ebookland Chapter 071 A Fateful Encounter with Wolves
Chapter 071 A Fateful Encounter with Wolves
Lanterns hung in the courtyard, and torches burned on the watchtower, illuminating the entire watchtower brightly.
Stroking the scars on the old wolf's skin, his heart was heavy. "Having known and accompanied each other for so long, tonight I will take you home on behalf of the original owner."
He removed the old wolf pelt and hung it on the fence, cradling it in his hands. The villagers who witnessed this showed expressions of fear in their eyes.
They didn't know what Lu Zhiyuan was planning, only that the wolf pelt had to be hung on the watchtower. The wolves of Luoxia Mountain were particularly wary of this pelt; having it would protect the villagers from wolf attacks.
In the past, Luoxia Mountain Village was frequently attacked by wild wolves. They would come at midnight or dawn, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups of three or five, making it impossible to defend against them. Ever since Lu Yong brought this old wolf pelt up the mountain, they have never been attacked by wild wolves again.
Lu Yong said that the wolf skin belonged to the old wolf king, who was killed by him.
Initially, some villagers questioned him, but all those who questioned him were killed.
He was clever and adept at winning people's hearts. He understood business, leading the villagers to prosper. He was considerate of his subordinates yet ruthless in his methods. He often committed evil deeds, yet maintained harmonious relations with the prefectural government. Several times the imperial court sent troops to suppress him, but he always received prior warnings and avoided them.
The recollection ended, and the villagers reminded her that Lu Zhiyuan had taken the old wolf pelt.
Lu Yong tried to step forward, but was entangled by Scarface.
He trusted Lu Zhiyuan, no matter what she did.
Lu Yong panicked and kicked him away as he swung his sword: "You idiot, she's attracting wolves, she's going to ruin the whole village."
In the firelight, Lu Zhiyuan sat on the railing with her back to them. Dressed in red, she swayed her body, clearly enjoying the leisurely swinging of her legs. Occasionally, she would let out a soft whimper, as if communicating with a wolf.
As far as the eye could see, the number of wolves increased from two to three, from three to five, from five to fifty, until they had gathered in front of the mountain gate, numbering over a hundred. These wolves had different coat colors, except for one, which was completely black, standing on a rock surrounded by the pack.
When the humans and wolves faced each other, Lu Zhiyuan stopped howling, and the wolf pack also stopped howling.
As the effects of the medicine wore off, the villagers got up from the ground one by one.
"She came down, she walked towards the pack of wolves! The wolf king, the fiercest wolf king in Sunset Mountain. What's going on? The wolf king seems very close to her... Who is she? How did she do that? Wolves... wolves are coming in! We... we're doomed!"
Lu Zhiyuan straddled the wolf king's back and leisurely entered the courtyard. With a gesture, the wolves scattered and surrounded the villagers.
“Lu Zhiyuan, how could you command them?” Lu Yong stared at her intently, his eyes bloodshot. “What did you do to the wolf king, to them?”
Lu Zhiyuan lay on the wolf's back and wagged her finger at Lu Yong: "First of all, I didn't command them; only the wolf king could command them. Secondly, I didn't do anything to the wolf king; it was just good deeds that brought me good fortune. You're so wicked, you probably don't know what good fortune is."
Black Wolf was the grandfather of the Wolf King. After being rescued by his uncle, Black Wolf followed the scent to the capital. He was captured by hunters and put on the market for sale. Lu Zhiyuan happened to be passing by, bought him, and had him released back into the wild on the mountain.
It remembered Lu Zhiyuan, remembered her scent, and even more so, remembered the wolf tooth on her wrist—it was her grandfather's tooth, still bearing his scent.
"Good fortune? What good fortune can humans have with wolves?" Lu Yong stepped back. Seeing that the wolves didn't move, he took Xie Chaoyun hostage: "Make them get out of my stronghold, or else..."
"Otherwise you'll kill my mother?" Lu Zhiyuan rested her chin on her hand. "You keep saying you love my mother, is this how you show your love? My biological father may be bad, but even if he is, he wouldn't hold a sword to my mother's throat. Lu Yong, you'll never be as good as my biological father! As for my mother, she doesn't even like my biological father, how could she possibly like you?"
“I was forced into this. I didn’t want to hurt Yunniang. It was you and these wolves who tried to break us up.” Lu Yong’s eyes reddened even more. “I just want to marry Yunniang and be with her.”
Xie Chaoyun took a deep breath: "Lu Yong, let's stop here, okay?"
Lu Yong shook his head, taking a step closer with the sword in his hand: "You can't refuse me. I've waited for you for ten years, and I'm about to succeed. Yunniang, if you don't want to marry me alive, I won't force you. We'll die together, and in the underworld, we'll still be husband and wife."
“Lu Yong,” Xie Chaoyun patiently advised him, “If what you say is true, if you were the one who saved me on the Qingzhou River back then, then I, Xie Chaoyun, owe you a life. You can kill me if you want. But you don’t have to. You understand, even in the underworld, I will still be the Marquis’s wife.”
"A divorce agreement, I had Lu Huai write one." Lu Yong held his sword in one hand and rummaged through his pocket with the other: "He signed it. As long as you write your name on it, you will have no further connection with the Pingnan Marquis's mansion or with Lu Huai. We will get married, we will enter into a marriage contract, and you will be my wife."
"Okay, let me see the divorce papers first." Xie Chaoyun reached out, trying to take the opportunity to get rid of Lu Yong.
Lu Yong glanced at her warily, grabbed her waist, dragged her to a corner, and stared fiercely at Lu Zhiyuan and Scarface: "Don't move, especially you. Make your wolf behave. You don't want your mother to die at your hands."
Lu Zhiyuan pinched the wolf king's ear. The wolf king howled, and the wolves retreated, but still stared at them menacingly. Some villagers' legs went weak, some fainted, and some stiffened, motionless. They had witnessed villagers being torn apart by wolves before, and none of them wanted to become meat in the mouths of these wild wolves.
Lu Yong pulled out the divorce agreement. It was indeed in Lu Huai's tone and handwriting, but the signature wasn't Lu Huai's name or courtesy name; it was Lu Zhun. Furthermore, Chaoyun was Xie Chaoyun's nickname; her surname was Xie, and her given name was Yun. Her marriage certificate with the Lu family also listed her as Xie Yun. Even if she signed her own name on this divorce agreement, it wouldn't be valid.
Lu Yong was fooled by Lu Huai.
Xie Chaoyun was somewhat disappointed; she had thought she could take this opportunity to divorce Lu Huai.
"Didn't you want me to sign a divorce agreement? How can I sign it like this?"
“A handwritten signature, written in blood, will better prove your determination to divorce Lu Huai.” Xie Chaoyun prepared to bite her finger, but Lu Yong ran the back of his hand across the blade of his sword. “Don’t bite, use my blood.”
Lu Zhiyuan gave the wolf king a wink, and the wolf king leaped out and bit Lu Yong's shoulder. Lu Yong cried out in pain and tried to kill the wolf, but the wolf king dragged him to the ground and made him roll twice.
Once Lu Yong had gotten rid of the wolf king, his sword was already pressed against his own neck.
Under the coercion of the wolves, the entire Luoxia Mountain stronghold surrendered in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. When the county magistrate and the soldiers in charge of suppressing the bandits arrived, Scarface and Xie Chaoyun were taking stock of the stronghold's assets, while Lu Zhiyuan was eating and drinking with the children in the courtyard.
As they descended the mountain, the Wolf King stood on a high place and watched them go. Lu Zhiyuan waved to the Wolf King with her back to him.
The system kept muttering in my mind, "Host, wasn't it timely enough to give me this bracelet?"
Lu Zhiyuan: "I can subdue the wolf king even without the bracelet, okay? Do you think I wasted all those years in the organization? I can not only communicate with wolves, but also with other small animals. By the way, where is my scumbag father? He doesn't seem to be in the stronghold."
The system was silent for a moment, then said in a slightly cheerful voice, "He was locked in the granary by Lu Yong, and right now he's fighting with the rats for food."