Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH43

Chapter 43: The Wolf Detention Center

The kiss ended.

Both of them felt a little awkward.

Ying Kongtu went into the room, took out a dry set of clothes, and stuffed it into Wen Zhongshan’s arms, telling him to go change.

He himself ran into the bathroom, shut the door with a bang, and went to shower.

Hearing the commotion, Dart and Jingwei curiously poked their heads out to look.

There was not a single person in the living room. Only a few damp marks remained, still not dry.

Of the two masters, one had gone into the bathroom and the other had returned to the guest room. Both doors were tightly shut, and nothing inside could be seen at all.

“Meow.” After looking around curiously for a while, Dart called out, twisted its rear, and walked back to its nest with catlike steps. It lay down, filling the cat bed completely.

Jingwei also walked over, leaned against it, and slept curled into a little wolf doughnut.

Patrolling the mountain had truly been exhausting. They were tired and cold, their strength completely drained.

After the two showered, they did nothing more. They said good night and each returned to their room to sleep.

The air conditioner was on in the room, making it warm and cozy.

Ying Kongtu had washed his hair. It was very fluffy and carried the fragrance he liked.

Lying under the covers, the corners of his mouth could not help curving into a smile.

The house was still the same house. There was one more person in the guest room, but because the soundproofing and insulation were both very good, he actually could not really sense Wen Zhongshan’s presence.

Even so, Ying Kongtu still felt a different sort of warmth.

A lover.

Ying Kongtu thought: so having someone he liked in the house was more satisfying than any furniture, decorations, or everything else combined.

Ying Kongtu had a very good routine. Even though he was catching up on sleep, he did not sleep for too long and got up after ten in the morning.

Wen Zhongshan had also gotten up.

The two walked out of their rooms and looked at each other. There was novelty in both their eyes, along with a little embarrassment.

Ying Kongtu said, “Ahem. How did you sleep?”

“Very soundly.”

“Are you hungry? Should we make lunch?”

Wen Zhongshan shook his head. “Let’s wait a bit. It’s still too early.”

Ying Kongtu then said, “How about we pack up the jar of wine for your friend and send it out?”

Wen Zhongshan said, “I’ll help you.”

The one thing Ying Kongtu’s house lacked least was all kinds of wood.

He found a pile of hardwood left over from making bird nests, simply pieced together a frame, then placed the wine jar inside and fixed it firmly in place.

The jar of wine they were sending to Wen Zhongshan’s friend had not been opened. There was still thick mud on it, and it looked extremely sturdy.

Ying Kongtu secured the wine jar in the wooden frame and stuffed pine needles around it.

These were pine needles he had collected for kindling.

There were plenty of pine needles at home. He stuffed a large amount into the wooden frame, protecting the wine jar tightly.

“There should be no problem now.” Wen Zhongshan reached out and tugged at the sturdy frame. “Even if it were thrown down from upstairs, it wouldn’t break.”

“That still sounds a bit risky. Let’s find a reliable courier.” Ying Kongtu cleaned up the leftover wood and pine needles, stuffed them back where they belonged, and went to wash his hands.

When he came out again, Wen Zhongshan was still sitting in front of the packaged wine jar and had not moved.

“Hm?” Ying Kongtu looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Can I say this jar of wine was given by my lover?” Wen Zhongshan looked up and asked.

Ying Kongtu smiled, walked over, lowered his head, and reached out to lift Wen Zhongshan’s chin. “Of course. Just say your boyfriend gave it to you. When we have time, we’ll invite him to eat together.”

They chose the most expensive local courier and placed an order online. The courier soon came to the door and took away the wine they had packed.

After lunch, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan planned to go up the mountain and check the situation.

They put on their carrying baskets, loaded them with food for the pigs, medicine tablets, machetes, and other tools, then headed out.

It had rained heavily last night, but today the rain had stopped.

The temperature, however, was even lower than last night. There was water accumulated on the road, and many places had frozen into ice. It looked rather dangerous.

The weather was too cold, so few people were out.

The ice-clearing vehicles sent by the municipal department were working diligently, scattering deicer on the road.

Seeing ice everywhere, Ying Kongtu could not help taking out his phone to ask Pei Lejiu: Old Pei, there wasn’t a landslide last night, right? Has that household at the foot of Xuyan Mountain gone back yet?

Pei Lejiu replied very quickly: Don’t even mention it. Half an hour after they were evacuated, Xuyan Mountain really did have a landslide.

The mud that slid down is still piled behind their house. They’ve gone to stay with relatives now and don’t dare go home. The county is sending people to assess how safe their house is. It may need inspection and reinforcement.

We were just saying that it’s lucky you notified us in time. No one was injured, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable. Thank you. You really helped a lot.

Ying Kongtu replied: It’s fine. As long as everyone is safe. If there’s anything we can help with later, just tell us.

Pei Lejiu: There really may be times when we need to trouble you. Thank you for your hard work.

Ying Kongtu: It’s all right. Don’t be polite.

Both of them were busy. After chatting briefly, Ying Kongtu put his phone back into his pocket.

Ying Kongtu wrapped his scarf tighter and said to Wen Zhongshan behind him, “It’s a bit slippery. Be careful when you walk.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “It’s all right. Compared to last night, today’s road is already easy to walk on.”

Thinking of how they had gone up the mountain in the pitch-dark rainy night, slipping, stumbling, and getting splattered with mud, the two looked at each other and smiled.

They went up Wuchuan Mountain first.

Ying Kongtu was still worried about the pigs.

The rain last night had been too heavy. Even today, muddy water was still flowing down along the mountain path.

In just one night, quite a bit of silt and small stones had accumulated along the roadside.

When the weather cleared, they would have to find time to clear away the silt.

They walked upward. Before they reached the pig shed, they could already see from far away the two large trees blocking the outside of the shed.

The leaves were still green, sealing the pig shed’s entrance tightly.

“Awooo.” Hearing movement, Xian Niao called out.

“We’re here.” Ying Kongtu quickly answered, then reached out to drag away the tree outside the pig shed. “Thank you for your hard work. Where’s Tiaozhu?”

“Meow-aow.”

Once the tree was dragged away, warm air with a faint pig smell drifted out from inside the shed.

Ying Kongtu quickly put down his basket and reached out to rub Xian Niao’s big head. “You worked hard. You really worked hard.”

After rubbing Xian Niao, Ying Kongtu went to rub Tiaozhu.

Tiaozhu was not very willing. Its thick, long, furry tail smacked his arm once.

Ying Kongtu quickly let the two little mountain gods return to the shrine to rest, then fed the pigs and administered medicine to prevent illness.

Wen Zhongshan cleaned the pig shed.

The weather today was not very good, but the two still seized the time to cut trees, reinforce the pig shed, and install a new door.

The pig shed was not in great condition, and neither were the roads on the mountain. What surprised Ying Kongtu was that the isatis was growing very well.

In such cold weather, a thin, translucent layer of ice had formed on the surface of the isatis leaves. The whole plants were wet.

Yet there was not the slightest sign of wilting. All the leaves stood straight, looking plump and glossy.

The isatis on Bibai Mountain was growing the best.

Not only was it growing well, its roots had also firmly anchored the soil, preventing the rainwater from washing it away.

Planting this batch of isatis could be called the most correct decision Ying Kongtu had made in recent months. Otherwise, no one knew what Bibai Mountain might have been eroded into by now.

The rain had stopped, but the weather was still very cold.

On December 23, Changchuan County even had a moderate snowfall.

Overnight, the mountains and the land below turned silver-white.

Many icicles had appeared on the trees as well, crystal clear and beautiful, but rather dangerous. If the north wind blew them down, or if they fell under their own weight, they could easily hit someone.

After the snow, many animal tracks also became visible.

Ying Kongtu saw many animal footprints on the mountain: all kinds of mice, all kinds of birds, all kinds of beasts…

He had not realized there were actually so many animals in the mountains.

After the mountains were covered in snow, it was impossible for Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan alone to keep up with patrolling.

Xian Niao and Tiaozhu led the team on patrol again.

During patrol, Xian Niao also taught Jingwei how to hunt.

Dart was more like a tagalong. It only came along because everyone else had gone out and it wanted to go too.

The mountain was quite peaceful.

Ying Kongtu only treated mountain patrol as part of his daily work and did not think anything would happen.

That night, Ying Kongtu went to bed early. Leaning against the headboard, he chatted with Wen Zhongshan for a while, then turned off his phone and lay down under the covers, preparing to sleep.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard an angry wolf howl coming from far away.

He recognized it immediately. It was Xian Niao’s voice.

He abruptly sat up and listened carefully.

Aside from that wolf howl, there were no other sounds.

After listening for a long while, there was still no other movement in the winter night.

That sound just now seemed almost like an illusion.

Ying Kongtu could not lie back down. He threw off the covers, sat up, took out his phone, told Wen Zhongshan, then shut Jingwei safely inside, rode his motorcycle, and went out to look for Xian Niao.

Xian Niao and the others usually slept in shrines at night. Ying Kongtu was not very sure which shrine they were in specifically.

He used the shrine at home to sense for a moment, trying to find Xian Niao’s location.

Xian Niao was not in a shrine. Tiaozhu, however, was obediently asleep inside the shrine on Tiaozhu Mountain.

Following the faint sense in his heart, Ying Kongtu rode toward the place where Xian Niao might be.

He followed the road and rode all the way toward the deep mountains.

As he rode, he realized this road led to Jingwei Mountain.

Jingwei had been picked up by Tiaozhu on Jingwei Mountain.

Later, Ying Kongtu had gone over to look. Deeper in the mountains beyond Jingwei Mountain, there was a wolf pack.

Could Xian Niao have gone to look for the wolf pack?

Ying Kongtu was not certain.

A wolf pack would certainly have a wolf king. As the wolf king of a certain pack in history, Xian Niao would not casually interfere with the lives of other wolf packs. Now that it was a little mountain god, it had no interest in becoming a new wolf king either.

Unless something had happened.

At this thought, Ying Kongtu rode even faster.

Gradually, he heard faint howling, but it was not Xian Niao’s voice. It was the voices of other wolves.

Ying Kongtu knew this place. There was a small mountain village nearby, and a few households still lived there, all elderly people left behind.

Surely wolves had not come down the mountain?

Ying Kongtu’s heart sank.

Heavy snow had sealed the mountain, and the environment in the mountains had become harsh. It was possible for the wolf pack to come down.

It was just that such a thing had not happened in so long that he had nearly forgotten it.

Ying Kongtu stood at the foot of the mountain and listened carefully for a long while, but still could not find Xian Niao’s trace.

“Awooo—” Ying Kongtu opened his mouth and imitated a wolf howl.

The wolf howl, carrying divine power, spread into the distance. It was calling Xian Niao, and also calling the other wolves in this mountain wilderness.

He needed to figure out whether a wolf pack really had come down to harass humans.

“Awooo—”

Wolf howls came from all directions, echoing among the mountains.

Ying Kongtu listened carefully and discovered that none of them came from within the village.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

If a wolf pack had come down to attack people, it would have to be dealt with.

After carefully distinguishing the sounds, Ying Kongtu soon picked out Xian Niao’s voice among the many wolf howls.

It really was in the mountains, up ahead, above the small mountain village.

From the same mountain came two other wolf howls.

There should be two other wolves staying with Xian Niao.

From their howls, Ying Kongtu could clearly sense that these two wolves were relatively weak and thin. They might be low-ranking wolves in a pack, or wandering male wolves.

Ying Kongtu howled again, responding to Xian Niao, then headed in Xian Niao’s direction.

The place where Xian Niao was located was behind the small mountain village.

The small mountain village had a road, so he could ride his motorcycle a little farther.

When Ying Kongtu rode over, he soon smelled blood in the air.

The smell of blood was extremely conspicuous. As long as there was even a trace of it in the air, humans or animals could easily catch it.

Ying Kongtu had originally thought it was nothing serious. Now that the scent of blood had appeared, something must have happened.

Perhaps because they heard the sound of the motorcycle, several households in the village turned on their lights.

Before Ying Kongtu even reached them, he heard an old woman curse in shock. “Those damned things! My chickens!”

Ying Kongtu went over to look and saw a short old woman opening the door of her chicken coop, bending over to inspect it, cursing as she looked.

Her back was hunched, and her gray-white hair was swept into the air by the north wind.

As she cursed, she wiped tears with the palm of her hand.

The smell of blood was coming from her side.

With his extraordinary eyesight, Ying Kongtu could see that behind her, in the little house where chickens were kept, dead chickens lay all over the ground.

Fresh red blood flowed out of the chicken pen, staining the snow outside.

There were also specks of blood on the snow.

Aside from that, there were several lines of wolf paw prints and a faint wolf scent.

Ying Kongtu understood as soon as he saw it.

It was cold. The two wolves had failed to find enough food on the mountain, so they had come down and raided someone’s chickens.

To prevent the chickens from crying out and waking the owner, the two cunning wolves had even bitten all the chickens to death.

“How many chickens died?” Ying Kongtu stepped forward and asked in the local dialect.

The old woman was startled. She turned around, saw that he was a person, and wiped her tears again. “Seventeen. I raised them for New Year. They bit them all to death.”

As they spoke here, the other villagers heard the movement and all got up to come look.

Seeing familiar people, the old woman became even more emotional, wiping her tears as she said that wolves from the mountain had somehow come down and bitten all her chickens to death.

A few days ago, someone had wanted to buy her chickens, but she had been reluctant to sell. Now, she had nothing left.

A neighbor suggested that since these chickens had been bitten to death, not died of illness, if she slaughtered them now and made preserved chicken, they could still be eaten.

Ying Kongtu listened as they discussed one after another, all offering unreliable ideas, then said, “These chickens were bitten to death by wolves. They can’t be eaten, but you can ask the subdistrict office for compensation.”

The old woman was confused. “Why would they compensate me? They aren’t their wolves.”

Ying Kongtu said, “They can compensate you. After daybreak, ask them to come over and take a look. Submit an application. It should be fine.”

The old woman said, “This… I can’t read. Young man, you know how to handle it. Can you help me take a look?”

Ying Kongtu looked around. “I’ll take some photos first.”

At this, all the neighbors gathered around.

They had lived here for many years. Usually, their chickens had often been stolen by weasels, and their crops ruined by wild boars. This was the first time they learned that they could seek compensation from the subdistrict office for something like this.

Ying Kongtu had spent the past half year thoroughly reading relevant laws, regulations, and management rules. He might be one of the people in the entire county who understood these matters best.

He searched online for the phone number of the subdistrict office and gave it to the old woman. He told her roughly what to say when the subdistrict office personnel came to investigate and told her to keep the dead chickens as evidence.

After thinking for a moment, Ying Kongtu simply left his phone number with the old woman and told her to call him directly if she had any difficulty.

After hurriedly dealing with the old woman’s matter, Ying Kongtu continued up the mountain.

Xian Niao must have realized he had come and was using wolf howls to guide him.

Ying Kongtu responded with wolf howls.

“Awooo—”

When he reached halfway up the mountain, Ying Kongtu discovered that Xian Niao’s call was coming from an abandoned adobe house.

Ying Kongtu knew this adobe house.

There used to be an orchard here. In summer and autumn, when the fruit ripened, the owner would temporarily live here to watch over the fruit.

Now the orchard had long been abandoned, and the adobe house had also been deserted, becoming shabby and dilapidated.

Ying Kongtu held up his flashlight. “Xian Niao? What are you doing here?”

As soon as he entered, Ying Kongtu realized something was wrong.

Inside the adobe house, aside from Xian Niao, there were two other wolves.

Ying Kongtu smelled a faint scent of blood again.

“The wolves that stole the chickens?” Ying Kongtu shone the flashlight over.

The two wolves, with blood still hanging from the corners of their mouths, lowered their heads dejectedly and squeezed into a corner, tails tucked, not daring to make a sound.

Xian Niao stood on the other side, staring at the two wolves. It looked somewhat fierce.

“You caught them?” Ying Kongtu stood beside Xian Niao, looked at the two wolves, then looked at Xian Niao. “You came out just to catch them?”

“Awooo.” Xian Niao’s reply meant yes.

While Ying Kongtu was talking to Xian Niao, the two wolves stealthily tried to move toward the outside.

“Aw!” Xian Niao bared its teeth and barked at them.

The sound was so fierce that even Ying Kongtu was startled, let alone the two wolves.

The two wolves immediately stopped, tucked their tails, and squeezed deeper into the room. “Woo.”

It seemed that after Xian Niao caught them, it had specifically trapped them here and was preparing to deal with them.

Ying Kongtu had come over and happened to interrupt its process.

After realizing this, the corner of Ying Kongtu’s mouth twitched.

So this little house was the detention center Xian Niao had carefully prepared.

No, a wolf detention center.

Ying Kongtu looked at the two wolves, then at Xian Niao. “I won’t disturb you then. I’ll wait outside.”

Wolf matters should still be left for the wolf king to handle.

Ying Kongtu took a deep breath and thought: thankfully, Tiaozhu and Xian Niao had come down. The mountain forest really had become more orderly.

Otherwise, the one chasing the wolf “culprits” in the middle of the night would have been him.

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