Ye Yang was anxious. That dream had left him on edge, a lingering sense of unease gnawing at his heart.
He couldn’t explain why, but he felt certain that something was about to happen to Professor Lang. Despite being complete strangers, Ye Yang felt drawn to this werewolf because of a nonsensical dream. And whenever he thought of the giant wolf collapsing in a pool of blood yet still pushing him away, his heart ached.
One moment he felt as though he was that little wolf; the next, he felt like he was just an observer.
·
The YCG had very little intelligence on deer spirits and werewolves. The only information they had about werewolves had come from the deer spirit herself.
To learn more, they would have to travel to the homeland of the werewolves and deer spirits.
There was no telling how long this trip would take. Before leaving, Ye Yang informed Shen Ming. Shen Ming simply said, “I’m coming with you.”
Ye Yang hesitated. Then Shen Ming added, “That dream of yours is strange. Yaogui don’t dream easily, let alone dreams like that. And you mentioned a prophecy. This trip could be very dangerous.”
A chill ran through Ye Yang’s heart. He grew fearful and quickly agreed.
Unable to request YCG support and needing to avoid being discovered by the YCG, Ye Yang and Shen Ming had to abandon conventional methods. They would illegally cross the border using magical means.
To put it bluntly, they would fly there.
Ye Yang and Shen Ming pinpointed the approximate location, teleported to the Chinese border, evaded human satellites, and took off while invisible.
Ye Yang could only hover and couldn’t fly long distances. The urgency in his heart also prevented him from choosing any simpler but time-consuming methods. He had no choice but to follow Shen Ming’s arrangements.
It was dusk. The sky was ablaze with sunset clouds. As they climbed higher through the clouds, the temperature plummeted rapidly. Frost formed on the tips of Shen Ming’s hair and lashes.
Ye Yang had reverted to his original form, cradled in Shen Ming’s hand and protected by a barrier, so he felt nothing.
The next second, the ground beneath Ye Yang vanished. The immense true form of Xuanwu slowly materialized ten thousand meters above the border. Clouds churned and parted. His broad shell stretched as far as the eye could see.
Such a magnificent sight—yet Ye Yang was its only witness.
Ye Yang instinctively returned to human form, standing upright and gazing into the distance. “…” Who was he? Where was he? He couldn’t see a thing…
Before Ye Yang could figure it out, Xuanwu’s body began shrinking, inch by inch. Soon, it was only the size of a medium-sized civilian airplane.
Xuanwu’s true form was too massive, which was inconvenient. This size was just right.
After shrinking, the shell became very smooth and round. Ye Yang couldn’t keep his footing. Huffing and puffing, he crawled on all fours toward the neck area and clung to the edge of the shell. Unexpectedly, Xuanwu’s shell was hard yet warm to the touch. After a brief daze, he asked, “Are we setting off now?”
Even after shrinking, Xuanwu’s enormous eyes were dark and inscrutable. At Ye Yang’s words, he slowly turned his head to look ahead—
The next second, a sonic boom erupted on the spot. Xuanwu’s figure vanished without a trace.
Ye Yang was well-protected on Xuanwu’s back. Even as Shen Ming surpassed the speed of sound and accelerated further, Ye Yang wasn’t affected in the slightest. He even had time to enjoy the scenery.
Of course, the journey wasn’t without its bumps.
Unfamiliar with international flight routes, they nearly collided with an aircraft—not a civilian plane, but a military one.
To be fair, that stealth fighter had some merit. It wasn’t truly invisible—just optically stealthy, and the technology was still immature—but it had almost fooled even Shen Ming.
After that incident, Shen Ming became more cautious, slowing down and deliberately taking a detour.
By the time they reached the Arctic Circle, it was already the next day.
The homeland of the deer spirits and werewolves lay in an uninhabited region within the Arctic Circle.
On human maps, this area was shown as an expanse of ocean—the Arctic Ocean, one of the five great oceans, without a single island, known as the coldest place on Earth.
It was also the only ocean uninhabited by humans.
Due to the harsh climate and year-round ice cover, human investigation and development in this region were extremely limited. The YCG also had no relevant intelligence.
Looking down from the sky, Shen Ming and Ye Yang saw nothing but vast sheets of ice. No land. No forest. Nothing at all.
“Is the intel reliable?”
Xuanwu suddenly spoke. Though his voice wasn’t loud, it nearly shook Ye Yang off his back.
Ye Yang wobbled precariously before finally steadying himself. “The information came from the deer spirit, but Director Tu personally questioned her.” If Director Tu had handled it, she had undoubtedly used means to ensure the deer spirit told the truth.
“The deer spirit didn’t lie, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t withhold information,” Shen Ming said. “Are you sure she told you everything?”
Ye Yang hissed through his teeth. That possibility hadn’t even crossed his mind. “The intel says the location is here. Should we look around?”
Shen Ming didn’t respond further. He turned and gave Ye Yang a warning. Then, his massive body plunged through the ice. The sound of shattering filled the air for a long time before the ocean finally returned to calm.
·
Beneath the ocean, in a place where humans had never set foot, there truly was a strange and remarkable land.
Ye Yang and Shen Ming had braced themselves for a long search—or the possibility of finding nothing at all. But luck was on their side. Their entry point into the water was exactly the entrance to the werewolf forest.
Yes, the ground beneath their feet now had a very simple name, and half a day had already passed since they arrived at the werewolf forest.
Half a day earlier—
Shen Ming and Ye Yang had plunged into the sea. Xuanwu’s true form carried the innate ability to break through illusions, and they had happened to be right at the entrance. With that single dive, heaven and earth turned upside down. Day became night, and the ocean became a forest.
Shen Ming had long since reverted to human form, one arm firmly wrapped around Ye Yang’s waist as they landed steadily.
The two who had been soaring through the sky moments ago now stood firmly atop thick layers of snow. As far as the eye could see, towering trees stood densely packed. Hard to identify the species, but clearly cold-tolerant evergreens.
But upon closer inspection, these trees had strange shapes. Despite the bitter cold, they were lush with leaves. Yet even in their lushness, they exuded an air of decay, hanging on by a thread.
Clouds obscured the moonlight, deepening the darkness. Among the dense yet dying trees, faint shadows flickered from time to time.
Ye Yang and Shen Ming stood alert in place. A massive shadow lunged at them with astonishing speed. Neither of them reacted in time. Shen Ming barely registered a blur of black before his arms were empty.
When he looked up again, both the shadow and Ye Yang had vanished.
Shen Ming took a breath. A storm brewed behind his eyes.
As for Ye Yang… he was already pinned to the snowy ground beneath two enormous wolf paws. His field of vision was nothing but fur.
In that moment, he suddenly became aware of the difference between reality and the dream. Being pressed close to a werewolf in real life—there was no cozy warmth like in the dream!
It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either.
The only reason he still had the presence of mind to wander off in thought was that he sensed no malice from the werewolf.
The giant paws pinning him weren’t pressing hard at all—they didn’t hurt him. But the wet, cold nose kept nuzzling against him, making him unbearably ticklish.
Ye Yang tried to grab the werewolf’s head to communicate. “Um, can you understand me?”
The werewolf ignored him, continuing to sniff at him intently. As it sniffed, confusion crept into its expression. The instinctive ferocity in its eyes gradually faded, eventually becoming quite clear: “You… you have the Holy Guide’s scent on you, and also…”
The voice that suddenly sounded beside him nearly deafened Ye Yang. Before he could react, the werewolf became extremely excited: “It’s you! It’s you! The little wolf who got lost!”
With that, the werewolf grabbed Ye Yang by the scruff of his collar—the same way it had snatched him earlier—and sprinted off, its large tail swishing wildly behind it.
Ye Yang: “???” What was happening now?!
Shen Ming, who had just caught up only to inhale a mouthful of tail exhaust: “…” His face darkened like the bottom of a pot, but he obediently gave chase.
Even though he realized Ye Yang was in no danger, the situation still irritated him. This place was unfamiliar territory—otherwise, how could he, the great Xuanwu, fail to catch up with a mere werewolf!
After another bout of pursuit, Shen Ming managed to intercept the werewolf. Though the werewolf could speak, it used a strange language. Ye Yang and Shen Ming could understand its meaning, but it couldn’t understand them. After much effort, the two finally decided to follow it and see where this was going.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” Contrary to his words, Shen Ming tightly gripped Ye Yang’s hand this time, unwilling to let him be carried off again—that would be too embarrassing.
Ye Yang: “Yeah, I’m not afraid, Mr. Shen. You’re here.” He wasn’t nervous at all. In fact, the moment he set foot on this land, a sense of groundedness washed over him, and the restlessness in his heart vanished completely.
In short, after a chaotic and frantic pursuit, Ye Yang and Shen Ming arrived at the werewolves’ gathering place.
Unexpectedly, Ye Yang found Professor Lang there—or rather, the Holy Guide.
He hadn’t expected the man to have returned here even faster than he had.
Their eyes met. Ye Yang understood instantly—the Holy Guide had experienced the same dream.
The Holy Guide seemed to know they were coming. He wasn’t surprised in the slightest and had even prepared two cups of steaming, unknown beverages in a cave ahead of time to welcome the guests who had traveled so far.
“This is tree sap tea, a specialty of the werewolf forest. Try it.”
Shen Ming remained unmoved. Ye Yang, however, was curious to try it, but Shen Ming still had his hand in a death grip.
The Holy Guide smiled. “Alright, I know why you’re here. This shouldn’t concern you, but—”
Shen Ming interrupted: “The deer spirit came to YCG. And you’ve been lurking at Dongzhou University for a long time. How can you say it doesn’t concern us?”
It was rare for Shen Ming to speak so brusquely or rudely interrupt someone. And this was the werewolves’ territory—they were uninvited guests…
Ye Yang nearly lost control of his expression. Fortunately, the Holy Guide simply smiled, unbothered, and said, “Let me finish.”
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