A group of three wolves carefully stepped closer to Huaijin. Their glowing eyes were locked on the man with terrifying clarity.
Huaijin's breath hitched. Oh no…
He froze in place as he watched the wolves inch closer, a low growl leaving their throats and foam dripping from their snarling jaws.
No sudden movements… just… stay calm…
Easier said than done. His heart was beating out of his chest, his knees growing weak. If only he had a weapon of some sort, he might stand a chance.
One of the wolves bared its teeth.
"No funny business," Fangxu said… well, this qualifies as funny business gone terribly wrong, right!?
He was in an awkward position. The pond was right behind him. One wrong move and he'd slip right in. His hanfu would get wet and heavy, making it harder to move and even easier for the wolves to catch him. What do I do?? I'm too young to die—too handsome to be eaten by wolves!
And just when one wolf crouched low, ready to lunge—
THWACK!
The wolf let out a sharp yelp as it staggered sideways. Huaijin's eyes widened in surprise when a sudden, large stone hit the wolf square in the face. Another rock flew past, barely missing the second.
"Hey! You three—scram!!" A voice roared from the treeline.
Huaijin's head instantly snapped toward the sound, making out a familiar silhouette sitting on a tree branch—Xiao!?
She managed to jump down, landing on her feet before hurling more stones at the wolves with surprising accuracy. Her eyes blazed with confidence, trying to intimidate the wolves. Her stance? A very pissed-off housecat.
The wolves turned their heads in Xiao's direction, changing their target as they started growling at her. Yet she didn't let herself be deterred, throwing yet another stone at them, which one of the wolves tried to dodge, jumping back.
"That's right! Better leave before I make my next winter coat out of your fur!" Xiao warned, hissing at them like she was ready to fight paw for paw, lifting her arms as she tried to make herself bigger.
"Waaa!!" She stomped forward, making both the wolves and Huaijin flinch.
Their ears quickly flattened, tails tucked in tight as they stepped back slowly. The uncertainty showed on their faces. And with a final whine, they turned before vanishing into the forest quickly.
"Hmph. That's what I thought…" Xiao muttered, like she had just scolded a pack of unruly kids. And it worked.
Huaijin remained frozen in place, his heart still hammering in his chest, due to both fear and surprise.
How come they always cross paths in the most peculiar ways?
Huaijin looked toward her with widened eyes, quite perplexed.
"Xiao? What—What are you doing here?"
"Saving your life, obviously." She turned to face him with a glare, pushing the bag she always wore hung over her chest to the side with a swift movement. "Were you not taught to make yourself big when in such a situation? They could've ripped you apart."
He gulped at the thought.
"No, I was never…" He let his words trail off, letting out a small breath. "Thank you. I—"
Xiao's gaze stayed locked on him as she saw that he was quite overwhelmed by the situation. She didn't expect to see him here either, a royal scholar amid a forest. After all, she was strolling around, trying to find some oyster mushrooms.
"You can calm down now. The wolves are long gone."
Huaijin breathed out a long sigh. He had seen his life flash before his eyes just a few moments ago.
"Truly, I can't thank you enough. Though I didn't expect to meet you again like this," he said, slightly amused and embarrassed. "You're pretty good at handling wild animals."
Xiao just shrugged.
"I've dealt with the neighbourhood kids. They're practically just as wild." She admitted casually, making Huaijin let out a small chuckle at the comparison.
"I'm curious now," Huaijin replied, tilting his head slightly. "What brings you to this forest?"
He wanted to know the reason why fate had brought them back together.
Xiao just shuffled with her bag, opening it before holding it out for him to see for himself. With raised brows, he looked inside.
"Mushrooms?"
"Oyster mushrooms." She corrected.
"For what reason?"
"They taste nice sautéed in sesame oil."
He lifted his head back to look down at her, confused yet slightly amused.
"You came here to pick those?"
She nodded once.
"Doesn't the Yanhua Market sell a ton of them? I'm pretty sure I've seen a few vendors."
"Are you kidding me? They're expensive."
A smile threatened to spread across his lips. So he picks them from the forest because it's cheaper that way? They only cost a few coins. Which, to a man like Huaijin, wasn't much.
"Expensive in general or expensive for you?"
Xiao grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked away.
"Well, excuse me. Not everyone can be a rich, royal scholar who doesn't even have basic survival skills—" she jabbed at him, making him smile.
"Oh, come on. I was trying to make a joke. You're so sensitive."
"Hmph." Her cheek puffed out as she turned away a bit more.
Bending down to meet her gaze, he angled his head, making sure she could see him clearly.
"I'll buy you all the oyster mushrooms you want and more. As a thank-you for saving my life."
She glanced up at him with a glare, not wanting to accept the offer. But that radiant smile on Huaijin's stupidly handsome face and the thought of sautéed mushrooms, seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper… and so much more…
"Deal." She begrudgingly accepted. Her mouth was already watering.
"Good choice." He smiled, glad that she would let him treat her in return.
"By the way, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking back up at him once he had straightened his back, standing to his full height again. "Wouldn't you normally be accompanied by guards or something as a royal scholar? Like that lackey of yours."
Lackey? Huaijin had to think for a second. Does he mean Fangxu?
"Well, I was, up until now. You see, the village near this forest has quite a problem with these wolves. They started venturing out into the living spaces, causing all of their crops and livestock pens to be destroyed. They're even blocking the way to the main road, meaning no one would risk using it," Huaijin explained. "I was sent to assess the situation and report back on the cause of this strange phenomenon, as wolves usually shy away from entering human spaces."
Xiao thought. That's right. Wolves were cautious animals. So Huaijin being almost attacked by some who were clearly agitated and aggressive…
"I found it quite odd too."
Huaijin's eyes flickered toward her as she spoke.
"The wolves just now who attacked you, they're mouths were foaming."
"So?" Huaijin didn't quite understand what she was trying to point out.
"They were diseased."
He blinked at her in surprise, raising his brows slightly.
"What do you mean? They were sick?"
"Yes." She nodded. "It's called the Poison of Madness. 'When the mouth foams and the eyes turn wild, a bite will bring death within days.' The symptoms are foaming at the mouth, unusual tameness or disorientation, and, worst of all, aggression. They lose fear of humans, randomly biting things, even those that aren't a threat to them. In short terms, it leads to sudden rage and a painful death."
Huaijin was taken aback by how much she knew about this. But he shouldn't be too surprised. He knew by now that she was quite a unique person. Huaijin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I see. You might have just explained the cause of the problem. If this disease disorients the wolves, making them less timid and more aggressive… it makes absolute sense why they started venturing out to the village."
He looked back at Xiao, certain that they were onto something.
"But there's one thing I'd like your opinion on as well."
"Sure. What is it?" She looked up at him curiously.
"While walking through the forest, I noticed the lack of prey animals."
Prey animals…? Xiao understood instantly what he meant.
"I mean… it kind of goes hand in hand, no? The more aggressive wolves become, the more they kill. And once there isn't much left, they'd search for the next best thing."
"And the next best thing was the village nearby," Huaijin concluded.
He couldn't help but chuckle once they had easily solved this mysterious phenomenon. Thanks to Xiao, he had answers to the first half of the problem. The main reason why the wolves started acting out so suddenly.
Somehow, their random encounters always seemed to unfold with purpose…
"How do you always know so much about things?" he asked curiously.
"I read books."
"Fair point."
He glanced back at Xiao as she adjusted the strap of her bag.
"Do you want to come back with me to the village? I feel like you deserve credit for solving the case."
Xiao's eyes widened imperceptibly, though Huaijin caught onto the small detail.
"No." She declined quickly. Suspiciously so, making Huaijin raise his brows.
"Why not? Without you, I would've never come to the right conclusion. We can now take further steps in helping the villagers."
"I said, I don't want to." Her voice was firm as she glared up at him.
He didn't quite understand. He saw a glimmer in her eyes when she explained the cause of the problem. It almost looked like she had fun solving the case, connecting the information, and thinking logically. But now she suddenly shut him out completely once more. Was he perhaps too shy to go back to the village with me? Maybe he'd dislike the attention… or maybe it was something else entirely. Xiao is still someone I have yet to understand…
"That's fine. You don't have to if you don't want to." He assured her.
"Mh…"
She couldn't possibly go when she had made a promise long ago. Her goal was to stay unnoticed. And getting into affairs of the royal court would be disastrous for her, especially if the Emperor found out… she had to keep her identity hidden.
And of course, Huaijin noticed something was off. Though, like always, he didn't pry any further. The time just wasn't right yet.
"I can lead you halfway to the village if you have trouble remembering the path." She offered. "I'll turn the other way once you're close enough."
"Sure. Thank you."
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
"My lord!" Fangxu immediately stormed toward Huaijin once he arrived back at the village. His trusted aide was not only furious that he had sneaked off, but he was also incredibly worried.
A few guards had found the piece of fabric that had torn off Huaijin's gown when he had tried to squeeze himself through the bamboo fence. They immediately alerted Fangxu about it. And it only worried him more, believing Huaijin had been attacked and dragged away by the wolves.
"Have you lost your mind!? Sneaking off into the wild when I explicitly told you to stay by my side? I thought we had lost you for good!"
Fangxu kept scolding Huaijin as he had his head hanging down low.
"Are you okay? Have you hurt yourself?" Fangxu inquired, almost panicked as he searched him for injuries.
"No, I'm alright. Don't worry."
"If you haven't hurt yourself, then maybe I should give you a piece of my mind instead—!"
"Ah—I'm sorry. Truly. I didn't mean to make you so worried." Huaijin tried to diffuse the situation. "I made a mistake, I know."
"An incredibly stupid one at that." Fangxu crossed his arms over his chest in mild anger as he was now just relieved to see Huaijin standing in front of him, uninjured. Alive.
"I know. But, I have good news."
"Good news…?"
Huaijin nodded with a smile.
"I know what's making the wolves invade the village."
"You—" Fangxu looked at him, surprised.
"I'll tell you about how I came to the conclusion later, but for now, we need to help the village."
It didn't take long for Huaijin to explain the situation to the village chief. Now that they were aware of the disease that was causing these wild animals to become feral, the royal court was able to take measures. Xiao had mentioned to Huaijin that it caused the animals a painful death, so the most logical thing to do was to stop the disease from spreading by organizing a hunt to take down the wolves who showed signs of the illness. And sure enough, balance returned to the wildlife and the village.
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
"So… you were the one who figured it out?" Fangxu sat beside Huaijin at the table as Xiao was seated across from them.
Just as promised, Huaijin had invited Xiao to a well-known dining house called 'Xiāng Tíng' on the Red Silk Street, also called 'The Fragrant Pavilion'.
As a thank-you for saving his life, of course.
They sat on the upper floor. The view from their perspective was quite breathtaking as the sun was slowly setting.
"Well, I did figure out the cause was a disease… but I still told a certain someone to leave me out of this." Xiao glared at Huaijin, who just had to chuckle, as usual.
"Don't worry, I've only told Fangxu about it. And he won't tell."
Fangxu sighed now that he knew the whole story of what happened when Huaijin sneaked away. He still felt a chill whenever he thought about the three wolves that tried to attack him. He believed that Xiao deserved a badge of honor for her heroic act instead of a meal.
She had absolutely no idea who exactly she had rescued…
"Well, I'm just glad everything turned out well. You did a good job." Fangxu turned to look at Xiao. His usual serious demeanour softening up just a bit as they locked eyes. "Quite commendable."
Xiao blinked up at the ever-so-stoic man. His praise made her feel somewhat proud of herself now.
"Thank you," she replied politely with a quick nod as she turned her gaze back to the food.
Tender lamb skewers, roasted to a perfect caramelized finish. Oyster mushrooms sautéed in all the right spices alongside many other dishes and sides... and a dipping sauce worth dying for.
If you came this far... you're an oyster mushroom ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧