"Bang, bang, bang."
The knocking landed on their none-too-sturdy wooden door, carrying far through the silent night.
Fang Yuan made no effort to keep his voice down.
"Wanwan, it's me!"
Hurried footsteps immediately sounded from inside, mixed with Little Bean Sprout's sleepy yet excited, hushed question:
"Is Brother back?"
The bolt was swiftly drawn. With a creak, the door opened.
Liu Wanwan held up a dim oil lamp, her face plainly marked by worry and lingering exhaustion.
But the instant the light revealed the scene outside, her eyes flew wide. She sucked in a sharp breath, covered her mouth, and stumbled back two steps.
Little Bean Sprout poked her head out from behind her. When she saw the enormous thing on the ground, she gave a frightened cry.
She immediately hugged Liu Wanwan's leg tightly, daring to peek with only one eye.
Under the lamplight, the corpse of the massive, powerfully built wild boar at Fang Yuan's feet, its tusks savage and menacing, was an incomparably shocking sight.
"Th-this is..." Liu Wanwan's voice trembled—not from fear, but from overwhelming shock.
"Just killed it." Fang Yuan kept it brief, stepping aside. "Give me a hand. Let's get it inside."
His tone was calm, as if he had merely dug up a basket of sweet potatoes rather than dragged home a ferocious beast capable of scaring the wits out of ordinary people.
That calmness rubbed off on Liu Wanwan. She took a deep breath and suppressed the stormy waves in her heart.
She hurriedly opened the door all the way, then quickly pulled Little Bean Sprout aside.
Fang Yuan exerted himself again and dragged the wild boar completely into the small courtyard.
The courtyard gate closed, shutting out the outside world.
Inside, though the oil lamp's glow was weak, it cast the