He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 77 Narrowly Surrounded by Wolves

Yao Shanyun couldn't stand it, so she bumped Fan Yumei's shoulder hard, came to Zhao'er's bedding, reached out and touched Zhao'er's forehead, then touched her hand. The icy touch seemed to travel from her fingertips to her heart.

She picked up the child along with the thin blanket and said to Pan'er, "Go quickly and tell Grandpa Village Chief that Zhao'er is sick. I'll take Zhao'er to see Doctor Zheng right away!"

Without Pan'er having to go and tell him, Meng Bochang, who had been shivering from the cold after going out, heard the commotion and strode over.

With just one glance, you could see that the little girl's lips were purple and her body was still trembling.

"Go quickly and have Doctor Zheng take a look. It's too cold outside, and we might not be able to travel today."

With Meng Bochang speaking, Fan Yumei dared not say anything more, but she also wanted to go with him, fearing that Dr. Zheng might find something and charge them for consultation and medicine.

She had only taken a few steps when she suddenly cried out "Ah!" and her face was full of pain.

Yao Shanyun withdrew her foot, which had been stomping heavily on Fan Yumei, and muttered under her breath, "I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to end up with this family as my in-laws!"

She rushed to Dr. Zheng's resting place, "Dr. Zheng, please take a look at this child, what's wrong? He's been trembling the whole time."

After a quick look, Zheng Yi said, "She's frozen. Move her closer to the fire, cover her with more blankets, and give her some hot soup to see if she can recover."

Yao Shanyun instructed the Cui family members, saying to her eldest daughter-in-law who had come over with Fan Yumei, "Did you hear that? Do as Doctor Zheng says, and be quick about it!"

Cui Miao'er wanted to say something, but when she met her mother-in-law's gaze, she swallowed it back.

Cui Zhao'er was in a deep sleep because the blankets she was covered with were too thin and she was sleeping close to the cave entrance. She suffered severe hypothermia.

The accident served as a wake-up call for the villagers, who quickly put on their warmest clothes, even if it meant wearing two extra layers.

It was not only cold outside, but the sky was also gloomy. After discussing with Xie Jin, Meng Bochang decided to hide in the cave today and not travel any further.

After Cui Zhao'er warmed up, she gradually regained consciousness, an incident that caused everyone to develop a dislike for the Cui family.

It's not uncommon to see people favoring their sons over their daughters, even though they only cover them with a thin blanket. But to disregard the life of a daughter is simply too cruel.

However, it's not appropriate for others to comment on other people's family matters.

When Meng Fuqing went out to collect firewood again, he paid extra attention to whether there was any animal droppings or footprints near the cave.

After a careful search, she found a pile of feces not far from the cave. She turned it over with a twig and found undigested bones.

Based on the wolf howls she heard last night, Meng Fuqing couldn't help but suspect that there might be a pack of wolves lurking in this mountain forest.

Winter is also the season when wolves hunt most frequently.

Back in the cave, she found Meng Bochang and suggested that everyone go and cut wood to make a simple fence. "Tie a piece of oilcloth to the fence; it will block some of the wind. And if any wild animals try to break in, the fence will at least keep them out."

Meng Bochang thought they wouldn't stay in the cave for more than a few days and originally didn't intend to bother with this. But after hearing Meng Fuqing say this, he thought about it and agreed.

Since there are so many people, setting up a fence won't take much effort.

Everyone got to work with great enthusiasm, and once they started moving, they didn't feel so cold anymore.

Around noon, large, fluffy snowflakes began to fall. By evening, the fence had been put up, but the snow was still falling, though it had warmed up a bit inside the cave.

The villagers drove their livestock inside the enclosure to prevent them from freezing outside or being killed by wild animals.

The heavy snow continued until late at night, when Meng Fuqing was awakened by the unusual movement of the vines.

After sensing the situation outside through the vines, she was startled.

On the thick layer of snow, there were now many fresh footprints. In the pitch-black surroundings, the pairs of eerie green eyes in the nearby forest looked particularly bright and strange.

After the fence was erected, the watchmen lit a fire behind it, and several men stood guard around the fire.

Meng Fuqing put away the vines and pretended to relieve herself. One of the night watchmen asked, "Qing girl, aren't you going to call someone to come with you? It's very dark outside."

"No, I'm not afraid of the dark."

The fence left only a narrow passage for three people to walk side by side, which was simply covered with a tarpaulin. Meng Fuqing lifted the tarpaulin to peek out, then quickly withdrew his head.

She whispered, "Look outside, doesn't something seem amiss?"

The guards were taken aback by what she said. When they realized what she meant, they immediately stood up and walked over to Meng Fuqing to look outside.

That one glance sent chills down everyone's spines.

"This is... a wolf?"

"...Why are there so many?"

"What should we do? What should we do?"

Meng Fuqing immediately said, "Wake everyone up!"

She grabbed the two of them, saying, "You two should get a car and block the entrance to stop the wolves from coming in."

After giving her instructions, she walked through the chaotic crowd, returned to her sleeping place, retrieved her crossbow, and went back to the fence. Xie Jin had already arrived with his men.

The cave entrance was high enough, so the fence they built was also high enough. Xie Jin wasn't short, but he still couldn't get over the fence to see clearly what was happening outside. At that moment, he was having someone place the carriage next to the fence so that he could easily step on it to shoot arrows.

The car blocking the entrance happened to be Xie Jin's. Meng Fuqing quickly climbed onto the roof of the car, and this time the situation outside was completely visible.

"The wolf pack is approaching the cave very quickly; I can only see about twenty or thirty of them."

Meng Fuqing bowed his head and said to Meng Bochang, "It would be best to have someone hold the fence up from below."

She was worried that the wolves would breach the fence.

Seeing Meng Fuqing's relatively calm expression, Meng Bochang's tense mood miraculously calmed down considerably. "Alright, you all need to be even more careful up there."

"Don't worry." With that, Meng Fuqing aimed the arrow at the wolf that was less than ten feet away from the cave entrance and shot it out.

The wolf was agile and quick enough that even though Meng Fuqing was confident in his aim, he could only wound the wolf's fur.

She quickly fired another arrow, this time hitting the wolf right in the eye. Because the range was close enough, the wolf howled and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

The death of their companion seemed to have ignited the wolves' wildness, and more wolves rushed up, with Xie Jin and Mu Feng joining the battle.

Each shot honed Meng Fuqing's ability to hit moving objects, and before long he became quite adept at it.

After Meng Fuqing and his group repelled the wolf pack's first wave of attacks with their bows and crossbows, the wolves outside seemed to have learned their lesson and no longer rushed forward rashly. Instead, they waited quietly in the forest for something.

Xie Jin seemed completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere, turning his head to look at Meng Fuqing, "If the wolf king is killed, the remaining wolf pack will be a disorganized mess."

In the past, when Meng Fuqing encountered wild beasts that intended to attack her in the wild, she would always strangle them without needing to distinguish who the leader was.

She asked, "Can you tell the difference?"

“There were also many wolf packs where I used to live.”

"Let's go out and fight."

She called Niu Er over, "Get me a knife."

Before long, Niu Er and his six brothers each had a large knife, and they handed her one as well. "Boss, you can't go out on an adventure without us, can you?"

The shout of "Boss!" startled everyone, and they looked at the two of them with disbelief.

Meng Fuqing didn't care much. She jumped off the carriage, took the knife, and said, "Together."