Chapter 39: Ancestral Bloodline

The chaotic battle felt to stretch on forever, but in reality, less than ten minutes had passed from the moment Liuli transformed until she reverted to her original form. When Ram arrived hastily with her troops, the blood on the ground hadn’t even dried out. They stood there, speechless, staring at the battlefield that resembled a scene from purgatory, unsure of what to say.

“What the hell happened here?” Ram couldn’t maintain her typical calm demeanor.

The wolfmen she had dispatched were all dead. The people led by Pikes had been entirely wiped out, as had those accompanying the half-elf Kleine. Harold was old and lacked combat prowess, Wu Qingsong was not particularly powerful, and as for the two beastwomen, they were inconsequential. So who could have done this?

What exactly had transpired here?

A sense of sudden dread washed over her.

“Now’s not the time to discuss it,” Wu Qingsong replied, his voice tinged with fatigue. “It’s too complicated to explain in a few words.”

Unsatisfied but recognizing that this was not the moment for a detailed explanation, Ram nodded. “Clean this up. We’re withdrawing immediately.”

Pikes’ forces had been completely annihilated, their heads brutally severed. This savage method immediately tipped off the wolfmen as to the mastiffmen’s identity.

“Hunting group!” They growled with clenched teeth, finishing off any injured mastiffmen who hadn’t yet died. They stripped them of their armor and collected all their weapons.

To everyone present, this act of slaughter seemed par for the course. Wu Qingsong, too drained to speak, decided not to dwell on the issue any further.

“We can’t go back,” Harold declared.

Although this road wasn’t the primary artery linking Umber to the outside world, it was still a major route. Sooner or later, people would pass by. They simply didn’t have the time to deal with all these corpses. They were forced to carry away only the bodies of their three fallen comrades. Their overturned carriage at the roadside unmistakably implicated them in the slaughter.

Even if it were possible to bribe the city guards, it would be prudent to wait for the current storm to subside before even thinking about returning to Umber.

Ram nodded. “We have a temporary outpost near Karagados. Let’s abandon the main road and follow the smaller trails to get there.”

The wolfmen appeared highly knowledgeable about the local landscape and routes. With their guidance, Wu Qingsong and his party didn’t have to worry about navigation. Wu Qingsong held Liuli gingerly as he sat behind Harold, while Ram, leading Ling, walked beside them.

“Who did that?” Delving deep into the forest, Ram finally let her question spill out.

While they were clearing the site, she briefly inspected the evidence left behind. It was clear that the dock gang had perished before the mastiffmen. It seemed they had been lying in ambush only to be counter-ambushed by the hunting group. Their formation was shattered by a war wolf, followed by a merciless slaughter.

The war wolf itself met its end due to poisoning after killing the horse that was pulling the carriage.

Two of her subordinates had died from crossbow bolts, while another had been savagely mutilated. This led her to conclude that the mastiffmen had initially gained the upper hand. However, the subsequent evidence baffled her.

Whoever killed the mastiffmen didn’t seem to belong to any large force. From the nature of their injuries, they seemed to have been attacked abruptly by some vicious beast. How, then, had Wu Qingsong and his companions managed to survive?

“It was Liuli,” Wu Qingsong whispered softly.

“What did you say?” Ram nearly toppled off her horse upon hearing his response.

“It’s a complicated matter, hard to explain in just a few words,” Wu Qingsong elaborated.

He had assumed Ram would guide them back to the log cabin where they had previously stayed. Instead, she led them deeper into the forest to a basic encampment made of timber, complete with a lookout tower in one corner.

Inside the wooden walls were several rudimentary cabins, some of which had evidently been used as empty storage spaces. The rest were filled with dust.

The wolfmen, not particularly fastidious, swiftly swept up one of the cabins and began to settle in.

Ram, on the other hand, showed signs of a cleaner disposition. She started to draw water from a corner well to scrub down one of the cabins, and Ling promptly went over to assist her.

Clean as a raccoon? Wu Qingsong suddenly recalled the origins of the word ‘raccoon.’

Helpless to contribute while holding Liuli, he could only offer a wry smile.

Roughly half an hour later, Ram and Ling had finally cleaned a cabin to their modest standards. Wu Qingsong was then able to gently lay Liuli down on a bed. In the meantime, the wolfmen had dug three large pits in the surrounding forest.

Ling remained to care for Liuli, while Wu Qingsong and Harold took part in a simple memorial ceremony with the wolfmen. Underneath the night sky, the wolfmen let out mournful howls, expressing their sorrow for their fallen comrades. Wu Qingsong felt a touch of melancholy amidst the wailing.

His outlook also underwent a subtle shift.

After a rather uninspiring dinner, the wolfmen designated night guards and started taking turns resting. Ram, at last, resumed her questioning. With his thoughts now somewhat clarified, Wu Qingsong finally provided her with a succinct summary of the events.

Given the time she had to think things over, Ram had already considered various possibilities, and the situation at hand wasn’t beyond her expectations. In fact, such legends have long existed among the beastfolk.

“Each one of us carries the blood of our ancestors,” she began, “and some among us, after enduring years of rigorous training, might awaken the dormant power within that ancestral blood, allowing for a burst of exceptional strength that surpasses our everyday capabilities.”

“I’m familiar with those tales,” Harold interjected. “It’s said that the royal families among each clan possess such latent abilities, though no one has actually witnessed it. Some speculate that the ancestral blood has become too diluted over the many generations to manifest such potent abilities. Others suggest that the elves wiped out all beastfolk with these gifts during the great war a thousand years ago and continue to slaughter any with the potential to unlock this power.”

“Is Liuli a descendant of the royal feline lineage?” Wu Qingsong was incredulous. Looking at the frail figure curled up on the bed, he couldn’t picture her adorned with a crown. “Could that even be possible?”

“Most beastfolk kingdoms have been destroyed by the elves,” Harold said, shaking his head. “Those who remain, hiding in the northern wastelands and plateaus, are mostly rebels and dissidents who refuse to bow down. In this land, apart from a few resistant groups like the Silver Moon Wolf Clan, who still flies the flag of rebellion, does anyone really care about royal heritage? Whether she is of royal descent or not is meaningless.”

His eyes met Wu Qingsong’s, narrowing with intent. “I’m less concerned about who she is. What I really want to know is, who exactly are you? And how did you manage to awaken the dormant ancestral power within her?”