Ch 64: My Wolf Husband

The next morning, Lin Shuishi had already packed up his belongings.

Recently, with the three armies of the feudal lords arriving in Pingzhou to support the royal cause, Rear General Jiang Zhao was busy with political maneuvering and balancing the various powers. He no longer had time to concern himself with the two strangers.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, before dawn, Lin Shuishi bid farewell to Dr. Sun and, together with Fuli, left the military camp.

Their investigation, which had been delayed for some time, had only just begun to reveal some clues. With the chaos of the ongoing war, further incidents were bound to occur, and certain hidden truths might soon be exposed.

Fuli leaped and bounded through the rugged mountains, holding the small figure of Lin Shuishi in his right arm, while his left hand carried a small floral-patterned cloth bundle. Lin Shuishi had grown accustomed to life in the wilderness by now, and his small bundle was well-prepared for the journey, jingling softly with every step.

As Fuli followed the scent along their path, his nose twitched, and he came to a stop in the middle of a vast, untouched field of blooming rapeseed flowers. Lin Shuishi, clinging tightly to Fuli’s broad shoulders, turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong? Are you tired?”

He playfully raised his sleeve, pretending to wipe sweat from Fuli’s brow, even though there wasn’t a drop of sweat on his handsome face—only a bit of rapeseed pollen carried by the wind.

Lin Shuishi blinked, then leaned in close, took a deep breath, puffed out his cheeks, and with a loud “pfft,” blew the pollen off Fuli’s face with all his might!

Fuli’s ears flicked back instinctively, and he squinted his eyes. But after the playful blow, he still didn’t move on. Instead, he tilted his head and set Lin Shuishi down in the flower field.

He then lifted the small bundle he had been carrying in his left hand, noticing a small wet spot on the floral cloth, something sticky dripping from it. Seeing this, Lin Shuishi exclaimed, “Oh no! Check if the honey jar is broken or leaking! That little black bear will be furious if it doesn’t get its treat.”

Lin Shuishi quickly opened the bundle and saw that the wooden jar from the military camp hadn’t withstood the jostling from Fuli’s rough travel. A corner of the lid had broken off, and the golden, sticky honey had started leaking, dripping all along their path.

Lin Shuishi immediately set to work on “rescuing” the honey. He bent down, grabbed a handful of rapeseed leaves, and stuffed them into the crack to stop the leak. Then he scooped up the spilled honey with his hands and, holding out his small, sticky hands, offered it to Fuli.

“Oh, don’t worry about cleanliness—eating a little dirt won’t hurt! Honey is hard to come by this season. The old deaf cook gave me the last jar, so we shouldn’t waste it…”

Fuli’s lips were pried open by Lin Shuishi’s fingers, and as he watched his partner fumble around, his soft ears twitched slightly. With no other choice, the grown beast, who didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, slowly licked the sticky sweetness off the fingers at his mouth.

As Lin Shuishi continued to clean up the mess, he noticed Fuli spit out his fingers and then urged him, “Hurry.”

“Huh? Wait a second, I haven’t sealed it properly yet.” Lin Shuishi replied as he waved away the buzzing sounds of the bees that were beginning to gather around them.

“Heh, there sure are a lot of bees in this flower field!”

But then Fuli raised an eyebrow and signaled with his eyes towards the flower field.

Lin Shuishi glanced in that direction and immediately froze, his scalp tingling. At the edge of the flower field and the forest, a massive swarm of bees was heading straight for them, buzzing loudly.

With the nearby forests damaged, this flower field was one of the few places with nectar, and the bees, having endured a long winter, had all gathered here. Now, attracted by the sweet scent that had trailed them all the way, they were swarming toward the small wooden jar in Lin Shuishi’s hand.

Lin Shuishi took a sharp breath. The bees that had survived the winter were all strong and robust, from formidable species. Even Fuli, with his keen eyesight, could clearly see the venomous stingers at the ends of the massive bees’ tails! This sight brought back unpleasant memories of his childhood encounters with the White Wolf King’s brothers.

With a click of his tongue, Fuli hoisted Lin Shuishi over his shoulder and bolted!

As he ran, the movement stirred up the knee-high rapeseed flowers, sending clouds of yellow-orange pollen into the air. The fresh wind scattered it across the bright, clear landscape.

Lin Shuishi, still holding the leaking honey jar, clung to Fuli’s shoulder, watching the swaying fields and flowers as they ran. He couldn’t stop laughing, his joy growing more unrestrained and exuberant with every passing moment.

He realized he still loved this feeling—this sense of bounding through nature, utterly free and unfettered.

Even with a swarm of bees the size of fists chasing after them.

Fuli, noticing the mischief-maker laughing non-stop, gave him a firm slap on the buttocks. But eventually, they were completely surrounded by the bees and could no longer escape. Fuli halted, intending to take off his thick sweater and wrap it around the little troublemaker who was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

However, Lin Shuishi suddenly slipped out of Fuli’s embrace, removed the stopper from the honey jar, and revealed the pure honey inside. Surrounded by the swarm, he took a few steps forward and carefully placed the jar on a small stone platform. Then, with a smile, he stepped back to Fuli’s side.

“You’re leaving it behind?” Fuli asked, looking down at this unpredictable companion.

Lin Shuishi shook his head and said, “Let that black bear spirit catch its own fish to eat! I’ve taken from nature and now I’m giving back to it.”

The lead male bee buzzed around Lin Shuishi for a moment before the rest of the swarm began to lift the honey jar. The bees were so large that just a small group of them was enough to lift the heavy wooden jar into the air.

Lin Shuishi watched as the swarm of bees, carrying the jar, buzzed off into the distance. The young man, with a faint red birthmark between his brows, put his hands on his hips and turned to the man with a grin, saying, “Well, we’re out of honey now.”

The man, however, pulled him into his arms and, with a serious expression, murmured in a low voice, “I still have some, and it’s still sweet.”

With that, he lowered his head and kissed his mischievous partner, sharing the sweetness that lingered at the corners of their lips, a sweetness they had only just acquired.

…

Before dusk, the two of them crossed over the mountains. Lin Shuishi had fallen asleep on the man’s back and was gently woken up. When he opened his eyes, he saw that they were in front of a dense, overgrown forest filled with brambles.

The paths leading into the forest, which humans could use, were blocked by thorns, making entry difficult without hacking through them, which would cause quite a commotion. Just as Lin Shuishi was wondering what to do, he noticed a flicker of eerie green light flash and disappear from a hollow in a large tree ahead!

Listening to the wind rustling through the silent, dark forest and the distant cawing of crows, Lin Shuishi felt a shiver run down his spine. He was about to call Fuli over to investigate when he saw that under the dim moonlight, it wasn’t ghostly flames at all! It was the soft head of a large white wolf poking out of the small hollow in the tree. The green glow was none other than its piercing wolf eyes!

The white wolf, recognizing Fuli and Lin Shuishi, leaped out of the tree hollow and greeted them affectionately, so much so that Lin Shuishi stumbled and almost fell into Fuli. Fuli reached out a large hand, patted the massive wolf’s head—its size larger than Lin Shuishi’s waist—and instructed it to lead the way.

Following behind the wolf, they quickly navigated through the previously impassable obstacles, heading straight for the mountaintop.

As the trees and thickets retreated behind them, Lin Shuishi patted Fuli’s shoulder and remarked, “This place feels so eerie. There’s no sign of any living creatures in this forest.”

Not only were there no deer, cattle, or sheep, but there were also no birds, snakes, or rodents. Even when he spotted a small pool of water, it was nearly dried up, the muddy water giving off a foul stench.

Fuli, however, remained unfazed. “They’ve been driven away. The nearby village’s water is poisoned; nothing can survive here.”

“Poisoned?”

“Yes, by wisteria poison. The wolf pack tracked it to this place.”

As they spoke, they arrived at a stone cliff halfway up the mountain. Hidden within a secluded rock cave were several wolves. Lin Shuishi moved closer to take a careful look.

Fuli conversed with the wolves for quite a while in low growls and rumbles. It turned out that this small pack of wolves, after finding Fuli, had started following his instructions to track the scent of the withered vine people buried in the Dongshan Gorge. The closer they got, the more dangerous the surroundings became, until the river water turned poisonous, and the mountain’s wildlife had all died, leaving behind what was now a series of silent “dead mountains.”

The wolf cub and bear cub still refused to go back, insisting on staying with the pack to wait for Lin Shuishi. Even after being scolded and beaten by the brother of the mother wolf king who had followed them, they wouldn’t settle down and kept rolling around, refusing to leave. Now, they had been hidden away in a tree hollow by their uncle, who had grabbed them by the scruff of their necks.

Lin Shuishi looked around, feeling the eerie and sinister atmosphere, and let out a sigh of relief. “Well, at least they’re safe. Honestly, if I’d known it would be like this, I might have just snuck them back into the tent. At least I’d be at ease.”

Inside the tree hollow, the two little ones were curled up together, fast asleep, their bellies rising and falling with each breath as they snored. The half-grown white wolf, squashed beneath the bear cub’s belly fat, suddenly twitched its ears, having been beaten by its uncle. It quickly lifted its head, listened intently for a moment, then let out a loud “Awoo!” and bolted upright, kicking the bear cub and running outside without looking back.

Lin Shuishi had just set down his bundle when a white blur came flying toward him, whining as it leaped into his arms. The next moment, a warm, wet tongue was slathering his face with licks, making it hard for Lin Shuishi to even open his eyes.

“Alright, alright, enough with the licking.”

The little wolf continued licking, but then it pressed its fluffy, warm muzzle against Lin Shuishi’s cheek, sniffing intently before letting out a loud sneeze, “Achoo!”

“Hahaha, I told you to stop licking! My face is covered in rapeseed pollen—no wonder your little nose is itchy!”

After finishing its bout of affection, the wolf pup pounced on Lin Shuishi’s small bundle, eagerly digging with its paws until it pulled out a piece of braised meat. With sparkling blue eyes, it happily began to eat.

Fuli, however, had no time for pleasantries. He was busy reviewing the results from the wolves’ expanded search area, and his face grew darker as he did so. Finally, he decided to head down the mountain.

But before leaving, he glanced back at his partner, who was still playing with the little wolf. After a moment of thought, he scooped Lin Shuishi up and leaped back to the hidden tree hollow. There, he carefully placed both the bundle and his companion inside, making sure Lin Shuishi was comfortably resting against the belly of the still-sleeping black bear cub. He then gently tucked the little wolf back into the hollow.

Fuli’s eyes glowed with a soft golden light in the darkness, but his vertical pupils were even more pronounced, giving him a cold and deadly aura in the silent mountain forest.

“You stay here and wait for me to return.”

Seeing that something was wrong, Lin Shuishi quickly clung to the edge of the tree hollow, peering out. “Where are you going?”

With a branch and grass mat in hand to cover the entrance, Fuli’s figure, outlined by the moonlight, radiated a chilling, ominous presence.

He reached out to touch Lin Shuishi’s face, then gazed toward the east and uttered only two words.

“Judgment.”