Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Shutting Down Every Chance for Wishful Thinking

Before Qi Quanjin could respond, Qi Quanli eagerly said from the side, “Ran away, ran away! My fourth brother gave it… ow!”

Before Qi Quanli could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp pain in his behind and turned around to see his father lowering his leg.

“Dad, why did you kick me?”

Qi Quanli clutched the spot where he’d been kicked, looking resentfully at his father.

Qi Zheng glanced at him coldly before finally saying to Ji Hu, “The wolves seem to have left now, but there’s no guarantee they won’t return. Go back and tell the people in the village, if they can endure it, to stay up in the trees a little while longer.”

“Huh?”

Ji Hu was taken aback.

He had seen the wolves run off with his own eyes!

But, now Qi Ne Zheng is saying the wolves might come back?

Can they?

Ji Hu, though silent, had an expression on his face that clearly conveyed “They can’t possibly come back.”

Qi Zheng pretended not to see this: “Quickly go back and tell everyone! The few families that are here will continue to guard the area, so the wolf pack doesn’t catch us unprepared.”

Qi Zheng’s tone was indifferent, cold, causing Ji Hu to shiver, his pants legs already damp.

Qi Quanli seemed like he wanted to say more, but Qi Ercai tugged at his clothes to stop him.

Qi Quanjin stepped forward and said, “Brother Hu, you’d better hurry back and deliver the message! Otherwise, if everyone gets down from the trees and the wolves suddenly come back, we won’t be able to shield so many people.”

Upon hearing Qi Quanjin say this too, Ji Hu couldn’t muster up anything else and turned to run back the way he came.

When Ji Hu was far away, the Qi Family and the other few families exchanged glances and laughed softly.

“While things are calm, everyone should sit down and rest a bit! Niuzi, let’s organize the shifts, so not everyone is on watch.”

Qi Quanjin said to another tall and strong man.

The man called Niuzi was actually Wang Niu; in the village, people called him Niuzi.

Though tall and strong, he has intellectual issues. During his childhood, his family was poor, and when he got sick, they had no money for treatment, and his condition was delayed.

It is only the brain that suffered some injury, but he’s alive due to the Qi Family lending the Wang Family one or two silver for them to see a doctor.

As such, the Wang Family is very close to the Qi Family, and Wang Niu has been Qi Quanjin’s follower since childhood.

And has been for more than twenty years.

Niuzi immediately stood up, speaking roughly, “Alright! Brother Jin, it’s all up to you!”

Niuzi’s intelligence is imperfect, but he isn’t completely foolish, and people like him are particularly loyal and persistent.

Once you give him a task, he’ll see it through to the end, even at the cost of his life.

So Qi Quanjin trusts and relies on him greatly.

Seeing her husband arranging the shifts, Yi Meng didn’t idle either and invited everyone to sit by the fire and rest.

After the tense moments just now, everyone felt exhausted.

Mrs. Qi was already in a state of half-sleep, with Wang Daya and Qi Erlang attending to her.

Yi Meng held Qi Manman in her arms, but the little girl soon became restless, squirming to find her grandmother.

With no other choice, Yi Meng brought her daughter to her mother-in-law’s side.

The startled Mrs. Qi, seeing her precious granddaughter, felt joyful at first, then worried and refused, fearing she would pass on her illness.

But as soon as she refused, Qi Manman began to cry, “Grandma, Manbao wants grandma! Wah wah wah, grandma…”

The golden teardrops fell like a string of broken beads, wrenching Mrs. Qi’s heart until it was like minced dumpling filling.

“Come, come, grandma will hold you, grandma will hold you.”

Mrs. Qi couldn’t resist anymore and quickly embraced her granddaughter, carefully wrapping her in a blanket, then leaned against the stack and rested with her eyes closed by the fire.

With the child no longer in her arms, Yi Meng turned her attention elsewhere.

“Brother Jin, let’s have everyone gather their belongings together!”

Yi Meng sought out Qi Quanjin: “Since our few families are all close together, we can gather our things without passing other people’s houses.”

“While the melon fields are nearby, everyone in the village is on the other side of the stream’s large trees, and without even looking, we know a pair of eyes is fixed on us.”

“So, let’s avoid any unnecessary ties.”

Yi Meng spoke candidly.

Her impression of those villagers had already been shattered.

Accuse her of being heartless, say she doesn’t show gratitude, but since those people decided the Qi Family should confront the wolf pack, Yi Meng no longer thought of maintaining good relations with them.

The Qi Family heard, and the other families did too.

Though no one responded to Yi Meng’s words, they quietly got up to tidy their belongings, showing their support for Yi Meng’s sentiment in their actions.

Yi Meng remained humble, neither smug nor reliant, and asked Qi Zheng, “Dad, what should we do next? Are we still traveling together with those people?”

As soon as she spoke, Yi Meng felt as though she was provoking and stirring trouble.

But if it meant separating from those people, she would accept being seen as the one causing trouble.

Qi Zheng didn’t seem surprised by Yi Meng’s question and didn’t give an immediate answer but looked at his sons.

Currently, Niuzi was on duty with two other men.

The sons and grandsons of the Qi Family were all resting, but used to gathering around their own family during breaks, they heard Yi Meng’s question clearly.

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

The past situation was infuriating but separating from the villagers left them uncertain.

Seeing everyone quiet, Yi Meng understood and continued, “I’m not trying to disrupt everyone getting along with the villagers. However, we all should carefully consider that we’ve just started this journey, and we don’t know how far we must travel or how much danger we will face.”

“Today, our family was lucky enough to catch quite a few wild chickens, but because we didn’t share them with everyone, we became targets.”

“If the wolf pack were truly attacking indiscriminately, then we should admit our fault and take the blame.”

“But everyone saw the wolf pack’s reaction; they just wanted water, not to eat people, nor for any wild chicken.”

“What do you think, is it possible that our actions didn’t escape the notice of those across the river? If not, then how did Ji Hu come running over?”

Yi Meng asked, dismissing any lucky answers.

Everyone fell silent.

Not only the Qi Family, but those remaining families as well, all sank into shared silence.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep