“I’m not in the habit of calling people Sister, especially girls younger than me.” Sean said flatly. “A witch can certainly cast blind poison, but we’re all in the same boat. The only ones who’ll benefit in the end are the werewolves.”

“Sister Na didn’t mean it that way! She just… she just doesn’t understand why you need a healing potion!” Feto hurried to smooth things over, grabbing Shana’s hand and whispering, “Broken Sword’s just got a cranky temper—don’t take it personally!”

“Are you siding with him?” Shana cared more about the guard’s stance than Sean’s bad mood.

“Of course I’m on your side! I just don’t want you to poison the wrong person and regret it later!” Feto squeezed her hand tightly, as if afraid she’d reach for a vial. “He’s a rough man—he even offended the Queen! Why bother arguing with him?”

Shana felt the warmth of his hand, and most of her anger melted away. She’d only been venting, not actually planning to poison anyone. Since Feto was pleading, she decided to back down. For the guard’s sake, I’ll let it slide!

She huffed. “Only my friends get to call me ‘Sister Na’. Most people wouldn’t even get the chance! If you don’t want to, just call me Witch—but don’t call me ‘Little Witch’! Or I’ll start calling you Little Broken Sword!”

Sean blinked, then wore a strange expression. He shook his head and sighed. “I’m planning to scout a hidden werewolf outpost. A witch’s antidote would put my mind at ease.”

“Another ranger team already headed to Wolf Fort to scout.” Feto let out a breath, releasing Shana’s hand.

“I’m not going to Wolf Fort. I’m going somewhere else.” Sean said. “If I hadn’t had to wait for you here, I’d already be gone.”

“New developments?” Shana didn’t want to revisit their earlier misunderstanding, but she sensed there was more to his words. Did he think Wolf Fort wasn’t important?

When Sean didn’t answer, she added: “If you tell us everything you know, I’ll consider giving you a healing potion.”

“We’re on the same side—I’m not hiding anything, and I want you to take this intel back to the Great Wall.” Sean pointed to the half-crescent blood moon in the sky. “The Red Moon represents the Wolf God in werewolf belief. It only appears once every hundred years. When it rises, werewolves will grow restless.”

“Minstrels in the capital often play a ballad—*Red Moon and Werewolves*. It vividly describes the Red Moon Night a century ago, when werewolves attacked villages across the continent, slaughtering humans without mercy. Desperate cries echoed across the entire kingdom…”

“I’ve heard that ballad too, but poetry isn’t always factual.” Feto said. “A scholar told me that during the Red Moon Night a century ago, some werewolves might have attacked villages, but the damage wasn’t severe. After all, the Great Wall guarded the north; only a handful of werewolves crossed the border, and they were all killed by divine humans.”

“Poetry might exaggerate, but the werewolves can’t be doing nothing.” Sean said. “Recently, I’ve found far more werewolf tracks near the Wolf God Mountains than usual. I’m sure it’s tied to the Red Moon’s appearance.”

Shana tilted her head. “This is the Wolf God Mountains—why is it strange that werewolves are active here?”

“The Wolf God Mountains are close to the Great Wall; they’re not part of the werewolves’ traditional territory. Plus, we crippled their main force half a year ago. This shouldn’t be happening unless…”

“A new power has emerged.” Shana cut in.

She noticed Sean freeze, and frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”

“You’re right.” Sean said. “I tracked their trails through the mountains and found not just black wolves, but white wolves.”

Feto gasped. “White wolves have been gone for ages.”

“That’s why their return is so unusual. Black wolves and white wolves have always been enemies, but from what I’ve seen, they’re working together.” Broken Sword waved his longsword, slashing lines in the snow. “We have to reassess the situation.”

“Oh! I remember now!” Feto suddenly realized.

“What do you remember?” Shana asked. Is he about to confess his love to me? I might not even say yes, you know.

“The Wolf King let Ding Rui go so he could track him to our hidden outposts beyond the wall.” Feto said. “If the Wolf King didn’t have a plan, he wouldn’t have bothered.”

“I told you Ding Rui didn’t betray us.” Shana said. “He’s just a commoner, but he’s smart—he guessed the werewolves’ trick. That’s why he took a long detour back to Shield Fort, avoiding all their scouts.”

Sean shook his head. “But by doing that, he exposed a marching route. If the werewolf army takes that path, they’ll bypass all our outposts.”

Oh! I didn’t think of that! Shana’s brow furrowed. I still don’t have enough experience.

“What do we do now, Brother Xiao?” Feto asked.

“These days, I tracked the werewolf trails backward and found a possible gathering spot for their army.” Sean said. “But I need solid proof before I report to the Great Wall.”

“Where is it?” Shana thought: From his tone, it’s not Wolf Fort.

“Bearwood.” Sean said, pointing to the lines he’d drawn in the snow.

“What’s that place?” Shana looked at Feto.

“It was the bear clan’s stronghold.” Feto explained. “Our human legion fought the bears there and captured a lot of black bears. After that, Bearwood became a no-man’s-land.”

“That was ten years ago.” Sean said. “Now, Bearwood is infested with all kinds of demon clans—it’s a mess. I need to scout it again to gather more intel. Once we confirm it’s their gathering spot, you two need to rush back to the Great Wall and tell the Grand Commander to launch a surprise attack, just like we did half a year ago. That way, we can defuse the crisis of the Red Moon Night.”

“Deal! I’ll give you the red potion, but on one condition—take us with you!”

Shana was new to the outer lands, and the chance to explore a new place filled her with excitement: I hope this trip brings more amazing experiences!

But Sean hesitated, saying nothing. You won’t agree? No problem—you only have one vote.

She nudged Feto with her elbow. “You won’t flip sides, will you?”

“Beautiful lady, I’m definitely on your side.” Feto smiled. “Come on, Brother Xiao. Let’s go together.”

Sean’s expression stayed cold. “A guard and a witch… I just hope you two don’t overheal me to death.”