Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Only an animal-hide curtain covered the entrance to their underground hut. It could never stop a wolf pack.
Remaining inside would be even more dangerous.
The hut was like a burrow with a single entrance. Its cramped space was crowded with people. If wolves entered, everyone would be trapped, and someone would easily be bitten.
But their group included two elderly people, women, and children. If everyone went outside, the wolves could surround them and snatch someone away the moment their attention slipped.
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Che decided, “The women, children, and Lin Fengchun will remain here. Everyone else, come outside and defend the entrance. We cannot let the wolves enter.”
Xiao Jingmo turned to Pei Wanqing. “Mother, stack all the firewood we collected across the entrance with Aunt Lu and Nanny Chen. We have enough to block it temporarily. Hurry.”
Xiao Jingmo wanted another layer of protection.
The firewood had been cut into one-foot lengths. Stacked tightly, it could serve as a temporary door that the wolves could not force through.
Pei Wanqing nodded tensely and gripped Xiao Jingmo’s hand. “Mo’er, your martial arts are weak. Stay close to your father and don’t run around.”
“Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll be careful.”
Xiao Jingmo looked at Jin Bao. “Little Sister, will you stay and protect Mother and Great-grandmother?”
Jin Bao shook her head. “No. Baby will fight the wolves. Baby is weally strong and can help Second Brother. If Baby kills all the wolves, Mommy and Great-grandmother will be safe.”
Her reasoning was simple. Once the danger was destroyed, her family would live.
She wanted to protect everyone. No one could be hurt.
Jin Bao saw Xiao Jingmo hesitate. A terrible scream had already come from the neighboring hut, so she darted around him and raced up the steps.
Xiao Jingmo hurried after her.
Once they left, those remaining inside became busy.
Lin Fengchun was the only man. After medicine and half a day’s rest, he felt much better and volunteered to build the temporary door.
Pei Wanqing, Lu Shuangshuang, and Nanny Chen passed him logs.
Working together, they quickly built a wall half a man’s height.
Outside, dozens of glowing green eyes drew closer.
Every Xiao Family man held a long saber. Old Han carried a bow, while Jin Bao held a light dagger.
Xiao Jingmo and Old Han were weaker fighters, though Old Han possessed extensive combat experience. That made Xiao Jingmo the weakest among them.
“Mo’er, stay behind me.”
Xiao Jingmo answered softly in the darkness, his eyes already fixed on the moving green lanterns.
Reflected snow offered enough light to make out vague shapes, but they could not see far.
Horrible screams filled their ears.
People crawled from the underground huts only to have wolves bite through their throats the instant their heads emerged.
Some lucky ones escaped, but they could not outrun the pack. Wolves brought them down from behind, and after a single scream, they fell silent.
The heavy scent of blood told the Xiao Family how savage the slaughter was.
The wolves came from the west. The Xiao Family’s hut stood at the eastern edge beside the Garrison, so the pack reached them last.
Xiao Che wanted to save the others, but his own family’s lives were at risk. Unable to abandon them, he forced himself to ignore the screams.
“They’re here! Be careful! Old Master Han, you and Hao’er work together. Mo’er and I will defend the front. My good girl, you guard-”
Before Xiao Che could finish, a tiny black shadow shot between them and raced toward the beasts.
While everyone stared, Jin Bao punched and kicked the first two wolves, sending them flying dozens of feet. Neither moved after landing.
“Father, that’s Little Sister!”
Xiao Jingmo charged forward with his saber.
“Hao’er, you and Grandpa Han guard your mother and the others. I’ll support your sister.”
“Don’t worry, Father. Leave this to us.”
Xiao Che turned and met the wolves.
With Jin Bao and the others counterattacking, the exiles who escaped their underground huts ran desperately toward the Xiao Family’s position.
Those who ran too slowly were overtaken. Whenever a wolf was about to tear out someone’s throat, Jin Bao flashed over and kicked it aside, killing it instantly.
“Uncles and aunties, come to Baby! Baby is weally strong and can protect you.”
Jin Bao felled wolves like a harvesting machine while calling the people toward her.
Within fifteen minutes, dozens of exiles had gathered around her.
Coming to their senses, they gripped their woodcutting and quarry tools. Whenever a wolf approached, they closed their eyes and hacked wildly without caring where they struck.
If the wolf dodged, Jin Bao finished it.
With Jin Bao at its core, the crowd became a human tank. Not one wolf escaped alive from its path.
The exiles had begun terrified, helpless, and defenseless beneath the pack’s teeth. Now the situation reversed, and they became masters of the battlefield.
They even became intoxicated by the killing and began to feel wolves were not so terrifying.
That newfound courage drove them onward.
In less than half an hour, the entire pack of sixty or seventy large wolves was exterminated.
Jin Bao even killed the wolf king from a distance with an exile’s ax.
Xiao Jingmo hurried over and found her completely unharmed.
“Second Brother, why is your hand bleeding? Does it hurt? Baby will blow on it and make it better.”
A wolf had raked Xiao Jingmo’s hand, leaving several frightening wounds deep enough to expose bone.
“I’m fine, Little Sister. You were amazing! Second Brother is too weak. From now on, I’ll train seriously with Father.”
Xiao Jingmo understood that one had to forge one’s own strength. There would come a day when no one else could be relied upon.
He had once cared only about books and neglected martial arts. His circumstances had changed, and he had to grow stronger so he would not burden the family.
After the wolves were destroyed, they counted the losses.
They had planned to hold a meeting and establish rules that night. Instead, the attack unintentionally established the Xiao Family’s authority.
But the exiles seemed to respect Jin Bao alone. She had saved them at the crucial moment, and the weak naturally followed the strong.
Xiao Jingmo saw awe and affection in the way they looked at Jin Bao.
It was now impossible to conceal his little sister’s ability. Anyone could recognize such extraordinary power.
Before Prince Cheng spread word through the Garrison that whoever obtained the Star Maiden would obtain the realm, Xiao Jingmo had to help Jin Bao build a force of her own.