Lang Mingzhi Yan watched the direwolfs move about from high above.

The original mission given was to explore what had happened near the human empire to the west, because such a large amount of harmful QI being spread in the air was highly suspicious. And being one of the best people of the Shulin Empire at both stealth and speed, it was a given that Yan was chosen to explore exactly what had happened by the head of the clan. And while he was sure that the other clans had already sent some scouts earlier or used some technique to scry on the situation. There were simply too many, better, ways to gain the information.

So Yan had planned to steal it from any competing clan. For the “hunter in his blood”, and other sage words the elders liked using when they wanted to mess with the younger generations. He had then set up multiple traps around a large area to alert him whenever something of note passed by. If it didn't alert him, they were either too weak to have anything of use or too strong and able to kill him in one strike or two. So when the trap was triggered, and he prepared to ambush whoever was unfortunate enough to be his prey, imagine his surprise when he saw a large group of oversized wolves walking through the World's Tongue.

At first, he had though someone had used a technique to put him under a spell of some sort. But after stalking them for a couple of days or so, he could only conclude that they were real. Racking his brain for anything related to large wolves, the only thing he could come up with was that some 2000 to 1500 years ago the ancestors traveled away from some great apocalyptic war to where they lived now. So it seemed that some ancestors didn't migrate as far as others, or didn't migrate at all.

When Yan reached this thought, he allowed the smallest amount of happiness to reach his mind. While he was never one for culture or new experiences, he knew that this group of large wolves could benefit the clan if it went right. And he could maybe spar with some of them and figure out where their strengths lay, but that wasn't as important.

And so, this is where he found himself. High up in the ancient trees, looming over the wolves as he watched how they organized themselves. A bear of some kind was following after them with its cubs, so it must be follower of some kind. He could tell that the leaders were three different wolves, one in particular was a whole different breed of wolf when compared to the others. And it looked like that large one, with the tree growing out of it and the bird flying around it, was doing a breathing exercise for some purpose.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

At one point, it even looked like the large one had spotted him. But as a seasoned spy and assassin, he knew when he was being looked at or when his general direction was being looked at. Even then, it wasn't that big of an issue for them to see him, since he was going to show himself to them at some point. It was all a matter of timing it rightly.

Yan reached down to a pocket on his side, breaking his line of sight. The amulet he had was originally meant for spying on others who spoke a different language (or dialect if it was thick enough) and if he was lucky enough it would translate the language they spoke.

The fur across his body rose with the goosebumps underneath, and he launched himself off the branch and braced for whatever technique was just used. He used both his hands and legs both to climb up the tree with enough speed to make anyone of the Mao clan impressed. But he was simply not quick enough, as the force of whatever it was hit him and pushed him further up. Yet despite what threat he felt from it at the beginning, it turned out to be wrong.

The sound that was carried through that technique was primitive, yes, but the message it carried with it was so clear. As if it was spoken directly to his soul, letting him know the user meant no harm to him or anyone willing to peacefully communicate. A soothing, healing howl that reminded him of all that's good in his life.

Simply magical. Yan allowed himself to fall freely for a moment as he turned in the air to look down at, what he now knew as, dire wolves. A fitting name for their size and primitive ways. As he got closer to the ground, he let out a shout infused with QI to slow his fall. He landed in the middle of the four direwolfs with grace, before bowing down his head.

“Seniors. I am Lang Mingzhi Yan of the Lang clan, son of Mingzhi. I am honored to be the one to meet all of you.” he kept his head bowed down.

“If you wish, I could bring you to the territory of the clan, where you will be properly treated.” now, he raised his head to look between the four direwolves. While it was difficult to know what exactly they were thinking, he could roughly guess that he wouldn't be attacked anytime soon. Other than the aged one with the scars, the other three seemed much more friendly. But that was to be expected of old warriors. They looked between each other, before all three settled their gaze upon the large one. Clearly, the one with a head as big as his whole body and a body so unique, it was the leader.

The direwolf stood there, looking down at him with the tree on his back slowly moving in the wind that wasn't there. A crow flew in and landed on a branch, letting out a caw with its wings raised. The direwolf looked to the others for confirmation, before turning back to him and answering with a smile so stupid it shocked Yan to his core.

“Hi! I'm Balto, and it's so nice to meet you!” Yan choked on his own shock when he realized, with horror, he wasn't speaking to an adult.