The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 91 Surrounded by Wolves
These words froze the women who were already agitated by the sound of their children crying.

Yes!

They didn't encounter a single hermit household along their journey.

Where did that baby come from?
When they can't figure something out, old women love to attribute it to superstition.

One of the clan aunts said:
"If there are no living people, then there must be dead people! When I was a child, my grandmother told me that some babies under one year old who were killed would become vengeful spirits."

Unable to reincarnate, vengeful spirits linger in the human world. Over time, they become ghost dolls, which cry for their mothers every night!

Late at night, these ghost stories, accompanied by the continuous wailing of infants, were incredibly eerie.

Seeing that no one around spoke, the aunt continued counting to herself:

"One child, two children, three? Four? Good heavens, who killed so many children?"

Wait a minute, that one sounded like it was eight or nine months old, but this one sounds like a little kid.

"Waaaaah. Waaaaah!"

The cries of the infants in the valley grew louder, as if they were joining in.

The younger woman couldn't bear it any longer and screamed, "Ah! A ghost baby! It must be a ghost baby! Get them away, get them away!"

The officials couldn't sit still any longer and shouted:

"Where did this ghost baby come from? Qincen Mountain used to be a battlefield! If anyone was going to die, it should be an adult male!"

It’s better not to mention this.

The thought that human bones might be found at any moment beneath this valley made everyone even more terrified.

What people fear most is making assumptions based on a superficial understanding. Before anything even happens, a group of women are already huddled together, trembling with fear.

Luo was also trembling violently, tightly gripping Fatty's warm paws, muttering to herself.

He kept repeating, "This naughty boy has a lot of yang energy, so ghosts and spirits can't touch him."

Then she called out the dead man's name, telling him to jump out and hold the ghost baby's leg at the crucial moment, and so on.

Her beloved grandson was sleeping sprawled out, just like a little piglet.

I have excellent sleep quality!

It's estimated that even if a hundred babies cried in his ear, they wouldn't wake him up.

Gan Minglan naturally did not believe in ghosts and gods.

She remembered seeing a video online in her past life that said that's the sound a giant salamander makes.

But a giant salamander is a fish!
Shouldn't fish live in water?

Where would a stream of water come from in a valley like this?

I'm not entirely sure; I need to think about it carefully.

In the original owner's memories, not many people in Daming Prefecture liked this kind of food.

Anyway, she had never seen or eaten at her family's well-off home.

Just as they were wondering how to guide them, they heard the cheap man lying not far from them sigh and speak slowly:
"Haven't you heard of the giant salamander? The giant salamander looks like a fish, has four legs, and its cry is like that of a baby. It is amphibious, its flesh is edible, and its skin and bones are used for medicine!"

"Giant salamander? It's actually a giant salamander! That's exactly how it's described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas."

The scholars of Zuo Qiuming also remembered some of the records in the book and stopped pretending.

"I also know about giant salamanders. I've heard they can live to be over a hundred years old, they're very long-lived!"

"There's quite a bit of noise coming from this valley. It's been so long since we've had any meat! Shall we catch a couple and have some fun?"

I vaguely recall reading a travelogue that said this fish has no bones, and its flesh is comparable to the soft-shelled turtle's skirt—delicious and nutritious.

"No, no! This thing cries exactly like my nephew when he was two months old! Eating it is like eating a baby! I can't bring myself to do it!"

Who would eat a child?
What a devilish metaphor!

These words immediately deterred the onlookers who had been drooling at the mention of meat.

Gan Minglan: Hehe, before the apocalypse, wild giant salamanders were considered criminal fish.

I thought there wouldn't be any wildlife resources in this barren, rocky valley.

The first half of the night was filled with the collective crying of giant salamanders, and the second half was accompanied by the howling of wolves. Apart from carefree children, no adult could possibly sleep in such an environment.

It's very frustrating.

The officials were on high alert for the wolf howls from the previous night, fearing they might be targeted by such ferocious animals.

Everyone knows that wolves are social animals.

Hunting is always a premeditated and organized collective action.

Often, what you fear most is exactly what happens!
Bad luck never gets noticed.

The wolf from last night has brazenly reappeared in broad daylight.

They were watching them from a cliff less than a hundred meters away.

The officials all wanted to kneel down and beg the wolves to let them go.

Wolves are indeed not very interested in two-legged creatures.

I just thought those five giant four-legged beasts were really fat!

They've never seen prey like this in these mountains. Dragging just one back would be enough to feed their entire tribe for several days.

The continuous torrential rain and floods caused considerable damage to Qincen Mountain.

Many wild rabbits, mountain rats, and other small animals drowned or were buried by rocks!
In order to fill their stomachs, wolves have to travel to farther places to hunt.

Now that prey has come knocking on our door, how can we let it go?

The alpha wolf stood atop the mountain, howling towards the sky.

"Ouch."

"Ouch."

"Ouch."

This is it communicating with several wolf packs in the vicinity.

No way!
Their pack only has about twenty wolves, and they have no chance against hundreds of two-legged beasts.

We can only unite all forces that can be united.

"Ooooooooo."

The gray wolf leader of Dongshantou responded, saying that they would be happy to participate in such a good thing.

"Awooo!"

That one-eyed wolf from West Hill is asking for it! It actually demanded to monopolize the three-headed, four-legged beast.

The alpha wolf disagreed, insisting that since they were the first to spot the prey, their pack had to take the lion's share!
One-Eyed Wolf Head: Brother, please have mercy! Our pack has had several wolf cubs this year, and we're desperately short of meat. Next time we hunt wild boar, we'll invite you all along.

After much haggling, they barely managed to reach an agreement.

The three hilltops emitted a unified sound at the same time.

"Ouch."

Among the men leading the way, a few were timid and crouched on the ground, covering their ears and too afraid to move.

The elderly and women and children walked in the middle of the mountain path, with officials carrying iron rulers following behind them to keep them at bay; they were a relatively safe group.

The jujube-red horse Tangtang was so frightened that it refused to take another step. Horses are animals with innate instincts.

It felt uneasy and in danger.

Its four hooves rubbed against the ground incessantly, and it exhaled heavy hot air from its nostrils.

The wolf didn't look much different from a dog.

Fatty didn't find anything scary.

He was ignorant and fearless, and couldn't bear to see his beloved horse so afraid.

The chubby hand gently patted the horse's neck, and loudly comforted it:
"Don't be afraid, Tangtang! A bad dog is coming! Let Mommy beat it up! Mommy used to be really good at fighting off stray dogs!"

Gan Minglan: What a filial son! Is your mother your professional henchman? She'll do anything for you!

(End of this chapter)