Ch 30: My Wolf Husband

After Lin Shuishi finished speaking, he brought both hands up to his chest, ready and full of secret anticipation, like a silly rabbit about to happily dig a hole. His bright eyes looked at Fuli, as if they were firmly saying, Trust me! I’m the most reliable!

Fuli raised an eyebrow at this, sat up, and looked deeply into Lin Shuishi’s eyes with his dark golden ones.

Under Fuli’s gaze, Lin Shuishi felt the pressure instantly build! The mischievous excitement faded, and he became self-conscious, avoiding eye contact and wanting to step back.

Seeing this, Fuli sighed softly without even realizing it. Then he turned his back to Lin Shuishi, letting his rough hair fall loosely over his broad, sturdy back.

Lin Shuishi paused, noticing that Fuli had already turned around and was sitting still with his back to him. He blinked and saw how Fuli’s strong body rose and fell gently with each breath.

Carefully, Lin Shuishi scooted closer, his cold hands slowly threading through Fuli’s thick, slightly disheveled hair. He began to feel the heat radiating from Fuli’s muscular body…

When Fuli turned his head, he felt a slight coolness on his neck, something he wasn’t used to. Lin Shuishi had gathered up Fuli’s long hair, which usually hung naturally down his back, and braided the sides into intricate bone braids, tying them neatly at the back. This made him look a bit less wild and more composed, clearly revealing his strikingly handsome and sharp features.

By the time Old Man Zheng arrived at Lin Shuishi’s courtyard, he found the young man with a flushed face, sitting by the woodpile near the granary, furiously rubbing the “white dog” he had picked up, muttering something under his breath as he did so.

When Lin Shuishi saw that the Zheng family had arrived, he quickly stopped taking out his frustration on the little white wolf, letting go of the now disheveled creature’s head to greet them. The wolf cub was left bewildered, with its fur standing on end due to static electricity, a few tufts sticking up comically.

Along with Old Man Zheng came the second brother and the recently returned fourth brother, Cheng’an. Seeing that Lin Shuishi didn’t have much firewood left, the second brother assumed he had been chopping wood alone and offered to help. Lin Shuishi, not wanting to trouble them, quickly tried to decline.

But Cheng’an urged him, “Shuishi, let Second Brother help you. Your benefactor’s injuries haven’t healed yet—you can’t expect him to chop wood for you!”

At that moment, Lin Shuishi thought to himself, Hmph, that wild beast is recovering so quickly! He could probably chop more than just wood if he wanted!

“I can do it myself, don’t worry—I know how,” Lin Shuishi insisted. Indeed, with Shui Ge’er’s memories, he did know how. At his uncle’s house in Yuanshan Village, his small frame had handled all sorts of heavy labor. In the dead of winter, he would fetch water from the river, unable to carry much at once, so it took him half a day to fill a water jar, his hands covered in chilblains from the freezing water.

Hearing that Lin Shuishi was used to doing such tasks, Old Man Zheng felt a pang of sadness. Lin’s child must have endured so much hardship! Every time they went to see Shuishi, his uncle would make excuses, saying the boy had gone to the county to learn needlework. But now, it seemed that had all been lies!

Without another word, feeling troubled, the old man moved to chop the wood himself, but Cheng’an stopped him. “Dad, let Second Brother handle it later. Let’s go check on Shuishi’s benefactor’s injuries first.”

Prioritizing the matter, the three of them followed Lin Shuishi, carrying a small basket filled with strong liquor as a gift for the benefactor. There wasn’t much else of value they could offer, but as fellow hunters, they figured that strong spirits would be appreciated, especially in the cold mountains.

Inside the house, Fuli had heard people entering the small territory of his “weak female,” but since the little guy was accompanying them and they seemed like a group, he wasn’t too concerned. He simply turned away, deciding not to pay them any mind.

As soon as the Zheng family father and sons entered the room, they were about to greet him warmly, but they were suddenly at a loss for words. The polite greetings stuck in their throats, and they couldn’t get a single word out.

This man’s presence was overwhelming, instinctively inducing fear. It was the kind of terror that felt innate, impossible to suppress.

They had only caught a glimpse of him from afar before, knowing that he had an impressive physique, but they hadn’t seen his face. They never expected that when he woke up, he would be so intimidating.

Even though he was very handsome, no one dared to stare at him.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Lin Shuishi quickly spoke up, addressing the Zheng family father and sons, “Uncle Zheng, my benefactor doesn’t come down from the mountains often, so he’s not very familiar with social customs. Please don’t take offense.”

Fuli only glanced at them and didn’t bother to engage. Wolves had always kept their distance from humans, and these people seemed too weak. How could they possibly defend themselves? He had doubts about whether returning the weak female to its group had truly made it safe. Fuli began to have new concerns.

Old Man Zheng snapped out of his daze after hearing Lin Shuishi speak. He cupped his hands in a cautious gesture of thanks toward Fuli, then quickly placed the liquor down and hurriedly pulled his two sons out of the main room, not wanting to disturb Fuli any further.

The old man couldn’t shake the feeling that what Dongsheng had said was true—this man didn’t seem entirely human. Even the strongest men from the surrounding villages probably couldn’t last more than a few rounds with him!

As Lin Shuishi saw them off, Old Man Zheng pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, “That man, um, that man, are you…” Lin Shuishi understood his concern. “He just looks fierce, but he’s actually quite good-hearted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have saved me, right? He’ll leave once he’s recovered, so there’s no need to worry.”

Old Man Zheng had a lot on his mind but didn’t say much. The visit wasn’t entirely in vain, at least he had some idea of the situation now. He bid farewell to Lin Shuishi and left, only leaving the second son to chop the firewood on the slope.

However, after seeing Fuli, the second son felt uneasy. He hadn’t dared to look closely at that face, only sensing that it was different from the average person. Lin Shuishi had said it was due to the medicine from Dr. Sun, but the second son didn’t dare stay any longer! Among the four brothers, even compared to the studious fourth brother, he was the most timid!

The second son worked faster than he ever had before! If his wife had seen it, she would have applauded him. He chopped the wood with quick, precise strokes, and as soon as he was done, he hurried away, not even staying for a drink of water when Lin Shuishi offered it.

When the old man returned home and lay on the kang bed at night, he gradually settled down and found himself thinking about that person’s powerful and imposing physique. Suddenly, an image of the heavy bow that he and his brothers had struggled to bring back flashed before his eyes.

After Lin Shuishi’s father passed away, there was no one left who could draw the bow, so it had been left unused. But after seeing the man today, with those strong arms, it seemed impossible that there would be any bow he couldn’t draw!

Meanwhile, Lin Shuishi was stacking firewood, thinking about what Cheng’an had mentioned before leaving. He said that the doctor had heard about Fuli’s good recovery and had successfully used the same suturing technique to treat a farmer.

The farmer, who had been attacked by bandits and had his abdomen slashed open, was rescued only after the bandits had fled. His family had thought there was no hope, but after Dr. Sun sutured the wound and applied some wound medicine, the farmer gradually regained consciousness and started to recover. Dr. Sun was very pleased and had asked Cheng’an to pass on his gratitude to Lin Shuishi on behalf of the farmer, along with a sack of sweet potatoes as a gift.

Lin Shuishi was quite happy, humming a tune as he worked, and thinking about how he would cook the sweet potatoes that evening. He also planned to give some to the little black horse to try. If they turned out to be delicious, he would plant some on the back slope next spring! He thought of bringing some to the mare, who had a particular fondness for tasty treats.

Fuli was sitting inside the house, leaning against the wall. The little wolf cub was squirming in his lap, trying to find a comfortable spot. After much fidgeting, it finally let out a little grunt and settled down on Fuli’s thigh.

The wolf cub’s spiky fur had been licked down by the little black horse, but since horse saliva doesn’t dry quickly, the wolf’s fur was now matted, making it look even more like a village dog—a result that Lin Shuishi found to be an unexpected delight.

Fuli, with his eyes half-closed, was attentively listening to the strange but intriguing tune that the weak female outside was humming. The melody’s unusual rises and falls were oddly captivating.

But then Fuli’s ears twitched, and he instantly opened his eyes, his muscles tensing as he adopted a defensive posture. The little wolf, sensing the tension, fell to the ground and became a bit panicked as well.

In a flash, Fuli grabbed the little white wolf and leaped out of the house. After glancing at Lin Shuishi, who seemed calm and unaware of any danger, Fuli hesitated for a moment but then decided to leave with a stern expression.

He could have gone out alone, claiming he just needed some fresh air, but Fuli was still holding the wolf cub, whose fur was still matted. Seeing this, Lin Shuishi couldn’t just let him leave. Without a second thought, he dropped the firewood he was holding and chased after him.

Fuli leaped up the slope behind the house in a single bound, while Lin Shuishi clambered up on all fours. Distracted, he lost his footing and tumbled with an “ouch.” Hearing the noise, the little black horse rushed over, and Lin Shuishi tried to mount it, but before he could, a hand grabbed the back of his collar.

Fuli looked at the “little tail” trailing behind him with some exasperation, then, with a serious expression, he listened closely to the howling wolves echoing through the mountains. Without further hesitation, he wrapped his right arm around Lin Shuishi’s thigh, lifted him, and took off running.

Lin Shuishi, now lying face-down on Fuli’s broad shoulder, anxiously asked, “It’s getting dark. Where are you going?”

Fuli didn’t respond; he just kept running forward. His pace was so fast that even the little black horse struggled to keep up, trailing far behind. If Lin Shuishi had ridden the horse to chase after Fuli, he would have been left behind in the forest.

The wind from the forest whipped past, chilling Lin Shuishi’s back. Sensing the drop in temperature, Fuli adjusted Lin Shuishi’s position, pulling him closer to his back, effectively shielding him from the oncoming wind with his warm body.

Lin Shuishi obediently clung to Fuli’s back, carefully protecting his injured left shoulder and arm. He glanced up at Fuli’s ears, which had turned red from the cold wind.

Thoughts raced through Lin Shuishi’s mind: “Oh no, I braided his hair—his ears might be freezing.” The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t resist glancing at Fuli’s face. Finally, summoning his courage, he reached out his small hand from within his coat and gently covered Fuli’s ears with his hands, holding them still.

Fuli’s steps faltered momentarily, his breath catching for a second, but then he bared his teeth and quickened his pace.

As they ventured deeper into the mountains, they encountered more white wolves. Initially scattered around hunting, they now responded to the wolf king’s call, howling as they raced back to the den, gradually converging behind Fuli in a formidable procession, heading toward the Dongshan mountain.

In the golden light of the setting sun, this procession of creatures seemed as though they were marching toward their final gathering, solemn and resolute.

Finally, the wolf pack halted at the base of a snow-covered cliff. Lin Shuishi couldn’t tell where they were, but Fuli set him and the wolf cub down before slowly walking up to the nearby cliff.

At the cliff’s peak stood an ancient, sprawling banyan tree, its age unknowable, as if it had witnessed countless cycles of the sun and moon and the ebb and flow of life in the eastern mountains.

The wolf king stood still atop the peak, the two brothers quietly gazing at their mother, who lay beneath the tree’s roots, covered in a thick layer of snow. Her head rested within a massive wolf skeleton, and there she lay, eternally at peace with her mate.

In the killing cold of the eastern mountains, she had embarked on her final journey during a snowy night, ending her life on this peak, beside her mate, where they had first met under the banyan tree and where they were now reunited.

Life is a journey with an end, and this was where she chose to stop.

Twenty-seven years ago, there had been an exceptionally powerful white wolf king in the pack, revered by the villagers as a wolf god, guarding all life in the Dongshan mountains. One day, the wolf king led his elite pack northward.

A month later, not a single white wolf returned—only the wolf king, covered in blood, returned carrying a human infant.

The wolf king placed the infant by the sacred spring of the ancestral land before turning, his bloody paw prints trailing behind him as he slowly and feebly walked to the banyan tree. His internal organs had already been shattered. After a final farewell to his mate, he exhaled his last breath, the setting sun on the mountain peak reflecting in his slowly darkening golden eyes.

He had completed the final task of his life, ushering in the last descendant of the wolf god.

His mate became the new wolf king, continuing the mission he had left unfinished.

Now, the descendant of the wolf god stood beneath the tree on the mountain peak, watching them on their final journey.