Chapter 11. The Mountain God

"All right, let's continue with our work. Even if the buttons are gone, it doesn't matter. You don't have to be shy. I've already seen and touched everything I should have, haha!"

"Zhang Xiaofan! I didn't expect you to be such a rascal!"

Shu Wan'er's face turned red with shyness as she exclaimed coquettishly. She was just about to stomp her foot, but it seemed she remembered something and gently put down the raised foot.

"Haha! The old people in our village say that a woman who has reached a certain level of maturity can give birth to children. I'm thinking that if we have a child together in the future, our first child will surely be a boy."

Zhang Xiaofan looked at this goddess. Her hair was messy, there was even some yellow mud on her clothes, but she still looked stunningly beautiful. He couldn't help but tease her a few words.

"Pah! You're daydreaming. You're still just a brat yourself. Who would want to have a child for you!"

Zhang Xiaofan didn't say much more. He picked up a woodcutter's knife and directly climbed up an ancient pine tree. He cut off some of the withered tree trunks and then searched in the forest for the cut roots of the withered pine trees.

He found large pieces of withered pine trunks. They were brownish-red in color and stored a large amount of pine resin. They could be directly ignited with fire and would burn for a long time without being completely consumed, comparable to the rubber of a tire. The villagers liked to use this kind of thing for lighting.

"Xiaofan, Zhang Xiaofan... Look, there's a wolfdog above us. Is it a wolfdog or a wolf..."

Just then, Shu Wan'er behind him seemed so scared that her voice changed. She called out to Zhang Xiaofan in a low voice. Her face was pale, and she quickly moved her steps, hugging one of Zhang Xiaofan's arms in her bosom.

Zhang Xiaofan frowned, straightened up, and looked up at the forest above them. There was actually a wolf, looking down at the two of them from a higher position. The wolf's eyes were cold, and there was drool in its mouth, dripping onto the ground along its long tongue. It seemed to see the two of them as a delicious lunch.

In the Jiulong Mountains, this was a primeval forest. Not to mention wolves, there might even be tigers. Usually, the villagers would go up the mountain in groups. Otherwise, they wouldn't even know how they died.

Zhang Xiaofan felt the beauty beside him, whose body was trembling with fear. He couldn't help but comfort her:

"It's just a wolf. It's okay! You wait here for me."

As Zhang Xiaofan spoke, he suddenly took Shu Wan'er's hand away. With the woodcutter's knife in his other hand, he climbed up towards the place where the wild wolf was.

Shu Wan'er, a young woman from the city, saw a wild wolf with her own eyes for the first time. She had known the description of wolves from TV dramas and books before and naturally knew how fierce wolves were. Her voice was trembling:

"Xiaofan... Don't go. It's dangerous. How about we run away together?"

Zhang Xiaofan didn't care. He turned back and smiled: "Run? If we run, I'll definitely run faster than you. If you're eaten by the wolf, I'll be fine. But you're such a beautiful and outstanding woman, a rare beauty in the world. It would be a pity if you were eaten by the wolf."

"Zhang Xiaofan! You still have the mood to joke. You run away! If I'm eaten, then so be it. At least one of us can get away!"

Shu Wan'er wasn't angry at Zhang Xiaofan's words. Instead, she had a kind of self-sacrificing mentality.

In fact, she didn't know why. Maybe it was because after they had that kind of relationship just now and she gave her first kiss to Zhang Xiaofan, she had really fallen in love with him. She was extremely worried about Zhang Xiaofan's safety, more than her own. Could this be the so-called love? But this feeling was indeed very wonderful.

A woman like Shu Wan'er wouldn't easily take a fancy to a man in her life. She even kept people at a distance. An ordinary man simply couldn't enter her inner world. She was really like an iceberg beauty.

But often, once a woman like this has identified a man, she will love him even more desperately and almost wholeheartedly. Even now, she didn't care about her own life.

Of course, once a woman like this is hurt, she will be hurt for a lifetime, and it will be more painful than for any other woman.

Zhang Xiaofan was touched when he heard Shu Wan'er's words. This woman was a good woman. If he really got her, he wouldn't let her down in this life.

"Don't worry. As a man who stands upright, how could I be afraid of a wild wolf?

Shu Wan'er, listen to me! As long as I, Zhang Xiaofan, can still stand, even if the sky falls, I will stand tall and bear it for you. I won't let you be hurt in the slightest."

Zhang Xiaofan's words seemed thoughtless, but in fact, he was hinting that there was no need to be afraid of her family background, and he could handle it.

When Shu Wan'er heard these words, she stopped trembling and couldn't help but be moved to tears. She still worriedly reminded him:

"Then be careful. This is a legendary wolf. If you can't beat it, run away by yourself first and don't worry about me."

This woman still didn't have confidence in him. Zhang Xiaofan ignored her and continued walking forward with the woodcutter's knife.

The bluish-white wild wolf above saw Zhang Xiaofan climbing up recklessly. It immediately bared its teeth, let out a growl, and jumped up from the spot, actually flying above Zhang Xiaofan's head and pouncing down with its claws outstretched.

Zhang Xiaofan stood there, looking up. He was unhurried. Although it seemed slow, his move was as fast as lightning. He directly thrust the tip of the woodcutter's knife upwards.

The next moment, the wild wolf in mid-air let out a scream and fell heavily onto the piled-up leaves. It lay on the ground twitching continuously, its limbs flailing. Under its belly, a huge woodcutter's knife was inserted. Blood flowed down the woodcutter's knife onto the withered leaves, and the smell of blood spread, immediately attracting countless mosquitoes in the forest.

Shu Wan'er behind him let out a scream of fright just now. After seeing that Zhang Xiaofan was okay, she let out a sigh of relief:

"Xiaofan, it turned out to be a stupid wolf. It actually ran into your knife and killed itself. I was really scared just now."

Zhang Xiaofan stood there, the corners of his mouth twitching. What did she mean by a stupid wolf? It was because after he had cultivated, he had the instinct to anticipate the enemy's moves, and his move was too fast. The wild wolf simply didn't have time to react and was stabbed to death by him before it knew what was happening.

If it were an ordinary hunter in the same situation, they would definitely be torn to pieces. This male wolf was quite big, about the size of a pig.

The wild wolf twitched a few times on the ground at his feet. Due to excessive blood loss, it gradually stopped breathing.

"Silly woman. Stop talking. Let's go down the mountain quickly. Wolves are social animals. Since there was a scream just now, other wolves in the pack will come over soon."

"Ah! There are more wolves?" Shu Wan'er was startled again when she heard Zhang Xiaofan's words.

Zhang Xiaofan didn't bother to explain. He threw the wolf's body over his shoulder, grabbed Shu Wan'er's hand, and the two of them could only hurry, shuttling through the forest and running down the mountain.

When they reached the halfway down the mountain, they could hear the wolves howling on the mountain behind them. This scared Shu Wan'er so much that her hands were shaking and her teeth were chattering. The primeval forest was indeed extremely dangerous.

"We can't go forward anymore. It's okay for me, but I'm afraid you'll be in trouble. Let's take a detour and go south."

When they came to the source of a small stream, Zhang Xiaofan stopped suddenly while holding Shu Wan'er's hand. He said with some worry and turned towards another direction.

"Why? The trees and weeds by the river aren't that dense. It's obviously easier to walk there." Shu Wan'er asked in confusion.

"There are a lot of strange things in the countryside that you don't understand. That place is strange. Even the old hunters in our village have to take a detour when they pass by here. It's the so-called 'evil place' where the Mountain God is said to live. If you're unlucky, it will take away your soul."

"Ah!..."