Wolf Kissing Moonlit Night (Part 1)

The brief spring by Falling Star Lake had its throat seized by an unexpected late cold snap.

The biting north wind howled, sweeping away the tender buds that had only just unfurled overnight. A thin, fragile layer of ice formed over the lake as well.

The sky was overcast, as though Heaven itself was enraged, pressing down until people could barely breathe.

A Ning had been settled in Uncle Po's small courtyard for some time now.

She was still as silent as a shadow, but the hollow terror once in her eyes had gradually been replaced by a cautious peace amid the warmth of the hearth and the security of three meals a day.

She silently helped Uncle Po put away the dried fishing nets, squatted clumsily by the stove to start the fire, then watched Chen Qing cook. When Chen Qing practiced his strange control over "Starforce" by the lake in the evenings, she would sit on the threshold some distance away with her knees drawn up, quietly watching him.

Chen Qing had also grown used to the little "tail" by his side.

He taught her simple characters, drawing them in the dirt with a branch; told her bizarre yet fascinating "stories" from memories of his previous life; and used wild grass to teach her how to weave sturdier, prettier grasshoppers and little fish.

A Ning learned slowly, and her fingers were not especially nimble. Yet whenever she completed some crooked little creation, she would look up at Chen Qing with those bright black eyes, the corner of her lips lifting ever so slightly. Though it vanished in an instant, it was enough to give Chen Qing a strange sense of satisfaction.

Yet this peace, like the thin ice on the lake, was utterly torn apart by a long, piercing wolf howl!

When the first howl came from the Black Pine Forest to the north, it was already deep into the night. The sound pierced the howling cold wind with a bone-chilling force, instantly waking the sleeping fishing village.

Then came a second howl, a third... The howls rose and fell, joining into one. They drew ever nearer, carrying a violent, bloodthirsty hunger!

"Wolves! It's a wolf pack!"

"Damn it! Why are there so many?!"

"Quick! Grab your weapons! Bar the doors and windows!"

Panic spread through the tiny fishing village like a plague. Men's roars, women's screams, children's sobs, hurried footsteps, and the banging of doors and windows being shut broke the night's silence.

Uncle Po abruptly sat up from the kang bed, his clouded eyes filled with horror. "This is bad! A pack of wolves crazed with hunger has come down from the mountains! This kind of sight... I haven't seen it in decades!" Limping, he rushed to the door and peered outside through the crack, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

Chen Qing was already on his feet, shielding the awakened, faintly trembling A Ning behind him.

He moved to peer through the door crack as well.

The moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, with only scattered flecks of light spilling down.

By that faint light, he saw countless ghostly green points drifting in the darkness near the village entrance, packed densely together as they slowly advanced. It was not a few wolves, nor even a dozen—it was hundreds, thousands of green gleams! Low, threatening whines and the rustling scrape of claws digging into the earth pressed down so heavily it felt as if hearts would stop beating.

"How could there be so many?!" Chen Qing's heart sank.

This was far beyond the scale of an ordinary wolf pack coming down the mountain to hunt for food.

"It's the north!" Uncle Po's voice trembled. "A few days ago, a peddler said that the Northern Huang Tribe had suffered a White Calamity never seen in a century—a massive snow disaster. Countless cattle and sheep froze to death... These beasts have gone mad with hunger. They've been driven down the mountains to find flesh and blood!"

At that moment, an even more shrill wolf howl, steeped in brutal savagery, overwhelmed the pack's whines! A particularly tall, powerful shadow, built like a young calf, slowly stepped out from the darkness near the village entrance.

It held its head high. Its gray-black fur bristled in the cold wind like steel needles, and its ghostly green eyes, like two burning will-o'-wisps, swept coldly over the human village shrouded in terror.

It was the Alpha Wolf of this vicious pack!

The Alpha Wolf's appearance was like a horn sounding the charge!

"Awoo—!"

As though issuing an order, the Alpha Wolf howled, and the densely packed green lights suddenly accelerated! Accompanied by a rancid gale and trembling howls, they charged madly at the houses closest to the village entrance!

Wooden courtyard gates gave fractured, splintering groans beneath the ravenous wolves' frenzied impacts and clawing! Window paper was easily punctured as savage wolf muzzles and gleaming feral eyes thrust inside!

"Ah—!" A shriek ripped through the night sky! It came from Carpenter Zhao's house in the west of the village! A huge gray wolf smashed through the already flimsy rear window and pounced inside! This was followed by the crashing of overturned tables and chairs, shattering bowls and plates, and the heart-rending cries of women and children!

"Father! Mother!" A terrified child cried from next door, clearly frightened out of his wits by the commotion at the Zhao house.

"Fight them!" Several hot-blooded young men, armed with fish spears, woodcutting knives, and hoes, roared as they charged out of their courtyards, trying to rescue the Zhao family.

But before the wolf pack surging like a tidal wave, their courage seemed so small!

Several vicious wolves instantly pounced on the man charging at the front. His screams mixed with the wolves' excited tearing and biting! The others were also cut off and surrounded by the pack, teetering on the brink of disaster!

The entire fishing village became a hunting ground in an instant! Wolf howls, villagers' cries, the clash of weapons, and the shattering of pots and pans... all intertwined into a symphony of death.

Chen Qing's courtyard was not spared either. Several hungry wolves caught the scent of humans and frantically slammed against the not particularly sturdy courtyard gate and earthen wall! Wood chips flew, and clumps of dirt rained down.

"Stay inside! Don't come out!" Chen Qing shouted sharply at A Ning and Uncle Po behind him.

The usual gentleness and calmness had vanished from his eyes, replaced by unwavering resolve. An invisible aura surged up from within him in an instant.

He suddenly pulled open the door and stepped into the courtyard! The cold wind, laced with a heavy stench of blood, rushed into his face.

Outside the courtyard gate, three hungry wolves with glowing green eyes were savagely ramming the wooden door. Catching Chen Qing's scent as he emerged, one wolf slammed forward and snapped the gate clean in two.

The three wolves filed in one after another, kicking off with their hind legs and opening blood-filled jaws dripping with saliva as they leaped at him through the air! Their sharp fangs gleamed with cold light! It was as though they could crush Chen Qing's throat in one bite.

In that critical instant!

Chen Qing did not even make any large movement. He merely raised his right hand as if casually, pressing his index and middle fingers together like a sword, then lightly swept them forward into the rancid gale!

There was no sound of wind, no shriek.

Only a pale-blue burst of force, nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, erupted from his fingertips like the sharpest invisible blade!

"Ssh—!"

A soft sound, like a knife slicing through flesh.

The vicious wolf leaping through the air suddenly stiffened! Its savage muzzle was already less than three feet from Chen Qing's face, and bloodthirsty excitement still lingered in its feral green eyes.

Yet in the next moment, a thin line of blood spread straight down from its brow, passing over its nose bridge, mouth, throat, and chest...

Thud!

The massive wolf corpse crashed heavily at Chen Qing's feet. From head to tail, it had been precisely cleaved in two by that invisible force! Scalding wolf blood and entrails splashed across the muddy ground, and the thick stench of blood instantly filled the air.

The other two wolves, in the midst of lunging forward, were stunned by the sudden sight, their movements coming to a dead stop.

They stared at their companion's corpse, killed in an instant, then at Chen Qing standing in the pool of blood, a faint pale-blue gleam seeming to linger at his fingertips, his expression calm as still water.

An instinctive terror of being crushed beneath absolute power instantly overwhelmed the madness brought by hunger!

"Whine... awo..." The two wolves tucked their tails, fearful whimpers issuing from their throats as they backed away step by step. Their ghostly green eyes were full of unsettled terror.

Chen Qing's gaze swept over them, icy and devoid of any warmth. He did not pursue. He merely slowly turned to look toward the village, where flames soared skyward and screams rang without end.

That place was hell!

And the Star Mark in his palm, as though answering its master's emotions amid the thick bloodlust and killing intent, lit up with starlike radiance for the first time on a night without a full moon.

The real battle had only just begun.