The voices were very close, already at the door. This room had only one exit. Ye Yang looked around quickly and ducked under the cabinet.
“Respected Holy Guide, we have already obtained the spirit core. Why are we still staying here?”
“No hurry. I have received guidance. The prophet’s prophecy will come to pass here.”
Through the gap of less than two centimeters between the bottom of the freezer and the floor, Ye Yang saw many furry paws. These paws resembled wolf paws but were much larger and longer, covered in thick, coarse black fur, with sharp claw tips glinting coldly.
But at the very front of these terrifying wolf paws were a pair of ordinary adult male black patent leather shoes. Above them were calves in dark gray suit pants. Beyond that, he couldn’t see.
Ye Yang compressed himself as much as possible, flattening into a thin sheet. His tentacles gripped the edge of the cabinet as he cautiously peeked out—
“!”
Wasn’t that Professor Lang?
Ye Yang had a strong impression of Professor Lang from the medical school. Back in Ye Yang’s senior year, the university had made a big show of recruiting him from abroad—everyone on campus had talked about it for a long time.
It wasn’t just because of his academic achievements and status, but also because of his striking looks.
This werewolf had actually disguised himself as a professor! Then what about the real Professor Lang… Wait!
Ye Yang focused his spiritual senses and carefully assessed. He confirmed it—this was Professor Lang himself, not someone impersonating him. That meant the werewolf had been lurking at Dongzhou University for at least three or four years!
What kind of blessed land was Dongzhou University, to attract so many non-humans?
Professor Lang shocked Ye Yang, but he didn’t ignore the werewolves beside him.
These werewolves looked nothing like native Chinese wolf yaoguais. They walked on two hind legs, but their entire bodies were completely wolf-like—wolf paws for hands, furry wolf heads. Only their torsos were wrapped in clothing.
The fur poking out from the hems and button gaps made it clear that their bodies were also covered in wolf fur. Why bother wearing clothes at all?
Even though this wasn’t the time to focus on such things, Ye Yang couldn’t help but silently complain.
What was even stranger was—what were these people here for? Why had they suddenly stopped? Could they have discovered him?
Just as Ye Yang was thinking this, his consciousness flickered for a moment.
When his vision cleared again, Ye Yang found himself looking at the world from a higher vantage point. Surrounding him was a dense, seemingly endless forest, dark all around. The only source of light was a blood-red crescent moon in the sky.
Ye Yang tried to stand up but nearly stumbled. What was going on? It felt like he had extra legs. Wait—he seemed to have grown something else too. His entire body had a strange sense of coordination. He turned his head and a fluffy tail nearly smacked him in the face.
Looking down—damn, were these wolf paws? He had turned into a wolf?!
The blood-red moonlight spilled down, coating his shiny black fur with a faint crimson glow. As Ye Yang stared at his paws in shock and disbelief, his vision suddenly darkened. A soft, warm fluffiness settled over his head. Ye Yang looked up and found his entire head unexpectedly buried in warmth.
It was a giant wolf.
In comparison, Ye Yang realized he must be a young wolf pup. The giant wolf’s one paw could easily pin him to the ground.
The giant wolf was very close, pressed tightly against Ye Yang, half-reclining. Its long, powerful limbs were slightly curled, and its warm chest nearly engulfed the little wolf.
Ye Yang… Ye Yang’s mind went blank.
His tiny paws pressed against the giant wolf’s chest, involuntarily kneading like a nursing pup. What kind of realistic sensation was this?! No—what was he even doing?!
The giant wolf lowered its head, nudged the little wolf with its snout, and suddenly began to sing a song.
The strange melody and language instantly seized all of Ye Yang’s attention. He had clearly never heard this language before, yet he understood the meaning of the lyrics.
Just like with this giant wolf—he had never seen this wolf before, yet he somehow knew it was Professor Lang.
The melody was light and cheerful, but the lyrics were something like: “Too many deer in the forest is never a good thing. We hunt deer not for food, but for this land. The deer will destroy…”
Before the song ended, the giant wolf suddenly stopped, ears perking up as it turned alertly. Ye Yang followed its gaze—and there was another familiar face. Behind a bush, a pair of large, frightened deer eyes stared back, trembling uncontrollably. Wasn’t that the very deer spirit from the escort mission?!
But looking closely, the deer spirit seemed slightly different. Her face was more youthful, with two large deer ears on top of her head—this was the deer spirit as a child.
After only a brief glance, the deer spirit darted away. Ye Yang wanted to chase after her but found his body no longer under his control. He tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound.
Beside him, the giant wolf suddenly underwent a dramatic change.
The giant wolf became frenzied, its powerful body convulsing as if something trapped inside were struggling to break free.
The next second, without any warning, the giant wolf stood up—and transformed into a werewolf!
The werewolf let out a long howl, frantically clawing at its own chest with both hands. Its iron-like flesh tore like tofu under its own sharp claws.
Ye Yang tilted his head back, staring blankly. Chunks of the werewolf’s flesh and blood splattered. A few drops of blood landed on Ye Yang’s face, in his eyes, and even fell into his slightly open mouth.
His throat moved. The werewolf’s blood had a gamey taste, slightly sweet, yet Ye Yang detected a deep bitterness within it. An inexplicable sadness spread through his heart. He didn’t know why—this was a stranger—yet he felt the giant wolf’s pain as if it were his own.
The werewolf’s frenzied actions had severely injured itself, but it hadn’t harmed Ye Yang in the slightest. Before collapsing, the wolf pushed Ye Yang outward. The hand pushing him—its claws, no longer able to retract—curled gently, never touching Ye Yang.
…
“Hah—!”
Ye Yang jolted awake. He was still in the basement of the lab building, still under the freezer. Professor Lang and the other werewolves standing outside were still in their original positions, still talking—
“Then… Respected Holy Guide, how much longer will we be staying here?”
“Shh! Do not disturb the Holy Guide’s perception of the prophecy.”
Professor Lang had his eyes closed and said nothing.
So everything that had just happened was a dream?
Before he could process further, Professor Lang outside suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Alright, let’s go.”
Everything that had occurred had completely muddled Ye Yang’s thoughts. By the time he reacted, the werewolves had already been gone for a while.
“…” Ye Yang crawled out from under the freezer, his mind still in disarray.
After standing there blankly for a moment, he suddenly remembered why he had come. He quickly began searching. He turned the entire basement upside down but, as expected, found no trace of the deer spirit’s core.
“Maybe the werewolves took it?”
On his way back, Ye Yang had already uploaded the situation but hadn’t mentioned his suspicious dream. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide anything. As soon as he returned to the Dongzhou branch, his first order of business was to find Director Tu—the one who had assigned the mission to him in the first place.
The moment he saw Director Tu, his first words were: “The deer spirit case might have issues.”
He had a strong feeling that retrieving the deer spirit’s core so quickly might not be the right move. There was likely a deeper truth hidden beneath the surface.
“Those werewolves… maybe they aren’t necessarily the bad guys.”
“Do you have any evidence for that?”
“…No.” Ye Yang grew a bit anxious. “That dream I had—it didn’t feel like just a dream. Everything I saw and touched was too real. That’s never happened to me before.”
Even though Ye Yang had no evidence, Director Tu still took his words seriously.
The YCG weren’t fools—they had their own judgment. Before Ye Yang brought this up, they had already noticed many strange discrepancies.
Prior to the deer spirit coming to the YCG for help, the YCG had known nothing about either deer spirits or werewolves. They had never encountered these unusual species before.
The deer spirit claimed to be a ling creature, but her physiological traits didn’t resemble a ling creature at all—nor a yaoguai, for that matter.
Moreover, everything the YCG knew about werewolves came solely from the deer spirit. And upon closer thought, many of the deer spirit’s statements were contradictory… Perhaps the deer spirit wasn’t as innocent as she appeared.
Director Tu thought for a moment, then asked Ye Yang, “So, you want to investigate the deer spirit further?”
“Not just the deer spirit—the werewolves too.”
“No.”
Ye Yang’s head whipped around. Outside the window, he saw a pair of familiar deer eyes—wide with fear, identical to those in his dream. It was the deer spirit.
She rushed inside. Perhaps realizing she had spoken too harshly, she forced a smile and softened her tone, explaining, “About me—you can ask me anything. I’ll answer everything. But don’t go investigating the werewolves. That’s too dangerous.”
Ye Yang frowned. “We’ve already crossed paths with them. Do you think we can’t handle them?”
The deer spirit quickly waved her hands. Though she was in human form without a single deer feature, she looked exactly like a startled fawn: “No, no, that’s not what I mean. It’s not that kind of danger.”
Director Tu pressed further: “Then what kind of danger is it?”
The deer spirit grew even more nervous, wringing her hands together, but she stammered and couldn’t give a clear answer.
Seeing this, Director Tu said soothingly, “Alright, we’ll do as you say. Go back and rest. We’ll retrieve your spirit core as soon as possible.”
Relieved by Director Tu’s promise, the deer spirit hurried off, afraid Ye Yang might ask more questions.
The moment she left, Director Tu’s expression changed faster than flipping a page. She immediately looked at Ye Yang and said, “She’s hiding something. Go investigate the werewolves first. We’re shorthanded right now. This is all on you.”
“What about the spirit core?”
“Don’t worry about it. Haven’t you noticed? As long as the deer spirit stays put here, having her core or not doesn’t really matter. Not retrieving it might actually keep her in check and prevent her from interfering with you.”
Ye Yang felt relieved. He knew he could count on Director Tu. She had likely suspected something was off about the deer spirit all along but hadn’t tipped her hand.
“But…” Director Tu looked a bit embarrassed. “This isn’t exactly following protocol, so I can’t officially assign you the mission. You’ll have to investigate on your own.” That meant no backup, no intel support, no reimbursement.
“And be very, very careful. If anyone finds out, don’t tell them I sent you.”
Ye Yang: “…” He took back what he said about her being reliable!
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