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Chapter 137: Chapter 131: Power Reduced by 10 Times
At last, Shen Yunfang still ended up helping Shen Fuzhen, not out of sympathy, but because she didn’t want to offend Uncle Shen.
After all, Shen Yunfang planned to live in this village for a few more years; with Uncle Shen’s protection, she could live more comfortably. So now, she was essentially doing a favor for Uncle Shen.
She had lost her job herding sheep, and it happened to be the deep winter season, so she truly found herself with nothing left to do.
After a severe blizzard, Shen Yunfang decided to move all the sheep down from the mountain. As for the pigs, she didn’t plan to keep any for breeding, so she decided it was easier to slaughter them.
The weather was making it unsafe for them to stay on the mountain. Plus, she couldn’t ensure she’d make it into the mountains every day. Like yesterday, when heavy snow blocked the paths, even if she wanted to go, she couldn’t. As a result, the pigs and sheep on the mountain went hungry for the whole day.
The turn of the year was fast approaching, and there would be more snowy days ahead, so she had to be prepared.
That day, she trudged up the mountain with Taxue, wading through the deep snow. What was normally just over an hour’s journey took her close to two and a half hours. When she reached the bottom of the slope, she could already hear the mixed cries of pigs and sheep from the slope above.
Shen Yunfang struggled up the slope. Taxue had run ahead to the pigpen and began barking loudly. Shen Yunfang went over and lightly kicked it, signaling it to stay out of the way and stop causing trouble. Then she took off her gloves and scarf and pulled out a basket of green grass from her space to feed the sheep first.
Next, she began taking items out of her space: an apron, basins, a stool, and then a pig-slaughtering knife.
Since there were six pigs, plus the two old sows making it eight, driving them all down the mountain was a big task, so she decided to slaughter the pigs right there on the mountain.
It was bitterly cold, and the pig’s blood would freeze soon after spilling, so she wasn’t concerned about the smell of blood spreading too far.
She pulled on a pair of large boots over her cotton shoes, then with her hands on the edge of the pigpen, heaved herself over into it.
Yesterday’s heavy snowfall had nearly buried the pigpen. Shen Yunfang exerted herself to catch the pigs one by one, tying them up as she caught them. Her strength made the binding easy; the challenging part was racing around the pen to catch them.
After a while, amidst the strenuous cries of the eight pigs, Shen Yunfang had them all securely tied up. Then, with a heave of her arms, she lifted a pig by its front and back legs right up off the ground.
She placed it on the stool, positioned it properly, set a basin beneath to catch the blood, and then with a swift movement, the knife went in and blood flowed out. Soon after the blood had drained enough, she tossed the now lifeless pig into her space. She’d tend to the finer details back at home when she had time. She then methodically continued with the bleeding of each pig.
It wasn’t until after she’d thrown the last pig into her space that she realized something was amiss around her.
Taxue, the little pup, was hunkered down by the pigpen, his posture defensive, his center of gravity shifted backward, emitting intimidating growls, ready for confrontation.
She looked up warily towards the surrounding woods, scanning the blanket of white. Nothing seemed out of place.
"Taxue, stop barking," she said as she bent down to continue tidying up.
Something wasn’t right. Shen Yunfang crouched by the wall of the pigpen courtyard, slowly sticking her head out just far enough for her eyes to show, then held perfectly still.
After what felt like an eternity, roughly five minutes, she glimpsed several white figures moving stealthily through the trees amid the white landscape.
Shen Yunfang blinked, counting slowly. One, two, three, four— in total, there were four unidentified animals inching closer toward her.
With her back against the wall, she took a few quick breaths to steady herself, then pulled out two sharp knives from her space—one for each hand.
And there was Taxue as well.
Switching both knives to one hand, she suddenly stood up, bent forward, reached out, and scooped up Taxue who was still growling outside.
"Shh, Taxue, be quiet, be good," Shen Yunfang whispered, crouching down again and stroking Taxue’s head.
The little pup let out a couple of whimpers, licking his owner’s palm affectionately.
"You’ll stay inside in a bit, don’t move, and don’t make a sound, got it?" she instructed Taxue. She couldn’t tell what was ahead, and the last thing she needed was for the pup to get in the way.
Taxue whined once more, looking pitiful.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t afford to care for him now. She placed him at the deepest part of the pigpen and crouched back in her original spot.
Peeking out again, Shen Yunfang observed the four animals emerging slowly from the woods, advancing toward her in a flanking formation.
Wolves! Dammit, wolves!
She cursed inwardly, incredulous. How could there be wolves in the mountains at this time? This wasn’t the deep wilderness.
Wolves! Four of them! What to do? What to do?
Shen Yunfang inhaled deeply, trying to compose herself. Panicking wouldn’t save her; she needed to remain calm, yes, calm.
Running was definitely not an option now. Her two legs couldn’t possibly outpace the four-legged predators. What did wolves fear? She had to think fast—what did wolves fear?
Right, fire.
Shen Yunfang’s eyes lit up. She hurriedly took out a large pile of pine branches and a piece of resin from the space, then her hands trembling, she struck a match, finally succeeding in lighting it on the third try. She shakily placed the resin over the flame.
The moment the resin met the fire, it ignited, and then in a fluster, she used the flaming resin to light the pine branches on the ground.
The fire grew quickly.
Only then did Shen Yunfang dare to look outside the pigpen; the pack of wolves was less than ten meters from the pen.
She quickly bent down and threw the burning pine branches outside.
The wolves outside did indeed become agitated upon seeing the fire and after pacing in place, they retreated a few steps. But it was just a few steps.
Shen Yunfang took out a few large pine branches from the space, set them ablaze, then jumped out of the pigpen, swinging the torches before her as she stepped forward to scare the wolves.
The wolves retreated a few more steps.
Shen Yunfang twirled the sticks like a monkey showing off tricks, but it didn’t have much effect; although the wolves didn’t dare come closer, they didn’t leave either.
After locking eyes with the green-eyed wolves for a short while, Shen Yunfang gritted her teeth and muttered, "You all think I’m an easy target, don’t you? Think I’m weak? Let me tell you, I’ve always been low-key and humble. Let me tell you, I’m already a martial arts master. Fine, go on then, let’s see whether it’s you who dies or you who perishes."
Shen Yunfang slowly retreated to the sheep pen entrance and with a swift movement, opened the gate. The flock inside, also frightened, began to bolt without any sense of direction once they saw the gate open.
As expected, the four wolves at the front were affected and two of them lunged at the sheep.
Humph, the wolves’ craving for sheep is an unchanging truth across the ages!
At the same moment, a slingshot magically appeared in Shen Yunfang’s hand. She placed a small stone onto the sling, pulled it back, tightened it, aimed, and whoosh, the stone was shot out.
Not waiting to see the result, she threw the slingshot back into the space, then from the space, she pulled out one of the fat pigs she had just killed and with all her might, slammed it into the waist of a wolf that was pouncing towards her.
It was a hit, and the wolf fell to the ground with a whine, unable to get up.
Tough head, iron skull, tofu waist, yet another timeless truth!
At this moment, a wolf with blood-stained eyes had already rushed close, but Shen Yunfang’s hand suddenly revealed another fat pig, which she swung in a full circle with all her force, smashing it down.
Crack
She heard the sound of bones breaking.
Damn it, am I an ordinary person? I’ve long become a master of martial arts.
Seeing that the two wolves were still stubbornly clinging to their prey, Shen Yunfang quickly took out a pig-slaughtering knife from the space and ran to the wolf whose bones she had just broken and was now unable to rise. With a swift motion, she struck down with the knife, eliminating one and incidentally collecting its body.
Then she ran swiftly to the next wolf, whose waist had collapsed, struck down with her knife and dispatched another one, again collecting the body.
The remaining two wolves, perhaps sensing the death of their companions, stopped gnawing on the sheep and began circling with their bloodstained teeth bared.
Shen Yunfang took a deep breath and shouted, "Come on."
The two wolves might have signalled each other, as they simultaneously pounced towards Shen Yunfang from different directions.
Shen Yunfang, as if struck dumb with fear, suddenly charged at one of the wolves.
Then, risking the chance of being scratched, she dumped all eight pigs from the space onto the wolf before it hit the ground. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
A thousand or more pounds, let’s see if you survive.
Only the last wolf remained.
Once again, Shen Yunfang locked eyes with the small green eyes of the wolf. It was like battle, where an initial surge of energy is followed by diminishing returns. After killing three wolves in succession, the last one felt intimidated.
Seeing it seemed ready to tuck its tail and flee, Shen Yunfang grew anxious. How could she let this go? Releasing a tiger back into the forest is to invite endless troubles in the future, and wolves are known to hold grudges. She planned to continue farming here; if the wolf set its sights on her, giving her trouble from time to time, there’d be no peace.
Besides, there’s a saying about thieves: there are only thieves who can steal for a thousand days, not one who can prevent theft for a thousand days.
Luckily, the distance between person and wolf wasn’t far. Shen Yunfang bent down, grabbed a pig from the ground, and with a whoosh, she hurled it. Followed by the second and third, in the blink of an eye, she buried the last wolf.
Shen Yunfang clapped her hands proudly and hummed with satisfaction.
Little thing, though I may not know how to wield a knife, swing a stick, move nimbly, or run swiftly, I do have great strength.
"Might subdues the clever"—do you know what that means?
