Wei Qingshan had been running in the mountains all day. He originally planned to just wipe himself off after dinner, but once his little husband saw his arm was hurt, he was distressed beyond words.

He also stopped moving and let his little husband carefully wipe his arm, then wipe his back. His little husband furrowed his brows slightly, while Wei Qingshan, stirred by the soft little hands of his husband, was completely distracted and restless.

His little husband was usually extremely shy. The boldest thing he ever did was secretly tug at Wei Qingshan’s inner garment tie at night, and after bullying him too much, he would hold Wei Qingshan’s neck and cry softly. He had never done anything like today, wiping Wei Qingshan’s arms and back.

Wei Qingshan quickly held his little husband’s hands. “Let me do it myself.”

“Then don’t let that arm touch water. I’ll go get some medicine for the injury.”

“Alright.”

Taking advantage of the time while his little husband went to get the medicine, Wei Qingshan quickly wiped himself clean. His little husband loved cleanliness, so he couldn’t be covered in sweat.

Lin Yu brought the medicinal wine and carefully dabbed it on Wei Qingshan’s wound. Although the cut was a bit long, it wasn’t very serious—just red and swollen. After applying the medicine and getting some sleep, it will probably be better by tomorrow.

“Don’t go hunting tomorrow. Rest at home for a day.”

“Alright.”

Wei Qingshan didn’t think much of such a small injury, but seeing his little husband nervous and worried, he felt that being cared for like this felt really nice. Especially after the medicine was applied, his little husband even lowered his head and blew gently on it, completely messing with Wei Qingshan’s heart.

Wei Qingshan gave a light cough. “Alright, it’s fine now. Let’s rest early.”

“Be more careful when hunting in the future.”

“Mm.”

At night, when they were sleeping, Lin Yu didn’t stick to Wei Qingshan like usual, afraid of touching his injured arm. Normally, when they slept, Lin Yu liked to lie on top of Wei Qingshan.

The mountain nights were cool. Even sleeping pressed together didn’t feel hot. If it were winter, Lin Yu would be even more eager to stick to Wei Qingshan when sleeping. Wei Qingshan had a strong internal heat and was especially warm.

But today, his little husband didn’t stick close. Wei Qingshan felt that there was a gap in his arms. He stretched out his arm and pulled his little husband into his embrace. Lin Yu let out a soft exclamation, “Careful not to press on your arm.”

“It’s fine, just a small injury.”

“No, no, what if I press on it?”

Wei Qingshan hugged his little husband and adjusted their position. “Then tonight you sleep on the outside, that way you won’t touch it.”

Only then did Lin Yu softly respond, and Wei Qingshan was satisfied. His little husband lay against his neck, and the scent of his hair lingered around the tip of his nose.

Only then did the two close their eyes and rest. Lin Yu rubbed around and found a comfortable position for himself again.

Since Wei Qingshan wasn’t going into the mountains to hunt today, they didn’t get up as early. They only got up after they’d had enough sleep. When they got up, Zhao Yueniang was already awake and scattering grass seeds in the chicken pen to feed the chickens.

Right now, the courtyard at home is especially lively. Not only did they have the hens they brought from the mountains, but also more than ten wild chickens and more than ten rabbits. They couldn’t finish eating them all, so they were raising them. Once they went down the mountain, they could take them to town to sell.

Zhao Yueniang was reluctant to feed grain to the chickens, so she often wandered nearby to gather some grass seeds to feed them, or chopped up some wild vegetables and mixed them with rice husks.

When she saw Lin Yu get up, Zhao Yueniang called out to him, “Brother, the chicks hatched! Come look quickly!”

Lin Yu hurried over when he heard that, and sure enough, he saw a few little chick heads peeking out from under the hen’s feathers. “Ah, I didn’t pay attention to the dates—they’ve all hatched!”

Lin Yu felt overjoyed. This year, two hens had decided to brood at once. No matter what, they could hatch around twenty chicks.

Although this small courtyard only had the three of them, it was still extremely lively: the braying of the mule, the clucking of chickens, the sound of wild rabbits fighting over food—and now they had a half-grown fawn. If they raised it until winter, it would grow up nicely and could be sold to a wealthy merchant in town.

Early in the morning, the three of them each busied themselves: Lin Yu went to make breakfast, Wei Qingshan cleaned the courtyard, and Zhao Yueniang fed the livestock.

At this point, Zhao Yueniang no longer complained about having nothing to do. Every day, she was busy taking care of the family’s wild game.

Wei Qingshan finished cleaning the rabbit cages and chicken pens, then fed some grass and water to the fawn they had just hunted yesterday. If they raised this deer well, they could sell it for twenty or thirty taels of silver in the winter.

Lin Yu came out carrying food. “Time to eat!”

Wei Qingshan and Zhao Yueniang washed their hands and came over. That morning, Lin Yu had made porridge and also stir-fried some wild onions with eggs. It was especially delicious rolled up together.

Zhao Yueniang looked to be in a good mood today, her eyes curved with smiles the whole time.

She now especially enjoyed life in the mountains—gathering mountain goods, catching fish, a courtyard full of game and livestock, and fresh meat every few days. Even the cornfield carefully tended by the entrance was already forming ears of corn, and in a few more days, they could harvest them.

Since no one in the family had anything to do today, Lin Yu had Wei Qingshan take him for a walk nearby to see if they could gather any mountain goods.

The three of them carried bamboo baskets on their backs and brought the hunting dog before heading out. They had been living in the mountains for some time now, and even the leaves of the trees in the mountains had begun to turn yellow. It looked like summer was about to end. A few light showers had passed through the forest, but many of the trees and wild grasses on the mountain had dried up and curled from the drought.

The three of them followed the small stream in front of their house. Lin Yu wanted to look for mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and the like. In the past, these things were easy to find, but this year the forest was dry, so they could only search along the damp banks of the stream.

Normally, he and Zhao Yueniang didn’t dare to go deep into the forest, but today, with Wei Qingshan along, they finally dared to weave through the dense woods.

“Brother, over here!”

Zhao Yueniang, sharp-eyed, spotted wood ear mushrooms growing on a piece of dead wood. Near the stream, the wood ear mushrooms were growing thick and plump. Lin Yu hurried over, too. Several pieces of wood had plenty of mushrooms growing on them, and Lin Yu’s eyes lit up. “There’s quite a lot.”

Lin Yu reached out and began picking them, one by one. It was quick work, and in no time, he had a handful. Zhao Yueniang was also all smiles, picking rapidly as if she feared the mushrooms might run away at any moment.

Zhao Yueniang had gotten used to this habit. Back when she and Lin Yu were still with the Zhao family, when they had nothing to eat, they would go into the mountains to look for wild vegetables and fruits. But the two of them were small, and they were always unable to compete with others for the good stuff. That made Zhao Yueniang pick up mountain treasures the moment she saw them.

It didn’t take long for the bottom of Lin Yu’s bamboo basket to be covered. The three of them picked the wood ear mushrooms in this patch clean. “Let’s keep going. There’s probably more up ahead.”

Deeper into the forest, where no one had ventured, the mountain goods were much larger than those on the outskirts. As they walked along the damp forest floor, they collected more and more morel mushrooms and other items in their baskets.

The more Lin Yu picked, the happier he became. These mountain treasures were like finding copper coins in the woods. Selling them could bring in silver!

If they had brought dry food with them, Lin Yu would’ve asked Wei Qingshan to take them even deeper into the mountains. Wei Qingshan had a smile in his eyes. “Let’s head back. We’ll come again another day.”

“All right.” Lin Yu looked longingly ahead. If they kept going, they might’ve been able to pick even more.

The three of them turned back. Wei Qingshan led them along a different small path, and along the way, they picked up even more wood ear mushrooms and mushrooms.

Once they got home, they dumped the day’s harvest of mountain goods onto the bamboo mat. It was midday and the weather was hot—just right to dry out the mushrooms and mushrooms.

They had picked quite a lot this time. Each of them had brought back half a basket. Zhao Yueniang looked at the mountain goods as if she were looking at silver and grinned happily.

At noon, Lin Yu cut down some cured meat and stir-fried it with morel mushrooms and bacon. Paired with rice, it was very satisfying.

In the blink of an eye, the weather had turned cold. The leaves in the forest had all turned yellow. Lin Yu had also put on more clothes. Beneath the bamboo shed in the kitchen hung strings of wind-dried rabbits, pheasants, and other such things.

Wei Qingshan often went deep into the mountains to hunt, and he had hunted so many animals that not only did they have pheasants and wild rabbits in the yard, they now had three deer as well. Just taking care of all this game every day took a lot of time, so Wei Qingshan simply discussed with Lin Yu about butchering them and turning them into wind-dried meat, so it would be easy to bring them down the mountain later.

Lin Yu thought that made sense. Besides, wind-dried rabbit and pheasant sold for more than fresh ones. They had too many animals to keep, so they simply butchered them and laid them out to dry.

They had saved up quite a few rabbit skins this year. When winter came, Lin Yu wanted to make a rabbit-fur coat for each of them. Last year, he had made one for himself; this year, he would make one each for Wei Qingshan and Zhao Yueniang, too.

They had been living in the mountains for quite some time. The corn at the entrance would be ready to harvest in a few days. Lin Yu was happy living in the forest. If they could grow grain here, he thought it would be great to live with Wei Qingshan in this deep forest for a lifetime.

He saw Wei Qingshan off at the door. “Come back early.”

Wei Qingshan waved his hand at him. “Go back. Lock the door properly.”

“I know.”

After sending Wei Qingshan off, Lin Yu and Zhao Yueniang also carried their bamboo baskets and headed out. There were still three deer and a mule at home. If they weren’t going to go down the mountain in winter, they had to cut some grass now to store. Otherwise, there would be nothing for them to eat in the winter.

Lin Yu bent over with Zhao Yueniang to cut grass near the water. These places were close to the stream, and the wild grass grew especially lush. After cutting it, they could dry it for a few days and then stack it up.

“I wonder how the village is doing?” Lin Yu said as he chatted with Zhao Yueniang.

“Who knows? The forest hasn’t seen much rain, so the village probably hasn’t either.”

The drought had lasted nearly a year. They had been living comfortably in the deep forest, but they had no idea how things were going down the mountain.

While the two of them were cutting grass, Baixue, who was lying nearby, suddenly barked. He crouched low and bared his sharp canine teeth, barking toward the grass. Lin Yu immediately straightened up. There was a rustling sound from the grass.

“Yueniang! Run!”

Although Lin Yu hadn’t seen what was hiding in the grass, it was the first time Baixue had growled in warning. The last time he did that was last year, when he and Wei Qingshan had taken the mountain road at night and run into that old wolf. Lin Yu grabbed Zhao Yueniang and ran straight toward the courtyard, not even bothering to pick up the baskets on the ground. The two of them had barely run far when two reddish-brown, wolf-like, dog-like creatures leapt out of the grass. Lin Yu didn’t even dare look back and pulled Zhao Yueniang as they ran with all their might.

Behind them came the sounds of Baixue and the creatures barking and growling. Lin Yu knew for sure that they weren’t easy beasts to deal with, and he broke into a cold sweat from fright.

Lin Yu pulled Zhao Yueniang and ran into the courtyard, only then did he turn his head to look. He saw that Baixue had bitten onto the back of a red-furred wild beast, while another one had bitten onto Baixue’s hind leg. Baixue’s white fur had been stained red, yet he refused to let go of the beast.

Zhao Yueniang was so frightened that her face turned pale, and Lin Yu’s legs also went weak from fear. He hurriedly shut one of the doors, shouting anxiously, “Baixue! Baixue! Come back quickly!”

Upon hearing his master call him, Baixue let go of his bite, twisted his head, and bit the beast behind him. That beast cried out from the pain and loosened its grip. Only then did Baixue suddenly dart toward the courtyard, the two red-furred beasts closely chasing after him.

Lin Yu felt his hands and feet go cold at the sight of the charging beasts. Even the deer and the mule in the courtyard, sensing danger, pulled at their reins restlessly, trying to flee.

But he couldn’t abandon Baixue. If it hadn’t been for Baixue holding off the two beasts, he and Yueniang wouldn’t have made it safely into the courtyard. He was both scared and anxious, his little face pale as a sheet.

Baixue leapt into the courtyard in one bound. Lin Yu quickly shut the other door, and Zhao Yueniang rushed to help slide the bolt into place. The two beasts lunged at the door, scratching at the bamboo with a loud screeching sound.

Just as Zhao Yueniang finished bolting the door and looked up, she saw a beast leap up and pounce straight at her face through the door. She screamed in fear, stumbled back two steps, and fell to the ground.

Her legs went weak as she sat on the floor, her lips pale from fright. It had felt like the beast was going to land right on her just now. Thankfully, she had only seen it through the crack in the door, but it had truly terrified her.

Lin Yu was also deeply frightened, and he hurried to help Zhao Yueniang up from the ground. “Yueniang, it’s okay now. Let’s get inside the house quickly.”

Supporting Zhao Yueniang, Lin Yu entered the small wooden house and then turned back to call the injured Baixue. “Baixue, come in quickly.”

Baixue, limping on one leg, followed Lin Yu into the small wooden house. Dahei and Baixue were both very intelligent; normally, they only played in the courtyard and never came into the house. If Lin Yu hadn’t called him, Baixue wouldn’t have come in.

The two people and the dog entered the small wooden house. Lin Yu quickly shut the door and bolted it with both latches. “Yueniang, sit here first. I’ll check on Baixue.”

Zhao Yueniang nodded dazedly. She had truly been scared just now.

Outside, the beasts could still be heard howling. Lin Yu’s hands trembled as he tried to handle the medicine. A small porcelain bottle slipped from his grasp and rolled onto the floor. Lin Yu steadied himself and picked it up, then hurriedly poured some hemostatic powder onto Baixue’s leg before tearing some cloth to wrap it up.

Baixue lay on the ground whining softly, but he didn’t bark. Lin Yu knew how delicate Baixue was—despite being a male dog, he loved to circle around his legs and act cute. Yet today, he had dared to face off against two wild beasts on his own.

Lin Yu cradled the injured Baixue in his arms to soothe him. “Good Baixue, good Baixue, it’s okay now, it’s okay.”

Zhao Yueniang sat on a stool, still trembling. “Brother… Brother, were—were those wolves?”

The little girl had grown up in the village and had never seen any fierce beasts before. Even the deer, she had only seen such an animal after coming to Lin Yu’s place, let alone anything else. She had only heard the elders in the village say that wolves looked like dogs.

Lin Yu didn’t know either. He had only seen a wolf once before. At that time, Wei Qingshan had lied to him, saying it was a wild dog because he was afraid Lin Yu would be scared. He remembered that the old wolf’s fur had been gray and white, but the two beasts just now had reddish-brown fur—they looked like wolves, yet not quite.

The bamboo door creaked as it was hit, and Zhao Yueniang flinched in fright. Though Lin Yu was also scared, he was the older brother. If he showed fear, Yueniang would only be more afraid. He forced himself to stay calm and comforted Zhao Yueniang, “It’s fine. The bamboo walls are high. They can’t get through.”

The two beasts lingered outside the courtyard, unwilling to leave. The livestock in the yard had been startled— the mule neighed restlessly, and two hens in the chicken coop were so frightened they flapped their wings and flew out, running back and forth in the courtyard.

The two of them hid inside the wooden house and didn’t dare come out. The courtyard walls were tall. Back then, Wei Qingshan, afraid of wild beasts breaking in, had especially made them with double layers of bamboo, buried deep, sharpened at the top, and filled with mud in the middle. They were a full two meters tall. Not to mention those two dog-like beasts, even a large wild boar wouldn’t be able to get in.

They stayed inside all the way until noon, still unsure whether the two beasts had left.

Lin Yu peered through the crack in the door. “They should be gone now, right?”

Zhao Yueniang grabbed his hand. “Brother, don’t go out. Let’s just eat something simple for lunch and wait for Qingshan-ge to come back.”

Lin Yu nodded. There was no need to risk going out just to cook. There were still some fruits and peanuts inside the house. The two of them ate those for lunch. Lin Yu fed Baixue some sugar water. Once they were able to go out, he would prepare proper food for himself.

Wei Qingshan was out hunting in the forest today, but kept feeling uneasy. He spotted a pheasant, raised his bow and shot, but the arrow flew off-target and the pheasant quickly ran off.

Wei Qingshan rarely missed. Today, his heart had been thudding uncomfortably all morning. He only managed to catch one wild rabbit, and even his shots were off. He decided to stop hunting and headed back with Dahei.

He returned earlier than usual. Before he even reached the door, he saw two bamboo baskets lying beside the creek, with the grass inside spilled all over the ground. Dahei also started barking. Wei Qingshan’s expression turned serious, and he drew his machete from his back and quickly headed for the courtyard gate.

Lin Yu heard Dahei’s barking from inside the yard. He was worried the two beasts might still be around. If Wei Qingshan ran into them, it would be dangerous. He quickly opened the door and peeked through the crack. Sure enough, it was Wei Qingshan who had returned.

Wei Qingshan hadn’t even reached the gate when he saw several claw marks on the bamboo door. Nearby, there was a hole that had been dug, revealing the bamboo buried in the earth. Apparently, they had tried digging for a while but gave up when they hit bamboo.

Wei Qingshan’s heart tightened as he strode quickly toward the courtyard gate.

“Qingshan!” Hearing Lin Yu’s voice made Wei Qingshan relax a little. Lin Yu quickly opened the door for him. “Come in quickly.”

Wei Qingshan first looked Lin Yu up and down. Seeing that he had no injuries on him, he finally relaxed completely. But his little husband’s face was a bit pale, clearly frightened. “It’s all right now, it’s all right, I’m back.”

When Lin Yu saw that Wei Qingshan had returned, the anxiety in his heart finally eased. He wiped his tears. “Qingshan, you’re back.”

As soon as the two entered the house, they saw Zhao Yueniang also looking pale. Baixue was lying on the ground, and blood was seeping through the cloth wrapped around him. Wei Qingshan’s brows furrowed tightly. “What did you run into?”

Lin Yu clutched Wei Qingshan’s sleeve tightly and shook his head. “I don’t know. It was two red-skinned dog-like things. Yueniang and I were cutting grass by the water, and Baixue suddenly started barking and dragged those things for us. That’s how we were able to run back to the house.”

Just thinking about it made Lin Yu feel a bit afraid. Fortunately, the two of them were close to the door this time. If they had gone far and run into those two things, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Wei Qingshan’s tightly knit brows did not relax. He crouched down and rubbed Baixue’s head. “Good dog.”

“Stay inside the house. I’ll take Dahei out to have a look.”

Lin Yu held onto his sleeve and didn’t let go. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. Just no,w Dahei didn’t detect their tracks.”

Only then did Lin Yu release his hand. “Then be careful. I’ll wait for you inside the door.”

“Alright.”

Wei Qingshan went out with Dahei. Lin Yu closed the courtyard gate and stood by the door waiting to open it for Wei Qingshan when he returned.

Wei Qingshan led Dahei around the outside of the courtyard to patrol. Dahei kept his head down, sniffing the ground, but didn’t find any trace of those two beasts. They should have already gone far away.

Wei Qingshan went to the place where Lin Yu had encountered the two beasts and found some fur on the ground that had been bitten off by Baixue. Wei Qingshan picked it up. His expression grew somewhat heavy. Just as he had suspected—it was from a jackal. Logically, they didn’t live that deep into the mountains, and fierce beasts like jackals shouldn’t appear here. They must have followed the stream down from the deep forest.

Moreover, jackals liked to move in packs. It was likely there were more than just those two. There were quite a few wild chickens and rabbits around the house. If these things caught their scent, they probably wouldn’t leave.

Lin Yu lay against the door crack, keeping an eye on Wei Qingshan. When he saw him returning with two bamboo baskets, he hurried to open the door.

“They’re gone now.”

“Don’t be afraid. Those two beasts have already left.”

Lin Yu let out a sigh of relief. “What were those things?”

“They were jackals.”

Lin Yu was startled. Jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards are beasts that were used to warn off children from venturing into the mountains—so it turned out to be such a fierce wild beast. Lin Yu had never seen a jackal before, but it was a beast ranked even ahead of tigers and leopards!

Wei Qingshan patted Lin Yu’s hand to comfort him. “It’s okay. Keep the courtyard gate closed. These next few days, don’t go out unless you have to. In a few days, they’ll be gone.”

Lin Yu nodded. “Then don’t go hunting these days either. If you run into them, it’ll be trouble.”

Wei Qingshan gave a soft “mm.” Even without Lin Yu saying so, he wouldn’t be going out in the coming days. The reason those beasts were hard to deal with was that they liked to move in groups. When starving, they were even bold enough to fight tigers and leopards.

He was just afraid the jackals wouldn’t leave. In that case, he’d have to deal with them one by one. He didn’t know how things were in the village right now. If it were peaceful, he wouldn’t want to take Lin Yu into the deep mountains. What he feared was that the refugees at the foot of the mountain might start causing trouble, killing without batting an eye. That would be even more terrifying than the jackals, tigers, and leopards deep in the forest.

With Wei Qingshan there, Lin Yu’s panicked heart finally calmed. Since it was still early, Lin Yu first cooked some calming licorice and red date soup. He brought a bowl to Zhao Yueniang and told her to go back and rest. He would call her when it was time to eat.

Zhao Yueniang drank a bowl and went back to her room to rest. Lin Yu also drank a bowl. The warm, sweet soup made his whole body feel warmer.

Wei Qingshan caught the two hens running around the courtyard, washed his hands, and went into the house to see Lin Yu. His little husband looked a bit better now, but his face still looked pale.

Wei Qingshan pulled his little husband into his arms and gently stroked his back. “You were scared, huh?”

Lin Yu nuzzled against Wei Qingshan’s chest. Being held by him made Lin Yu feel very secure. He couldn’t help but hug Wei Qingshan tightly. In a muffled voice, he said, “After living here these past days, I originally thought there was no difference between this mountain and the village. I was wrong.”

“It’s okay now, it’s okay. We’ll keep the courtyard gate shut tight these next few days.”

Wei Qingshan felt his little husband’s hands were icy cold. He held them in his own to warm him up. Lin Yu, like a little animal, sought comfort.