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As they reached the east bank of the river and dropped off the items for Li’s family, they noticed there were quite a few workers at Li’s house. Upon seeing the elderly couple, many of them were curious, but the men were busy with their tasks and didn’t approach. However, several women who were helping out came over to inquire. Li Qing’s wife and Liu Siniang stood nearby, observing. The answers they received were similar to what they had heard from the villagers earlier—all expressing sympathy for the elderly couple.
Shen Zi’an promised to come and help with the work later, then hurried back home with the ox cart.
Arriving at the gate of their garden, the elderly couple saw the long wall and understood why Shen Zi’an wanted someone to guard it. The size of the garden was evident from the length of the wall alone. As they entered, they noticed that standing at the gate and looking inwards, they could only see the distant opposite wall. In the middle of the garden stood a square house, with black tiles and a black gate—a sight that immediately impressed them with the house’s grandeur.
Between the gate and the house, there was a path paved with blue stones. Not only was there this main path, but there were also several others, some made of blue stone slabs and others of pebbles, arranged in various shapes and designs. From a distance, they all looked captivating.
Uncle Lan and Aunt Lan gazed at the garden and understood why the young couple wanted a gatekeeper. With such a large garden, if there wasn’t someone watching the gate, it would be pointless to have one. If the gate was closed and no one was there to hear, no one could enter. But if it was left open, anyone could come in and take whatever they wanted once things were planted inside.
“Master, Madam, please let us stay. We’ll guard the garden gate and take good care of the garden to make sure it stays tidy. If you plant anything here, we can help tend to it. Please let us stay. When I look around here, it reminds me of where we used to live, especially those mountains ahead.”
Uncle Lan pointed to the distant big green mountain.
Uncle Lan said, “When I was young, I was a hunter. Even though I’m old now, I can still hunt. I can go into the mountains to hunt for you, provide meat for you.”
Shen Zi’an and Su Zhi exchanged a glance, realizing that the couple truly wanted to stay.
“What’s that?”
Aunt Lan suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead. Shen Zi’an and Su Zhi looked over and saw that it was a white wolf coming out. The appearance of a black dog wouldn’t have caused such panic.
Su Zhi was about to speak when Uncle Lan suddenly leaped up with agile and nimble movements. He jumped from the cart to the front, grabbed the ox, and swiftly pulled out a whip from his waist, flicking it on the ground. Then he turned around and shouted loudly at Shen Zi’an and the others.
“You guys go ahead, I’ll deal with this wolf.”
Su Zhi stared in disbelief, feeling like her eyes were playing tricks on her. Did she just witness Uncle Lan, who had been barely conscious moments ago, transform into a martial arts expert? It seemed like all those martial arts novels, movies, and TV dramas were actually true, and those skilled masters disguised themselves as beggars.
Su Zhi blinked her incredulous eyes, finally confirming that she hadn’t imagined it. Uncle Lan was still standing there with a whip, albeit slightly stooped in posture. Yet, his aura was undeniably formidable. She thought it was truly astonishing, even more so than when she discovered her husband Shen Zi’an’s immense strength and ability to gracefully scale a wall and defeat a tiger. She turned abruptly to look at Aunt Lan, wondering if she possessed similar skills.
Sure enough, Aunt Lan showed no signs of fear at this moment, her expression devoid of any hint of timidity. Instead, she stared intently at the white wolf ahead with a serious gaze, completely devoid of the previous pitiful look.
Su Zhi thought to herself, no wonder Shen Zi’an didn’t want them to work for the family. These two weren’t ordinary folks at all, they were hiding their true abilities.
“Grandma Lan, Grandpa Lan can fly!” Yueyue exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder, twinkling like stars. Clearly, she was mesmerized by the scene just now, clapping her chubby hands together.
Aunt Lan, touched by Yueyue’s words, cast a fond glance at her. “What a fearless little girl. Even when facing a wolf, she’s not afraid and still thinks about other things. Truly lovable.” Aunt Lan had fallen in love with Yueyue at first sight, and now she hugged her close, saying, “Don’t worry, Yueyue. Grandpa will scare away the wolf for you. Grandpa can definitely do it. Even if Grandma has to die, she will protect you, Yueyue.”
Su Zhi looked at Aunt Lan’s expression, and from her eyes, she could tell that her emotions were genuine. They didn’t know that the white wolf belonged to them, but the fact that they were protecting them in such a dangerous situation suggested that they couldn’t be bad people.
“Da Hui, stop!” Xinger saw Da Hui pounce towards the white wolf and quickly called out to stop it. He didn’t want Da Hui to fight with the white wolf; that would be self-destructive behavior. Upon hearing Xinger’s call, Da Hui immediately halted.
Shen Zi’an watched Da Hui and thought, “This dog is really brave. Most dogs would tuck their tails and run when faced with a wolf, let alone a white wolf. Yet it dared to lunge at it. Its courage is almost on par with that of the wolf.”
“Grandpa Lan, that’s our wolf.”
Xiaori jumped off the cart and walked up to Grandpa Lan, pulling on his sleeve. He expressed envy for the skill Grandpa Lan had just displayed, even more so than Shen Zi’an. Especially when Grandpa Lan casually wielded the whip, it ignited a warm feeling in Xiaori’s heart, as if he remembered someone else who used to wield a whip like that. He couldn’t recall who it was, but he found that he liked the motion of cracking a whip.
Grandpa Lan was taken aback by Xiaori’s words and lowered his head to ask, “What did you say? You said your family keeps wolves? Do you keep a white wolf? That’s a Sacred Beast!”
Shen Zi’an walked over to him and confirmed, “Yes, we keep a Sacred Beast at home.”
At that moment, the white wolf gracefully trotted over, casting a glance at the old man Lan. Its eyes held a hint of coldness and a touch of disdain. Then it walked up to Su Zhi’s side and looked up at her. Although the white wolf was proud, it was closest to Su Zhi in this household. This was because Su Zhi possessed the Spirit Spring, and the wolf had a natural affinity for it. So, even though Su Zhi wasn’t its owner, she was someone the wolf recognized.
Moments ago, Da Hui had seemed fierce, but now, as the white wolf approached, it took a step back. However, it didn’t retreat too far. This behavior caught the white wolf’s attention, and it glanced at Da Hui before ignoring it.
Xinger said to the white wolf, “Big White, this is Da Hui. You mustn’t bully it.”
The white wolf glanced at Xinger and then gracefully turned back, slowly trotting away. As it moved back, Big Black, Little Black, and Little White dashed out from the courtyard gate. The whole family gathered together, forming a beautiful scene.
Da Hui looked at the black dogs and little black and white, then slowly trotted over and crouched down not far from them.
Little Black and Little White noticed Da Hui first. When Da Hui called out twice, Little Black hurried over, followed immediately by Little White. Little Black also crouched down in front of Da Hui and barked twice. Da Hui responded with two barks of its own. The interaction between the two, one big and one small, was quite amusing.
Then Big Black ran over. Big Black was a gentle dog, perhaps due to the relationship between dogs. After a while, it became closer to Da Hui. However, it ended up being blocked by the white wolf.
Su Zhi chuckled. It seemed that Da Hui had been accepted. However, the white wolf’s protective instinct for its mate remained strong, especially since Da Hui was still a male dog. If Da Hui wanted to get closer to Big Black in the future, it would be impossible.
“You guys have a sacred beast at home. Who exactly are you?”
At this moment, Uncle Lan snapped back to reality, his voice sounding somewhat feeble as he asked. He realized how foolish he had been, not intending to reveal his skills. He hadn’t expected to expose himself so soon. Was this fate? Initially, Shen Zi’an didn’t want to keep them, and now he probably wanted them gone even more. But Uncle Lan and his wife truly wished to stay here, craving a normal and peaceful life.
“But can ordinary people keep sacred beasts?” he wondered aloud.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Shen Zi’an replied. He had also gleaned from Uncle Lan’s actions that he wasn’t a bad person, at least not with ill intentions towards them. His previous concerns could be put aside. However, he still wanted to know who they were, as he didn’t want to bring any danger to his wife and children.
Uncle Lan responded, “We can’t tell you who we are, but you can rest assured we’re not bad people. How did you noticed something was off with us earlier? well, you wouldn’t have suddenly wanted us to leave if you hadn’t.”
Su Zhi was curious too. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual about them.
Shen Zi’an added, “During dinner, there was a cat behind you, and your eyes glanced over it first.”
Su Zhi thought to herself, no wonder she hadn’t noticed anything wrong. But she admired Shen Zi’an for noticing Uncle Lan’s abnormality from such a small detail.
Shen Zi’an continued, “And Aunt Lan, her hands are smooth without any calluses, long and slender. And your hair, though mostly white, many roots are still black.”
Su Zhi examined Aunt Lan’s hands and hair, confirming Shen Zi’an’s observations. Once she realized these were indeed disguises, Su Zhi scrutinized Aunt Lan’s face, wondering if it was also a facade.
Aunt Lan felt a little embarrassed when Su Zhi looked at her, which made Su Zhi even more suspicious.
“Aunt Lan, could your faces also be disguised? While we can accommodate guests with unknown backgrounds, we can’t harbor people whose true identities we haven’t seen.”
“If we were to reveal our true faces, would you still let us stay?” Aunt Lan asked, gesturing to her husband. She had already made up her mind to stay because there were reasons compelling her to do so. Uncle Lan remained silent, his eyes glancing at the distant Sacred Beast.