The dawn was thin and cold; fog rolled low across the grass like a blanket a child could pull aside. Qingmu woke and found the world rearranged. The plants that had followed him yesterday had multiplied into a patch of emerald carpet. From the carpet rose a shape — large, noble, and bearing an aura like moonlight.
It was a wolf, but not ordinary: its coat unfolded like feathers, silver and soft, each plume shining with an inner frost. Eyes like polished shards of ice focused on Qingmu and tilted, politely assessing.
The system's voice chimed with something close to glee.
[Ding! Temporary Gift: Guardian Recognition. A Protector fated to the host may appear.]
Qingmu squealed and clapped — his laugh was a bell, and the wolf's chest puffed as if proud. It stepped forward, knocking aside a branch with dazzling grace. The villagers gasped; old talismans fluttered, and even the stones seemed to lean forward.
"Spirit beast," whispered the elder. "A Silver Feathered Wolf… They are rare as full moons."
Shi Hao moved like a shadow to stand between the wolf and the startled villagers. He had trained against beasts in his youth and had the reflexes of a blade. But the wolf did not bare tooth or growl. It lowered its head in a gesture so intentional that no one could mistake it for submission: it had chosen.
The wolf came closer and bumped its forehead against Qingmu's tiny knee. A soft chime echoed from the animal as if some bone inside had triggered the same old magic used to bind guardians and masters. Then, with a low and dignified sound, the wolf knelt.
Liu Shen's voice unfurled from the branches like a wind that smelled of sap and rain. "A protector recognizes the pure sprout." Her words were a calm that could fell tempers. "Let it stay."
The silver wolf's presence changed the village's tempo; young children touched its flank and found courage, dogs lowered their heads respectfully, and the midwife sighed with relief. Qingmu patted the wolf's head with sticky baby hands.
[Permanent Bond Established: Silver Feathered Wolf — Guardian "Bai'e." Abilities: patrol spirit-sense; lunar howl increases host's recovery; silent step.]
Bai'e, as the wolf would be named by the villagers who liked short things, simply curled up with Qingmu and fell asleep, its chest mimicking the child's soft rise and fall.
Shi Hao sat a little farther away, watching. His jaw set in a line. He had always wanted a companion like that for himself. "Well," he murmured, half to Liu Shen and half to the night. "You certainly don't do things small."
Liu Shen only lifted a branch, letting a single leaf fall that shimmered like a coin. "Little lives have a way of waking large things," she said. "Guard them, Shi Hao. The world will not grow kinder for their light."
Qingmu slept with a silver paw over his belly and dreamed of running across moonlit plains, always accompanied by a steady pair of paws. The village slept beneath an unbroken sky, but beyond the horizon, unseen eyes turned their attention. Where there is a guardian, there is also a target.
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