He ruined this place and only then left.
What would happen after that…
I couldn’t guess what would happen later, but as Xie Zhuo repeatedly stroked my head and back, I gradually became drowsy.
I fell asleep quietly in Xie Zhuo’s embrace, but when I woke up, it was not so peaceful…
A fierce wind seemed like it would shave all the fur off my head, sweeping violently across my back.
I opened my eyes in confusion to find the tent above me gone. The moon, as large as a disk, hung high in the night sky, its gauze-like light shining on the settlement of the Snow Wolf Tribe.
Xie Zhuo was also gone from my side, but around me, tribe members were gradually gathering.
“A’Yu…”
“A’Yu, don’t be rash…”
They were all persuading, all crowding toward another direction.
I stood up on the bed and turned to look in the direction they were heading.
I saw Xie Zhuo’s tent torn to pieces on the ground. The things that had been neatly arranged inside were now scattered everywhere. Pottery was broken, herbs were spilled, and all the little toys Xie Zhuo had made for me had fallen—some trampled underfoot, some kicked far away.
Looking ahead in the moonlight, through the gaps between people’s feet, I saw young Xie Zhuo pinned to the ground.
My pupils contracted! I immediately rushed forward!
“Woof!”
Let him go!
“Woof!”
Who dares to harm him!
I called out as I squeezed through between people’s feet, but I saw that the person pressing him harshly to the ground was none other than Xie Ling.
Xie Ling’s eyes were red with anger. Her knee pressed on Xie Zhuo’s chest, immobilizing him. One hand gripped Xie Zhuo’s throat, while the other held a dagger against his neck…
That dagger was the very one Zhu Lian had tried to kill Xie Zhuo with earlier that day.
I froze at this sight.
Xie Zhuo was also stunned, but unlike me, he looked at Xie Ling, his black pupils taking in Xie Ling and the moon behind her with perfect clarity.
He lay on the ground, allowing Xie Ling to press him down, allowing that dagger to rest against his throat.
Xie Zhuo wasn’t unable to move—I knew that. I had watched him learning and practicing for so many years. He could resist. Having received offerings from the entire tribe for so many years, how could he not resist Xie Ling?
But he didn’t move.
He only widened his eyes, looking at Xie Ling, his eyes filled with despair.
His despair was so overwhelming, it almost made me cry. He seemed to be silently asking Xie Ling, asking the person who had given him life, he was asking—
“Do I not deserve to be in this world?”
“Am I a mistake?”
“Do you want to kill me?”
And compared to Xie Zhuo’s silence at this moment, Xie Ling’s expression appeared even more broken and intense:
“You are the Evil God’s child!” she shouted. “I should have strangled you long ago! I should have killed you!”
As if to confirm Xie Zhuo’s despair, she raised the dagger high, and under the silent watch of the entire tribe, stabbed toward Xie Zhuo, while he just quietly watched the blade coming.
I could no longer bear it and leaped forward!
I bit Xie Ling’s hand, causing her to tilt, and the dagger flew out of her hand.
I couldn’t maintain my grip either, and after this leap, I tumbled sideways and fell beside them.
Without the dagger, Xie Ling ignored me, and like someone possessed, she used both hands to strangle Xie Zhuo’s neck, as if she would throttle him to death this way.
Xie Zhuo’s face went from white to red. He didn’t close his eyes, nor did he resist. He just stared steadily at Xie Ling, as if at this moment, his heart had already died.
I had fallen hard on the ground and was somewhat unsteady when I stood up again. I looked around, hoping that someone among the onlookers would help him.
But no one did…
Not a single one…
They were, as always, silent and cold. Even if they paid attention, all their concern was for Xie Ling, with none for Xie Zhuo.
Their whispers penetrated my ears in the cool night—”Will A’Yu just kill him like this?”
“What if it angers the Evil God…”
“Forget it, it’s better if he dies this way… better than letting him drain our tribe…”
Unable to bear listening anymore, I charged forward again, biting the sleeve of one of Xie Ling’s arms.
I desperately pushed against the ground with my three legs, trying to pull her hand away.
“Whimper!” I made sounds from my throat.
Don’t treat him like this!