Chapter Seven: The Good Young Man

  A distant shout came from the water's edge: "Xiao Juan, there's a wolf by the stream, hurry back to the village and call your mother to come to the stream!" Xiao Juan didn't hesitate any longer, running quickly towards the direction of the village. However, she was short-legged and in her panic, tripped and fell on a small protruding rock in the middle of the road, causing blood to gush out from her nose. In pain, she let out a "wa" sound and began to cry.

  The big yellow dog running in the front suddenly turned its head, ran back to Xiaojuan's side, wagged its tail, dropped the cloth bag it was carrying in its mouth, bit Xiaojuan's collar and pulled hard, trying to pull her up. Xiaojuan hugged the dog's head, slowly got up, patted the yellow dog's neck, pointed towards the village entrance, sobbing and said: "Big... big yellow, you run fast, go back quickly and call mom!"

  The yellow dog seemed to understand Xiaojun's words, and it whimpered softly as if responding. When Xiaojun released her hands, the dog turned its head and sprinted towards Hanshui Village.

  Xiao Juan stood up, not bothering to brush off the dust on her body, and wiped away her nosebleed and tears with her sleeve. She followed behind Huang Gou's back, running towards the village entrance. After a few steps, she turned around and picked up the gray cloth bag that Huang Gou had thrown on the ground, stuffed the small eagle's head inside, grabbed the bag tightly, slung it over her shoulder, and ran off quickly.

  After a cup of tea, Shui Sheng rushed out from the grass, looked back at the two sparrow hawks following in the air, untied the gray cloth bag containing some weeds and leaves to pretend to be a small sparrow hawk from his waist, hung it on a small branch by the road, and then ran forward.

  As he passed by a sturdy tree with a trunk as thick as his arm, he stopped in his tracks, exerted all his strength, twisted and broke the trunk, chopped off its branches, and made a seven-foot-long club. Holding it in his hand, he charged towards the creek, seemingly without any fear or worry about the unknown dangers ahead.

  By the brook, a mother wolf with one blind eye used all her strength to try and wake up the little wolf whose neck was broken, but after letting out a few mournful howls, she turned around and pounced on the plump little boy who had fainted, biting accurately into his neck and tearing open his belly with her front paws.

  Not far from here, two cries of surprise came from an old willow tree at the same time.

  On this old willow tree, two little children had climbed up. Seeing the wolf's ferocity, one of the children was frightened and slipped, falling from the branch. The only thing holding him up was a thin branch no thicker than a thumb, which couldn't withstand the strain. Before the child hit the ground, it snapped off.

  The little boy cried out and fell to the ground, fortunately his body was small and the mud by the river was soft, so he wasn't seriously hurt. He hastily got up, but his legs were weak and for a while he couldn't climb back up the tree.

  The she-wolf, who was biting the fat little boy, raised her head, glared at the thin little boy who had fallen to the ground with one eye, let out a low growl, released the corpse under her body, and pounced on the thin little boy. This thin little boy and the fat boy whose neck had just been bitten by the she-wolf were both playmates from Hanspring Village who followed Big Cow.

  Another big cow on a nearby willow tree changed its face, gritted its teeth, grasped the willow branch tightly in its hand, and jumped down from the old willow. The soft willow branch drew an arc in the air, bending and breaking, and the big cow landed safely under the tree, threw away the willow branch in its hand, and rushed towards the mother wolf without stopping for a moment.

  The wolf had just rushed to the weak little child, and the cow had already arrived behind the wolf, stretched out two arms, grabbed the wolf's hind legs, let out a loud roar, and with all its might, it twisted its waist and kicked its legs, using force to throw the wolf into the creek by its side.

  Even if Da Niu's strength far surpasses that of an ordinary child, after all, he is only nine years old and cannot easily knock down a grown wolf. Fortunately, when the wolf rushed over, it lost its footing, and both the man and the wolf fell to the ground at the same time.

  The big cow let go of the mother wolf's hind legs, and before the mother wolf could get up, it pounced on her, pinning her neck with both hands, shouting: "Quickly climb the tree and hug the branches!"

  The little kid who fell under the tree came to, hastily hugged the trunk and climbed up the tree. However, he was too scared, and every time he climbed halfway, he would fall down again. The old willow tree kept swaying, and the two kids on the tree and under the tree cried out in unison at the top of their lungs.

  The big ox tightly wrapped its two arms around the mother wolf's neck, its head pressed under the wolf's head, and its two legs clamped the wolf's body like scissors, no matter how hard the mother wolf struggled, it did not let go of its hands and feet.

  One wolf was rolling on the ground, you up and I down. Before long, the big cow's body had been scratched by the sharp wolf claws and the gravel on the ground, with blood flowing all over. The mother wolf was also covered in mud, unable to get up, let alone bite the big cow.

  The mother wolf howled and whined, as if urging the other two small wolves that were eating the corpse to come and help. Sure enough, the two small wolves stopped their actions one after another, reluctantly dropped the food in their mouths, and ran over here.

  Once again, the weak little boy fell from the tree, looking like he couldn't climb up the willow tree, and saw two more small wolves pouncing over, a moment of despair. Looking at the ground, hugging the mother wolf tightly, the big cow rolling on the ground, it was clear in his heart that if it weren't for the big cow's rescue, he would have died like the other three little boys, killed by the wolves' mouths. Suddenly, a surge of unknown courage burst out from his heart, and with great effort, he picked up a stone block about half the size of his head from the ground, ran to the side of the mother wolf and the big cow, aimed at the gap, and smashed it towards the wolf's head.

  When the stone fell, it didn't hit the wolf's head, but heavily hit one of the mother wolf's front legs, making a dull "thud" sound. The mother wolf was in pain and struggled hard. At this time, the cow's arms were numb and weak, and she couldn't hold the wolf's neck tightly anymore. Finally, she was shaken off by the mother wolf.

  The mother wolf shook and tried to get up, but unexpectedly her front legs went soft and she fell down again.

  The big cow took advantage of the opportunity to roll to one side, quickly grabbed a stone, stood up, and ignored the pain all over its body. It shielded the thin and weak child behind it, swung the stone in its hand, and threw it at a small wolf that was pouncing from a distance. Although the aim was good, the force was too weak, and the small wolf was hit right on target but without major harm. However, it was startled and retreated several steps, staring fiercely at the big cow with its front legs bent, tail lowered, mouth open, and fangs exposed, roaring as if to pounce. Another small wolf quietly approached from the other side.

  The big cow pulled the frail little boy back two steps, leaned against a large tree, patted the little boy's arm with one hand and said: "Since you can kill that wolf, you must be able to climb up the tree, hurry!"

  The frail little boy knew that the big cow was comforting himself, and thinking about how a stone had just broken the mother wolf's front leg, he also felt a sense of pride. His body suddenly filled with energy, and he turned around to hug the tree trunk, scrambling up the tree. Under his calm heart, he actually managed to climb up. The little boy on the tree stretched out his hand and grabbed the frail little boy's small hand, and the two of them used their combined strength to help the little boy climb onto a higher and thicker branch to sit down.

  In fact, experienced hunters all know that wolves are "copper-headed iron-waisted hemp-legged", and their four legs are the least sturdy. If a stone were to hit a wolf's head, it's possible that the mother wolf would be fine.

  Knowing that the weak little boy was safely climbing up the tree, the big cow's heart was greatly settled. Seeing the two small wolves taking a stance and being fully prepared to pounce on itself, it made up its mind, tightly clenched its fists, stretched out both arms, let out a loud "Ah!" and pretended to charge forward. The two little wolves were indeed startled and retreated several steps back. However, the big cow suddenly turned around and quickly ran towards the old willow tree where it was just standing.

  Just approaching the willow tree, a small body had already jumped into the air, embracing the trunk with both hands, climbing to the branch in three or two strokes, and sitting down on the branches with a thud, panting heavily, only then realizing that the whole body was limp and powerless.

  Two little wolves found themselves deceived, and in a rage they pounced on the old willow tree, surrounding it and turning around it, but to no avail. Hearing the cries of their mother wolf who had broken her front leg, one of the little wolves turned its head and ran over, grabbing its mother's neck and pulling with all its might. The mother wolf struggled to get up, trying several times, but was unable to stand, and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, with bloodstains in her blind right eye and a fierce glint in her left eye.

  Another little wolf, however, was circling around a willow tree where children were climbing, jumping up and down, occasionally letting out one or two dry howls, finally running back to a corpse and gnawing at it fiercely.

  The little boys climbing on the willow trees by the brook, having just witnessed the brief but thrilling battle, were all frightened and admired the great bull in their hearts.

  On the small path, the five fugitive Wang Long people ran desperately, with short legs and small bodies, no match for the gray wolves. Just as they had run about a mile or so, the last of the little children was caught up by the pursuing gray wolf and knocked to the ground, quickly biting through the child's neck, charging towards the four in front, letting out wave after wave of angry howls.

  This little wolf was vastly different from the other three, not going to gnaw and swallow the corpses on the ground, but instead quickly chasing after them like an arrow, as if they wanted to bite all five children to death before feeling relieved.

  Before long, the second-to-last child was also knocked to the ground.

  Wang Long, being a few years older than the other kids and having practiced some basic martial arts with his family's bodyguard, was now running at the front of the group of five. Although he was panting heavily, his face pale, and his stomach cramping, in his desperate bid to escape, he didn't dare slow down.

  Suddenly, a shrill cry came from behind: "Young master, save me!" The voice was mournful and fearful, and Wang Long's heart trembled. His footsteps slowed down by three parts. Three years ago, in a rare heavy snowfall that sealed off the mountain for several months, Wang Long happened to be seriously ill. If it weren't for Ah Hu's father and two other family slaves carrying him on foot for over 200 miles to find a famous doctor, he would have become a cup of yellow earth by now.

  Wang Long's grandfather was an official who avoided the chaos of the world, with a deep understanding of literature and a straightforward temperament. He had a good reputation in the surrounding villages within a radius of ten miles. Wang Long's father was widowed and did not remarry, leaving only Wang Long as his sole heir, who was spoiled since childhood.

  Wang Long, although having some of the bad qualities of a rich family's son, such as being greedy for pleasure, loving vanity, and being arrogant, is not inherently evil.

  Hearing the playmate cry for help, all kinds of good and evil thoughts rolled in her mind, her face turned pale and red, although she was very afraid in her heart, but also understood that this place is far away from the village, and it's noon, few adults will pass by here, making it difficult to call for help.

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