Chapter 311 - 313: Warning
An Ning stood up from the rock on the mountaintop, then crouched beside it and spread out her spiritual power.
On the ridge to her left, she discovered wolves.
"So many!"
An Ning felt her scalp tingle at the sight. All told, there were thirty to forty gray wolves.
They were arranged in an orderly formation. At the very front were a few slightly sick and weak old wolves. Behind them were strong, mature wolves. In the very middle were the pups and some pregnant she-wolves. The rear was also guarded by strong wolves, and the very last one was clearly different from the others—dominant and bloodthirsty.
The moment An Ning’s spiritual power reached them, the alpha wolf at the very back even turned its head, as if it had detected her spying.
’Animal instincts are truly sharper than any human’s.’
An Ning shifted her spiritual power away from the alpha wolf and continued to observe the pack.
They were migrating.
She just didn’t know if they were migrating here from somewhere else, or from here to another place.
The former seemed more likely.
This season, the animals in the deep mountains were all active. This place was a prime hunting ground for wolves.
An Ning didn’t disturb the wolf pack, nor did she consider wiping them out by herself.
This was deep in the mountains. The villagers and hunters from other settlements wouldn’t venture this far in.
A stable wolf pack also helped maintain the balance of the mountain’s ecosystem.
She just followed them silently, wanting to get a general idea of their direction so she would know what to expect.
She followed them for over two hours before the pack finally stopped.
After observing the geographical location, An Ning saw that the wolf pack was showing signs of "setting up camp." She waited a little longer to confirm this before leaving.
On her way down the mountain, An Ning casually bagged two wild pheasants to add a dish to the dinner table.
When she came down from the mountain and returned to the An family home, she saw Wei Qi standing at the door, covered in mud.
Instantly, a bad feeling washed over her.
"Wei Qi, what happened to you?"
Wei Qi, of course, couldn’t talk. After setting down the pheasants, An Ning crouched down, patting the mud off Wei Qi’s fur and checking for any injuries.
Thankfully, he was just a little dirty.
"Did you and Da Huang get in a fight with the dogs from the next village?"
An Ning guessed randomly. As she was guessing, Wei Qi bit her pant leg and started pulling her toward the neighboring yard.
As soon as she entered, she saw Jiang Xia, who was crouching by the door, look back at her, his eyes trying to tell her something.
An Ning walked forward and saw Da Huang.
At that moment, Da Huang was lying on the ground, one front paw covering an eye, looking utterly dejected.
"What on earth happened?"
An Ning also crouched down, nudging Jiang Xia beside her with her elbow.
"I don’t know, but I’m guessing he lost a fight and is throwing a tantrum."
Jiang Xia whispered the last part, bringing him a little closer to An Ning.
An Ning didn’t seem to notice and whispered back, "Since when are there any dogs in the village that can beat Da Huang?"
Jiang Xia’s gaze shifted, landing on Wei Qi behind them. He said grimly, "It wasn’t a village dog. It was a professionally trained and licensed dog."
An Ning’s eyes widened. She turned to look at Wei Qi, then at Da Huang, who was peeking at Wei Qi with one eye.
"Wei Qi, did you and Da Huang fight? Nod or shake your head. I know you can understand me."
Under An Ning’s gaze, Wei Qi nodded readily, without any hesitation.
"Well, you’re a real tough guy."
An Ning turned back to Da Huang, who instantly looked even more wronged. His eyes welled up with tears that threatened to fall but never did.
"Da Huang, don’t be sad. I don’t know why you two fought, so I can’t judge this dispute."
"Besides, didn’t I tell you two to get along?"
At this, An Ning’s expression grew stern.
"Whatever the reason, you were both wrong to fight. I’m docking you both one bone tonight."
Having said that, An Ning went over and pulled away the paw Da Huang was using to cover his eye.
The moment she uncovered it, she shot Jiang Xia a look of disbelief. Seeing him nod, An Ning managed to stifle her laughter.
"It’s nothing. Master Tang has some ointment. It’ll be fine in a couple of days."
Master Tang, who was in the kitchen preparing vegetables, was surprised to find himself involved. ’My precious ointment?’
He looked toward the door and heard An Ning say, "I bagged a golden pheasant!"
"I’ll go get the ointment right now."
Master Tang stood up readily and went to find his ointment to reduce the swelling on Da Huang’s eye.
An Ning took Wei Qi home, then immediately sent one of the pheasants over.
After seeing the golden pheasant, Master Tang became even more enthusiastic about applying the medicine to Da Huang.
An Ning and Jiang Xia stood a little further away, whispering to each other.
"That eye looks like it was stung by a bee."
"Yep. A big hornet, probably."
"How is there only one welt? Shouldn’t a hornet’s nest have lots of them?"
Jiang Xia guessed, "He probably just ran into a single one. I doubt they were even fighting. Wei Qi is a trained dog; he normally wouldn’t pick a fight."
"Hmm, I’ll go comfort him when I get back," An Ning said, crossing her arms. "If only they could talk."
Jiang Xia looked at An Ning and said, "If they really could talk, they’d scare a few people to death."
After exchanging a few more words, An Ning returned to the An family home and comforted Wei Qi.
It was probably just as Jiang Xia had guessed: Da Huang had run into a hornet, Wei Qi had gone to help, and both dogs ended up with injuries.
In the yard, An Ning crouched down to look Wei Qi in the eye.
"Wei Qi, this is my first time raising an animal. There are a lot of things I don’t understand. Can we learn about each other slowly?"
Sensing An Ning’s goodwill, Wei Qi, for the first time, nudged against her with the top of his head.
An Ning took the chance to hug Wei Qi, and the two of them shared a much more harmonious moment.
After comforting Wei Qi, An Ning went out and made a trip to the village office.
After An Ning left, the large loudspeaker at the village office crackled to life.
"HELLO, HELLO—ATTENTION, ALL VILLAGERS, ATTENTION!"
"A PACK OF WOLVES HAS APPEARED ON THE MOUNTAIN! ANYONE GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN, DO NOT CROSS THE SAFETY LINE!"
"I REPEAT, A PACK OF WOLVES HAS APPEARED ON THE MOUNTAIN! ANYONE GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN, DO NOT CROSS THE SAFETY LINE!"
"FINALLY, MAKE SURE TO WATCH YOUR CHILDREN! IF YOU HAVE TO, USE A STICK ON ’EM!"
The very down-to-earth broadcast, delivered by Sun Dazhuang, came to an end.
Leaving the village office, An Ning drove her three-wheeled vehicle to town to withdraw some cash.
This time, she got 100-yuan bills, 50-yuan bills, and a thick stack of 10-yuan bills for Uncle An and the others to use conveniently.
After getting the money, An Ning delivered it to Uncle An and Sun Dazhuang.
The two of them found a few other villagers to act as witnesses. They wrote up a village agreement and recorded the accounts.
The funds were now available; all that was left was to build the road.
An Ning left the village office, finally having some time to spend at home.
That evening, An Guoming returned from out of town in his large truck. But when he got out of the cab, his expression was awful.
"Second Brother, did you step in shit?"
An Guoqing, who was at the main gate, asked casually. An Guoming lifted his foot to look, then said without any attempt to hide it, "Something like that."