Chapter Seventeen: The Night of the Full Moon

From the second night to the third night, Sun Siyu lay there motionless. He had given up; he dared not resist. The terrifying gaze of the Wolf King from the previous night had left him utterly shaken. As a young master who had been carefully protected since childhood by his parents, grandfather, and maternal grandfather, he had never encountered such a gaze before.

When the Wolf King looked at him, it felt as if the very air around him froze, his throat tightened, making breathing extraordinarily difficult. The surrounding temperature plummeted rapidly, yet he was drenched in sweat.

Sun Siyu could smell the strong stench of urine emanating from himself; his body itched terribly, but he could only endure it.

It wasn’t that he had urinated out of fear—it was sweat.

With hardly any water to drink, Sun Siyu had very little urine to expel. In his fright, cold sweat poured out, soaking his filthy clothes with urea.

“Dinner time.”

A piece of meat, even smaller than the one from yesterday, was tossed in. Perhaps thinking Sun Siyu was already dead, the person delivering the meat didn’t leave immediately but instead leaned against the iron bars, whistling softly at Sun Siyu lying on the ground.

The Wolf King seemed displeased with today’s portion. In the darkness, a pair of cyan eyes fixed intently on the meat delivery person outside the iron cage. Suddenly, its limbs bent slightly, and with powerful hind legs, it leapt fiercely toward the iron gate.

With a sharp “swish,” the Wolf King displayed astonishing explosive strength. Despite being caged for so long, its power remained undiminished.

“Bang!”

The Wolf King’s body slammed against the iron gate, producing a deafening noise.

“Ah—!”

The meat delivery man, caught off guard, was scratched by the Wolf King’s paw extending through the bars, tearing off a piece of skin from his left arm. Clutching his bleeding arm, he screamed and fled in panic.

The Wolf King, rebounding from the resistance of the iron bars, fell to the ground.

Growling softly in pain, the Wolf King stood up again and approached the small piece of meat, barely larger than a palm.

In a few bites, the Wolf King devoured the meat and then came close to Sun Siyu, opening its mouth and exhaling a foul stench tinged with blood, which caused Sun Siyu to recoil in disgust.

He wanted to move away but dared not.

How he wished the wolf was like the bear in his mother’s stories—one that would spare those playing dead on the ground.

But that was only a story. This was a hungry wolf, the strongest among the pack leaders. How could it not discern whether Sun Siyu was alive or dead? Even if dead, after just eating raw meat, what difference would it make?

“Don’t eat me, don’t eat me, please don’t...” Sun Siyu quietly opened his bloodshot eyes a crack and saw the Wolf King’s mouth close at hand, its teeth stained with blood. His body instinctively shrank backward.

But he was already cornered. No matter how much he shrank, he was still before the Wolf King. A distance of one or two centimeters meant nothing to the Wolf King, who could leap five meters in a single bound.

The Wolf King smiled—or at least, that was how Sun Siyu perceived it. Standing above him, it looked down with contempt, letting out a disdainful “woof.”

Perhaps it was the Wolf King’s pride and Sun Siyu’s utter weakness like an ant.

That night, the Wolf King did not attack Sun Siyu but only used its sharp claws to tear his scarf.

Then it returned to its expansive “territory,” chose a comfortable position to lie down, and closed its eyes.

---

A delicate necklace slipped from the torn scarf and landed on the ground before Sun Siyu’s face.

Moonlight shone on the hexagonal crystal necklace, on which the character “Ling” shimmered faintly, shifting through various colors.

The necklace carried a familiar scent—his mother’s scent.

Sun Siyu stared at the “Ling” on the necklace, as if seeing his mother’s face.

Having never cried since his first cry at birth, Sun Siyu shed tears now. He didn’t know if they were tears of fear, humiliation, or longing for his family.

---

Inside the communication room.

“Boss, two of the other six children have died; the remaining four are still holding on,” the technician said, switching several monitors to show the images of the other six cells.

“Notify them to bring those four children out for treatment. Special training will begin in half a month. I didn’t expect four to survive this time—it’s beyond my expectations,” Inoue Izumi said with a satisfied smile as she watched the images of the little wolves lying in pools of blood and the barely breathing children.

“What about this one?” the technician pointed to Sun Siyu.

“Continue with him.”

“But tomorrow night is the full moon!” The technician was puzzled—not concerned for Sun Siyu, as he had seen such scenes countless times. What puzzled him was the boss’s method. This child must hold special significance for her, so why insist on keeping him with the Wolf King? Even with protective measures, the Wolf King’s speed and explosive power were too great. The wolf might tear Sun Siyu apart before the tranquilizer took effect.

“The full moon is when the wolf clan drives out outsiders. It's either live or die. Let’s see what he chooses,” Inoue Izumi said, eyes fixed on Sun Siyu curled on the ground. He was her own grandson. Since she had promised, she would train him to be the strongest!

From the moment he entered this world, his fate was sealed. Without enough strength, he could lose his life at any time—whether in training, on missions, or hunted by enemies. To survive, to rise above others, to complete that mission... this was necessary.

She was betting that Sun Siyu would endure.

---

Mid-Autumn Festival—the day families gather to admire the moon.

In a spacious open courtyard of the Ling family estate in Longteng Kingdom, a long white table was set. White leisure chairs were neatly arranged on both sides. The Ling family’s chef was grilling outdoor barbecue nearby, Aunt Yang brought out homemade mooncakes from the kitchen, and Steward Qin fetched fine wine from Ling Feilong’s cellar.

Members of the Sun family, the Ling family—now one family—all happily sat together on the white chairs, celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival, eating mooncakes, drinking red wine, and admiring the moon.

No, not all. One person was missing—someone most important to both families.

That person was Sun Yi and Ling Xueqin’s child, Sun Siyu.

Perhaps by tacit agreement, no one mentioned Sun Siyu when dinner began.

After half a round of drinking, Ling Xueqin raised her glass, gazing at the bright, full moon, her eyes reddened.

“Xueqin.”

Sun Yi sat beside Ling Xueqin. As her husband, he naturally sensed her change and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

Since the day after Sun Siyu was taken, Ling Xueqin had returned to Ling Tian Group, working tirelessly—claiming to help her father relieve pressure, but everyone knew she was trying to distract herself from missing her son.

Even on Mid-Autumn Festival, when the company was on holiday, Ling Xueqin brought work home, working hard all day.

---

That night, only under the earnest insistence of her father and husband did Ling Xueqin finally put down her work and rest properly.

But as a mother, a mother who had longed for her child, how could she not think of her son?

“Xueqin, don’t worry. Conditions at Youyi’s place aren’t worse than here. It’s just a change of environment. At this moment, they’re probably having dinner and admiring the moon, too,” Ling Feilong said, head lowered, eyes on the round moon reflected in the red wine. In his mind appeared a beautiful scene of Maeda Youyi and Sun Siyu dining together and playing under the moonlight.

---

“Howl—”

The Wolf King stood before the iron bars, gazing at the full moon in the sky, letting out a long howl.

That night, whether due to the meat delivery person’s fear after being bitten or deliberate revenge, the “dinner” for the Wolf King and Sun Siyu was long overdue.

But none of that mattered to the Wolf King.

Its cyan eyes fixed tightly on Sun Siyu curled in the corner. Opening its mouth, a drop of saliva trickled from its teeth. Sun Siyu was its dinner tonight.

Sun Siyu struggled to open his bloodshot eyes and looked at the restless Wolf King. He bit down hard on his cracked, bleeding lips, gripping his thigh with his right hand, trying to keep himself conscious despite his weakness.

Looking at the full moon in the sky, he recalled last Mid-Autumn Festival when his mother held him, feeding him mooncakes while gently telling him, “If one day you and I are apart and can’t celebrate Mid-Autumn together, just look up at the moon and say what you want to say to me. I will hear you and always protect you.”

Father, mother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, grandfather, Uncle Qin, Aunt Yang... where are you? Siyu misses you so much!

“Grrr...”

The Wolf King gave a low growl, clearly displeased that Sun Siyu still had the heart to admire the moon in its presence. Once proud, the Wolf King never harmed the weak, but now, this weakling ignored it, trespassing on its territory. Coupled with the hunger in its belly, the Wolf King’s aura erupted fiercely.

“Ah...!”

Sun Siyu heard the growl, looked into the fierce eyes of the Wolf King, and endured every ounce of the Wolf King’s pressure. The air seemed to slow, breathing grew difficult, and every hair on his body stood on end. His life was in grave danger.

Mother, you will protect me like before, won’t you?

Sun Siyu slowly stood, shouting hoarsely, trying to lessen the Wolf King’s pressure and prepare to resist its attack.

“Bang!”

The Wolf King’s limbs bent slightly, then snapped straight, its body shooting forward like an arrow.

“Thud.”

Sun Siyu was knocked to the ground. With a lethal move, the Wolf King opened its blood-drenched jaws aiming for Sun Siyu’s neck.

“Clang!”

Sun Siyu suddenly thrust out both hands, gripping the Wolf King’s lower jaw, using all his remaining strength to push upward, preventing its teeth from touching his neck.

“Hiss—”