Tao, the village head, looked at Wang Er on the ground. “Wang Er, is there anything else you have to say?”
Wang Er had only seen that there wasn’t a single man in Jiang Yutong’s household and wanted to take advantage of her. Now that he knew how formidable Jiang Yutong was, he naturally didn’t dare say anything more.
“I have nothing to say. I promise I won’t harass Jiang Yutong again.”
Tao, the village head, nodded. “Since you’ve admitted your mistake sincerely, I won’t send you to the authorities this time. I’ll spare you. But if there’s a next time, I definitely won’t let you off.”
Wang Er hurriedly kowtowed in gratitude. “Thank you for your mercy, Village Head. I definitely won’t do it again.”
Jiang Yutong had achieved the result she wanted, so she didn’t pursue the matter any further. She knew very well what kind of fate awaited someone who was driven out of their hometown in this era.
“To set an example for everyone and make sure this serves as a warning, Wang Er will be punished by repairing the village’s drainage ditches. Wang Er, do you have any objections?”
Wang Er was on the verge of tears. He hadn’t gotten anything out of this mess, had injured his leg, and had nearly been scared half to death. He would definitely lose face in front of his brothers later. And now he was being punished by being sent to repair the drainage ditches.
But there was nothing he could do except agree.
“I have no objections.”
Ning Yao’s mother was extremely unhappy that she hadn’t seen Jiang Yutong suffer. Before leaving, she glared viciously at Jiang Yutong.
Jiang Yutong narrowed her eyes and made a throat-slitting gesture at her.
Ning Yao’s mother quietly slipped away.
For some reason, she was now a little afraid of Jiang Yutong. After all, she had just seen how badly Wang Er had been injured.
Jiang Yutong was no longer the same Jiang Yutong who had lived in the Ning family.
After getting rid of the trouble Wang Er had caused, Jiang Yutong felt much more at ease. She knew that the villagers probably wouldn’t dare casually bully her anymore.
With nothing troublesome going on, Jiang Yutong began tending to her courtyard. When she had renovated the house, she had also built a small doghouse in the yard. Since she lived alone, she wanted to raise a dog so it could help keep watch over the house.
Once she decided to do something, she did it immediately.
She went to Auntie Wang. “Auntie Wang, I want to raise a dog. Do you know where I can buy one?”
Auntie Wang was busy processing medicinal herbs. “You want to raise a dog? Those things eat quite a lot.”
Nowadays, no one had extra grain to feed a dog. Raising a dog was less useful than raising pigs or chickens, which could be sold or eaten.
“Mm. I also want to buy some chicks.”
Auntie Wang thought for a moment. “Leave it to me. I’ll have everything ready for you tomorrow.”
Jiang Yutong smiled sweetly. “Okay. I’ll feel at ease leaving it to you.”
After sitting with Auntie Wang for a while longer, Jiang Yutong finally headed home.
With the matter of raising animals entrusted to Auntie Wang, she felt much more relaxed. She picked up a hoe and went to a patch of wasteland beside the house, preparing to clear it and plant some vegetables.
It was her first time using a hoe, but Jiang Yutong felt an inexplicable sense of fulfillment. After working all afternoon, she had cleared the entire plot of land.
She put away the hoe and returned home. After making herself something to eat and taking a bath, she carried a stool outside and sat in the courtyard, gazing up at the sky filled with stars.
There was no such beautiful scenery in the modern era. The environment had deteriorated badly, the smog was severe, and even breathing had become a problem.
After sitting there for a while, Jiang Yutong locked the courtyard gate and went inside to sleep.
She had a peaceful night.
Early the next morning, Jiang Yutong took her bow and arrows, slung a bamboo basket over her back, and headed into the mountains.
Today, she planned to go deeper into the mountains and see if she could get lucky and find something.
As she walked, Jiang Yutong suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
A strong smell of blood drifted toward her.
She frowned. Could there be an injured animal nearby?
She stopped and pricked up her ears, listening carefully. When she heard nothing unusual, she continued forward.
The farther she went, the stronger the smell of blood became.
Then she saw a man dressed in black lying on the ground ahead.
Jiang Yutong was startled. She picked up a stone and threw it at him.
The man didn’t react at all.
The bloody smell was clearly coming from him.
If he remained lying here, he would eventually be eaten by wild animals.
Jiang Yutong approached and felt his neck.
He was still breathing.
Thank goodness.
She then examined his wounds. His thigh had been injured by a sharp weapon, and dark blood was flowing from the wound. The weapon had clearly been poisoned.
The man was dressed entirely in black, with a black cloth covering his face, making it impossible to see what he looked like.
Jiang Yutong hesitated.
Should she save him?
If she did, she might get herself involved in trouble. But if she left him here in the deep mountains, there was no way he would survive.
In the end, her instinct as a healer won out. Jiang Yutong decided to carry the man home first and figure things out later.
As she moved the man’s body, he slowly regained consciousness.
His reflexes were extremely sharp. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Jiang Yutong by the throat.
When he opened his eyes and saw her, the man loosened his grip slightly.
A hoarse voice came from behind the black cloth.
“Save me.”
Jiang Yutong hadn’t expected someone so severely injured to still move so quickly. Before she could even react, the man passed out again.
Jiang Yutong rubbed her neck, then removed the cloth covering his face.
A familiar face appeared before her eyes.
Wasn’t this the very man who had held her hostage the last time she went into town?
Now Jiang Yutong hesitated even more.
Should she save him or not?
She had originally intended to walk away, but the man’s hand was still tightly clutching the hem of her clothes.
In the end, her compassion got the better of her, and Jiang Yutong carried the man home.
She didn’t dare make a big fuss about it. Fortunately, her house was close to the back of the mountain, so she secretly dragged the man home from behind the house.
By the time she got him inside, Jiang Yutong was panting heavily.
This man was heavier than a wild boar.
After putting him down, Jiang Yutong poured herself a cup of water from the kettle on the table and gulped it down.
What a day.
She had gone into the mountains and hadn’t managed to hunt anything, but instead, she had brought home a man.
After finishing her water, Jiang Yutong also gave the man some. Perhaps he was extremely thirsty, because he instinctively swallowed it.
After resting for a while, Jiang Yutong finally had the strength to examine his wound.
She removed the cloth covering his thigh and saw a triangular weapon embedded in his leg. It had barbs on it, and the wound was still bleeding.
She had to find a way to get the weapon out.
Jiang Yutong looked around the house for anything she could use. There were scissors and some medicine to stop bleeding, but there was no anesthetic and she had no way to stitch the wound.
There was no other choice. She would just have to take the risk and try.
Fortunately, she had spotted some Chinese mugwort, specifically Agrimonia pilosa, on the mountain earlier and had picked some. It happened to be useful now.
She decided to make another trip to Auntie Wang’s house to see if she had any medicinal herbs that could help.
Jiang Yutong moved the man into the spare room, locked the door, and headed toward Auntie Wang’s house.
As soon as she arrived, Auntie Wang’s voice came from inside.
“Yutong, you came at just the right time! I was actually about to go to your house.”
Auntie Wang pointed toward the cages beside her.
“Here, the dog and chickens you wanted.”
There were two cages. One contained a tiny puppy that had only recently been born. It had brown fur with black spots and looked incredibly adorable.
Jiang Yutong fell in love with it at first sight.
“So cute!”
Seeing how much Jiang Yutong liked the puppy, Auntie Wang was happy too.
“Luckily, Uncle Liu at the entrance of the village had a dog that just gave birth to a litter, so I got one for you. As for the chickens, I asked around and bought them from some of the villagers.”
Jiang Yutong gently stroked the puppy’s fur.
Perhaps it was a little nervous around strangers. The puppy looked up at Jiang Yutong with watery eyes, then rubbed its head against her palm.
Jiang Yutong didn’t even have time to spare a glance at the chicks beside it.