Chapter 231: Hanyu Mountain in the Snow
December 22nd, heavy snow.
In Hanyu Mountain, the cold wind is bleak.
The enormous vortex of tribulation clouds silently hovered above the Hanyu Mountain, spinning slowly. From a distance, the eye of the storm in the center of the vortex looked like a gateway to another world, mysterious and eerie.
But everyone in the Shuisheng Village knows that the location at the center of the vortex is the main peak of Hanyu Mountain, the temple of the Wolf God.
Such a scene will only make the villagers more awed by the Wolf God in the mountain.
Outside of Hanyu Mountain, everything withers and dies, and the heavy snow blocks the roads. Looking out, the whole view is just a vast expanse of white, with no greenery in sight.
On the vast expanse of the snowy land, it appears so bleak.
Wang Laoliu huddled alone in the corner of the village fence, tightly wrapped in a blanket while staring blankly outside the village.
The cold winter wind was almost unbearable for him, but fortunately, the burning firewood beside him dispersed some of the winter chill.
It is his shift duty today and his task is to sit here for the whole morning until the shift changes in the afternoon before he can leave.
In a wilderness village like Shuisheng Village, the massacre of monsters is only an evil act that exists in legends, but the attacks of wild beasts are a reality that occurs every year.
A wooden fence that is over one zhang (3 meters) tall surrounds the inside and outside of the village, to prevent wild beasts from entering.
Although, the Wolf God restrains the wild beasts in the mountains and doesn't allow them to come down and eat people.
However, in the wilderness, beasts run rampant, not just in Hanyu mountain. In this cold and snowy December, the hungry beasts would often journey alone for long distances, searching for any living creature in their sight.
The end result was that they took a risk and attempted to enter the village to eat people.
Such incidents happen several times every year.
Therefore, several young and strong men are needed to guard each entrance and exit of the village.
However, when other young and strong men are on guard duty, soft and gentle ladies will come by to keep them company and bring food and drink. Sometimes, their children will come along and play together, so they won't be bored.
However, no one comes to take care of old bachelors like Wang Laoliu.
In the past few years when his mother was still alive, Wang Laoliu could still rely on her company to chat with and receive food from her. However, after his mother passed away, no one paid attention to Wang Laoliu anymore.
Even if there are some friends or acquaintances in the village, they wouldn't be bothered to leave their warm houses in such a cold and snowy winter season to come to the village entrance to drink the northwestern wind with him, would they?
Amidst the cold wind, Wang Laoliu, who was always mingling around, sighed rarely and felt a bit regretful.
He actually had a wife.
That was more than ten years ago, when his father was still alive. He helped him to arrange a marriage in a village outside Luo Ye City and married a wife by presenting a leopard skin as a dowry.
However, not even half a year after the new wife moved into the family, she was criticized and beaten by the mother-in-law for various reasons.
Later on, during one of the times when Wang Laoliu and his father went to the city with the others to buy things, the mother-in-law handed half a bag of rice to the daughter-in-law and sent her away.
Since then, Wang Laoliu has never touched a woman again.
The woman who was driven away was said to have married into a good family and now has three children. The eldest child is as tall as Wang Laoliu…
Oh…
In the cold wind, Wang Laoliu sighed heavily, muttering lowly to himself and complaining a few times.
However, even though he was complaining, he muttered in a very quiet voice, afraid that his mother might hear him - even though his mother had passed away several years ago.
After he finished speaking, he instinctively looked around, fearing that his mother would jump out again and scold him.
However, after scanning his surroundings, Wang Laoliu didn't see his fattened-faced mother. Instead, he saw a beam of light flying towards him from outside the mountain.
In Wang Laoliu's eyes, the speed of the light was astonishingly fast, and it quickly arrived outside the Shuisheng village.
However, the other party wasn't heading towards the village, they were simply passing by and heading directly towards the direction of Hanyu mountain.
At that moment, with his exceptionally good eyesight, Wang Laoliu couldn't help but widen his eyes and saw the figure of a person in the light.
There was a huge white wolf followed by a little girl with silver hair and animal ears, two peculiar birds, and a translucent giant light sphere…
This scene passed by in an instant in Wang Laoliu's vision, and afterwards, the beam of light flew directly into Hanyu mountain.
However, Wang Laoliu was so excited that he jumped up and down, widened his eyes with joy, and shouted loudly towards the village.
"The Wolf God has returned!"
"The Wolf God and Xiao Ai have both returned!"
The joyful shout quickly disappeared in the cold wind, but it still alarmed several nearby households.
Subsequently, one by one, doors were opened, and the skeptical villagers walked out.
"I think I just heard someone shouting that the Wolf God had returned…"
"I heard it too…"
"It's Wang Laoliu's voice!"
"Hey! Wang Laoliu, what's gotten into you again? Don't joke around with the Wolf God's name! Be careful or you'll get struck by the lightning!"
In the village, because of Wang Laoliu's loud shouting, things quickly became lively.
At Hanyu Mountain, in front of the Wolf God Temple constructed purely from wood, a huge white wolf descended slowly.
The scene in front of him wasn't too different from when he left.
It is still a large hall and a few small houses, quietly nestled in the quiet forest without grandeur or luxury decoration. It looks so simple.
But even with just these simple houses, for Lu Heng, they were extremely familiar and far surpassed all the grand mansions and luxury temples he had seen during his journey south.
"I'm finally back…"
Lu Heng looked around and smiled, "It seems like Sun Yan didn't slack off. The place is very clean."
In front of the Wolf God Temple, there's not a single fallen leaf to be seen.
Even the steps in front of the temple have no dust on them.
It is apparent that the white ape who stayed in the mountains really kept up the hygiene.
"But where is Sun Yan?" Lu Heng looked at the empty Wolf God Temple in surprise and confusion. "Why can't we find any trace of him?"
Inside and outside the Wolf God Temple, Lu Heng couldn't sense the white ape's presence. It's evident that the monkey is no longer in the mountain.
But now it's freezing cold and windy outside with snow covering the ground. Could it be that this monkey who should have stayed in the mountains to cultivate has gone out to play in the snow?
Lu Heng turned his head and saw that Xiao Ai, the silver-haired girl with animal ears, had already walked out with a grim expression on her face.
"I'll go find him!"
With a cold voice, the young girl flew away directly towards the mountain, without turning back, heading towards the outside.
That gloomy and cold expression frightened Gu Yan so much that he "swished" and flew behind Lu Heng, thinking that he had offended this senior sister again.
The fat bird, as always, looked lazy and indifferent to life and death. It even slowly landed on the top of a birch tree and began to sleep with its head hanging to the side.
Lu Heng watched Xiao Ai's departing figure and gave a helpless shake of his head before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Sun Yan, Sun Yan… I can't save you this time… Haha…"
