Because there were many people and torches, even venturing into the usually avoided deep forest didn’t fill the villagers with much fear. They spread out in small groups.

Following Gou Sanshi’s advice, Wei Sannian chose a secluded stream. The three men immediately began chipping away at the ice. Wei Cheng cleared away the ice shards, constantly scolded by Wei Sannian if he was too slow. After chipping about six inches into the ice, they heard running water. Excited, the three men began setting their traps.

Shortly after setting the traps, before they could relax, a long wolf howl echoed through the valley.

Wei Sannian dropped his pickaxe, his face paling. “Wolves?”

Several villagers, carrying their tools, ran towards them in panic.

Gou Sanshi grabbed a villager’s arm. “What are you running for? Aren’t the wolves on that mountain?”

“Run! Can you outrun wolves? It’ll be too late when they reach this mountain!”

“Go, go, go! Is your life or money more important…?”

“Old Meng said it’s a pack of wolves, hungry beasts attracted by the scent of people!”

Villagers fled down the mountain. Wolf howls echoed through the mountains. Wei Sannian grabbed his pickaxe and ran, Wei Ernian close behind. Gou Sanshi, furious—he owed gambling debts and hoped to repay them by selling frogs—kicked a pile of snow and ran for his life.

The three men abandoned Wei Cheng.

Wei Cheng didn’t run. He looked at the stream. The traps were quiet; the frogs hadn’t been caught yet.

He was reluctant to leave.

Guan Guan was waiting for him, hungry.

Seeing the villagers disappear, the wolf howls seemingly close by, Wei Cheng gritted his teeth, lying on the ice, using all his strength to pull up the traps and the discarded pickaxes. He ran a short distance, breathless, hiding the tools under a large, prominent tree, covering them with leaves and snow until they were completely hidden. Then he followed some faint lights down the mountain.

Wei Cheng was still a child. He took a few wrong turns, but his calmness helped him reach the foot of the mountain just before dawn.

He opened the Wei family’s gate, only to have a stick fly at his head.

Wei Cheng couldn’t speak, falling to the ground in pain, his vision blacking out before returning blurry.

He saw Guan Guan held like a chick, his bare feet struggling, crying, his face covered in pinch marks, his voice hoarse from crying. “Brother, Brother…”

Wei Cheng tried to get up, but Wei Sannian picked up the stick and beat him on the shoulder several times, venting his frustration from the unsuccessful night. “Damn it, tell me, where did you get this brat! Where! You’re so bold!”

The entire Wei family came out. Fang Pozi found the child. Seeing the brothers had fled, leaving their tools behind, she went to the woodshed, finding the hidden child!

Neighbors gathered, pointing and whispering.

Fang Pozi held Guan Guan in one hand, her cane in the other, tapping the ground. “Wei Cheng, you’ve got guts! You’re an outsider, we’ve already shown mercy by feeding you, and you hide a child of unknown origin! You’re defying heaven! Beat him, beat him!”

The Wei family watched coldly. Villagers wanted to intervene but feared Wei Sannian’s reputation.

Guan Guan cried, struggling. “Don’t hit Brother, bad people, bad people…”

Wei Sannian raised his stick to hit Wei Cheng’s legs, but with a cracking sound, his waist stiffened in pain, cold sweat breaking out on his back. He forced himself to remain composed, lowering the stick, pretending, “Little bastard, you’re rebelling!”

His mother, Fang Shi, shouted, “Sannian, beat him, beat him to death! He won’t learn otherwise!”

Guan Guan, unable to escape, bit Fang Pozi’s collar.

Fang Pozi hissed, letting go. She saw a lot of blood!

Wei Linlang quickly bandaged her hand. Fang Pozi tried to slap Guan Guan, but he dodged, almost causing her to fall, saved by Wei Linlang.

Guan Guan stumbled to Wei Cheng, his small body trembling as he hugged the seemingly unconscious Wei Cheng, crying, “Don’t, don’t hit Brother, please, please, Guan Guan will go…”

Then, someone shouted from outside the yard, “The village head is here!”

When Village Head Li Maode arrived, the villagers parted to let him through. He witnessed Wei Sannian raising his stick to hit the children.

“Stop!”

Li Maode’s face darkened, throwing the stick to the ground. “Damn it!”

Wei Sannian, his waist aching, relieved to see the village head, retreated, leaning against the wall.

“What kind of emergency requires beating an eight-year-old child like this!”

Li Maode’s voice was stern. “Wei Sannian, you’re committing a sin!”

Wei Sannian’s wife, Liu Shi, defended her husband. “Forget about sin, that’s for later. Since you’re here, tell us where this wild child came from, why he’s living off the Wei family! Is he a thief, here to steal?”

“Village Head, you must do justice for us! We’re poor, we can’t afford another mouth to feed!”

Fang Pozi cried, using her cane.

The villagers couldn’t help but sneer. If the Wei family was poor, then there were no wealthy families in the village. They supported a scholar, flaunting their cabbage and pork at the village entrance, yet now they cried poor?

Li Maode looked at the child, crying while hugging the unconscious Wei Cheng. He leaned down, sighing. “Child, where are you from? What’s your name? Where’s your home?”

Guan Guan’s tears blurred his nose and mouth. He stammered, “Don’t hit, Brother, Brother…”

He looked terrified.

“Village Head…”

The herbalist’s wife, Mo, spoke up. “Two days ago, Wei Cheng brought this child to our house. He exchanged a rabbit for medicine and some old shoes for the child. He said he found the child on the mountain and wanted to bring him to you, but you were away…”

Li Maode understood, pondering. “Mo, call your husband. Take Wei Cheng for treatment. The cost…”

His gaze fell on Fang Pozi. “Will be charged to the Wei family.”

The Wei family protested. Fang Pozi threw down her cane. “Where’s the money to treat this bad child! He’s wrong, bringing a strange child home, disobeying rules, it’s normal to discipline him! Why treat him?”

Wei Ernian’s wife, Qian Shi, sneered, “Whoever hit him pays for the treatment!”

The second family didn’t step forward, fearing the consequences.

Liu Shi argued with Qian Shi, their curses filling the courtyard.

“Enough!”

Li Maode said coldly, “Regardless of Wei Cheng’s relationship with you, you can’t beat him like this. You’re not afraid of retribution, aren’t you afraid of me reporting you?”

Fang Pozi wiped her tears. “Report me, I’m not afraid! Let the magistrate see this vagrant!”

“You!”

Li Maode knew why Fang Pozi was so bold. He’d heard that Wei Linlang had caught the eye of a wealthy man’s son in town, someone connected to the magistrate.

“Fang Shi, don’t think you’re above me because of your connections. I’ve been village head for half my life, I’m not afraid of you. Don’t forget I vouched for Wei Zhi’s entrance exam!” Li Maode waved his hand. “This family, bullying orphans, is not innocent!”

Wei Zhi, who’d been listening inside, burst out, his eyes bloodshot. “Grandma!”

Wei Ernian and his wife quickly spoke, trying to appease him. Fang Pozi’s face changed, pleading, “Village Head, please don’t take it to heart. We wouldn’t dare disrespect you! We’ll pay for the medicine, don’t involve Zhi!”

Li Maode ignored their pleas.

There were barely three scholars in Maoxi Village. Li Maode cared for scholars, as a scholar was a great thing for the village. He wouldn’t hinder a hardworking scholar’s studies.

But the Wei family had gone too far, so he used this tactic.

Fang Pozi, her hand and heart aching, tremblingly took out a purse, reluctantly giving some coins to Mo. “Please, get Wei Cheng some medicine.”

“This isn’t enough!”

Mo took the purse, weighing it. “This is barely enough.”

Fang Pozi’s eyes widened. “A few doses of medicine don’t cost this much!”

“If Wei Cheng’s head is injured, this won’t be enough! My husband is treating people bitten by wolves last night, we’re running low on herbs, and we’ll need to go to town! It’s snowing, travel costs a lot!”

Mo shouted for villagers to carry Wei Cheng away. Guan Guan cried, preventing them from taking Wei Cheng, shouting not to hit his brother, held back by the village head.