Wild Wolf

"Now, I finally have some ability to protect myself."

Gu Sheng felt somewhat relieved.

In such a chaotic world, he was merely a frail fourteen-year-old boy. If he encountered a somewhat stronger adult, he would be done for.

Now that his Chopping Wood had reached mastery, he could fully mobilize the strength of his entire body.

If he had an axe or a woodcutter's machete in hand, Gu Sheng felt his combat ability would increase greatly.

He returned home.

Gu Sheng lit the stove and cooked.

The rice bran jar was nearly empty. It would probably only last another four or five days.

Now that Chopping Wood had reached mastery, starting tomorrow, his wages from chopping wood would exceed his daily expenses for the first time.

"Brother Erniu still hasn't returned. Could something really have happened to him?"

Gu Sheng was somewhat worried.

After eating, he went to check on Li Lian again.

He helped Li Lian carry several buckets of water to fill the water vat. It was obvious that Li Lian was distracted. The worries of the past few days had made her complexion much worse.

"Your Brother Erniu has been gone for so long and still hasn't returned. If something really happened to him, what are we supposed to do?"

Li Lian sighed faintly.

Gu Sheng could only patiently comfort her.

"Sister-in-law Erniu, none of the people from the village have returned. Maybe they've been delayed in the mountains. Just take care of things at home, and Brother Erniu will naturally return."

Li Lian nodded silently.

Gu Sheng had no solution either. He could only pray inwardly that Gu Erniu would return safely.

Though he had become somewhat stronger and his Chopping Wood had reached mastery,

it was impossible for him to enter the mountains alone to search. He would probably be eaten clean by wild beasts before he even got halfway there.

The next day.

Gu Sheng continued chopping wood for the main household.

After his Chopping Wood reached mastery, he could mobilize the strength of his whole body. Since that exceeded the force needed to split a log, Gu Sheng could save a great deal of energy.

His efficiency increased dramatically.

In a single day, Gu Sheng chopped a full nine hundred logs.

Even more than he had expected!

"Nine copper coins! I can finally start saving money!"

Gu Sheng was thrilled. Being able to save one copper coin a day while maintaining his nutritional intake was already an impressive feat.

After all,

Gu Sheng's father had worked himself to the bone for most of his life, yet had only saved five hundred and thirty-two copper coins.

"Still, after chopping wood all day, my proficiency only rose by 4%. It probably takes more than two hundred logs for a 1% increase."

At this rate, Gu Sheng estimated it would take nearly a month to raise Chopping Wood to the perfected realm.

It was a little slower than before, but Gu Sheng knew this was already an extremely fast pace. Ordinary people might chop wood their entire lives and still fail to reach mastery in Chopping Wood.

Mobilizing the strength of one's entire body—

it sounded simple, but it was actually very difficult.

The steward's courtyard.

The astonishment on Gu He's face could no longer be concealed in the slightest.

"What? You said you chopped nine hundred logs?"

In less than half a month,

Gu Sheng had repeatedly overturned Gu He's expectations. At first, Gu He had thought Gu Sheng might not even be able to chop two hundred logs. Now, he could chop nine hundred in a day.

That was already equivalent to the workload of two strong adults.

Gu He shot to his feet.

Though his interactions with the boy over these past days had told him Gu Sheng was not the sort to lie, he was still deeply shocked.

He wanted to know just how Gu Sheng had done it.

The two arrived at the woodshed.

Before Gu He could speak, Gu Sheng set a log upright.

He turned and shifted his footing, drawing strength from his waist and abdomen as the axe came down. In Gu He's eyes, Gu Sheng was like a great bow being drawn open before suddenly snapping back, unleashing immense force. The entire motion flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, carrying a unique beauty.

Crack!

The log split cleanly in two as if there had been no resistance at all.

A look of amazement appeared in Gu He's eyes, and he could not help praising him.

"What incredible comprehension!"

Of course, he could see that Gu Sheng's sharp increase in the number of logs he chopped these past days came entirely from technique, not brute strength.

"Borrowing the power of the whole body... To comprehend such exquisite techniques for exerting force from something as simple as chopping wood is truly remarkable. If this kid could practice martial arts..."

Gu He pondered for a moment before suddenly asking,

"You're fourteen this year?"

Gu Sheng answered respectfully,

"After this winter, I'll be fifteen."

Gu He's eyes lit up, and he slowly nodded.

"Fifteen is good. Once the youths in the village turn fifteen, they can go together to learn martial arts under Instructor Gu Jingang. Do you know that?"

"I know."

"Work hard. If you get the chance, you must give it a try. In these times, only by practicing martial arts and strengthening yourself can you protect yourself and take control of your fate. You have great comprehension, so don't waste it."

There was a weighty, earnest note in Gu He's words.

Unfortunately, he was only a steward. If he were a direct member of the main household, he would certainly nurture this boy properly.

With such comprehension, given time, this boy was highly likely to become another powerful martial artist in the village.

Even so,

Gu He quietly made plans in his heart to make things easier for Gu Sheng in the future. It would be best to build goodwill early; perhaps he might one day have someone to rely on.

Gu Sheng nodded seriously and thanked him.

For Gu He to say this much was already quite kind of him.

He returned home beneath the afterglow of the setting sun.

Having earned nine copper coins for the first time, Gu Sheng was in a very good mood.

He gathered the copper coins he had earned these past days and counted them carefully. There were sixty-nine in total. If exchanged for rice bran, they could buy around seventeen jin.

Looking at what remained in the rice bran jar,

Gu Sheng calculated silently.

"Over these past ten-odd days, I've spent roughly ten jin of rice bran more than I've earned. Fortunately, starting today, I can basically balance my income and expenses."

Gu Sheng felt delighted.

He ate rice bran mixed with wild vegetable roots. The piece of smoked meat Gu Erniu had given him last time had only one small bit left, so he ate it together with the meal. Gu Sheng felt immensely satisfied.

"Tomorrow, I'll go buy rice. Too bad there's no more meat."

Though they had only been two small pieces of smoked meat, they had thoroughly satisfied Gu Sheng's cravings. His daily consumption of two jin of rice bran over the past ten-odd days had been costly, but the benefits were obvious.

Gu Sheng could clearly feel that his body had more strength. He no longer constantly felt weak and sickly as before.

"If I keep this up, my body should become sturdier afterward."

All kinds of thoughts spun through Gu Sheng's mind.

Before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep on the kang bed.

In the night sky,

the wind howled. From time to time came faint barking and the chirping of cicadas, seeming to ring beside his ears yet also far away.

Gu Sheng's brow furrowed slightly in his sleep.

Awooo~!

He seemed to hear a wolf's howl.

Gu Sheng turned over, still drowsy, then abruptly woke with a start.

That wolf howl had sounded as if it were right beside his ear!

His sleepy eyes cleared in an instant, and terror flashed through Gu Sheng's gaze.

"Wolves have entered the village!"

A chill rose in his heart. Though it was a summer night, fine goosebumps appeared along his arms, and his heart began pounding uncontrollably faster.

These were wolves!

In a one-on-one fight, an armed adult who went all out might not necessarily lose. But wolves were pack animals. Encountering them in the wild usually meant being torn apart and eaten.

"How is that possible? Why would a wolf pack suddenly attack the village?"

Gu Sheng's heart pounded ever more fiercely. Hearing the wolf howls drawing closer, he felt both fear and confusion.

Logically speaking, Gu Family Village had a large population, and wolves were not stupid. They should not launch such a suicidal attack.

But this was not the time for questions.

Gu Sheng took a deep breath, removed the woodcutter's machete hanging in the room, and quietly moved to the door. Through the crack, he could vaguely see twenty or thirty nimble figures scattering toward different parts of the village in the distance.

His eyes were incomparably grave as he sighed inwardly.

"Though I don't know why the pack has split up, that actually makes them even more dangerous to ordinary people. By the time the village's experts react, who knows how many people will have already died in their jaws."

A few dozen wolves would naturally not deal any devastating blow to Gu Family Village, but to the villagers, it was a catastrophe of utter ruin!

Gu Sheng had just been relieved that no wild wolf had found its way here.

But then a rustling sound made his scalp tingle, and the muscles in his arms, which had just relaxed, tensed once more!

The scrape of four paws against sand and dirt, along with a wild wolf's panting, stood out clearly in the night. Gu Sheng cautiously peered through the crack in the door.

He saw a robust wild wolf twitch its nose before leaping over the fence outside the house in a single bound.

A wild wolf had set its sights on this place!