Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Wolves Present

I just got snubbed a moment ago, and now a few words from my granddaughter have turned things around again.

Qi Zheng stood to the side, looking utterly disheartened.

Well, he should have long known his position in this family.

Just a notch better than those sons and grandsons.

That’s all there is to it.

Since they had to take it to other families, it wouldn’t look good if the amount was too little, so Yi Meng decided to roast only six wild chickens, and the rest would be chopped up for soup.

Some would be given to others, and the remaining would be for the family to eat.

Just eating wild chicken wouldn’t do; without soup or water, it wouldn’t go well with rice.

When the families who had previously offered to help in the forest received the stewed chicken from the Qi Family, they all quickly waved their hands in refusal.

“Why are you being so polite? We live in the same village, helping each other in times of need is the most normal thing, right? Quickly take the chicken back! You have a large family, and they’re all young men who can eat a lot, so they need to eat more to have the strength for the journey ahead.”

The responses from each household were basically the same.

But the youngsters from the Qi Family who delivered the stewed chicken didn’t care about that, placing the bowls down and running off, not forgetting to remind, “After eating, don’t forget to return the bowl to my family!”

Seeing the Qi Family youngsters run off, these families were left feeling both amused and helpless.

Not far away, the village chief’s family observed these scenes with a twinge of discomfort.

Several families had received bowls, yet there was no thought of giving them one.

Duan Cuihua rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but sarcastically say, “The Qi Family is really something, catching so many wild chickens, sending them to several families, but not even a bowl for Dad, the chief. It’s clear they don’t regard Dad as the chief here!”

Ji Hu, sitting diagonally opposite, immediately frowned: “Sister-in-law, what are you talking about? The Qi Family gave chicken to the families who offered to help in the forest just now.”

“Our family didn’t contribute people or effort, so why would the Qi Family give us chicken?”

Are we envious?

Yes!

But Ji Hu wasn’t someone with a shallow mindset.

He knew the Qi Family had a particularly spiritual little white snake. Otherwise, their village wouldn’t have found this stream.

He simply couldn’t say, nor would he.

But deep in his heart, Ji Hu now held immense respect for the Qi Family, which is why he particularly disliked his sister-in-law’s earlier remarks.

Meanwhile, the village chief, already feeling complicated, felt even worse upon hearing his eldest daughter-in-law’s words.

But his youngest son’s words lifted the village chief’s mood a little.

Clearing his throat, before the eldest daughter-in-law could counter the youngest son, the village chief said, “Hu Zi is right. We didn’t contribute any people or effort. Even if they did bring chicken over, I’d have no face to eat it.”

“Alright, everyone better rest up!”

The village chief said this and was the first to return to his resting place to lie down.

Sigh, what he said in that village at the foot of the mountain wasn’t really sincere.

It was just how the situation was at the time: if the villagers were truly at the end of their rope, as the village chief, he’d certainly be disgraced, not even able to face the village ancestors underground in the future.

So, he wanted to pass the burden to others.

Passing it to his sons would be the same as shouldering it himself. By chance, the Qi Family’s fourth son was right there, so he naturally made such a statement.

Now that they had somewhat stabilized, the village chief felt unsettled again.

Given the Qi Family’s capabilities, their influence in the group would likely grow stronger over time. As for his position as village chief…

Can he really pass it on to his son?

That night, the village chief pondered a lot.

By the campfire, Yin Cheng drank chicken soup while listening to the Qi Family’s conversations.

The topics weren’t anything more than their experiences after entering the forest earlier.

First, Qi Dalang and Qi Erlang chased three or four wild chickens.

They were about to catch one when Qi Quanjin and the rest arrived.

Qi Dalang and Qi Erlang let go, and the wild chicken they were about to catch flew away.

Just when it seemed they wouldn’t catch it, a wild chicken unexpectedly fell from mid-air, landing straight on Qi Erlang’s back.

Qi Erlang was startled and jumped back in a few bounds.

The stunned wild chicken lay on the ground, and Qi Dalang picked it up, breaking its neck immediately.

When Qi Quanjin and the others arrived, they were about to scold them, but then they heard Qi Erlang exclaim.

They hurried over.

What they saw left them stunned.

Qi Erlang had discovered a shallow pit, only about half a meter deep.

And inside this half-meter-deep pit lay about twenty wild chickens.

Chickens are typically blind at night and won’t move once it’s dark.

So the group easily gathered these twenty or so wild chickens, and the one that had fled earlier had crashed into a tree in its panic, knocking itself out.

They broke the necks of each wild chicken, tied them with wild grass and vines, and by then, the forest had become completely dark.

Qi Quanjin, worried about staying too long, led everyone back the way they came in.

Thanks to Qi Quanjin’s hunting experience, he had a sense of direction, managing to lead everyone, and the twenty wild chickens, out of the forest without any incident.

The Qi Family listened, their hearts going up and down in tension.

Meanwhile, besides them, Yin Cheng’s brows twitched as he listened.

Wild chickens aren’t like domestic chickens; they don’t rest in flocks in one place.

Saying the Qi Family boys were lucky might fool others.

Yin Cheng, having lived many years, had seen and heard a lot.

He felt there was something strange about today’s events.

But to pinpoint exactly what felt strange, he couldn’t. So he simply stopped thinking about it.

He soaked hard biscuits in the chicken soup until they were soft, easy on the teeth.

Along with the fragrant chicken soup and the not-yet-overcooked chicken meat, Yin Cheng felt satisfied, wandered around a bit, and then returned to his resting place to sleep.

His hands, face, and feet were already taken care of by his disciples; with food in his belly, his whole body was warm.

That night, not just Yin Cheng, but the Qi Family slept particularly well.

Qi Quanjin woke up in the middle of the night.

The village men had divided into three shifts, specifically responsible for night watch.

Qi Quanjin was on duty for the second half of the night.

By the river, he washed his face, the icy river water waking him up completely.

After wiping the water from his face, he was about to head to the edge of the forest when Qi Quanjin noticed the glowing green dots flickering in the woods.

“Wolves!”

A shout woke many villagers.

Now, hearing the word “wolf” made everyone shiver.

They’d previously used the black bear’s droppings as a weapon, but now the black bear had been digested into droppings themselves. How were they to deal with a pack of wolves?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep