Chapter Thirty: A Crimson Moon

“Put the sword back in!” Hao Po shouted at Xiaoshan, his voice rough and heavy, perhaps betraying some nervousness.

“It doesn’t seem that impressive after all,” Xiaoshan replied, behaving more cautiously this time. He carefully surveyed his surroundings and, finding nothing amiss, finally picked up the scabbard and managed to sheath the sword.

A sudden wolf’s howl pierced the silence—shrill and harsh.

“Is that a wolf?” Xiaoshan murmured to himself, puzzled as he gazed into the darkness, the sound echoing in his ears.

“No!” Hao Po answered gravely, his face darkening as he looked up at the sky.

A blood-red moon had risen in the pitch-black heavens, shining brilliantly. Night had fallen imperceptibly, and the darkness was so thick that visibility had dwindled; even trees two hundred meters away were now impossible to discern.

The wolf lying before Xiaoshan had, at some point, opened its eyes—now glowing red.

Another howl rang out.

Startled, Xiaoshan looked down in fright. All around, the grass seemed to tremble and sway—everywhere, the grass was moving.

“Is that a signal for an attack?” Hao Tian asked.

“It’s the alpha wolf howling,” Hao Yun replied. “If Xiaoshan had killed that wolf right away, none of this would have happened.”

The alpha wolf is the leader of the pack. When the group is threatened, it lets out a fierce howl—the only male in the pack. When encountering a stranger or when a foreign wolf howls near the pack’s territory, the alpha emits a deep, hoarse howl—sinister and terrifying. This howl is a warning, brimming with the alpha’s anger; sometimes, it’s enough to drive out intruders without a direct confrontation.

Perhaps, by entering this territory, they had become the invaders. The wolves’ howls were a warning to leave, or else they would attack.

But earlier, during the attack, there had been no howling. Why now? Hao Po wondered.

“That sword you gave him—he doesn’t really know how to use it,” Hao Tian remarked.

“In this world, few can wield that sword. He’s not one of them,” Hao Po replied. “It’s not the user’s skill that matters, but the killer instinct in the heart of the swordsman.”

“But he swung it just now,” Hao Tian pointed out.

“I hope it was just a fluke. Otherwise, things will go badly for me,” Hao Po said with a helpless shrug.

“Are we surrounded by wolves?” Xiaoshan asked nervously, glancing around.

“Impossible! A pack usually has just five or six wolves. There’s no way they could have us surrounded,” Hao Yun hurriedly replied, trying to sense the environment.

“But there are red eyes everywhere!” Xiaoshan protested in despair.

“What?!” Hao Po exclaimed, immediately scanning their surroundings.

Another howl rose from the east. Before it had faded, a new chorus of howls erupted from the west.

“This... it can’t be!” Hao Po’s voice trembled, each word betraying his mounting anxiety.

Another howl echoed through the night.