"Did we really kill all those wolves?"
Even though the wolf carcasses had been gathered and piled into a small mountain, the villagers still found it hard to believe.
Those were wolves! A pack of over two hundred wolves!
And they had no casualties! Not a single person was injured!
Apart from a few blisters on their hands from chopping trees and digging traps these past few days, no one had been harmed by the wolves!
Hunter Yang kept exclaiming that it was heaven's blessing.
He had hunted for most of his life, and this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. A group of mud-legged villagers armed only with cleavers and hatchets had annihilated a wolf pack. Who would believe it if they heard it?
After the villagers recovered, Jiang Pan organized everyone to skin the wolves.
Everyone except the children became busy. They skinned the wolves, cleaned the hides, and hung them to dry. Once dry, they could be tanned and made into clothes.
For the white wolf's hide, Jiang Pan asked Hunter Yang to help skin it. Their skills as mud-legged people were not very good, and it would be too much of a pity if such a fine hide was ruined.
As he skinned, Hunter Yang praised, "This wolf is truly huge. I've hunted for most of my life and never seen a wolf this large. Not only is it big, but its fur is also excellent, without a single stray hair. This wolf hide alone could sell for at least a hundred taels of silver."
Jiang Wan said gleefully, "Then will I be wearing a hundred taels of silver?"
Hunter Yang remarked, "You little girl are truly capable. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that you killed this wolf. How did you manage to kill it without harming it at all?"
Jiang Wan raised her small fist and said, "It was just a punch. I punched it once, and its brains scattered. It had to die."
Hunter Yang: ...
He still wasn't quite accustomed to this little girl who looked like a New Year picture doll, speaking such brutal words with a calm expression.
While they were skinning, a few villagers came over to ask, "Village Chief, what should we do with so much wolf meat?"
Jiang Pan replied without hesitation, "Dig a pit and bury it."
"Bury it?"
Those villagers couldn't understand. That was all meat! Each wolf weighed forty to fifty catties. Over two hundred wolves would be enough for their village to eat until next year.
Jiang Pan was also reluctant, but he insisted, "These wolves, they ate people."
Although they were short on food now, they hadn't reached the point of starvation. Since those wolves had eaten people, he found it truly unacceptable to eat wolf meat.
Upon hearing this, the villagers also found it unacceptable and said with a pang of regret, "Then bury it."
However, many households were running low on grain, and food shortage became their biggest concern after the wolf pack.
Jiang Pan was naturally aware of this. He turned to Hunter Yang and asked, "How much longer will it take to get out of this path?"
Hunter Yang replied, "At least another five to six days."
Jiang Pan asked, "Are there any towns ahead? I want to divide these wolf hides equally among everyone. When we reach a town, everyone can exchange the wolf hides for some food."
Hunter Yang nodded, "Naturally, there are. But in this current world, food isn't that easy to buy."
Jiang Pan's heart was heavy. "I hope we can have some good luck."
As he spoke, he glanced at Jiang Wan, hoping she could discuss with the immortal to see if they could also look after the villagers.
Jiang Wan turned her head away, not wanting to deal with him.
The villagers buried all the wolf carcasses on the spot, not elsewhere, but in the traps they had dug.
Some ill-behaved children, seeing so much meat buried in the pits, couldn't help but cry, saying they wanted to eat meat.
Madam Cheng found Chen Yuezhi, "Sister-in-law Jiang, I have some silver here. When we leave this place and find a town, we can use it to buy food and distribute it to everyone."
Chen Yuezhi quickly declined, "How can we do that? How can we take your silver?"
Madam Cheng, with teary eyes, said, "Sister-in-law Jiang, please don't refuse. Just for the fact that you didn't eat the wolf meat, I owe you this kindness. My guards and servants were harmed by these wolves. You killing these wolves is helping me avenge my deep-seated hatred. You don't eat wolf meat, I... I really don't know what to say to express my gratitude. A little silver is nothing."
"I... I have one more humble request. Could you ask Brother Jiang to help search this mountain forest for the remains of my loyal servants? I don't want them to die without even a place to be buried."
Chen Yuezhi couldn't bear to hear these words and also began to shed tears, "Your guards and servants are fortunate to have a mistress like you."
Turning back, Chen Yuezhi relayed this matter to Jiang Pan, asking if he could find a way to help.
Jiang Pan pondered for a moment and then agreed.
He gathered the villagers and said, "Everyone listen to me. Everyone knows about Madam Cheng's situation. Her guards and servants met their end in this mountain. Madam Cheng has provided a sum of silver and asks for everyone's help to enter the mountain to search for the remains of those loyal servants."
Upon hearing that there was silver to be earned, the villagers immediately agreed.
Since there were no more wolves in the mountains, everyone going into the mountains to find remains might even be able to hunt some game.
While the villagers were in good spirits, Jiang Wan was under immense pressure.
Chen Yuezhi was angry with her and refused to speak to her. Jiang Pan was also given a cold shoulder by Chen Yuezhi.
Jiang Pan humbled himself and kept apologizing, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have taken Wanwan to do such dangerous things. I'm not a good father."
Jiang Wan quickly said, "Mom, I was wrong too. I shouldn't have followed Dad to take risks. I'm not a good daughter."
Chen Yuezhi didn't want to deal with them and simply treated them as air.
Jiang Pan, at his wit's end, simply said, "I shouldn't have been the village chief. If I wasn't the village chief, I wouldn't have to worry about the lives of over three hundred people in the village. If I wasn't the village chief, I wouldn't have to take my daughter to take risks."
Jiang Wan also chimed in, "I shouldn't have relied on the protection of the immortal and followed my dad to take risks. I'm still a child, I just needed to sit and watch my dad go to his death."
Jiang Pan looked at her with shock.
Chen Yuezhi glared at the father and daughter pair, "Do you two think you did nothing wrong?"
Jiang Pan, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, said, "Weren't we thinking of the bigger picture? I am the village chief, if I don't step up, who will?"
Jiang Wan added, "If my dad was going to take risks, could I just watch him go to his death without protecting him? Mom, I think neither my dad nor I are wrong. We just did what we should have done."
Seeing the father and daughter getting more and more carried away, Chen Yuezhi, angered, pinched Jiang Pan.
"So you two thought I was angry about this?"
Jiang Pan gasped in pain, "Then what else?"
Chen Yuezhi didn't want to deal with them, "Go and figure out what you did wrong yourselves!"
With that, she turned her back, deciding to continue giving them the cold shoulder.
Su Shi leaned over and said, "Dad, Wanwan, Mom is angry because you hid it from her. Such a big thing, and you didn't even say a word. When I found out, I was almost scared to death."