Chapter 14

The winter sun slowly dispelled the darkness, and the sparkling snowflakes refracted dazzling light.

Standing at the gate of the watchtower, Qiaogui and Qiaofu clearly saw the results of last night’s battle and were startled. The snow-covered ground was littered with wolf carcasses and pools of blood. Some wolves, still struggling after being hit by arrows, had been frozen into bizarre ice sculptures, their twisted bodies seemingly telling tales of unbearable pain.

Qiaogui’s eyes widened, and he pinched his thigh hard, feeling nothing.

"Second brother, I told you, it must have been a dream. How could the three of us kill so many wolves!"

Qiaofu looked aggrieved, "Brother, you pinched my thigh!"

"Hehe!" Qiaogui’s dark face flushed red, and he hurriedly said, "Second brother, stop talking nonsense. These wolf skins are valuable. Let’s quickly skin them before other beasts eat them."

"Right, Brother Ke also said we need to be wary of passersby who might take advantage of the situation!" Qiaofu said, "Let’s start with the outer circle of bodies. We’ll move them to the watchtower and then skin them. Brother, didn’t the head wolf bite your left arm? Are you okay?"

Qiaogui rolled up his sleeve and smiled, "When I was hunting before, I made a bear-skin arm guard with three layers. It was all bitten through. I thought my arm was done for, but it turned out only the skin was broken. It must be the will of heaven!"

Qiaogui, who had survived a near-death experience, couldn’t help but sigh, "We both have minor injuries, but Zhang Ke has new and old wounds. We were supposed to protect him, but if it weren’t for him killing the head wolf, we would have become wolf dung. When we get home, if Mother-in-law asks, I’ll be too embarrassed to speak."

Qiaofu laughed, "Brother, you’re being silly. Maybe Brother Ke is secretly happy. With such a beautiful girl by his side, I’d be happy even if I were ten times more injured!"

The two brothers were full of envy, but Zhang Ke wasn’t enjoying it at all. He had stabbed the head wolf’s anus hard yesterday, and in its dying moments, the head wolf kicked him in the chest with its hind legs, making him feel as if his bones were broken.

But Zhang Ke gritted his teeth and stared, watching the head wolf jump around wildly and even hit the ground with its buttocks, causing the knife to go deeper and its insides to shatter. After a few painful cries, the head wolf finally stopped struggling.

"Beast is still a beast!"

Zhang Ke’s lips curled into a faint smile, and suddenly a wave of drowsiness hit him, and he was about to faint. At that moment, a pair of hands silently supported him and carried him to a small room nearby.

By the light of the torch, it was clear that Zhang Ke’s chest was torn and bloody, his clothes and blood clotted together, with his own and the wolf’s blood, the strong stench making people wrinkle their noses.

"Girl, why did you bring him here? He’s so dirty!"

"Dirty? Xiumei, do you even know that without them, we would have been eaten by wolves long ago! I think you’re blinded by greed, not recognizing your savior!"

The girl had never spoken so harshly to her, but this time, she was constantly rebuked by the young man. Xiumei pouted, and tears streamed down her face.

"Xiumei, you’ve disappointed me. When we get home, you’ll marry the son of the accountant Mr. Wu."

With one sentence, Xiumei was cast into the cold palace. She sat on the ground, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls.

The girl steeled her heart, ignoring the little maid, and set up the stove, laboriously bringing over an iron pot and pouring the water from the leather bag into it, only a shallow amount.

"This little bit of water isn’t enough to clean the wounds!"

The girl was at a loss, her brows furrowed, and suddenly she saw the white snow, and an idea came to her.

She scooped up handfuls of snow and threw them into the pot, and gradually the water boiled. The girl’s hands, however, were frozen like carrots, numb and itchy. She wanted to cry, but when she looked at the young man lying beside her, it seemed that her pain was nothing!

She took her handkerchief, dipped it in hot water, and carefully wiped away the blood. When she encountered the wounds, she was especially gentle, afraid of hurting Zhang Ke.

But after cleaning the wounds on his face and neck, she had to deal with his chest, and the girl was at a loss. Should she open his clothes? She would be too embarrassed!

"Miss, I can do it myself!" Zhang Ke had already regained consciousness. It seemed that since he had come to this world, he had been taken care of by Xiaoxue, and now this girl, whose name he didn’t even know, was taking care of him. Although he had good luck with women, Zhang Ke still blushed.

"Don’t move, you’re injured, so you have to listen to me!"

The girl suddenly said fiercely, and she reached out her hands and tore open Zhang Ke’s shirt. His white skin was covered with wolf claw marks, bruised and bleeding, with fresh blood still oozing out.

The girl’s nose tingled, and she couldn’t care about her shyness. She worked for over an hour, finally cleaning the wounds.

"Miss, my bag has medicine and bandages."

The girl nodded silently, helped Zhang Ke get them, and carefully bandaged him.

Although the wounds were severe, none of them were life-threatening, and at most would leave scars, which a man wouldn’t care about. However, the most troublesome was the wound under his ribs, which had reopened, causing continuous bleeding and excruciating pain.

The girl applied the medicine twice, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop, and she was on the verge of tears. Zhang Ke was also sweating, and the wound reopening was the most troublesome, requiring at least three to five days of rest to heal.

But in the wilderness, there was no time for that.

Zhang Ke thought for a moment and finally said, "Miss, help me to the stove."

"Okay!" The girl didn’t know what was happening, but she nodded and helped Zhang Ke to the stove.

"Miss, turn around, and no matter what you hear, don’t look back."

The girl was full of doubts but obediently turned around. Zhang Ke, seeing her turn, found a piece of hard wood and placed it on the stove. Soon the wood caught fire. When it was hot enough, Zhang Ke extinguished the flames, gritted his teeth, and pressed the blackened charcoal to the wound.

Sizzle!

The burning of the skin sent a sharp pain through his brain, making his head feel like it was about to explode.

"Ah!"

"Brother Ke, what’s wrong?"

Qiaofu and Qiaogui, who were treating their own wounds, were startled and rushed over. They swore they had never seen such a terrifying scene, even more terrifying than fighting the wolves!

Zhang Ke, holding the hot wood, kept touching the wound, which sizzled. The veins on his forehead bulged, and a fine layer of sweat appeared. His teeth chattered, and he growled like an injured beast.

The Qiao brothers’ eyes widened, and the girl was even more shocked. When Zhang Ke cried out in pain, she couldn’t help but turn around. The wound, burned by the high temperature, emitted wisps of white smoke. The young man’s upper body muscles twitched violently, the pain so intense that it was unbearable to watch.

The process didn’t last long, only two or three minutes, but Zhang Ke was exhausted, panting heavily.

He suddenly looked up and saw the girl’s eyes full of tears, her hand covering her mouth to stop herself from making a sound.

"I told you not to look, didn’t I? Scared, right?" Zhang Ke managed a weak smile.

The girl stomped her foot, "It’s your body, you can do whatever you want. We can’t stop you!"

She said this with a stern face but couldn’t help kneeling beside Zhang Ke, fetching bandages and medicine to help him.

The burned wound finally stopped bleeding, and after re-bandaging, it was already dawn.

"Brother Gui, are you okay?"

"Yep, we’re fine, just our arms are swollen from shooting arrows. It might take a few days to recover."

Zhang Ke thought for a moment and said, "Brother Gui, how many wolves did we kill last night?"

"We didn’t count, but at least a dozen or so."

"Brother Gui, are wolf skins valuable?"

"How could they not be? A good skin can fetch over ten taels of silver!"

Zhang Ke smiled, "Brother Gui, if you have the strength, quickly skin the wolves."

"Right!"

Qiaofu, who had been sitting silently, jumped up and laughed, "This is a good idea. The damn wolves killed Dahuang and injured us. We can’t let them off without skinning them!"

Qiaogui didn’t hesitate, and the two of them ran off, forgetting their fatigue and pain.

They worked until the sun was high, finally returning, panting heavily. The wolf carcasses were piled like a small mountain. Qiaogui grinned, thinking not of the bodies but of the piles of silver.

Qiaofu even placed the head wolf’s body in the center. They hadn’t had time to examine it closely last night, but now they saw that the head wolf had pure white fur, without a single blemish, shining brightly.

Most special was that Zhang Ke’s fatal stab had entered through the anus, leaving the skin undamaged.

A complete white wolf skin!

The Qiao brothers’ eyes turned red, and Qiaofu laughed foolishly, "Brother Ke, we’re rich! This one skin alone can fetch fifty taels. We didn’t fight in vain!"

The two brothers immediately started skinning the wolves, while Zhang Ke, leaning against the wall to recover, looked at the pale girl beside him and smiled, "Miss, I haven’t asked your name yet?"

"Shen Qingyan." The girl said, feeling inexplicably annoyed. He only asked her name now, not caring about her at all. Yet she had foolishly helped clean and bandage his wounds. What a heartless man!

Zhang Ke, unaware of the girl’s thoughts, smiled again, "Miss, your two bodyguards are dead. What do you plan to do next?"

The girl’s pale face turned even more somber, her hands tightly clenched into fists, and she remained silent.

Zhang Ke laughed, "Miss Shen, we’ve shared hardships. How about this: I’ll protect you. Remember, you’re going to Guangning, right?"

At least he has some conscience!

The girl’s face softened, "Yes, thank you!"

"Hehe, don’t rush, Miss. You paid for those two bodyguards, right? We three don’t ask for much, just the same price as them. What do you think?"

Money!

She thought he was a true hero, but she was wrong. He’s just a vulgar and crude warrior!

"Hmph, I’ll pay you three times the price, and we’ll be even!"

;