Fly, scout eagle!

The man, a survivor of the horrific ordeal, slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, as if everything he had just experienced was nothing more than a nightmare, a nightmare that left him exhausted and still shaken.

The blood flowing from the wolf's corpse had seeped into the ground beneath the man's feet, the thick, metallic scent of it making him nauseous. He staggered over to the wolf's body, wanting to examine the ferocious beast, to see if there was anything unusual about it.

"Such strange runes!" The man crouched down, carefully observing the wolf's corpse. Suddenly, he discovered a palm-sized mark on the wolf's back. He surmised that during their fierce struggle, the wolf, clad in its black, scaled armor, had prevented him from noticing this rune. The shape of the mark was very peculiar, resembling a teardrop. In the center of the teardrop were concentric circles, and below the teardrop, four small dots were scattered, looking as if these four dots were supporting the entire teardrop, filled with a mysterious aura.

The man had never seen a rune of this shape before, and his heart was filled with doubt. "What does this rune represent? Or does this wolf itself have a special origin? I must pass this important information back."

He rummaged through the camp and found the sheepskin scroll that his brothers had not yet used. Dipping it in the blood on the ground, he meticulously recorded the events of the night. From the encounter with the giant wolf, the tragic deaths of his brothers, how he fought against it, how he discovered the rune on the wolf's body, and the entire process of how he finally managed to kill it, all were recorded on the sheepskin scroll.

He carefully wrapped the palm-sized piece of fur, bearing the strange rune, which he had cut from the wolf's back, along with one of the black scales that had fallen off the wolf, and the sheepskin scroll recording everything that had happened that night. These two items might provide important clues for the Gongshu clan, helping them to unravel the secret of the wolf's mutation, and solve the mystery that lingered in his heart.

He cupped his hands to his mouth, and blew a series of rapid and rhythmic sounds: "Hoo...hoo...hoo...hooohooo," three long and three short, the emergency contact signal between him and the scout eagle trained by the Gongshu clan. Almost at the same time, a small black dot appeared in the sky, diving towards the ground at an extremely fast speed. The scout eagle, worthy of its title as an aerial spirit, spiraled down from high altitude, accurately finding the man who had issued the call.

The man raised his hands above his head, holding the package in his palms, the important information he had brought back at the risk of his life. The scout eagle flapped its wings, and at the moment it approached the ground, it precisely decelerated, extended its sharp claws, grabbed the package from the man's hands, and then flapped its wings again, soaring into the sky!

"Fly, scout eagle!" The man shouted, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

The scout eagle was extremely fast, and almost in the blink of an eye, it became a small dot, disappearing into the vast night. The man watched the direction in which the scout eagle had gone, his heart filled with anticipation. With the scout eagle's speed, it would return to Fancheng in less than half a day, conveying the information he had brought back to the people of the Gongshu clan.

Fancheng, the Qin Residence

The rain had suddenly stopped, but large snowflakes followed closely behind, fluttering and falling, instantly covering the rooftops, the streets, and also concealing the bloodstains left on the ground, as if a silent cleansing was trying to erase the traces of last night's tragic events.

Gongshu Chou stood alone by the window, his gaze fixed on the snowflakes falling outside, letting the snowflakes fall into his palm. He slowly clenched his fist, the coldness of his palm forming a sharp contrast with the heat in his heart. His thoughts were still immersed in the scene of the young clansmen's tragic deaths that night, the grief and unwillingness as cold and biting as the winter snow.

He slowly turned around, his face grave and solemn. He slowly took out the blood-stained sheepskin scroll from his inner pocket, unfolded it, and laid it flat in front of Qin Yi. He said in a deep voice: "General Qin, this is the sheepskin scroll."

Qin Yi took the sheepskin scroll and carefully read the contents, his face becoming more and more serious as he read. When he saw the mysterious rune recorded on the sheepskin scroll, his brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with doubt and incomprehension.

He raised his head, looked at Gongshu Chou, and asked: "Does the Gongshu clan have any conclusions about this object?"

Gongshu Chou said in a deep voice: "I don't know what it is, but the other elders of our clan will definitely be able to deduce something from the shape, material, and workmanship of the black scale."

Qin Yi nodded. He put away the sheepskin scroll, and asked in confusion: "According to what Mr. Gongshu said, the leading man had already killed the wolf and sent out the information, so why would he still meet with a tragic end?"

Gongshu Chou heard this, and a trace of grief flashed in his eyes. He said in a deep voice: "The man overlooked a fatal detail."