Du Lingfei was bleeding. The alpha wolf was circling. The rest of the squad was too far away to help in time.

Bai Xiaochun's body moved before his brain could stop it. The Undying Live Forever Technique's first stage — Iron Skin — had been developing in his meridians for three weeks. His skin was supposedly harder than normal flesh, resistant to claws and blades. But 'supposedly' was not a word you wanted to bet your life on when facing a Level Four Shadow Claw Wolf.

He threw himself between Du Lingfei and the alpha, arms spread wide in what he hoped was an intimidating pose and what was probably just a human-shaped target.

'Stop!' he shouted at the wolf.

The wolf did not stop.

The alpha's claws raked across his chest, and Bai Xiaochun had approximately one second to contemplate his life choices before he realized he was not, in fact, dead. The claws had left three angry red lines across his skin, but they hadn't cut through. His Iron Skin had held.

'You,' Du Lingfei gasped, staring at him with eyes that had gone very wide, 'are supposed to be the coward.'

'I am the coward,' Bai Xiaochun said, his voice shaking. 'I'm just a coward with really good defensive techniques and very poor decision-making skills.'

The alpha wolf lunged again, and this time Bai Xiaochun didn't just take the hit — he grabbed the wolf's foreleg, channeled every scrap of spiritual power he had into his arms, and held on. The wolf thrashed. He held on. The wolf bit at his shoulder. His Iron Skin cracked. He held on.

And then Du Lingfei, bleeding, one-armed, pushed herself to her feet and drove a spirit blade through the wolf's throat.

The alpha collapsed. The remaining wolves fled. The squad limped back to the sect with two injuries, one near-death, and one very confused hero who didn't want to be a hero and was already planning to never do anything heroic again.

Du Lingfei didn't thank him. But she also stopped looking at him with embarrassment.