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Who knew that after a night of turmoil, apart from Xuanhua, both Zhang Sheng and I were utterly exhausted? In a daze, before we could wait for Sheng Xiong to wake up, we had already fallen asleep on the table, leaving only Xuanhua watching over the mummified Sheng Xiong. I don't know how long it had been when someone shook me awake. "Company Commander! Company Commander! Sheng Xiong is awake!" I looked up to see it was Xuanhua. Glancing at Sheng Xiong, I noticed the green light in his eyes had completely vanished, replaced by an expression of fear and confusion. Stuffed with socks, he couldn't speak, only making muffled sounds.
Xuanhua watched closely and immediately woke me up when he saw Sheng Xiong was conscious. I rubbed my eyes and kicked Zhang Sheng with my foot to wake him up as well. I gestured for him to take the socks out of Sheng Xiong's mouth. Zhang Sheng hesitated, glancing at Sheng Xiong before cautiously pulling the socks from his mouth. As soon as the socks were out, Sheng Xiong exclaimed, "What am I doing here? What did you all see last night? Did anything happen?"
Hearing him say this reassured me that Sheng Xiong had returned to normal. I leaned closer and patted his head. "You really put us through a lot!" And it was true; after waking up, I felt sore all over. How long had it been since I'd engaged in such intense activity? Rolling around like that was no joke.
I looked around; it was still dark. Checking the time, it was already five o'clock. It seemed there was no point in trying to sleep anymore, so I pulled a chair and sat down across from Sheng Xiong, instructing Zhang Sheng and Xuanhua to untie him.
Once Sheng Xiong was freed, I pointed at the chair in front of him, indicating he should sit down. After Zhang Sheng closed the door to the Learning Room, I leaned back against the chair and said, "Wow, you can actually transform! If I hadn't experienced it myself, I would never believe someone like you exists! So tell me, what other secrets do you have?"
Sheng Xiong grimaced slightly; he must have felt pain throughout his body. He touched himself and asked with a pained expression, "Did we just have a fight?"
Zhang Sheng chimed in from the side, "Dude! Don't you remember? You dared to fight the Company Commander?! You're the first one in New Recruits Company History!"
Sheng Xiong's mouth twitched as he sighed, "Company Commander, I genuinely didn't know! My family has this condition; it's hereditary or maybe even skips generations. My grandfather had it too; now it seems like I've inherited it as well. Those in my family who have this condition tend to act out during full moons. When we're awake, we might feel a bit off but can control ourselves; however, once we fall asleep, things get worse—we lose our self-awareness and don't know what we're doing."
The information was overwhelming! Zhang Sheng and Xuanhua exchanged incredulous glances while I interjected with another question: "But there's one more thing you haven't mentioned—have you noticed any changes in your body?" Sheng Xiong hung his head and replied, "Yes, there are significant changes. First off, my hair grows uncontrollably; even during normal times it grows wildly. If I don't shave my beard regularly, it'll stick out everywhere. Thankfully wearing clothes helps hide it; as long as I don’t shave it all off, once it reaches a certain length it stops growing so much. Then during full moons, there's this overwhelming feeling of power swelling inside me—it feels like I have endless energy."
No wonder his beard grew so fast! At first, I suspected he had hypertrichosis; now it seemed far more complicated than that. After thinking for a moment, I asked Sheng Xiong, "Are you just past eighteen?" He looked surprised but nodded. My question wasn't because I knew his exact age but rather because I vaguely sensed a possibility: "If I'm not mistaken, your family likely starts experiencing these changes around eighteen years old? So really, you haven't gone through many instances of this situation."
Sheng Xiong exclaimed in surprise, "How did you know?" I waved my hand dismissively and continued, "I figured you're an Urban Soldier; in City with conditions like yours it's hard to keep hidden. The only possibility is that those in your family learn to control their changes gradually after reaching adulthood or manage their emotions or behaviors to blend into society. Since you're newly of age, it's understandable that you can't control yourself yet."
At that moment Zhang Sheng interjected again: " Sheng Xiong, do you know if anyone else in your family with this condition has green light in their eyes during full moons?"
"Green light?" Sheng Xiong paused for a moment before responding, "No one ever mentioned that! My grandfather and father only told me it's a hereditary condition; they didn’t elaborate further. They sent me to the army to train and learn how to control my emotions so that one day I could live like a normal person. Originally I planned not to sleep during full moons if my mood got too wild—I thought I'd just stay awake all night—but who knew New Recruits Company would be so exhausting? Last night I accidentally fell asleep! Did my condition act up badly? What did I do?" It seemed that Sheng Xiong didn’t fully understand his own situation; probably only his grandfather knew the whole truth.
However, in the case of Sheng Xiong, I still couldn't determine whether it was a hereditary mental illness or something else. If it were a mental disorder, perhaps psychological suggestion could explain the reason behind Sheng Xiong's enhanced strength, but it certainly wouldn't account for his agility as he bounced around on the ground! And what about the green light flashing in his eyes? How could that be explained?
While I was lost in thought, Zhang Sheng beside me suddenly exclaimed, "Werewolf!" We all looked at him in surprise. Zhang Sheng continued, "I'm not just saying this because I've watched too many movies; I'm just guessing. They might very well belong to a so-called werewolf family, where genetic mutations can occur every other generation, producing such individuals. Perhaps there have been beings like them in the past, which is why the legend of werewolves exists!" To be honest, I had thought about this possibility too, but I always found it absurd—how could werewolves actually exist? However, looking at it now, many things are indeed mythologized and exaggerated; what Zhang Sheng suggested wasn't entirely impossible.
I knew Zhang Sheng was also an Urban Soldier and had seen a lot. After considering his words, I found myself believing him to some extent. He went on to say, "Many people have heard of the Witch-Hunt in the 16th century, but few know about the Werewolf Hunting Movement that occurred around the same time. People then generally believed that werewolves could turn their skin inside out to revert to human form. Consequently, torture methods included cutting open the skin to check for hair underneath. During this hunt for werewolves, many people were executed under the accusation of being werewolves. In France between 1500 and 1600, over ten thousand people were identified as werewolves. I think history often has hidden truths; could those ten thousand people have been part of a family like Sheng Xiong's?"
Zhang Sheng's words inspired me greatly. A realization struck me as I said, "Actually, there's another possibility: atavism. Perhaps this is the true nature of Sheng Xiong's family identity. Humans evolved from primates; our genes contain animalistic traits and a sixth sense for danger. However, with technological advancements and increasingly comfortable environments, many people's genes can no longer express these abilities due to generations of selection. Yet some families might still activate or partially activate these latent genetic fragments for various reasons, resulting in differences from ordinary people. Who knows? Even Vampire Legends might have actual beings similar to Sheng Xiong."
Everyone exchanged glances as if we all felt this might be the only reasonable explanation. I looked at the three of them seriously and said, "Since we've uncovered the truth, we must keep this matter a secret for Sheng Xiong's future. As for you, Sheng Xiong, you'll temporarily move to Company Headquarters and live with the Clerk while participating in training as usual. I'll think of ways to help you resolve your issues."
Seeing Sheng Xiong's grateful expression made me smile slightly. I wasn't deceiving him; I genuinely had an idea—a certain medicine that might help Sheng Xiong cope normally during the full moon—but we'd need to test it first to know for sure. How everyone would assist Sheng Xiong in returning to a normal life would be another story altogether.
At this point, you might feel confused: do werewolves really exist? Let me share a real report: surveillance cameras in Bahia, Brazil captured footage of a werewolf in January 2014. To protect residents' safety, the town had to impose a curfew starting at 9 PM. The mysterious creature was first spotted by a local named Ping Ge. This creature stood about five feet tall and was completely black. It attacked Ping Ge, but he managed to escape. Initially ridiculed by others, more and more people began witnessing this creature before they finally believed that werewolves truly existed. Now, surveillance cameras have directly captured images of the werewolf. A 44-second video has been uploaded to a video website; you can look it up online.
After watching this footage, do you think werewolves exist or not?
(Werewolf talk is done; stay tuned for "Face Change," "Love Like the Wind," and "The Work of Chasing the Wind." Tomorrow will be even more exciting!)
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