Chapter Sixteen: The Wolf King

On the fifth day at noon, the seven surviving children were taken out of their cell together and brought to a medical room for their wounds to be stitched, cleaned, bandaged, and given nutrient drips.

That evening, once they were able to move on their own, they were led into a large room lit brightly by torches all around.

In the center of the room stood a large table laden with roasted suckling pig, chicken, duck, goose, rabbit, lamb, and some of the island’s abundant fruits.

“This is your meal for tonight. Enjoy it well,” came the voice.

With a clang, the heavy door slammed shut.

None of the seven children moved. Sun Siyi and Inoue Hina stood together, excitedly eyeing the food while remaining wary of the others.

The other five children—three boys and two girls—were covered in scars and exchanged hostile looks.

“Ah!” one boy, unable to resist the temptation, dashed toward the food first.

Bang!

Another boy rushed over, tackling him to the ground, wrestling fiercely. Fresh blood seeped from the wounds recently bandaged.

The atmosphere in the room grew heavier.

Apart from the two boys fighting and Sun Siyi with Inoue Hina, who had risked their lives for each other before, the others kept to themselves, alert and defensive.

“Enough! Why fight? There’s so much food here, even dozens of people wouldn’t finish it all,” Sun Siyi said, glancing at the fighting boys, then at the table, and finally at their small, frail bodies. He realized they had all grown used to scrambling for food. Even now, faced with more than enough, they instinctively believed they had to fight for it.

As soon as Sun Siyi spoke, the other three children who hadn’t joined the fight also responded, though they still remained cautious.

The two fighting boys had already lost control, forgetting why they started, ignoring Sun Siyi’s words.

“Jiu Jing, let’s go eat,” Sun Siyi said, taking Inoue Hina’s hand and moving toward the table.

The other three children also approached the table but kept a “safe distance” from each other.

Starving for five days and having eaten several meals of leftovers, they did not hesitate before such fresh delicacies. Even Sun Siyi, who normally only ate what he liked, did not refuse and eagerly gnawed on a pig’s trotter, usually his least favorite. Inoue Hina grabbed a roasted chicken, tearing off a leg to eat.

The other three children also each took a whole roasted animal from their plates and devoured it ravenously.

The aroma of meat and the sounds of them munching stirred their stomachs, which growled loudly. They exchanged glances, released their guard, and limped toward the table, stuffing food into their mouths.

“Are you all full now?”

An hour later, the iron door was opened without anyone noticing. Seven burly men dressed in black tank tops and camouflage pants appeared and grabbed the children one by one.

“Let go! Who are you?” the children struggled, flailing their arms and legs feebly.

“Clap, clap, clap...” Seven dull thuds sounded as all seven children were knocked unconscious.

At night, moonlight streamed into an iron cell halfway up a mountain, as danger slowly approached the unconscious Sun Siyi.

Perhaps sensing the danger, Sun Siyi’s eyelashes twitched, and he opened his eyes.

A wolf!

Before him lay a wolf with gray fur, white sideburns, eyes glowing faintly blue, crouched low. A deep scar ran from its left forehead past the left eye to the right side of its face. Its slightly parted mouth revealed four sharp, long canine teeth, staring fixedly at Sun Siyi, its heavy breathing piercing the silence of the night.

*Knock, knock.*

The iron cell door was struck with a metal rod, producing a harsh sound.

“Dinner time,” a voice declared.

A large piece of raw rib meat was thrown through the bars.

The wolf in the corner sprang forward in a flash.

Sun Siyi scrambled using hands and feet, dodging the wolf’s attack.

“Only one chunk of raw rib a day. Either you eat it, the wolf eats it, you starve, or you get eaten by the wolf,” the man outside the door said coldly.

“Who are you? Let me out! I want to go home! I want to—” Sun Siyi shouted at the shadow beyond the bars but stopped mid-sentence when the wolf glanced at him, terrified to make more noise.

*Hiss—*

Watching the wolf tear at the raw meat with its sharp teeth, every hair on Sun Siyi’s body stood on end.

Time reset again. On the first night, the wolf, perhaps already full, glanced twice at the curled-up Sun Siyi before returning to its corner, lying down with eyes closed.

Sun Siyi wasn’t hungry after the big meal earlier and kept a wary watch on the sleeping wolf.

The moon rose from the east, gradually moving to the center of the sky.

Unable to resist fatigue any longer, Sun Siyi finally fell asleep.

“Boss, since you care so much about that kid, why put him with the wolf king? You know how fierce the wolf king is. We lost several experts to subdue it. Although we took protective measures, with the wolf king’s speed, accidents can’t be ruled out.”

In a communications room filled with dozens of monitors showing live footage of Sun Siyi’s cell, a technician wearing glasses gripped the joystick. A crosshair on his screen was aimed at the wolf.

“The king should be with the king,” Inoue Izumi said lightly from a sofa behind, sipping wine as red as blood.

At dawn the next day, sunlight hit Sun Siyi’s face, and he immediately opened his eyes.

“How did I fall asleep?” he thought, filled with sudden fear.

He glanced toward the corner; thankfully, the wolf was still resting.

What to do? Where was this place? Why was he here?

A flood of questions surged within him, but an iron door barred his path to answers.

He wanted to cry for help, but the wolf beside him could wake at any moment. If startled…

A sharp bone caught Sun Siyi’s eye—it was a leftover from the wolf king’s meal the night before.

Now, all he could do was survive.

Supporting himself with his hands, Sun Siyi slowly crawled over, eyes fixed on the wolf king’s reactions.

Got it!

He grasped the sharp bone, pointing its tip toward the wolf king.

His hands trembled, legs weak.

Only by killing it could he live and have a chance to return to his mother.

Clutching the bone tightly, standing on tiptoe, he inched closer to the wolf king silently.

*Wooo—*

The wolf king seemed to sense something, suddenly opening its eyes and letting out a low howl.

Sun Siyi curled up in the corner.

The wolf king squinted, glancing at the sunlight streaming in through the bars beside Sun Siyi. It pushed up on all fours and stood.

*Gulp.*

Sun Siyi trembled, swallowed hard, tightened his grip on the bone hidden behind him, and stared unblinkingly at the wolf king.

The wolf king did not advance but stepped back a few paces into the shadowy corner, lay down again, and resumed sleeping.

*Huff–huff–huff.*

Listening to the wolf king’s steady breathing, Sun Siyi slumped to the floor, panting heavily. Cold sweat soaked his clothes and drenched his hair.

He spent the next day in a state of high tension.

At night, a piece of rib meat was thrown in again, but half the size of the previous day.

As before, Sun Siyi crouched aside, allowing the wolf king to eat first.

Tonight, the wolf king seemed less satisfied with the smaller portion, even gnawing on the bones. Its ghostly eyes fixed on Sun Siyi, mouth slightly open, sharp teeth dripping with strands of bloody meat.

Sun Siyi slowly rose, focusing intently on the wolf king, right hand gripping the sharp bone.

*Howl—*

The wolf king lunged at Sun Siyi.

“Wait! Let me handle this!” In the communications room, Inoue Izumi stopped the technician from aiming at the wolf king, eyes locked on the screen, hand on the firing control.

In the dark cell late at night, the wolf king held a bone in its mouth.

Sun Siyi lay motionless on the floor.

...

Terrifying. At just ten years old, Sun Siyi felt death so close for the first time. All his strength, plans, and preparations vanished the moment the wolf king locked eyes with him and lunged.

That gaze, that aura, rendered him powerless to resist; he just wanted to flee. His body went limp on the ground, eyes bloodshot, gasping softly.

*Crunch, crunch.*

The wolf king chewed the bone once held by Sun Siyi, its blue eyes disdainfully glancing at him before settling back down.

Yes, disdain—bare and blatant contempt, as if looking at an ant it could crush with a single paw.

Sun Siyi felt it. He didn’t know why he understood the meaning behind that look; he never thought a wolf could have such an expression. No one had ever dared to look at him that way before. But now was not the time to ponder—it was all he could do to hope someone would come to rescue him.

“Boss, you guessed all along the wolf king wouldn’t harm him, right?” The operator’s eyes stayed glued to the screen. “That was a close call just now. If the wolf king’s attack had been twenty centimeters off, it would have bitten Sun Siyi’s neck.”

“The wolf king, as the alpha among alphas, won’t devour him so quickly if it’s uncertain whether more food will be delivered later.”

“In other words, he’s the wolf king’s last meal?”