Transmigrated into the role of the matriarch, I ensured my family had enough to eat and wear during

Zheng, clutching his bleeding head and wincing in pain, still forced himself to agree with his wife and staggered to the village head, pleading, "Village head! You have to stand up for us! These wolves are after Yangqu Village, all because of that little wolf cub from Tang Susu's family!"

"I insist that this little wolf must not be allowed to stay in the village. Otherwise, something terrible will happen sooner or later, and the whole village will be implicated!" As he spoke, he glared fiercely at Yang Dabai in Tang Susu's arms, trying to incite the villagers to ostracize it.

Tang Susu held Yang Dabai tightly in her arms, gently stroking its trembling little body with her fingertips. She raised her eyes and coldly retorted to Zheng the Rascal, her tone firm and unyielding: "Zheng the Rascal, stop spouting nonsense. Whether Yang Dabai can stay in Yangqu Village is up to the village head and all the villagers. It's not your place to point fingers, nor is it something you can decide with just a few words."

Seeing Tang Susu's resolute attitude, Zheng the Scoundrel turned to the surrounding villagers and continued to fan the flames, deliberately amplifying their fear: "Fellow villagers, don't be fooled by her! Letting a wolf live in the village is like having a wolf sleeping next to your pillow—how dangerous!"

"This little wolf cub is still young and looks docile, so it's fine for now. But when it grows up, its true nature will be revealed. If it attacks our children or steals our chickens and ducks, and we complain even a little, its mother wolf will definitely bring her pack into the village to retaliate. At that time, none of us will be able to escape!" He spoke vividly, trying to incite the villagers' fear of Yang Dabai.

Tang Susu remained calm and did not immediately refute him. She simply observed the villagers' expressions and secretly calculated: if the villagers were really persuaded by him and chose to stand on Zheng the Rascal's side, then she would not need to pay much attention to the villagers' opinions in the future.

Anyway, with the wolf pack as her backing, she wasn't afraid of troublemakers like Zheng the Rascal causing trouble. At worst, she could just mind her own business and protect her family.

Just as the villagers hesitated and began to murmur amongst themselves, Old Mrs. Deng, leaning on her cane, stepped forward from the crowd and immediately retorted to Zheng the rascal's words, her voice clear and forceful: "Stop trying to confuse the issue and shift the blame!"

"It's clearly your wife's greed that led her to steal the game the wolf brought, which is why the wolf came seeking revenge. This is a mistake made by your Zheng family, so don't blame the wolf, and certainly don't blame this innocent wolf cub. Why are you taking your anger out on it?"

As soon as Old Mrs. Deng spoke, the other villagers echoed her words, each one criticizing the Zheng family. One person frowned and cursed, "That's right! You two brought this on yourselves. You stole from others, got taught a lesson by the wolf, and now you want to turn the tables? You're shameless!"

Others pointed at Zheng's wife, their faces full of contempt: "You idle away your days, doing nothing productive, only knowing how to steal chickens and dogs, doing these shameful things. You're worse than a pig or a dog, you have no face to stand in Yangqu Village!"

Zheng the Scoundrel and his wife were so embarrassed by the villagers' scolding that they blushed and had nowhere to hide. They kept their heads down and couldn't say a word in rebuttal.

Zheng Dahu, standing to the side, felt so ashamed that his cheeks burned. He wished he could disappear into the ground and couldn't stand up any longer. He turned around and rushed back into the house, closed the door, and hid.

Tang Susu gently stroked Yang Dabai's little head. Seeing that the commotion had temporarily subsided, she picked it up, turned around, and prepared to go home to catch up on her sleep—she was already exhausted after a night of turmoil.

Just as Tang Susu took two steps, Liu Yingcai from the village patrol team, who was also Xiaoyuer's father, rushed over in a panic, his clothes disheveled and his forehead covered in sweat.

Tonight it was his turn to lead the village patrol team. While the other team members were still checking the situation in various places on the mountain, he was the only one who ran back to report the news.

Liu Yingcai ran as fast as he could, panting heavily, his chest heaving. Before he could catch his breath, he rushed to the village head and reported urgently, "Village head! Something terrible has happened! I just spotted some suspicious-looking people in the mountains!"

"I was on my guard then, and didn't dare to alert them. I quietly followed them for a while, and I overheard them mentioning 'Master Liu,' saying something about 'scouting the area' and 'making their move after the harvest'!"

Liu Yingcai took a breath and added, his tone extremely certain: "Village head, have you forgotten? Nearly two months ago, a major grain theft occurred at the Liu family's residence in Dongtai Town, resulting in heavy losses. The county magistrate even issued a warrant for the arrest of those robbers throughout the county!"

"I saw the wanted poster in town before. The men we just encountered look extremely similar to the robbers in the poster, especially one with a face full of scars. He's most likely the leader of that gang!"

As soon as Liu Yingcai finished speaking, the villagers present instantly showed expressions of panic, and a murmur of discussion erupted.

Everyone knows that the world is not peaceful these days. Bandits roam everywhere, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. Even when visiting relatives around the village, you may be robbed by bandits on the way, losing not only your property but also your life.

The villagers secretly recalled that a few years ago, the government had sent troops to suppress bandits in the mountains, paying a considerable price before the world slowly returned to peace.

However, since the severe locust plague and crop failure last year, a large number of refugees have appeared in many places. With nowhere else to go, these refugees gathered on various mountain peaks and gradually turned into bandits. Banditry has begun to rise again and become more and more rampant.

The villagers grew increasingly frightened, their faces showing fear as they whispered among themselves:

"We're doomed! These robbers must be targeting our Yangqu Village!"

"If they loot all the food we managed to save, we'll go hungry again. How are we going to survive?"

The village head took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. With a serious expression, he pressed Liu Yingcai for answers, his tone stern: "Yingcai, think back carefully. Did you see it clearly? Are you sure that group of people were just a few robbers and had no other accomplices? Don't make a mistake and delay important matters."

Liu Yingcai nodded firmly, his tone absolutely certain: "Village head, I saw it clearly, I can't be mistaken! There were five people in total, one of whom had a face full of scars and a fierce look in his eyes. He was the bandit leader wanted by the county magistrate, and the other four matched the portrait on the wanted poster one by one!"

The village head, fully aware of the gravity of the situation, frowned and said solemnly, "If these five bandits escape, they will learn about our village's situation and will surely bring more bandits to Yangqu Village to rob grain in the future. Then, our entire village will suffer!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the village head decisively ordered, "Everyone listen up! Go back immediately, wake up the strongest men in the village, grab your weapons, and quickly go into the mountains to capture these five robbers. Make sure to subdue them and eliminate any future trouble. Don't let a single one of them escape!"

Most of the villagers standing there looked fearful, glancing at each other, hesitant to take any action.

Everyone knew that those bandits had been committing crimes in the mountains for years, and their hands must have been stained with blood. They were all desperate criminals, and they might even be carrying weapons. Fighting them would easily result in injury or even death. Everyone was filled with fear, and no one was willing to gamble with their own life.

Seeing the villagers hesitate and shrink back, Tang Susu, holding Yang Dabai, spoke calmly, her voice soft but clear, awakening everyone present: "Fellow villagers, think carefully. After the grain harvest, every household will have stored grain. At that time, bandits will inevitably come to rob us. Are we just going to let them steal the grain we've worked so hard to protect?"

"We went through countless hardships, diverting water to fight the drought, and fighting locusts day and night, to barely save this food and finally have hope of survival. Are we really willing to let it be destroyed by bandits like this?"

Tang Susu further boosted morale, her gaze sweeping over the villagers present, and asked them, "Yangqu Village has more than five hundred strong men, each one robust and powerful. Are we really going to lose to five robbers? We outnumber them, and as long as we work together, we will definitely take them down!"

Then, she solemnly warned everyone: "These five robbers are just here to scout the village. If we let them go back safely, they might bring fifty or even five hundred robbers with them when they return. At that time, the entire Yangqu Village will be at their mercy, powerless to resist. Our families and our food will be stolen. It will be too late to regret it then!"

After saying that, Tang Susu turned to the village head and offered her suggestion with a firm tone: "Uncle Village Head, I'll go back now and call Tang Lifu, Tang Liqiang, and Yang Gousheng to go into the mountains with you to catch the robbers. I'll lead by example and show the villagers that we don't need to be afraid of these robbers at all!"

After Tang Susu finished speaking, the scene fell silent instantly.

The villagers looked at each other and saw in each other's eyes the determination and fearless courage to protect their food. The fear they had felt before was gradually replaced by fighting spirit.

Yes, they went through so much hardship to keep their food supplies, they absolutely cannot let them be taken away by robbers like this. How could more than 500 strong men be afraid of five robbers!

Liu Yingcai added, his tone grave, "Fellow villagers, those five robbers are all armed with steel knives and are quite agile. Once you enter the mountains, please be extremely careful and do not underestimate them!"

Seeing this, the village headman said with a stern expression, "They have steel knives, so we'll use shovels, hoes, and sickles as weapons. As long as we all work together and give it our all, we'll definitely be able to take down these bandits and protect our homes and food!"

The village head's words ignited the villagers' fighting spirit. Everyone nodded in agreement and shouted in unison, "Alright! Let's go into the mountains and chase the bandits! We can't let them get away!"

The initial fear has long since vanished, leaving only a firm determination to protect our homeland.

The villagers turned around and hurriedly ran home, picked up shovels, hoes, sickles and other tools, and quickly assembled.

Led by Liu Yingcai, they marched into the mountains in a grand procession to pursue the bandits.

To avoid alerting the robbers, they deliberately avoided wide mountain paths and moved cautiously through the dense jungle, their steps light and careful, not daring to make the slightest unnecessary sound.

The villagers all grew up in Yangqu Village and are extremely familiar with every inch of land and every path in the mountains and forests, so they move very quickly.

Before long, they followed Liu Yingcai to the mountaintop where he had previously discovered the robbers. However, after they split up and searched around, they found no trace of the robbers, not even a single mark.

The village head's face turned pale and then red. He inwardly cursed, slapped his thigh in frustration, and said in a low voice, "We're doomed! These guys must have scouted the area and then immediately returned to their stronghold! They've already figured out the situation in Yangqu Village. The grain we worked so hard to protect is probably gone!"

Just as the village head and the villagers were filled with anxiety and at a loss, a long and eerie wolf howl suddenly broke the silence of the night sky in the vast and quiet mountain forest.

Before the wolf howls had subsided, a series of heart-wrenching screams of agony followed, so piercing and chilling that they sent shivers down one's spine.

Everyone was startled and immediately reacted, rushing towards the source of the sound with hurried steps, gripping their weapons tightly and looking vigilant.

At this moment, the moon hangs high in the sky, and its cool moonlight shines down on the earth like water, illuminating the road ahead.

The group ran to an open space not far away and saw an astonishing scene: the four wolves that had entered the village earlier were biting the thighs of the four robbers, their sharp fangs deeply embedded in their flesh. The robbers were convulsing in pain but could not move.

There was another robber lying on the ground nearby, his leg had been bitten off by a wolf, and blood was gushing from the wound, gleaming brightly in the moonlight, and he was barely breathing.

When the five robbers saw the villagers arrive, they seemed to see a lifeline. A sudden surge of survival instinct erupted within them, and they struggled violently, shouting for help to the village head and the villagers:

"Help! Please, save us!"

"We'll never do it again, please, let us go!"

Liu Yingcai winked at the village head, signaling him to confirm.

Upon closer inspection, the village headman instantly realized that these five men were the wanted bandits they were looking for. They hadn't expected to be so unlucky as to run into four wolves coming up the mountain, where they were surrounded and injured. It was truly a stroke of luck for Yangqu Village!

Seeing this, the villagers breathed a sigh of relief and secretly rejoiced.

Just then, one of the robbers, writhing in agony from the wolf bite, saw that the villagers were hesitant to help him. In desperation, he struggled to grab his steel knife and slashed fiercely at the white she-wolf biting his thigh, roaring, "Beast! I'll kill you!"

Tang Liqiang stood aside, his eyes flashing with anger – he had long regarded Yang Dabai as family, and the white mother wolf was Yang Dabai's mother, so naturally she was also his "family." How could he tolerate the robbers harming it!

He raised the shovel high, lunged forward, and with all his might, smashed the shovel hard on the robber's head.

With a muffled thud, the robber didn't even have time to scream before his eyes rolled back and he passed out, the steel knife in his hand clattering to the ground.

The village head, realizing what was happening, immediately shouted, "Everyone, get to it! Quickly tie these five people up tightly with ropes. Don't let them escape, and don't let them make a sound!"

The villagers immediately rushed forward, took out the ropes they had prepared beforehand, and tied the five robbers tightly, binding their hands and feet and gagging them so that they had no chance to call for help.

Only then did everyone realize that the bandit leader had been knocked unconscious by Tang Liqiang with a shovel, and the legs of the other four bandits had been bitten by wolves, some even severed, leaving them unable to escape and in a very tragic situation.

After the villagers subdued the robbers, they pried open the mouth of one of them and questioned him carefully. Only from his fragmented words did they learn the whole story.

This morning, locusts swept over the mountain where the bandits were located like a tidal wave. The crops and wild grass on the mountain were devoured by the locusts and destroyed in an instant. Without a source of food, the bandits planned to go down the mountain and find a village to rob for food.

On their way down the mountain, they searched around and heard that many villages had kept some food after the locust eradication. So they inquired along the way and finally found Yangqu Village.

They originally planned to sneak into the village to scout out the grain reserves and manpower distribution in Yangqu Village, and then rob the village after the grain harvest. However, on their way back to their stronghold, they unexpectedly encountered these four ferocious wolves.

Seeing the fierce glint in the wolf's eyes, the five robbers were so frightened that their legs went weak. Fortunately, they had steel knives on them, so they decided to fight the wolf to the death with all their might.

But these four wolves were very clever and had a clear division of labor. One of the wolves attacked from behind, pinned down two robbers, and bit off their legs.

Seeing this, the remaining three robbers panicked completely and lost their composure. They were no match for the wolves. Before long, all five of them had been bitten on the legs by the wolves and lost the ability to resist. They could only let the wolves slaughter them.

They intended to use steel knives to kill the wolves, but unexpectedly, the villagers suddenly rushed out of the forest, tied them up without saying a word, and gagged them, leaving them no chance to resist and forcing them to accept their fate.

After listening, the village head's expression grew even more solemn. He addressed the villagers present in a serious tone, saying, "This matter must absolutely not be revealed to anyone, not even a single word!"

"Remember this, each bandit gang has nearly two hundred members, all of them desperate criminals. If their accomplices find out that these five men were kidnapped in Yangqu Village, they will definitely come to the village to retaliate against us, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of atrocities!"

"We're all honest people trying to make a living. We can't afford to mess with those desperate criminals. If we face retaliation, the consequences would be unimaginable. The lives and food of our entire village would be threatened!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers present all understood the seriousness of the matter. Their faces turned solemn, and they immediately nodded in unison, solemnly promising, "Village head, rest assured, we will never reveal this matter, not even to our children, lest it bring about our deaths!"

This night was exceptionally long and agonizing for the villagers of Yangqu Village.

Many villagers tossed and turned, unable to sleep, fearing retaliation from the robbers' accomplices. They were filled with anxiety, worried that the robbers' accomplices would suddenly come knocking and destroy the peace they had finally achieved.

The village head didn't sleep a wink all night. He sat in the main room with his eyes wide open, pondering the matter of escorting the robbers repeatedly, afraid that there might be the slightest mistake.

Just as the hour of Yin arrived, before dawn, most of the villagers were still fast asleep. The village headman immediately got up and woke up Yang Defu, a steady, reliable, and agile man in the village. He then instructed his two sons to quickly prepare to escort the robbers, and to be careful and discreet.

Following the village head's instructions, the group quietly went to the place where the robbers were being held and carried the unconscious robber leader and the other four wounded robbers onto the oxcart one by one.

Then, they put a wooden bucket over the head of each robber to cover their face, and loaded the oxcart with a full load of firewood, pretending that they were country folk preparing to sell the firewood in Dongtai Town. This was to avoid being noticed by the robbers' accomplices and to avoid causing unnecessary trouble on the road.

After everything was ready, Yang Defu drove the oxcart, carefully holding the shaft, carrying the bound robbers, and quietly left Yangqu Village, heading towards Dongtai Town.

It was still dark, the night was deep, and only faint starlight illuminated the path ahead. The city gate of Dongtai Town had not yet been opened.

Yang Defu then drove his oxcart and waited quietly outside the town gate of Dongtai Town.

He sat on the oxcart, his expression wary, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings, fearing he might encounter the robbers' accomplices or encounter other unexpected events. He was filled with anxiety, hoping only to hand the robbers over to the authorities as soon as possible, complete his mission, and return safely to Yangqu Village.

After waiting for about half an incense stick's time, the sky gradually turned a pale white, and the city gate of Dongtai Town finally opened. The guards yawned and slowly lowered the city gate.

Yang Defu took a deep breath and slowly drove the oxcart into the city.