Ch 38: My Wolf Husband

Beyond the Great Wall, the winter was bitterly cold. The wind and snow, mixed with flying sand, battered against the thick curtains of a military tent.

Inside, a middle-aged man dressed in a feathered robe and wearing a golden crown adorned with beast horns was kneeling upright before a blood-red jade tablet. He carefully held a black arrow in his hand, closed his blue eyes, and bowed low in reverence.

“Reporting to the Grand Shaman, the location for the palace construction has been selected. We await your permission to present the ancestral arrow to our king, who will shoot it to establish the main palace’s position,” a soldier said respectfully, approaching to retrieve the arrow. However, the middle-aged man put away the black arrow and casually handed the soldier a different arrow from a silk box brought by an attendant.

“Take this and go,” he said with a dismissive wave, then resumed his meditation on the prayer mat.

The soldier accepted the silk box and glanced at the arrow inside. Although it was made of gold, it appeared quite ordinary. “This… may I ask, Grand Shaman, is this really…” But before he could finish, the middle-aged man slightly opened his blue eyes, and the sharpness in that small glance made the soldier quickly fall silent. He carefully closed the box and respectfully exited the tent.

As the soldier stepped outside, he noticed a tall, thin man with a pallid face kneeling by the tent’s entrance. The man seemed completely impervious to the cold, as if his senses were dulled to the extreme. His face was a purplish hue, and his skin appeared dry and withered. The soldier knew that the Grand Shaman was known for his mysterious and eerie practices—who knew what kind of dark magic this was! Quickening his pace, the soldier hurried away from the area.

Inside the tent, a faint noise was heard, prompting the purple-faced man to rise and enter. His movements were stiff. Once inside, he knelt again, crossing his arms over his chest in a gesture of respect. In a hoarse voice, he reported, “Master, a squad of vine-armored soldiers has gone missing in the Central Plains. The secret arts cannot establish contact.”

The middle-aged man sat up, pondering for a moment. “Where exactly was contact lost?”

“The last communication was near the northern region of Dingping Prefecture.”

“Dingping area?” He mused over the current complicated situation, thinking that they might have encountered some local force. However, the two prefectures around Dingping were still guarded by capable generals, making it difficult to act openly.

“Stir up the spies we’ve placed there, and send another squad of falcons. Be cautious in your investigation. If it was a mistake, let it be, but if the vine-armored soldiers have truly found the main target, we may not be able to capture them immediately. We’ll need to think of other strategies.”

The purple-faced man acknowledged the order with a respectful bow and left the tent. Braving the wind, snow, and sand, he remained expressionless as he assigned men to head for the Central Plains, thousands of miles away.

In the desolate skies over the Gobi Desert, hawks soared through the wind like bolts of lightning, circling above, their sharp eyes scanning the barren land below for any sign of life or desire.

Meanwhile, in a small mountain village in the northern Central Plains, the only birds in the blue sky were sparrows searching for food. Unlike the hawks, they had no sharp beaks or talons and could only chirp as they landed on the courtyard walls of peasant homes, waiting for a chance to steal some food. At that moment, someone rushed in, crying and knocking on the door, scaring the sparrows away with a flutter. After a while, they returned to their watchful perches.

The person who had come crying was none other than Lin Shuishi’s aunt. Awhile ago, she and Ru Ge’er had exchanged a few words with Bighead Sun, who left in a huff to Rehe village and never returned, leaving the two of them waiting anxiously.

Who would have thought they’d be waiting for so many days! Ru Ge’er couldn’t wait any longer. If too much time passed and the lord found someone else he fancied, things would turn bad for him. So, he decided to leave everything behind and follow the house guards sent by the city to fetch the concubine. This left his mother alone, who then ran to the village chief’s house, crying and wailing.

The village chief, irritated by the weeping woman who kept glancing at him with a fierce look, felt a surge of resentment. He had initially planned to buy an orphan with no ties and offer them as a sacrifice to the wolves on Dongshan to settle the matter. But who would have thought that this couple insisted on selling Lin Shuishi, asking for only five taels of silver, claiming it was their contribution to the village?

At the time, he didn’t think much of it. The local shaman was pressing for a person, and the price was cheap, so he agreed. But who knew it would cause so many problems later on! Lin Shuishi was an orphan with a weak and greedy uncle, but he still had friends of his father and old acquaintances of his mother. When they came looking for him, it gave the village chief quite a headache.

Now, he had heard that Lin Shuishi had been brought down from the mountain by those old friends. What a waste of effort! The sacrificial offering escaped, and how could the wolf pack remain peaceful? The villagers were terrified every time they heard the wolves howl. Just recently, the wolves’ howls echoed all over the mountains, scaring several families from the distant mountain village into moving away. If this continued, he wouldn’t need to be the village chief anymore!

“Chief, you have to stand up for us! Our Old Sun is so timid, never daring to offend anyone. Now he’s missing, dead or alive, isn’t it all the fault of those people from Rehe? Our family only sacrificed the child for the village to appease the wolves, and now we’re being bullied like this!” she cried, her wailing continuing as even the village chief’s wife couldn’t console her.

“Now that the wolf problem hasn’t been solved, I think we should bring Lin Shuishi back and have the shaman perform another ritual!”

Hearing her earlier complaints, the village chief initially sneered inwardly. This couple had sold their orphaned nephew for money and now came to him pretending to be the victims! But when he heard the last part, his mind began to turn.

No one cared about Bighead Sun’s fate, but if it was to stabilize the villagers and ensure he could continue to comfortably be the village’s local tyrant, it might be worth a try.

He rolled his eyes and had his wife help the woman up. “Mrs. Sun, the village can’t ignore this matter. After all, it was for the wolf sacrifice. Now that something has gone wrong, we need to bring in the shaman to ask for guidance so we can all be at peace.”

Hearing that there was hope, Bighead Sun’s wife instantly stopped crying, quickly thanked him, and went home to wait for news. After Ru Ge’er left, she searched everywhere but couldn’t find her husband. She had thought of going to the county town to find her brother, who worked in the government office, but hearing that there were many refugees outside the city and that it was chaotic, she didn’t dare take action and returned home to wait.

As soon as she left, the village chief’s house fell silent. His wife, a bit worried, asked, “Are you sure about this? Inviting the shaman isn’t cheap, and we’ll need to buy someone for the sacrifice. The village can’t afford that right now.”

The village chief waved her concerns away. “You don’t understand. We’ll see what the shaman says when the time comes. Buy someone? Why bother with that when we already have someone ready? Even though many villagers have left, there are still plenty of strong men here. Do you think we can’t handle a few hunters from Rehe?”

With that in mind, he hurriedly gathered a few men while it was still daylight and went to the nearby temple to invite the shaman over.

The shaman at the temple was a charlatan, with only a basic understanding of divination and feng shui, learned from a few teachers. He set up his altar and performed rituals, deceiving people into believing he had divine powers. Many had died under his watch, but he always managed to shift the blame onto spirits and demons, taking advantage of the ignorance of the people in these small villages.

However, things hadn’t been going well for him lately. There had been some unrest in the south, and with people on edge, it was hard for him to find work. More importantly, his master, who had taught him all these tricks, had tasked him with keeping an eye out for any strange occurrences and reporting them. If he failed to do this, his career would be over.

So, when the people from Yuanshan Village came to him, saying that the sacrificial offering meant for Dongshan had returned alive, he was secretly pleased. This was an opportunity! Not only could he extort more money, but he could also investigate this strange occurrence. If he confirmed anything unusual, he could capture the person and deliver them to his master, earning himself some credit in the process.

With this in mind, the shaman chuckled to himself, prepared his robes, and grabbed his nearly bald whisk. Stroking his beard, he left the temple and was “carried with divine grace” by the villagers all the way to Yuanshan Village, a journey that took a full day and night.

Meanwhile, in Rehe Village, Lin Shuishi had been busy these past few days. He was preparing supplies for the New Year and building nests for the newly hatched gray chicks. Fuli had also been helping with the heavy lifting around the house. He had become quite adept at carrying water and chopping wood. He even started sitting by the stove to tend the fire while Lin Shuishi cooked.

The atmosphere between the two was thick with unspoken tension. Fuli often stared at Lin Shuishi, even when he was awkwardly crouched by the crackling fire, adding wood. He would steal glances at the smaller figure, who was busy cooking with sleeves rolled up, sweat glistening on his face. Sometimes, the wood would burn through, and the end would fall out of the stove, causing Fuli to scramble to fix it. He didn’t mind the heat, picking up the glowing embers with his bare hands and shoving them back into the stove. Lin Shuishi would always scold him, frowning and puffing out his cheeks, telling him to let go because the fire would burn him.

After discovering Fuli’s digestive issues, Lin Shuishi no longer had him eat the same meals. Instead, when Fuli was tending the fire, Lin Shuishi would occasionally fish out a few tasty pieces of meat from the hot pot, blow on them to cool them down, and then turn around to feed them to Fuli.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Lin Shuishi would half-open his sleepy eyes and see Fuli gazing at him with intense focus, or feel him leaning over to sniff him. Fuli’s large, imposing figure would block the light from the oil lamp, casting a shadow over Lin Shuishi.

Lin Shuishi’s heart would ache and soften. Occasionally, he would glance back at Fuli, their eyes locking in a gaze that neither could break. They would stare at each other for a long time, until Lin Shuishi’s face flushed with heat, his body warming up. Then, he would quickly pull the blanket over his head and hide away with a muffled sound.

A few days later, Lin Shuishi finally finished the edges of his wolf-fur sweater. On the day of the New Year, he happily put it on. It was warm and lightweight, just as he had hoped.

But that night, things took an unexpected turn. Lin Shuishi took off his thick outer cotton coat, wearing only the wolf-fur sweater underneath as he slipped into bed. He sighed contentedly, ready to sleep.

When Fuli returned, he hung the freshly bled prey on the wooden pole in the side room, waiting for Lin Shuishi to boil water the next day and take care of it. He shook off the snow and cold air from his body and entered the main room, lifting Lin Shuishi’s blanket to press his face close.

But as soon as he leaned in toward the pillow, he paused, his nose twitching, his expression turning dangerous and agitated. He had caught the scent of another male wolf on Lin Shuishi. With a low growl, Fuli leaped onto the bed, pinning Lin Shuishi beneath him.

Startled, Lin Shuishi was instantly wide awake. He saw Fuli lunging toward him, and before he knew it, the man’s fingers had extended into something sharp, easily slicing through the sweater Lin Shuishi was wearing. With a rough tug, Fuli ripped the wolf-fur sweater off and flung it far away.

Then, Fuli’s chest emitted a series of growls, and he bared his fangs, rubbing himself vigorously against Lin Shuishi, marking him with his own scent. It took Lin Shuishi a moment to realize what was happening. But by then, he was already naked, being thoroughly rubbed all over!

This left Lin Shuishi both embarrassed and annoyed. Apparently, Fuli could wear wolf fur, but he couldn’t! No matter how many times he had washed that sweater, Fuli could still smell the scent!

After a long while of rubbing, Fuli suddenly sat up, lifting Lin Shuishi into his arms and holding him up close. The moon outside was nearly full, and by the light filtering through the window, he spoke.

“Moon.”

Lin Shuishi, who had been pushing against Fuli’s broad shoulders, was stunned. “What?”

Fuli’s voice was deep and resonant. “My moon.”

Lin Shuishi’s breath caught in his throat, his heart racing. He looked into those warm, dark golden eyes and was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t until Fuli buried his head in Lin Shuishi’s chest, listening intently to the frantic heartbeat within, that Lin Shuishi lifted his arms, gently cupped Fuli’s rugged, wild face, and cautiously leaned in for a kiss.

Fuli froze, his muscles tensing up. For a long moment, he didn’t move, but then he tightened his embrace, holding onto his moon.

The mountain village was quiet and secluded, with only the occasional interaction between neighbors. Life was simple, filled with daily routines of eating and drinking.

In these simple and peaceful days, Lin Shuishi thought that life would continue in this tranquil rhythm, a thought that brought him contentment and joy.