Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH47

Chapter 47: Tufted Deer

While Ying Kongtu and the others were managing the fruit trees on the mountain, whenever they looked up, they could occasionally see the two wild wolves that had bitten Granny Ye’s chickens last time hunting obediently on the mountain.

Their movements could not exactly be called agile, but they were wolves after all. Catching mountain rats, hunting wild birds, and the like were all within their abilities.

No one knew what Xian Niao had said to them, but occasionally they would even bring plant roots and stems and leave them beside the pig shed.

It was probably compensation for Ying Kongtu’s loss.

That time, Ying Kongtu had gone up the mountain to dig up wild ginseng for Granny Ye, so it could be considered that he had also paid a price.

“Awooo—”

From far away came the sound of a wolf howl.

Ying Kongtu looked up from his work and saw Jingwei following behind the two wolves.

Jingwei had probably been born in mid-September, and now it was already mid-January.

It was four months old, had become a half-grown little wolf, and weighed over thirty jin. It could already go up the mountain to catch mountain rats and wild rabbits.

At first, Ying Kongtu had asked Xian Niao to bring Jingwei out hunting.

As the wolf king, Xian Niao’s hunting skills went without saying. They were superb.

Forget mountain rats and wild rabbits—even wild boars and wild deer were easy prey for Xian Niao.

When Jingwei followed Xian Niao to learn hunting skills, it looked extremely clumsy most of the time and simply could not learn.

Its clear, round eyes, however, kept looking at Xian Niao the entire time, filled with trust and worship. It looked both foolish and adorably silly.

Wolf King Xian Niao was used to being king and truly did not have much patience for raising children.

After a few times, Xian Niao howled several times at the two wild wolves that had made mistakes, shoved Jingwei to them, and made the two wild wolves teach it. If they did not teach it properly, it would beat them up.

With that, Xian Niao was finally liberated.

Jingwei became much more lively when it followed the two wild wolves.

The two wild wolves were not particularly impressive, but they were proper wild wolves that could feed themselves.

Jingwei followed them, and together they just happened to form a three-wolf group of foolish wolves. Every day, they chased, surrounded, and intercepted prey in the mountains.

Because the two senior wild wolves were not that formidable, Jingwei could finally be of use and officially began hunting.

“Awooo!” Noticing Ying Kongtu looking that way, Jingwei happily stood at the edge of the mountain and called toward Ying Kongtu.

The next second, one of the senior wild wolves rushed over and directly opened its mouth to bite half of Jingwei’s head. “Aow.”

Jingwei had been taught a lesson and no longer dared to howl. It hurriedly tucked its tail and followed behind the two senior wolves.

Today, they were going to catch wild rabbits.

Ying Kongtu watched for a long while, seeing them off with his eyes as they left. A smile could not help appearing on his face.

“Is Jingwei over there?” Wen Zhongshan walked over and also looked across.

“It’s hunting with the two wolves.”

Ying Kongtu was just about to point them out to Wen Zhongshan when, across the way, Jingwei’s foot slipped, and it fell on the mountain. Its chin hit the ground, and it rolled twice.

Ying Kongtu: “…”

Wen Zhongshan also saw it. “We should ask Xian Niao to give it special training.”

“Xian Niao doesn’t like taking care of little wolves.” Ying Kongtu lowered his voice and said to Wen Zhongshan, “It’s only willing to bring it out a few times. If we let it keep teaching Jingwei, I’m afraid it’ll secretly take Jingwei into the mountains and throw it away.”

“It can do that?”

“Wolves don’t raise pups as carefully as humans raise children. Once it’s about enough, Xian Niao won’t care anymore.”

“Then let’s leave it to those two wolves,” Wen Zhongshan changed his mind. “At least they won’t dare lose patience.”

Ying Kongtu nodded in deep agreement.

Xian Niao did not have much patience, but it did not let everyone see it.

Sometimes when it patrolled the mountain, it would bring gifts back. Sometimes they were wild fruits, sometimes fungi.

Occasionally, it would also bring prey back.

Ying Kongtu told it that humans nowadays could not eat wild animals, so it would call Tiaozhu out and finish off the prey outside.

Jingwei followed the two wild wolves out hunting, and its wild nature was gradually released. It became much livelier than before.

It also stopped coming home on time.

Sometimes it came back very late, and sometimes it simply did not return for the entire night, only coming back the next morning.

Ying Kongtu planned to release Jingwei back into the wild, so he did not impose a strict curfew on it.

That day, Jingwei also did not return all night.

In the morning, Ying Kongtu was making breakfast in the kitchen when he heard Jingwei whining outside the courtyard.

“What’s wrong?” Ying Kongtu heard it “woo-woo” outside for a long time and poked his head out to ask.

Jingwei still went, “Woo-woo.”

Ying Kongtu quickly stir-fried the vegetables in the wok a few times, scooped them out, then poured a ladle of water into the wok to prevent it from burning dry. Only then did he wipe his hands and go out to open the door.

“Isn’t there a door hole? Have you gotten fat these past few days and can’t get in anymore?”

Ying Kongtu had specially left a wolf door on the courtyard gate.

Tiaozhu, Dart, and Jingwei could all come in through this hole.

However, Jingwei was growing bigger and bigger, and its wolf fur was also thick. It was indeed possible that it could no longer squeeze in easily.

With a creak, Ying Kongtu pulled open the courtyard gate. He was just about to speak to Jingwei when he looked down and saw Jingwei standing on the ground, biting the throat of a wild animal. It stood with its head high and chest out, eyes shining brightly.

Meeting Ying Kongtu’s gaze, Jingwei stood even straighter and proudly went, “Woo-woo!”

No wonder it was whining!

It was holding prey in its mouth and could not open its mouth properly!

“Heavens above, what did you bring back?”

Ying Kongtu bent down to look and only then realized it was a tufted deer.

This tufted deer was probably about fifty centimeters tall at the shoulder and one meter long. It looked roughly the same size as Jingwei, and its weight should also be similar, around thirty to forty jin.

Its whole body was yellowish-brown, and the inside of its short tail had little white fluff. It looked pitiful and cute.

Male tufted deer had a pair of fang-like upper canines that protruded outside the mouth.

This tufted deer did not.

It was a female tufted deer.

“Where did you catch a tufted deer? Aren’t there no tufted deer in the nearby mountains anymore?”

Ying Kongtu was amazed and wanted to examine the tufted deer Jingwei was holding.

The tufted deer’s thin little legs suddenly struggled. “Aow!”

That cry even carried a small trembling note and was extremely sharp.

Jingwei immediately pressed its ears back fiercely and bit the tufted deer’s throat tighter.

Ying Kongtu quickly rescued the tufted deer from Jingwei’s mouth.

The tufted deer was shocked and frightened. By instinct, it shrank into the mountain god’s arms and trembled.

Jingwei licked its mouth, held its head high and chest out, and waited for Ying Kongtu’s praise.

Ying Kongtu freed one hand and rubbed its neck. “Amazing, Jingwei. You’re so young, and you can already catch a tufted deer?”

Jingwei: “Awooo—”

“Really impressive. Ordinary little wolves your age can’t catch tufted deer.”

“Aow!”

“Don’t tell me you caught it all by yourself? There are only your bite marks on the tufted deer.”

“Aow, aow!”

Ying Kongtu carried the tufted deer with one hand and led Jingwei into the house, praising it with every step.

Jingwei’s tail tilted up slightly, its eyes stared straight ahead, and it walked with great steadiness.

Ying Kongtu could tell at a glance that it was imitating Xian Niao’s walking posture.

And honestly, it did look a little similar.

Ying Kongtu closed the courtyard gate again, placed the tufted deer in a cage, locked it first, then fetched medicine to treat its wounds.

The tufted deer had originally been trembling. After eating some vegetables Ying Kongtu personally fed it, it curled up in a corner of the cage and temporarily settled down.

Ying Kongtu called the forestry department, then specially asked Wen Zhongshan to bring Dart over. They were going to celebrate Jingwei successfully catching a medium-sized prey animal.

Very soon, Tiaozhu and Xian Niao, who had been sleeping in the mountain shrine, also came down.

After Tiaozhu understood what had happened, it went over and licked Jingwei’s fur.

Jingwei obediently lay down and let it lick.

After Wolf King Xian Niao came down and learned that Jingwei had captured a tufted deer, it also took the initiative to approach Jingwei and lick its muzzle.

Wen Zhongshan specifically brought Dart to the courtyard and played with it for a long while.

Ying Kongtu called and ordered several kinds of meat, making a meat platter for the furry creatures as a celebration of Jingwei being able to hunt properly and gaining the ability to survive independently.

All morning, Jingwei was praised by humans and furry creatures in turn. It was extremely happy.

All morning, it held its head high, chest out, and stared straight ahead, looking rather mighty and majestic.

Aside from its body still being slightly slim and thin, and its height not quite enough, there was not much difference between it and an adult wolf. At first glance, it looked quite imposing.

When the people from the Forestry Bureau came to collect the tufted deer and saw Jingwei, they quickly reacted. “This is the wolf your family is temporarily raising, right?”

Ying Kongtu said, “Yes.”

“It’s already grown this big? It looks so spirited. Really handsome.”

Ying Kongtu reached out and stroked the wolf’s head. “It is quite good.”

“Is it almost time to release it back into the wild?”

“Not yet. We’ll raise it a while longer and wait until it grows a little bigger.”

“Hey, did it understand? It seems to be glaring at me!”

Ying Kongtu smiled and stroked the wolf’s head again. “Our Jingwei is very intelligent.”

Ying Kongtu handed the tufted deer, cage and all, over to the Forestry Bureau staff.

The Forestry Bureau staff said they would send the cage back later.

Ying Kongtu said, “The tufted deer is a little injured. Take a look when you get back.”

“All right. These days, tufted deer really are rare. We couldn’t find much information on tufted deer before. Now this is perfect—we can gather some data.”

“I haven’t seen many on the mountain either. I wonder where Jingwei caught it?”

“In any case, it should be from one of the nearby mountains. We’ll isolate it, treat it, and quarantine it first. Once it recovers, we’ll release it back. Don’t worry.”

The Forestry Bureau staff soon left.

Ying Kongtu closed the courtyard gate and came back, only to find Jingwei lying in the courtyard, looking somewhat dejected.

Wen Zhongshan was stroking its ears and playing with it.

Ying Kongtu was a little surprised. “What’s wrong?”

Wen Zhongshan said, “It probably heard our conversation and isn’t very happy.”

Jingwei had grown up with humans since it was young, so it could more or less understand a little human language.

It had heard the Forestry Bureau staff talk about releasing it back into the wild, and it had also seen the staff take away the prey it had worked so hard to drag home.

“Ying.” Jingwei lay on the ground, head resting on its paws, making thin “ying-ying” sounds through its nose. The tone was long, thin, and drawn out, sounding especially aggrieved.

Ying Kongtu reached out and stroked the fur on its back. “Don’t overthink it. You’re still young. How could we send you back that quickly?”

Jingwei turned its head and rested its muzzle on Ying Kongtu’s wrist. “Ying—”

Ying Kongtu used his free left hand to rub its big head. “Even if you have to live independently in the future, it’ll still be in the nearby mountains. We go up the mountain every day. It won’t be that different from now.”

Jingwei: “Ying.”

Wen Zhongshan reached out and stroked the bridge of its nose. “Is it because you saw the staff take away the tufted deer, so you feel uncomfortable?”

Jingwei shifted its head and began resting it on Wen Zhongshan’s wrist instead. “Ying.”

Ying Kongtu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “That’s a nationally protected Class II animal. We can’t eat it.”

Jingwei: “Ying.”

Ying Kongtu said, “Good boy. Only you wolves can eat it. If we eat it, we’ll be punished.”

Jingwei: “Ying.”

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan crouched down and patiently spoke to it.

Jingwei kept making those soft “ying-ying” sounds.

Probably because the two of them were willing to coax it, Jingwei kept acting spoiled.

The two of them coaxed it for half the morning before they finally managed to comfort it.

Not long after the Forestry Bureau staff had left, Xian Niao, who had been hiding inside the house, could not bear to listen anymore and went straight out to patrol the mountain.

Tiaozhu, however, lay in its old spot on top of the courtyard wall, watching the two humans patiently coax a wolf.

After finally coaxing Jingwei to sleep, the two of them exchanged a glance, both sighing with emotion in their eyes.

It really was not easy.

Their mouths dry from talking, the two went inside to drink water.

After Ying Kongtu finished one cup, he poured himself a second.

“Coaxing children is really hard,” Ying Kongtu said.

A nasal sound leaked from Wen Zhongshan, showing his agreement.

The two looked at each other and could not help laughing.

Ying Kongtu put down his cup, reached out to wrap an arm around Wen Zhongshan’s shoulders, and kissed him. “Good thing we only have each other.”

Wen Zhongshan lightly held Ying Kongtu’s waist. “Mm.”

After one kiss ended, Wen Zhongshan kept his arm around Ying Kongtu’s waist and did not let him leave. He began a second kiss.

This kiss was gentle and lingering, like spring sunlight, warm, soft, and comfortable.

The two of them did not end it for a long time.

Tiaozhu lay on top of the courtyard wall, resting its head on its paws as it looked inside.

Those two were kissing again.

Recently, these two people always kissed from time to time, and every kiss lasted a long while.

Tiaozhu thumped its tail against the wall and simply closed its eyes.

It would sleep for a bit.

By the time it woke up again, these two people should be done kissing. Meow-ao.

Author’s Note:

Tiaozhu, who often sleeps on top of the courtyard wall and looks down over the entire household:

Toward Dart—Little Brother Number One, a fat orange cat who never has enough to eat.

Toward Jingwei—Little Brother Number Two, the silly wolf cub it personally brought back in its mouth.

Until Ying Kongtu scolded Jingwei, and the silly wolf lay dejectedly on the ground, half the whites of its eyes showing, its ears drooping.

Tiaozhu thumped its thick tail against the wall and looked at Ying Kongtu in dissatisfaction: Meow-ao!

You have to use encouraging education! [Angry]

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