Chapter 24: Stabilizing the Basics (IV)
Huo Chong ran to the edge of the clearing and saw that the two wolves had already begun to attack from both sides. The girl had retreated to a tree and leaned against it for defense.
Whenever the wolf tried to attack, the girl would point the knife at the wolf, trying to achieve the greatest effect with the smallest movement. Even with such a labor-saving movement, the girl was out of breath and her face turned pale, almost fainting.
Huo Chong felt that he was lucky to have arrived in time. If he had hesitated a little longer before arriving, he would probably have seen the big bad wolf eating people.
Striking a stabbing posture, Huo Chong shouted, "Beast! Come to me!"
The two wolves heard the sound and turned their heads. One of them had a cut on its nose. The girl was so exhausted that her arms were weak. The blood on the small wound had already coagulated. It did not affect the wolf's actions.
Huo Chong did not expect to understand wolf language, so he shouted and thrust his hunting fork at a wolf. The hungry wolf immediately jumped away, and a smell of wild beasts came, and another wild wolf had already pounced on him.
The long handle of the hunting fork thrust back, and a sound similar to that of a dog being hit was heard. The wolf, hit by the stick, whimpered and ran away. Huo Chong shouted again: "Kill!"
Seeing how ferocious Huo Chong was, the two wild wolves stood far away, baring their teeth and howling at him. Huo Chong found that he didn't really want to kill the wild wolves. If possible, Huo Chong just wanted to drive them away.
"Get out! Get out!" Huo Chong shouted at the wild wolf.
Faced with such an offense, the wild wolves also made low noises of protest and stood still, waiting for their chance to act.
As his heart rate slowed down, Huo Chong lost the mood to kill the wolf. The wolf on the other side also seemed to have gradually lost the urge to fight to the death. The two sides stared at each other in a stalemate.
Huo Chong suddenly recalled a travel record with photos. A fat black man who didn't know how to die met a wild wolf on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The fat man patiently lured the wild wolf over with a piece of pork belly and stroked it to his heart's content. In the 21st century, where everything can be stroked, the fat black man said at the end of the article that as a wolf, he was willing to be stroked for a large piece of meat. What's the difference between this wolf and a husky?
At this time, Huo Chong had no meat in his arms, only two roasted potatoes. It was unknown whether the two hungry wolf brothers would lower their food standards in such a difficult time.
He reached out and took out a potato, broke it in half, pressed salt grains on the potato cut surface, and threw it at the wolf. Perhaps thinking that Huo Chong was throwing stones at them, the wolf immediately ran away swiftly. He growled again .
But after a while, the wolf brothers seemed to feel that something was not right. One of them continued to press Huo Chong, while the other one cautiously approached and smelled the potato, then licked the salt a few times.
Ahaha! If you have eaten my salt, you have to give me face. Huo Chong carried the hunting fork, made a big circle, and walked to the girl. He grabbed the girl's hand and started to walk away backwards with her.
The wolf brothers did not pursue, but continued to whisper threats. But Huo Chong was no longer afraid. Wolves were indeed intelligent animals. Although the ancestors of the two in front of him were unlucky and did not mix into human society, or they were too stubborn to bend for a few bones. At least when Huo Chong took the girl away from their attack range, the wolves had to decide whether to live or die before they died.
Without continuing to observe what the two wolf brothers did to Potato, Huo Chong took the girl back to a safe place. When the figures of the wolf brothers were completely covered by the grass and trees, they felt a shock on their hands, and the girl had already shaken off Huo Chong's hand.
Huo Chong withdrew his gaze from the direction of the wolf brothers. The girl had already retreated repeatedly, exuding a wildness no less than that of the wolf brothers. A knife that looked a bit like the one used by the yamen runners pointed at Huo Chong like a wolf's fang, trying to stop Huo Chong from getting closer again.
Oh! Isn't it interesting?
Huo Chong was not in a hurry and observed the girl carefully. In this era, it was very easy to distinguish between men and women. As long as they had a rat-tail hairstyle, they were men, otherwise they were women.
The girl didn't have much strength to shake off Huo Chong's hand, but she had great skill. The way she held the knife showed that she must be a martial artist. Judging from her figure, she could only be between 12 and 16.
The clothes were dirty and torn, but the material was good. She was not from a poor family. Moreover, the girl washed her face, and Huo Chong liked her hygienic habits.
There were marks of rope or chain rubbing on her neck and wrists, which meant she must have escaped after being captured. The girl also had a pair of natural feet, wearing a pair of cloth shoes of the right size, and she stood very steadily. It was obvious that she had never bound her feet.
Of course, there were kidnappings in the Qing Dynasty, but kidnapping a girl from a wealthy family who had practiced martial arts was not reasonable. What kind of situation ?
Huo Chong was thinking, but the girl looked a little frightened by Huo Chong's gaze. She took two steps back and asked, "Excuse me, what is the name of the person opposite?"
Wow! She has even been to school. Huo Chong immediately became interested in recruiting this girl.
"I am the leader of the Tianli Sect in Zhangdian, Zibo, and my name is Huo Chong. May I ask what your name is, young lady?"
The girl didn't answer, but the thoughtful expression on her face proved that she understood what Huo Chong said. Huo Chong liked it even more. If this was said to the people in Zhangdian, at least nine out of ten would not understand it at all.
Huo Chong was too lazy to talk nonsense. The most important thing was that he didn't know whether Zhu Erniu and Li Tieniu would wake up. He said to the girl frankly: "Let me make it short. I need an accountant and you have nowhere to go. You can survive by working as an accountant with me."
"I don't want to be your subordinate!" the girl replied in shock and anger.
Huo Chong took two steps forward, turned his back to the girl, and used a hunting fork to write the word "live" on the ground, and then wrote the word "die". As expected, the girl did not sneak attack, and Huo Chong gave way after writing the words. The girl looked down, and her face was even more shocked and angry.
"As expected, he can read. He can be an accountant first." Huo Chong was completely satisfied.
The knife in the girl's hand began to tremble. It was unclear whether it was because of hunger or because she was frightened by the meaning of the two words.
"Hmm..." Huo Chong scratched his cheek, "You weren't sold, nor did you escape from your evil in-laws' house. You certainly weren't kidnapped by bandits. The only option left is that you were captured by the government."
The girl showed a look of being exposed, but surprisingly she was not afraid, nor did she show her vicious side out of despair. Huo Chong suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a possibility, "Girl, your family has been implicated by the literary inquisition."
"You..." The girl's body trembled and she almost couldn't hold the knife.
"Haha, don't be afraid. I don't care if you are a relative of a prisoner in the Literary Inquisition. I just want a subordinate who is good at both civil and military affairs. You are a good match for me. Come on, follow me. Let's hide in my house and no one will know."
"Go to hell!" The girl shouted and swung her knife towards Huo Chong.
Huo Chong didn't even use his hunting fork, he rushed directly in front of the young criminal from the literary inquisition and cut her neck with one palm. The girl who was knocked unconscious by this blow fell limp and fell into Huo Chong's arms.
With a clang, the knife fell to the ground.
