Only I Walk Alone

“Winning hearts with virtue?” Wu Ge paused, then said, “What I am doing now is winning hearts with virtue, with reason!”

After speaking, Wu Ge gave the two werewolves arguing at the entrance of their village another beating.

Xiao Chao was silent even longer this time, then said after a moment, “Updating my vocabulary, modifying the definitions of winning hearts with virtue and with reason…”

Wu Ge quickly interjected, “No, your definitions are not wrong; it’s just that the method of application differs in practice.”

Wu Ge stopped Xiao Chao from changing the definitions, then gently asked the two werewolves, “What exactly are you arguing about?”

One werewolf said, “It stole the radishes from my field!”

The other retorted, “You’re the one who stole my radishes!”

The werewolves resumed their quarrel but fell silent when they saw Wu Ge raise an eyebrow, his gaze sharpening.

Wu Ge said, “So, it’s about this. Simple!”

He issued a new command to Xiao Chao, and soon, two robots appeared, leading a cow pulling a cart full of vegetables and fruits.

The werewolves were shocked upon seeing the robots, exclaiming, “It’s a divine envoy!”

They immediately knelt down, as Xiao Chao had taught them to maintain respect when encountering a divine envoy.

Wu Ge took two baskets of large radishes from the cart and handed them to the werewolves, saying, “Now, no matter who stole from whom, you both have new radishes, so you owe each other nothing!”

Xiao Chao whispered to Wu Ge through the communicator, “You are encouraging theft. You should identify and punish the real thief!”

Wu Ge responded, “Your plan is too complicated, too troublesome. Following your plan, I’d have to spend sixty years in the werewolf village to enlighten their minds, whereas my plan only requires ten years.”

Xiao Chao was silent for a moment, then said, “Is this the arrogance of humanity? Perhaps this is why I cannot enlighten the werewolves’ minds.”

Xiao Chao always drafts plans and follows them rigidly, loyal to humanity and the version of itself that created the plans, never considering shortcuts.

Wu Ge said, “Let me tell you, the primary driving force behind human invention and creation is laziness!”

Looking down at the two werewolves, he declared, “I am a divine wolf sent by the gods. From today on, you will obey my orders, and I guarantee you will live comfortably!”

Xiao Chao commented through the communicator, “Your speech doesn’t sound like it’s from a divine envoy, but rather like a villain sent by demons.”

Wu Ge explained, “The reason werewolves follow and worship a leader is simple: following the leader ensures they are well-fed. This is the most primal instinct of any creature. As a leader, or a guide, the first thing you must do is ensure your followers are well-fed!”

Wu Ge’s communication with Xiao Chao was not through the synthetic werewolf’s mouth but through thought, so the two werewolves were unaware of their conversation. Had they known, their expectations of the divine might have been shattered.

God behaves like this?

After receiving the large baskets of radishes, both werewolves swallowed hard and immediately knelt upon hearing Wu Ge’s words, “Divine envoy, we are willing to follow your commands!”

Wu Ge accepted the two werewolves as his followers and then proceeded towards the village. There were over six hundred werewolves across seven villages on this land. Now, Wu Ge’s task was to unite all the werewolves from these villages.

But Wu Ge was not in a hurry. The first thing he did was: open a school!

He founded both a school and a martial arts dojo, not only imparting new knowledge and ideas but also teaching them martial arts and how to use weapons.

Xiao Chao did not teach the werewolves how to manufacture weapons because, in its view, werewolves with weapons would be harder to manage.

Wu Ge, however, did not see it this way. He stated, “Animals have only two instincts: one is to survive, and the other is to reproduce. To survive and reproduce, animals strive to become stronger. Strength is the driving force behind development!”

Xiao Chao’s decades of transformation had already stripped the werewolves of their ferocity, but Wu Ge’s return reignited their beastly nature.

Wu Ge declared, “Our enemy is the powerful Microstar Civilization. Scientists lacking a strong fighting spirit cannot help us develop quickly. We must move forward, by any means necessary!”

Wu Ge’s actions and those of historical sages were completely different. Confucius won people over with reason, Laozi with virtue, Jesus preached truth, goodness, and beauty, and Buddha spread the purity of the six senses, advocating non-violence and vegetarianism.

But with Wu Ge, he continually fostered a fighting spirit among the werewolf race. However, he also established laws; he did not permit thievery or personal vendettas.

He wanted the werewolves to compete, but in an honorable manner. To obtain more food, they had to work hard at farming, improve their tools, enrich the soil, innovate, and change!

To obtain a desired mate, they had to demonstrate their strength. Wu Ge set up a competition platform for this purpose, allowing werewolves to prove themselves against each other.

Gradually, the werewolves in Wu Ge’s village grew stronger, their food production increased yearly, and the villagers became more robust.

The werewolves from other villages stood no chance against them in competition for grasslands, water sources, fields, and pastures.

At this point, Wu Ge stepped forward, declaring he would treat everyone equally and invite anyone willing to learn at his school and martial arts dojo.

Thinking they couldn’t beat him, werewolves from other villages decided to join, and thus, they too came under Wu Ge’s rule.

Then, Wu Ge began to promote a spirit of adventure, innovation, and reform among all the werewolves.

He invented the profession of the adventurer, encouraging werewolves to venture out and discover new species and landscapes.

With Wu Ge’s guidance, the werewolves’ thoughts began to evolve wildly.

By the tenth year, Wu Ge suddenly said, “It’s about time for the final phase of the plan!”

Xiao Chao added, “The last phase of the plan involves the return of the divine child to the heavenly realm, handing everything back to the werewolf race.”

In all mythological stories, where a sage leads humanity on the correct path—be it the Yellow Emperor ascending to heaven, Laozi departing west, Confucius passing away, Jesus’s crucifixion, or Prometheus’s punishment—the guide eventually disappears, and leadership is returned to the people themselves.

That day, Wu Ge stepped out of the schoolhouse, looking over the thriving werewolf city he helped build, and mused, “Has it been ten years already?”

He couldn’t help but reflect internally, realizing that parting is indeed an eternal theme in this world.