Our Family Has Fallen

Wang Cai ran through the wilderness. The previous battle with the Wolf King had almost drained his Life Force; he had never suffered such grievous injuries since birth. The path through the wilderness, once as easy as walking on flat ground, had become treacherous. With each step, piercing pain shot through his body, as if his limbs were being torn apart. It was only his tenacious will driving his body onward that kept him from collapsing.

But he couldn’t stop; he wanted to return... to go home...

A gnarled tree root suddenly appeared out of the darkness, like a long-laid trap eager for prey. This was not unusual in the wilderness, but the tree root that he could have easily leaped over in the past now seemed insurmountable, like an unbridgeable chasm. His massive body was now a burden, not a source of strength; he couldn’t even manage a larger stride.

Willpower can break through the limits of reality, but the rallying of the dying is ultimately limited.

Wang Cai tripped over the root, and his massive body tumbled to the ground. The intense pain in his body vanished almost the moment he stopped. Then, overwhelming fatigue assaulted his brain, a sensation so heavy that even his acute sense of danger could not overcome it.

All he felt was exhaustion... so tired... wanting nothing more than to sleep...

Once vibrant, all Wang Cai could now do was breathe, and even that was growing fainter. His consciousness blurred, and his pupils slowly began to dilate...

Now, the real test had arrived... would he hold on, or would he fade away?

Suddenly, slight noises came from nearby—the sound of something stepping on fallen leaves. This caused his dimming vision to focus slightly, allowing him to see the approaching grey wolves. Wang Cai had forcibly subdued these grey wolves, quickly forming a pack. Now that he was weak, it was hard to say whether they were more dangerous than his other enemies.

The grey wolves circled him, but Wang Cai was too weak to resist. The commotion had roused him from death’s embrace, but it had also drained the very last of his Life Force, leaving him powerless to deal with them.

However, the grey wolves did not attack, nor did they attempt to devour Wang Cai to obtain his Extraordinary Bloodline. Instead, they began licking the grievous wounds on Wang Cai’s body. In wolf behavioral language, this act equated to healing; they lick their wounds when injured.

The ritual to select a new Wolf King had been interrupted, so Wang Cai was still their alpha.

But what use was that?

They were merely licking a dying body.

Wang Cai’s Life Force continued to ebb away. Sensing the futility, the grey wolves stopped and scattered around him. As if summoned by some unseen call, they all tilted their heads back and howled in unison.

”AWOOOO!”

The pack howled at the moon! Their voices rose and fell, echoing through the wilderness and reaching for the clouds, as if seeing Wang Cai off on his final journey.

Wang Cai’s mind couldn’t muster the energy to think; he was unaware of the world outside. His eyes slowly closed, the only thought left was of that figure...

But at that very moment, a gentle force began to flow from his depleted bloodline, nourishing his failing body. The bleeding from the wounds torn by fangs and claws ceased. His shallow breathing gradually steadied. His heart, so weak it had been almost imperceptible, began to beat again, growing stronger with each thump. Nourished by the returning blood flow, his mind slowly cleared.

A flood of fragmented memories tumbled through his mind. This sensation... it was like the feeling of that large hand that once caressed his fur, so warm...

When Lance, out of fondness, had used Bless on the litter of wolf cubs, that Supernatural Power had remained within Wang Cai’s body. But at that time, Lance had been very hard-pressed for resources, so the power of the Bless was not strong. He had only hoped that these cubs, as vulnerable as any young life in Hamlet, wouldn’t perish prematurely—a simple blessing.

But in truth, these white wolves were no ordinary beasts; they were Extraordinary creatures imbued with an Extraordinary Bloodline. It was said that a previous alpha wolf, who had served alongside the tribe’s leader, also possessed a Wolf King. Though that Wolf King was later killed and devoured by Warwolf’s own Wolf King, its bloodline persisted, however thinly, within Wang Cai.

The power of the Bless awakened his bloodline. When the Full Moon bestowed its grace, he followed his instincts and devoured his siblings and mother, completing his bloodline’s ascension and successfully awakening.

The strangeness inherent in that Extraordinary Bloodline also affected him. This wasn’t the power of the so-called ”Wolf God”; a Spirit of Nature unable to even leave the Mountains held no divine authority to control distant Hamlet. It was the price of Supernatural Power—an indescribable strangeness.

But Wang Cai was still too weak then, and Lance soon violently subdued him. In Lance’s presence, the impact of this strangeness was suppressed; even his burgeoning bloodthirst was forcefully quelled by that man.

However, as he grew, the strangeness of his bloodline’s influence upon him deepened. Eventually, driven by desire, he left that man’s side. Life with the wilderness wolf pack greatly stimulated the power of his bloodline, and the latent strangeness began devouring his soul.

Within the Fang Tribe, the power of the Wolf God guided the pack, suppressing this strangeness. However, Wang Cai, wandering the wilderness, had no such guidance. This was why Warwolf, upon seeing him, believed Wang Cai’s bloodline was undeveloped.