The river of stars stretched across the night sky, a crescent moon hanging high.
All was still, save for the chirping of insects. A forest breeze howled past the city, bringing a rare coolness to the sweltering land.
Amidst the silent night, an agile gray wolf paced stealthily out of a stone house. Its paws made no sound on the bluestone ground.
Manduo licked his wolfish jaws, already impatient to see Lin Xixue. The taste of being with his female was absolutely intoxicating.
Suddenly, he paused, glancing back with alarm. He immediately sensed someone was behind him.
Besides Ling Hong, Manduo was the strongest Beastman Warrior. Battle-hardened, his senses and observational skills were far superior to those of an ordinary Wolf Beast.
The gray wolf’s dark brown eyes narrowed sinisterly, and he bared his white fangs. He paced forward slowly, then suddenly whirled around and lunged viciously into the bushes.
SQUELCH. Blood splattered across the wolf’s face, but it was just a common, white-furred animal!?
’Crap.’
Panic filled Manduo’s face. He had just thought to turn and run when dozens of Wolf Beasts leaped from the shadows, tackling him to the ground and clamping their jaws around his throat.
The tall, imposing figure of a silver-haired man emerged from the bushes, followed by a slender female.
Ling Hong watched coldly as the pack of wolves tore at the gray wolf. Blood pooled on the ground beneath it. His expression was icy and dangerous. "Just as you predicted. It really was him! To think he’d dare betray the tribe."
’Sneaking out in the middle of the night, and with that panicked look on his face... he was obviously going to pass information to another tribe!’
Ling Hong’s expression was glacial. He savagely gripped the gray wolf’s throat. His black nails shot out from his fingertips; with the slightest pressure, he could send this traitor to meet the Beast God!
In any tribe, the punishment for traitors was death. No exceptions.
Most Beastmen were loyal and straightforward. They despised two-faced traitors above all else.
Several of the surrounding Wolf Beasts shifted into their human forms, their eyes bloodshot and their bodies trembling with rage. "Kill him! Manduo actually dared to betray the tribe! We can’t let him off easy!"
Ling Hong’s grip tightened slightly, his gaze dark, but he still waited for An Jin’s final verdict.
She was the second backbone of this team, after all.
An Jin thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Keep him alive for now. Don’t be so quick to kill him. He’s still useful."
’Since the enemy tribe has their sights set on this prize, they won’t give up so easily. I’ll use Manduo as bait on a long line to lure the hidden enemy out of the shadows.’
But what An Jin didn’t understand was why Manduo would betray them.
’There must have been a greater temptation, something that drove him to betray his own powerful tribe.’
That’s it! An Jin suddenly had an idea. She quickly had two of the Wolf Beasts pull apart the fur on the gray wolf’s chest.
Just as she thought.
There was a white mate mark on the gray wolf’s chest.
Normally, Manduo kept his chest wrapped in a piece of gray-brown animal hide, so no one could see it.
Seeing this, the other Wolf Beasts gasped in shock.
Manduo had hidden it from everyone in the tribe and secretly bonded with a female from another clan?!
Now, it all became clear.
A few of the Beastmen carried the barely-breathing Manduo back. They beat him again along the way, then threw his limp, broken body into a small mud hut like a piece of trash and locked the door.
Several Beastmen took turns standing guard, watching for any sign of trouble over the next few days.
With Manduo missing for several days, the enemy tribe would surely grow anxious and impatient. They wouldn’t be able to sit still. They would certainly find a way to send someone to check on the status of their only spy.
All An Jin and the others had to do was tighten their patrols and wait to spring the trap.
Once they caught the arsonist tribe, what awaited them would be the scorn and expulsion of every Beastman in the city!