Two riders came rushing down the mountain path first, clearly startled by the sudden appearance of the night encampment.
“Who’s there?” the men from the Zhou and Chen families shouted in unison.
“Just travelers passing through,” the two riders immediately called out, raising both hands. In the light of the torches, they made it clear that they carried no threatening weapons.
Otherwise, it would be a terrible injustice to be shot on sight as scouts for bandits or horse thieves.
However, upon closer inspection by the torchlight, it became clear that they carried crossbows and waist knives—obviously not ordinary travelers.
The sound of carriages and horses came from behind them, which stopped after sensing the unusual situation ahead.
Both sides stood in a standoff, the night wind making their torches crackle loudly, and the atmosphere grew tense.
Neither side trusted the other, both remaining on high alert.
“Miss, get in the carriage first,” Steward Cao instructed, signaling for someone to escort Cheng Jiao-niang.
The maid, her face slightly pale, helped Cheng Jiao-niang as they prepared to leave.
Suddenly, a low, whirling sound echoed, as if the wind were swirling through the valley.
Amid the tense standoff between the two sides, no one paid attention to it, but Cheng Jiao-niang, who was about to board the carriage, suddenly froze.
“Wolves!” she said.
The maid was momentarily stunned, not understanding.
“What?” she asked.
“Wolves are coming!” Cheng Jiao-niang exclaimed, pointing toward where the riders and horses stood.
The maid let out a piercing scream, which sounded especially frightening in the night.
“Wolves are coming!” she shouted without hesitation.
“Wolves?”
Both sides were taken aback for a moment.
“What trouble is this lady causing…” someone on Steward Cao’s side murmured.
At this time of year, it had not yet turned to winter, and it was easy for wild animals to find food in the mountains. This was when they were at their plumpest, and wolves were too busy hunting to attack people and horses.
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the group across from them stir restlessly.
“Wolves!”
“It’s a pack of wolves!”
The other side began to charge toward them.
Are there really wolves?
Could they be deliberately starting an attack?
The people on Steward Cao’s side hurriedly prepared to fend off the attack, with howls ringing out one after another. At the same time, through the gaps in the agitated carriage, everyone spotted dozens of glowing green lights.
It really was wolves! A pack of them!
Just as everyone realized this, the wolf pack had already launched its attack.
Swish! Crossbow bolts shot out, and the first few wolves let out howls as they fell to the ground. However, this did not stop the advance of the other wolves; instead, it enraged the pack, which leapt forward with bared, gleaming white teeth.
No bandit would use such a tactic of feigned suffering to deceive others when faced with an attacking pack of wolves.
They were truly encountering a wolf attack.
“Quick, shield yourselves!” Steward Cao and Fourth Master Chen finally regained their senses and shouted loudly, as torches and crossbow bolts flew toward the wolf pack.
Cheng Jiao-niang and the maid were surrounded near the bonfire. Jin Ge’er, holding a knife given to him by some attendant, trembled but stood protectively in front of them.
The maid clung tightly to Cheng Jiao-niang, her body shaking.
“Miss, don’t… don’t be afraid,” she said, her voice trembling.
Cheng Jiao-niang glanced at her.
“I’m not afraid,” she replied.
At this moment, the people and horses over there also turned to shield the nearby carriage, using themselves as a barrier in front of it.
Because of the bonfire, the carriage instinctively moved closer to this side.
“Stay where you are,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “Either man come over, or don’t come at all.”
Her voice was soft and drowned out by the noise.
The maid heard her and repeated it sharply.
The guards on this side, who were nervously on watch, finally noticed and immediately aimed their knives and crossbows at the carriage over there.
The attendants surrounding the carriage on the other side were equally unyielding, instantly pointing their weapons in this direction as well.
“Shout,” Cheng Jiao-niang said again.
The maid didn’t hesitate, immediately opening her mouth to shout without asking questions.
“Stay where you are! Either man come over, or don’t come at all!” she yelled.
Was it because of this? The tense atmosphere of the standoff between the two sides weakened slightly, but they remained on guard against each other.
“Get out of the carriage,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “The horses will be spooked by the wolves; it’s dangerous.”
The maid immediately repeated this in a trembling voice.
Is that why?
Amid the crackling of the torches, the people on that side exchanged glances, seemingly hesitant.
Suddenly, the curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a figure jumped down, landing with a thud.
“Young master…” the attendants asked nervously.
The maid looked over and saw that the person was wrapped in a large cloak, resembling her own mistress, with a hood obscuring their head and face, the torchlight casting flickering shadows.
Because there was no time to light a bonfire, the people over there raised their torches and surrounded the figure in the middle.
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the standoff between that side and the wolf pack.
Despite the torches and crossbows, the pack was numerous and fearless, quickly closing in. The crossbows were now ineffective, and everyone was wielding knives and torches, engaging in a brutal fight with the leaping wolves.
In the heat of battle, no one could distinguish friend from foe. The two sides combined had over thirty people fighting against a pack of forty or fifty wolves, with no advantage to be found.
The horses neighed, clearly having been knocked down by the wolves, while people screamed in agony, evidently having been bitten by the beasts.
The maid trembled more violently, biting down hard on her lower lip to stifle her cries.
Death felt so close…
“You all go help,” the person on that side said.
The attendants hesitated.
“But young master, it’s too dangerous for us to leave,” they replied.
“If those people over there can’t hold on, it’ll be even more dangerous for me,” he said, then looked toward this side. “I’ll go over there; there’s fire and people.”
After saying this, he lifted his foot and started walking toward this side, prompting the attendants to rush to stop him.
“Young master, those people might not…”
“Better to die at the hands of people than to be devoured by beasts,” he replied, even smiling as he strode forward confidently. “You all hurry.”
Gritting their teeth, two attendants followed him, while the others hurriedly charged ahead to fight the wolves.
Seeing the person approach, the attendants beside Cheng Jiao-niang felt a bit tense.
“Don’t be afraid,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
“Step aside; we’re all just travelers in a difficult situation,” the maid understood the instruction and hurriedly shouted.
The attendants had no choice but to step aside. The man strode closer, standing on the other side of the bonfire. The firelight illuminated his blunt chin and his fair, smooth complexion.
“Thank you,” he said, cupping his hands toward the maid. His voice was clear and bright, sounding very young.
The maid was still trembling, glancing at him without saying a word.
Just as they had barely settled, a howl suddenly pierced the air, and a dark figure lunged forward.
The maid let out a scream.
The attendants outside reacted quickly, swinging their knives. One wolf howled as it tumbled to the ground, but another immediately lunged forward.
Where were these wolves coming from?
The attendants looked on in fear, seeing four or five wolves leaping toward them from the path behind. The smell of blood in the air had driven them wild, revealing their gleaming white teeth and strings of drool.
In the blink of an eye, they were already close.
So, encountering a lone wolf in the wild isn’t frightening; what’s terrifying is coming across a pack of wolves.
At the same time, the horse tied to the carriage nearby became startled, whinnying and pulling the cart in a panic.
But no one paid attention to this; the attendants no longer cared about protecting anyone, even Jin Ge’er was shouting and wildly hacking away.
The maid screamed, reaching out to hold onto Cheng Jiao-niang but ended up grasping at nothing.
Cheng Jiao-niang crouched down and picked up a burning piece of wood from the bonfire, aiming it at the wolves.
The maid wanted to imitate her but ultimately couldn’t help herself and collapsed to the ground.
The man next to her reached out to grab two sticks, also aiming them at the wolves, eager to take action.
“Burn, their noses,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
Her voice was drowned out in the chaos.
“Burn their noses!” the maid shouted sharply.
Accompanied by her shout, the man indeed stepped forward, thrusting the torch forcefully at a wolf that was baring its teeth and lunging toward them.
The wolf, afraid of the fire, howled and retreated, and the man immediately swung the torch in his other hand, striking at the wolf’s head and face.
The wolf yelped and rolled to the ground, where an attendant nearby delivered a follow-up stab.
The man stepped back, and with the motion, his hood fell away, revealing a young face. In the midst of the fiery chaos, howls, and the stench of blood, he turned to look at the maid and even smiled slightly, showing his teeth.
“Fun,” he said.
Fun?
Was this really fun?
Was he some kind of fool?
The maid stood in shock, watching as a wolf suddenly lunged at the back of the man who had turned around, and in that instant, she forgot to scream.
