Fu Xin Ci, unfazed by the people behind her, only pretended to remain composed as she stared at the leader of the wolves, aware of the watchful eyes upon her.
The scene was bizarre: while other girls her age trembled and clung to their parents for comfort, she appeared remarkably calm, more collected than her own father.
Fu Xin Ci thought, if only she weren't afraid of scaring everyone, she would have pulled out the QBZ from her space and put an end to this detestable creature with a single shot.
"Ci'er, should we move over there together?" Meng Qing Ping didn't want to be with the Meng clan members, especially after his son and daughter-in-law had arrived. He feared the Meng clan might harbor ill intentions towards the young couple.
"Grandfather, let's just stay here, we're not going anywhere." With weapons in hand, Fu Xin Ci believed she could protect her family. If they were with the Meng clan, apart from the unpredictable nature of people, she worried about her family getting separated in a crowd, which would distract her and make things even more difficult.
"Alright, we'll listen to my eldest granddaughter. We're not going anywhere, we'll stay right here."
Fu Yu wondered why his old father seemed so strange lately, always consulting Ci'er about everything. He, as a son, felt like he was being sidelined, like a mere decoration.
What was happening? Who could enlighten him?
Fang Shi's idea was even simpler and more direct: as long as the family was together, that was all that mattered.
Meng Qi Shan, who had been hesitating whether to move, resolutely decided to stay after hearing the words of his second uncle and his grandniece.
Luo'er and Ke'er rubbed their sleepy eyes and moved closer to their second paternal granduncle.
"You two move back," Meng Qing Ping picked up two sturdy branches from the ground, handing one to his son and keeping the other for himself as a weapon.
Qi Shan also pushed Qi Ren, whom he was holding, into Qi Tian's arms and, like his second uncle, found a strong, thick branch from the ground.
"Brother," Qi Tian also wanted to step forward to help.
"You just look after them, you're not needed here."
"Uh."
Qi He thought, he wanted to stay by Sister Fu's side, he wanted to fight wolves with Sister Fu.
But he didn't have a suitable weapon in hand. What should he do?
"…?"
Seeing the slingshot Sister Fu secretly passed to him, Qi He was so excited he almost jumped. He had always coveted this thing, but his father wasn't around to make one for him. He had also wanted to buy one, but the second son of landlord Liu had bought his for dozens of large coins, and he didn't have the money.
Today, Sister Fu had fulfilled his wish. Oh my goodness, if his ears weren't covering his mouth, his grin would have stretched to the back of his head.
"Shh…"
"Mmm-hmm."
After stabilizing himself for a moment, Qi He quietly said to Fu Xin Ci, "Sister Fu, are you a mind-reader? Do you know what I want?"
"Brother Qi, can you stop being so disgusting?"
"Hehe, Sister Fu, I was wrong. Sister Fu is a fairy from heaven, the most beautiful fairy." Qi He felt that saying this was definitely correct.
Fu Xin Ci, however, was not pleased. She tilted her head, gave him a sideways glance, and then, with a hint of unfriendliness, uttered something she was reluctant to admit: "Brother Qi, is there such a dark and grubby fairy like me?"
"…" Qi He didn't know what to say.
Fu Xin Ci thought, she seemed to have killed the conversation.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Qi He fully utilized his vast imagination and obsequiously came up with a solution for Sister Fu: "Sister Fu, when we get to a place with water, you can wash up and become fair."
This time, it was Fu Xin Ci's turn to be speechless.
She had indeed considered if she could find an opportunity to hide in her space and take a bath during today's heavy rain. But later, too many things happened, and she didn't get to wash.
Now that Qi He had blurted it out so openly, she felt like burying herself.
Fortunately, time waited for no one. While the children here were bantering, Jiang Tou'er had already made arrangements on the other side.
He arranged for people to guard the temple gate and windows, waiting for dawn.
Fu Xin Ci thought, it would be the best outcome if everyone could guard until dawn without any harm.
However, those present with even a little experience knew that since the wolves had targeted them, they wouldn't give up easily.
The rain had stopped at some point, but Jiang Tou'er became tense. He quietly instructed everyone to stay alert, not to slacken in the slightest, and not to give the wolves any opportunity.
In the dilapidated temple, apart from Jiang Tou'er's voice, everyone else listened in silence. Even the usually boisterous children seemed to sense the approaching danger and huddled in their parents' arms.
Bao'er, with his wide, rolling eyes and a fearful expression, clung tightly to Meng Xiao He's neck.
It was well known that Meng Xiao He was timid, and the atmosphere frightened her into speechlessness. But at this moment, with Bao'er clinging to her, she had to muster her courage and pretend to be brave, though her face looked somewhat frightening under the firelight.
Fu Xin Ci was fully alert. Her position was good, and she could see the expressions of everyone in the dilapidated temple.
Time seemed to pass slowly, and the atmosphere grew even more oppressive, on the verge of breaking out.
However, the children gradually relaxed, obediently leaning on their parents and dozing off. The more restless ones were starting to stir.
But before they could cause a commotion, a wolf howl was heard from about a hundred paces outside the temple gate.
"Everyone, be alert. The leader wolf has given the order," Jiang Tou'er and the dark-faced strong man at the temple gate instructed the Guan Hu brothers guarding the windows.
"Boss, don't worry, we know."
Regardless of how lax they might have been normally, at this moment, they were all serious.
"Oooooh ~ Awooo ~" The long wolf howl once again echoed through the midnight mountain forest. Everyone in the dilapidated temple guessed that the wolves were about to attack.
Through the dense bushes washed by the rain, Fu Xin Ci easily distinguished four clusters of chilling, eerie green lights.
They were rapidly approaching the dilapidated temple, and Fu Xin Ci immediately lowered her voice to remind everyone.
"Grandpa Jiang, four wolves are charging at us."
"Alright, thank you, Fu girl, for the reminder." Jiang Tou'er, though tense, showed no panic in his words. He even managed a joke, "Four wolves, shall we divide them and see how many pairs we have?"
Jiang Tou'er's humor was to ease everyone's burden and prevent them from being too nervous.
Indeed, Jiang Tou'er's words were effective, and the strained nerves of everyone finally eased slightly.
However, before anyone could respond, the four wolves had already pounced outside the temple gate.
Their target was clear: the mules and horses tethered outside the temple gate.
The donkey pulling Fu Yu's cart became their first priority target.
"Father, what should we do?" A sense of powerless frustration spread through Fu Yu.