Chapter 24: I am a Wolf
Turning around to face Miki, I didn’t want to say anything.
My eyes were a little moist. For the sake of this lifetime, I hadn’t shed a tear, and I had acted with ambition, a lot of ambition. In order to take a beautiful human woman as my wife, I must not shed any tears.
But what was flowing from the corner of my eyes?
Weren’t they only some demon beasts?
Miki was by my side, so I didn’t let her see my embarra.s.sing appearance.
What would I say to her, that the wind blew some sand into my eyes?
I couldn’t say anything.
Even an explanation was impossible.
This time, I had finally realized why the System Restriction wasn’t one day, but a month. It basically didn’t think I could resolve the issue in a single day.
Sucking in a deep breath, I looked at the map and saw that the little red dots ahead of me were all gathered together. Rather than merely ten people, it was over a hundred.
Together, they had set up this trap for the Snow Wolf Race.
I had no choice but to speak. I cannot s.h.i.+ft the blame this time with the death of my fellow kin.
Among the Snow Wolf Race, I was the wolf who understood the Homini the best. They were crafty. They dared to hunt the snow wolves in the snow, and predicting that the Snow Wolf Race would seek revenge, they made sure to leave obvious tracks.
I was all that was left.
Miki was following behind me, and I heard her stomach growl.
Speaking of which, following me was her bad luck.
Even since the small team was formed, I had never let her had a full meal except for that one time at the start. She also never complained to me. She could’ve obviously left my team, but she never had thoughts of leaving.
Today, we returned very late. I specially caught some snow foxes for Miki so she could eat her fill.
By the time we returned to the Snow Wolf Race, the other members had already returned.
Chief Big White was sitting on the highest seat available. Upon seeing my return, he stood up and walked up to me.
As only Miki and I returned, my small team had evidently been almost completely wiped out.
His eyes were filled with grief, but as the chief, he had already become accustomed to never seeing his clansmen again.
The snow wolves were all a.s.sembled together on the snowy ground, huddling close together and sharing warmth with one another.
Within the Snow Wolf Pack, the brother next to me was emaciated. His body was all skin and bones and made me uncomfortable, but I found it too embarra.s.sing to move somewhere else.
Until very late into the night, Big White continued to stay outside, refusing to return to the cave to rest. I knew he was waiting for those two small teams that hadn’t returned yet. I lied down on my stomach at the cave entrance, staring at his figure. I really wanted to tell him that all the other small teams had been killed.
In addition to this, foster mother had driven me out of the cave shortly after I fully matured. I was now on my own.
Foster mother never came over to see me, as if she had forgotten me. The only frequent visitor I had was Miki.
“Yao Yao, is there any way to take revenge?” I quietly asked.
I really couldn’t bear my kin being killed like this.
It wasn’t like my kin had never been killed by other demon beasts; I didn’t mind this happening at all since everyone was struggling for their own survival. The other demon beasts had the right to resist, the right to kill and hunt snow wolves for meat. It wasn’t justified, however, for us to be killed for just a small part of our body.
The reasoning behind these past events were difficult for me to understand. I couldn’t understand why. So infuriating!
“What? You’re grieving?” Yao Yao’s recent mood hadn’t seem to well, so her way of talking was not as “powerful” as before.
“It can be considered so!” I turned my head away, not wanting to look her in the eyes.
“If it is, it is. If it isn’t, it isn’t. What is a male like you being so effeminate for?” Yao Yao placed her hands on her hips and angrily asked, “Are you still a male?”
“Yes!” I said with my head lowered.
Having stayed with the Snow Wolf Race for three months, I had really begun to see this place as home and considered the snow wolves to be my kin.
My human memories were becoming increasingly distant, as if they were a dream from long ago. When I tried to recall them, they were already blurred with age.
The Snow Wolf Race suffering this kind of ma.s.sacre, I truly was distressed.
“Are you human or wolf?” Yao Yao solemnly asked me.
Much more solemn than before, the clothes on her body had also suddenly changed into a silver white uniform with a short skirt.
In the distant, Big White was still standing there, constantly howling at the brightly s.h.i.+ning moon. This was the first time I heard him cry with such an aggrieved voice.
A deathly pale snow-covered land, a deathly pale moon, and the old wolves who occasionally pa.s.sed by, their bodies merely skin and bones.
I thought about Miki—that foolish girl was continually starving with her chest practically sticking to her back, but she never tired of following me. I thought about foster mother—that idiot sacrificed herself to protect me, along with that small team of one hundred people that fulfilled my vanity.
My mind unwillingly recalled those snow wolves that were stripped of their pelts, their Crystal Stones being carved out as their blood dyed the snow red. There was also my brethren, separated from me by stone and miserably howling in the ravine earlier today.
Unwittingly, I started to shed tears.
In the past, I had always considered myself human. But from now on, I forever bid my farewells to the human race.
In fact, I wasn’t even a human of this world, wasn’t I?”
Now that I had been reincarnated as a wolf, I should properly play this role, shouldn’t I?
“Wolf!” I sobbed.
I didn’t know why that I suddenly remembered Feng Qing when I said this word. She should be staying with her younger sister right now!
“Are you sure?” Yao Yao questioned closely.
“Of course!”
“Completed Hidden Mission: Admitting one’s ident.i.ty as a wolf. Reward is evolution of the Lineage: Dark Ghost Wolf.”
“What is going on?” Hearing the System Notice, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“The Hui Tai Lang System originally belonged to the wolf race. Is it okay if the host does not acknowledge their wolf lineage?” Yao Yao explained with a matter of fact tone. “Until this moment, your heart has never recognized your wolf lineage despite claiming yourself to be of the wolf race, right?”
“Mn!”
“Miki really likes to follow you around. Even if she goes hungry, she’s still reluctant to part with you, forcing you take care of your own health by neglecting hers. Your foster mother, in order to protect, didn’t even hesitate to sacrifice her life, but you still refuse to admit that they are your loved ones. You treat them more like pets, isn’t that right?”
Yao Yao’s eyes were very sharp, at least that was what was currently running through my mind.
I was somewhat ashamed and unable to show my face.
“You always have some kind of groundless feeling of superiority. In your heart, you think that the wolves have low IQ and have never admitted yourself as a member of the snow wolves. You even wanted to turn into a human and return to human society. Isn’t that right?”
I made an “uh-huh” sound.
Yao Yao’s mouth was like a scalpel, completely exposing thoughts that I didn’t even know I possessed.
“Are you wondering why I understand you so well?” Yao Yao asked seriously.
“Mn, Yes!”
“Because I am Queen, Queen Yao Yao. Do you understand?”
“Understand!”
Actually, I only had a smattering of knowledge. What did this name have in common with the little I already knew?
“Let’s take a look at your reward instead!”
“Dark Ghost Wolf: According to legend, dark ghost wolves are frightening creatures that feed on souls and reside in the darkness with a high affinity to Dark Attribute and Soul Attribute skills. The King of the Darkness!”
“Race Innate Skill: Shadowless and Invisible, no noise shall be made while moving in the dark, and speed will double. When any skill is used, spirit power will not even slightly fluctuate.”
“Race Innate Skill: Soul Devouring Evolution, prey soul absorption is the source of Lineage and Skill evolution!”
I unhesitatingly clicked to receive the reward.
Name: Hui Tai Lang
Gender: Male
Lineage: Snow Wolf Lineage (Fierce Beast Grade); Dark Ghost Wolf (Fierce Beast Grade) (Evolution requires 1000 Soul Points).
Innate Skills: Olfaction 4th Grade; Shadowless and Invisible (Unable to upgrade); Soul Devouring Evolution
Level: Acquired Seventh Level
Skills: Wolf G.o.d’s Golden Body (1st Stage: 96.5%) (You have made it to the entrance; ordinary swords and such cannot break through your defenses); Gale Level 5 (5%); Ice Edge Level 4 (31%); Primary Wind Concept.
Profession: None
Atrocity Value: 834
Soul Points: 0
Looking at the system panel, I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes.