On both sides of the cave, under the light of the torch, the wolf howling priest walked ahead, the black feather crown on his head swayed gently, the plush wolf skin coat dragged close to the ground, and the back was vicissitudes and loneliness, it was like an old wolf walking through the dim fog.

The tunnel gradually descends.

"Wolf howl priest, did you know we were coming?" Dean asked,

"My eyes have seen you, and Curti has given me an omen, that in a season of danger, chaos, and riots, two guests will visit the tribe from thousands of miles away."

"Do you know our purpose?" Cayden looked straight at the priest's back, as if he saw the man who had abandoned Lucinda and resolutely walked away.

The priest's footsteps slowed, "From the moment I stepped into the cave, I smelled the familiar smell of you, Kaiden, you have the blood of Curty in your veins, and you have come here to trace the roots. ”

Kayden defaults.

"But now I can't give you an answer, you know too little about the tribe, and it's easy to misinterpret it one-sidedly."

The priest stopped abruptly as he spoke.

They came to the end of the cave.

On the ground lay a circle of candles made of goat's hard fat, and the candles illuminated several trays of bloody lamb and berries and strawberries to be sacrificed to a wolf-shaped statue.

It is about two meters tall, with an elongated snout and wide ears... Similar in appearance to the gray wolf, but smaller and more slender.

It is not as bloodthirsty and ferocious as the usual predators, but instead carries with it an anthropomorphic shrewdness and cunning.

In the candlelight, Dean looked into its eyes and looked in a trance.

Faintly, the stone pupils blinked twice at him, a few tears slid down the statue's stiff and pale cheeks, and a sad sigh echoed in Dean's mind.

"Hail to you, Coyote Coty, the patron saint of the tribe." The priest saluted the statue, and Cayden, as if inspired by some kind of darkness, bowed as well.

"Now let's talk," Dean asked, "what is this Patronus?" ”

The priest said with respect, "According to your historical knowledge, it is the guardian god of the beast god clan in Mayan mythology, the coyote Koti, and at the same level is the eagle god, the king of the beast gods, who rules the sky, the bear god who rules the earth, the salmon, the god of rivers, and so on..."

Dean's gaze wandered over the priest's face, and he remembered the appearance of the people he had seen along the way, and suddenly felt intimate.

His mother, Lena, is of some Indian ancestry, and to some extent, he also has a certain blood connection with the coyote tribe and priests.

"Mayan mythology, so you coyote tribes are all Mayans?" "I learned in history class that most of the Mayans lived in Central America: Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, so how did you end up in the Arkansas Mountains in the southern United States?" ”

"That's right, the coyote tribe existed in Mexico hundreds of years ago." "In 1697, when the last Mayan city-state was wiped out by the Spanish cannons and supernatural powers, the soil for our faith was squeezed to the limit, and the vast majority of the tribes were forced to convert to Catholicism. ”

"The remainder of stalwarts like us, have left Mexico in search of a new place to live. My small tribe headed north into North America..."

"Hundreds of years ago, the Spaniards conquered Mexico?" Dean only felt like he was flipping through a history book and looked at the wolf howl priest in surprise, "How can the Spaniards defeat your gods?" ”

"The gods can't do it directly to people. And the Spaniards, who had muskets and cannons, also mastered supernatural powers, formed a huge advantage for us in those days. ”

"And how old are you?"

"I've let you down, I'm seventy-six... The Patronus has given us great strength, but not a long lifespan, so we can not live much longer than the average person. ”

"Then you have been living in the deep mountains and forests of Dog Town for nearly three hundred years?" Kayden next to him interjected,

The priest shook his head,

"We've changed places a few times, and we've been here for a hundred and nine,"

"It's been more than 100 years and it's only been less than 200 members?" Dean was a little puzzled, "In that era when science and technology were not yet advanced, no one could stop you from growing stronger by mastering the powerful power of transforming into a werewolf. ”

"That's right, ordinary people can't resist the power of the coyote clan," the priest stared at the statue, a hint of helplessness in his eyes, "but in the past, our tribe only had one leader, one alpha wolf, and at most we could only protect more than two hundred members from the invasion of the Convergence Law. If the number is exceeded, the tribe will be wiped out, so we must strictly control the number of descendants. ”

"In addition, the fertility of the tribe is already inferior to that of ordinary people, and the more powerful the creature, the more so."

The law of convergence?

Dean's pupils constricted, and he had a deeper understanding of this dark rule.

Ordinary people have no way of knowing, but it is everywhere, and for supernatural creatures it is a noose around the neck, a narrow cage.

"How did you hide so seamlessly after all these years?" Cayden changed the question, "The people of Dogtown don't know anything about you, and there isn't even a bit of a werewolf legend in the town. They had always felt that the mountains were inhabited only by ferocious beasts. ”

"Not everybody is kept in the dark. The mayor's and sheriff's families have known about our existence since the town was founded. The priest's golden eyes looked at the two of them, "and help us keep it a secret." ”

Dean and Cayden exchanged a look, and with the help of the town's power figures, it wasn't difficult to fool the townspeople, "But why did they do that?" Could it be that their clan and the coyote tribe have reached some kind of agreement? ”

Appreciation flashed in the priest's eyes,

"When the coyote tribe first moved in, the mountainous area was almost uninhabited. Later, human beings gradually settled and multiplied in the valley... Our priest, Alpha, had a premonition that a great era belonging to ordinary people was coming, and no one would be able to survive in isolation under this torrent, so he took the initiative to find the power family in Dogtown and reached an ancient agreement. ”

Dean and Cayden listened—

The priest said aloud,

"The coyotes allow humans to live in the valley, but the townspeople are not allowed to go deep into the mountains without permission. Even on the periphery, wildlife must not be hunted and forests must be destroyed. ”

"No churches are allowed in the town, especially Catholic and Protestant churches, and these missionaries have destroyed our hometown."

"The number of townspeople in Dogtown must not exceed the required number, and with too many people, the risk of our exposure has increased significantly."

"In return, the coyote tribe members never take action against the townspeople, and spontaneously maintain the stability of the wild beasts in the mountains to prevent natural disasters such as fires and flash floods."

……

After listening to the content of this agreement, most of Dean's previous doubts about Dogtown were answered.

Contrary to what he had expected, the coyote tribe not only did not harm the townspeople, but in a way, blessed them.

"For more than 100 years, how can you be sure that the agreement is executed flawlessly and without errors?"

"There is no guarantee, for the past 100 years, this mountainous area has been far from the bustling cities and full of dangerous wildlife, and there is really nothing to covet and default. In the past, the tribe secretly paid a huge price to protect the townspeople from excessive beast infestation and natural disasters. As long as they are not stupid, they will choose to cooperate with us. ”

"But that was yesterday." Cayden remembered a message from Old John before he left the farm, and his eyes flashed with a needle-sharp light, "Now that the mayor and sheriff are stationed about ten miles to the east with the men of the large corporation, preparing to build a mine road, Dogtown has violated the ancient protocol. ”

"The ravens told me that it was a betrayal in the truest sense of the word." The priest raised his head and said, a chill passing through his golden pupils, "Human beings have been changeable since ancient times, unlike us, who have followed ancient rules and principles for hundreds of years, and they are always in pursuit of new and varied things, and now they have discovered minerals and want to take the outer part of the mountain for themselves. ”

"But they are never satisfied, and I have foreseen that when the mines are built, they will get the iron ore, the copper mines, the gold mines, and they will want the pine, oak, birch, hickory trees in the mountains... Selling wood, making furniture... And then there's the fur of the animals..."

There was sarcasm and disdain in the priest's tone,

"They pollute groundwater, exterminate flora and fauna, and cause irreversible damage to the environment."

"So you punished them?" Dean said, "The coyote tribe has used supernatural powers to influence the inhabitants of Dogtown, spreading the wolf disease, turning them into raw-meat, half-human, half-wolf monsters one by one, respecting and obeying you, and finally rebelling against the mayor's and sheriff's renege on their oaths. ”

Dean and Cayden looked at the priest with blazing eyes.

It was the most plausible speculation they could think of at the moment - because Dogtown had broken an ancient contract with the coyote tribe, the townsfolk were punished and sick.

But they could not see the slightest expression of expectation on the priest's face, who rubbed the crest of crow's feather on his head, and his old face showed deep doubt.

"What is wolfification? Can you elaborate on the patient's symptoms? ”

Di An's head rose with an ominous premonition, and he described the symptoms,

"When?"

"Just over two months ago, after the mine was built, the first patient appeared, and you didn't do it."

"How many patients are there now?" The priest continued, with a hint of solemnity in his tone,

"More than fifty," replied Kayden,

The priest took a deep breath,

"There are only two ways for a coyote to be born, one is to reproduce, pure-blooded within the tribe, or to give birth to a hybrid between the tribesmen and outsiders, such as Kayden. The second is that the Alpha Wolf consumes precious essence blood transformation, but our tribe has not given birth to an Alpha Wolf for several years. ”

Di An's head seemed to be tied to a stone and sank straight down, "You mean, the coyote tribe doesn't have the ability to create wolf disease on a large scale?" ”

"Nope." The priest looked at the two of them calmly, "We don't have the energy to punish Dogtown for violating the agreement, and at present, our tribe is in crisis, and it is difficult to protect ourselves..."

"What a crisis."

"More than two months ago, a warrior from the tribe disappeared for no apparent reason, and now the number of missing people has risen to five."

Dean and Cayden were silent.

"Our entire tribe has conducted a large-scale investigation of the nearby mountains, and has not found the slightest clue, and my 'eyes and ears' have not found anything abnormal. The five warriors evaporated from the forest. The priest saw the questioning expressions of the two, looked at the statue and said slowly, "Koti witness, I don't have any fiction or exaggeration. ”

"It's unbelievable, more than two months ago, the townspeople of Dog Town in the valley began to develop wolf disease, and the warriors of the coyote tribe in the mountains began to disappear for no reason." Dean recalled the tight werewolf defense he had seen along the way, his dark eyes shining with a strange light, "The two incidents happened almost simultaneously. ”

"As you can see, there may be some connection between them," the priest looked at the two of them, "and if you can help the tribe find out the whereabouts of the missing warrior, you will gain the friendship of the coyotes, and you will be able to make claims to the tribe." ”

"Trust us so much?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "We've only met for the first time. ”

The priest said, "Just now I saw a revelation in the eyes of Curti that you two will play a crucial role... If you agree, you will be able to move freely through the mountains for the next period of time, and no member of the group will cooperate with your investigation. ”

Dean and Cayden made eye contact for a moment.

There is no contradiction in investigating the mystery of wolf disease and the disappearance of the coyote tribe warriors.

And after listening to the priest's history lesson, and recalling what they saw and heard along the way, I have to say that their impression of the tribe has greatly improved, this is not an evil and bloodthirsty tribe in the first place.

"Solving problems is what we're here for." Kayden nervously asked, "But before that, can you take me to meet 'him' first?" ”

The priest looked into Kayden's eyes, and gold and amber intertwined, piercing Kayden's thoughts for a moment,

"Your father? His real name is Grey Shadow, but I don't need to see him, I'll tell you the answer right now. Because of the rules of the tribe, the bloodline of the tribe must be raised, taught and trained within the territory, whether it is pure-blood or half-blood, so Grey Shadow has to snatch you from Lucinda's arms. ”

"You have been away from your hometown for so many years, and you should also deeply understand that mixed-race people can't control themselves in the secular society, and it is easy to make big trouble, and the tribe is your real home."

Cayden resisted his anger and continued to ask,

"Then why didn't he visit Lucinda on the farm for so many years, leaving my mother to die in despair and loneliness?"

"Grey Shadow is the most powerful warrior carefully cultivated by the tribe, and he should have followed the will of the Curti and made an initial union with another pure-blood, giving birth to a true Son of Destiny, who was born only to pass the test of the Koti before becoming an Alpha Wolf and leading the tribe that protects us. But Grey Shadow is privately united with a human woman. ”

The priest sighed, and his eyes flashed with unwillingness and despair,

"He broke the rules and wasted years of hard work on the tribe, resulting in the tribe still not being able to produce an alpha and having to continue to scale down. So he was punished and imprisoned for ten years, during which time he could not visit Lucinda! ”

"He can't just sneak out and fly away with Lucinda?!" Cayden spread his claws, his ten fingers digging out sharp nails, and roared at the priest in anger, "I want to see him, I want to ask him face to face!" ”

"I'm sorry," the priest suddenly looked apologetic.

"Why apologize?" Kayden's face froze, and the anger in his heart was replaced by a creepy uneasiness,

The priest looked at the statue of Curti, and the faint voice echoed through the tunnel,

"Gray Shadow, my only son, your father, is the first warrior to go missing, and there is no way to see you."

……

Lucinda is gone, and Grey is missing.

After a long time.

Having struggled to accept reality, Kaiden left the statue of the priest and Coty in despair.

The birds, who had been waiting for a long time, led them to a pair of spired tents not far from the statue.

"This is the tent of the Grey Shadow."

Kayden went in and picked up aprons, shawls, cloaks, and all kinds of household items in the tent... An ocarina shaped like a kettle.

"Man, don't be too pessimistic. God doesn't always torment you alone. Dean glanced at the system, and after listening to the old priest's story, the progress of "Call of the Wild" reached seventy-five percent, and he basically figured out the origin of Cayden's life and tragic fate, if he could find the gray shadow and let their father and son communicate face-to-face, the progress should be close to ninety percent,

"I'm not worried about Grey Shadow being tortured." Cayden sniffed the scent of his clothes with a pitch-black nose, "I just want to find him and ask him face to face." ”

He turned to look at the birds,

"Is there a portrait of Gray Shadow, I want to see what he looks like."

Asuka shook his head, raised the palm of his left hand to his mouth, and gently bit out a bloody mouth, "There is no need for a portrait, the coyote tribe has a better way to communicate and commemorate, put your hand over." ”

(End of chapter)