Desert Wolf Girl

"My uncle, the Minister of War Yang Yuxuan, was an upright and incorruptible official. He made many enemies in court. Previously, he was framed by the Eastern Depot. After several struggles, his entire family was executed!"

"On the day of the execution, although righteous people from the jianghu bravely attempted to rescue them, they only managed to save the Yang family orphan. Afterwards, they were pursued by the Eastern Depot's lackeys and became fugitives."

Yang Yuncong paused, then continued, "As things stand, countless eyes are watching from the shadows. No one from the Yang family dares to make a move. And my identity dictates that I cannot step forward and intervene in this matter."

"Uncle Yang, what do you want me to do?" Qin Shuang asked Yang Yuncong earnestly.

Yang Yuncong took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and said word by word, "I want to ask you to secretly act and protect the last bloodline of my uncle!"

"Alright!" Qin Shuang replied without hesitation.

The setting sun bled like blood, greedily licking the last bit of light from the western sky, dyeing the entire vast sea of sand a molten gold, yet it couldn't diminish the desolation by even half an inch.

A parched, fierce wind swirled up from the horizon, carrying a sky full of sand. It whistled and danced like countless fine golden whip shadows among the scattered camel caravans.

The caravan guide, Wu En, his face rough as tree bark, weathered by the sand, now only had two slits of tired eyes.

He squinted, struggling to discern their direction in the scorching wind.

Wu En raised his arm and pointed towards a sand dune in the distance, its outline blurred like the broken remains of a giant beast. A hoarse growl, like the friction of gravel, squeezed from the depths of his throat.

"Wind Fiend, tonight... we'll camp behind this Bone Mountain."

The weary people in the caravan finally had a destination. They dragged their heavy feet towards the leeward hollow of the sand, setting up faded tents coated in dust.

At night, the campfire struggled to dance in the howling wind and sand.

Just then, a sharp, angry shout erupted from the tent storing the cargo on the west side of the caravan, instantly tearing through the previous calm.

"Thieving bone! You're tired of living! How dare you touch our salt pouches!"

In the firelight, several burly, rough guards roughly dragged a small figure, stumbling into the firelight.

The figure was gaunt and bony, wearing a tattered, dirty animal hide that barely covered its body.

Beneath the messy, dirty, straw-like long hair, a pair of startlingly eerie green eyes were revealed. It could barely be distinguished as a woman.

At this moment, she was like a wolf cub caught in a trap, filled with burning rage and a primal ferocity.

Her emaciated fingers clutched tightly a salt pouch she had snatched from a guard. Her knuckles were white from the strain, and a low, rumbling threat emanated from her throat.

A corner of the pouch had been torn open, and precious white salt grains were now trickling onto the dirty sand.

"You damn creature!"

Chen Zhenqun, the leader of the guards, his face full of coarse flesh, stepped forward. His palm, as large as a fan, was raised high, the wind it generated heavily splitting the shimmering heat above the campfire.

"Chop off her claws and feed them to the vultures!" Chen Zhenqun's voice was rough and fierce.

This Wolf Girl clearly understood human speech. Hearing this, the gaunt, blackened face beneath her straw-like hair suddenly tensed. The threatening sound from her throat took on a shrillness, like a final desperate counterattack before death.

Several guards sneered as they surrounded her, their eyes like steel drills piercing her, as if searching for the best spots to land their blows.

"Wait a moment!"

A clear yet commanding voice cut through the wind from the side of the crowd.

Following the sound, they saw Qin Shuang, who had been silently traveling during the day, like a solitary, otherworldly figure.

He had been sitting cross-legged by the campfire, and now he stood up.

His blue cloth robes fluttered slightly in the hot wind, his figure as upright as a solitary pine rooted in the desert.

Qin Shuang took a step out of the edge of the firelight, dividing the heated air between the Wolf Girl and the guards in two.

His gaze swept over Chen Zhenqun's furious face, finally landing on the girl.

The fear and despair deep within those wolf-like eyes, though suppressed by her rage, could not escape his notice.

He looked deeply at Chen Zhenqun, "Brother Chen, is a bag of salt, a few pieces of clothing, worth killing for?"

His tone was as calm as deep water, yet it carried an undeniable weight.

Chen Zhenqun's face, bulging with coarse flesh, turned even more purple. The veins on his short, thick neck throbbed like snakes.

"Young Hero Qin! It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one in trouble!" He almost spat hot air into Qin Shuang's face. "Do you know how many brothers have died of thirst on the roadside, their bones turning to dust? What are we doing this for? In the desert, this salt is gold! It's life!"

He then pointed fiercely at the Wolf Girl, who was still growling on the ground, spitting as he cursed, "A wild thing that scavenges from a wolf den, what rules does she understand? She'd be a waste of wolves' food if she died!"

"Rules are made by people," Qin Shuang's tone remained calm, as if he hadn't heard the malicious words. "Salt can save lives, and it can also kill. Will taking her life today demonstrate your rules?"

He took out a small yet heavy leather bag from his bosom, and tossed it lightly. The bag, filled with fine refined salt, landed steadily at Chen Zhenqun's feet. The fine salt made a faint sound as it hit the gravel through the leather bag. "I'll compensate everyone with this bag of salt."

Seeing that it was at least three times the amount of the original salt pouch, Chen Zhenqun was stunned. The murmuring of the onlookers also quieted down.

His eyes widened, darting between the new salt bag and Qin Shuang's expressionless face.

Qin Shuang no longer looked at him. He directly bent down and, with one hand, unfastened the sash of his blue outer robe, his movements smooth and decisive.

The old outer robe, washed white but still thick and intact, was lightly shaken off his shoulders. In the next moment, it covered the girl's stiff, emaciated shoulders, like a corner of a roof sheltering from wind and rain.

Her green, fierce eyes, like those of a nocturnal beast, visibly contracted sharply. Her knuckles, gripping the salt pouch, lost their color from extreme surprise and tension.

The low, rumbling threat from her throat also abruptly stopped, as if choked off.

"Go."

Qin Shuang uttered a single low word. As his voice fell, he shifted his body slightly, opening a path.

His gaze swept past the campfire and the crowd, fixing on the distant, boundless, pitch-black sea of sand that seemed poised to swallow everything.

A spark flew from the crackling campfire, and the silence beyond its flickering light was as profound as a frozen spring.

All eyes were fixed intently on Qin Shuang's lean figure.

Chen Zhenqun's nostrils flared, and he spat out a derisive sound through gritted teeth: "Foolish kindness! You'll die in this desert sooner or later!"

He spat a thick glob of phlegm heavily onto the ground, then turned and walked away.

The phlegm mixed with the sand, quickly consumed by the dryness.

The green-eyed Wolf Girl continued to stare fixedly at Qin Shuang, as if trying to carve his face into her very bones.

After a moment of dead silence, she suddenly coiled her body, grabbed the heavy bag of salt, and wrapped herself even tighter in her old blue cloth robe.