The morning sunlight spilled over the town, yet it couldn't dispel the gloom in people's hearts. Alan's disappearance was like an invisible black hand, quietly gripping the throats of the townspeople, making them terrified and uneasy.
Kale stood in front of Alan's house, gazing at the wolf hair and bloodstains on the ground. The pair of blue wolf eyes from last night kept emerging in his mind.
"Alan is still alive. He must be deep in the forest."
Kale's intuition had never failed him.
"What are you going to do?" Reiss walked up beside him and asked in a low voice. There was an obvious look of anxiety on his face. "Are you going to track in the forest again? But... that's not an ordinary wolf."
Kale was silent for a moment, then looked up in the direction of the forest. His eyes were as firm as iron. "No matter what it is, Alan is still waiting for us. I won't let him face that thing alone."
Reiss hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth. "I'll go with you."
"The town needs you to stay and guard it. I can go alone." Kale patted Reiss on the shoulder. "If I haven't come back by tomorrow morning, you take everyone and leave this place."
"Are you crazy?" Reiss stared at him in surprise with wide eyes. "Going in alone is just asking for death!"
Kale smiled. "The one who might die might not be me."
With that, he picked up his short dagger, slung his longbow over his shoulder, and walked towards the forest alone.
The townspeople stood in the distance, watching as his figure gradually melted into the morning mist and disappeared.
Deep in the forest, where the sunlight could hardly reach.
Kale followed the stream all the way, squatting down from time to time to check the bloodstains and wolf paw prints on the ground. Every step he took was extremely cautious. The black wolf from last night was injured and had left many traces when it fled. As long as he was patient, Kale could find its hiding place.
It was completely silent around, as if even the birds had sensed the danger and quietly left.
Among the tree shadows, Kale's gaze suddenly froze.
Not far ahead, in the muddy ground by the stream, there lay a corpse.
Kale gripped his short dagger and approached carefully.
It was a wolf, larger in size than an ordinary wild wolf, pitch-black all over. There was a deep wound on its forehead, which was caused by the dagger left by the woman last night. However, what made Kale's heart tighten was that - the body of this wolf was gradually changing.
Its fur gradually faded away, its four limbs shortened, and its ferocious wolf claws turned into human hands. Moments later, a naked male human corpse appeared in front of Kale.
A werewolf.
Kale's pupils shrank slightly, and a huge wave of shock welled up in his heart.
The rumors in the town were actually true!
Werewolves existed, hiding deep in the forest. They could turn into beasts to hunt at night and disguise themselves as humans during the day, sharing the same land with them.
However, Kale soon discovered something even more disturbing.
There was an obvious bite mark on the corpse's neck, with the flesh and blood all mangled, as if it had been torn to death by some larger beast.
Kale squatted down to examine it and found a small tuft of black fur beside the corpse, which was different from the hair on the corpse.
"Could it be that the black wolf last night wasn't of the same kind? Was it hunting the werewolf?"
Kale pinched that tuft of black fur, and countless possibilities flashed through his mind, yet the answer remained elusive.
Just as he was about to leave, a faint gasping sound came from not far away.
Kale quickly drew his knife and approached the direction of the sound. After walking a few steps, he found a figure behind a fallen dead tree.
Alan.
He was lying beside the dead tree, his face pale, his chest heaving violently. It was obvious that he was seriously injured.
"Alan!" Kale rushed forward and helped him up. "Are you okay?"
Alan opened his eyes. When he saw Kale, a painful smile flashed across his face. "Kale... Why are you here..."
"Don't talk. I'll take you back." Kale carried Alan on his back and turned to leave.
However, just a few steps away, the sound of broken branches suddenly came from behind.
Kale suddenly stopped and slowly turned around.
In the dense forest not far away, a pair of blue eyes quietly watched them.
The black wolf appeared again.
But this time, it didn't come alone. Behind it, there were three equally tall black wolves, their fangs glinting coldly as they slowly approached.
Cold sweat broke out on Kale's forehead. He quickly put Alan down and hid him behind a tree. "Don't move. Wait until I deal with them."
Alan's face was filled with fear. "Kale, don't..."
Before he could finish his words, one of the black wolves suddenly leaped out and pounced straight at Kale!
Kale dodged to the side, and his short dagger quickly swiped across the black wolf's abdomen, bringing up a string of blood. However, the black wolf didn't retreat. Instead, it pounced on him even more frantically, as if it didn't care about life and death at all and just wanted to tear Kale into pieces.
Kale's eyes were cold. He bent his bow and nocked an arrow, and the arrow hit the wolf's eye precisely. The black wolf let out a howl and fell to the ground, twitching, and its blood soaked the soil.
The remaining two black wolves witnessed the death of their companion and growled as they slowly approached Kale.
Kale's breathing was steady, and his gaze was fixed on them.
Suddenly, a sharp whistle sound came from the depths of the dense forest.
The two black wolves immediately stopped. Their blue eyes gradually returned to calm. Then, to Kale's surprise, they slowly retreated into the forest and disappeared without a trace.
Kale stood there, his hand holding the knife trembling slightly.
Alan gasped and asked, "Why... did they leave all of a sudden?"
Kale looked in the direction where the black wolves had left. His eyes were profound. "They didn't leave on their own. Someone was controlling them."
In this forest, there were not only werewolves but also a more powerful being hidden in the darkness, manipulating everything.