The three children all crowded around Qi Nian, wanting to pet the little wolf.
"The wolf was dying of thirst by the river. I just gave it water, so let it rest for a while. Don't touch it carelessly—it might bite."
"Mother, then why didn't it bite you?"
Sigh. This bargain-bin daughter was beyond saving.
"I saved its life. If it bit me, it would be an ungrateful wolf."
Hearing that it might bite, the three children gave up their desire to pet the little white wolf.
Old Hu and Shen Lu soon returned with water, their faces beaming with joy as if it were better than New Year's.
"Young Mistress Qi has incredible luck. The people who went to fetch water said that dozens of people had been digging at the riverbed earlier, but no water came out. They thought there was no water and left. But the moment you arrived, water bubbled right up." Old Hu carefully set down the water and went to build an earthen stove to cook the coarse grain porridge.
"Everyone says it's groundwater surging up. That pit was dug really, really deep. It's worthy of being groundwater—truly sweet." Shen Lu was feeding the ox, and as he spoke, he couldn't help but snatch a handful of water from the ox to drink.
"Don't you think that water was conjured by a kind-hearted immortal?"
"Only fools would believe an immortal conjured it. If immortals really existed, why wouldn't they make it rain? It's just that they dug into groundwater, that's all."
"Yeah, yeah, I think Old Hu makes sense."
"Old Hu, Shen Lu, you two have more insight than certain people."
Who those "certain people" referred to went without saying.
Old Hu and Shen Lu knew exactly who Qi Nian meant, but they wouldn't dare offend their master. They immediately lowered their heads and stayed silent, trying to minimize their presence.
Ignoring the mockery in Qi Nian's words, Yao Chengyi instructed Old Hu, "Cook the food. Once we've eaten, we move on."
"Master thinks ahead. Traveling at night avoids the heat, and we can rest during the day when the sun is out. This way, we also save water."
Speaking of saving water, Shen Lu finished feeding the ox, placed the bowls and chopsticks into a wooden basin, and headed back toward the river.
"Mother, I can smell the porridge! It smells so good!"
"Is Xiao Xi hungry? It'll be ready once Grandpa Hu finishes cooking."
Even coarse grain porridge was something Xiao Chen and Xiao Xi had never eaten their fill of. Now with wild vegetables from the Secret Realm added, the aroma carried by the breeze was extraordinary, and the children couldn't stop swallowing their saliva.
"Knife." Yao Chengyi said abruptly without context.
Old Hu handed over a kitchen knife, but Yao Chengyi didn't take it.
Qi Nian knew Yao Chengyi had his eye on her knife, but she pretended not to understand.
"Father wants the knife." Xiao Rui walked over and tugged at Qi Nian's sleeve.
Xiao Chen stepped in front of his mother, blocking Xiao Rui from touching her. Anyone could see those two boys didn't get along.
"Mother, Uncle wants the knife." Xiao Xi, with her head of little yellow hair, also squeezed her way in front of Qi Nian.
This girl Xiao Xi clearly had a tendency to be a spendthrift. Qi Nian sighed and reluctantly pulled out the dagger, tossing it toward Yao Chengyi.
Without even lifting his head, Yao Chengyi reached out and caught the knife.
Yao Chengyi examined the blade in his hand. The scabbard was made of the same material as the blade, engraved with the same intricate patterns. Drawing the dagger, one glance was enough to confirm it was the sharpest knife he had ever seen.
This woman was becoming more and more intriguing.
Yao Chengyi took out the apples that Old Hu and Shen Lu had been saving and couldn't bear to eat. He cut one into four pieces, removed the cores, and gestured for the three children to come take them.
Two apples cut into eight slices—four adults and three children, one piece each with one left over.
Qi Nian thought Xiao Chen wouldn't eat fruit cut by Yao Chengyi. If Xiao Chen knew, he'd surely tell her, "Free food is free food—why let that bad uncle have it?"
Xiao Xi ate the fastest. "Who gets the remaining piece?"
"You eat it."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Yao Chengyi twitched the corner of his mouth and reached out to touch the little girl's face. Though both she and her mother were filthy, it wasn't hard to see the resemblance between them. Were these two children really born to that woman? He found himself doubting again.
Yao Chengyi's small gesture didn't escape Old Hu's notice, and it warmed his heart. The master he had watched grow up—a man cold and ruthless since childhood—even raising Xiao Rui for the past three years hadn't softened his heart. But now, he was starting to show signs of humanity. A good thing.
Shen Lu returned with another bucket of water, set out the washed bowls, and the porridge was ready. Each person got a bowl.
After the apples came the porridge.
This pot of wild vegetable porridge tasted to everyone like it had been simmered with old chicken broth.
Even the water used to rinse the pot was shared and drunk by Shen Lu and Old Hu.
The wild vegetables that tasted incredible, the apples whose origin couldn't be traced, the knife that was practically a divine artifact, and the strange wolf—Yao Chengyi doubted again: was this woman really the one who had slept with him back then?
Seeing that Qi Nian's group had finished eating and packed up, Old Hu drove the ox cart forward. The refugees nearby saw this and followed along.
Their reasoning was: the riverbed where water was found wasn't far, and while others hadn't discovered it, their family had. That could only mean they were lucky. Following lucky people was the right move.
And so it spread—one telling ten, ten telling a hundred. Nearly everyone resting in that area packed up their belongings and set off through the night.
This time, the cart was completely loaded with buckets and basins full of water. There was no room on the ox cart for Yao Chengyi and Qi Nian—only barely enough space to squeeze in the three children and a little wolf whose Spiritual Power was completely depleted.
Qi Nian carried her bundle and walked behind the carriage. Glancing back, she saw a long line of refugees under the moonlight. She also noticed that several families were walking very close to them, and more than once, young men stepped forward to greet Yao Chengyi.
As expected, traveling at night was cooler—by midnight, it was downright chilly.
Chilly? That… didn't feel right.
Although Qi Nian had lost her spiritual power and was now an ordinary mortal, her five senses were still sharper than most people's. She looked around and stumbled a step—
Oh my, so many, so many pairs of glowing green eyes!
Yao Chengyi and his two servants spotted them at the same time. A wolf pack!
Old Hu and Shen Lu stopped the ox cart. The families nearby saw that those ahead had stopped, so they stopped too. Before long, women and children were already screaming uncontrollably.
"Quiet!" Yao Chengyi spoke little, but just standing there, he gave off an extraordinary presence. Those two words were like a calming pill—the people nearby immediately fell silent.
Shen Lu went to the back to relay the message, telling them they'd encountered a wolf pack and that no one was to make a sound.
Old Hu whispered to Yao Chengyi, "Master, I count over a hundred wolves. What do we do? Wolves fear fire, but there's nothing to burn—these little hills are completely bare. Sigh, if I'd known, I would've gotten a horse-drawn carriage instead. At least we could've charged through quickly. This ox cart moves slower than a person walks."
"We fight with everything we've got. If it comes down to it, the three of us will each take one child and break through."
Well, at least that was something. Qi Nian finally heard Yao Chengyi say something human. This man surnamed Yao wasn't completely cold-blooded. But then she thought—what about her? Who was going to save her?
"You're not going to help me?"
"You managed to pick up a wolf and raise it. Why would you be afraid of wolves?"
Huh? That's one way to look at it. This man's way of thinking was something else.
But thinking about it more, he had a point. The little white wolf from the Secret Realm was an animal that had opened its Spiritual Intelligence and possessed Spiritual Power. Could it drive these wolves away? At the very least, it could communicate with the pack.
Worth a try, right?
The people behind were so terrified they crouched down or hid wherever they could. The pack of over a hundred wolves was slowly closing in.
Yao Chengyi, Old Hu, and Shen Lu each went to pick up one of the sleeping children.
Only Qi Nian went to pick up the little white wolf that hadn't yet fully recovered its strength.