Chapter 18: Racing to Be Her Father

“Don’t worry.”

No sooner had the words left her lips than Yu Jinzhen suddenly held a bottle in her hand. She opened it and immediately splashed its contents toward the python.

To everyone’s astonishment, the massive serpent froze for a moment upon contact with the liquid, then slunk away in defeat.

Only a group of panic-stricken people were left behind.

As the python retreated, the howls of wolves and the roars of tigers seemed to fade into the distance as well.

Yu Jinzhen looked at the bamboo tube in her hand and raised an eyebrow. “This stuff actually works pretty well.”

Hearing her voice, everyone snapped back to their senses.

Xu Lizheng’s legs trembled uncontrollably, as if they belonged to someone else, but he still forced himself to take a few steps forward. Gratefully, he said, “Jinzhen, thank you for saving me.”

He never would have imagined that in such a dire moment, besides his own sons, there would be an outsider willing to risk her life for him—and that outsider was a girl.

Xu Chengmao also said, “Jinzhen, thank you for saving my father.”

Xu Chengjie added, “Thanks to you.”

Yu Jinzhen replied coolly, “It’s nothing—a mere trifle.”

Seeing her modesty, Xu Lizheng admired her character greatly and said without hesitation, “Jinzhen, you saved my life. From today on, you are my granddaughter. If anyone dares to bully you, I will be the first to stand against them.”

Seeing their father take a stand, Xu Chengmao solemnly said, “Jinzhen, I will also treat you as my own daughter.”

Xu Chengjie did not want to be left out and said, “Me too, Jinzhen. I will treat you as my daughter. If you ever face any difficulties, come to us without hesitation.”

Yu Jinzhen was speechless.

In two lifetimes, this was the first time so many people vied to be her father.

Since they were village elders, it would be impolite not to accept their offer. This was an unexpected blessing—she now had three fathers.

“Well... thank you all. If I ever need anything, I won’t hesitate,” she said.

Xu Lizheng smiled with relief.

Suddenly, Mugu Shan asked, “Hey, brat, what was that stuff you splashed just now?”

Mugu Shui added, “That stuff looks powerful. If you have any extra, don’t keep it to yourself—let us use it too.”

Yu Jinzhen remained silent.

Xu Lizheng said sternly, “Jinzhen’s things are none of your business. Why should she answer you? Why should she share with you? Who are you to her?”

The barrage of questions left the two brothers dumbfounded.

They wanted to say more, but seeing the warning looks from Xu Chengmao and Xu Chengjie, they dared not utter another word.

Yu Jinzhen put the bamboo tube back into her basket. “What I have isn’t anything rare—just a concoction of various foul-smelling things mixed into a juice. I happened to discover that wild beasts seem to hate it.”

Someone asked, “Do you still have some? Let us use it too.”

Yu Jinzhen answered calmly, “No, it’s all gone.”

It was just a spray to ward off wild animals. She had anticipated danger when they set out.

Worried that spraying alone wouldn’t be effective enough, she had poured it all onto the python.

She didn’t have much left and wanted to keep it for future use, so she wouldn’t give it away so easily.

Someone else was about to ask again when Xu Lizheng said, “Enough. Don’t waste time. Let’s hurry on.”

The person had no choice but to give up.

The group continued their journey.

After what had just happened, no one doubted the forest’s dangers.

Xu Lizheng assigned tasks to everyone, placing watchers all around—front, back, and sides.

Each person carried a torch to scare off wild beasts.

The person at the front kept tapping the grass ahead with a bamboo pole.

Though troublesome, this method kept them clear of several venomous snakes and scared off a few wolves.

When they were about two-thirds of the way back, Mugu Shan suddenly shouted, “Wild boar! There’s another wild boar up ahead.”

Everyone followed his gaze and saw a wild boar charging from afar.

Having witnessed the ferocity of wild boars earlier, including Mugu Shan and Mugu Shui, the villagers instinctively stepped back.

Xu Lizheng called out loudly, “Don’t be afraid! Those with bows, prepare to shoot. Whoever hits it claims it.”

Those armed with bows began firing immediately.

But their aim was poor; as the boar neared escape, no arrows found their mark, and everyone gave up.

At that moment, Yu Jinzhen took out her slingshot, loaded a stone, and aimed straight for the boar’s head.

Soon, the wild boar collapsed, unconscious.

Everyone was stunned.

Such a small slingshot could be so powerful—enough to take down a wild boar?

Yu Jinzhen smiled with satisfaction. Her slingshot was specially made, so naturally, it packed a punch.

She strode forward, took out a rope, and bound the boar tightly.

“According to Elder Xu’s word, that means this wild boar is mine,” she declared.

Mu Yiyue and Mu Eryue’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

A whole wild boar’s worth of meat—how long would it take them to finish eating?

Xu Lizheng nodded. “Yes, it’s yours.”

Mugu Shan muttered angrily, “I want to see how you manage to carry the boar back all by yourself.”

Yu Jinzhen scoffed, “Fools always worry unnecessarily.”

She then approached Xu Chengjie and asked to swap baskets.

He had hoped to catch something and carried a large basket but had found nothing.

Xu Chengjie readily said, “Jinzhen, your godfather will carry it for you.”

He set down his basket, dumped the wild vegetables they had gathered into his father’s basket, and together with his elder brother, tried to lift the boar into it to carry.

However, after hours of walking—even with the snacks they had eaten to restore some strength—they were still too weak to carry the wild boar.

Xu Chengmao tried as well but could not lift it.

Embarrassed, Xu Chengmao said, “Jinzhen, let us help you carry it back.”

Yu Jinzhen smiled and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

She had planned to carry it back on her own all along.

Without effort, she firmly slung the basket—larger than herself—onto her back.

The Xu brothers were speechless.

After all that walking, she still had so much strength? Was she even human?

Mugu Shan and Mugu Shui opened their mouths to speak but were silenced by a glare from Xu Lizheng.

Seeing this, they gave up.

Soon, the group returned to Pine Mountain Village, passing by the stone wall below the Mu family’s third branch house.

The two men could no longer hold back their dissatisfaction.

Mugu Shan looked at Yu Jinzhen and complained, “Brat, you clearly could have killed the wild boar earlier. Why didn’t you? You just stood there watching it hurt us!”

Yu Jinzhen replied calmly, “What else? I didn’t want to act. I just wanted to watch you get trampled by the boar!”

Mugu Shui was nearly livid and shouted, “No matter what, you’re our elder!”

Yu Jinzhen’s face darkened. “Who said I’m not family and refused to help me before? Now that you can benefit from me, suddenly I’m your elder?”