Cang Ye's "temporary shelter" wasn't a cave or treehouse, but a gravel shoal at the heart of Whispering Valley's downstream section, surrounded by massive weathered stone pillars. The stream branched and rejoined here, forming a relatively calm shallow area piled with water-smoothed cobblestones. Several collapsed, vine and moss-covered ancient stone pillars half-submerged in the water provided natural cover and support. Moonlight scattered across the rippling surface and gray-white gravel into countless silver scales—"Shattered Moonlight Shore" lived up to its name.
Cang Ye led Lin Yao from an inconspicuous downstream bank position concealed by dense watergrass, wading through shallows where water reached their calves. Fox paw pads on smooth cobblestones required extra caution, but his three tails provided additional balance, keeping his steps steady. Cang Ye navigated easily with wolf clan water-wading ability and terrain familiarity.
They climbed onto the shoal's heart, circling behind the largest pillar. There, several massive flat cobblestones were cleverly stacked into a semi-open, wind-sheltered alcove lined with dry reeds and soft down from some large bird—crude but adequately hidden and comfortable. The air carried water vapor, moss, and a faint scent belonging to Cang Ye himself—crisp as ice and snow.
"Safe for now." Cang Ye settled against the stone wall, beginning to treat his wounds. He produced crude bandages and herbs, movements practiced. His ice-blue wolf eyes appeared especially deep in the moonlight. "Those guys are 'Warcry Regiment' outer lackeys—they rob solo players and gather intel in the valley. You're on their radar because of that earlier announcement?"
Lin Yao sat across the alcove, **[Claw of the Howling Wolf]** resting across his knees. He nodded concisely, "Skill mutation, server-wide announcement. They chased me once before." He omitted details about the cavern and Viper but his blue-grade battle axe and combat-worn appearance spoke volumes.
Cang Ye's bandaging motion paused, his gaze at Lin Yao growing more weighted. "Warcry Regiment's boss 'Mountain Tyrant' is a Level 5 tiger-kin berserker—strong, with a pack of combat junkies. They either recruit or suppress players with potential or special skills. Your skill… is unusual. They won't let you go easily." He paused, ice-blue eyes flickering with complex emotion. "Silvermoon Fox-kin… I thought this bloodline was already rare. Didn't expect to still meet one, and…" His gaze fell on Lin Yao's three distinctive tails with flickering blue-tipped lights. "A 'three-tail' dominant trait, no less."
Lin Yao's ears twitched. "Three-tail? Dominant trait?" His understanding of his own race came only from basic system introductions and occasional inherited fragments.
Cang Ye finished his last wound, leaning against the wall and gazing up at the fragmented moonlight overhead. "Silvermoon Wolf-kin and Silvermoon Fox-kin supposedly share origins in the ancient 'Moon God's Favored.' But our evolutionary paths diverged. Wolf-kin specialize in 'Coagulation' and 'Erosion'—controlling frost and rending. Fox-kin excel at 'Illusion' and 'Attraction'—mastering phantasms, harmonics, and moonlight manipulation. And 'tail count' among fox-kin once marked bloodline purity and potential. One tail is common, three tails already excellent. The legendary nine-tailed celestial fox… that's near-mythical." He looked at Lin Yao. "Your three tails, even to players who don't understand, seem merely decorative—but to those familiar or with kindred bloodline sense, they naturally emanate special spiritual resonance. This may be one root of your skill mutation—your bloodline foundation runs deeper than ordinary Silvermoon Fox-kin."
Lin Yao absorbed this thoughtfully. So when he randomly rolled Silvermoon Fox-kin, some hidden parameter (Charm?) likely granted him this high-potential "three-tail" variant? That explained why **[Foxfire Ancestor's Breath]** and inherited memories kept appearing.
"You know much about the 'Moon God's Favored'?" Lin Yao asked.
Cang Ye shook his head, wolf ears tilting back slightly with rare wistfulness: "Not much. Just fragments from clan oral tradition. Silvermoon Wolf-kin are equally rare and scattered. My awakened class 'Frostmark Stalker' also carries obvious lunar-frost attributes, subtly harmonizing with my bloodline. But someone like you—class and bloodline seemingly conflicting yet sparking strange synergy—I've never seen before." His gaze returned to **[Claw of the Howling Wolf]**. "This axe carries 'wolf' essence and 'moon' chill. It seems to recognize you."
Lin Yao stroked the cool axe body, selectively sharing his experience of using moonlight materials to trigger **[Moonlight Tempering]** in the cavern and how it harmonized with his class and bloodline. He needed someone knowledgeable about "moon" powers to discuss this, and Cang Ye was currently the best option.
Cang Ye listened intently, his ice-blue eyes occasionally flashing with realization and amazement. "Forcibly channeling moonlight to temporarily harmonize berserker fury within a weapon… bold and dangerous. But successful means this path is uniquely yours." He pondered, then withdrew a carefully beast-skin-wrapped item from inside his leather armor, offering it to Lin Yao.
"I found this during solo exploration of upstream glacier ruins, beneath a wolf-shaped ice sculpture. It weakly resonates with my frost power, but I sense it's incomplete, or rather… it leans toward 'moon's' wholeness rather than singular 'cold.'" Cang Ye explained. "Your described harmonization state might find use for it."
Lin Yao accepted it, feeling its chill. Unwrapping the beast skin revealed an irregular bone fragment about half a palm-sized. The bone was jade-white, surface smooth as porcelain, naturally forming an abstract pattern of overlapping crescent moon and claw marks. The fragment emanated moonlight aura kindred to **[Foxfire Ancestor's Breath]** yet more ancient and profound—even purer than his previously obtained fox claw nail fossil.
**[Obtained: Incomplete Moon God's Favored Covenant Bone Fragment (Special/Quest Item)]**
**[Description: A fragment from ancient covenant witnesses between Silvermoon Wolves and Silvermoon Foxes, containing pure moonlight source essence and a trace of pact spiritual light. Has unknown supportive or triggering effects on Silvermoon Wolf-kin, Silvermoon Fox-kin, and related classes/skills.]**
**[Detected holder is Silvermoon Fox-kin (Three-tail) possessing 'Foxfire Ancestor's Breath' and 'Claw of the Howling Wolf'—meets initial resonance conditions…]**
Covenant bone fragment! A relic from the Moon God's Favored era!
Lin Yao felt the fragment warming in his palm, producing slight resonant tremors with his chest's runic leather ornaments, his fingertip silver marks, even the axe across his knees. The 0.5% Silvermoon War Dance inherited memory in his mind seemed to stir slightly.
"This is too valuable." Lin Yao looked up at Cang Ye. This wasn't just a rare item but represented trust.
Cang Ye's ice-blue eyes were frank: "In my hands, it's just a keepsake. In yours, it might fulfill its true purpose. Consider it… repayment for your life-saving aid and shared intelligence, and also…" He paused, voice deepening. "To verify a prophetic fragment from my clan—'When shattered moonlight converges again, ancient covenants shall reignite in blood and fire.' I believe you may be one such 'convergence point.'"
Lin Yao fell silent momentarily before carefully securing the fragment. "I won't betray this trust. This fragment might help us find more about the 'Moon God's Favored,' even… resolve part of my class conflict."
Cang Ye nodded, about to continue when both their ears suddenly snapped upward toward the same direction—upstream.
Within the water sounds came rhythmic paddling distinct from nocturnal animals, accompanied by lowered voices.
"…Sure it's this direction? That wolf pup's slippery."
"Leopard left scent markers pointing downstream to the shoal—can't be wrong."
"Boss said alive or corpse. And that fox—priority target!"
"Don't worry, 'Night Shadow' from Shadow Society sent people too. Two-way pincer…"
Voices drifted uncertainly with the current, but hostile intent was clear. And not just one group! Warcry Regiment plus… Shadow Society?
Lin Yao and Cang Ye exchanged glances, both reading identical judgment: exposed and surrounded.
This shoal, seemingly hidden, became a deathtrap once discovered—surrounded by water, indefensible, limited retreat routes.
"Can't stay here." Cang Ye spoke rapidly and quietly. "Downstream the water's deeper, current faster, but there's a hidden underwater cave—entrance covered by watergrass, leading to an abandoned otter den on shore. My backup route. But requires diving. Can you manage?"
Lin Yao checked his decent rage value (usable for bursts) and recently improved Constitution, nodding: "I'll try. But they'll search here soon."
"I'll draw some attention." Cang Ye's eyes flashed with wolfish ferocity. "You take the fragment and intel, go through underwater. We'll meet at the abandoned otter den. If… if I don't make it, keep heading downstream toward 'Shadowveil Forest' entrance—terrain's more complex there, easier to shake pursuit."
A sacrificial rearguard? Lin Yao frowned: "We can fight together."
"Too many, and they came prepared. Direct confrontation is unwise." Cang Ye shook his head firmly. "My Frostmark Stalker skills have advantages in this shoal environment—I can create confusion and false trails. Stop arguing—time's short."
Lin Yao saw the resolve in those ice-blue eyes and knew the other spoke truth—the most rational choice under current circumstances. He relented, pressing that Iceheart Grass back into Cang Ye's hand: "Stay alive. Meet at the rendezvous."
Cang Ye gripped the Iceheart Grass tightly, nodding solemnly.
They moved swiftly. Cang Ye deliberately left clear claw marks on stones near the shoal's upstream side and conspicuously abandoned a tuft of his own fur. Then he drew a deep breath and released a suppressed, provocative wolf howl toward the upstream shore forest, his form melting into the trees with deliberate noise.
Lin Yao silently slipped into the downstream deep water. The icy stream shocked him alert. Using **[Foxfire Ancestor's Breath]**'s perception and Cang Ye's brief directions, he groped through murky depths. Watergrass tangled everywhere, visibility near zero.
Soon he felt abnormal current fluctuations ahead. Parting thick watergrass curtains revealed a downward-slanting dark opening hidden beneath the riverbed cliff—narrow, barely person-wide.
No time to hesitate. Lin Yao adjusted his breathing, secured **[Claw of the Howling Wolf]** tightly on his back, tucked the new covenant fragment against his chest, then plunged headfirst into the black passage.
The tunnel twisted inward with suction-like current. He paddled hard, lungs rapidly depleting air. In darkness, only rushing water and his pounding heart existed. Unknown terror and survival will intertwined.
Just as asphyxiation loomed again, light appeared ahead—and air!
He swam desperately upward!
"Splash!"
His head broke the surface! He gulped humid but oxygen-rich air! This was a small stone chamber half-submerged, with ventilated air and cracks in the ceiling admitting faint light. Dry sections of the walls showed animal scratch marks and dried grass remnants—exactly the abandoned otter den Cang Ye mentioned.
He crawled ashore, panting heavily, alertly surveying his surroundings. Temporarily safe.
He listened intently, faintly hearing distant upstream wolf howls, battle roars, and shouting. Cang Ye had engaged the pursuers.
Lin Yao couldn't rest. He needed to recover quickly and prepare at the rendezvous for either support or evacuation. Simultaneously, he gripped the covenant fragment in his chest.
Pursuit, encirclement, desperate survival… this game's "excitement" far exceeded expectations. And this ancient fragment no longer merely radiated warmth but conveyed clear palpitations—as if observed and "triggered" by some vast will.
Moonlight pierced the stone chamber's ceiling crack like a silver blade, illuminating him and the blue-glowing axe across his knees.
**[Ding!]**
**[Special conditions met: Bathed in moonlight, possessing 'Incomplete Moon God's Favored Covenant Bone Fragment,' experiencing crisis and ally's entrustment—Silvermoon Fox-kin bloodline produces intense resonance…]**
**['Foxfire Ancestor's Breath' passive deeply triggered…]**
**['Silvermoon War Dance Inherited Memory' unlocking progress increasing… receiving key information fragments…]**
New changes quietly began amid pursuing footsteps and distant battle echoes.
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**(End of Chapter 04)**
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**[Current Status]**
- Location: Downstream abandoned otter den (temporarily safe)
- Condition: Soaked, mildly fatigued, HP/Rage slowly recovering
- Key Item: Incomplete Moon God's Favored Covenant Bone Fragment (resonance triggered)
- New Trigger: Foxfire Ancestor's Breath deeply activated, Silvermoon War Dance memory receiving
- Ally Status: Cang Ye engaging upstream pursuers—status unknown
- Pursuers: Warcry Regiment and Shadow Society joint forces searching and hunting