Chapter Fourteen: An Unexpected Encounter

  Two horsemen came galloping along the mountain road first, apparently also startled by the sudden appearance of a night camp on this side.

  "Who comes?" The people of the Zhou and Chen families shouted in unison.

  "Passersby." The two riders shouted immediately and raised their hands high, the torches illuminating this side to make it clear that they were not armed.

  Otherwise, being mistaken for a mountain bandit or horse thief and shot dead without distinction would be too unjust.

  But under the light of the torches, it was clear that he had a crossbow and a waist knife on him, obviously not an ordinary passerby.

  Behind them came the sound of horse and carriage, sensing something unusual ahead, they stopped.

  The two sides formed a standoff, with the night wind blowing on their respective torches, making a crackling sound, and the atmosphere was very tense.

  Neither side trusts each other, and both are on their guard.

  "Miss, get on the carriage first." Cao's steward had someone call out to Jingniang.

  The maid also had a slightly pale face and supported Cheng Jiaoniang as she walked.

  A loud wail suddenly echoed, as if it was the wind swirling in the mountain valley.

  Both sides were tense and confrontational, but no one noticed that Cheng Jiaoniang suddenly stopped in her tracks as she was about to get on the horse carriage.

  "Wolf!" she said.

  The maid was taken aback and didn't react for a moment.

  "What?" she asked.

  "The wolf is coming!" said Cheng Jiaoniang, pointing in the direction of the people and horses over there.

  The maid let out a scream.

  Especially frightening in the dark of night.

  "The wolf is coming!" she cried out in a sharp voice without hesitation.

  Wolf?

  Both of them were stunned for a moment.

  "What's this woman doing here..." someone on Cao's side said in a low voice.

  It's not yet winter, and it's easy for mountain animals to find food. Wild beasts are also at their plumpest. Wolves can't even finish eating them, let alone attack humans or horses.

  His words had barely fallen when a group of horses and men appeared from across the way.

  "There's a wolf!"

  "It's a pack of wolves!"

  They started rushing over from that side and swarmed in on this side.

  Are there really wolves?

  Won't be intentionally starting an attack, right?

  The people on Cao's side were busy preparing to meet the attack, and the sound of their mournful cries rose and fell in succession. At the same time, from the gaps between the horse teams, several dozen green glows could also be seen.

  It's a wolf after all! Or should I say, a pack of wolves!

  Just as everyone discovered, the wolf pack had launched an attack.

  Whooshing arrows shot out, the first few wolf heads howled and fell to the ground, but this did not stop the other wolves from attacking, instead it enraged the pack, with gleaming white teeth leaping forward.

  No mountain bandit would use this trick of being attacked by a pack of wolves to deceive others.

  This is really encountering wolf pack attack.

  "Hold on!" Mr. Chen, the steward of Cao's household, finally came to his senses and shouted loudly, as torches and arrows shot towards the pack of wolves with a whooshing sound.

  Jing Jiang and her maid were surrounded by the bonfire. Jin Ge'er held a knife given by one of his attendants, although he was trembling with fear, but also guarded them in front.

  The maid clung tightly to Cheng Jiaoniang, her body trembling.

  "Daughter, don't be afraid." she said in a trembling voice.

  Jiang Yao glanced at her.

  "I'm not afraid," she said.

  At this time, the people and horses on that side also turned around with the horse-drawn carriage, using the people and horses as a shield to block in front of the carriage.

  Because of the bonfire, the horse carriage came this way on its own accord.

  "Stand up," said Jingniang, "Either come over or don't come at all."

  Her voice was small and was covered up in the noise.

  The maid heard the shrill voice repeat once more.

  The attendants who were guarding tightly on this side suddenly realized and immediately aimed their crossbows at the horse carriage on this side.

  The attendants around the horse carriage on that side were also fearless and immediately aimed their weapons at this side.

  "Shout," said Jingniang again.

  The maid didn't hesitate at all and shouted without even asking a question.

  "Stand still. Either come over or don't come at all." she shouted.

  Is it because of this? The confrontational atmosphere on both sides has weakened slightly, but they are still wary of each other.

  "Get down," said Chiang Niang. "The horse will be frightened by the wolf pack and it's dangerous."

  The maid immediately repeated it in a trembling voice and shouted it out.

  Really?

  The torch crackled in the midst of sparks and flames. The people on the other side looked at each other, seemingly hesitant and indecisive.

  The curtain of the horse carriage was suddenly lifted. A person jumped down from it and landed with a thud.

  "Your Highness..." the attendants asked anxiously.

  The maid looked back and saw the man wrapped in a large cloak, with a hood covering his head and face, lit up by the torches, now bright, now dim.

  As they didn't have time to light a bonfire, people on that side held torches and surrounded the man in the middle.

  Everyone's eyes fell on the confrontation between him and the wolf pack over there.

  Although there were torches and crossbows, the number of wolves was too large, and they were not afraid of death. They quickly approached the front, and the crossbows were no longer useful. Everyone waved their knives and torches, fighting with the jumping wolves together.

  Everyone's eyes turned red with rage, at this point they didn't distinguish who was who anymore. The two sides combined had over thirty people, fighting together with forty or fifty wolves, without gaining any advantage whatsoever.

  The horse neighed loudly, apparently having been knocked down by a wolf. The man let out a miserable cry, also clearly having been bitten by the wolf.

  The girl's body shook more and more violently, biting her lower lip tightly to prevent herself from crying out loud.

  Death is so close...

  "Go help them." The person on the other side said.

  The attendants were hesitant.

  "But it's too dangerous for you to leave, young master," they said.

  "When those on the other side can't hold on any longer, I'll be in even greater danger." He said, then looked over here, "I'm going to the other side, there's fire and people over there."

  He said and then lifted his foot and came this way, the attendants hurriedly blocked him.

  "Your Highness, those people don't know..."

  "It's better to die at a human's hands than in the mouth of a beast." The man said with a smile, taking big strides towards them, "You'd best be off."

  The attendants gritted their teeth and split into two groups to follow him, while the rest rushed forward to kill the wolf.

  As he walked over, the attendants beside Cheng Jiaoniang became somewhat tense.

  "I'm not afraid," said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  "Make way, everyone on the road is in a difficult situation." The maid understood the order and hurriedly shouted.

  The attendants had to make way, and the man walked up with big strides, standing on the other side of the bonfire, the firelight reflecting his exposed dull chin, with a fair and clean complexion.

  "Thank you, little girl," he said, bowing his head to the maid, his voice clear and youthful.

  The maid was still shivering with fear, looked at him and didn't say a word.

  Just as I stood firm, I suddenly heard a loud howl and a black shadow rushed straight over.

  The maid let out a scream.

  The attendants standing outside reacted quickly, counterattacking with a knife, and one wolf let out a mournful howl as it rolled to the ground, but another one immediately pounced again.

  Where did these wolves come from?

  The attendants looked at each other in horror, seeing four or five wolves jumping towards them from the road behind. At this time, the bloody atmosphere on the scene stimulated their madness, revealing their sharp white teeth and drooling like silk threads.

  In the blink of an eye, it had pounced close by.

  So it's not scary to encounter a lone wolf in the wild, what's scary is encountering a pack of wolves.

  At the same time, the horse-drawn carriage that had stopped beside them was also frightened and whinnied loudly as it galloped away wildly.

  However, no one noticed this, and the attendants were too busy to guard anyone. Even Jin Ge was shouting and hacking his way through the chaos.

  The maid screamed and tried to hug Jingniang, but ended up hugging empty air.

  Jiang Yao picked up a burning stick from the bonfire and aimed it at those wolves.

  The maid wanted to learn how to behave like a lady, but in the end she couldn't help sitting on the floor.

  The man beside him drew out two more and also aimed at the wolf, with a hint of eagerness.

  "Burn them, their noses." said Cheng Jiaoniang.

  Her voice was completely inaudible in all this din.

  "Scorch their noses!" the maid shrilled.

  With her cry, the man indeed stepped forward and thrust a torch fiercely at a wolf that was rushing over with its teeth bared.

  The wolf yelped and retreated after being hit by the firebrand in the other hand of that person, who immediately struck its head and face with another firebrand.

  The wolf let out a loud howl and rolled over onto the ground, whereupon a nearby attendant added another knife.

  He retreated back, and with the movement, his hood fell off, revealing a young face. In the midst of the fiery slaughter, amidst the wails and bloodlust, he turned his head to look at the maid, and actually gave a faint smile, showing his white teeth.

  "It's fun," he said.

  Is it fun?

  Is this still fun?

  Isn't this guy also an idiot?

  The maid stared blankly, watching as a wolf suddenly pounced on the man's back from behind, and in an instant she even forgot to scream.