The battle that had forced the insectoid queen into dormancy for years dominated the news. Television and newspapers mourned Wen Shilan’s fall. His name appeared everywhere, quietly overshadowing reports that Tang Wan had passed the trial furnace and become Silan’s newest senior general.
It was Wen Shilan’s final moment in the spotlight—and the beginning of all his suffering.
Claiming he still felt unwell, Wen Shilan turned away everyone who came to visit. Then he quietly moved back to his private residence.
The place was luxurious but devoid of warmth. The original Wen Shilan had rarely stayed there. He had separate quarters within the Federation and had devoted nearly all his time to Silan and its people.
Wen Shilan surveyed the enormous room. Messages kept appearing on his communicator, so he tapped the screen and silenced the notifications.
Fortunately, someone had kept the place clean. Empty as it felt, everything was neat and tidy.
He curled up in a hanging chair on the balcony, enjoying the sunshine.
His communicator was silent, but its screen kept flashing. There were messages of concern from soldiers who had fought beside him and thoughtful reminders from the commissioners. Most of the messages, though, were from Tang Wan.
While Wen Shilan was in the hospital, Tang Wan had passed the trial furnace and become the new senior general. Over the years, the holders of that rank had come and gone; Wen Shilan alone had been given the title of God of War. Now he looked forward to watching Tang Wan struggle to surpass him…
The trial furnace was not quite a death sentence, but its demanding challenges left a person’s mental power depleted for some time. Tang Wan had been unconscious for a full day. By the time he could get out of bed, Wen Shilan was gone.
No one in the Federation could reach him. Tang Wan couldn’t either.
Federation personnel used special communicators that could not be switched off. Messages would always come through.
Wen Shilan could see them. He simply chose not to answer.
The commissioner sighed and looked at Tang Wan. “Let Shilan rest. He left the hospital without telling anyone. He clearly wants some time alone.”
Tang Wan felt an ache in his chest. “But I want to be with him.”
Everyone in the Federation knew Tang Wan loved Wen Shilan. His feelings had always been young, fierce, and impossible to hide.
They all assumed Wen Shilan was avoiding them because he could not accept becoming an ordinary man with no mental power.
Who could bear a fall from such heights? The original Wen Shilan couldn’t. He was used to dealing with his feelings alone, yet at night he would lie awake for hours, obsessively trying to summon the light from his divine stone. By morning, he would seem perfectly composed again, so everyone assumed he had accepted what had happened.
But he had never learned the simple truth that the child who cries is the one who gets a sweet.
For someone everyone thought of as strong, showing weakness would have done more good than struggling to preserve his dignity.
Listening to Balala recount the conversation, Wen Shilan smiled mockingly.
Tang Wan did care for Wen Shilan to some degree. He would not deny that. But Tang Wan’s devotion was worth about as much as a shopkeeper offering a discount if you insisted you truly liked them.
What Tang Wan loved most was the glory surrounding Silan’s God of War. His affection for Wen Shilan himself barely counted.
“Lord Shiqing, aren’t you going to answer Tang Wan? You’re not even with the Federation anymore. If you keep ignoring him, what happens to the mission?”
“Are you questioning me?”
The leisurely tone of his esteemed Lord Shiqing sent a chill through Balala.
Damn it. What had possessed him to question Lord Shiqing? Wisely, Balala muted himself and logged off.
Wen Shilan yawned. The sunlight felt so good it was making him sleepy, but he was hungry too, and the fridge was empty. After a moment’s thought, he decided to go downstairs.
The interstellar world was advanced in almost every respect, but Wen Shilan had one complaint: people no longer needed meals to fill their stomachs.
Vegetables and meat that required cooking were regarded as food for the poor. Most people drank nutrient solutions to give their bodies everything they needed. They were convenient, quick, and kept people in excellent health.
Modern nutrient solutions were no longer as unpleasant as the early versions. They came in all sorts of flavors. But to someone as particular about food as Yan Shiqing, they tasted worse than plain water.
He found himself missing Lu Yan. Hopefully, this world’s Lu Yan knew how to cook. Yan Shiqing had no intention of spending a lifetime drinking nutrient solutions with him. If he couldn’t cook yet, he would have to learn.
Wen Shilan put on a mask and hat before going out. News about him was everywhere. Without some attempt to hide his face, he would be recognized at once. That would be troublesome, and it would reveal where he was.
The large supermarket had almost no vegetables or meat. Its shelves were packed with nutrient solutions instead.
Wen Shilan picked one at random, paid, and drank it. His stomach felt full, but his taste buds might as well have been ignored. He frowned in distaste.
He used his communicator to locate the nearest farm. It was almost an hour away by car.
Some advances were entirely unnecessary. Enjoying good food was one of life’s greatest pleasures. A nutrient solution could never give him that deep, simple happiness.
Resigned, he drove to the farm. At least the produce there was fresh, much of it newly picked. He bought some vegetables, seasonal fruit, and a few steaks cut that day. The farmer threw in some fennel and butter. After a moment’s thought, Wen Shilan stopped at a nearby shop for noodles and sauces as well.
By the time he was done, he had bought quite a lot. He checked his purchases and found he had everything he needed. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he wasn’t helpless. He could make a simple bowl of noodles or pan-fry a steak, even if the result would be fairly ordinary.
It had been so long since he last cooked that he hadn’t even met Lu Yan back then. Once Lu Yan came into his life, Yan Shiqing had never had to worry about meals again.
By the time Wen Shilan started home, night had fallen. The narrow road he had taken earlier had no streetlights and looked rather eerie in the dark. It didn’t bother him.
Wen Shilan’s car had been specially modified by the Federation. Its shell was so sturdy it could survive a fall from a great height without damage. Unless he chose to get out, almost no one could break in from outside.
He was driving slowly with the window down, enjoying the cool breeze, when he spotted a furry lump in the middle of the road. Without that thing blocking his way, he might have been in an even better mood.
He called Balala online. “Scan that lump and tell me what it is.”
It lay in the middle of a narrow road that few people used. There was no room to drive around it.
In an interstellar world, approaching an unfamiliar creature could be dangerous. There was no telling how aggressive or powerful it might be.
Balala went quiet for two seconds. After making a show of scanning it, he answered, “Lord Shiqing, it’s an injured wolf cub. It’s unconscious.”
“Move it.”
…
Balala fell silent.
Wen Shilan felt a throb at his temple. He had a terrible feeling about this…
“Lord Shiqing, aren’t you normally supposed to get out, check on the poor little wolf cub that’s barely hanging on, and then take it home to nurse it back to health out of the kindness of your heart…?”
…
Wen Shilan tried to hold back. He really did. In the end, he nearly shouted:
“Do not tell me that lump in the road is Lu Yan!”
Balala didn’t dare answer. He really didn’t…
There was nothing he could do. Transferring someone into a world required a compatible body, and in this world, the one most compatible with the Lord God was that lump on the ground…
“Don’t be angry, Lord Shiqing! Please, calm down! The Lord God only looks like that because he’s injured. It’s temporary. He’ll take human form later. He’s the young prince of the Werewolf Planet! How impressive is that? You’re the God of War, and he’s a prince. You’re a perfect match!”
The Werewolf Planet was the closest world to Silan. The two planets lived in relative peace, and their residents occasionally traveled between them.
Wen Shilan did not like small animals. Furry or hairless, with bones or without—he liked none of them.
Lu Yan loved huskies and had always wanted one. But Yan Shiqing disliked animals, so Lu Yan had never kept a dog. Now Lu Yan had become a small animal himself.
Balala watched Lord Shiqing take deep breath after deep breath, visibly steeling himself. A full ten minutes passed before Wen Shilan finally got out of the car, picked up the wolf cub—which was no bigger than a Pomeranian—and set it on the passenger seat. Then he took out a disinfectant wipe and scrubbed his hands furiously.
Balala wisely logged off. If he stayed, he feared Lord Shiqing might abandon the mission just to kill him.
They had not been meant to meet so soon. The Lord God had only just arrived in this world. No one was supposed to find him on that empty road tonight. His subordinates would discover him tomorrow and take him back to the Werewolf Planet for treatment. Once he had recovered, he would come to Silan as an envoy three months later and meet Lord Shiqing then…
But those two had an uncanny knack for finding each other. Of all the farms on Silan, Lord Shiqing had chosen this one. Of all the roads leading to it, he had taken this particular road…
Wen Shilan did not even notice Balala had logged off. When he reached the villa, he took several more deep breaths before he could bring himself to carry the cub inside. He checked it for injuries and, finding no visible wounds, felt some relief. Then he glanced at the panel in his mind.
Seeing Balala had logged off only made him angrier. He forcibly brought the system back online and pointed at the little lump curled on the sofa.
“How old is he? He’s a wolf, isn’t he? Why is he so tiny? You had better not tell me he’ll be a child when he turns human.”
Wen Shilan had no desire to raise a child. If that was the case, he would finish his mission and leave at once. Lu Yan could do as he pleased in this world.
“No, Lord Shiqing! He’s only this small because of a werewolf’s protective instincts. This little wolf originally came to Silan for the gossip… the gossip about Wen Shilan, you know. The God of War has fallen, Silan is in turmoil, and plenty of people have come to watch…”
“But I don’t mean the Lord God! He only just entered this body. He hadn’t even woken up when you found him. Space pirates attacked him, and his werewolf body shrank as much as it could to help him recover faster.”
Good.
As long as he would not turn into a child…
“When will he wake up?”
Balala checked. “Probably in ten days to two weeks. He looks fine on the outside, but his internal organs are badly damaged.”
Badly damaged organs… Like Wen Shilan’s when he first woke up? That must hurt.
“I want him awake by tomorrow morning. Can you do that?”
Wen Shilan cast a displeased glance at the silver-white cub, which he had to admit was rather pretty, then sat on a different sofa that the cub had not touched.
Balala paused. “I can.”
It would cost an enormous number of points, though. His heart was bleeding…
He should have moved the Lord God off the road and let his people find him and handle the treatment themselves.
Balala opened the store and exchanged a great many points for a recovery solution. The points vanished. Sob, sob~
Sob…?
Wait. He could ask the Lord God to reimburse him! Lord Shiqing was the one who had ordered the treatment…
If the Lord God refused to pay him back, he would bring Lord Shiqing in to settle it. Hehehe…
Suddenly, spending all those points did not hurt at all. It was almost thrilling.
Wen Shilan left the treatment to Balala and wanted nothing more to do with it. He started upstairs, then stopped after two steps. After some hesitation, he turned back. With visible reluctance, he used two fingers to lift the cub by the loose fur at the back of its neck and carried it upstairs with him.
There was a fresh quilt in the wardrobe. Wen Shilan tossed it onto the floor and set the cub on top. He left the quilt folded rather than spreading it out, making a thick, soft bed. The cub’s small weight left a shallow dip in it.
Against the gray quilt, the fluffy silver-white creature stood out. Perhaps because it was hurt, its two pointed ears drooped, making it look rather pitiful.
It was… actually rather cute.
Wen Shilan’s hand twitched with the urge to pet it, though his face still showed his reluctance. In the end, he compromised by touching one drooping ear with a fingertip.
Soft. Warm.
It was so small, perhaps even smaller than a Pomeranian. Poor thing.
“Can he turn human tomorrow?”
Balala had just taken the recovery solution from the store and had not yet given it to the cub. He shook his head.
“Once a werewolf’s protective state begins, it lasts anywhere from seven to thirty days. They can’t return to human form during that time. Apart from what they need to remain conscious, all their energy goes toward repairing the damage to their bodies. Even after I give the Lord God the recovery solution and his injuries heal, that energy will remain in his body for a while. He won’t be able to use it right away.”
In other words, Wen Shilan would have to live with the little wolf for another seven to thirty days…
“Does he need food?”
“Once he wakes up, nutrient solution three times a day will be enough.”
That sounded easy enough…
Wen Shilan had never kept a small animal. Sitting by the bed, he found the whole thing strangely fascinating. He could hardly connect this tiny silver-white ball of fur with Lu Yan.
He watched it for a long time. Only when sleepiness set in did he go to bathe. By the time he came out, the novelty had worn off. Without another glance at the cub, he climbed into bed.
P.S. The little wolf cub will get bigger later~ Hehehe~
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