Fields of Gold

After Royal Prince Yang finished his command, all of the bodyguards on the ladders pulled back the strings on their bows and shot their arrows towards the wolf pack rushing towards the gate. Immediately, howls of pain and grief filled the air. 

The alpha wolf let out a low howl and the wolves striking the gate became even more fierce. Some of the wolves had blood dripping from their heads and bodies. The bodyguards by the gate calmly placed a second arrow on their bow strings and continued to shoot at the wolf pack outside. Each wave of arrows left behind a few dead wolf corpses.

The wolf pack retreated to a safe distance after following the alpha wolf’s subsequent howl. The head wolf’s eyes whirled. There were pit traps on both sides and the gate was protected by the rain of arrows. It looked like it needed to change its plans ah! The alpha wolf had no intention of retreating even though the Yu Family was a hard nut to crack. The Yu Family had plenty of ‘food’. If the wolf pack didn’t take a meal now, they would all starve to death. They needed to succeed or die trying!

The head wolf took the rest of the wolf pack in a feigned retreat. It wanted to lower its enemies’ guard by making them indecisive. Zhu Junyang, who was sitting on the rooftop and directing this command, yelled at the bodyguards at the gate, “Group one, leave behind two people to continue to guard the gate. The remaining two people come to the back courtyard to provide assistance. Head Steward Liu, a wolf pack holds grudges. Since they had a stumble here, they absolutely won’t just leave the matter at that. Since the wolf pack was able to enter the Qian Family’s back courtyard with ease, they will certainly try to mostly attack the back courtyard here. Bring some people to heavily guard the rear courtyards three walls!”

Under the light of the moon, the two bodyguards swiftly ran from the front gate towards the back courtyard. Near their feet, there were two little shadows, one black and one white, that were following along. The speed of these two shadows was not any slower than the bodyguards’ top speed.

 Zhu Junyang had also spotted those two ‘little puppies’ that resembled balls of fur. He couldn’t help but praise them, “Xiaocao, they all say that dogs resemble their masters. It is truly correct. Your two little puppies at home are also stupidly brave like you! There were so many starving wolves outside earlier, yet the two little guys aren’t afraid at all and even ran towards the back courtyard to guard it. Tsk tsk! Should I say that they are heroic or should I say that they’re overestimating their own abilities here?”  

Yu Xiaocao was also still on the roof. She watched as her two little wolves, one black and one white, scampered towards the back courtyard like two little balls of fur. They stretched out their forelegs and lifted their bottoms up as they howled through the cracks in the gate. 

The back courtyard had two little wild pigs that already weighed almost fifty to sixty catties each. They seemed to have sensed the lurking danger approaching and let out indignant squeals. The hares in the cages were all crowded into one corner, shivering with fear. The little roe deer was in the courtyard, pacing back and forth in a very anxious manner. From time to time, it would raise its head and prick up its ears to listen to the sounds. Its tail was upright, revealing white fur that was arranged in the shape of a heart.

Sure enough, as Royal Prince Yang predicted, the wolf pack had taken a long detour around and crept up alongside the pond. They started attacking the back gate. The bodyguards who were guarding the back gate didn’t even need their master to order them as they swiftly shot arrows towards the wolves rushing over. Not a single arrow missed its target. Before long, around seven to eight wolves lay dead on the ground.

The thirty odd wolves did not seem like a small number. However, four to five wolves had been caught in the pit traps outside the Qian Family’s residence and another five gluttonous wolves had fallen victim to the pit traps at the Yu Family’s walls. At the front gate, another five to six were slain by arrows and another seven to eight had died at the entrance of the back courtyard. All in all, around twenty-three to twenty-four wolves had been killed by now. 

Zhu Junyang observed the vastly thinned out ranks of wolves, which were only around a dozen now, and then gestured a signal to the bodyguards that were in the front courtyard. The six to seven bodyguards secretly opened the gate and then began to flank the wolf pack from afar. Yu Hai also went along with them. In his hands were his bow and arrows, and he also had a hunting fork on his back. Yu Hai also knew that wolf packs held grudges. You either had to kill them all in one stroke or avoid them from afar. Now that his family had already clashed with them, they needed to put an end to all of the wolves in the pack. Otherwise, he would be leaving a calamity for his family in the future.   

When the alpha wolf noticed that things were going south for them on the attack at the back courtyard, it gave an order to retreat. At this point, the wolf pack had less than ten wolves left. Before the leader of the pack turned to leave, it leveled a glare full of hate at Yu Xiaocao, who was still on the roof. It seemed to be warning her, ‘You better not leave the house in the future, otherwise...heh heh!’

Yu Xiaocao complained silently to the little divine stone when she saw a lowly beast warning her, [I know you can understand the language of animals, can you not show off? You’re not doing anything right now, yet you’re in the mood to translate what the alpha wolf is saying to me.]

The little divine stone huffed, [Being idle is still just being idle! If only it was possible to eradicate the whole wolf pack. Otherwise, your family will not have peaceful days in the future. A thief can be around for a thousand days, but people can’t defend themselves a thousand times. This saying can also be used on these wolves.]

 The bodyguards who had set an ambush at the foot of the West Mountains had already started fighting with the defeated wolves. These men were exceptionally skilled. Even if their first arrow didn’t kill the wolf instantly, they would rush up with a sharp sword and fix that quickly. In the blink of an eye, this small group of wolves was slaughtered.

The alpha wolf seemed to know the concept of targeting the weakest link. It knew it couldn’t escape anymore, so it ran towards Yu Hai. Yu Hai shot an arrow towards the leader wolf, but it nimbly dodged it. By the time he shot the second arrow, the distance between them was already very close. The alpha wolf rushed forward despite its wounds and didn’t slow down at all. It opened its mouth wide, fangs gleaming, as it leapt toward Yu Hai. The arrow collided with its forelegs and a burst of blood flowered out.

Yu Hai was quite agile with his hands and was able to grab the pitchfork from his back. He quickly used it to obstruct the alpha wolf’s gaping jaws. However, he was unable to block the animal’s raking claws. Long, deep scratches appeared on Yu Hai’s body and blood started to gush out. The smell of the blood provoked the head wolf’s viciousness and it completed a difficult turn in midair and slammed its body towards Yu Hai.

Although Yu Hai was able to block the alpha wolf’s second attack, he had been knocked over by the force of the animal’s impact. The wolf’s claws were cruelly pressing down on Yu Hai’s shoulders. Even though the wolf’s fangs were being blocked by the pitchfork, it was doing its best to strain forward to break the pitchfork between its jaws. It desperately desired to kill the repulsive human that had injured it so heavily.

Most hunting forks were made of iron at the prongs, yet the handles were made of plain wood. How could a piece of wood possibly withstand the force of a ravenous wolf’s jaw and teeth? Before long, a sharp cracking sound could be heard as the hunting fork was snapped in two by the wolf.

Its dense row of gleaming white teeth that exuded a rotten smell headed in the direction of Yu Hai’s neck. The bodyguards were currently in the middle of a fight with the other wolves, how could they pay attention to what was happening here? Yu Hai believed that he was screwed and risked getting his neck snapped in two as he viciously stabbed the prongs of the pitchfork towards the wolf’s chest.

The wolf’s teeth got closer and closer. They were about to kiss Yu Hai’s neck when, suddenly, a forceful impact from the side pushed the alpha wolf away from Yu Hai. Yu Hai was stupefied for a second and then touched his neck. He was okay? He hurriedly flipped over and looked towards the wolf that had been attacking him. There was a silvery-gray wolf, about the same size as the alpha wolf, that was currently fiercely fighting the leader wolf.

The head wolf was truly the leader of wolves. Although it had been injured, it was still as vicious and fierce as before. However, this gray wolf was not inferior in any aspect. It was fighting the alpha wolf to a standstill.

At this time, there were some bodyguards who had finished their fights and walked towards Yu Hai. They looked at the two wolves fighting and inquired, “What’s going on here? How come these two, the same species, are fighting with each other?”

Yu Hai let out an incredulous laugh and mocked himself, “Who knows? Perhaps they’re trying to fight over me as a piece of food? Nowadays, it’s not necessarily a good thing to be plump and brawny!”

The bodyguards laughed, “Are you okay? You should hurry back and get your wounds treated ah! Just leave these two wolves to us brothers!”

As they finished talking, the alpha wolf had already been pinned down by the gray wolf and its throat had been ripped open. The leader wolf lay on the ground, breathing its last. The gray wolf glanced at Yu Hai. This man had the smell of the little girl on him. Did it rescue the wrong person?

In the blink of an eye, the gray wolf had been surrounded by the bodyguards. There were seven to eight bodyguards who were very skilled and all of them had shiny swords in their hands that were pointed at the gray wolf.

The gray wolf cautiously observed the bodyguards as it tried to find a way to escape. Aish! Doing a good deed was for naught. In order to save a human, it had to pay with its own life.

One of the bodyguards inspected the gray wolf and said, “This wolf seems to be different from that pack. It has such beautiful fur. I’d absolutely be able to pick it out again.”  Yu Hai hesitantly said, “This wolf just saved me! How about...we let it go?”

The second bodyguard was on the more cautious side and shook his head, “It doesn't matter if it’s a part of that pack or not. Wolves will always have fierce natures. If we don’t kill it now, I’m afraid that in the future it will pose a threat to Dongshan Village’s safety.”

Yu Hai was slightly persuaded after hearing that. What type of wolf didn’t eat meat? His children often went up to the West Mountains to catch locusts and set traps. If they met this wolf, what could happen to them? At the thought of endangering his children, Yu Hai’s heart became hard. 

As the circle surrounding the wolf tightened, the gray wolf was on the brink of being killed...at this moment, two little figures squeezed through the legs of the first and second bodyguards. They looked down and saw the Yu Family’s two little pet dogs. One was named Little Black while the other was named Little White.

The two little puppies squeezed through the encirclement and bounded towards the gray wolf. 

Yu Hai was shocked and hurriedly yelled, “Little Black, Little White! Come back…”

However, when he saw the scene before him, Yu Hai abruptly fell silent. The two tiny puppies had unexpectedly ran towards the gray wolf’s legs to act spoiled and cute as they rolled around in front of it. Little Black even nibbled at the fur on the gray wolf’s chest and swung around like a swing.

Love flashed through the gray wolf’s emerald green eyes. It lowered its head and used its tongue to gently lick Little Black and Little White. The two little puppies also intimately licked the gray wolf’s wounds. They whimpered and whined as if they were trying to say, ‘Father, does it hurt? Let us lick your wounds and they won’t hurt anymore!’

The first bodyguard exclaimed in amazement, “These two puppies actually do have the blood of wolves running through them. Could the gray wolf possibly be their father?”

The second bodyguard nodded his head, “No wonder the gray wolf would save Older Brother Yu! It probably could smell the scent of his sons on Yu Hai’s body. I must say that this gray wolf is quite handsome. All of his fur seemed to be crafted out of silver and his eyes seemed to be as beautiful as the emeralds our master brought back from the western hemisphere. He looks quite clever and smart.”

The first bodyguard exchanged looks with his comrade and said, “What should we do then? Should we still kill this gray wolf?”

Little Black and Little White had been fed mystic-stone water by Yu Xiaocao every day. They could already understand simple words from the human language. When they heard the word ‘kill’ come out of the first bodyguard’s mouth, they hurriedly raised their fur up until they resembled angry little hedgehogs.

At this time, Yu Xiaocao had come over with the young royal prince. She curiously looked at the center of the bodyguard’s encirclement. With the light of the moon helping her, she spotted a familiar silvery-gray figure.