The Cornflower Witch – Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Maiden And Wolf
Fourth Continent, Xu Feng Season, Autumn·Ti Lang Festival
（Ti: Vermilion yellow, orange-red color, also refers to armed personnel, Ti cavalry. In modern times, the Five Hegemons’ Ti clothing, the remnant color of ancient military uniforms.——《Spring Official·Minister of Attire Notes》）
In the ninth year of Xu Feng Season, this part of the continent had passed the brightest season of “Blazing Sun”, the Blazing Sun vitality carried in the wind made all things grow, in a few years, animals in the mountain forest had multiplied greatly, wolf packs chasing food bathed in the forest wind, becoming stronger due to the abundance of food, they no longer disguised themselves to dodge, after absorbing the vitality of the “Blazing Sun” nature power, their gray manes’ fur was dyed orange-yellow and bright red, becoming more ferocious and arrogant.
;
A gentle breeze brushed the forest, a light yellow tinged red leaf slowly drifted down from the branch, landing on the head of the maiden under the tree.
The dry hard edge of the leaf scraped against that snow-white and smooth long hair, then slid down with the wind and hair strands, landing on the shaded ground full of fallen leaves.
A maiden was confronting an evil wolf
Xilutiya was currently looking nervously at the orange-red evil wolf in front of her that was emitting a low roar, one hand twisting the side of her skirt, the other hand trembling slightly in the air, the corner of her eye desperately searching for usable things around her.
Anything would do, a tree branch or wooden stick, at least better than dealing with this evil wolf bare-handed.
She couldn’t remember anymore, why the previous segment of memory was sitting on the bus heading back to old home, and the next moment she woke up in this uninhabited forest, walking for an hour without finding any trace of human habitation, if not for everything in front of and around her being so real, she would suspect she was dreaming.
“Woo…” The low sound came again.
Baring the corner of its mouth, the red wolf revealed its interlocking canine teeth and bright red gums, the orange-red mane on its back slightly bristled, its forebody crouched low, those triangular eyes staring at this silver-haired maiden, seemingly judging the strength of the opponent’s strength, as an evil wolf tainted with “Blazing Sun” nature power, it had gradually departed from the category of ordinary wild beasts, gaining some intelligence.
The opponent’s snow-white tender skin and clean gentle scent, without exception, indicated this was an extremely rare delicacy, although it had never eaten a human, its instinct in the blood told it that the creature before it would be the most delicious food in its wolf life.
Eat her!
The red wolf moved, the maiden barely saw how it leaped, but when that wolf head was less than half a meter from her body, she still reacted.
Twisting her body sideways, right hand blocking in front of her chest, when the red wolf leaped into the air, the slender fingers from the sleeve cuff nimbly landed on the wolf head, her ring finger exactly pressing on the wolf’s eyeball, the hard eyelashes and moist eyeball made the maiden’s heart tighten, but she still strongly suppressed the fear in her heart, pushing the wolf head away, making it pounce empty to the right side of her body.
After dodging the first attack, Xilutiya had no time to think deeply, almost stumbling forward to run, bending down while running, grabbing the wooden branch she had urgently spotted earlier, then turning back, at this time the red wolf pounced again.
Xilutiya, who fell to the ground from grabbing the wooden branch, had no time to get up, at this moment could only try to pull back her calves to prevent being bitten by the wolf.
Not biting the target, only gnawing the maiden’s skirt hem, the red wolf released its mouth, full of murderous light pouncing again toward Xilutiya’s throat, Xilutiya at this time also thrust out the dry wooden branch gripped tightly, aiming at that open wolf mouth, stabbing into it.
The rough wooden branch bark inserted into the soft throat tube, causing the red wolf intense vomiting desire, it retracted its body, shaking its wolf head, trying to throw the branch out of its throat.
Intense struggling shakes came from the wooden branch in her hand, Xilutiya knew that at this moment she absolutely could not let the red wolf fling the wooden branch out, one hand gripping tightly the lower end of the wooden branch inserted into the wolf’s mouth, the other hand grabbing the fur at the red wolf’s back neck, trying to fix it in place.
The coarse hard orange-red mane was somewhat prickly, the neck meat under the fur was also hard to grasp, this guy was very sturdy, the maiden couldn’t help but think.
To prevent the red wolf from breaking free, she almost pressed both knees down on the red wolf’s body, several times nearly breaking free, and the skirt under her body was also continuously torn by the wolf claws, leaving spicy hot scratches on her legs through the skirt fabric.
Time passed…
Not knowing how many minutes had passed, when Xilutiya felt she was about to hold on no longer, the struggling of the red wolf under her finally slowly weakened, blood-red foam overflowed from the wolf’s mouth, but the maiden still wasn’t reassured, continuing to thrust the branch deep into the red wolf’s throat tube, only until the opponent was completely motionless, without heartbeat, did she finally relax her mind, slightly settling down.
Slowly standing up, Xilutiya only then discovered her back was already soaked with sweat, some hair strands stuck to her forehead, she took a deep breath, calming her previously rapidly pounding heartbeat, at this time finally having leisure to survey the surroundings.
Orange-yellow, bright red, and a little black, Xilutiya observed the fur of this dead evil wolf under her feet, whether its appearance or color, she had never seen in the past, in her memory it seemed like there were wolves with orange-red fur over in Meizhou area, but the appearance was completely different from the one before her.
Fingers slightly touching that hard fur, an extremely subtle hot sensation came, weaker the closer to the fur root, and strongest at the fur tips, even with a faint prickly feel.
【Ti Lang】
In the mid-to-late Xu Feng Season, wolf wild beasts would have their fur turn orange-yellow due to being tainted with “Blazing Sun” nature power, becoming “Ti Lang”, when their entire body fur turned flame-like bright red, they became first order “red wolves”, the ferocious “red wolves” would bring great harm to village residents and livestock, to the extent that the image of such creatures often appeared in fairy tale books.
Every time this season came, hunters would organize to enter the mountain forest to hunt them in advance, some nobles also loved this activity, they would hang the “Ti Lang” fur obtained from hunting in the living room, as a symbol of their own glory and bravery, this activity finally became a tradition in many places, and this season was also recorded as “Ti Lang Festival”.
Note: “Ti Lang” and “red wolf” fur contains trace “Blazing Sun” nature power, giving it quite good warmth retention in winter, if preserved until Sinking Mist Season, its value would further increase.
Eyes blinking, Xilutiya was surprised at the knowledge emerging in her mind, why she knew the origins of the dead wolf, even understanding some of this world’s history and customs.
It seems there are still quite a few things she needs to figure out.
Slowly standing up, she looked around, then reached out trying to drag the wolf corpse under her, that heaviness made her give up the idea of taking it.
She had no knife tools at hand, whether skining or dissecting or anything, she couldn’t do it, moreover she had never killed a wolf before, completely not knowing where to start.
After thinking for a few seconds, Xilutiya decided to continue walking out of the forest, she didn’t know if the dead wolf corpse would attract other creatures, but at this time since she couldn’t utilize it, she could only move away.
After resting a few minutes, Xilutiya tidied her messy clothes and skirt and hair, continuing forward along the shaded path, looking at the sun’s position, this time should be around 3-4 PM, past the hottest time.
Not knowing where to find food and a place to stay overnight, the maiden touched her belly, feeling not hungry yet.
This body was clearly not her past appearance, but moving it felt completely natural, as if she was supposed to be this way, walking in the shade, Xilutiya slowly sorted out her memories.
She remembered clearly, this time was because she received a call from old home, so she applied for annual leave from the company to go home.
Boarding the high-speed train racing along, she left the big city where she had worked for several years, heading toward her hometown she hadn’t seen in many years, ever since graduating high school, going to other cities for university, after graduating going to work, the days returning to old home could be counted on fingers, probably just those few days over New Year.
Speaking of which, she hadn’t walked in the mountain forest like this for a long time, the maiden looked up, one hand lightly shading her forehead, gazing at the light green and yellowish leaves overhead.
Every summer vacation in childhood, she would go to grandfather and grandmother’s place to play for a long time, grandfather and grandmother’s home was not in the city area, but in a very remote mountain village, there were undulating emerald color mountains and small rivers, and all sorts of animals.
Grandfather raised a flock of goats, putting them out to graze on the mountain every day, and young Xilutiya would also follow with a few cousins, everything in the mountain forest was extremely novel to her who grew up in the city.
Spiky and cracked chestnuts, bright red snakeberries by the mountain road that looked very appetizing, clusters of green berries, occasional strange bird calls, and owls on trees that were hard to distinguish like fallen leaves, the existence of these things was like a splash of bright color in a poor life, making young Xilutiya especially happy.
City children’s childhoods were relatively boring, she recalled the past, most time spent in school, cram classes, doing homework, exams, only when arriving at grandfather and grandmother’s home was there no one urging her to study books, able to play freely, uncle and aunt also doted on her, asking what she liked to eat, then trying to satisfy.
Dragonflies, fireflies, caterpillars, butterflies, even snakes in the firewood pile, these things from books, she first saw them all in old home’s mountain village, going there every summer vacation also became her happiest time.
Sitting on the bus heading to old home, she leaned against the car window, recalling past times, the sunlight outside the car passing through the roadside shade falling on her, making her vision momentarily blurry.
Going fishing at this time should be pretty good, if she could catch a few crucian carp to make soup, that would be even better.
Crucian carp are relatively small fish, also the only fish she caught as a child, at that time only bamboo pole, thread and hook, far from today’s many equipment.
After first catching a crucian carp, she and a few brothers and sisters gathered around the bucket, not knowing how to handle it, release back to water? The few children were unwilling to give up the fish they finally caught, but eating it, this fish didn’t look like it had much meat.
The silvery fish scales slippery in hand, reflecting a bit of iridescent light against the sun, the midline on both sides of the fish body had a row of small spots, making the few children especially curious.
In the end aunt helped, processing the fish they caught, then making it into fish soup.
“It’s a pity grandfather didn’t get to eat…” The maiden recalled the scene from when she was ten, sighing with some regret.
After that fishing, grandfather heard about it, then smilingly said he didn’t get to eat it, when would they catch one for him again, she and the brothers and sisters readily agreed, but afterward adults feared the children playing in water would drown, never letting them near the riverbank again.
After that the matter was gradually forgotten, until a few days ago, she received the call, learning of grandfather’s passing, then embarking on the journey back.
……
Not knowing if she could return to the former world, perhaps even if she did it would be a very very long time later, but she still somewhat missed that hometown in her memories, and those warm beautiful memories that warmed her entire childhood.
Hands lightly spread, keeping balance, the maiden’s tiptoes lightly stepped on the stone covered by fallen leaves, walking toward the mountain below, after many years, that familiarity with the mountain terrain returned to her heart, letting her easily pass through rugged slopes and shrubs, threading through layers of shade.
Like this, until just before the sun was about to set, after crossing the last small hillside, she saw faint cooking smoke rising in the distance.
A medieval village surrounded by fields, peaceful and rustic, appeared in her view.
Here there were no familiar electric poles, no smooth cement roads, only houses built of stone and rough wood, rustic windmills standing in the wheat field slowly turning, bundles of straw stacked in the field and wilderness
When a horse carriage with iron sheet outline slowly drove along the field ridge path, the shield-skinned wild beast pulling the carriage entered sight, Xilutiya finally realized, this was already a completely different other world, and if she wanted to return to her hometown, she would probably have to walk a very very long road.
Shouldn’t it be receiving grandfather’s letter, then returning to old home to inherit the fields and pasture, living an idle rural life away from work, that kind of script?
The situation really took a sharp turn, the maiden lightly complained in her heart, then walked toward the village below the mountain.