Chapter 22 Getting Beaten Up in Public
Su Yuyao slid all the way down the mountain on her sled before finally stopping. She stood up, checked her slingshot and machete, filled a bag with pebbles, and happily went off to play.
She dared not go too far, for if she encountered a wild beast, she knew she would not be able to escape on her own. So she found some bushes nearby that she could use as targets and practiced shooting with her slingshot.
She fired at each bush, one by one, shouting, "Spot on target every time! Haha!"
Suddenly, she noticed a clump of trees swaying slightly. "There's no wind! What could be inside?"
Just as she was wondering, a long, black pig snout suddenly emerged from the bushes, followed by two long, sharp tusks. Its beady black eyes were staring intently at Su Yuyao. With its messy mane, sturdy body, and short legs, this ugly black pig was walking steadily toward Su Yuyao.
That black pig is so ugly!
Su Yuyao dared not act rashly, so she slowly retreated, observing her surroundings discreetly.
There isn't a single tree! And I can't climb the cliff behind me! If I were to run in the snow, could I outrun the black pigs that live in the snow?!
Su Yuyao retreated while lost in thought. The big black pig seemed to sense her fear and swaggered around her.
"Get away! Get away!" Su Yuyao mentally shooed the big black pig away. She looked up at the sky and knew she had to turn back. If she didn't go back now, she would be discovered!
She quietly moved toward the sled.
"Hmph—!" The big black pig let out a loud squeal, which startled Su Yuyao so much that she trembled all over and dared not move.
The big black pig glanced at Su Yuyao, who dared not move, its eyes filled with contempt, and then continued to root in the snow.
Su Yuyao anxiously looked at the dawn. It would be dark soon, and it would be terrible if her parents found out she had sneaked out! Never mind! She had to try!
Taking advantage of the moment when the big black pig lowered its head, she turned and ran. There was no time to pull the sled; she would get to the top of the mountain first!
Seeing Su Yuyao run away, the big black pig suddenly got excited and started running after her.
Su Yuyao was no match for the big black boar on the cliff, and the big black boar didn't seem to want to attack Su Yuyao.
If Su Yuyao runs too slowly, the big black pig will wait. Only when Su Yuyao runs far away will the big black pig start chasing her.
Running and stopping, chasing and catching, a chubby baby and a fat black pig gradually started playing together.
"Awooo—!" The deafening roar made the entire cliff face vibrate.
Su Yuyao huddled up in fright, covering her ears. The big black pig heard the sound and rolled down with a gurgling sound.
A huge, equally ugly black pig used its snout to stop the little black pig from rolling down...
Huh? It's its mother? It's grown up and it's still a baby? Haha! How interesting!
The mother pig sniffed her piglet, then glared at Su Yuyao and shooed the piglet back into the bushes with her snout.
Su Yuyao watched the two pigs walk away before she felt relieved and began climbing to the top of the mountain. By the time she reached the top, it was already completely dark!
She stood panting on the ridge, looking up at the sky. The moonlight was cold, and the stars twinkled. She looked down again, and in the moonlight, she could only see the dark hillside and valley.
She dared not slide down rashly, so she could only follow the ridge toward the cave.
From afar, she could see torches gathered in front of the cave, making it brightly lit.
What's going on? Why are so many people gathered here?
"Woo—!" A wolf howled.
"Huh?!" Su Yuyao looked closely and saw a snow wolf, its body radiating anger, emerging from the darkness ahead.
"Ruixue! You've come to pick me up! That's great! My sled was left down there!" Su Yuyao climbed onto Ruixue, excitedly sharing her day's experiences. "Guess what I encountered? A big black pig! It wouldn't let me move or walk, and it scared me at first. But then we played around for a while, and the big black pig wasn't so scary. Later, its mother came out and called it back, and that's how I got back... Hey? Ruixue, why are there so many people down there? What are they going to do? I want to go too!"
Ruixue carried Su Yuyao steadily down the hillside and towards the cave entrance.
Upon seeing Su Yuyao return safely, the wolf clan members hurriedly called out, "Madam! Madam! Miss Ningbao is back! She's back!"
Ruixue transformed into human form and carried Su Yuyao on her back.
"What's wrong?" Su Yuyao asked, putting her arms around Ruixue's neck.
"What's wrong?! Why are you running around like that! You scared Madam!" Ruixue said angrily.
"Ningbao! Ningbao!" Madam Sa ran over with red eyes, took Su Yuyao off Ruixue's back, hugged her in her arms, and kept stroking her face.
"Where did you run off to? Your mother was so worried!" Mrs. Sa's tears hadn't even dried yet, but they welled up again as she spoke.
"Mother... I'm sorry," Su Yuyao nestled in Madam Sa's arms, pouting, "I encountered a big black pig, it scared me to death! Later, its mother called it back, and I was able to escape... It's all the big black pig's fault... Otherwise, I would have come back much sooner!"
"You child! That's a wild boar! How dangerous! You can't run around like that anymore, do you hear me?" Mrs. Sa said, hugging Su Yuyao.
"Ningbao! Come here!" Sahan's deep voice carried an undeniable authority.
Su Yuyao peeked out from Madam Sa's arms and looked over. She saw that the crowd holding torches had made way for Sa Hanyi, whose face was full of anger.
"Ningbao! Come here!" Sahan raised his voice again.
"Father... I was wrong... I will never dare to do it again..." Su Yuyao looked at Sa Hanyi's forearm with bulging veins and his hands that were red and black, and her legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Madam, bring Ningbao here!" Sahan's tone towards his wife remained gentle.
Su Yuyao hugged Madam Sa tightly, "I don't want to go... I don't want to go... I'm scared..."
Mrs. Sa looked at Su Yuyao's naughty behavior and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You naughty child, you're fearless when you're causing trouble, but you become a coward when you see your father!"
She pulled Su Yuyao toward Sa Han, saying, "Go apologize to your father! He was terrified when he found you were missing and gathered the whole clan to look for you! Thank goodness you're back..."
"I won't go... I won't go..." Su Yuyao struggled back. She knew from Sa Hanyi's face that if she was caught by Sa Hanyi, the whole clan would watch her get a beating.
Sa Han watched as his wife and Su Yuyao struggled like in a tug-of-war, unable to get closer for a long time. He lost patience and took two steps in front of his wife. He pushed his wife's shoulder aside with one hand and grabbed Su Yuyao's wrist with the other, lifting her up.
"Ah—! Help! Mother! Help!" Su Yuyao was held in Sa Han's hand and had no ability to resist. She could only scream loudly to relieve her fear.
"My lord! My lord! Don't frighten Ningbao!" Madam Sa hurriedly went to stop her.
"Ta Shuang! Keep an eye on Madam!" Sa Han said, lifting the howling Su Yuyao.
"Yes, sir!" Ta Shuang quickly stopped Madam Sa.
Sa Han pulled Su Yuyao down to sit, ripped off her leather skirt, pressed her onto his lap, and slapped her hard on the buttocks.
"Do you still dare to run around like that?! Do you still dare to hunt on your own?!"
"Ah—! I won't do it again! Spare me! Ah—! Help!" Although Madam Sa made Su Yuyao's cotton trousers extremely thick, they couldn't withstand Sa Han's hundred years of hunting strength. This force was really too much for Su Yuyao to bear.
Before long, Su Yuyao's cries for mercy echoed through the valley.
The clansmen who had gathered were about to disperse, but upon hearing the sound of Su Yuyao being beaten, they all curiously gathered around again, covering their faces and chuckling.
Although Ruixue felt sorry for Su Yuyao, she felt at ease watching Su Yuyao get slapped when she thought about the bullying she had suffered.
There was only one person who was truly worried, and that was Mrs. Sa.
Every scream from Su Yuyao triggered Mrs. Sa's tear ducts.
"Sir! Stop hitting him! Why are you hitting him so hard!"
After huffing and puffing as he slapped her a few times, Sa Han finally stopped and said to Madam Sa, "Madam! Ningbao is such a naughty child, she should be disciplined strictly..."
"My lord!" Madam Sa interrupted Sa Hanyi, "If Ningbao has committed a serious offense, I will not object to your strict discipline! But what did she do wrong this time? She simply ran off to play by herself. Didn't you hear her say that she even encountered a wild boar! How dangerous! It's already a miracle that she came back safely! Why did you still hit her!"
“Madam! This is a small punishment to teach a lesson!” Sahan said, also somewhat annoyed, holding up her hand. “Besides, I’ll only use my hand…”
"Ah—! Help, Mom! I'll never do it again! Please beg for my life! It hurts so much!" Su Yuyao seized the opportunity and quickly cried out.
Upon hearing this, Madam Sa couldn't hold back any longer, "Sa Hanyi! Release Ningbao at once!"
"Madam!" Sahan exclaimed anxiously, "Don't interfere when I'm disciplining Ningbao!"
"How can you discipline children like that?! Beat them to death?!"
"These few pats! How much pain could they possibly cause?!"
"How much pain could it possibly cause?! Sahan! I'm going to examine Ningbao's injuries later! If she's even slightly hurt, I'll never forgive you!"
"A doting mother spoils her son! If you don't discipline him properly now, what if he causes a huge disaster in the future?!"
"She's just a little girl! What trouble could she possibly cause?! On the contrary, she could save your life!"
"You!" Sa Han was speechless after being told off by Madam Sa, so he lowered his head and looked at Su Yuyao, who had stopped howling and was watching the commotion.
"You still have the nerve to watch the show?!" With that, he slapped down hard with his powerful hand again.
"Huh?" Su Yuyao was wondering why her parents were arguing when suddenly a sharp pain started shooting through her bottom again. "Ah—! I won't do it again! Please forgive me!"
The tribespeople were quite surprised to see Sahan and his wife arguing for the first time. They were also amused that Su Yuyao ended up getting a good beating in the end, as the wolf tribe had never seen such a spectacle before. As a result, more and more people gathered around.
When Su Yuyao was first beaten, she did feel that she was wrong. But after being beaten again, she felt wronged. Why did they take their anger out on her during their argument?
She was pinned to Sa Han's lap, and no one dared to help her. Madam Sa was busy arguing with Sa Han and didn't have time to save her. She struggled a little to see if she could break free, but Sa Han noticed and slapped her twice more. "Still not behaving yourself?!"
"Wah—!" Su Yuyao's crying grew even louder.
"Hey! Boss! Miss Ningbao is so young, we have to teach her slowly! Don't be angry, shall we have a drink?"
"Madam, quickly ask Miss Ningbao if she's hungry? Was she frightened by the wild boar we encountered today?"
After some persuasion from both sides, Sa Han and his wife finally had a way out and shut up. Su Yuyao was finally rescued.
She covered her buttocks as she looked at Sa Hanyi drinking with his uncles, then at Madam Sa surrounded by her aunts. She had her leather skirt ripped off and was slapped hard, but no one came to comfort her.
The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Just as she was about to cry, a piece of fragrant, juicy mutton stopped her from speaking.
She chewed on the meat, looked at Ruixue who was trying not to laugh, and said, sobbing, "It's...it's so delicious..."
The pain in her buttocks made Su Yuyao restless. Ruixue thought for a moment, then whittled a wooden skewer, skewered the roasted meat, and transformed into a snow wolf, letting Su Yuyao hold the skewer and lie on her back to ease some of the pain.
Su Yuyao lay on Ruixue's thick fur, a mouthful of fragrant roasted meat in her mouth, her eyelids beginning to droop uncontrollably.
A moment later, the unfinished roast meat fell from beside Ruixue.
Ruixue carefully stood up, glanced at Sahan, who was still drinking, and Madam Sa, who was still wiping away tears, thought for a moment, and then carried the sleeping Su Yuyao back to her cave.
"Hey? Where's Miss Ningbao?" Finally, someone noticed that Su Yuyao was missing.
Everyone started to panic again. When Sa Hanyi saw Su Yuyao, who was wearing cotton pants, with grease on her mouth, and sleeping soundly under Ruixue's belly, he also felt remorse.
He gently picked up Su Yuyao and walked back to the cave. Madam Sa had already made up the bedding for Su Yuyao.
"Ah...it hurts..." Su Yuyao mumbled groggily as she lay down on the bed.
"My lord! You went too far! Ningbao isn't like us wolf people with thick skin. Such a delicate child, and you hit her so hard..." Madam Sa said angrily after examining Su Yuyao's injuries.
"I was wrong, Madam. I was too hasty today... I couldn't control my temper when I saw Ningbao come back..."
"You're still arguing with me..." Mrs. Sa was about to start crying again.
"I was wrong..." Sa Hanyi's hand slipped inside Madam Sa's clothes again. "Don't be angry. I promise I will never hit Ningbao again!"
Madam Sa, who was initially slightly annoyed, blushed and turned her anger into a grumbling after Sa Han scratched her twice.
Sa Han smiled slightly, put his arm around his wife, and went back to bed to scratch his back. Meanwhile, Su Yuyao, still fast asleep, was smacking her lips and muttering, "So...smelly..."
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