Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Silence Potion

Jasper’s POV

In the study, a pine-wood fire burned brightly.

The firelight danced along the edge of the walnut desk, stretching my shadow long until it crawled up the opposite wall like a silent fissure.

I sat in my chair, holding an uncapped fountain pen. Its nib hovered over a topographical map of Black Water Town, refusing to descend.

My intelligence captain, Max, had already been waiting for a while. He didn’t approach the desk, instead standing by the door in the space where warm light met deep shadow. He placed the canvas bag he was carrying on the floor, crouched down, and unzipped it.

Inside was a single, thin manila folder, sealed with wax and stamped with a blurry wolf’s head insignia—the mark of the internal interrogation department.

He tore open the seal and pulled out a single sheet of A4 paper. The edges were worn and the creases deep, as if it had been repeatedly folded and unfolded many times. He smoothed it out on the upper right corner of my desk, using a Crystal Paperweight to hold one corner down.

“My King, the third squad of the Gray Wolf Assault Team was captured last night. It took us seven hours, but we broke their leader.”

He paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing, before continuing.

“He said… Derek created a new potion in his Black Water Town lab. It’s called the ’Silence Potion’.”

I stared at the paper.

It was a handwritten summary of the interrogation transcript. The script was messy, with ink bleeding in several places, but the key information was clear:

[Q]: What is the Silence Potion?

[A]: It’s not a poison. It’s a ’lid.’ Drink it, and your mind shuts down. You can’t hear distant sounds, and your heart is locked tight.

[Q]: How is it used?

[A]: They were ordered to take it when fighting you. Derek said that no matter how powerful the Wolf King’s ’King’s Eye’ is, it can’t lift this lid.

I leaned back against my chair and closed my eyes.

The chair let out a faint creak.

“So, even if the elders vote to allow me to use the King’s Eye on the entire pack, I won’t be able to identify the traitors,” I said softly. It wasn’t a question, but a confirmation.

“That’s right,” Max nodded. “If the traitors take the Silence Potion beforehand.”

I said nothing more.

In the fireplace, a piece of pinewood suddenly split with a sharp CRACK, sending sparks flying.

Max didn’t move or press me, just stood there quietly like a statue gilded by the firelight.

I opened my eyes and waved him away.

Alone, I walked out to the terrace and dialed Elder Silas’s encrypted number.

The phone rang seven times before it was answered.

“Hello?” Silas’s voice came through, soft, as if he’d just set down a cup of hot tea. “Jasper… you’re still awake?”

“Elder, my apologies for the late hour,” I said, my voice deliberately slow. “There’s something I’d like you to confirm for me.”

“Mm…” he grunted. A few seconds of silence followed, broken only by the faint rustle of paper through the receiver. “Go on.”

“Derek has created a new potion,” I said. “It’s called the ’Silence Potion.’ Made with Moonlight Moss and Sea Anemone Alkaloid. If a Werewolf drinks it, their mind ’shuts down’—the King’s Eye can’t get in.”

On the other end of the line, Silas didn’t answer immediately.

He just sighed softly, like the wind whispering through a patch of dry reeds.

“The Silence Potion…” His voice was slow, as if he were reminiscing. “That name… I’ve heard it before.”

He paused, then added, “It’s mentioned in the ancient texts. A type of moss that grows deep in the mines, with leaves like closed eyes. And a small creature from the sea whose breath can slow a person’s heartbeat.”

His voice grew even softer. “When they’re mixed together and brewed into a draught… the connection between Werewolves disappears.”

My fingers tightened around the receiver.

“Is there an antidote?” I asked.

“An antidote…” His voice slowed. “There is a page in the book that specifically explains how to break it.”

He paused for a long time.

So long that I could hear his slow breathing through the receiver, and the ticking of an old grandfather clock in the distance.

“Let me go look for it,” he said.

Then came the sound of turning pages. Slow and light, like falling autumn leaves.

One page.

Two pages.

Three pages.

The rustling of paper was exceptionally clear in the silent study.

Finally, he spoke. There was no surprise in his voice, only the calm of settled dust.

“I’ve found it.”

He paused, then added, “But the page… has been torn out.”

I listened.

He coughed lightly. “Torn out quite cleanly. Not even a shred was left behind.”

I was silent.

Through the receiver, there was only the sound of his slow breathing.

He paused, his voice dropping as if he were talking to himself.

“So he’s been preparing for this all along.”

My heart turned to ice as I held the phone.

“It seems his failed coup ten years ago taught Derek not to rely solely on brute force,” I said, agreeing with Silas. “This time, he’s planned everything meticulously.”

“Yes,” Silas replied, not saying much more. “You… be careful.”

The line went dead.

I set down the receiver.

I didn’t move, just stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace for a long time.

The firelight reflected on the Crystal Paperweight, shimmering and distorting until it finally coalesced into the blurry, wavering outline of a wolf’s head.

「Lila’s bedroom.」

It was quiet inside.

The morning light had yet to filter in; only a wall lamp cast a warm, yellow halo of light. The wool carpet was thick, muffling any sound of footsteps. The air was filled with the scent of lilies—faint, but constant, as if she were still here.

It was that scent. Like a thin cord, it suddenly tightened around my temples.

My Adam’s apple bobbed.

I couldn’t hold it back.

A searing heat exploded from the base of my spine and shot up to the back of my neck. I arched my back, my shoulders tensing, as a suppressed growl rumbled in my throat.

My canines tore through my gums. My nails grew explosively, digging deep into my palms.

I dropped low, my bare feet now covered in thick pads that made no sound on the carpet. In the dimness, my golden, vertical pupils glowed, narrowing into cold, thin slits.

Then, I lifted my left forepaw and gently pressed its thickly padded palm onto the pillow.

The image of Lila running from Moon Hidden Villa in tears, our embrace after we reconciled, the uncertainty of breaking her seal, the massive game Derek had been setting up in Black Water Town for years…

All of it was more daunting than the first time I went feral and was locked away in the Forbidden Forest.

In this bedroom filled with her faint scent, my heart swung violently between turmoil and tranquility.

Until—TING.

An extremely light, clear sound, like a dewdrop falling from a high cliff into a deep pool.

It wasn’t a sound.

It was a feeling.

On my left forepaw, without any warning, I felt a real, slightly cool touch, as if from a calloused hand.

As if someone had gently tapped the tip of my claw with their fingertip.

My eyes flew open.

My vertical pupils contracted violently.

Before me was still Lila’s bedroom.

But my consciousness “saw” it.

An extremely faint, extremely blurry, yet undeniably real signal was traveling from hundreds of miles away, piercing the barrier of silence to reach my very nerve endings—

It was telling me:

’She is still conscious.’

’She is still alive.’

’She has not been erased.’

It lasted for only an instant.

The signal came, and then it was gone.

Like a receding tide, leaving behind nothing but a damp trace on the sand.

Lying prostrate on the pillow, my heavy panting gradually subsided. The short, silver-gray fur covering my body began to slowly recede, revealing human skin underneath. My fangs retracted, my vertical pupils dilated, and the gold in them faded, eventually returning to their usual amber.

I slowly straightened up, stretching my stiff neck.

’It’s Lila. I’ve found her.’

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