Chapter Eighty-Seven: Pursuit

Blade after blade, Minister Fang cut the flesh from the wolf cub. His face was spattered red with blood, and in that moment he looked hideous.

Carrying a platter of meat, he brought it to his wife’s side. Seeing the flesh of the wolf demon, she threw away the chopsticks in her hand and grabbed the dripping chunks of meat directly with her fingers, stuffing them into her mouth.

Watching her devour the food, her complexion seeming to improve by a trace, a smile slowly appeared on Minister Fang’s face. With a look of fond indulgence, he sat in a chair nearby and watched as she finished every last bite.

In the prison.

The werewolf, covered head to toe in blood, smashed through the cell door and broke free, releasing all the white wolves as well. When the guards heard the commotion, they came down with blades in hand to investigate, only to run straight into the pack.

The wolf mother, who had just lost her child, lunged at once and bit off one of the guard’s ears. Then she clamped her jaws around his neck and refused to let go, no matter what.

Seeing this, another guard raised his blade and hacked at the wolf mother’s body. After she fell, she twitched twice on the ground, then turned her eyes toward the werewolf behind her. As if she knew she was about to die, she looked at her with reluctant concern, still unable to let her go.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from the werewolf’s throat.

Like a madwoman, she sprang forward, leaped onto the guard’s back, seized his shoulders, then bared her fangs and bit down hard on his neck, tearing away a great chunk of flesh.

Her eyes red with fury, the werewolf glared savagely at the guard. He struggled free and stared in terror at the monster before him, one hand clamped over his bleeding neck, the other gripping his blade as he warned her not to come any closer.

His voice trembled. So did the hand holding the weapon, for behind the werewolf the wolves were also baring their ferocious eyes and advancing on him.

With a clang, the guard dropped his blade and turned to flee. He staggered and scrambled up the steps toward the yard, shouting for help all the while.

The werewolf picked up the blade from the ground and gave chase. Then, with all her strength, she hurled it forward. The point pierced the guard’s back, and he pitched forward onto the ground, still dragging himself inch by inch ahead, still crying out for救命.

The werewolf walked over. She could not spare the man who had killed the wolf mother, the leader who had been like a mother to her. She planted a foot on his back and yanked the blade free.

Blade in hand, she followed the guard as he crawled across the ground, then brought it down in a single stroke. A round, tumbling thing rolled off to the side.

Blood burst into the air at once. The pack swarmed in and tore savagely at the guard, leaving not even scraps behind.

After avenging her dead, the werewolf ran swiftly back to the wolf mother and dropped to her knees with a thud, clutching the wolf head in her arms and staring at the wolf mother, whose breath was faint and whose life was nearly spent.

The wolf mother raised a paw and touched her face, as if to say, do not cry.

The werewolf’s tears would not stop. Her vision blurred beneath them, and her heart felt as though it were being torn apart.

Lifting her head, the wolf mother gave one last cry. Then her head slumped to one side, and she fell still. She had wanted to watch the werewolf grow up, wanted to see her become an adult, but there would be no such chance now.

The werewolf threw back her head and howled once, then lowered it again and wept bitterly. After a while, she dug a pit in the ground with her hands and buried the wolf mother there.

Turning grief into strength, the werewolf lay down on the ground, sniffed the earth, and caught the scent and urine trail left by the wolf cub.

She led the pack in a counterattack, filled with rage, and charged toward Minister Fang’s chamber. Anyone who tried to stop her along the way died miserably, without exception.

When Minister Fang heard the commotion, he tied his wife to a chair with rope, then seized the sword on the table and pushed the door open. When he saw his men being dealt with one by one by the werewolf, his face twisted in shock. At that very moment, she saw him too, and with the blade in hand, she charged straight at him.

After all, the werewolf did not know how to use a sword. Her slash at Minister Fang was blocked cleanly when he drew his own blade. The weapon slipped from her grip, spinning away and sticking into the ground nearby.

In the next instant, she lunged with a claw at Minister Fang’s neck. He failed to dodge in time and was raked by her strike. He quickly touched his neck, only to find the skin had been scratched open and a little blood had been drawn.

The werewolf looked down at her own hands. So the old woman had trimmed her claws for her. Otherwise, that strike alone would have taken his life.

If claws would not do, the werewolf would use her teeth. She leaped onto Minister Fang’s back, clambered up until she was above his head, and bit down hard on his shoulder. In pain, Minister Fang let go, and the longsword in his hand fell to the ground.

Two white wolves also pounced, seizing his legs and tearing at them until he screamed in agony. As more of the pack rushed him, it seemed they meant to finish him once and for all.

No longer hiding his true power, Minister Fang changed his palm into a claw and snatched one of the white wolves out of the air. Black vapor rose from his hand, and he strangled the wolf to death on the spot.

Then he spread both arms and shook himself with tremendous force. The white wolves clinging to his body were flung away, and even the werewolf was thrown heavily back, crashing into a stone pillar in the courtyard and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing that she could not win, she did not want the pack to die in vain. She struggled up from the ground, clutched her chest, and led the wolves over the wall in retreat.

After leaving the manor, the werewolf relied on her knowledge of the mountains and forests to lead the pack into the hills. Then she spoke to an adult white wolf, telling it to lead everyone to Wolf Mountain and never descend again.

Once they reached there, it would be their world. One whole mountain would be home to three-tailed white wolves. No matter how formidable Minister Fang might be, he could not hope to contend with a pack of fully grown, high-level wolf demons.

The white wolf seemed to understand. It looked at her with reluctance, then led the pack away. Afterward, the werewolf took another route and drew off the men sent by Minister Fang.

"After them!"

Seeing that it was the werewolf, one of the subordinates shouted, and the other four quickly gave chase. Once the werewolf had run far enough away, the wolves stood on the cliff and looked down at the situation below.

Their eyes were uneasy and anxious. Only after a long while did they leave.

In her panic, the werewolf failed to notice that the wolf father was not among the group. Instead, while no one was paying attention, he slipped into Minister Fang’s chamber.

Seeing the wolf cub’s fur on the floor and the blood everywhere, the wolf father was driven to the brink of fury. He bit the woman on the chair to death, then escaped through the rear window.

By the time Minister Fang returned to the room and saw his wife seated in the chair, already dead, his eyes were instantly red with rage.

Like a madman, he seized whatever he could find and smashed the room to pieces, leaving no piece of furniture unscathed. After destroying everything, Minister Fang returned to his wife’s side, knelt, gathered her body into his arms, closed his eyes, and wept.

On the other side, the heavily wounded werewolf, flung away by Minister Fang’s internal force, staggered onward on unsteady legs and, with the last of her strength, climbed over the wall into the Li residence.

Following the trail of blood, Minister Fang soon led his men to the Li residence. One of his subordinates came forward with a blade and kicked at the door while shouting loudly.

"Who is it at this hour? Coming, coming, stop knocking!"

A servant of the Li household was awakened and came to the door grumbling as he dressed. The moment the door opened, a blade was pressed against his neck, so frightening him that he did not dare breathe.

"Where is he?"

The man brought by Minister Fang glared and asked, pressing the blade down a little more until the edge nearly touched the servant’s throat. The servant was so terrified that he wet himself on the spot. Though he wanted desperately to answer, he had no idea what the man was talking about.

And so, in utter confusion, he had his throat slit on the spot.