Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Inside the tent, several fires burned low, their warmth trapped beneath stretched hides. The beastmen of Black Mountain huddled close, some smacking their lips in their sleep, still savoring the taste of supper.

Qi Bai stirred when he felt Wolfze’s body tense beside him. The wolf’s golden eyes glowed faintly in the firelight, ears angled toward the world outside.

Qi Bai pushed himself awake, heart tightening. He held his breath and listened.

The wind swept across the snowfields, shaking loose the powder gathered on the tent roof. White flakes whirled into the forest, brushing against tree trunks and branches with soft whispers. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But Wolfze’s frown deepened. He rose silently and padded to the hide curtain.

The night guards, Wolf Ji and Dog Liu, straightened when they saw him move. Wolfze raised a hand, silencing their questions.

He lifted the curtain and looked back, clasping Qi Bai’s hand. Together, they crouched and slipped into the icy dark.

The half-man-high trench Qi Bai had dug earlier that day now served as a ready hiding place. He poked his head above the snowy edge, scanning the plains behind and the forest ahead.

Fresh snow had fallen through the night. The ground lay smooth and untouched, no prints near their camp. Only the frost-coated forest shifted in the wind, shadows blurring into one another.

“See anything?” Qi Bai whispered.

Wolfze shook his head. “Snow’s too thick. We’ll have to get closer.”

“I’ll shift and follow you.”

Qi Bai didn’t know the art of tracking, but his beast form was small and snow-white. In this weather, no one would easily spot him.

Wolfze didn’t hesitate. Danger pressed close, and he would only feel secure with Qi Bai by his side.

Qi Bai vanished, replaced by a lithe snow leopard cub slipping out from his cloak. Fur thick and warm, padded paws steady on the snow, he moved with more grace than in human form.

Wolfze glided toward the treeline. The cub trailed behind, stepping neatly in his prints to leave fewer traces.

Minutes later, Wolfze halted by a towering tree. Beneath it lay a massive imprint, half-buried by drifting snow. The shape was unmistakable: the splay of toes, the melt marks where heat had turned snow to slush before freezing again.

Qi Bai padded close, staring. The print was enormous — nearly a meter wide. If this was truly a footprint, then even a wild bison would look small beside such a beast.

The cub circled once, then sprang lightly into the branches.

“Mrrow–ow.”

Wolfze looked up at his call. There, pressed deep into the bark, was a matching palm print, nearly as large as the footprint below.

Together the marks painted a chilling picture: a colossal creature had stood here, watching their camp in silence until the snow melted beneath its weight. For reasons unknown, it had not attacked — only observed — before slipping away.

Wolfze studied the trail of heavy prints leading off into the trees. “I’ve never seen such a beast.”

Qi Bai shook snow from his ears. If even Wolfze didn’t recognize it, then he certainly couldn’t.

They followed the trail deeper, branches crowding overhead. Without the blanket of snow, Qi Bai knew he would be lost here in moments. As it was, they had to tread carefully — one strong wind and their own tracks would vanish.

The footprints grew faint, scattered. At last, after a final stretch of forest, they disappeared entirely.

Wolfze stopped. “Gone.”

Qi Bai climbed higher, scanning from the treetop. Nothing. The forest lay silent, the trail swallowed as if it had never existed.

Wolfze joined him beneath the branches. The heavy sense of being watched had faded. “Only one beast,” he murmured.

The cub dropped onto his shoulder with a soft whump.

One beast wasn’t frightening. But its silence — its strange restraint — was unsettling. This was its territory. It could hide as it pleased. Finding it again would not be easy.

Wolfze rubbed the cub’s head. “Come. Back to camp.”

By the time they returned, most of the tribe was awake.

Wolf Kuang and Wolf Pu had already heard from Dog Liu what had happened. They hurried over. Qi Bai described the prints and palm mark. Both elders listened carefully.

Wolf Pu shook his head — no memory of such a creature. Wolf Kuang frowned as though recalling something, but in the end kept silent.

Ma Song’s eyes went wide. “Prints that big — and we heard nothing? Impossible!”

Dog Liu bristled. “We heard nothing. We were on watch the whole time.”

Wolf Ji nodded firmly. “He’s right.”

They had replayed the night’s silence again and again. There had been no sound.

Wolfze didn’t fault them. He only said, voice steady, “Whatever it is, it will not stop us.”

On the contrary — the presence of unknown beasts meant only one thing. They needed to work faster.

After breakfast, the tribe shouldered their tools and trudged back toward the giant stones.

A thin snow crust covered yesterday’s cleared ground, but it didn’t slow them. The boulders, tumbled down from the mountain, loomed far larger up close, many taller than the horned beastmen themselves. In the cracks between them lay the bones of wild bulls, stripped bare, their stark white against the ice carrying a mute, tragic weight.

Pickaxes struck stone in steady rhythm. Sparks and echoes rang across the valley.

Qi Bai and Niu Xi remained by the carts, examining the ore dug the day before. From past smelting attempts, they knew they had to sort carefully.

Niu Xi hefted a stone, brow furrowed. At last he handed it over. “This one’s different.”

Qi Bai felt it immediately. Though the rock was the same dark red, it was far too light. He compared it to another of equal size. The difference in weight was obvious.

When he struck the lighter one against the heavier, it shattered at once.

Not iron ore. Something else.

“Who mined this?”

“Over there,” Niu Xi pointed to Niu Cheng’s team.

Qi Bai nodded. “Let’s check.”

The collapse of the Redstone Range had jumbled everything. Ore from different layers now lay mixed together. He’d told the miners to keep stones from different sites separate, so they could test yield and avoid wasting effort.

At their approach, the horned men laid down their tools. Qi Bai compared the lighter stone against the exposed rock face, then drew a heavy cross with charcoal.

“You’ve done well. But this type — we’ll leave it untouched until we know its use.”

One man scratched his head. “We chose by color — all red. How do we pick now?”

Qi Bai passed him the two samples. “Pick the heavy, solid ones. Avoid those that feel too light or break too easily.”

Ma Song, eavesdropping nearby, snorted. “No wonder Niu Cheng’s group worked so fast yesterday. Their stones were soft.”

That explained the unease of the other teams. They’d wondered how the latest crew to arrive had already pulled ahead.

Niu Cheng flushed, shoulders stiff. “Give us the same stone, and we’ll beat you all. We’re stronger.”

His teammates thumped their chests. “Right! Let’s test it!”

Ma Song’s eyes lit up. “Fine by me! Let’s see if your bulls outdig our horses!”

He spat on his palms, gripping his pickaxe. Muscles bunched beneath his hide coat, eager for the challenge.

Qi Bai stepped back, glancing at Wolfze. Should we stop this?

Wolfze only gave a calm shake of the head. So long as it was a test of skill, not fists, there was no harm. Discipline was clear: anyone who went too far would lose work points — and food.

With that, the rivalry sparked, and the miners dug with renewed fervor.

Qi Bai and Niu Xi, meanwhile, examined each cartload more carefully than ever. Wasting strength on useless stone would be a greater loss than any petty quarrel.

By day’s end, only one other useless boulder was found, quickly marked and abandoned. Not a bad result.

The forest stayed silent under the pale sun. Only the endless ring of picks echoed outward.

Then Wolfze straightened suddenly, gaze fixed on the treeline. That unseen stare was back.

He set down his hammer. “Wolf Ji,” he ordered quietly, “spread the word. We move.”

Wolf Ji, ears still ringing from stone strikes, nodded without thinking. Only when Wolfze had already walked away did he snap back to alertness and hurry to carry the order.

When Wolfze pushed aside the hide curtain of the tent, Qi Bai and Niu Xi were ladling out hot stew for the evening meal. Seeing the look on his face, Qi Bai’s heart leapt.

“What is it?”

Wolfze’s expression was grim. “It’s back. And this time… not just one.”

Qi Bai stiffened. “Do we fight?”

He shook his head. “No. They don’t mean to strike yet. We leave — now.”