ENG
"With his axe as both weapon and cane,
His brows bushy, his hair white as snow.
Who claims the twilight years are in vain?
For learning late can still make one grow."
Long ago, the Wolf Sentinels were the personal guards of old Lingxuzi. They were masters of the long-hafted axe, and their name was spoken in awe among the yaoguais.
When the Black Wind King returned from Guanyin and rebuilt the garrison in the mountain, he took in many wolf guais who had wandered here from Shituo Ridge. This angered the wolf guais native to Black Wind Mountain. To appease them, the Black Bear Guai pledged to revive old Lingxuzi. The wolf guais then had no choice but to endure in silence. Yet mere days after the awakening, the old wolf vanished, and no one had seen him since. Upon learning of this, the black bear did not look into the matter but allowed a senior grey wolf guai from the Kingdom of Shituo to take old Lingxuzi's seat and even his name.
This roused the local wolf guais to fury and launched protest after protest. To their surprise, the Wolf Sentinels, at the Black Bear Guai's behest, seized the lesser guais who led the unrest. The new Lingxuzi flew into a rage at these guais, threatening to devour them whole. They were spared this fate only by the timely arrival of Guangzhi, the Fireblade Wolf. Thereafter, under the new Lingxuzi's command, the Wolf Sentinels led every patrol of lesser guais on the mountain. Never did anyone ever dare rise against Lingxuzi again.
The Wolf Sentinels were the personal guards of an old figure called Lingxuzi. The poem describes Lingxuzi as an elderly warrior who used his axe as both weapon and cane, with bushy brows and white hair, and it praises the idea that someone can still learn and grow late in life. The Sentinels themselves were feared specialists in fighting with long-handled axes, and their name carried weight among the yaoguais.
The trouble begins when the Black Wind King returns from Guanyin and rebuilds the mountain garrison. He brings with him many wolf guais from a place called Shituo Ridge. The arrival of these outsiders angers the wolf guais who were native to Black Wind Mountain, because their balance of power and status is being changed by newcomers.
To calm the native wolves, the Black Bear Guai promises to revive the old Lingxuzi. The native wolf guais accept this, but only a few days after the revival the old Lingxuzi disappears and is never seen again. The Black Bear Guai does not investigate this disappearance.
Instead of looking for the missing original, the Black Bear Guai allows a senior grey wolf guai from Shituo to sit in Lingxuzi’s seat and even take his name. The local wolf guais are furious at this takeover and stage protests against the imposition of an outsider in Lingxuzi’s place.
Acting on the Black Bear Guai’s orders, the Wolf Sentinels seize the lesser guais who led the unrest. The new Lingxuzi threatens to devour these prisoners, and they are saved from that fate only by the timely arrival of Guangzhi, the Fireblade Wolf, who intervenes to spare them.
After that incident, the new Lingxuzi takes full control. The Wolf Sentinels, now under his command, lead every patrol of lesser guais on the mountain and enforce his rule. From then on no one dared rise against Lingxuzi again. The original Lingxuzi’s fate remains unknown, while the name and seat of Lingxuzi have been used to cement the new leadership.