Chapter 14: War Wolf
The grandfather and grandchildren walked for several days in the Xiaohan Mountain Range, encountering no one, neither pursuers nor hunters.
Grandpa Ling kept cheerfully reassuring the two, saying they would soon cross the mountain range, the weather was getting warmer, and they wouldn’t freeze or starve in the mountains.
During the day, Jinan followed her grandfather and elder sister, acting completely like a child.
The three of them fished, picked wild fruit, dug up bird eggs, gathered wild vegetables, and caught grasshoppers and silkworm pupae to roast and eat.
It was no help that no matter how Grandpa Ling improved the traps or performed divination, the three of them couldn’t catch a single wild chicken. The grasshoppers and silkworm pupae were their only source of protein.
Jin Sui had already given up on hunting. Amusingly, Grandpa Ling was very afraid of snakes.
When they were fishing in a shallow stream, a snake swam over. Jinan wanted to catch it to make soup, but Grandpa Ling, terrified, jumped from the shallow stream onto the bank and ran away quickly.
However, when Jin Sui and Jinan teamed up to catch the snake and make snake soup, Grandpa Ling ate it with great relish.
While chewing on the snake meat, he said, “You scared me!”
Jin Sui was amused and laughed heartily, “Grandpa, why are you so afraid of snakes?”
Grandpa Ling quickly looked around warily and said, “Don’t mention that name. That thing is ominous; it comes when you mention it.”
He showed the children the scar on his calf, “When I was young, that thing bit me, and this leg was almost lost.”
“Isn’t it just that once bitten by something, you fear ropes for ten years!”
Jinan also laughed, her face flushed red. So, the adults who seemed omnipotent in the eyes of children also had things they feared!
However, when it was time to sleep at night, Jinan would often cry in his dreams, whimpering softly, suppressing his grief, and gently calling out:
“Mother.”
Each time, Grandpa Ling would gently pat Jinan’s back, but he wouldn’t offer any verbal comfort.
Jin Sui didn’t know how to comfort her younger brother, even feeling that crying might be a relief.
Until one time, Jinan unconsciously snuggled into her arms in his sleep, like an abandoned young beast.
He clung to Jin Sui’s sleeve helplessly, affectionately and sadly calling out, “Mother, don’t go.”
Jin Sui couldn’t bear it and hugged him, imitating Jiang Shi’s voice to comfort him, “Mother is here, good child, don’t be afraid.”
Jinan’s crying gradually stopped, his furrowed brow relaxed, and he fell into a deep sleep.
Grandpa Ling looked at her with surprise and asked softly, “When did you learn ventriloquism?”
Jin Sui, illuminated by the bonfire, remained unfazed:
“It’s not ventriloquism, I’m just imitating others’ voices. I can’t imitate cats or dogs.”
Grandpa Ling didn’t press further but smiled, “Grandpa was thinking, if you really knew ventriloquism, we could make a living performing.”
Jin Sui also smiled, “That probably wouldn’t earn much money. Grandpa’s divination and fortune-telling are more reliable.”
While Jinan was sound asleep, she took the opportunity to ask, “Grandpa, be honest with me, are you not planning to go to Chang’an?”
Grandpa Ling sighed, “Sui Sui is indeed intelligent; my thoughts can’t be hidden from you.”
“Alas, I know you and your brother want to fulfill your mother’s last wish, but your father’s case involves the Imperial Family!”
“Rather than seeking vindication for your father, Grandpa wants you and your brother to grow up safely.”
To be honest, Jin Sui thought the same. Father Ling’s case involved the Abandoned Crown Prince and was personally handled by the Emperor.
It was almost impossible to overturn the case while the Emperor was alive!
Moreover, the three of them were old and young, and women were severely restricted in this era.
She felt that instead of going to Chang’an at this critical juncture, it would be better to lie low for ten years or so, wait for Jinan to grow up, pass the Imperial Examination, enter officialdom, and when the Emperor was old, then seek vindication.
But she had promised Jiang Shi, and if she didn’t fulfill Jiang Shi’s last wish soon, she feared she wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly.
After much thought, she came up with a compromise.
“Grandpa, how about this: we won’t go to Chang’an, but we can still prepare for Father’s case in advance.”
“This case involves the Abandoned Crown Prince, who has been sent to the borderlands of Yandi. Why don’t we go to Yandi first to understand the case?”
“If that doesn’t work, we can go to Lantian and find that person named Huang to try and gather some information.”
Grandpa Ling was silent for a moment before saying, “We’ll talk about it after we get out of the Xiaohan Mountain Range.”
Jin Sui understood in her heart that Grandpa Ling still intended to take the siblings back to their hometown to live a stable life.
Neither of them noticed that Jinan, held in Jin Sui’s arms, had, at some point, slowed his breathing and his eyes subtly shifted.
The mountain path ahead became even more difficult. Jin Sui used a machete taken from her Space, tied to a bamboo pole, to clear the way.
It was spring, and the wormwood and vines grew wildly all over the mountains, making the paths extremely difficult to discern. Sometimes, what looked like flat ground covered by wild grass would turn out to be a hidden cliff with a single misstep.
The mountain ranges in the Central Plains were relatively easy to traverse, without so many steep cliffs, and streams flowed between the mountains.
Otherwise, given the physical condition of the three of them, they wouldn’t have been able to climb them.
Besides the difficult terrain, they also had to guard against wild beasts.
Grandpa Ling could identify the territories of fierce beasts like tigers and leopards by their scent and would steer clear of them.
The troublesome ones were wolves, which moved in packs and were elusive, making them impossible to detect in advance.
And there were many wolves in these mountains. They encountered wolf packs three times. Once, Grandpa Ling used fire, driving them away with a fire starter from a Taoist’s magic trick.
Jinan was worried about the wolves retaliating and didn’t dare to kill any lone wolf cubs, only driving them away with stones.
Another time was at night. The three of them were sleeping soundly when they suddenly heard a mournful whimper. Jin Sui woke up to see green eyes all around.
The scene was so terrifying that she felt as if she had been thrown into a Roman coliseum.
Fortunately, she had prepared. Before sleeping, she had poured pine resin and oil around the stone wall where the three of them were resting. This was something Grandpa Ling had taught them to collect since they encountered the wolf pack.
She quickly lit the oil ring. This time, they had no choice but to fight, as these beasts were quite intelligent, and the fire ring no longer scared them away.
She woke up Grandpa Ling and Jinan. The three of them each held different ‘weapons’. Grandpa Ling had the machete tied to the bamboo pole, Jin Sui had a handy wooden stick to strike the wolves’ waists.
Jinan held the medicinal powder his sister gave him and threw it at the wolves’ heads. The child was accurate with his slingshot, aiming for the wolves’ eyes.
Any wolf that charged into the fire ring was killed. Fortunately, as the fire ring began to die down, the wolf pack itself retreated. With a howl from the Wolf King, they all ran away.
Jin Sui, caught up in the excitement of the fight, snatched the machete from Grandpa Ling and chased after the wolves, swinging it twice at those running slower before returning, panting.
Damn it, see if you dare to come again! Do you really think this young lady is your food?
Jinan looked at his sister’s retreating back and asked his grandfather, who was half-crouched and panting, “Didn’t you say my sister was frail and sickly?”
Grandpa Ling waved his hand weakly, wanting to call out to Jin Sui but too tired to do so, only gasping, “Before, before she was sickly.”
Jinan seemed to understand but not fully. She was sickly before, but now she’s healthy enough to chase and fight wolves!
Jin Sui turned back and delivered a finishing blow to a wounded wolf. Counting them, the three of them had killed five wolves together!
No one would believe it if they said it, that these three people combined weren’t as strong as one young and strong adult.
But with their tacit cooperation, their combat effectiveness was indeed not low.
Jin Sui didn’t care about the risk of illness from eating wild game; she hadn’t eaten meat since she transmigrated!
Grandpa Ling and Jinan were the same, their mouths watering as they looked at the bleeding wolf carcasses.
Grandpa Ling said that the fresh blood would attract other fierce beasts, and they had to leave quickly.
