Chapter 125
As dusk fell, Lu Gu stood on the ladder, still trembling with fear. He wiped the tear stains from his face and shouted toward the forest, “Guaizi!”
No barking responded from the woods. All he could see were tall trees blocking his view. The dust kicked up from the ground and the trampled grass gradually settled, leaving no trace of movement except for the chaos left behind.
The wind picked up again, rustling the treetops. As evening approached, the mountain air cooled quickly. Lu Gu was covered in dust, his face streaked with tears and dirt, making him look utterly disheveled.
He clung to the top of the wall, his expression dazed and lost. When no response came, tears streamed down his face again. With night falling, he didn’t dare go out to search for Guaizi, nor did he dare open the gate. The more he thought about it, the more heartbroken he became, almost breaking down into sobs.
Tears dripped onto the mud wall and his clothes, making his face even dirtier. He pressed his lips together tightly, trying to hold back the useless act of crying, but the tears kept flowing, unstoppable.
Just then, a few barks reached his ears. He quickly looked up and saw Da Hui and Da Hei darting out from the eastern woods, running faster than usual. Like two gusts of wind, they soon reached the gate, barking up at him.
Shen Xuanqing was back.
Lu Gu didn’t hesitate. He practically slid down the ladder and, with great effort, moved the long wooden beam blocking the gate. As soon as the gate opened, Da Hui squeezed in, wagging his tail but clearly agitated, as if he had caught the scent of a wild beast.
Da Hei sniffed the ground, but Lu Gu paid no attention to them, his eyes fixed on the eastern woods.
Soon, a strong figure appeared among the trees. Shen Xuanqing was breathing heavily, his bamboo basket gone. When he saw Lu Gu at the gate, his anxious expression softened.
Lu Gu’s tears flowed even more freely as he ran toward Shen Xuanqing.
“Are you hurt?” Shen Xuanqing asked, panting. On his way back, he had seen signs of a wild boar’s tracks leading toward the house. Panicked, he had abandoned his basket and game, running back with only his bow and quiver. Da Hui and Da Hei, having caught the boar’s scent, had raced ahead of him.
Tears blurred Lu Gu’s vision, and he choked on his words, unable to speak. He could only shake his head to show he was unharmed.
Finally finding his voice, he cried, “Guaizi… Guaizi led the boar away. He ran off, and I can’t find him. I can’t find him.”
Seeing that Lu Gu was unharmed aside from being covered in dust, Shen Xuanqing felt relieved. Only then did he notice Guaizi was missing. Glancing around, he saw the trampled ground near the gate and his heart sank. “You saw the boar?” he asked urgently.
“Yes,” Lu Gu nodded, tears streaming down his face. He wiped his face with his dusty sleeve, smearing more dirt across his cheeks, but he didn’t notice. “Guaizi was chased by the boar and ran off. He can’t handle it alone. What do we do?”
Shen Xuanqing looked at the tracks leading into the distance, his expression grim.
The deep mountains were vast, and some areas were densely forested. There was no telling where Guaizi might have run. If they went out to search, they might find him by following the tracks, but it would be dark in less than half an hour, and they wouldn’t be able to see anything.
This wasn’t like the foothills, where a few people with torches could search and call out at night. The deep mountains were home to wolves, tigers, and leopards. If they attracted bloodthirsty predators, their lives would be in danger.
“Let’s go back inside,” Shen Xuanqing said firmly.
When he saw the battered gate and the broken wooden bolt, his expression darkened. This was clearly the work of a large boar.
“It was a male, big and black, with long tusks that curved outward,” Lu Gu said, no longer crying but still wiping his tears as he recounted what had happened. “The boar chased me, and I ran into the yard. I wanted Guaizi to come in too, but when the boar charged, Guaizi had to back away and couldn’t get inside. I closed the gate, and the boar rammed it, almost breaking through. I hadn’t propped the beam yet, and Guaizi led the boar away.”
“Mm,” Shen Xuanqing frowned, deep in thought. Male boars in the mountains often foraged alone, so there was no need to worry about a herd nearby. But these creatures were nocturnal, and if Guaizi had led it far away, there was a risk of encountering it again. Even with a machete, he wouldn’t be able to face a boar head-on.
The wild boar’s thick, tough skin made it nearly impervious to attacks. If a strike didn’t land properly, it would only enrage the beast, causing it to charge wildly. Once it was in a frenzy, it would attack anything in its path, not just people. It would devour anything, even corpses.
After much deliberation, Shen Xuanqing finally spoke. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll take Da Hui out to look for Guaizi.”
Lu Gu looked up at him, his face pale and his lips colorless. He murmured, “But Guaizi…”
Shen Xuanqing’s heart was heavy, and he felt a pang of guilt. He pressed his lips together and said, “Guaizi is smart. It should be fine. He will definitely find a safe place to hide tonight. Just one night. I’ll go look for him first thing tomorrow.”
“Mm.” Lu Gu nodded. He had been too panicked earlier, but now that he thought about it, going out at night was too dangerous. He couldn’t let Shen Xuanqing take risk.
“It’s getting dark. Let’s tidy up and secure the gate,” Shen Xuanqing said, walking over to pick up the wooden bucket that had rolled to the ground. As for the bamboo basket and the game left on the path, they would deal with those after finding Guaizi tomorrow.
After the gate was closed, Lu Gu still felt uneasy. There was nothing he or Shen Xuanqing could do now except hope that Guaizi was smart enough to stay safe. The dog was clever and would likely find a good hiding spot for the night.
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