Volume 1, Chapter 7: They Have Come Seeking Help!

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Everyone stared at Xu Mo as he strode away with the dead roe deer slung over his shoulder, exchanging bewildered glances.

“Why do I feel like Blackie has become a completely different person? He just glanced at me, and it sent shivers down my spine.”

“Blackie’s changed far too much. Is it because he got married and split off from the family?”

“I can’t figure out how Blackie managed to kill the wolf king. And just now, he fiddled with my foot, and the pain disappeared. Do you think he secretly learned medicine?”

“Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and carry everyone back to the village.”

“Brother, what should we do with these snow wolves?”

“Take them back first. We’ll divide them up afterward.”

Xu Mo carried the roe deer to the headless wolf king’s corpse and hoisted that over his shoulder as well.

This had certainly been a fruitful hunt.

With his rifle on his back and the roe deer and wolf king slung across his shoulders, Xu Mo walked step by step toward the village.

Upper-Leaf Village had only a little over forty households. There were no more than thirty or forty people in their teens and twenties. Now that so many of them had been mauled and wounded by the wolves, life would likely become even harder for them in the days ahead.

Xu Mo wanted to help, but there was only so much he could do.

When he returned to the village, he passed through the front courtyard. Little Jade, sitting at the entrance of the main house and warming her hands over the fire, stared wide-eyed at the roe deer and wolf king hanging from Xu Mo’s shoulders. Her tiny mouth opened into a perfect circle.

Xu Mo paid her no attention and walked straight back to the mud-brick hut.

Seeing the madwoman seated before the fire, Xu Mo smiled, drew his chopping knife, and began skinning the animals.

Two wolf pelts and one roe deer hide would be enough to make a decent outer cloak.

He rinsed the blood from the meat with fresh snow, then chopped it into chunks with a rhythmic thudding.

He set up the pot and began rendering the fat.

The roe deer meat, streaked with both fat and lean, released its oils and filled the hut with an irresistible fragrance.

The madwoman lifted her head and stared at the roe deer sizzling in the iron pot, nearly drooling.

Wave after wave of savory aroma drifted out of the mud-brick hut.

In the main house of the front courtyard, Old Xu and the others were gathered around the stove.

“That brute—where did he learn such tricks? He actually came back with both a roe deer and a snow wolf.” Old Mother Xu spoke angrily. Turning to Xu An, whose ear was wrapped in bandages, she said, “Eldest, that brute can hunt wild game. Why don’t you try going into the mountains too?”

Xu An blinked. He thought his mother had a point. If Blackie could hunt wild game, then he was much stronger than Blackie. Why shouldn’t he be able to do it as well?

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“Father, why don’t we go into the mountains now?” Xu An was somewhat afraid to go alone.

“Later, I’ll go to Iron Boy’s house and borrow his rifle. Then we’ll head into the mountains together!”

“Excellent, excellent! With a rifle, the two of us will certainly be able to hunt wild game too.” Xu An spoke with complete confidence.

Before long, Old Xu and the others heard mournful cries coming from the neighboring courtyard.

“What happened?” Old Mother Xu rose with a face full of curiosity and walked toward the door.

“It’s Iron Boy’s house. Come on, let’s go take a look,” Old Xu said.

The cries and wails echoed through the little village.

The seven snow wolves were chopped into pieces by Bighead Xu and the others, weighed on a balance scale, and divided evenly among seventeen people.

At Dog Ye’s house, his mother sat collapsed on the ground, wailing without end.

Dog Ye had died before he could make it home.

Next door, at Red Star Ye’s house, his mother was also crying and beating her breast, while his father stood with a grim expression, staring at his arm. The wound was deep enough to expose the bone.

Red Star’s wound had been packed with ice and snow until it was numb. He could no longer feel any pain, and he looked irritably at his mother.

“Ma, stop crying. I’m fine. I’ll be healed in a few months.”

“Healed, my foot!” Red Star’s father’s expression was extremely grim.

Red Star was his fourth son. Of the first three, one had died in infancy, another had been mauled to death by a black bear in the mountains, and the second had enlisted in the army the year before. Red Star was the only child left at home.

His father squeezed his arm. Seeing how unconcerned he looked, the old man grew so anxious that he nearly broke down in tears.

“Come on. You’re coming with me to the county hospital.”

“What?” Red Star stared blankly at him. “Father, have you lost your mind? The mountain roads are buried under heavy snow. How are we supposed to get to the county?”

“Do you know how Three-Gang died? His lower leg was torn apart by wolves, just like yours. He thought it was nothing serious and that a little rest would fix it. But two days later, Three-Gang developed a high fever that wouldn’t go down and died in bed.” As he spoke, Red Star’s father walked toward the inner room and shouted to his wife, “Quick, bring me all the money and ration coupons in the house!”

After hearing his father’s words, Red Star stood frozen in place. Xu Mo’s words involuntarily surfaced in his mind:

“Do you want your arm, or do you want your life?”

“Father! Father!” Red Star hurried into the inner room and cried out in panic, “The snow has sealed the roads. We can’t make it there. If the two of us die on the way, what will Mother do?”

“Then what? Just watch you die?”

“Find Blackie. Blackie can save my life!”

“Blackie?” Red Star’s father froze.

Red Star did not dare hesitate. He told his father everything that had happened in the mountains, exactly as it had occurred.

After hearing his explanation, his father’s face filled with shock. Did Blackie truly possess such abilities?

“One arm in exchange for one life… Come on. We’re going to find Blackie!” Gritting his teeth, Red Star’s father hoisted him onto his back. Then he turned to his tearful wife and shouted, “Mother of the children, bring all the coarse grain and coarse salt, along with the military knife our second son sent home. Meet us at Old Ming’s house!”

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With that, Red Star’s father hurried out of the house.

Old Xu’s entire family had just returned from Iron Boy’s neighboring home.

Xu An’s face was somewhat pale. After learning what had happened, all thoughts of going into the mountains had vanished without a trace.

The mountains were far too dangerous.

He recalled Iron Boy’s leg, bitten until it was a bloody mess by the snow wolves…

The sight had been horrifying.

“Old Ming! Old Ming!”

Just then, a shout rose from behind them.

Old Xu turned around and saw Big Bull Ye running toward them, gasping for breath. He froze for a moment, then noticed Red Star Ye lying on the man’s back. The exposed arm hung in the open air, its skin purple and swollen, the bone visible beneath the wound.

The thigh wound suffered by Second Iron next door had looked quite serious, but it had not damaged the bone. With several months of rest, he would recover.

But Red Star’s arm was probably beyond saving.

“Big Bull, what are you doing?” Old Xu asked, raising his brows in confusion. He was no old physician. Why had Big Bull brought Red Star to him?

“Where’s your Blackie?”

He had come looking for Blackie?

Old Xu arched his brows but said nothing.

Xu An answered instinctively, “He’s in the mud-brick hut in the back courtyard.”

Having received his answer, Big Bull darted past them and rushed into the courtyard, heading straight for the mud-brick hut.

Old Mother Xu stamped her foot and chased after him, shouting, “Big Bull Ye, what are you doing? Don’t you dare let your Red Star die in our house!”

Inside the mud-brick hut, Xu Mo and the madwoman did not bother with bowls. They used sharpened chopsticks to spear chunks of fragrant roe deer meat straight from the pot.

Both of them ate until their mouths were slick with grease.

“Burp!”

The madwoman let out a satisfied belch. Through her padded jacket, she rubbed her swollen stomach, and her cheeks flushed faintly.

Unfortunately, with her hair hanging loose and her face smeared with black soot from the cooking pot, Xu Mo could not see her blush. Otherwise, he would surely have teased her a little.

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