Song Jinzhao lit the torch and leaped onto the courtyard wall in a few swift steps.
"Sister." Song Qiming's eyes widened.
He hadn't closed the gate. Instead, he turned and ran behind the main hall to grab an axe, standing guard at the doorway, ready for battle.
Although his legs trembled uncontrollably, his hands gripping the axe were firm and strong.
From her perch on the wall, Song Jinzhao had a clear view of the neighboring courtyard.
One wild wolf prowled the yard, while two others dragged the elderly Song Datian out from his house.
His trousers were already torn to shreds, the flesh of his calf exposed and bleeding.
Song Datian's son, Song Shuisheng, charged out of the house with a club, only for the waiting wolf to leap and pounce towards him.
From inside the main hall, Song Shuisheng's wife screamed, covering her son's eyes with her hands, too afraid to let him see.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant. Song Jinzhao nocked an arrow and let it fly, aiming for the wolf's eye.
The struck wolf tumbled in mid-air and crashed to the ground.
Song Shuisheng raised his club and brought it down hard on the creature's head.
The two wolves biting Song Datian, seeing their companion attacked, immediately released their grip and lunged separately towards Song Shuisheng and Song Jinzhao.
The wall was too high, and with the additional barrier of the wall and the pathway, the wolf leaping for Song Jinzhao couldn't reach her no matter how it jumped.
Two arrows shot out in quick succession, piercing the wolf's eye and belly, striking its heart.
Song Shuisheng scrambled on all fours to his father's side. Seeing the gushing blood from the calf and Song Datian's contorted, agonized face, his heart felt like it would pound out of his chest, his entire being consumed by panic.
So much blood... would Father die?
Just as Song Jinzhao was preparing another arrow, a series of wolf howls sounded from not far away, growing closer and closer.
"Catch this! Use the torch to protect yourself!" She threw the torch she had placed on the wall to Song Shuisheng, then moved along the wall to the front of the main gate.
Pairs of yellow-green eyes glowed starkly against the darkness of the night, accompanied by low, menacing growls that struck fear into the heart.
In the distance, clusters of torches flared to life, like a growing fiery dragon drawing nearer and nearer.
"Over there! At Datian's place!"
A flood of villagers, holding torches, hoes, and axes, surged towards the scene.
The pitch-black sky was illuminated by the firelight, and wolf after wolf became clearly visible before Song Jinzhao's eyes.
Eight in total, all robust adult wild wolves.
Song Jinzhao drew her bow and shot, aiming for their eyes and bellies.
Village Chief Song Mancang arrived with the villagers. Following the roar of the lead wolf, the pack turned and fled towards the back hills.
Oldest Song looked up at Song Jinzhao standing on the wall, bow drawn, and felt an aura of lethal intent emanating from her.
"Anyone dead?"
Song Jinzhao shook her head, lowering her bow. "Grandpa Tian is injured, but alive."
The crowd rushed into the neighboring courtyard, staring in horror at the three wolf corpses lying on the ground.
One had an arrow in its belly; the other two had arrows in their eyes, their heads smashed to pulp by a wooden club.
Song Shuisheng sat helplessly on the ground, using his clothes to staunch the blood flowing from Song Datian's calf.
Inside the house, the two women were already weeping, while the child sheltered between them trembled, scared stiff.
Song Jinzhao turned and jumped down from the wall, going to the west room to fetch the golden wound medicine for treating external injuries.
Song Shixue came out of the room holding Song Anhao.
Song Jinzhao opened the courtyard gate. "The wolves are gone. You two go back to your room and sleep, don't catch a chill."
Pushing through the crowded onlookers, Song Jinzhao crouched down. "Move aside."
Song Shuisheng looked up and instinctively shuffled back a step.
He would never forget last night's life-saving grace, as heroic as a deity descending from heaven.
Lifting the cloth pressed against the wound, she saw the bleeding wasn't excessive.
"Bear with it."
Pressing lightly on the surrounding muscle, she confirmed no major blood vessels were damaged.
Song Jinzhao sprinkled the medicinal powder onto the wound and tied it tightly with cloth.
Song Datian's fingers dug into his palms, veins bulging at his temples, his upper body trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing the bleeding stop, a flicker of astonishment passed through the eyes of the crowd.
Since when did Song Jinzhao know medicine?
Once Song Datian was out of danger, Song Mancang asked Song Jinzhao, "Will those wolves come back?"
With three dead in the courtyard and two more outside, the villagers thought they probably wouldn't return.
Song Jinzhao looked towards the path leading to the back hills.
"Losing five wolves is a significant blow to them. They likely won't come down to attack us again until they're sure they can wipe us all out."
The villagers still gathered at the gate breathed a sigh of relief. If they came again, who knew which household would be unlucky next?
Song Datian had survived because Song Jinzhao lived right next door. They wouldn't have such good fortune.
The night had been too harrowing; after returning home, none of the villagers dared to sleep.
At first light, Song Shuisheng and his wife arrived at Song Jinzhao's house, bringing two chickens.
"Thank you so much for your help last night. Otherwise, my father surely wouldn't have made it."
Given the situation, by the time the village chief arrived with the others, not only his father, but he himself might have been dead.
Song Jinzhao declined. "It's nothing, just a matter of course."
Shuisheng's wife directly tossed the two chickens into the chicken coop. "We don't have anything valuable at home. Let Qiming and the others have these to nourish themselves. They must have been terrified last night."
Seeing the chickens already inside her coop, Song Jinzhao didn't refuse further.
"The wound is deep and won't heal quickly. Let me get you some more medicine."
She fetched another bottle of golden wound medicine from the west room and handed it to Song Shuisheng. "Change the dressing twice a day. The wound should knit together in about half a month."
The golden wound medicine at home was made by Song Jinzhao with Song Shixue's help during the New Year, using medicinal ingredients bought from the He Family Clinic before the holiday.
Song Shuisheng thought of her proficient bleed-staunching actions last night. She must have suffered many injuries during her hunts in the mountains.
Song Mancang came to see Song Jinzhao with Song Shigen. Both wore slightly unnatural smiles.
"Jinzhao, the five wolves killed last night are now at the ancestral hall. How do you think they should be handled?"
Song Jinzhao studied the expressions on their faces and had already guessed what they were scheming.
The villagers hadn't actually fought the wolf pack when they arrived. They hadn't killed those five wolves, yet now they wanted a share.
Many people had rushed over last night to help. Giving them nothing would surely breed resentment.
Song Jinzhao said, "Uncle Shuisheng finished off the last two with his club. Give me three wolf pelts, plus ten jin of wolf meat. The rest, the village can decide."
Song Mancang's expression relaxed into a smile.
He agreed readily. "Good, I'll have someone skin them and bring the pelts to you."
"Many households haven't had meat since the New Year. This way, every family can get a share."
The remaining two pelts were given by the village chief to Song Shuisheng, while the villagers only divided the meat.
Second Song and Second Aunt Song sat in the main hall, complaining to Song Jinzhao.
"Several hundred jin of wolf meat should have been all yours, and now you only get ten jin. Even your eldest uncle's family only got twenty."
"Jinzhao, maybe you should go talk to the village chief, get more meat for us."
Song Jinzhao tried to force a smile, but the corners of her mouth felt stiff, as if plastered with plaster.
If she remembered correctly, he seemed to have been standing at the very back last night, hiding behind others, his posture rather... craven.
"The wolf meat is too tough. Neither Qiming nor Shixue likes it. Second Aunt, why don't you take the rest home for Second Uncle?"
Song Jinzhao brought out the remaining meat from the kitchen and handed it to Second Aunt Song.
They had cooked a pound of it at noon, stewing it for two full hours, yet it still wouldn't soften.
Taking a bite was like chewing on straw, so she had no intention of cooking the rest.
Second Song and Second Aunt Song happily headed back with nine pounds of wolf meat, no longer dwelling on the small share the village chief had given them.
