to deter ill-intentioned males from harming females, malicious physical contact would trigger a warning. Severe offenders faced even harsher system penalties, ranging from prolonged paralysis to being struck by divine lightning!

Furthermore, players who engaged in such malicious acts would be added to a special blacklist. Subsequent offenses would incur even more stringent punishments, potentially leading to permanent account suspension.

This directive applied not only to players but equally to NPCs, effectively thwarting any malicious players who might consider leveling up just to harass low-level NPCs or attractive enemy ‘sisters’ (TL Note: A casual term for young women, ‘xiaojie jie,’ often used endearingly or to refer to attractive female characters).

Naturally, the system meticulously evaluated a wide range of behaviors throughout this process, rendering any attempt to exploit loopholes through such means utterly impossible.

The sudden appearance of such a prompt in her ear caused Bai Xia to freeze momentarily, before she hastily tapped ‘Cancel.’

While Tian Zheng’s previous trick had certainly sparked a fleeting desire for petty revenge within her, the present dire circumstances unequivocally precluded any such games.

For if anything were to befall Tian Zheng, both of them would undoubtedly meet their end in the jaws of the wolves. Bai Xia, most certainly, harbored no desire to ‘die for love’ (TL Note: ‘Xunqing,’ referring to lovers dying together, often romantically, but used here with a touch of dark humor) alongside him.

Tian Zheng, naturally, remained oblivious to her chaotic thoughts, his entire focus now singularly fixed on the menacing wolf pack pursuing them.

The ‘Vigor’ buff would only last for a minute; once its effects faded, they would be swiftly overtaken. Therefore, something decisive had to be done within this window; merely running would prove insufficient.

And indeed, Tian Zheng wasn’t truly fleeing; he was executing a tactical retreat!

A tactical retreat, by definition, implied the readiness to counter-attack at any moment, and Tian Zheng was precisely poised to do so.

The path Tian Zheng had chosen for their escape with Bai Xia was not a discernible forest trail, but a direct plunge into a thicket of dense bushes. While it might have appeared as a panicked, haphazard flight, it was, in fact, the optimal choice he had swiftly assessed.

Given the relatively low intelligence of these Forest Wolves, the intricate forest environment presented a perfect opportunity to isolate them, allowing him to pick them off one by one, with the myriad trees serving as natural cover.

The inherent danger, of course, was the very real possibility of stumbling upon even more monsters, which would escalate their peril exponentially.

Fortunately, luck was on their side; as he skillfully utilized the environment and his movements to separate the six previously clustered wolves, they encountered no other monstrous threats.

With the Forest Wolves unable to pounce simultaneously, the immediate threat to both of them was significantly diminished.

Such an opportune moment, however, was fleeting. Tian Zheng had no time for explanations; his body, which had been rapidly weaving through the trees, abruptly halted. He then summoned his longsword and, without a flicker of hesitation, spun, cleaving it toward their pursuers.

*Thwack!*

The swiftest of the wolves, utterly unprepared for the two humans ahead to suddenly halt, had its throat instantly rent open by that decisive, swift sword strike.

The energy blade of ‘Cycle Slash’ simultaneously carved into its body, and with a stroke of explosive luck, it even triggered a rare critical hit chance on a weak point, instantly depleting more than half of the Forest Wolf’s health bar!

As the first wolf howled in agony, Tian Zheng retreated, swiftly pivoting with Bai Xia behind a massive tree. He dodged another wolf’s pounce, simultaneously delivering a casual but powerful sword strike to its chest, inflicting substantial damage and triggering a knockback effect.

The wolves were merely Level 5, posing no significant level suppression against Tian Zheng. Moreover, these ‘grass-eating wolves’ (TL Note: A humorous way to imply they are not fierce, apex predators, and thus weaker or less dangerous) clearly lacked robust defenses. In an instant, two of the wolves were gravely wounded.

Tian Zheng, far from retreating, surged forward. The instant he set Bai Xia down, he leveraged his acceleration to close the distance, unleashing his initial skill, ‘Arc Slash.’ This not only swept in the second approaching wolf but also caught the first, already half-health wolf, in its devastating arc.

The half-health wolf’s HP bar plummeted another significant chunk. Tian Zheng, adhering to the principle of ‘picking the soft persimmons first’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, 柿子挑软的捏, meaning to tackle the easiest targets first), first evaded the second wolf’s counterattack with a slight shift, then, utilizing the final moments of his ‘Vigor’ buff, swiftly closed in on the critically wounded wolf. With a rapid succession of strikes, he dispatched it!

His sequence of movements flowed like water, so fluid and precise that Bai Xia, watching from the sidelines, was almost left starry-eyed.

The first wolf had been effortlessly eliminated, and the second now clung to less than half its health—all transpiring within a mere few seconds.

Even as the remaining wolves closed in, Tian Zheng calmly and methodically finished off the second one.

The four remaining wolves swiftly advanced, yet in Tian Zheng’s estimation, they no longer posed any significant threat to him. His gaze, however, shifted back to Bai Xia. After a brief moment of hesitation, he scooped her up once more and continued his retreat, clearly concerned that she might inadvertently draw aggro and create complications for him.