Chapter 33: Almost Lost to the Wolves, Xia Mo Risks Her Life to Protect Him

Wolves were intelligent and cunning creatures. Seeing her large, swaying silhouette under the flickering light, they deliberately avoided her.

Xia Mo was terrified—this felt like a scene straight out of a movie.

As an ordinary girl who had grown up in the sunlight, even afraid of dogs, she was now wielding a machete to fight off wolves.

This was the first time she had ever encountered wolves in real life.

Whoosh—

Another arrow flew.

Another wolf fell.

Three arrows, three direct hits. Only four wolves remained, but there were no more arrows left.

Xiao Jingyuan switched to using a machete to fight.

The Qian father and son managed to kill one wolf, but Uncle Qian’s already less agile hand was bitten.

One wolf found an opening and dashed toward the carriage they were protecting.

These beasts were incredibly clever—they were targeting the children inside the carriage.

The little ones wailed in terror, and without hesitation, Qian’s wife threw herself over the children to shield them.

The wolf bit down, sinking its teeth into her shoulder.

A piercing scream followed.

“Hui Niang!” Qian Cuàn went mad with rage, swinging his hoe down on the wolf’s back, breaking its spine in one strike.

Madam Qian, forgetting her own fear, grabbed a wooden pole and desperately beat the dying wolf.

That beast had almost devoured her grandson.

Only two wolves remained. Xiao Jingyuan struck one with his machete, and Xia Mo quickly followed up with another blow, finishing it off.

At that moment, the last wolf lunged directly at Xiao Jingyuan.

Caught off guard, he lost hold of his machete and was tackled to the ground.

This final wolf was the pack leader—the strongest of them all.

Seeing all its companions dead, the beast went berserk. Baring its fangs, it lunged at Xiao Jingyuan’s throat.

Xiao Jingyuan grabbed its head with both hands, but he was still young, no match for the wolf’s raw power—especially with an injured arm. He could only twist his head aside to dodge, then desperately wrestled the wolf as they rolled across the snow.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Xia Mo, drenched in sweat from panic, swung her machete several times, but each time she almost hit the wrong target.

Qian Cuàn held his hoe, too afraid to strike recklessly—one wrong move, and it would be over.

Xiao Jingyuan rolled with the wolf multiple times through the snow. The beast was massive, even larger than a typical wolf. It was nearly as big as Xiao Jingyuan himself.

On the final roll, Xiao Jingyuan managed to pin the wolf beneath him, strangling its throat with all his might.

But the advantage lasted only two seconds before the alpha wolf kicked him away with a powerful thrust.

Enraged, the wolf lunged at him again.

This time, it pinned him down, its fangs inches away from his throat. Just as death seemed inevitable, Xia Mo hurled herself forward, using her own body to knock the wolf away.

The wolf turned and bit down—

She wasn’t as nimble as Xiao Jingyuan and couldn’t dodge. All she could do was raise her arm in defense.

The bite sent searing pain straight to her bones. It was so agonizing that she could barely breathe.

Damn beast.

At that moment, Xiao Jingyuan’s machete slashed across the wolf’s neck.

“Fourth Brother…”

Xia Mo looked at him once before her vision went dark, and she lost consciousness.

Qian Cuàn slammed his hoe onto the wolf’s body, and the beast let out a final yelp, like a dog being beaten. A few more strikes, and it was completely dead.

—

When Xia Mo woke up, she was already lying in a medical clinic.

Turning her head, she saw Xiao Jingyuan sitting beside the bed, dozing off. He hadn’t noticed she was awake.

“Mm…” A wave of pain surged through her arm, making her let out a soft groan.

Looking down, she found her arm secured with several splints—it seemed she had really broken a bone.

Xia Mo sighed and placed her other hand over her forehead.

Honestly, she was lucky. If Xiao Jingyuan had been even a little slower, she might have lost her entire arm.

Hearing movement, Xiao Jingyuan stirred awake and immediately looked over at her.

“Fourth Brother, you’re awake?”

Xia Mo nodded weakly. “Mm. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But you… weren’t you usually scared of everything? Why did you dare to charge in like that?”

Xia Mo rolled her eyes at him. “If I hadn’t crashed into it, the thing that got broken wouldn’t have been my arm—it would’ve been your neck.”

Her voice was weak and hoarse, but she spoke casually.

To her, watching someone she had spent months with about to be torn apart by a wolf—there was no time to weigh pros and cons. She had just acted.

What she didn’t know was that her selfless rescue deeply affected Xiao Jingyuan.

During the coup in the palace, when all hope was lost, the imperial grandmother who had doted on him all his life had ultimately chosen to hand him over in exchange for her own son’s survival.

Afterward, she had fought desperately to save him, commanding the death guards trained by their family to smuggle him out of the palace at all costs.

Those guards had protected him on his journey north to find his uncle.

But when they heard that his uncle had lost the war, they too began to waver.

The truly loyal ones had already died. Those with a bit of conscience scattered on their own, while others saw an opportunity and tried to capture him to claim a reward.

No one knew how he had survived.

He had thought there was no one left in the world who would risk their life for him.

And yet, this girl—someone he had never fully trusted, someone he had often looked down on—had thrown herself into danger to save him from the jaws of death.

In that moment, as the alpha wolf’s teeth neared his throat, he had truly believed he was going to die.

“Xia Mo, why are you so foolish?”

If he had been even a second slower, her arm would have been useless.

His question left Xia Mo momentarily dumbfounded.

Yeah… why had she been so foolish?

But in the heat of the moment, there hadn’t been time to think.

“What’s done is done. No need to dwell on it. And don’t look at me like that—hey, hey, you better not start crying.”

Xiao Jingyuan: “…”

“Alright, get me some water. I’m dying of thirst.”

“Okay, wait here.”

Xiao Jingyuan left and soon returned with a bowl of water—and an elderly man with a full white beard.

The old man smelled of herbs—clearly the doctor who had treated her arm.

“You’re a lucky one, young lady,” the doctor chuckled. “Surviving a wolf attack is no small feat.”

Xia Mo gave a sheepish laugh and glanced at Xiao Jingyuan.

“All thanks to my little brother’s quick reflexes.”

Xiao Jingyuan stood beside her, lips pressed together, frowning slightly—looking unusually serious for his age.

The old doctor chuckled. “Your little brother was quite worried about you. He carried you on his back for miles into the city. As soon as he put you down, he collapsed from exhaustion.”

Xia Mo was stunned.

Xiao Jingyuan had carried her all the way into the city?

She had thought they put her on the Qian family’s cart.

Xiao Jingyuan explained, “Uncle Qian’s cart broke down, and it was moving even slower than before. I was afraid you wouldn’t make it, so I brought you here first.”

“And what about you?” She remembered he was injured too.