On the dirt road leading from the foot of the mountain to the Shili Gou village office.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, shadows stretched long.
An Ning led the way with the two children trailing behind her. Jiang Xia had stayed behind on the mountain, watching over the wood by himself.
"Are you two too tired to walk?"
An Ning stopped, looking with confusion at the two children who were dragging their feet.
The older boy, on the verge of tears, looked at An Ning and said, "No… Sister An, is my dad going to hit me?"
"WAAAAH—I don't want to get hit."
The younger one just burst into tears.
An Ning gave an awkward smile and said, "Well… I can't really lie to you. But look at it this way: isn't getting a beating from your dad better than getting eaten by wolves?"
An Ning's words did the trick, stopping the two boys' crying. They stared blankly at her.
An Ning suddenly bared her teeth and let out a roar, making her hands into claws. The two boys jumped in fright.
"AHHH—"
