Chapter 173: Killing Two White Wolves in a Row
The mountain forest was in chaos, swarming with people who darted about like headless flies.
The guards only held the perimeter or stayed close to their respective masters; they did not patrol the woods during the hunt.
“Zhaozhao, the guards said the white wolf carried the Crown Prince off toward the northwest. There are horse droppings and hoof prints over here. This way.” Second Madam had a strong sense of direction.
Cheng Zhao was poor at horseback archery. The moment she entered the forest, she became dizzy and lost all sense of direction, so she had no choice but to stay close to her mother-in-law.
They rode on for a little while longer until they heard voices and the sound of hooves.
A flash of white was heading straight toward them from the distance.
Behind it, someone shouted in pursuit.
Second Madam had sharp eyes. She could already make out the white wolf—and the Crown Prince dangling from its jaws.
The Crown Prince was thin and frail, like a little kitten; while the white wolf was far bigger than Second Madam had imagined—not wolf-sized, but bear-sized.
“Zhaozhao, retreat now!” Second Madam barked.
Cheng Zhao saw it too. The white wolf, chased by the guards, was charging straight for the two of them.
Her mount went mad with fright, backing up and turning around frantically.
Cheng Zhao’s horse-riding skills weren’t up to much anyway. She yanked the reins and kicked the horse’s flanks, but still couldn’t stop it.
“Mother, Mother, run! My horse is about to bolt!” Cheng Zhao shouted over her shoulder.
She couldn’t control her horse—she not only failed to rein it in, but nearly got thrown off.
“Zhaozhao, sit steady, don’t pull on it.” said Second Madam.
Second Madam’s horse was frightened too, but she knew how to handle it, and it stood its ground steadily.
Cheng Zhao’s maid had gone chasing after her; Second Madam’s own maid stayed behind her.
Second Madam nocked an arrow. When the distance closed, she loosed one.
It struck the white wolf straight in its left eye.
The wolf howled in pain and rolled on the ground, but still didn’t let go of the Crown Prince.
It had him by the scruff of the neck.
The Crown Prince might have been knocked unconscious earlier, but now he was awake—just weak and helpless, letting the wolf drag him about like a torn sack.
Blood was seeping from his neck where the wolf’s fangs had pierced his skin. He tilted his head to look at Second Madam, his eyes full of pleading.
Second Madam couldn’t help but think of Zhou Yuanqi.
The white wolf swiped its paw and knocked the arrow out of its left eye. Second Madam was stunned.
She hadn’t expected the beast to be so intelligent—and so ferocious.
Her horse shuddered and tried to flee.
Second Madam knew the next shot wouldn’t land as cleanly. Her gaze darted around and spotted a branch.
The white wolf dropped the Crown Prince and charged straight at her horse. On the ground, the Crown Prince tried to scramble to his feet, but his whole body was limp. He squirmed in place twice but couldn’t even manage to sit up.
Second Madam nocked another arrow.
She fired again, and again it hit the wolf’s left eye.
The wound went three times deeper than before.
The wolf howled even more fiercely, rolling on the ground. It tried to claw the arrow out again, but now it couldn’t—the arrow was buried deep in half its skull.
It went mad and lunged at Second Madam. She grabbed the branch beside her as her horse spun to run.
Seizing the moment of the leap, Second Madam snatched the branch, snapped it off, and landed firmly on the ground. The wolf pounced at her.
A hand that trained with a spear year-round was not only steady and precise, but immensely strong.
As the wolf came at her, Second Madam thrust the branch into it.
The freshly broken end was sharp, and Second Madam drove it deep into the wolf’s lower throat.
The branch pierced clean through its neck.
It tumbled to the side in agony, thrashing wildly, trying to shake the branch loose. Blood choked its throat, and it could barely breathe.
Second Madam hurried over to lift the Crown Prince from the ground.
By the time the Emperor and the Prince of Andong arrived, they saw the white wolf writhing on the ground in its death throes, and the Crown Prince, barely breathing, lying in Second Madam's arms.
The Crown Prince clung tightly to her with both hands: "Mother..."
Second Madam momentarily thought it was Zhou Yuanqi. She gently stroked his head, then pressed her hand against the bite mark on his neck, where blood was gushing out.
"Don't be afraid," Second Madam said.
The Prince of Andong's expression shifted slightly.
Cheng Zhao had no idea what was happening with her mother-in-law. Her mount carried her forward at a gallop, and soon she lost her bearings.
Qiubai chased after her from behind, shouting from a distance: "Young Mistress, Young Mistress! Fifth Miss!"
Cheng Zhao called back to her: "Qiubai, I'm over here."
They could hear each other's voices, but the mountain forest was too vast. The trees stood in tangled clusters, and no matter what, Cheng Zhao and Qiubai simply could not see each other.
"Fifth Miss, don't move from where you are!" Qiubai yelled.
Cheng Zhao understood, but her horse understood nothing and kept running wildly ahead.
What a cowardly horse.
When Cheng Zhao encountered the second white wolf, her horse went mad—she felt for the first time what it was like for a horse to lose its mind.
It was scared out of its wits.
This time, Cheng Zhao didn't care about risking a fall. She abandoned the horse, leaping straight off its back.
Fortunately, the ground beneath her was soft dead grass. Something scratched her, and the skin on the back of her hand burned with pain, but she herself was unharmed.
Her horse scrambled to its feet and fled.
Cheng Zhao didn't run, because she spotted Zhou Yuanshen.
Zhou Yuanshen's short dagger had already plunged into the white wolf's belly.
Blood poured from the wolf's underside, soaking its fur through, yet it showed no fear of death and kept attacking Zhou Yuanshen.
Zhou Yuanshen was covered in wounds, and so was the wolf.
Ignoring her own pain, Cheng Zhao shot an arrow at the wolf.
She missed.
Her small crossbow's bolts required extremely precise aim, and Cheng Zhao had never practiced that skill—she lacked her mother-in-law's talent.
She ran forward, and Zhou Yuanshen saw her: "Fall back!"
She reached his side and thrust the crossbow into his hands.
Zhou Yuanshen took it.
This kind of short crossbow was his specialty.
He told Cheng Zhao the mechanism could fire in rapid succession, but she wasn't skilled at it.
With a mere raise of his hand, the crossbow was strapped to his wrist, and the remaining four bolts fired in quick sequence.
His aim was deadly accurate—he could hit the target in pitch-pot toss every single time, let alone with his favored crossbow.
The white wolf finally collapsed.
Of the four bolts, three went through its eyes and into its brain.
The last one pierced through its throat as it howled.
The wolf stopped moving, and Zhou Yuanshen slumped to the ground, spent.
Cheng Zhao grabbed his arm to steady him.
He wore black soft armor, but the left shoulder of the armor had been torn open by wolf fangs, blood streaming from the wound.
Cheng Zhao pressed her hand against his shoulder: "Zhou Yuanshen, how are you? Are you hurt elsewhere?"
"Just minor wounds."
"We just saw the white wolf that had the Crown Prince in its jaws. There's another one here," Cheng Zhao said.
Zhou Yuanshen pointed: "This is the female wolf."
Cheng Zhao: "It was lying in wait here all along?"
She shuddered, realizing for the first time that all creatures possess a kind of intelligence—some animals were frighteningly clever.
"Fifth Miss!" Cheng Zhao heard Qiubai's voice again.
"I'm here!"
Qiubai found her.
Then several guards and Zhou Yuanshen's second-in-command arrived.
Zhou Yuanshen could still manage to ride, barely. He ordered the guards to lay the white wolf's carcass across his horse's back to carry it back.
The second-in-command told him: "Liu Zheng is dead."
"How did he die?" Cheng Zhao asked.
"An arrow through the chest, Young Mistress," the second-in-command said.
Cheng Zhao's eyelids twitched.
"Whose arrow was it?" she asked.
Zhou Yuanshen's voice was very soft: "Don't ask, Cheng Zhao. Everything is under control, there's no need to worry."
Cheng Zhao said no more.
Zhou Yuanshen returned to the courtyard of the temporary palace ahead of the others, ordering the military physician to tend to his wound; he also told Cheng Zhao to apply some medicinal powder to the scratch on the back of her hand.
By evening, the group returned one by one.
The Emperor summoned everyone to the front hall of the temporary palace.
Several major events had occurred that day.