Chapter Bonanza (6/10)

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Yan Xiaoyu held the torch aloft. Although he had instinctively held back, the struggle had still left severe burns on the she-wolf. His silver-gray fur was covered with scorch marks, and in some places, the flesh was already mangled and bloodied.

Yan Shaoxuan’s punch, delivered with all his might, was the final straw.

The she-wolf lay on the ground, barely clinging to life. The wolf cub crept closer and licked the wound on her head, letting out a soft, youthful cry: “Awoo!” It nudged her body, as if trying to get her to stand up, but the she-wolf roared, driving it away.

The cub whimpered, refusing to leave. Tears welled up in the mother wolf’s eyes, and a note of sorrow mingled with her roar.

Yan Xiaoyu sighed, “I’m not hurt anyway, so let’s let it off this time. After all, we’re the ones who strayed onto their territory.” 

Yan Shaoxuan nodded, his expression still grim.

Huo Haowu looked at the she-wolf on the ground and frowned. “With injuries like that, I’m afraid she won’t make it.”

The escort guard who had accompanied him and Yan Shaoxuan on their patrol a short while ago arrived late: “Oh my, this wolf isn’t even a month old yet. With the weather this cold, if the mother wolf dies, the pup will likely perish too!”

As soon as the escort guard finished speaking, Ruan Yimian’s sense of guilt reached its peak.

If he hadn’t startled the wolf, the she-wolf wouldn’t have attacked Yu-ger; Yu-ger wouldn’t have been forced to fight her; and the she-wolf wouldn’t have been injured. Ruan Yimian looked gloomy and wanted to say something, but glancing at Yan Shaoxuan’s stern face, he didn’t dare speak up.

Yan Xiaoyu, however, had no qualms about speaking his mind. He said boldly, “If the she-wolf dies, wouldn’t I have been a do-gooder for nothing? Chief Huo, didn’t you bring some good medicinal herbs? Why don’t we treat this wolf as a living specimen and try to cure it?”

Ruan Yimian’s eyes lit up. Huo Haowu glanced at Yan Shaoxuan; seeing that he raised no objection, he nodded in agreement.

“Agreed,” Huo Haowu instructed Ying Dong and another bodyguard. “Ying Dong, Wu Qi, you two tie up the she-wolf and take her back to the log cabin with the other wolf. Let Yi San apply the medicine to her.”

Ying Dong and Wu Qi responded. Wu Qi pulled a rope from his belt, and Ying Dong gave him a nod. Working together, the two tied up the she-wolf.

The she-wolf bared her teeth and struggled desperately, but she was already at the end of her strength—how could she possibly be a match for two bodyguards? In the end, she was unable to break free.

The wolf cub, still half-asleep, saw its mother subdued and tried to bite Wu Qi. Unfortunately, its teeth hadn’t fully come in yet, and its reflexes weren’t very sharp, so Wu Qi grabbed it by the scruff of the neck in one swift motion.

“Little one, you still want to bite me?” Wu Qi grinned, baring his teeth, and cradled the wolf cub in his arms. The moment his hand touched the cub’s back, he paused. “Why is this wolf so damp?”

Wu Qi looked puzzled. Ying Dong cleared his throat and looked up at the sky. Ruan Yimian’s body went stiff, and his face flushed bright red.

Yan Xiaoyu’s mouth twitched as he struggled to suppress a laugh. “Maybe it got soaked by the snow!”

Huo Haowu looked at his fulang, whose face was so red it seemed it might start smoking, and mused, “Never mind that. Let’s hurry back inside.” Only then did the group prepare to return to the log cabin.

Ruan Yimian quietly let out a sigh of relief. The look of admiration in his eyes toward Yan Xiaoyu was now tinged with a touch of gratitude. He was about to rush over to speak to Yan Xiaoyu, but Huo Haowu yanked him back.

“How can you be so clueless?” Huo Haowu said with a tone of exasperation, though his eyes betrayed obvious indulgence.

Yan Shaoxuan had remained silent the whole time. Yan Xiaoyu knew he was startled, so he nudged his shoulder.

“We already checked just now—I’m totally fine. You’re the bigger person; just let it go and don’t hold a grudge against that wolf!”

As he spoke, he reached out to take Yan Shaoxuan’s hand, but the moment his fingers touched the sleeve, he froze.

—Yan Shaoxuan’s hand was trembling.

“You…” Yan Xiaoyu pursed her lips and looked up at Yan Shaoxuan’s expression. “What’s wrong with you?”

Yan Shaoxuan turned his face away, his voice low and hoarse: “Should I not have brought you to Lingbei?”

On the way back just now, his unease had grown increasingly intense. He’d ridden his horse at full speed toward the log cabin, only to arrive here and find Yan Xiaoyu and a wolf locked in a fierce struggle.

Yan Shaoxuan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head; his blood ran cold, and he didn’t even realize how he’d dismounted. After sending the she-wolf flying with a single punch, he grabbed Yan Xiaoyu and examined him from head to toe, his heart filled with endless relief.

Ever since returning from the capital to Weishi County and marrying his beloved, Yan Shaoxuan had been on top of the world, filled with the desire to stay with Yan Xiaoyu forever—to keep him by his side, shield him under his wing, and never let anyone bully him again.

But he never imagined that the moment he stepped away, Yan Xiaoyu would nearly lose his life.

Yan Shaoxuan’s heart was filled with seething resentment. He blamed the people at the Zhenwu Escort Agency for putting Yan Xiaoyu in danger, and he hated that wolf for being so inhuman as to try to harm Yan Xiaoyu.

But most of all, he hated himself.

It was his own carelessness that led him to underestimate the dangers of Futong Ridge; it was his own stubbornness—driven by a single remark from Yan Xiaoyu—that made him compete with Huo Haowu. If only he had stayed by his side…

Rather than hating that she-wolf, he hated himself.

“If you just let it go, what would be the point?”

Yan Shaoxuan was startled by the thought that had suddenly popped into his head, and his expression went blank for a moment. Yan Xiaoyuxin’s heart sank; she slipped her finger between his fingers and said, “It was just a complete accident today.”

He then teased him playfully, “Don’t you trust my abilities? Even if you hadn’t come just now, I could’ve subdued that wolf on my own! Come to think of it, I didn’t lose a single round in my fight with the wolf today—I must’ve looked so impressive! Don’t you think I’ve got what it takes to be a hunter?”

“Of course,” Yan Xiaoyu said, winking at Yan Shaoxuan. “Just now, I was praising Head Hu so much—I don’t think you’re any worse than him!”

Yan Shaoxuan clasped Yan Xiaoyu’s hand and smiled wryly, “If it were his fulang grappling with that wolf, he’d have taken it down in no time.”

Yan Xiaoyu recalled Ruan Yimian clumsily pummeling the wolf with a rock and couldn’t help but chuckle: “I doubt Brother Mian could even stand a chance against a wolf.”

Yan Shaoxuan furrowed his brow slightly. “What exactly happened just now? Why did the three of you come from the log cabin?”

Knowing he was worried, Yan Xiaoyu didn’t hide anything: “It’s a long story. Mian and I came to help, and Escort Chief Ying came to protect us…”

While Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaoxuan were explaining the situation, Ruan Yimian was also briefing Huo Haowu.

“…In short, it was Brother Yu who saved me. If it weren’t for him, I’m afraid I would have met my end at the wolves’ jaws today.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Haowu was silent for a long moment, still shaken by the ordeal: “We must properly thank Magistrate Yan and Young Master Yan.”

Ruan Yimian nodded slowly, as if a chicken were pecking at grain: “Right, I owe him my life, so I really should thank him properly! I just don’t know what I can do to help Yu-ger.

?”

Ruan Yimian seemed at a loss; she furrowed her brow and thought hard for a while, then suddenly said, “I’ve got it! I’ll help Brother Yu and Magistrate Yan with those five hundred taels of escort silver! But that’s not enough—I need to think of something else. You help me think of something, too.”

Huo Haowu nodded: “Sure.”

The six of them returned to the log cabin with the two wolves, causing quite a stir.

Huo Haowu omitted the embarrassing details involving Ruan Yimian and gave the others a brief account of what had happened. Gasps of astonishment filled the cabin, and the escort guards looked at Yan Xiaoyu with even greater admiration.

“Hao Er wasn’t exaggerating at all—Young Master Yan is truly remarkable!”

“We really owe it all to Young Master Yan this time; otherwise, our brother Ruan would likely have been injured.”

“……”

The bodyguards showered him with praise, while He Qiuhua and the others were still reeling from the ordeal.

He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao held Yan Xiaoyu close, examining him for quite a while. Only after confirming that their son was truly unharmed did they finally relax.

“Next time, we absolutely mustn’t take such risks! When you see a wolf, you’re supposed to run away immediately—how on earth did you end up fighting it?”

“We brought a chamber pot with us, so we’d better not split up from the group from now on. Let’s just make do with this for now!”

Yan Xiaoyue and Yan Shaocheng, however, looked utterly frustrated: “We should have gone with Yu-ger!”

Huo Haowu had been keeping a close eye on the situation. Only after Yan Xiaoyu’s family had finished speaking did he go over to find Yan Shaoxuan. 

“No need to thank me for such a great favor. Young Master Yan did this entirely for my fulang—I’ll remember this kindness. We put you in danger today because we weren’t. We at the Zhenwu Escort Agency should not accept this 500-tael silver note. We will be more careful on the rest of the journey and ensure this never happens again.”

Huo Haowu pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Yan Shaoxuan.

Yan Shaoxuan did not accept it.

He had calmed down and realized that taking his anger out on others was unreasonable.

Since Yan Xiaoyu and Ruan Yimian were the two gers on the mission, it wasn’t appropriate for Ying Dong to follow too closely; that wolf was still on the prowl, hiding in that patch of weeds, and it was understandable that the escort guards hadn’t detected it; and although Ruan Yimian wasn’t much help, he hadn’t exactly been hiding entirely behind his Fulang…

The people at the Zhenwu Escort Agency certainly didn’t want to see something like this happen either.

“Today’s incident was purely an accident; you can’t be blamed for it.”

Yan Shaoxuan refused to accept the five hundred taels of escort fees, but Huo Haowu’s stance was equally firm.

“Magistrate Yan, you must understand just how much I care for my fulang. You needn’t refuse this any longer—I am determined to repay you these five hundred taels.”

After a brief exchange of polite refusals, Yan Shaoxuan noticed Ruan Yimian standing nearby, watching them with eager eyes and a look of obvious anxiety on his face. He thought for a moment and decided to accept the silver note after all.

Huo Haowu let out a deep sigh of relief: “If there’s ever anything I can do to help in the future, Magistrate Yan, please don’t hesitate to ask.”