Chapter 40: Encounter with a Pack of Wolves

Hu Zhaodi glanced at the direction in which Zhang had fled, a cold smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

It had been over ten days since she last checked on the Hu family; she would need to pay them a visit tonight.

Even if she didn’t plan to take action against them, she could at least scare them a little so they wouldn’t get too comfortable.

Once the four entered the depths of the mountains, they spread out a bit to start searching for medicinal herbs and meat.

After an hour, all four had their backpacks filled with herbs and some meat, but Hu Zhaodi had the least in her pack.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t found enough; part of what she gathered had already been stored in her space.

For the next while, they only found a few herbs, but not a single animal.

Hu Zhaodi felt that something was off; her eyelids jumped inexplicably a few times, and an uneasy premonition surged within her.

She quickly moved closer to the Ji brothers, urging them not to spread out any longer.

Just as they clustered together, her eyelids twitched again, and she felt an impending danger approaching.

She pointed at a large tree nearby. “Brothers, hurry up and climb that tree! Be quick!”

Trusting Hu Zhaodi, the three Ji brothers didn’t hesitate to put their machetes in their packs and scrambled up the tree.

Having grown up in the countryside, they were quite skilled at climbing.

Eldest Brother went up first, followed by Third Brother and Fifth Brother Ji.

Hu Zhaodi kept her eyes darting around; even though she hadn’t spotted anything yet, her sense of danger grew stronger.

Once the Ji brothers were safely up the tree, she finally put her machete in her pack and swiftly climbed up, her speed astonishing.

The Ji brothers watched in awe, their mouths agape. Hu Zhaodi’s speed in climbing was beyond anything they had ever seen.

Was this something a human could do?

Even monkeys would probably bow down in admiration before her.

Just as Hu Zhaodi reached the top of the tree, several strong, muscular wolves poked their heads out nearby.

The Ji brothers gasped in shock, their bodies trembling slightly.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” Fifth Brother Ji exclaimed in disbelief, “Oh my goodness! Eight wolves!”

Eldest Brother looked down at Hu Zhaodi and, with a trembling voice, asked, “Zhaodi, how did you know there was a pack of wolves?”

Hu Zhaodi didn’t answer directly but instead asked, “Eldest Brother, didn’t you notice that during this time, we’ve only found herbs and not a single wild rabbit or anything?”

“Indeed! I was wondering why we hadn’t encountered any meat. Turns out a pack of wolves is nearby.”

Hu Zhaodi nodded slightly. “Exactly. Just now, my eyelids were jumping a few times, and I had this feeling that danger was approaching. That’s why I urged you to climb the tree quickly.”

Fifth Brother Ji grimaced. “What do we do now? Wolves can outlast us; they’ll wear us down until we’re exhausted.”

Hu Zhaodi reassured him, “Don’t worry. Even if they want to exhaust us, they’ll need to see if they have the ability to do so.”

Third Brother asked, “Zhaodi, do you have a plan?”

Hu Zhaodi flashed a charming smile. “Don’t worry! I have some sleeping medicine. We won’t die here!”

The Ji brothers secretly let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Below the tree, the eight wolves circled around, occasionally looking up at the four with bared teeth, their eyes gleaming with menace.

Hu Zhaodi climbed a bit higher and found a sturdy branch to sit on.

Reaching into her pocket, she focused her mind and pulled out two packets of powerful sleeping medicine from her space.

After opening the packets, Hu Zhaodi instructed the Ji brothers to hold their breath just in case.

If the wind changed direction suddenly and they accidentally inhaled the sleeping medicine, it would be a disaster.

Once the Ji brothers covered their mouths and noses, Hu Zhaodi sprinkled the sleeping medicine down.

The potent sleeping drug took effect quickly; within moments, the eight wolves collapsed, unable to rise.

The Ji brothers breathed a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, Hu Zhaodi was with them; otherwise, they would undoubtedly have met their doom today.

After waiting a bit, Hu Zhaodi said, “You all stay here for a moment. I’ll go down and take a look.”

Eldest Brother interjected, “Zhaodi, don’t go down; I’ll check it out.”

Hu Zhaodi shook her head. “No, I have more medicine on me. I’ll be fine. You all stay up here.”

Without waiting for the Ji brothers to respond, she slid down the tree.

After thoroughly checking and confirming that the wolves were indeed unconscious, Hu Zhaodi signaled for the Ji brothers to come down.

Fifth Brother Ji asked, “Zhaodi, what should we do with these wolves?”

Hu Zhaodi replied, “We don’t need to do anything. Just let nature take its course.”

Third Brother questioned, “What if the wolves wake up and come after us?”

Hu Zhaodi smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry! They won’t wake up anytime soon. My sleeping medicine isn’t ordinary; those wolves will sleep for at least three to four hours.”

Fifth Brother Ji said, “Then I’ll feel at ease. But I don’t feel secure staying close by; let’s move to another place.”

Hu Zhaodi pointed to her right. “Let’s head over there. There’s a small creek, and we can find something to eat by the water.”

The Ji brothers followed Hu Zhaodi towards the creek.

With the wolf pack now incapacitated, the four of them searched for medicinal herbs and meat as they walked.

After about a stick of incense’s worth of time, they reached the cave where Mo Jinnan had previously stayed.

Arriving by the creek, they gathered some dry branches and started a fire.

Once the flames died down a bit, they each took out their prepared  Gnaphalium cakes to roast.

The  Gnaphalium cakes, made with glutinous rice, would puff up quickly with just a little bit of heat.

Once the cakes were heated, they became soft and sweet, but if they wanted a richer flavor, they could roast them until both sides turned golden.

As the fragrant aroma of corn, rice, and ratweed wafted through the air, Hu Zhaodi’s stomach couldn’t help but growl.

She picked up a roasted  Gnaphalium cakes, blew on it a couple of times, and took a bite.

“Wow! This is really good!”

Eldest Brother laughed, “Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever had such delicious wild vegetable cakes in my life.

Before, my mother only made them with cornmeal, and there was no rice or sugar; these wild vegetable cakes are truly a luxury for me.”

Third Brother chimed in, “Can it not be a luxury? How many times have we eaten sugar in our lives? How often have we had rice?

If it weren’t for Zhaodi, I’d probably have to wait until the New Year for a proper meat dish.”

Hu Zhaodi smiled shyly. “Don’t put me on a pedestal; I just got lucky.

If it hadn’t been for my uncle and aunt taking me in back then, I’d probably still be begging for food somewhere unknown.”

Fifth Brother Ji patted Hu Zhaodi’s shoulder. “It’s impossible for you to end up begging. With that clever mind of yours and all your skills, there’s no way you would ever fall to that.

Besides, given your parents’ nature, they would never have the heart to let you be homeless.

As long as you leave the Hu family, if you have nowhere to go, they’ll bring you back home.”

Hu Zhaodi nodded. “Uncle and Aunt are indeed very kind. I don’t want to leave them now.”

Eldest Brother said seriously, “Zhaodi, from now on, our Ji family is your family.”