The convoy stopped near the foot of the mountain. Ji Yu began directing people to find a suitable place to set up camp, take a short rest, and wait for the snowstorm to pass.
Fires were lit in several carriages, and the light from the butter lamps was as small as beans.
The snow fell heavily and the weather was bitterly cold. It was rare to see such a large merchant convoy in the wilderness. Several hunters nearby showed joy in their eyes. After hesitating for a while, one tall, broad-shouldered man rose, hunched his head down, and walked over through the wind and snow.
When he was still six meters away, before the convoy could even shout at him, he stopped in his tracks and said loudly, “Which gentleman is in charge here?”
Everyone in the convoy paused for a moment. Ji Yu stepped forward two paces and said, “What is it?”
“Greetings, sir.” After bowing to Ji Yu, the man said, “We were here hunting white foxes when we unexpectedly encountered snow wolves. One of my friends was injured by a snow wolf. I beg you, sir, to have the physician in your convoy save the lives of the two of them. I will repay you with a white fox.”
On long journeys, merchant convoys usually had physicians traveling with them. Even if there was no physician, there would still be people with some medical knowledge, and medicinal materials and the like would certainly not be lacking.
The internal organs of white foxes could be used as medicine, and their fur was also rare. They moved agilely and were extremely difficult to catch. Even when caught, they were usually either young or old, and the fox fur would inevitably be somewhat damaged. Therefore, the fur of a prime adult white fox could sometimes fetch a thousand gold, but even then there was a price but no market.
Seeing that Ji Yu was moved, the man quickly waved toward the campfire.
Another hunter hurried over carrying a cloth bag.
The man took the bag, reached in, and pulled out the white fox that was still struggling inside. He stepped forward and handed it to Ji Yu with both hands.
It seemed to be an underage little snow fox, only about the size of two palms. Under the faint reflection from the snowy ground, one could see that the limbs of this round-furred little creature were bound with strips of cloth. It was trembling and making low whimpering sounds, sounding utterly aggrieved.
“What is this?” Longgu Buwang could not sit still in the carriage, so he got down to walk around. He saw this little creature and curiously reached out to touch it.
Seeing that Longgu Buwang was dressed magnificently, the man immediately answered, “Young master, this is a snow fox. When it is a little older, its fur can be exchanged for gold.”
“I want this one. Ji… brother, pay for it,” Longgu Buwang said as he took the snow fox.
The Longgu clan was enormously wealthy in the state of Wey. Longgu Buwang had been born with a golden spoon in his mouth and spent money like dirt without the slightest hesitation. He did have two white fox furs, but he had never seen a live white fox before, and could not help muttering, “I thought it was a fierce beast, but it is no different from a puppy.”
Ji Yu shook his head helplessly and ordered someone to summon the physician.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you, young master.” The man was overjoyed.
By the faint light, Ji Yu carefully sized him up. On his face was a beard as thick and flourishing as wild grass, and only his thick, sword-like brows could be seen. His eyes were bright and spirited, and his build was a rare sort of stalwart strength and robustness. Praising him inwardly, Ji Yu cupped his hands and asked, “Men as loyal and righteous as all of you are truly rare. May I ask your honorable name, and from which state you come?”
“I dare not accept such praise.” The man hastily returned the salute. Seeing that Ji Yu had already ordered someone to summon the physician, he felt relieved and answered, “I am called Chi Ju. I was originally from the state of Chu. Now I make my home wherever I am, living by hunting.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than a laugh came from one of the carriages, and then a voice picked up the thread and asked, “Brave sir, how long have you lived by hunting?”
Chi Ju could tell the voice was very young, but thought that since the speaker was sitting in a carriage, he was probably also someone of rank, so he answered truthfully, “Only a little less than half a year.”
“No wonder.” Inside the carriage, Song Chuyi stroked the snow-white ball of fur on the couch and murmured.
“Sir, what do you mean by that?” Longgu Buwang asked.
Song Chuyi smiled and said, “This is not a snow fox…”
“What?” Longgu Buwang suddenly sat up straight, anger on his face, and looked as if he were about to rush out to settle accounts with someone. Longgu Buwang had bought this thing to give to Song Chuyi as a gift for taking him as a disciple, but it turned out not to be a snow fox. How could he have ever suffered such humiliation?
Song Chuyi quickly stopped him. “Calm down. This is a snow wolf. Raised to adulthood, it is no worse than a snow fox.”
“A snow wolf?” Longgu Buwang was stunned for a moment. He picked up the trembling little thing and looked at it for a long while, then suddenly burst out laughing. “I knew it. How could this thing look like a dog and not be impressive at all?”
Song Chuyi had just wanted to praise him, but then heard him immediately add, “A snow fox must surely be fiercer.”
The people outside stifled their laughter. Ji Yu gave a dry cough twice and waved for Chi Ju to go over with the physician.
Three drops of cold sweat appeared on Song Chuyi’s forehead. “Buwang, this is a snow wolf cub.”
An adult snow wolf is more than one and half meters in length and massive in size, much larger than the alpha wolf typically found in ordinary mountain regions. It is extremely fierce and has especially good stamina. In a single hunt, it can travel four hundred li in pursuit of its prey. Even if an ordinary animal is not bitten to death by it, it will still be dragged to exhaustion.
These five people probably had not encountered the snow wolf by chance. Rather, they lacked experience and mistook a snow wolf cub for a white fox, and the mother wolf refused to let the matter go.
“Ji Yu,” Song Chuyi said loudly.
“Here.” Ji Yu immediately walked to the side of the carriage.
“Watch the movements nearby and guard against a snow wolf attack,” Song Chuyi said.
“Yes.” A single short sentence was enough to make Ji Yu tense up. Encountering a snow wolf on a snowy night was even more terrifying than encountering an ordinary pack of wolves. Their bodies were completely white, no different from the snow, and they moved without making a sound. If they were caught completely off guard, perhaps even these hundred or so people would not be enough for it to tear apart.
Song Chuyi looked at the little ball of fluff on the couch and smiled helplessly. She really did have a kind of fate with wolves in this life. Encountering a wolf as soon as she went out made her think of the pack of wolves last time, and thinking of that made her think of Zhao Yilou.
In her previous life, there had been countless people who died before Song Chuyi’s eyes, and even those she could remember were very few. If it was said that she liked handsome men, then in her previous life she had also seen quite a few beautiful men who died young, but they were not necessarily deeply imprinted in her memory. Yet at this moment she had to admit that she was still brooding over Zhao Yilou’s death.
The reason was actually very simple, and Song Chuyi understood it clearly. She was a strategist. In scheming and deception, truth and falsehood were hard to distinguish, and sincerity was difficult to discern. But when she suffered the most humiliating and most painful defeat of her entire life, the first person she saw when she opened her eyes was Zhao Yilou, who was extremely guarded, yet had easily handed over all his trust to her. She understood that a friendship without any calculation would be very difficult to have again.
Song Chuyi regretted not having treated him with absolute sincerity, but if time were turned back again, she still would have found it hard to do so.
“Sir, sir.” Longgu Buwang had been talking to himself for quite a while, but seeing that Song Chuyi was spacing out, he could not help calling out twice.
Song Chuyi came back to her senses and heard the snow wolf on the couch whimper twice, inching bit by bit toward the corner, and finally curling up into a tiny ball against the wall of the carriage.
“Is this thing really very formidable?” Longgu Buwang asked in disbelief as he watched the snow wolf’s clumsy and timid movements.
“I estimate that this snow wolf is not even two months old and probably has not even been weaned yet. From an infant, can you see the awe-inspiring appearance of him becoming a general in the future?” Song Chuyi said.
Longgu Buwang cupped his hands and said, “I have received your teaching.”
Song Chuyi had only said this casually, and it merely sounded as if it made some sense. But in that era, respecting one’s teacher was an important measure of a scholar’s moral character. Once a teacher, always a father… or mother. One could argue over doctrines, but one could not disobey one’s teacher.
“Ji Huan,” Song Chuyi called from beside the window.
“Here,” Ji Huan said as he approached and waited for instructions.
Song Chuyi said, “Have someone call that man from earlier over here.”
“Yes.” Ji Huan acknowledged the order and then told Yun Ruo to go call the man.
Before long, Song Chuyi heard Chi Ju’s voice. “You summoned me. What instructions do you have, sir?”
Chi Ju had originally thought that the one sitting in the carriage was also a young nobleman. But when he heard Yun Ruo and the others all call him teacher, he changed how he addressed him as well.
“You all encountered an adult snow wolf attack? Please describe the situation in detail,” Song Chuyi said.
Chi Ju thought Song Chuyi did not believe him and felt insulted in his heart. But on second thought, the person in charge earlier had ordered his subordinates to guard against a snow wolf attack, which did not seem like disbelief. So he temporarily suppressed his temper and said, “About two months ago, we caught a white fox here and sold it in Puyang for a good price. I saw that it was only a fox cub, so the brothers and I discussed coming again to catch a big one, and then we could rest for a year or two. We searched around here for more than half a month, and finally discovered fox tracks…”
The several of them were overjoyed and followed the tracks to search. In the end, they found a “white fox” in a crack in the rocks. But strangely, this white fox did not move as lightning-fast as the first one. Instead, it was dazed and moved very slowly.
None of them had been hunters for long, and snow wolves really did look somewhat like enlarged foxes. In the dim twilight, they actually failed to tell the difference. Afraid that the “white fox” would escape, they hurriedly stuffed it into a cloth bag. But after walking only a hundred meters, they were attacked by a huge snow wolf.
“Fortunately, that wolf seemed to have already been severely injured, so the few of us barely managed to hold out,” Chi Ju said.
Song Chuyi carefully analyzed his words and knew in her heart that this was the truth. If the wolf had not been injured and its strength greatly reduced, then no matter how brave the five of them were, they likely would have found it hard to hold it off.
“Wu…”
Just then, the howling wind carried a mournful whining cry.
The little ball of fluff in the corner immediately poked its head out and whimpered twice. Its claws kept scratching at the wall, and when it found that it simply could not get out, the whimpers in its mouth gradually turned into sobs like those of a child.
“Ji Huan, tell Ji Yu that if the snow wolf comes, do not attack it first,” Song Chuyi said.
Ever since last time when he had handled matters following Song Chuyi, Ji Huan had admired her utterly. Therefore, even upon receiving such an unreasonable instruction, he did not hesitate in the slightest.
“Why? When it comes to wild beasts, even if we do not kill it, it will still take the initiative to attack people. Sir, please do not be softhearted,” Longgu Buwang said anxiously.
“So you do know that?” Song Chuyi said with a smile.
Although Longgu Buwang could not distinguish a fox from a wolf, he still more or less understood the danger of fierce beasts.
“Snow wolf!” A low cry came from outside.
Song Chuyi picked up the little ball of fluff that was scratching at the wall in the corner, held it in her arms, and got out of the carriage. Then she saw, amid the snow and mist, a huge snow wolf slowly walking over.
Longgu Buwang widened his eyes and looked at that wolf. Its build was vigorous and strong, its white fur somewhat disordered in the wild wind, and it carried an elegance mixed with a ferocity that could erupt at any moment. It was much more beautiful than the snow fox he had imagined.
“Do not shoot,” Song Chuyi said as she walked toward that wolf.
Ji Yu grabbed her at once, so anxious that he spoke without thinking, “Are you crazy?”
