Chapter 235: Danger in the Forest

The winter in the black market was unusually cold. Just as the winter month began, the temperature had already dropped to around minus ten degrees Celsius. After a heavy snowfall, thick snow accumulated on the road. Early in the morning, many little warriors were clearing the snow on the street.

Wang Tingting came here early in the morning. Lin Yue sorted out the clothes for Xiao Mushroom and Sisi, handed them to Wang Tingting, and said, "You must listen to Aunt Tingting and don't be naughty. Do you understand?"

Sisi nodded obediently and said, "Got it, Mom, you guys come back soon."

Little Mushroom pulled her hard and pouted, "Mom, why can't Sisi and I go with you? I want to see Uncle Bear, too!"

Zhang Yuandong came out from the inner room and asked, "What Uncle Bear?"

Lin Yue said to Little Mushroom sternly, "You can't be so rude. Uncle Guan is your brother and sister's master. You can't call him that. Do you understand?"

Because the two children's martial arts master liked to eat honey and was very tall and strong, Lingling often said that he looked like a big black bear. Little Mushroom heard this and the martial arts master became Uncle Bear. Lin Yue corrected the children many times, and others stopped saying it, but Little Mushroom just couldn't change.

Little Mushroom had been told so many times that he had become a little tougher. He whispered, "I know. Can I go see Uncle Guan?"

Seeing his attitude, Lin Yue knew that he definitely didn't take it to heart. He was about to refuse, but he held it back. He squatted down, pulled him and Sisi to his side, and coaxed them, "The road to Uncle Guan's house is not easy to walk. I never took you with me before because you were too young to walk on the mountain road. I will take you there next year when you grow up a little, okay?"

Little Mushroom frowned, knowing that since his mother said so, there was definitely no room for maneuver, but he didn't want to agree, so he could only keep his mouth shut and refuse to say anything.

Sisi held his little hand and coaxed him like a little adult: "Brother, I want to play with you, okay?"

The four-year-old was already disdainful of playing with the three-year-old. He pouted and muttered, "You still have to take care of me!"

"No, Brother Hongjun said he wants to play with me today. Let's go find Brother Hongjun, okay?"

After Lingling and Wanli entered primary school, they had a new circle of friends. Most of the older children did not like to play with the younger children, so Xiao Mushroom and Sisi were left alone. However, Sun Hongjun liked to play with Sisi very much. Compared with Xiao Mushroom, their personalities were more compatible.

Little Mushroom wants to play with Dahuang, but Sun Hongjun only plays with Sisi.

Dahuang was a dog raised by Sun Hongjun. When he was young, he was called Xiaohui, but when he grew up, he became Dahuang.

He didn't dare to blame Sisi anymore, so he kept his mouth shut, hoping that the matter would just slip away.

Wang Tingting smiled and took the hands of the two children. "Okay, it's settled. Come with me. Little brother is still sleeping at home. Let's go back and see him, okay? If we go back too late, he will cry because he can't see anyone."

The two children now became very well behaved and followed her obediently.

Zhang Yuandong picked up his things and went out with Lin Yue, Lingling and Wanli.

On the way, a little warrior saluted and greeted us, and asked with concern: "Zhang Tuan, you and your sister-in-law are going out so early, do you need us to help you clean the roof?"

Zhang Yuandong waved his hands and said, "No, I've already cleaned it up. If the snow continues to fall, you can help me clean it up again."

Everyone lives in a family compound and few people lock the gate. The little soldier readily agreed, grinning foolishly.

The two of them were talking loudly. Lu Mangang came out from the yard and asked with a smile, "Zhang Tuan, where are you going? Hey, you are carrying so many things. Are you going to visit relatives?"

Zhang Yuandong smiled and said, "The child's martial arts master's birthday is tomorrow. I'm only free today, so I'll take the child there a day in advance to celebrate his birthday!"

"You should go, but it's snowing so heavily today, you have to be careful on the road!"

Zhang Yuandong nodded, and in the next moment he saw Li Zhiguo coming out of the yard in front of him. He nodded lightly to them and hurried away.

Lu Mangang looked back and whispered, "I don't know what's going on. Instructor Li has been looking grumpy these past few days, as if someone owes him money!"

Li Zhiguo was a man with many thoughts, but he usually looked like a good guy, and greeted everyone he met with a smile. This was the first time he had done that in the past few days.

Zhang Yuandong shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe he encountered something unpleasant!"

Lu Mangang licked his lips, smiled at Lin Yue shyly, then approached Zhang Yuandong and whispered, "My wife told me that his sister-in-law ran away by herself for some reason, and he and his wife are very upset. My wife said that the sister-in-law must have stolen his family's money and ran away!"

Zhang Yuandong made a surprised expression, "Really? I have never seen his sister-in-law before. Is she this kind of person?"

"Who knows? Anyway, I haven't seen it either." Lu Mangang lowered his head, his eyes met Ling Ling Wanli's two pairs of curious eyes, and he smiled awkwardly, "Well, I won't say more to you, don't waste your time!"

Zhang Yuandong nodded, said goodbye to him, and left with Lin Yue and the child.

The snow on the road was very thick. Zhang Yuandong drove a horse-drawn sleigh and moved forward quickly on the snow.

Lin Yue and Ling Ling Wanli sat in the back. She covered half of her face with a scarf. The north wind was too strong. She shouted to Zhang Yuandong: "The small official village is not far ahead. We can leave the carriage at Aunt Liu's house. I know her well and often ask her to mend my shoes for me."

Zhang Yuandong also responded loudly and sped away.

The forest behind them was covered with a thick layer of white snow. The sled passed by, creating a gust of wind, and the treetops rustled. Large pieces of snow fell down. Some unknown animals were frightened and ran away quickly.

After a long time, the forest finally became quiet and someone walked out slowly on the snow, making a crackling sound.

A gruff male voice asked, "Are you sure that's the woman sitting on the sled?"

"Sure, but you have to be careful. She's very strong. Two or three men can knock her down."

The man sneered, "With her tiny body, how strong can she be? I can pin her down with just one finger!"

"It's true. I don't need to brag about it. If you don't believe me, ask her!"

Behind the two men stood a woman in a black leather jacket, holding a thick iron rod in her hand, alertly watching the movements around her.

The woman's face was very cold, with an expression that said "don't let strangers in". Seeing that both of them were looking at her, she reluctantly nodded and whispered, "Better than me."

The man had seen the woman's abilities. Although she was not as good as him, she was much better than the average man. He frowned and said irritably, "Then we have to change the plan. We have to find a way to separate the two of them."

"There are only three of us and they have four. How can we win? Why don't we wait until they come back? Having two fewer kids will save us some trouble."

"You know shit! With these two kids, it will be easier to restrain them. When a fight really breaks out, they will have to focus on protecting the kids, and that's how I'll win!"

He turned around to look at the other two and said unhappily, "If I wasn't afraid that you two would be caught, I really wouldn't want to bring you two women out here. It's so cumbersome and useless!"

The woman in black still lowered her head and said nothing, as if she hadn't heard anything at all. Another female voice said angrily: "Old Xu, don't forget your status and speak politely, otherwise, you will suffer the consequences in the future!"

The man named Lao Xu laughed grimly and said, "You also said that, that's for the future. Only if you can really get to Chang Kaishen's place will you have a chance to make things right for me. Now, it's hard to say whether you can survive, so you'd better not be too arrogant now."

"You!" The woman was touched in the sore spot. She could neither refute nor swallow her anger. She could only curse angrily: "I am going to die, and you will not live either!"

The man sneered, pulled out a gun from his shirt and handed it to her, "Then you two hold that woman back, and I'll deal with that man. Can you do that?"

The woman hurriedly took the gun and swallowed, "Yes, yes, but what about the child? What if..."

The man impatiently pointed at the gun in her hand and said, "I remember you learned this, right? Why don't you switch with her? She's a professional. You can just use a stick."

The woman held the gun tightly in her hand, fearing that someone would snatch it away. "No, don't even think about it!"

"That's it. You have the gun in your hand. Are you afraid that you can't deal with the two useless kids?" The man said, and without caring about her reaction, he quickened his pace and walked into the woods.

The woman turned pale with fear, and she didn't know what she was thinking of. She shuddered with excitement. When she calmed down, the woman in black and the man had already walked a long way out.

The woman couldn't keep up with the two people in front of her, and the snowy road was difficult to walk on, so she was soon left behind. The man stopped and said impatiently to the woman in black: "Why don't you hurry up and hold on? At this speed, how long will it take to get there?"

The woman in black stopped and turned back to help the man without saying a word.

The woman had suffered a lot during this period, and her temper was also up. She beat her stomach crazily with her hands several times. After venting her emotions, she regained her composure, and with the help of the woman in black, she quickened her pace and chased after Lao Xu.

Old Xu saw it, smiled sneerfully, cursed him secretly as a lunatic, then turned around and walked ahead.

The road to Master Wu's village was difficult to travel on and horse-drawn carriages could not enter, so Lin Yue and Zhang Yuandong left their horses and sleds in a familiar village, pulled a small sled, and took their two children deeper into the forest.

Few people would walk in the mountains on such days. If they hadn't wanted to celebrate the birthday of the two children's teacher, they would not have braved the wind and snow to go deep into the mountains.

The road was too quiet, so when the rustling sound came, it was even clearer. The four of them looked around alertly and saw a group of small animals emerging from the bushes nearby, including rabbits, pheasants, and squirrels. A quick look showed that there were at least seven or eight of them.

Seeing so many small animals, the two children's eyes sparkled and they shouted in joy and chased after them. Zhang Yuandong quickly caught the two and said sternly, "Follow me closely, don't run around!"

How could there be so many small animals in this weather, and in groups? It was obviously a trap set by someone. He and Lin Yue looked at each other, and they knew from their eyes that they had the same idea.

The two of them held the child in their arms and carefully observed the surroundings, not missing a single sound.

Sure enough, not far from the clump of trees, a snow slope trembled slightly. Zhang Yuandong protected Lingling with one hand and carefully touched her lower back with the other.

Lin Yue was next to Zhang Yuandong, looking around with vigilant eyes. Lingling and Wanli were affected by their parents' emotions, and they nestled in their arms obediently. The two children's eyes were wide open, showing both nervousness and a little excitement.

Zhang Yuandong's hand had already touched the gun. The moment he touched the gun, he keenly felt that the four of them seemed to be being targeted by something.

He felt something was wrong. It wasn't like there was someone nearby, but more like some ferocious large animal.

Zhang Yuandong's forehead was immediately covered with cold sweat. He was not sure what the other party was, but he was definitely not someone who could be easily dealt with. He wanted to warn Lin Yue, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he saw that the snow slope suddenly moved, and something jumped out of the snow pile and rushed towards the four of them.

Lin Yue also heard the noise and turned her head sharply to look. She was immediately met with a pair of small but sharp yellow eyes. She instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Coming out from the snowdrift was a big yellow tiger with lush fur and a strong body.

Zhang Yuandong reacted quickly and shot the tiger without hesitation.

The gunshot was so loud that Lin Yue's eardrums hurt. But even louder than the gunshot was the tiger's angry roar. The snow on the treetops was shaken and fell down, and all the small animals and birds in the surrounding area fled in all directions.

Zhang Yuandong quickly fired another shot without even turning back to check whether he hit her. He yelled "Run", picked up Lingling, and ran in the opposite direction.

Lin Yue did not hesitate either. He also picked up Wanli and quickly followed his footsteps to escape out of the forest.

The incident happened in a flash. The two men turned and ran away, and the huge Siberian tiger just landed on the ground. It was shot twice, one of its eyes was shot out, and its abdomen was also injured. Bright red blood dripped down its fur into the snow, leaving a series of bright red pits.

As soon as it landed, the wound became more painful as it was torn by the movement. The tiger roared furiously again, ignoring the wounds on its body, and flew towards the direction where the four people were fleeing again.

How could a human be faster than a tiger? Seeing that it was about to catch up, Lin Yue felt nothing but regret. She shouldn't have been so careless and brought Lingling and Wanli with her. If anything happened to them, she would really regret it.

She was just hesitating whether to use her spatial ability when she saw Zhang Yuandong throw Lingling in his arms forward with all his strength, then he turned around and faced the tiger that was already close at hand.

"You take the two children and go first. I will meet this tiger!"

His voice was full of fighting spirit. He pulled out a sharp military dagger from his boots, spread his feet, half-crouched and looked directly at the tiger. There was excitement in his eyes of meeting an opponent, waiting for a fierce battle.

Lin Yue knew his strength. Without the burden of the child, an injured tiger would not be his opponent. She did not hesitate and continued forward holding Wanli and ran to check on Lingling's condition.

The snow on the mountain was thick, and Lingling was not injured. She crawled out of the snow by herself, anxiously looking at her father who was confronting the tiger, and even wanted to run over to help.

Suddenly, a figure flashed out quickly. Lin Yue was shocked and ran faster, shouting anxiously: "Lingling, watch out behind you!"

Lingling was startled and turned around quickly, but before she could turn her neck, someone grabbed her waist and kidnapped her.

Lin Yue saw clearly that it was a burly man, even stronger than Zhang Yuandong. He held Ling Ling with one arm and ran down the mountain quickly without any unnecessary movements.

Lin Yue was terrified and wanted to chase after him after shouting. However, she didn't expect that someone else appeared from nearby and blocked her way.

Lin Yue looked at the cold pistol and the thick iron rod in front of her, and was shaking with anger. Seeing that she could not catch up with Ling Ling, she yelled, "Zhang Yuandong, stop fighting, go chase the child!"

She swung her hand back, and the tiger that was pressing on Zhang Yuandong suddenly disappeared out of thin air, leaving only a series of footprints and spilled blood in the snow, proving that it had really existed.