Chapter 25: Real Werewolf (8)

The two of them arrived at the Ancestral Hall, and what met their eyes was a statue of a Divine Emissary, not particularly large. 

The Divine Emissary had delicate features, with a face full of wildness.

However, the Ancestral Hall was covered in dust, clearly having been neglected for many years. 

The statue’s hand was positioned as if holding something, and it was clear that something was originally supposed to be in that palm. 

Obviously, the missing item from that hand was the very bead that had been stolen.

Su Luo thought, if she had taken the bead herself and wanted to hide it without destroying it, where would she stash it?

A round bead, not too big nor too small… 

Su Luo already had a few answers in mind.

She didn’t plan to verify her guesses immediately.

Instead, she turned to the Old Woman to learn more about the Divine Emissary statue and the treasure, since, if her hunch was right, uncovering the Village’s secret should be one of the hidden missions.

She smiled and asked, “Do you know anything about this statue and the bead that goes with it?”

The Old Woman knew she had already revealed quite a lot, and sharing a bit more didn’t matter much now.

She organized her thoughts and recalled, “That Divine Emissary was, in fact, a wolf child from our Village centuries ago. She was taken away by wolves when she was young, and only found by the Village when she was eight. At that time, people and wolves coexisted peacefully, so she grew up cared for by both the Human Tribe and the Wolf Tribe.”

As she spoke, the Old Woman’s tone became somewhat wistful, “Later, it’s said the Divine Emissary continued doing good deeds, learned medicine, and saved many people and wolves. In the end, she was taken away by an immortal. Before she left, she left behind a magical bead to protect both humans and the Wolf Tribe. So we built this statue to honor her for future generations to worship.”

Su Luo asked again, “Then why is it that only humans can live in the Village now? What caused the relationship between the two tribes to break down?”

A hint of disgust flashed in the Old Woman’s eyes, “The humans who were protected by the Divine Emissary gained a bit of divine power in their bodies, making them stronger and faster. But I… ah, but the Wolf Tribe didn’t change at all. So those people started to think the Divine Emissary didn’t protect the Wolf Tribe, and wanted to drive the wolves out.”

The Old Woman’s disgust became even more apparent, “Later, a wolf, unable to endure it any longer, ate a human, only to discover that the human turned into a Werewolf. That’s when the Wolf Tribe realized the Divine Emissary had always been protecting them, and that humans were just reserves for the Werewolf’s evolution.”

At this point, a trace of pride appeared on her face, “But from the day the Wolf Tribe ate a human, Werewolves could no longer enter the Village.”

“Later, by some twist of fate, the Werewolves raised another wolf child, and sent him into the Village to uncover why Werewolves couldn’t enter. In the end, it turned out to be the bead in the Divine Emissary’s hand causing the trouble. You know the rest.” 

Mm, and then it’s the story from the beginning—the wolf child stole the bead and gave it to the Werewolves.

Su Luo was actually half-skeptical about the Old Woman’s version.

The Divine Emissary clearly had gratitude toward both wolves and humans—how could she possibly let the two tribes kill each other?

But the Old Woman’s expression was so earnest, it didn’t seem like she was lying.

There must be something both tribes had overlooked.

Su Luo felt the problem still lay with that bead.

She left the Ancestral Hall and went to the big Banyan Tree at the Village entrance. 

When she arrived, she immediately thought the hollows in the tree would be perfect for hiding secrets. 

Su Luo walked up and reached into the tree hollow, and sure enough, pulled out a brown bead.

Su Luo examined it carefully, but didn’t find anything unusual.

Only, the moment she touched it, she felt a faint current swirling around her.

It was already late, so Su Luo returned to the house. 

He Yu and A Zhai had already come back, excitedly telling her they had worked together to take down two Werewolves. 

Su Luo just smiled and said nothing.

She had gathered quite a bit of information today and needed to sort through it.

Su Luo returned to her room and began pondering the story.

She was truly puzzled by the Divine Emissary’s actions: ‘after all, she had been raised by both wolves and humans, so how could only humans end up as the direct beneficiaries?’

‘And later, the Werewolves discovered that eating human flesh allowed them to evolve—wasn’t that just setting up both tribes for mutual slaughter?’

‘The humans in the story were also strange. Just because they thought the Divine Emissary didn’t protect the Wolf Tribe, they bullied the weak and drove the Wolf Tribe out.’

‘Sure, there’s the old saying, “Those not of our tribe must be of a different heart,” but to be so ruthless to wolves they’d lived with for so many years? There was a huge hole in this story—obviously, something had been left out. Clearly, both tribes had misunderstood something.’

Su Luo thought about it and felt the breakthrough might be with the Witch.

The Witch was the only religious figure in the Village and probably knew something.

Unfortunately, the Witch was already dead, so hopefully her belongings held some clues.

Su Luo gradually drifted off to sleep…

***

The next morning, Su Luo first went to the Old Woman’s house.

When the Old Woman saw Su Luo visiting again, she was on high alert. 

After thinking things over carefully last night, she realized she had already exposed herself, so now she was convinced Su Luo had come to eliminate her.

Su Luo smiled at the Old Woman in what she thought was a friendly way, but in the Old Woman’s eyes, it was the smile of a devil.

The Old Woman stiffly asked, “Why are you here again? I’ve already told you everything I can.”

Su Luo took out the bead.

The Old Woman’s eyes widened, “You actually found the bead? Other than the wolf child, no one knew where it was!”

If she didn’t trust the wolf child’s loyalty so much, she would have thought he’d been turned by this hateful Divine Emissary.

The Old Woman said helplessly, “So why are you here now?”

Since Werewolves couldn’t enter the Village when the bead was in the Divine Emissary’s hand, all Su Luo had to do was put the bead back, and the Werewolves in the Village would be wiped out.

Su Luo smiled and said, “Touch the bead and see if you feel anything.”

The Old Woman looked at Su Luo suspiciously, then tentatively touched the bead.

She had planned to pull her hand away immediately, but the instant she touched it, a strange feeling kept her from letting go.

To Su Luo’s eyes, the Old Woman was now surrounded by a brown aura, and the wrinkles on her face faded a little.

After a while, seeing that the Old Woman still wasn’t letting go, Su Luo took the bead away herself.

Eager to confirm her guess, she asked urgently, “What did you feel just now?”

The Old Woman was still a bit dazed and answered blankly, “I felt some kind of power flow into my body, and my mind seemed much clearer.”

Although the Werewolves had said the Divine Emissary used humans as reserves for Werewolf evolution, deep down, most Werewolves believed the Divine Emissary had forgotten them.

Now, the Old Woman suddenly realized she might have misunderstood all along.

A sense of foreboding rose in her heart, but she still tried to reassure herself: ‘It’s fine, even if the Divine Emissary didn’t forget them, the fact that humans drove them to extinction couldn’t be denied.’

Su Luo didn’t intend to explain anything to the Old Woman just yet.

She quickly rushed to the Witch’s house, her feeling growing stronger and stronger that something crucial was hidden there.

It was noon when Su Luo arrived at the Witch’s house.

She walked in and, as expected, found that the place was filled with all sorts of divination items, giving it an air of mystery.

People come and go, and the Witch had only died a few days ago, but already spiders were weaving webs in her house. 

Su Luo searched around and found a small Notebook in a secret compartment.

Su Luo had a hunch that the truth was inside this Notebook.

She carefully opened it and found that the Witch had recorded every prophecy she made.

The first entries were all trivial gossip—Wang Wu’s things were stolen by Li Si, Old Zhang’s wife was having an affair with Old Wang next door, and so on.

Su Luo was speechless—these divinations were so gossipy; the Witch must have known the most rumors in the Village.

She patiently flipped through the pages one by one.

It wasn’t until page twenty-three that Su Luo finally found the key part she was looking for:

[I prophesied that the Village would eventually be taken over by Werewolves. What are Werewolves? Are they transformed wolves? I must tell the Village Chief immediately!]

[The Village Chief can no longer stop this.]

[I must divine again, even if it costs me my life!]

[The first Werewolf has appeared. The prophecy is true!]

[I prophesied that a Divine Emissary would come to save the Village. The Village is saved!]

[I can’t wait any longer. I can’t even tell how many people are left in the Village. I’m going to perform the Summoning Ritual for the Divine Emissary.]

So that’s how it is…

Su Luo had more or less figured out the whole story.

She felt a sense of loss.

The Divine Emissary really did want to help both tribes.

Her bead could give humans power, and could also raise the intelligence of the Werewolves.

But it was clearly much harder to change the Werewolves, so the Wolf Tribe didn’t notice any difference before—or perhaps they just weren’t aware of it. 

And on the human side?

The Witch prophesied that the Wolf Tribe would destroy the Village, which led to the slaughter of the Werewolves.

Human bodies had already absorbed a lot of divine power, so when wolves ate them, it caused mutations.

But at the same time, Werewolves were a sinful race, so the bead naturally would no longer allow them into the Village.

Who was to blame for all of this?

Should humans be blamed for exterminating the Wolf Tribe?

That was just an act of self-preservation!

Should the Wolf Tribe be blamed for eating humans?

That was also self-preservation!

Should the Witch be blamed for her prophecies?

In the end, her prophecies came true.

Should the Divine Emissary be blamed for leaving the treasure?

She meant well!

It seemed like no one here was truly at fault, yet all of them, directly or indirectly, led to this outcome.

Sigh, Su Luo let out a long sigh.

The Divine Emissary’s well-intentioned act of gratitude had led to the near annihilation of both humans and the Wolf Tribe in the Village. 

It was truly something to ponder.

If those who died, the wolves, and the villagers still alive knew the outcome, what would they think?