Chapter 16: Favor

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The wild boar lying under the rock was hit in the head. Its entire head was split open and it was no longer breathing.

On the other hand, the slightly smaller wild boar did not seem to be dead as it was still breathing.

Worried that the wild boar would wake up again in a while, Zhou Xiaoli did not hesitate to raise her ax and cut the wild boar’s life short.

Only then did she calmly wipe the blood off the ax and continue to chop for the wood she needed.

Throughout the entire process, Zhou Xiaoli remained calm and composed in the face of danger. Wei Chiyu saw how skillfully and efficiently she had slaughtered the wild boar.

It was only after getting the wood that she wanted that Zhou Xiaoli went to look at the two wild boars.

These two wild boars were very big. Even the small one probably weighed more than a hundred kilograms. How was she going to get them back herself?

For a moment, Zhou Xiaoli squatted beside the wild boars in worry.

—-

At the same time, when the family saw that Zhou Xiaoli had not returned for a long time, they began to panic.

By noon, Zhou Xiaoli had not returned home and Zhang Lan finally could not sit still anymore. Zhou Yu supported her as they made their way to the Liu family next door.

After listening to Zhang Lan’s description, Liu Liangcai also frowned and said in surprise. “You’re saying that Little Li went up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables and hasn’t returned yet?”

Zhang Lan nodded with red eyes and was extremely anxious. “What should we do? I heard that there have been a lot of wolves on this mountain recently…”

Towards the end, her tears fell uncontrollably.

Liu Liangcai quickly comforted her. “Sister Zhou, don’t be anxious. Little Li is very lucky so nothing will happen to her. I’ll help you ask around.”

As he spoke, he called Liu Yuanyuan over. “Didn’t you go to the mountain today? Did you see Little Li?”

Liu Yuanyuan shook her head nonchalantly. “No.”

Looking at his daughter’s attitude, Liu Liangcai frowned. “Really?”

Seeing that her father did not trust her, Liu Yuanyuan’s expression turned ugly. “No means no. She has such a strange temper and doesn’t even talk to us. She went up the mountain alone. How would I know?!” she said angrily.

Liu Liangcai: “If you don’t know, so be it. Why are you throwing a tantrum? I think you need to be disciplined again.”

Seeing that her precious daughter was scolded, Lin Xiujuan immediately stood up for her. “Alright, alright. Why are you throwing your temper at your daughter? There are so many people on the mountain today. Why don’t you go outside and ask around?”

Liu Liangcai sighed and left.

After some questioning, he finally learned from the village chief’s wife that Zhou Xiaoli had entered the deeper part of the mountain.

Upon hearing that Zhou Xiaoli had gone deep into the mountain, Zhang Lan’s vision turned black and her legs went soft. “My Li’er, why, why did you go deep into the mountain!”

The village chief’s wife quickly comforted her. “Don’t worry. Your girl might be back soon.”

“At the very least, we’ll organize some people to search in the mountains. It’ll definitely be fine.”

That being said, it was already past noon, but Zhou Xiaoli was still nowhere to be seen.

The villagers were all discussing this, but there were very few who were really concerned. There were even a few who were gloating.

“The jinx of the Zhou family has jinxed everyone around her. Had she finally jinxed herself this time?”

“Hmph, I think that’s the case. After jinxing so many people, it should be her turn by now.”

“In my opinion, the Zhou family should set a firecracker off to celebrate. The jinx is finally gone, haha.”

…

Those voices were getting nasty. The village chief, Zheng Heping, frowned when he heard them and roared, “What nonsense are you talking about! No matter what, the Zhou family’s girl is still a member of our village. Is it appropriate for you to say that?”

After being criticized by the village chief, those people shut their mouths.

At this moment, the village chief said, “How about this? Let’s organize a few strong men and search in the mountains for her. Who’s willing to go?”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone else instantly fell silent. No one made a sound.

At this moment, Liu Liangcai ignored Lin Xiujuan’s disapproving expression and raised his hand. “Village Chief, I’m willing to go.”

“Alright, alright.” The village chief nodded and asked, “Who else would go?”

This time, no one stood up.

Helpless, the village chief could only call out names. However, some of the people who were called out refused on the pretext that they were not feeling well, while others refused because their families were too busy. In any case, no one was willing to go.

The village chief was a little angry. “Alright, I didn’t know that the people in our Boyu Village were so cold-blooded!”

After the village chief’s scolding, some villagers were dissatisfied and started to defend themselves.

“Village Chief, you can’t blame us. There are so many wild beasts in the mountains. Who would dare to enter?”

“That’s right, that’s right. I went to my parents’ house a few days ago and heard that wild wolves have been rampant in the mountains recently. If we go into the mountains now, aren’t we sending ourselves to the wolves?”

“That’s right, Village Chief. Our family consists of the old and young. We’re counting on the men in the family to work. If anything happens in the mountains to them, our family will starve to death.”

…

One after another, they all said that they had their own difficulties and were extremely pitiful. The village chief waved his hand helplessly and did not say anything else.

In the end, only the village chief’s two sons, Liu Liangcai, and Zhou Yu entered the mountain with their weapons.

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoli was using vines and wooden sticks to make a stretcher in preparation to bring the two wild boars down the mountain.

Crush!

At this moment, the sound of leaves being crushed came from behind. Zhou Xiaoli instantly picked up the wooden spear beside her.

She had just made and sharpened it with an ax as she was afraid that some wild beasts would be attracted by the smell of blood.

Therefore, after hearing the sound, she turned around and was prepared to throw it in the direction from which the sound came from.

At the same time, she saw a black figure. After discovering that it was in fact a person, she forcefully changed the direction of her hand mid-throw.

With a swoosh, the wooden spear stabbed deep into the ground beside the tree.

A young man also walked out from behind the tree.

“It’s you.” Seeing Wei Chiyu, Zhou Xiaoli heaved a sigh of relief. She walked over and pulled out the wooden spear from the ground. “Why are you here? You didn’t even make a sound and I almost injured you by accident.”

Wei Chiyu glanced at Zhou Xiaoli’s injured hand and did not answer her question. Instead, he asked, “Do you need help?”

Zhou Xiaoli glanced at the stretcher that had not been properly tied up, and back at her bleeding hand. She pursed her lips and said, “Yes.”

Wei Chiyu didn’t say anything else. He squatted down and started tying up the stretcher.

Zhou Xiaoli wanted to help, but Wei Chiyu refused. She could only stand to the side and watch. “You seem to be very skilled at it.”

Wei Chiyu raised his head to look at Zhou Xiaoli and hummed in agreement. Just as Zhou Xiaoli thought that this guy wouldn’t say anything else, he said, “I often carry my prey down the mountain.”

Zhou Xiaoli nodded. “Oh.”

Wei Chiyu wasn’t lying. He was indeed skillful. In a short while, the stretcher was tied up.

The two of them worked together to put the two wild boars on the stretcher and prepared to go down the mountain.

The weight of the two wild boars was not to be underestimated. Zhou Xiaoli tried to pull them, but she could not move them at all.

Even though Wei Chiyu had some strength, it was quite strenuous for him to pull the stretcher as well.

Zhou Xiaoli began to wonder if she should pull the wild boars one by one, but she was worried that the other one would be devoured by wolves in the wild.

Just as she was feeling conflicted, Wei Chiyu also caught a prey in his trap. It was a fox.