Ch 5: My Wolf Husband

Looking at the large raw leg of lamb in front of him and the untreated hide in his hands, Lin Shuishi decided to start a fire first. He rubbed his hands raw again trying to get the fire going. When the grass finally began to smoke, he quickly cupped his hands around it, his cheeks puffing up as he blew hard to fan the flames.

Finally, he added dry grass and twigs, and the fire crackled to life, sending a thin wisp of blue smoke into the mountain forest.

Fuli, lying on his side on the ancient tree, looked through the layers of branches at the small fire the “female” had started. The flickering red flames were dangerous; beasts would fear them. It seemed that this one wasn’t so easy to kill—every creature had its own way of surviving.

Lin Shuishi also glanced up at the high, dense canopy of the tree, not hearing any movement. He assumed that the man had agreed to his actions within this territory, so he decided to focus on filling his stomach first.

He placed the large leg of lamb on the fire to roast, and soon, the savory smell of cooked meat and sizzling fat filled the air.

The little wolf pup, its legs too weak to climb the tree, could only watch Fuli in the branches, growing increasingly anxious. It had been scratching at the tree bark for a long time, letting out little whimpers. But when it caught the scent of the roasting meat, it abandoned its attempts to climb and instead waddled stubbornly over to Lin Shuishi, tugging at his pants with its teeth.

“You’ve already eaten plenty of raw deer meat! I can only give you a small piece more,” Lin Shuishi said, cutting off a prime piece of meat. Just as he blew on it to cool it down, the little pup jumped up, grabbed it in its mouth, and began to tear at it. Lin Shuishi didn’t dare reach out again—cute as it was, it was still a wolf, wild and protective of its food.

Seeing how much the wolf pup enjoyed the cooked meat, Lin Shuishi thought for a moment and then cut off another piece of leg meat, this one with some fat and still dripping with juices. He placed the meat in a ceramic bowl and carried it up to the treehouse platform.

Standing there, he could only see the man’s long, muscular leg, the sinews rippling as if ready to chase down any prey—a sight that made Lin Shuishi wistful, something he had longed for in his past life. Despite the cold, the man only had a piece of fur loosely draped over him, showing no sign of discomfort.

Lin Shuishi cleared his throat slightly. “Uh, this is cooked, you can try a piece.” As he saw the tree trunk move slightly, he quickly set down the bowl and, like a startled rabbit, scurried back down the ladder.

By the time Lin Shuishi had descended and looked back, the platform held only the half-broken ceramic bowl and a leaf that had just fluttered down into it.

Lin Shuishi stood there for a moment, took a deep breath, and then returned to the fire to continue eating his meat. He was relieved—the man had accepted his gesture of goodwill.

The ram’s meat was softer and more tender than venison, easier to chew. While it was flavorful, it lacked any seasoning. Lin Shuishi knew he needed salt and also needed fruits and vegetables; otherwise, he’d lose strength over time, and his resistance would weaken.

In an environment like this, getting sick could mean death.

So Lin Shuishi decided to take action immediately. First, he needed to build a stove, and then he would explore the nearby forest to gather wild herbs, edible plants, or pine nuts—anything he could find.

Building the clay stove was relatively simple. First, he needed to dig up some soil. Fortunately, the ground in this area wasn’t deeply frozen; after digging down about half a finger’s length, he could easily dig up the soil. If he were at the foot of the mountain, the ground would likely be frozen a meter deep, and the frozen soil would be too hard for him to dig through.

As Lin Shuishi was laboriously digging, the little wolf, now full, began to play around, shaking its head and bounding over to Lin Shuishi. Watching him dig, it mimicked him, pretending to dig as well.

The wolf wanted to dig a warm little den for itself!

But as soon as Lin Shuishi dug up some soil, the little creature would gleefully use its chubby paws to scatter it back into the hole!

Lin Shuishi sighed, picked up the mischievous wolf pup, brushed off the dirt clinging to its fluffy white fur, and tucked it into the soft, thick lambskin. The pup, like most young animals, got sleepy after eating. After holding it in place for a moment, it soon fell asleep, nestled snugly in the lambskin.

Lin Shuishi made some time to grab a burning stick from the fire and checked the wind direction. During this season, the winds in this mountain forest generally blew from the northwest, so he planned to set the vent of the stove downwind. Otherwise, the smoke from the firewood would end up choking him.

He didn’t venture far, just about ten meters in front of the tree’s roots, where he dug a pit about one meter wide and thirty centimeters deep. The bone knife wasn’t very effective for digging, so he had to carve a branch into a wider, sharper tool. Surprisingly, it worked quite well. The final step was to line the stove with small stones from around the fire pit to allow proper ventilation.

Once everything was ready, Lin Shuishi lit the stove, then went back to the treehouse to retrieve an old stone pot. It wasn’t really a pot, just a hollowed-out stone, and quite heavy. He had no choice but to lift it and drop it down from the treehouse, then push it over to the stove.

It wouldn’t work for frying anything, but at least it didn’t leak, so he could use it to collect the remaining clean snow water nearby.

After spending the entire morning working and getting his face smudged with soot, Lin Shuishi finally drank his first sip of hot water.

He could feel the warmth travel from his throat down to his stomach, soothing his curled-up insides and warming his thin frame.

It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly. Although it was cold, the sunlight made him feel warm.

Lin Shuishi glanced up at the tree trunk, which was quiet, and then at the little wolf pup still sleeping soundly in the lambskin. He figured that large wild animals, especially wolves, were probably resting at this time…

After thinking for a while, he took the bone knife and sharpened a stick. He also made a small basket out of thin vines to carry on his back.

Lin Shuishi was preparing to explore the nearby forest, searching for streams and wild fruits. To avoid getting lost, he tore off a piece of the red silk that had been used to bind him and carefully ripped it into thin strips to tie onto trees as markers.

Holding the stick, he gradually moved from the clearing near the ancient tree into the dense forest. His slender frame rustled through the underbrush, disappearing into the foliage.

Fuli, resting on the branches of the ancient tree, suddenly opened his dark golden eyes. The sunlight filtering through the leaves caught his face, and he squinted slightly, his pupils narrowing to slits.

Lin Shuishi had chosen a gentle route and had been walking for quite some time. He noticed plenty of birds and even saw a beautiful wild pheasant fly by, but he knew he couldn’t catch it, so he didn’t dwell on it.

The deeper he went, the warmer the temperature became, and the greenery grew more abundant. However, there was an odd smell in the air, something unpleasant that Lin Shuishi couldn’t quite describe.

The trees around him were older, though none were as massive as the one with the treehouse. They varied in height, creating a picturesque scene. Most still had green leaves, though a few had fallen over and were dead.

Lin Shuishi carefully approached a fallen tree, inspecting it closely. It was solid, not hollowed out by animals, so he began to search around it.

Sure enough, under the dead leaves and rotten tree roots, he found several mushrooms, along with some large white fungal clusters. He poked one with his stick, revealing blackened insides that emitted a puff of smoke. Not recognizing them, he didn’t dare eat them and only placed some chicken leg mushrooms and white mushrooms in his vine basket, covering the remaining fungi with dead leaves and grass.

Next, he used his stick to poke through the low shrubs and spotted a few wild celery stalks among the weeds. The wild celery was a bit dry and scrawny, likely due to a lack of rain in the area. But where there’s wild celery, there’s usually water nearby!

He snapped off the fresh wild vegetables and continued walking. However, the further he went, the wetter the ground became, and the worse the smell grew. Lin Shuishi started to feel uneasy. He had already walked quite far, and there wasn’t much red ribbon left in his basket.

He was also afraid that there might be a swamp ahead, and if he fell in, he might not be able to get out. He had no real understanding of the wilderness in this world. The only memories he had were from Shuishi, and they mostly involved farm work and feeding chickens and ducks.

No one would let a ger go hunting in the mountains—that would be seen as a failure on the part of the men in the family. Besides, as someone fostered by a relative, even if his cruel uncle was unkind, there was still a need to save face.

Lin Shuishi weighed his options carefully. He didn’t want to take any risks; if he couldn’t find a water source, he could always ask the fearsome golden-eyed man.

However, when he thought about the bite marks on the ram’s and deer’s necks, which looked like they were made by sharp fangs, he became uncertain—perhaps that man survived on nothing but blood!

By this time, the sunlight was no longer as bright as it had been at noon. The more he thought about it, the more his mind became muddled, and he even started to feel a cold, eerie chill in the forest. He slapped his face lightly to snap out of it, trying to gather his thoughts. Deciding not to linger, he turned around and began making his way back the way he had come.

When he reached a tree with a crooked trunk, Lin Shuishi was pulling down the red ribbon he had tied there when suddenly, there was a rustling in the tree’s canopy, and something furry shot out! Startled, he quickly stepped away from the tree, retreating to a safe distance.

Hiding behind a rock, he observed carefully and saw that it was just a large squirrel, its cheeks stuffed full, likely gathering supplies for the winter.

Lin Shuishi remained silent; after all, he wasn’t afraid of a squirrel! He decided to follow it, thinking it would surely lead him to a nut tree.

He watched as the squirrel disappeared into the canopy of the crooked tree, fiddled around for a while, and then came back down with empty cheeks—it must have stashed its hoard in its nest.

Lin Shuishi looked up at the towering tree, realizing he couldn’t climb it, so he focused on keeping up with the “chubby” squirrel as it scampered off ahead of him.

The plump squirrel preferred to travel along higher paths, occasionally glancing back at Lin Shuishi. Initially wary, its tail fluffed up, but after getting a good look at Lin Shuishi, it seemed to relax and even stopped dodging, choosing instead to take the easiest paths forward.

Lin Shuishi felt a bit insulted—clearly, the fat squirrel looked down on him…

He muttered quietly to himself, “Little rascal! If I catch you someday, I’ll pluck you bald!”

The chubby squirrel, convinced that the weak little creature behind it was no match for it, considered dropping a small stone on him for fun but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble, especially with the promise of ripe fruits waiting in the trees. It opted to ignore him and hurried on its way.

However, it suddenly felt a chill run down its spine and, no longer daring to be careless, picked up the pace!

Lin Shuishi kept close but didn’t forget to quickly tie red ribbons to the trees as he went. There was no wind in the forest now, so he wasn’t worried about them blowing away.

Before long, they arrived at a more open part of the forest. The tall, slender trees with small leaves gave way to a few towering trees about twenty meters tall, with dark gray bark, deep cracks, and vertical grooves. But what surprised Lin Shuishi the most were the fuzzy, yellowish-orange fruits hanging in the branches.

The fat squirrel quickly climbed one of the trees and disappeared, while Lin Shuishi stayed on the ground, picking up a spiky ball that had fallen.

He pried it open with his bone knife and discovered chestnuts inside!

Lin Shuishi was overjoyed! Chestnuts were delicious and filling—they could be boiled or roasted! The ones he had cracked open were plump and full.

Without wasting any time, he set down his basket, carefully emptying out the mushrooms and wild celery to avoid crushing them. Then he began collecting the ripe chestnuts from the ground, avoiding the prickly shells by using his stick to nudge them into the basket.

There weren’t many chestnuts left on the ground, likely because other animals had already feasted on them. Lin Shuishi filled half his basket before stopping, realizing that any more would make it too heavy to carry.

He placed the mushrooms and wild celery on top of the chestnuts, then started back along the path he had taken. As he passed by the fat squirrel’s “home,” he placed the largest, plumpest chestnut from his basket at the base of the tree.

He thought to himself, Consider it a thank-you gift for the little rascal, even if it is a bit smug.