The city before them was no different from human cities. In fact, many of its buildings bore too much resemblance to those of humans.
Wolf bandits, or rather, werewolves, lived here, conversing, trading, and frolicking like humans. Apart from their wolf-like appearance, they were indistinguishable from people.
Not a shred of the bloodlust and slaughter of the outside wolf bandits could be seen here.
It was orderly and well-regulated.
This was Wang Zhong's first impression of the place.
As Wang Zhong, a human, walked through the streets, he naturally caused quite a stir. Werewolves gathered in groups, whispering amongst themselves.
The language they spoke was entirely human.
"Why is a human appearing here!"
"Moreover, several of the lords are treating him with great respect."
"What is he here to do?"
...
Ignoring the hushed murmurs of the werewolves, Wang Zhong, guided by a golden werewolf, arrived at the heart of the city, a castle-like structure akin to a royal palace.
Strong werewolves stood guard on either side of the grand entrance.
The gates opened to reveal a majestic avenue. The golden werewolf stood at the entrance and indicated to Wang Zhong, "The Father God is inside."
"And we have not been invited, so only you can enter."
Bowing slightly to Wang Zhong, the golden werewolf and the beings beside him retreated.
Wang Zhong looked at the open gates, let out a breath, and then stepped in with calm resolve. He had come this far; even if there were ambushes and traps ahead, he had to see.
After all, the soul skill of his right leg bone had remained at the ready this entire time.
Upon entering, the great gates slowly closed. Wang Zhong walked forward along the avenue underfoot. After about five hundred meters, he encountered a colossal palace.
The entire palace was golden, as if cast from pure gold. However, the aura emanating from this golden palace was not one of nobility and luxury, but rather of ancient and profound desolation.
On either side of the palace's entrance stood statues of two werewolves wielding giant axes. Their lifelike appearance made it seem as though they would spring to life and attack at any moment.
Standing before the gates, just as Wang Zhong wondered if he needed to push them open himself, the doors slowly swung inward. An ancient and desolate aura swept towards him, carrying a strong sense of antiquity.
"My King, welcome back."
A voice, aged and feeble, tinged with weakness and pain, came from behind the doors, causing Wang Zhong's eyelids to twitch slightly.
Stepping through the entrance, he saw a vast and opulent hall. Golden stone pillars, each nearly a zhang thick, stood tall, supporting the entire hall. Apart from these, there was nothing else within the vast chamber.
At the end of the pillars, a pair of enormous golden beast eyes slowly opened, gazing at Wang Zhong with a hint of excitement and eagerness.
It was a colossal golden giant wolf. Even in a resting posture, it was a hundred zhang long. Terrifying and fearsome might emanated uncontrollably from its body, carrying the purest essence of the beast, capable of instilling awe in all creatures.
Yet, beneath this overwhelming presence, Wang Zhong sensed a profound sense of death and decay. This golden wolf god was nearing the end of its life.
This realization made Wang Zhong's heart race. A god's lifespan was considered virtually infinite; the concept of natural death for one was preposterous.
But as his gaze swept over its entire body, Wang Zhong discovered the most shocking sight. The golden giant wolf's body from the waist down had been cleanly severed by something. The golden flesh pulsed and wriggled with its breaths. Although no blood flowed, for a deity, an unhealable wound proved everything.
Such a scar was certainly not something that could be inflicted by ordinary means!
In addition to its missing lower half, one of the golden giant wolf's forelegs was also gone!
And unlike the neat severance of its lower body, this looked as if it had been bitten off by something.
The little fox leaped from Wang Zhong's left hand, its fiery red eyes scrutinizing the giant wolf.
Upon seeing the little fox, the golden wolf god's expression visibly stirred. It tried to rise, propping itself up on its remaining foreleg, as if to perform a gesture of respect.
"No need. Remain as you are!"
"For your injuries, even as a Wolf God, it is a miracle that you are still alive."
The little fox growled, not speaking aloud. However, Wang Zhong, through their connection, understood its words.
The Wolf God abandoned the idea of standing and lay down obediently, responding docilely, "Yes, my King."
"Tell me, what happened after I was defeated back then?"
Direct and without preamble, like a monarch issuing a command.
The Wolf God showed no displeasure or surprise at the little fox's commanding tone. It was utterly calm, as if this was the natural order of things.
"A million years ago, when the King was defeated in battle by the leader of the Sacred Spirit Cult, he gathered his followers and carried out a massacre of the entire beast race."
"Almost all the beast gods who participated in that battle were slaughtered. It was because of that slaughter that the beast race has fallen into its current state of decline."
The Wolf God's voice was filled with sighs and sorrow. The beast race, once dominant and unrestrained across the continent, now had to hide in forests and oceans. Was this not an extreme tragedy?
All of this was caused by that defeat a million years ago!
"I can imagine all that."
"Given that man's madness and brutality, it would be strange if he had spared the beast race."
"But I cannot understand why humans were spared by him!"
The little fox's fiery red eyes held a solemn and puzzled expression. The beast race shared its very existence. As its king, its defeat and the subsequent slaughter of its subjects were normal.
The subjects of a fallen empire were bound to be fallen themselves!
But the humans, once so weak and helpless, who even prayed to the beast gods, had proliferated to their current extent. This was highly unusual.
The leader of the Sacred Spirit Cult, a god of evil who had risen from human origins, had an almost fanatical and greedy craving for human flesh.
Drinking human blood, eating human flesh, gnawing on human bones, flaying them alive – he indulged in extreme bloodlust and cruelty. This was his instinct, akin to normal human sustenance.
"No, humans were not spared by him."
"Within fifty thousand years after your defeat, both humans and beasts suffered near-extinction level massacres. But for some reason, approximately fifty thousand years ago, the leader of the Sacred Spirit Cult suddenly stopped his indiscriminate killing of life on the continent."
"The members of the Sacred Spirit Cult also began to decrease at an astonishing rate. Several thousand years ago, the existence of the Sacred Spirit Cult had virtually faded from the sight of all beings in the world."
At this point, the Wolf God glanced at Wang Zhong, as if speaking to him. "On that day, a long sword, known among your kind as the Angelic Holy Sword, fell from the sky. An ordinary person, by drawing it, became an Angel God. After that, except for a few elders who appeared in the world, few members of the Sacred Spirit Cult were seen."
"Angel God?" Wang Zhong echoed the Wolf God's words, with a tone of questioning.
"I do not know."
"The Angel God is pitifully weak. Even if he gathered the faith of all humanity, I could have killed him with a single blow. He could not have threatened the leader of the Sacred Spirit Cult," the Wolf God's tone was extremely indifferent, and also extremely proud.