Chapter 23
It was evening and there were still a few pedestrians passing by on the street. Lin Shuge's heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat. The last time A Yuan got into trouble, he was not in Ganzhou, and he could not imagine how scared A Yuan must have been after experiencing such a dangerous thing at such a young age.
If something happened to any of the three people this time, Lin Shuge was actually a little confused at the moment and could only try his best to calm himself down. He knocked on his neighbor's door.
He has moved here for a long time, but because he is too busy, he has never interacted with his neighbors.
A man wearing coarse cloth, who looked like a servant, asked, "Excuse me, who are you looking for? My master is not here, he has gone out to meet a guest."
"I live next door. May I ask if you have seen my sister-in-law go out?"
"You are the county magistrate Lin who lives next door," the servant suddenly realized, "Your young master Wei once helped my master move books."
"An hour ago, I heard something happened at the Wu County Magistrate's house. A group of people were making a lot of noise. They might have gone there. If the master hadn't told me to collect the dried books before dark, I would have gone over to take a look."
"Thank you, little brother."
"It may also be that there are jugglers from the Western Regions today. Young man and young lady... Hey, I haven't finished talking yet. Why is County Magistrate Lin leaving in such a hurry?"
The servant watched Lin Shuge's figure quickly disappear in the street. He was anxious and rushed to the front street. Just as he turned the corner, he bumped into Lin Xuan.
Lin Shuge hugged Lin Xuan and said, "Xuan, you scared me to death. Where have you been? Where are Zhongxuan and Ayuan?"
"Brother, the young master of County Magistrate Wu's family is missing, and his wife couldn't find him anywhere. When we heard the noise, we wanted to help, but we thought you might be worried when you get home, so I came here to tell you first."
Lin Xuan felt very sorry to hear about other young men and women suffering because of Lin Qingyuan being kidnapped last time, so the three of them decided to help search separately. Later, she was afraid that her eldest brother would come back early today, so she hurried back.
Looking at Lin Shuge's red eyes, Lin Xuan said embarrassedly: "Brother, I'm sorry for making you worry."
"As long as you are safe, you must let me know where you are going next time, understand?"
No matter how strong Lin Shuge's heart was, he couldn't withstand being frightened again and again.
"Are Zhongxuan and Ayuan still helping to look for it?"
"Well, they asked me to come back first."
"You go back first, I'll go check." Lin Shuge touched her hair. "You two little rascals, I'll teach you a lesson when I find you."
As the night deepened, Xie Chen walked deeper into the forest holding a torch, and Lin Qingyuan followed behind him. The forest was quiet at night, concealing the danger in the darkness.
"Erlang, are you sure that Young Master Wu will go into the woods?" Lin Qingyuan shuddered. The winter night was so cold that he was shivering. In fact, he could hardly hold on any longer.
"You could have gone back just now." Xie Chen's voice was slightly cold.
"That's because I'm worried about you." Lin Qingyuan looked innocent.
Xie Chen sighed and explained, "Someone saw him go to see a circus today and followed the circus troupe all the way. We asked around and found out that he had lost his place nearby."
"When it was still daylight, I saw traces of someone walking on the fallen leaves by the roadside. There were also marks on the trees. He must have lost his way and was walking back and forth."
It seems that this young man is quite smart and brave, and he actually followed the circus troupe all the way here.
But it was getting late, and I was afraid there might be wild animals in the woods.
"Erlang, you are so attentive. How come I didn't notice it?" Lin Qingyuan said in annoyance.
"But Erlang, if the two of us came here so late, my elder brother would be angry if he knew us. But his elder brother is so kind to us, he probably won't hold it against us."
Xie Chen's body stiffened slightly, thinking of Lin Shuge's gentle face like jade, it shouldn't be possible, right?
"Forget it, now that Axuan has gone back to report the news, we should hurry up and find someone." Lin Qingyuan said, not sure if he was talking to himself or Xie Chen.
The cold wind started to blow, and there was a whimpering sound. Lin Qingyuan was so scared that he grabbed Xie Chen's sleeve and said, "Erlang, is there a ghost?"
Xie Chen listened quietly for a while, then immediately took a big step forward.
"Hey, Erlang, wait for me." Lin Qingyuan shouted from behind.
Hidden in the woods at night, Wu Yuanguang had tears in his eyes and clutched his sleeves tightly. He hid in a tree hole for fear of attracting wild beasts. He wanted to cry but could only sob quietly.
Father, mother, sister, where are you? Come and save Yuan Guang.
He heard footsteps coming towards him and dared not make a sound. It was too dark and if it was a wild beast, he would be dead.
"Is anyone there?" Xie Chen asked.
"Yes, yes, I'm here." Wu Yuanguang shouted while crying.
After hearing the response, Xie Chen and Lin Qingyuan walked over and said, "Erlang, you are right."
"We are the younger brothers of County Magistrate Lin. County Magistrate Lin and your father are colleagues. Your mother asked us to come find you." Lin Qingyuan explained, fearing that he would not believe him.
"Mother?" Wu Yuanguang cried loudly, "I miss my mother."
Lin Qingyuan walked over with a smile and tried to reach out to pull him out.
"Don't say anything." Xie Chen said coldly. He handed the torch to Lin Qingyuan, took off the bow and arrow from his back, drew the bow and arrow, and aimed at a place in the forest.
Lin Qingyuan looked in the direction of his sight and his face suddenly turned pale, with his hair standing on end. He saw a pair of emerald green eyes of Lin Zi glowing faintly. In the light of the torch, Lin Qingyuan saw that it was a wolf, skinny as if skin was wrapped around bones. It kept staring at them with saliva dripping from its mouth.
"Er...Erlang." Lin Qingyuan cried out in horror.
"Get behind me."
Maybe people can always break through themselves when facing life and death. Lin Qingyuan pulled the frightened Wu Yuanguang behind Xie Chen in a lightning speed.
At the same time, the hungry wolf rushed forward like a sharp sword. He was extremely hungry, and the human in front of him was enough for him to have a full meal.
Almost instantly, Xie Chen pulled the bowstring to its full extent, and the arrow flew out like a meteor, shining with a cold light, and hit the wild wolf's heart directly.
The wild wolf was shot by an arrow, bleeding profusely, howling, and struggling to pounce. Xie Chen quickly fired another arrow, and the wild wolf was dead.
Xie Chen carried Wu Yuanguang on his back and pulled Lin Qingyuan along, "Hurry up, the smell of blood will attract other wild animals."
"Okay, let's go."
The three of them rushed out of the woods. Xie Chen's breathing became heavier, and Lin Qingyuan felt even worse. There was a bloody taste in his throat, which was the result of running so fast.
After running for a while, Lin Qingyuan gradually couldn't keep up with Xie Chen's pace, "Erlang, I... I can't run anymore."
Seeing that he was really exhausted, Xie Chen stopped and said, "Rest for a while."
"Okay, there shouldn't be anything chasing us." Lin Qingyuan was frightened by the scene just now and didn't dare to say that word.
Xie Chen didn't say anything, but looked into the distance. From the depths of the dense forest, a group of birds flew up, making a cackle sound, which was eerie and terrifying.
"Ayuan, take him away first."
"Erlang, are they...chasing us?" Lin Qingyuan asked in a trembling voice.
"Let's go." Xie Chen said coldly.
"I...but I'm Jilang." What will you do? Lin Qingyuan didn't ask.
"I'm fine, let's go."
"Tell my brother that he must not forget me." Xie Chen said with difficulty, looking at the crescent moon above his head.
Lin Qingyuan was crying heavily. He wiped his tears and said, "I'm going to find someone. You must hold on until I come back." After that, he pulled Wu Yuanguang, who was still crying, and ran away.
He still had seven arrows, and he didn't know how many wolves were coming, so he could only give it a try. Xie Chen hid in the dark, and the wolves were extremely cunning. The one he had just released was old and thin, and it was probably just sent out to lure the enemy to gather information.
Xie Chen counted carefully and found there were six wolves in total, but he only had seven arrows, so there was only one chance of failure.
The three wolves in front had fierce eyes and were approaching this side quietly. Xie Chen had been paying attention to the last one. It had been quietly observing its surroundings. It didn't look as strong and combative as the ones in front, but its eyes were fierce. It was the leader wolf.
Xie Chen hid behind a tree and gently pulled the bowstring. With a "whoosh" sound, blood splattered and the wolf leader was shot in the eye.
When the other wolves saw their leader being shot, they immediately became alert and gathered around the leader. Xie Chen seized the opportunity and shot an arrow through the heart, killing one of them.
The wolf pack began to stir, and some wolves ignored the leader's warning and rushed straight towards Xie Chen.
Xie Chen thought to himself: You came just in time.
He stretched his tense arms, stretched out his hand to draw the bow, and shot another one.
When the wolves saw their companions die one after another and the leader was injured, they howled one after another.
Xie Chen jumped onto the tree and aimed his arrow at the leader of the wolves. His action just now had already thrown the wolves into disarray. If he could hit the leader again, maybe...
Xie Chen didn't dare to think about it anymore. One always has to take a gamble. He shot the arrow, watching it pierce the air and hit the wolf leader with a chill.
Got it.
Xie Chen let out a sigh of relief. After getting rid of the leader wolf, the rest would be easy.
The leader wolf was shot dead, and the remaining three wolves were leaderless and could only swarm towards Xie Chen. Xie Chen hid in a tree, but the wolves could not climb trees, so they kept whimpering below. But the temperature was getting lower and lower at night, and if Lin Qingyuan had not brought anyone with him, he would most likely have been the first to freeze to death, and they had to fight a protracted battle with the wolves.
But if it was Lin Qingyuan and his brother who came, he couldn't let them put themselves in danger.
We have to fight quickly and decisively.
A wolf tried to take advantage of Xie Chen's unpreparedness by climbing a tree to attack him, but Xie Chen dodged sideways and kicked the wolf down. In a flash, he pulled out the arrow from behind and shot the wolf to death before it could stand up.
There are only two left, but these are the last two arrows left.
Xie Chen licked the corner of his mouth, ready to pursue the victory. An arrow flew into the air, but the wolf took advantage of the danger of its companion and dodged it. However, it dodged this time, but it could not dodge the last arrow shot by Xie Chen. It was shot in the heart and slowly fell down.
Xie Chen reached out from behind to grab an arrow, but the quiver was empty as it was the last one.
He withdrew his hand and closed his sore eyes. Now he had no choice but to fight for his life.
He leaned against a tree to recover his strength. The last wolf witnessed the tragic deaths of all his companions and saw that he had no weapon, so he wanted to rush up regardless of the consequences. However, he had no claws like a cat and kept sliding down.
Xie Chen looked at the bow in his hand. He touched the pattern on the bow and thought that maybe he could take another gamble.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
