Chapter Nineteen: Overheard

Upon seeing that streak of pitch-black shadow, Chen Ming's expression flickered. Looking again, he discovered it was a black wolf. The wolf's fur gleamed like black iron, and it was as tall as a grown man. Its entire body exuded a faint scent of blood, and its eyes were eerily dark. It was precisely the kind of demon wolf he had encountered before, its body radiating a subtle aura of magic.

Chen Ming was momentarily stunned, not expecting to encounter such creatures here. After that harrowing encounter, he had deliberately searched for information about them through soul-searching and other means, only to find that for several decades in this area, not a single demon wolf had been seen. Thus, when the likes of Kuruba from his tribe came across an ordinary demon wolf, they mistook it for a wolf king.

"This is no coincidence," he thought silently. In any world, creatures that have undergone extraordinary transformation are extremely rare and unlikely to be encountered casually. In this world, the odds were even slimmer. Moreover, after not appearing for decades, they suddenly showed up in large numbers now—there had to be a reason.

For the moment, Chen Ming glanced ahead and pondered. A surge of divine power rippled through him as a spell was cast in an instant. The demon wolf, poised to pounce on two people ahead, suddenly found its limbs tightly bound by thick brambles, unable to move.

The demon wolf was taken aback, unable to comprehend what had happened. But then it strained its body, trying desperately to free its legs from the thorny entanglement. When it was still, it had seemed to possess a unique talent for concealment, able to transform parts of its appearance into shadow, making it so stealthy that even Chen Ming could be caught off guard, let alone anyone else.

Yet stealth alone was not enough; as it struggled, anyone nearby who failed to notice the anomaly would truly be blind. "What is that?" someone beside Chen Ming asked in confusion.

Hearing this, Chen Ming's expression abruptly changed, as though he had realized something. He shouted to the group, "Run! There's a wolf!"

At the same time, the people across from him, startled by Chen Ming's sudden warning, immediately paled. Years of survival in dangerous environments had honed their sense of crisis, and upon hearing the alert, they didn't even glance behind but dashed toward Chen Ming.

Once they had regrouped, Chen Ming quietly withdrew the brambles. Instantly, the demon wolf stood exposed before everyone, its form unmistakable.

"My god! Is that the wolf king?" someone cried out, trembling at the sight of the massive demon wolf. Across from them, the wolf lowered its head and sniffed the air, its ghostly green eyes coldly fixed on the people before it, brimming with a fierce urge to attack.

But in the end, whether because the group had grown in number or for some other reason, after a careful assessment, the demon wolf turned and left without hesitation, running off at incredible speed.

Seeing it depart, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing at one another, they saw the look of narrow escape reflected in each other's eyes.

After this ordeal, the goats had naturally fled, and the group had no desire to linger. After resting briefly, they decisively chose a direction and left, fearing the demon wolf might return.

By dusk, they had no choice but to leave with their meager catch. The lack of bows meant that with only wooden spears and some roughly made metal knives, their options for prey were very limited.

Chen Ming observed carefully. In this tribe, bows had indeed appeared, and were even widely used for hunting. Yet their crude construction—especially the absence of metal arrowheads and quality fletching—meant their power was mediocre, suitable only for small prey.

What surprised him was the appearance of metal knives. Though still rough, it indicated that this world was not a barren wasteland of backward civilization; at least some tribes could forge their own weapons.

"Still, it hasn't spread widely—at least not in this region," he mused silently. Over the long passage of time, he had realized that this world was not entirely primitive and desolate. On the contrary, it possessed a certain depth. It was only because he had been reborn in this remote and backward area that he felt it so behind.

He pondered this, his gaze unconsciously drifting to where the totem stood. "Hopefully, after resolving the ancestral spirit, I might gain some useful information."

He felt a trace of anticipation. From what he had gathered in the tribe, this totem had been worshipped for at least several centuries. Over such a span, even a totem must have accumulated knowledge of many things unknown to mortals.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret. "If only the wolf king could have been captured."

That was a supernatural creature on the verge of breaking through to the second tier, a wolf king leading a pack of demon wolves, possessing remarkable intelligence, and wandering these parts for years.

Chen Ming suspected it must know much. If he could have captured it and searched its soul, many mysteries would have been laid bare, and he wouldn't be so lost about the situation around him.

"Still, the wolf king seems to be searching for something. I have a feeling we'll meet again," Chen Ming thought, moving to the other side.

Before he knew it, evening had arrived, and it was time for supper. Outside the window, someone called for him.

He left the dilapidated house that belonged to this body, opened the door, and found a dark-skinned man waiting outside.

The man was of medium build, his skin dusky and his face a little plump—a rarity in this era when few could fill their bellies. He had been standing outside, and upon seeing Chen Ming emerge, his eyes brightened. "Kruri, you finally came out. If you don't hurry, you'll miss dinner!"

Kruri was the name of the body Chen Ming now occupied; the man's name was Gud, a friend of this body's former owner.

At this, Chen Ming stepped out and joked, "After all these years, you haven't changed; you're always thinking about food."

Gud was not offended, just chuckled. "Unlike you, I don't have Lord Balek as my cousin—you never go hungry."

He sighed. "My appetite is huge, and what I hunt or gather barely feeds myself, let alone my younger brothers. I can only hope for a good meal today."

Chen Ming's expression remained unchanged, but he sighed inwardly.

Gud laughed heartily, unconcerned, and quickly shifted the conversation elsewhere.

As they walked and chatted, halfway along the road, Gud suddenly smiled mysteriously at Chen Ming. "Kruri, have you ever heard of the God of Nature?"

Hearing this, Chen Ming was momentarily stunned and turned to look at Gud, his gaze oddly intent.