Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 244 234. Call of the Wild
"Is it them?" Dean grabbed Caiden and looked at Asuka,
Feiniao pursed her thin lips and nodded with red eyes, "Grey Shadow, Magic Leopard, Brown Bear, Tiger Claw."

"The longest missing person among them has been more than two months, and the lycanthropy has also broken out for more than two months, which means they have been soaked in the river for such a long time." Dean looked at several pale faces, "But the body There is no sign of decay or swelling.”

Under the perspective of life, white lights like forked branches lit up in the four bodies - the head, chest, abdomen, and limbs were the main trunk, and countless small branches and vines were drilled out of the main trunk.

These are blood vessels throughout the body.

White light surged in the blood vessels, and the blood from the wound slowly seeped into the river.

"It's like they are dead, but their bodies are still alive and active." After saying that, Dean noticed that the investigation progress jumped from 80.00% to 90.00%.

"Not dead." Kaiden murmured and shook his head, "Can't you hear? They are calling me!"

"What's the call?" Asuka looked at Kaiden nervously,

"Tell me to go down into the river and find the answer." Kaiden stared deeply at the flowing river.

"It sounds a bit like a trap deliberately designed to lure people." Dean looked around. His perspective was still compressed to the extreme by the mysterious power. It could only cover two meters around him. It was not as convenient as naked eye observation. "Get them up first. End the supply of coyote blood and the lycanthropy in Dog Town will disappear!”

Dean released his telekinesis and rushed into the river, turning it into an invisible net to trap the gray shadow's body, and struggled to pull it up.

But until the telekinesis was fully loaded and the twelve tons of power exploded (spiritual increase by 0.5, 10 tons → 12 tons), the corpse remained motionless, as if it was solidified at the bottom of the river.

"There's something wrong with this river." Dean looked at Caiden seriously.
"There are no roads around, there is only this river. If you don't go in, are you just standing on the bank? I'm just going to watch my father holding my mother's urn and soaking in the cold river water?"

Kaiden stared at the face of the river with black hair and golden eyes that he had never seen with his own eyes but was familiar to his soul, and he let out two choked sounds in his throat.
"From the Carolinas to Arkansas, I don't expect to live a wonderful life. I just expect to see them smile happily at me and tell me personally, 'Kayden, welcome home, you don't have to wander anymore. '."

Caiden wiped the corners of his eyes, "But now that hope is gone, I don't want to worry about anything anymore. I want to go in and stay with them and be reunited as a family."

"The tribe is your home." Asuka's blue eyes looked back at him unblinkingly, and she opened her hands and hugged his trembling body tightly from behind, "I will become your wife in the future and form a I will accompany you to your new family.”

"Okay, everyone go in, but remember to use your talent for blood communication after you go in." Dean stared at the river with fearful eyes.

After Asuka and Kaiden looked at each other, they changed into werewolf form, bit their palms open with their teeth, took a deep breath and jumped into the river.

Enduring the chill that penetrated their bones, they quickly swam to Hui Ying at the bottom of the river, overlapping the wounds on their palms with the wounds on Hui Ying's body.

The blood merged with the smooth and cold touch.

Kaiden's vision dimmed, and a familiar breath blew from the bottomless abyss-like darkness. Then he returned to the river bank and stared at the reflection in the water.

He has black hair, golden eyes, deep nasolabial folds, and holds a small, dark box in his arms.

Kaiden instantly understood that he had entered Gray Shadow's memory and experienced his past personally.

Kaiden didn't have any extra thoughts, as echoes rang in his ears.

"Grey Shadow."

He shook his head violently, and a force crushed the lonely reflection in the river. Violent waves appeared on the river. When the waves stopped, dozens or hundreds of reflections appeared strangely on both sides of the gray shadow's shoulders, as if they appeared out of thin air. Surround him in the center.

There are old people, young people, and children. They have black, red, black and white, and blue tattoos on their bodies. They obviously belong to the coyote tribe. Their eyes are deep and warm, but their faces are very strange.

Caiden had never seen them in the tribe.

They spoke at the same time, and countless voices converged into one, like an electronic synthesis, "How long has it been since the tribe gave birth to an alpha wolf?"

"23 years." Gray Shadow stared at a row of reflections in the river and replied in a hoarse voice,
“Why can’t the leader appear for so long?”

Gray Shadow looked thoughtful, "Because we lost Ke Di's love."

"Because our tribe has been dormant in the remote mountains and forests for too long without new blood, our source of power has become narrower and narrower, and we have lost the vitality of continuation and expansion. If we don't make changes, we will never be able to give birth to an Alpha Wolf. The tribe is destined to die." This composite voice echoed in the cave, and a pair of eyes looked at Gray Shadow expectantly, "But change requires sacrifice. Gray Shadow, how much sacrifice are you willing to make for the tribe?"

Gray Shadow hesitated for a moment, a trace of reluctance and regret flashed in his eyes, and then became determined, "I'm ready to give everything."

In the river, the hundreds of reflections nodded happily, and their disillusionment turned into a golden light. The light twisted and condensed into a crescent-shaped fang about the size of half a hand, floating beside the gray shadow.

The gray shadow reached out to take the fang, and with a slight wave, he cut off his wrist and immersed the broken wrist into the cold underground river.

"not enough."

The compound sound echoed across the river.

The gray shadow cut open his limbs, chest and back without any hesitation. Like a fish on a chopping board, his scales were peeled off, and the dripping flesh and blood poured into the dark river along his arms.

"Continue." The voice began to tremble.

Gray Shadow took a deep breath, and swung his wolf fangs with his right hand to slash the main artery in his neck. Blood stained the ceiling like a fountain, and then slid down the stalactites into the river.

Holding the box in his arms tightly, he stepped into the river, immersing everything from his neck down.

"Continue." There was a hint of sadness in this voice.

The gray shadow finally raised his head and glanced at the ceiling of the cave. A petite and cute face in swaddling clothes vaguely appeared in front of his eyes. The energetic cry echoed in his ears. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth and he buried his head in the river. middle.

The vision instantly became as viscous and blurry as liquid.

...

Caiden's shoulders trembled as he escaped from the memory, hurriedly surfaced, and jumped onto the shore.

Kneeling on the ground and sobbing silently.

Dean guessed correctly.

His father took the initiative to leave the tribe, entered the cave, and gave his life to the underground river. From this, it can be inferred that the remaining three warriors also left on their own initiative.

How sad that the most powerful and devout warrior of the tribe ended up committing suicide.

Then complaints and doubts grew in Kaiden's chest,

Why gray shadow?Why can't we wait and wait until he returns to the tribe to meet him?
Caiden angrily punched the water, but was surprised to find that a dent appeared on the surface of the river. It was like sunken plasticine that had not recovered, and not a drop of river water splashed out.

Caiden turned around.

Feiniao didn't know when he arrived on the shore, and he and Dean kept their stiff posture and expression, motionless.

The river no longer flows, the breeze flowing in outside the cave is still, and the water droplets dripping from the stalactites on the top of the cave are suspended in mid-air, like pearls floating in the air.

The entire time in the cave was paused.

……

"Kayden, how much sacrifice are you willing to make?"

A voice suddenly came from behind him. This voice was majestic and flexible, but it made Kaiden familiar with it deep in his heart, because it was this voice that guided him from Carolina to Dog Town, to the tribe, and to the cave. deep.

A figure walked out from the dark shadows behind. It had the body of a beast and a slender figure. At a glance, it looked like a standing fox.

But look carefully.

He was more than twice as tall as a human being, nearly four meters tall, so he had to bend his arched thighs, stoop his body, and tilt his head to prevent his head from hitting the ceiling.

He held one paw on the wall and moved slowly towards Kaiden. His tall and thin body reflected a dark gray-brown color in the faint light, but the void behind his back was changing with unpredictable brilliance like a kaleidoscope, as if Wearing a colorful cloak.

The slender snout on his plush face twitched slightly, his broad triangular ears swayed from side to side, and his narrow eyes looked up and down at Caiden. His eyes seemed to be filled with liquid gold. They contained wisdom and wisdom accumulated over many years. Majesty, but also a hint of cunning,
"Who are you?" Kaiden couldn't help but take a step back when he saw the huge shadow pressing down on him. Then an indescribable sense of intimacy arose in his heart, "The totem of the tribe, Coyote Kodi?"

"Kodi is wandering elsewhere forever, I am just a ray of his will," he knelt down in front of Kaiden, his huge head came close, and his big mouth that opened and closed exuded a stream of earth, raw meat, and Kama. The pungent smell of garlic, "I can't stay for too long, answer me, how much sacrifice are you willing to make? Now that you have found this place, you have to face torture."

"Why sacrifice?" Kaiden stared blankly at this strange and huge legendary creature.

"The tribe is facing a crisis," he said. "Only by sacrificing everything like these selfless warriors can the tribe be saved."

"So for more than two months, you called them to the dark river and forced them to commit suicide?" Kaiden asked, even in the face of this superior existence, he couldn't help but feel a trace of anger in his heart.
Ke Di shook his head, and the wolf's face showed human pride, "I never interfere in the decisions of blood descendants, I give choices. All these are the choices made by the heroic spirits of the cemetery and these four warriors. They long for An Alpha, no matter the cost.”

"Voluntary?" Kaiden shook his head sharply, "Then why call me instead of calling the Howling Wolf Priest and other powerful warriors in the tribe? They are more qualified to save the tribe than me!"

"Time, destiny..." The liquid gold eyes blinked, "I saw vitality, courage, and an unpredictable future in you, so I called you." After hearing this, Kaiden hesitated for a moment and took a photo. Two slaps on his cheek.

excruciating pain.

This is not a dream.

A legendary Mayan god appeared in front of him alive and chose him?
Kaiden couldn't judge, his mind was in a mess, his eyes were struggling,

"I can't trust you."

"You don't need to believe me, follow your heart, think carefully before making a decision," Ke Di said in a calm and gentle tone, like a generous elder.

"What if I'm not willing to sacrifice?" Kaiden said stiffly.

"I will not force you. You are a passionate and well-meaning boy with your own personality. You will leave the cave unscathed, including your two companions."

"What will happen if I leave the tribe?"

"I saw flames, explosions, blood and death." A trace of sadness flashed in Ke Di's eyes, and a sharp voice echoed in the cave, "The Coyote tribe will be destroyed in the next war, and [-]% of the people will die, and the remaining He started wandering and could never find a home."

"You are the god of the tribe, can't you give a decree to the Wolf Howling Priest?" Kaiden asked naively, "Let them move away from this mountain range immediately to avoid the indiscriminate bombing of the army."

"Where to move?" Ke Di looked directly into his eyes, "Without the Alpha wolves, once they leave this sacred land that has survived for hundreds of years in large numbers, the law of convergence will immediately annihilate them. Planes will crash, meteorites will fall from the sky, and more. Cruel methods are possible."

"You can't just destroy that army."

"This world has its own rules. If I forcefully break the rules, more terrible things will happen. Believe me, you don't want to see that."

"There is no other way?"

"If there were, these four warriors would not have to sacrifice."

Kaiden was silent, his eyes turned to the sweet and beautiful face of Asuka, and he thought of the energetic children who left the tribe, and sighed,

"What if I sacrifice?"

"You will die, and the process will be extremely painful. Not only will you lose your life, but your soul will be torn apart by the power." Ke Di grinned, revealing sharp white teeth, and there was a cold light in the narrow slits of his eyes, like the kaleidoscope tassels behind his back. Fluttering, the black shadows on the wall expanded outward like flames, "But the alpha wolf will be born, and the coyote tribe will continue."

Soul tear?

Kaiden felt a creeping chill and boundless fear. His face turned pale. He stared at the four corpses in the water and asked with difficulty,
"Why am I different from them?"

"Because you are the last victim, everything is perfect here."

"If I die, can I resurrect Gray Shadow and Lucinda?"

"No."

Kaiden looked at the underground river and fell into a long silence.

Ke Di lay down in front of him to rest like a wolf, holding his surprisingly long chin with his paws, sticking out his tongue and licking the palms of his hands.

"Think carefully, if you are not determined to give everything and sacrifice everything, then leave."

Then Ke Di's golden pupils the size of a human head turned to Dean, who was standing upright next to him. He noticed that this guy's eyelids flickered.
"Stop struggling, favored one of Baphomet... I will not force Caden to make any decision, and you should not interfere with him."

Dean felt the voice echoing in his mind, sighed and relaxed his body, trying to activate the life perspective to observe the colorful, ever-changing, and indistinct giant in front of him like the Northern Lights, but found that the life energy was locked. , too sluggish to operate.

"What the hell is this, Coyote Kodi, a god?"

"What does the suicide of the four Gray Shadows count as self-sacrifice?"

The system is shaken, and the event "Call of the Wild" has changed.

Event difficulty: medium → high
Progress: (95/100)

Reward: At least 190 experience points + special rewards → 200 experience points + high-level rewards
Time is lost in silence.

The moon quietly disappeared in the sky outside the cave, and it became pitch black, and then a flash of white light appeared on the horizon.

At a certain moment, Ke Di suddenly turned his head and glanced at the exit of the cave. His sight spanned a distance of hundreds of miles and saw the howling wolf priest standing on the edge of the cliff bathing in the morning sun, and the solemn-looking warriors in front of the wooden watchtowers of the tribe. There are a bunch of black spots close behind the clouds on the horizon, and dozens of heavy transport vehicles and armored personnel carriers loaded with weapons and soldiers on the highway outside the mountains.

"Kayden, there is not much time left. The army is about to arrive in the mountains. Haven't you thought about it yet?"

"I can't do it..." Kaiden turned his head to face Ke Di's scrutiny like a collapse, and lowered his head in shame, "I'm just a high school student. I don't have such a noble consciousness. I don't want to sacrifice myself for the more than 100 people in the tribe. My soul dies...I can’t do it.”

"Then leave." Ke Di's tone was still calm.

"Let me see them again." Kaiden glanced at the birds with nostalgia, turned around and jumped into the cold underground river, swam towards the gray shadow, hugged him and the urn tightly in his arms, closed his eyes, and said goodbye in his heart ,

"Goodbye, mom and dad, I'm leaving forever, I'm leaving."

"Goodbye, Kaiden..." Two friendly voices suddenly sounded in his mind, and Kaiden felt something hugging him tightly, warm and powerful, and in an instant he shared most of the coldness of the undercurrent at the bottom of the river.

He opened his eyes tremblingly in the water, and two translucent figures smiled at him. The gray shadow and Lucinda surrounded him in their arms, their eyes full of tenderness, joy, and love.

"My child, our family is finally reunited. Nothing else matters. Leave and go back to the life of your own choice. It doesn't matter."

Kaiden stared blankly at the kind wrinkles on their faces, tears streaming down his face unknowingly, and he became fearless in his heart.

"I've found my home, I've found my roots, Kodi, and I'm willing to sacrifice."

"Are you sure?" A majestic voice echoed in his ears.

"I'm sure."

"Kayden made a choice." The creature with infinite brilliance on the river bank said to Dean and Bird who were immobilized.

The two of them felt a strong wind blowing around them, their eyes blurred, and they were transferred from the dark depths of the cave to the outside of the cave in the blink of an eye.

The rising sun was just rising in the sky, reflecting a confused face, as if a bird had just woken up from a long sleep, "What happened? How did we get outside, Kaiden?"

She rushed toward the cave in a hurry, and when she hit the entrance, she was thrown to the ground with a thud. An invisible barrier blocked her.

"Don't be impulsive, Bird, be patient, everything is evolving."

Dean stared at the progress in the system that began to slowly increase from [-]%, and was filled with surprise and surprise.

……

In the underground river, Kaiden was shaken. He felt the river water slipping away from him quickly. A force lifted him out of the underground river and held him floating in the air.

The huge coyote on the opposite side swung its sharp nails in the air, and a sharp force cut off his feet, then both legs, and then removed his two palms.He cried out in pain, opened his eyes desperately, and saw the shocking blood and a flying arm.

He felt light-headed, and the ceiling and the ground began to flip upside down, with a headless corpse gushing blood in the center.

Pfft!
Caiden's head fell to the river bank.

pat!

A huge claw crushed the head into a ball of flesh and blood.

Kaiden felt like he was dead, losing his vision, hearing, and smell... but he could still clearly feel the pain, the nightmare-like pain, as if a flesh and blood millstone was constantly crushing him into pieces, and then pieced him back together again and again. Crush...never ending.

He sank into pain, numb with despair, worse than hell.

……

The huge coyote on the river bank fished out the corpses of four tribal warriors from the bottom of the river, along with Kaiden's corpse, which was crumpled into a ball of chaotic flesh and blood.
"You must die, you must be shattered, from the inside out, from body to soul, and then..."

Coyote Ke Di turned into a torrent of seven colors and rushed into the flesh and blood.

(End of this chapter)