Zhao Xiuxiang, Lin Yuwei, and the other two watched from the window as Wu Qiaogai turned around and tucked the sheathed machete she was carrying into the belt tied over her military overcoat. After tucking the machete in, she picked up the bow and walked towards the wall where Liu Sanqian was.
Just then, they suddenly heard a scream from Liu Sanqian's wife, Zheng Xiuer, coming from Liu Sanqian's courtyard.
"Father of the child, watch out!"
A scream startled everyone, but Wu Qiaoqiao immediately started running towards the wall. Reaching its base, she leaped up, grabbed the wall, and then performed a somersault, landing atop it. Before she even regained her footing, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and shot it with a whoosh.
What Zhao Xiuxiang and Lin Yuwei couldn't see was that after Wu Qiaoqiao climbed over the wall, she saw two wolves enter Liu Sanqian's yard. One of the wolves was facing Liu Sanqian, who was swinging an axe at it. Meanwhile, the other wolf pounced on Liu Sanqian from behind. If it pounced, Liu Sanqian would be in danger. Zheng Xiuer, screaming, stood at the window of the room, trying to climb out.
Liu Sanqian's son, Liu Daqiang, and daughter, Liu Ying, were rushing towards the outside, wielding sticks and calling out "Dad!" After climbing over the wall, Wu Qiaoqiao, seeing this situation, didn't even wait for her to regain her footing before drawing her bow and shooting an arrow at the wolf approaching Liu Sanqian's back. The arrow struck the wolf directly in the eye. The wolf let out a mournful howl, collapsed to the ground, twitched twice, and then remained still.
The wolf that was confronting Liu Sanqian was chopped down by Liu Sanqian's axe and then beaten to death by Liu Daqiang and Liu Ying with sticks.
Aunt Zheng Xiuer climbed out of the window at this moment. Turning around and seeing the situation, her legs went weak and she slid to the ground against the window. Liu Ying's legs were also trembling. She used a stick to support herself and looked up at the heroic woman standing on her wall. Her eyes were red as she called out.
Fifth Sister-in-law
Liu Sanqian was also a bit exhausted at this point. He heard a sound coming from the courtyard and thought that a thief had entered the yard. He got up to go out and take a look. Fortunately, during that period, everyone was on patrol to prevent wolves from coming down the mountain. Although there were no more patrols later, everyone still kept their handy tools at hand. When he came out, he casually took the axe that was leaning against the kang (a heated brick bed).
Liu Sanqian was thankful he had brought an axe; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to wait for his fifth nephew's wife to come to his rescue, and his entire family would likely have perished. He walked breathlessly to the window, helped his wife up from the floor, making sure she didn't freeze. He had worn a cotton-padded coat when he came out, but his wife, son, and daughter weren't wearing warm clothes; they would surely catch a cold sitting in the freezing cold.
After Liu Sanqian helped Zheng Xiuer up, he helped her walk into the room while calling his son and daughter to get dressed. After helping all three of them into the room, Liu Sanqian turned around and went to the courtyard. He looked up at Wu Qiaoqiao, who was still standing by the wall, and was about to speak when he suddenly heard a wolf howl coming from the village.
Wu Qiaoqiao and Liu Sanqian's expressions changed upon hearing the wolf howl, as they both recognized it as the howl of the alpha wolf. Hearing the howl coming from the village, they knew they were in the first battle of the wolf pack's attack. Wolves are extremely intelligent creatures; after they had killed four wolves in succession, the last wolf must have realized they weren't easy prey and headed towards the village.
"Oh no, wolves have entered the village."
Liu Sanqian exclaimed in surprise, grabbed the axe, and was about to open the courtyard gate and rush outside when Wu Qiaoqiao stopped him.
"Third Uncle, I'll go check on them first. You take care of Third Aunt and the others first."
Liu Sanqian hesitated upon hearing Wu Qiaoqiao's words, as it wasn't safe for his niece-in-law to go to the village first. Without waiting for his reply, Wu Qiaoqiao leaped from the wall onto her roof and ran towards the roof of Zhao Xiuxiang's house next door. The arrangement of the four houses was as follows: Liu Sanqian's house was closest to the mountain, followed by Wu Qiaoqiao's, then Zhao Xiuxiang's, and finally, on the far side, Liu Ercheng's house. Beyond Liu Ercheng's house was the village.
When Wu Qiaoqiao reached the roof of Zhao Xiuxiang's house, she heard a noise coming from the room where Feng Mingran lived. She went straight to the window, flipped over, and hung upside down under the eaves, then knocked on the window.
"Mingran, are you up?"
Feng Mingran and the other two had also gotten up by this time. They had been awakened by the howling of wolves coming from the village. When they heard Wu Qiaoqiao's voice, they hurriedly pushed open the window. The moment the window opened, all three of them were startled. After all, it was quite frightening to see someone suddenly fall down in front of the window.
After seeing Feng Mingran open the door, Wu Qiaoqiao spoke to him without waiting for him to speak.
“Mingran, wolves have entered the village. If you’re going out, be careful. If you’re not going out, make sure to close all the doors and windows tightly.”
After saying this, she used her waist to climb onto the roof and ran towards Liu Ercheng's house. When she got there, Liu Ercheng was already there with his two sons, each holding an axe and a machete, ready to open the door and run out.
"Second Uncle, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, don't go out! Wolves have entered the village!"
Upon hearing his words, Liu Ercheng and the other two stopped in their tracks and turned around to see Wu Qiaoqiao dressed in white, clinging to the eaves and jumping down. After jumping down, she came to their side.
"Why are you up there? What's the situation at your house? I'm thinking of going to check on your third uncle. After all, his house is closest to the mountain. Since you said the village is in serious trouble, his place must be in trouble too."
"Second Uncle, don't worry, everything is fine with Third Uncle's side. I'll go to the village to check on things first. You tell Second Aunt and the others to close the doors and windows tightly."
After Wu Qiaoqiao finished speaking, she opened the door on Uncle Liu's side and ran towards the village, because she could faintly hear shouts and wolf howls coming from the village.
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