Chapter 78
78 HALF MOON, FULL MOON
Stories about werewolves were nothing new to Bai Chen. Even when he was in his previous life, he had even heard of fantasy creatures in movies and novels.
Yes, werewolves were just creatures from fantasy in his previous life, and that was why he didn’t really care about them back then.
He wasn’t a fan of fantasy, but he still knew some stories about the creatures, including what would happen to them on a full moon night. There were several stories about it, and Bai Chen didn’t know which ones could be applied in this world.
One of the stories said that werewolves would be at their strongest on a full moon night, and they couldn’t even control their bodies as if they lost their minds because of the full moon. They would turn into very dangerous creatures during the full moon, and they would also eat humans because of their hunger.
Besides that story, there was also one story that said that werewolves would not be able to maintain their human form on a full moon night, and they would automatically change into their wolf form. The wolves would continue to howl during the night of the full moon to show that they were the strongest creatures of the night.
Bai Chen did know what was the reality in this world, but he still thought that the two were irrational. It was still hard for him to believe that a being would be able to switch between a human form and a wolf form, and even the existence of a werewolf was ludicrous for Bai Chen.
But he was in a fantasy-like world now, and the things in this world were beyond his imagination. Werewolves did exist in this world, they even had several ranks to categorize their strength and abilities, and they would also become dangerous creatures during the night of the full moon.
Yes, things that were nothing more than fairy tales to Bai Chen were a reality in this world. From Ma Qiao, he knew that the werewolves would return to their wolf form during the full moon night, and they would become stronger in that form. The servant even said that werewolves would turn into ‘monsters’ on a full moon night.
The old servant said that the werewolves would lose their rationality that night, and they would become bloodthirsty creatures and have the desire to eat humans. That was why Ma Qiao said that Zhu Ge, as a human, had to leave Dong Lang Empire tomorrow.
.....
Bai Chen was taken aback by the information, and he didn’t seem to be able to digest it well. Zhu Ge had said that he would help him prepare for the event, but the man had to leave tomorrow.
Bai Chen looked blank when he just got the information. He had trusted Zhu Ge for the event, thinking that the man did indeed have a lot of knowledge about the event, but in the end, they had no time to prepare for the event together.
With a heavy sigh, he looked up at the moon hanging above the garden pavilion, just like he did the night before.
Indeed, he was in the same position last night, and he even praised the beauty of the moon when he was deep in thought. Ma Qiao said that the full moon would occur in a week, and the moon was still in its half-moon phase tonight.
In a week, he would become a monster, and he couldn’t imagine it until now. He thought that being a werewolf wouldn’t be very difficult since he could still eat, talk, and walk normally like in his previous life, but everything would change for him during the full moon.
Right now, Bai Chen was troubled by two problems. The first problem was related to Zhu Ge, and the second problem was related to his condition during the full moon. And suddenly, the first problem that bothered him appeared in the garden pavilion.
Bai Chen heard footsteps, and when he looked up, he could see Zhu Ge had stopped walking when he arrived at the garden pavilion.
Bai Chen was still sitting on the floor in the garden pavilion, and the man in red suddenly followed as he positioned himself next to him.
“Lao Ma has told me about the full moon,” Zhu Ge broke the silence, but when Bai Chen turned to the man, he saw that the man was not even looking at him. Instead, the black-haired man stared at the half-moon.
Ever since Bai Chen returned to Jing Pavilion after going to Rongyao Imperial Palace, he had not seen Zhu Ge at all. He immediately entered the pavilion after arriving, and he did not see the man in front of the pavilion at that time. He did not go out either, and that was why he only met Zhu Ge tonight.
“Mhm,” Bai Chen replied as he looked up at the sky again. “Did you know about the full moon before Ma Qiao told you today?”
The half-moon was not as beautiful as the full moon, but the two men seem to be captivated by the simple beauty. Even if it was like a disc being split in two, and the light from the moon wasn’t as bright as the full disc, the two of them chose to look up instead of looking at each other.
“Yes,” Zhu Ge replied almost in a whisper. “I did know about it before lao Ma told me today, but I thought I could still be here during the full moon.”
Now, Bai Chen finally left the moon as he turned to the raven-haired man again. “You plan to stay here during the full moon? Are you crazy? You are a human, and it will threaten your life if you insist on staying here when the full moon occurs.”
Bai Chen immediately went against Zhu Ge’s wishes, and the man finally turned to him. Hearing how serious Bai Chen was, Zhu Ge chuckled instead of being sympathetic. “I did plan to stay, but after hearing the full story from lao Ma, I decided to change my mind. I will be leaving your palace tomorrow, Your Highness.”
Bai Chen would be lying if he said that he wasn’t worried about Zhu Ge when he had just heard that the man was planning to stay in the palace during the full moon. Even if Bai Chen did need that man’s help for the Beast Hunting Event, he wasn’t a selfish person who would sacrifice a human.
Ma Qiao had told him that the werewolves would lose their consciousness during the full moon, and all they knew was to eat and eat, and their favorite food was humans.
And not only that, the werewolves would start to experience changes in their bodies a week before the full moon, and they wouldn’t fully return to their true selves until a week after the full moon.
Bai Chen was confused when Ma Qiao said that no humans were allowed to enter the werewolf empire for two weeks, and he thought that the rule was strange because the full moon would only last for one night. But, after he got a further explanation from the servant, he was finally able to understand the reason.
Werewolves would be very sensitive when they were around humans in that period, and that was why the werewolf empire didn’t let humans enter their territory to escape the heated atmosphere between werewolves and humans.
Ma Qiao also said that four strong cultivators of the human empire would help to create a barrier between the werewolf and the human empire for two weeks, and that was why no humans could go to the werewolf empire and vice versa.
For two weeks, the two empires would be separated by the invisible barrier set up by those cultivators, and that was why there would be no interaction between the two empires for two weeks.
That was new information from Ma Qiao, and Bai Chen was lucky that Ma Qiao was willing to tell him all of it without feeling suspicious of him. The servant only said that the Prince was only flustered by the Emperor’s words which shocked him, and he thought that it was normal that the Prince could not think clearly at this time.
“So...” Bai Chen finally opened his mouth after a few seconds of silence. “I know that you won’t be staying with me while I’m preparing for the Beast Hunting Event, but you will return to my palace when I enter the Forbidden Forest for the event, right?”
Bai Chen knew that the Beast Hunting Event would be held in fifteen days, and that was the day when the barrier between the werewolf and the human empire would be lifted.
He was sure that Zhu Ge would return to his palace that day, but to his surprise, the man said otherwise, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I won’t be able to return to your palace when you enter the Forbidden Forest for the event.”