The cruel little princess

Erni slowly walked to the wolf's side, then squatted carefully, her bright eyes fixed on the wolf, her hands firmly grasping the excess parts of the two straw ropes. Then, without hesitation, she dragged the wolf forward step by step, without even looking back.

Meanwhile, Shen Zijin silently retreated to a spot about three meters from the cave entrance. He crawled forward cautiously, each movement light and graceful, as if afraid to make even the slightest sound. Once seated, he quietly listened to the sounds outside, immersing himself in the endless darkness, making his presence almost invisible. Gently groping with his left hand, he found the hem of his inner garment. Grasping a corner of the fabric with his mouth, he quickly tore off a strip, coordinating with his left hand. Then, skillfully, he wrapped the strip around the still-bleeding wound on his right arm and tied it tightly. Shen Zijin breathed a sigh of relief, but he remained vigilant. He hoped one of his surviving brothers would report back and rescue him before the Qinglong Nation's men could capture him. He had considered asking Erni to take him out for help. Putting aside his height of over 170 meters and his sturdy body weighing over kilograms, Erni couldn't take him out of the mountain. In addition, people from the Qinglong Kingdom would come to arrest him from time to time, and there was no guarantee that one of the villagers down the mountain would betray him for the sake of money. Even if no one betrayed him, if he was later found hiding in Liushu Village, when the Qinglong Kingdom came to arrest him, they would find that they were hiding Shen Zijin, and it was not impossible that they would massacre the entire village in anger! After much consideration, Shen Zijin still felt that it would be better for him to stay in this cave and wait for rescue. That's why he politely declined Erni's kindness before. He didn't want to bring trouble and disaster to these simple villagers.

Meanwhile, Erni deliberately avoided crowded places and quietly descended the mountain to return home. Luckily, her home was at the foot of the mountain, not in the village. Otherwise, if she had just returned with a wolf, the entire village would have surrounded her, questioning her like they were watching a monkey show. More importantly, she had encountered the wolf and remained unharmed; this was simply inexplicable. Furthermore, she couldn't reveal the existence of her benefactor at all. If someone in the village didn't keep a tight lid and spread the news, it would put her benefactor in danger. Erni quietly returned home, carefully hiding the wolf in the kitchen, then walked into the yard and softly called out for her father. "Dad! Dad!" Erni's father knew a little about traps and often went to the mountains to set small traps to catch rabbits, pheasants, and other things to supplement their diet. He would occasionally catch roe deer or fawns, which he sold, and the father and daughter lived a comfortable life.

"What's wrong, girl?" Erni's father slowly came out of the room, holding a bowl of water in his hand, "Are you tired of picking grass for pigs? Come and drink some water!" Erni's mother died of illness a few years ago. Erni has an older sister, but her older sister has been married for more than ten years and lives far away. She can only come back once a year during the holidays. In the past few years, Erni's father has been both a father and a mother to raise Erni. Seeing that Erni is about to reach the age to get married, he never lets his daughter do any hard work. He only lets his daughter pick grass for pigs and firewood. Anyway, the family doesn't lack such a small thing as a daughter. When the time comes, he will let his daughter marry into the family and stay at home to look after him. He can also help his daughter look after the children and earn a little money.

"Dad! Come here!" Erni walked to the kitchen door and called out to her father softly, gesturing for him to come over to the kitchen to talk. Hearing the voice, Erni's father slowly put down the bowl in his hand, looked at his daughter suspiciously, then stood up and walked towards the kitchen door.

"Child, if you have something to say, just say it directly! Why do you have to make me come here? There's no one else..." Before he could finish his words, when Erni's father approached the kitchen door, he suddenly screamed: "Oh my God! What the hell is this? Oh my God!" He was so scared that he slapped his thigh, his eyes wide open, staring at the thing in front of him. Fortunately, her house was at the foot of the mountain, and there were no houses within a few hundred meters. Most of the villagers gathered near the center of the village. Except for her father who built his house at the foot of the mountain for the convenience of going up the mountain to hunt, no one lived here, so naturally no one heard his scream.

"This... isn't this a wolf? How did it appear here? Did you run into the mountains? Were you chased by a wolf? Are you injured? What is going on?" Erni's father's speech became extremely rapid. While speaking, he nervously pulled his daughter and carefully checked her from head to toe, as if he was afraid that she was missing a piece of flesh.

"Dad, listen to me." Erni gestured for her father to lower his voice. After calming down, she slowly told him everything that had happened that day. "Here's what happened. My benefactor is still in the cave! He asked me to carry the wolf, so I dragged it back home. Dad, what do you think we should do? I have to bring food to my benefactor tomorrow! I'm telling you, Dad, you can't be ungrateful and let someone capture my benefactor. He's a soldier of our Golden Dragon Nation! We have to protect him!" Erni solemnly warned her father.

"Daughter, what kind of person are you to your father? You are so ungrateful!" Erni's father laughed instead of getting angry, "You are my life! The benefactor saved your life, which means he saved my life! Dad is thinking about this. Let me think carefully about how we can help the benefactor!"

"You just said that your benefactor was injured? Where was he injured? Was the injury serious?" Erni's father sorted out his thoughts again.

"I don't know. I didn't see my benefactor. I left him two wild fruits I picked from the mountains and gave him some water. He's in a cave now, and I was afraid others might see him, so I hurried back!" Erni explained, "I wanted to bring him some food and herbs tomorrow. I just didn't know what to bring, so I asked Dad. What do you think I should bring tomorrow?"

Erni's father thought carefully, "It's still early, and wolf meat is fishy and not tasty, so we can't sell it. I see that the only hole in the wolf skin is a small stone at the neck, but the rest of it is intact. I'll peel off the wolf skin now and say I killed the wolf. Then I'll sell the skin. Let's go together, and you can say I was injured and buy me some herbs. That way no one will know!"

"Alright! You're the best, Dad!" Erni boasted to her father. "Then I'll go sharpen your knife!" She ran to get the whetstone happily.

"This child..." Erni's father smiled and shook his head, "She's always so unpredictable. I wonder who she takes after?"

Erni's father had skinned the wolf, but he didn't have time to tan it, so he had to sell the fresh skins. He pulled out his own cart, hitched it to an oxcart, and placed the wolf skins in a large wooden barrel, closing the lid. He had Erni sit on the oxcart while he watched over the barrel. Seeing that it was getting late, the father and daughter decided to leave quickly. If they were too late, they could stay overnight in town and return immediately the next morning. After locking the door, the father and daughter set off.

Arriving in town, Erni's father drove his ox cart directly to the home of Mr. Liu, a wealthy man. In the past, whenever he hunted a roe deer, he would first ask Mr. Liu if he wanted to keep it, and only then would he deliver it to the restaurant. But most of the time, he never returned empty-handed. This time, no different, Mr. Liu paid twenty taels of silver for the wolf pelt. If they had more time, they could have easily sold the pelt for thirty or fifty taels after saltpetering it. But because time was short, they were content with twenty taels.

Seeing that it was getting late, the father and daughter hurriedly drove the ox cart to the town's clinic. This time, her father stopped when they were still some distance away from the clinic, and then carefully instructed her on what to say and what not to say after entering the clinic. He also told her to ask for more hemostatic powder and fever-reducing herbs. Her father knew that injuries usually bleed, and no matter where the bleeding occurs, it would be a good idea to ask for more hemostatic powder. Not only will bleeding cause high fever, so fever-reducing herbs must also be taken. If necessary, the situation can be described as more serious. Erni nodded in agreement.