Ding Lan silently prayed that it would not be something like a snake or a wolf!
Unfortunately, heaven seemed determined to do the exact opposite of what she wanted. A brownish animal suddenly sprang out of the bushes.
It looked somewhat like a wolf and somewhat like a dog. Its fur was thick and dense, its limbs were short, and its body was noticeably smaller than that of a wolf.
Ding Lan’s heart pounded.
What on earth was this thing?
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down quickly. Keeping her back against the tree trunk behind her, she did not dare make any rash movements.
She tried her best to put on a fierce expression and tightly gripped the branch she had picked up earlier. It was the only weapon she had that could possibly protect her.
Silently, she confronted the animal in front of her.
But soon, Ding Lan’s psychological defenses completely collapsed.
One after another, several more identical animals sprang out of the bushes, surrounding her in attacking positions.
How was she supposed to deal with this?
If there had been only one, Ding Lan might have dared to rely on her size and fight it.
But there were six of them now!
The hand holding the branch trembled slightly.
Could she really be about to lose her life here today?
At first, the animals merely stood to one side warily and did not make a move.
That was until the largest one at the front began slowly approaching her.
Strangely enough, the closer she came to a life-or-death situation, the calmer Ding Lan became.
She reached into her clothes with her left hand and felt the piece of oil-crackling cake she had left over.
She had no idea whether it would work, but she could only try it as a desperate last resort.
She had finally gotten news about chili peppers after all.
She absolutely could not die here!
In the blink of an eye, Ding Lan pulled out the oil-crackling cake and threw it with all her strength toward the path she had come from.
At the same time, she turned and sprinted in the direction Ding Shouxin had gone.
The oil-crackling cake she had thrown aside distracted the animals to some extent.
Several of them immediately followed the scent of meat and ran after the food.
The larger animal let out a howl at its companions.
Only then did the others seem to realize what was happening and turn around, rushing after Ding Lan.
Ding Lan ran as fast as she had ever run in her entire life.
She was running for her life!
If she made even one mistake, she could end up suffering the same fate as Ding Lan’s father.
The animals quickly caught up.
Ding Lan could sense them chasing closely behind her.
Her instinct for survival prevented her from looking back. She simply ran forward as fast as she could, shouting at the top of her lungs,
“Help! Somebody help me!”
Her entire body seemed to have reached its absolute limit.
Ding Lan ran so hard that it felt as though her heart and lungs were about to burst out of her chest.
Gradually, she felt the animals behind her getting closer and closer.
It was as though they could leap forward at any moment and sink their teeth into her neck.
Ding Lan grew increasingly frantic, desperately wishing she could somehow run even faster.
Perhaps because she was too anxious, her foot suddenly stepped into empty space.
She stumbled, and her entire body rolled down the slope.
The rough, jagged ground scraped against her skin as branches whipped violently against her body.
Ding Lan could not control herself at all as she tumbled down the mountainside.
She desperately reached out with both hands, trying to grab branches on either side in an attempt to slow herself down.
Fortunately, luck was on her side.
She actually managed to grab hold of a thick, sturdy vine, which slightly slowed her rapid descent.
But the strength in her arms was nowhere near enough to support the weight of her entire body.
The hand gripping the vine hurt terribly.
Yet for the sake of staying alive, Ding Lan clenched her fingers around it with all her strength and refused to let go.
Until the slippery vine slowly slid out of her palm.
Her body continued sliding down the slope.
But then, a strong, dry hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Ding Lan instinctively looked up.
She stared straight into a pair of sharp eyes as keen as an eagle’s.
A tall, powerfully built man was holding a sturdy vine with one hand while firmly gripping her wrist with the other.
Ding Lan’s falling body even pulled the man down a step.
Fortunately, the vine he was holding was strong enough to support them, preventing the two of them from sliding down the slope together.
“Don’t just stand there! Give me your other hand!” the man shouted with a frown.
Ding Lan immediately reached out with her other hand and grabbed his wrist.
The man’s strength was astonishing.
With just one hand, he managed to pull Ding Lan’s entire body upward.
Although every part of her body felt as if it were about to split apart, she was finally saved!
The man exerted force with his arm and dragged Ding Lan upward.
Ding Lan also tried to push herself up with her legs.
After a great deal of effort, she was finally pulled onto a relatively flat patch of ground where they could rest.
The ordeal had consumed a tremendous amount of energy from both of them.
At least this small patch of level ground gave them a temporary place to catch their breath.
Just moments ago, they had been in a life-or-death situation, so Ding Lan had not had time to thank her rescuer.
Now that she finally had a moment to breathe, she ignored her own injuries and lowered her head gratefully.
“Thank you, sir, for saving my life just now.”
The man did not answer.
He simply stared at her in silence.
When Ding Lan heard no response, she looked up at him in confusion.
The moment she raised her eyes, she once again met those deep, piercing eyes.
Her heart suddenly began to race, and she quickly looked away.
Her gaze inevitably shifted down to the man’s body.
He was tall and powerfully built, with bronze-colored skin that had clearly been darkened by years of exposure to the sun.
And then there were those hands that had just pulled her from danger.
Ding Lan had personally experienced just how warm and strong those hands were.
She unconsciously swallowed.
The only strange thing was that the man was dressed almost like a wild man.
His short hemp clothes were already badly worn, perhaps because he spent so much time moving through the forest. There were holes all over his clothing where branches had caught and torn the fabric.
Ding Lan also noticed a bow and arrows strapped to his back.
Could he be a hunter who lived in the mountains?
The pain she had deliberately ignored earlier now came rushing back the moment her body relaxed.
Ding Lan was in so much pain that she nearly cried!
She felt sore and injured practically everywhere.
To distract herself, she quickly spoke again.
“Sir, I promise I’ll repay you for saving my life someday!”
The man still did not respond.
Ding Lan was already too exhausted to think properly, but she forced herself to stay awake.
“May I ask your name and where you live? I’ll definitely come and thank you properly another day.”
The man finally opened his mouth.
His voice was low and hoarse, as though he had not spoken for a very long time.
“No need.”
After a pause, he asked, “It’s going to rain heavily soon. Can you stand?”
The air around them was extremely hot and humid, a clear sign that a heavy rainstorm was approaching.
Ding Lan’s mind was already a complete mess.
After hearing the man’s question, she shakily supported herself against the tree and stood up.
She moved her feet carefully.
Fortunately, her legs had only suffered some scrapes. Her bones and tendons did not seem to be injured.
She nodded blankly.
The man found a wooden stick and handed the other end to her.
Ding Lan stared at it in confusion before taking hold of it.
Using the stick between them, the man pulled Ding Lan upward as they climbed.
This slope was particularly steep.
Once they climbed past this section, the mountain path would become much easier to travel.
But Ding Lan had almost no strength left.
Her eyes were unfocused as she followed the man’s footprints.
The man glanced back at her and urged,
“It’s about to rain. Hurry.”
Ding Lan forced herself to wake up a little and quickened her pace as much as she could, doing her best not to slow him down.
After they finally climbed past the steepest section, the remaining path was considerably easier.
The man turned around, bent down, and said to Ding Lan,
“I’ll carry you.”
Ding Lan froze for a moment.
The man impatiently added,
“If we don’t leave now, we won’t have anywhere to take shelter from the rain.”
Ding Lan had already reached the absolute limit of her strength.
After hearing that, there was nothing left for her to hesitate about.
She immediately climbed onto his back.
“Then I’ll trouble you, sir.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
The man’s body stiffened slightly.
With Ding Lan on his back, he continued forward.
After walking in silence for a while, he finally asked,
“Where do you live?”
Ding Lan answered honestly,
“Ding Family Village.”
The man frowned slightly.
“That’s a little far from here…”
Afraid that her benefactor might leave her behind, Ding Lan hurriedly explained,
“I agreed to meet my companions from the village under an old locust tree.”
The man thought for a moment and immediately knew which old locust tree she meant.
He walked toward it with steady, vigorous strides, as though the person on his back weighed practically nothing.
However, summer rain always seemed to arrive without warning.
Before long, a light drizzle began falling on them.
Ding Lan looked up at the sky.
“It looks like we’re definitely going to have a heavy downpour soon.”
The moment she finished speaking, large raindrops began pounding down.
Thunder roared, accompanied by flashes of lightning that seemed to shake the entire sky.
The man fell silent.
After a moment, he said helplessly,
“I’ll take you to my place to shelter from the rain first. It should stop soon.”
Ding Lan naturally had no objection.
With all the injuries on her body, if she were caught in a torrential downpour as well, she would probably lose half her life even if she managed to make it home alive.
The man carried Ding Lan and hurried toward his home at full speed.
His home was very close.
They reached it after only a short walk.
Ding Lan peeked over his shoulder.
It was an extremely simple wooden hut.
Outside was a crude little shelter with a thatched roof.
Some cooking utensils were piled beneath it.
This small shed was probably where her benefactor prepared his meals.
The man carried Ding Lan inside and placed her on the edge of the bed.
He took the bow and arrows from his back and placed them in a corner of the room before walking outside again.
Ding Lan sat on the only wooden bed in the hut and looked around.
The only relatively large piece of furniture in the room was the bed she was sitting on.
There was also a chest of drawers and a table with a couple of chairs.
Apart from those, there was practically no other furniture.
A tiger skin hung on the wall.
It was probably a trophy from one of the man’s hunts.
Before long, the door of the little hut was pushed open from outside.
The man came in carrying a basin of clean water and placed it on the table.
He took a porcelain bottle from atop the chest of drawers and handed it to her.
“Treat your wounds yourself.”
Before Ding Lan could respond, he closed the door and went back outside.
Ding Lan felt a little touched.
Although her benefactor looked cold and unapproachable, he was actually quite considerate in the way he handled things.
She got up and first rinsed the wounds on her hands with the clean water.
By now, they hurt so badly that they were almost numb.
Using one hand, she opened the lid of the porcelain bottle.
Inside was a white powder.
She brought it closer and smelled it, but there was no particularly distinctive scent.
It was probably some kind of medicinal powder used to stop bleeding.
Ding Lan sprinkled a little of the powder onto her wounds.
The moment the powder touched the cuts, they began to sting sharply.
Ding Lan bit down on her lower lip, refusing to let herself cry out in pain.
Outside, the rain was growing heavier and heavier.
She wondered if her benefactor was still standing outside in the cold rain.
Enduring the pain, Ding Lan quickly treated all the wounds on her body.