My name is Su Rentong, and I am an unlucky guy. I am unlucky because I was kicked from a relatively stable logistics civilian position by the headquarters to Heishan Town, the most remote place on the southwestern border of the mainland and closest to the Soul Beast Mountains, where I am to be called the "Soul Beast liaison officer and village pacification commissioner."
God knows, I am only twenty years old, Soul Power is only twenty-first grade, Spirit Empire is an ordinary Lone Wolf, Soul Ring Configuration is so shabby that only one white and one yellow Soul Grandmaster! At the headquarters, with my level of cultivation, I was barely qualified to guard the warehouse door, or run errands to deliver letters. But with an order from above, I had to pack my bags and come to this ghostly place where chickens don't poop, birds don't lay eggs, and where you can still hear wolves howling in the distance at night.
My mission sounds quite majestic: represent "Holy Sword", coordinate the relationship between the villagers and the resident guard Soul Beast "Iron-Back Gray Wolf", appease the people, record Wolf King's daily life, And report it regularly. But in fact? I am just a sandwich cake that is frustrated at both ends. The way the villagers looked at me, except for the initial politeness towards the "envoy from the headquarters", the rest was full of suspicion and scrutiny of "Is your kid working with that beast?" As for the real owner...
I swallowed, tightened my white-washed "Holy Sword" low-level member's gray robe, and held in my hand the contact token issued by the headquarters, engraved with special runes and the Saintess emblem, and cautiously approached the Shi Mo workshop.
The setting sun stretched the shadow of the mill, and also made the outline of the behemoth very clear. Iron-Back Gray Wolf, with a body length of more than seven meters and a shoulder height of nearly three meters, with blue-gray hair like steel needles slightly fluttering in the evening breeze. It was lying on its side in the open space outside the mill, its huge head resting on its front paws, its dark golden eyes half-open and half-closed, as if it was taking a nap.
But the most eye-catching thing is that on its left forelimb near the shoulder blade, there is a wound with deep bones visible, and the skin and flesh are rolled up. Although the bleeding has stopped, there is an abnormal dark red color around it, and there are faint and cold Soul Power residues - left behind when the group of Evil Soul Master was killed not long ago.
Evil Soul Master's Soul Skill is corrosive and sustains damage. For Soul Beast, who is not good at self-healing and refuses to be approached by human treatment Soul Master, this kind of wound heals very slowly and obviously makes it very uncomfortable.
I took a deep breath and tried to keep my steps as gentle as possible, but the slight sound of my boots on the gravel still made its dark golden ears move almost undetectably. I stopped about ten meters away from it - this was its preset "safe distance". Any closer, and it might emit a warning growl.
"Wolf... Mr. Wolf King," I said dryly, my voice trembling a little, and I raised the token in my hand, "I am the new liaison officer from the headquarters, Su Rentong. Under the orders of His Majesty Saintess Hall, I am here to... uh, assist you and treat your wounds. I brought some herbs, which have a miraculous effect on dispelling evil Soul Power and promoting healing..."
As I spoke, I slowly took out a few dark green herbs that exuded a bitter smell from the package I carried with me, as well as a bottle of "Evil-Cleansing Powder" from the headquarters Refining, which is specially designed to combat the evil Soul Power. These are precious supplies that Master Ye Shuhua personally prepared and distributed to each stronghold. It is said that they are also effective against Soul Beast.
Iron-Back Gray Wolf didn't respond at all. It still had its eyes half closed. Only its heavy and steady breathing showed that it was aware of my existence. I gritted my teeth and moved forward two more steps. Eight meters, seven meters, six meters...
The moment I was about five meters away from it and could already clearly smell the unique smell of blood, dust and beasts on it, Iron-Back Gray Wolf's half-closed dark golden eyes suddenly opened! The cold, sharp, and majestic gaze of an apex predator, like a real blade, was instantly locked on me!
It didn't even raise its head, but its gaze made the blood in my body freeze for an instant, and Soul Power stopped running! It had noticed me a long time ago and was just observing, but now, my approach has obviously touched some of its bottom lines.
"I... I was sent from the headquarters! This is the token! Look!" I was so frightened that I almost used all my strength to lift the contact token high and handed it to it. The tone of my voice changed.
Iron-Back Gray Wolf's huge head turned slightly, and its dark golden pupils focused on the token that exuded soft white light and special fluctuations. Its nose twitched slightly, as if it was identifying the breath on it.
After a while, the suffocating gaze slowly faded away, and it lowered its eyelids again, letting out an almost inaudible grunt from its throat that seemed to have a hint of exhaustion, and then slightly stretched its injured left forelimb forward.
I felt like I had been granted amnesty, and my back was already soaked with cold sweat. After calming down, I stepped forward tremblingly, and carefully began to treat the hideous wound. I washed the carrion, applied crushed herbs, and sprinkled Evil-Cleansing Powder, and then carefully bandage it with a clean bandage. During the whole process, Iron-Back Gray Wolf remained motionless. Only when I touched the depth of the wound, its muscles would tighten slightly, but there was no sign of any attack.
The sunset completely sank into the ridge, and night fell. When I finally finished bandaging and let out a long sigh of relief, Iron-Back Gray Wolf raised its forelimbs, brought it to the tip of its nose and smelled it, and then looked at me again. In its dark golden eyes, there seemed to be an extremely weak and unreadable emotion flashing through it. It lay down again and closed its eyes.
I know that the first time I came into contact, I barely got through it. Although it still wouldn't wag its tail at me like the domesticated guard dogs in the village, at least it allowed me to get close and received treatment.
Several years passed quietly.
Day after day, I spent my days patrolling, recording, communicating, occasionally assisting villagers solve small problems, and regularly checking up on Iron-Back Gray Wolf's health. Stimulated by the relatively strong vitality of heaven and earth at the border and occasional small-scale conflicts, my Soul Power slowly and steadily rose to level 30. I only need a suitable Soul Ring to be promoted to Soul Elder.
Iron-Back Gray Wolf still silently guards Heishan Town, killing several waves of rogue bandits and sporadic Evil Soul Master. Its image in the eyes of the villagers has gradually changed from a pure "horrible beast" to a complex recognition of "although scary but really useful." Of course, the fear has never really disappeared, but has been blunted by time.
Wolf King and I have also formed a strange tacit understanding. When it comes back from hunting, I will throw away a few pieces of "Red Blood Beef Jerky" specially provided by the headquarters and which it seems to like very much. When it is patrolling the mountains, it will occasionally "handle" it. I left a fat pheasant killed by the roadside on the roadside where I was patrolling. We rarely "communicated", but with a look and a movement, we seemed to be able to understand each other's general meaning. The villagers jokingly called me "the wolf shepherd", and I gradually got used to this kind of life with wolves as companions and mountains as neighbors.
Until that night that changed everything.