Under the moonlight, the radiance gradually faded.
After Xie Zhuo’s spell subsided, everything in the Snow Wolf tribe’s settlement became as chaotic as Xie Zhuo’s tent had been moments before. Tents, wooden stakes, pots, and pans were all scattered on the ground.
Some tribe members had already fallen to the ground, while others supported each other as they struggled to stand.
Xie Ling, swept away by the fierce wind, had fallen nearby. Zhu Lian came running from another direction, coughing. Having been injured by Xie Zhuo earlier in the day, he now appeared even weaker than usual.
Zhu Lian called out, “Mother!” and hurried to Xie Ling’s side, supporting her as she had fallen.
Xie Ling grasped Zhu Lian’s hand, both angry and anxious: “Why did you come? Your injuries haven’t healed! You…”
It was a scene of deep mother-son affection.
In Xie Zhuo’s arms, I thought about what Xie Ling had just done to him and felt an indescribable sadness. I looked up at Xie Zhuo and unexpectedly met a pair of eyes as deep as the night sky.
Xie Zhuo was no longer paying attention to Xie Ling and Zhu Lian. His gaze fell only on me, his fingertips wanting to touch my paw.
But because there was still blood on my paws, he didn’t touch them. Instead, he placed his fingertips on top of my head and gently stroked twice.
“Let’s go…”
As he said this, he truly began to walk away, heading out of the ice and snow forest, as if he genuinely had no more attachments to this tribe.
And the Snow Wolf tribe people maintained their characteristic silence at this moment.
I turned my head to look at them. Not one person stood up to speak or stop him. They all watched Xie Zhuo, some even with expectation, hoping that when Xie Zhuo left, he would take the entire tribe’s tragedy with him.
But the Snow Wolf tribe’s tragedy didn’t originate from Xie Zhuo at all…
As if to confirm my guess, when Xie Zhuo hadn’t walked very far, a faint black mist floated across the night sky above the Snow Wolf tribe…
The mist was like gauze, enveloping the bright moon, making the entire ice and snow forest suddenly feel eerie.
A cold wind carrying moisture blew in from the direction of the ice lake, and in the wind, I saw an aura all too familiar to me…
The aura of evil spirits…
It was like returning to that night when Kunlun fell, and I couldn’t help but tremble all over. I stared in the direction the aura was coming from.
Xie Zhuo and the Snow Wolf tribe people also sensed the abnormality in the air, and all looked toward where the aura was surging.
The wind gradually intensified, and the evil spirit aura around us and in the sky grew increasingly thick.
From the deep forest by the ice lake, footsteps slowly approached. The sound was neither hurried nor slow. A figure gradually emerged from the darkness, standing before everyone under the cold light of the moon.
“Chi…Chieftain?” someone called out uncertainly.
Ever since Xie Zhuo’s incident, after the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain ordered everyone to make offerings to Xie Zhuo and killed several disobedient people, no one in the entire Snow Wolf tribe dared to defy the Evil God’s orders.
Afterward, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain had been in seclusion by the ice lake, while the Snow Wolf tribe made daily offerings to Xie Zhuo, not daring to slack off.
And today, this chieftain had emerged…
He stood still, silent, with his hair hanging loose, his head bent as if he had no spine.
In the wind, I couldn’t hear his breathing, only seeing the turbulent evil spirit aura surging from his body, torn to shreds as it came into contact with this sacred land.
I remembered that Xie Zhuo had once told me that this ice and snow forest was the purest place in the world. Later, I also learned from Zhu Lian.
To resurrect the Evil God, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain had borrowed the power of mountains and rivers, gathering all the impure aura from this place, which had summoned back the Evil God’s spiritual consciousness that had been sealed by the gods.
So, this place should have been the last place in the world to have an evil spirit aura. If there was any… it could only come from that person himself…
It was he, continuously emitted a thick evil spirit aura from his body.
Suddenly, with two “crack” sounds, as if a spine was being pulled, the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain raised his head. His face was pale blue, like a corpse, and his eyes were tightly closed. Only a black dot on his brow emitted an eerie red light.
Facing everyone, he slowly raised his hand and simply spread his five fingers!
In an instant, I felt a tremendous force descend from the sky, pressing my entire body directly to the ground.
Not just me, but everyone in the Snow Wolf tribe, including Xie Zhuo, was instantly pinned to the ground by this immense pressure.
The forest fell silent. Pressed against the ground, I heard countless Snow Wolf tribe members around, but not one could speak.
Xie Zhuo was also pressed to the ground, but unlike everyone else, he wasn’t flat on the ground. He was above my body, using his limbs and torso to create a space for me, so he wouldn’t press directly on me.
“Woo…”
I struggled to make a sound, and like other Snow Wolf tribe members, at this moment, I could only squeeze out broken gasps from my throat.
*Thump, thump, thump.* Footsteps gradually approached. Each step, in this situation, sounded like a giant drumstick falling in my ears, shaking my heart, and causing pain.
The boots stopped in front of me… or rather, in front of Xie Zhuo.
He paused for a long time: “My vessel, how dare you speak of leaving?”
Hearing these words, I closed my eyes.
Indeed, Xie Zhuo couldn’t leave the Snow Wolf tribe so easily.
He said, “My vessel.” He was no longer the Snow Wolf tribe chieftain; he was the Evil God.
The air was still, and everyone almost dared not breathe.
Under the immense pressure, the Evil God’s voice seemed to come from within everyone’s hearts, extending from the chest to the brain, filled with his voice:
“Snow Wolf tribe members Xie Ling, Ci Mu, Yin Shu.”