Chapter 8 — Changed the entire Inheritance Lineage to Choose the Wolf King

In the Storm Wolf Clan, the weeks following the fateful holiday passed in an increasingly oppressive atmosphere.

Thiet Phong stood alone on top of a high cliff overlooking the valley, where the sunset dyed the entire Son Lang mountain range red. Ever since the night he accidentally revealed his strange eyes to Yen Chi - the night when, even though he couldn't remember the details, he still felt a strange gap in his memory - a feeling of insecurity had stuck with him endlessly.

He vaguely remembered the conversation with Yen Chi that night, about his vow to investigate the truth, but after that there was a blur, like a cut out of a movie, until he woke up and found himself accusing his own adopted sister in front of his four younger siblings.

“Something is wrong with me,” he whispered to himself, his hand tightening on the stone railing.

As the eldest son, he is used to shouldering responsibility for his younger brothers, accustomed to always having to be the most alert person in every situation. Therefore, the feeling of losing control over his own memories and thoughts made him more confused than anything he had ever experienced — including the life-and-death battles on the border that he had participated in with the clan's patrol all those years ago.

He tried to recall every detail of that night — the heartfelt conversation with Yen Chi, the vow to find the truth, and then... a blank space. It was as if someone had used a black curtain to pull across his mind, erasing everything that happened afterward until he regained consciousness and found himself standing in the middle of the yard, hurling cold accusations at the very adoptive sister he had just promised to protect.

"What are you thinking, boss?"

Second brother's voice rang out behind him, causing Thiet Phong to turn around in surprise. The second brother stood there, holding a jar of wine, his face looking unusually tired.

"Nothing," Thiet Phong replied, but then changed his mind and decided to try asking. "Second brother, have you been feeling... lately that your mind is not clear? Like there are times when you don't remember clearly what you did or thought?"

The second brother paused, a flash of panic flashed through his eyes before quickly hiding it with a forced smile. "What did you say, boss? I'm fine."

But Thiet Phong, with many years of experience as an eldest brother, immediately recognized the evasion in that answer. "Second brother, you can tell me the truth. I don't judge you."

The second brother was silent for a long time, looked down at the jar of wine in his hand, and then finally sighed. "Sometimes... sometimes I wake up and don't remember why I said such harsh words to Yen Chi. I remember that I used to love her so much, big brother. But now every time I think of her, reasons automatically appear in my mind to... not to trust her anymore. I don't understand why."

That confession made Thiet Phong's heart beat faster. This is the first time one of the four younger siblings has admitted this abnormality so clearly.

"Is it related to Tieu Yen?" he asked directly, lowering his voice even though there was no one else around.

The second brother was startled and looked around in panic. "Sir, don't talk so loudly. I... I don't know. Every time I try to think about it seriously, my head hurts, and all my thoughts drift away."

Thiet Phong placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to reassure him. "Okay, I'll figure this out myself. You don't need to worry."

The second brother nodded, but his eyes were still filled with confusion as he left.

Left alone, Thiet Phong looked down into the valley, his determination growing stronger and stronger. Something was really wrong going on in his own family, and no matter how hazy his memories of that night were, he knew he couldn't continue to ignore it.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the patriarch's palace, a silent argument was going on between the Third Brother and the Fourth Brother — something that had never happened before between the two brothers who were always in harmony.

"Tieu Yen clearly likes me more," Third Brother said, his voice somewhat provocative. "She always comes to me whenever she has something to discuss."

"What you said isn't right," the fourth brother retorted, his voice equally harsh — something strange for the quietest brother. "She always comes to see me first, it's just..."

The two stopped mid-sentence, as if suddenly realizing the absurdity of their argument. They looked at each other, an awkward silence reigned.

"What are we doing?" The fourth brother asked, his voice confused. "Why are we arguing about this?"

The third brother couldn't answer, just shook his head, feeling like he had just woken up from a strange delirium. The two stood there, no one said another word, but in each person's heart there was a vague insecurity that they could not yet name.

"We've never argued over anything related to a girl before," the Fourth Brother said, his voice slow as if trying to piece together a forgotten fact. "Even when I was a child, when there were girls in the clan who liked both of us, you only smiled and let me go, never taking it to heart."

"Yes," Third Brother nodded, his eyes distant. "I don't understand why this time is different. It's like there's something pushing me to get your attention, even though inside I don't really understand why I want it so much."

The two quietly looked at each other, that vague insecurity gradually getting bigger, but like many times before, it was quickly forgotten as soon as they returned to their daily work, as if an invisible hand was always waiting to wipe away all the doubts that had just arisen.

Fifth brother, the youngest brother, witnessed the whole scene from afar, filled with confusion. He was the person least affected by Huong Du Or, due to his young age and his body not having fully developed the spirit of the wolf tribe - although he himself did not know the real reason behind this "luck". He only vaguely sensed that something was tearing the bond between his brothers, and he, in his fifteen-year-old innocence, didn't know what to do to stop it.

That night, Fifth Brother secretly went to see Thiet Phong in his private room, clutching the hem of his nightgown like a scared child. "Big brother," he whispered, "I saw Third Brother and Fourth Brother arguing about meaningless things for the past week. They weren't like that before. I'm so scared, big brother. I'm afraid our family is slowly falling apart and no one knows why."

Thiet Phong patted his brother's head, trying to keep his voice reassuring even though his heart was equally filled with insecurity. "Don't worry, big brother will find out the reason. Just trust big brother, and don't tell anyone about this conversation, okay?"

The fifth brother nodded, his eyes still shining with childish fear, before tiptoeing back to his room, leaving Thiet Phong alone with increasingly stronger determination.

That night, when the whole palace fell asleep, Thiet Phong quietly left the room and went to the back garden - where he vaguely remembered seeing Tieu Yen appear at unusually late hours. He hid behind a large tree and waited patiently.

Near midnight, as expected, a familiar figure flitted through the darkness, heading towards a small, rarely visited shed in the far corner of the garden. Thiet Phong held his breath and followed silently, keeping a distance far enough to not be detected.

Before leaving the garden, Thiet Phong stopped for a moment by the wooden warehouse door, carefully remembering its exact location in his mind - the east corner of the wall, next to an old well that few people used, about fifty steps from Tieu Yen's bedroom. He also noticed a brand new lock attached to the door, different from the rusty locks commonly found in other old warehouses in the government — a sign that something important was being kept inside, important enough to require a new layer of protection.

He also realized something else worth noting: Tieu Yen always chose moonless nights, when the darkness was thickest, to conduct her secret meetings — as if she had carefully calculated to minimize the risk of being discovered, even by those with the sharpest wolf sense in the palace.

Little did he know that this action of his tonight would be the first step in a long, dangerous investigation — but also the first step on the road to redemption that would eventually bring him back to the position of the eldest brother that Yen Chi once believed in.