After pampering two villainous cubs, the rough hunter becomes addicted to flirting with her.

Ya'er, shrinking her small body, was once again gripped by the chilling and oppressive aura emanating from her elder brother, just as she had the day before.

But she was still just a child, lacking Li Erlang's keen observation skills. Clutching her clothes, puffing out her cheeks, she innocently asked in a tearful voice, "Big brother, I want my sister to come back. Can you bring her back?"

Li Xiaoyun's voice was as cold as ice, each word striking down: "She will never come back."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ya'er's lips trembled, and the sob that had been held back for so long could no longer be contained. She burst out of her throat with a "waaaah," crying her heart out.

Li Xiaoyun seemed not to hear the heart-wrenching cries. Without pausing, she turned and walked straight to the corner to gather the game she had just brought back from the mountains, its fur still damp with dew.

As night deepened, a chill, carried by the mountain wind, seeped through the cracks in the window. In the latter half of the night, Ya'er developed a high fever; her face flushed red, and her body convulsed intermittently, clearly a sign of a seizure.

Fortunately, Li Erlang hadn't slept soundly. Hearing soft moaning coming from the inner room, he quickly put on his clothes and got up to check. He touched Ya'er's forehead and found it was alarmingly hot. He immediately panicked and scrambled to call Li Xiaoyun.

Li Xiaoyun rushed into the room, only to reach out and check Ya'er's temperature before her brows furrowed deeply. Without a word, she grabbed the cloth strip from the headboard and carefully and quickly tied Ya'er to her back.

He had just straightened up when his movement was too hasty, and he pulled out a jade pendant that was under the mattress. The pendant fell to the ground with a "thud," its lustrous luster flashing briefly in the dim light.

Li Xiaoyun glanced down and frowned even more, but saving lives was the priority right now, so he didn't care about anything else. He bent down, picked up the jade pendant, threw it on the bed, and then carried Ya'er on his back and rushed out the door.

Before leaving, he turned back and solemnly instructed Li Erlang, who was standing there with a pale face, "Erlang, watch the house and don't wander off!"

Li Xiaoyun's figure quickly disappeared into the dark night of the tree-lined path. Li Erlang stood at the empty doorway, his heart feeling like it was being tightly gripped by a hand, extremely anxious, yet he could only desperately guard the house, his whole body exuding a sense of powerless exhaustion.

Li Xiaoyun carried Ya'er on his back and ran down the mountain like the wind, soon rushing into Chenjia Village.

Night had fallen, and most of the houses in the village had turned off their lights, except for a few barks that pierced the silence. A few families were awakened by the barking, lit their oil lamps, and peered out through their paper windows.

"Oh my! What, what is that figure? It's so tall, it looks... it looks like Li Xiaoyun from the mountain!" Chen Jialiang clung to the window frame, his voice trembling, his face as white as paper.

Hearing the commotion, his wife quickly threw on a coat and came out of the inner room. Following his gaze, she looked outside, her voice trembling, "You...you saw it clearly? Wasn't he supposed to be hunting in the mountains? How could he be in our village in the middle of the night?"

Chen Jialiang slapped his wife across the face and shouted angrily in a low voice, "Do you think I'm blind? Within a five-mile radius, who else has a body as strong as his? Who else could it be!"

The daughter-in-law was beaten so badly she fell to the ground, covering her cheek and sobbing, "It was him, it was him! Why did you hit me? Our son was instigated by that wicked auntie to do something so foolish! Besides, he's still in bed recovering from his injuries and hasn't been able to get out of bed for days!"

"I refuse to believe he'll come knocking on our door again and beat our son up!" she sobbed, muttering. "If that happens, I'd rather die! At worst, I'll be like that wicked woman, lying in bed and letting you serve me!"

"You wish!" Chen Jialiang glared angrily, his beard bristling. "I saw you sneaking off to the village tavern yesterday, do you think I didn't know?"

"Waaah..." The daughter-in-law cried even harder, "Why don't you just let me and our son die, then you'll be satisfied! Waaah..."

Chen Jialiang's head was buzzing. He raised his fist but dared not bring it down, and could only growl in a low voice, "Can you shut up! Are you trying to bring that plague to our house? I saw him walking in a direction that wasn't coming towards us at all, it was clearly..."

They were clearly heading towards Old Man Wu's house!

Could it be that he came back from hunting and brought mountain goods to Old Man Wu overnight?

"Bang bang bang!"

A rapid knocking sound suddenly rang out outside the gate of Old Wu's house, so forceful it seemed as if the door would be smashed down.

The room was quiet, without a sound. It was unclear whether Old Wu was sleeping too soundly to hear or was pretending not to hear.

The village dogs barked even louder, and lights came on in several houses. Someone couldn't help but yell, "Who is it? Knocking on the door in the middle of the night! Can't a person get some sleep?!"

"Yeah, it's so noisy!"

Amidst the rising and falling complaints, Li Xiaoyun's knocking on the door not only didn't stop, but became more urgent and louder. His face was tense, and he was calculating in his mind that if the door didn't open in a few more moments, he would just break it down.

Just then, a dim yellow light finally shone through the window of Old Wu's house.

Accompanied by a slow, grumbling sound, Old Wu's voice came from inside the door: "Oh dear, in the middle of the night, which brat is disturbing my peaceful sleep? What bad luck!"

"Coming, coming, what's the rush? It's so late at night, aren't you afraid you'll scare this old man to death?"

The wooden door creaked open, and Old Wu squinted out. When he saw who was outside, he was startled and took a half-step back. "Li Dalang? You...you've come to deliver pheasants to me in the middle of the night?"

Last night, Old Wu drank too much and got completely drunk. He didn't get home until early this morning, and he went straight to sleep, sleeping all day long.

He had long forgotten about the promise he made to Li Xiaoyun to deliver the mountain goods. He was secretly relieved that Li Xiaoyun hadn't come—it would have been so embarrassing if Li Xiaoyun had seen him in his drunken, disheveled state.

To my utter surprise, Li Xiaoyun came knocking on my door in the middle of the night!

Panting heavily, beads of sweat streamed down his face as Li Xiaoyun pleaded urgently, "Old Wu, please lend me your donkey cart! My sister has suddenly developed a high fever and has had convulsions; I need to get her to the clinic in town right away!"

Only then did Old Wu realize that what Li Xiaoyun was carrying on her back wasn't a pheasant at all, but clearly an unconscious little girl! He immediately dropped his lazy demeanor and quickly stepped aside, saying, "Quick! Quickly bring the child in!"

Li Xiaoyun hesitated for a moment and did not move his feet—he had always known that this old man Wu was eccentric and rarely went out, and the villagers all kept their distance from him.

Seeing this, Old Wu stamped his feet in frustration and growled, "What are you dawdling for? Do you want your sister to die? Come in right now!"

Li Xiaoyun then stopped hesitating and strode into the house with Old Man Wu.

Old Wu glanced warily at the door, then quickly bolted it shut before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Put the child on the bed!" Old Wu instructed Li Xiaoyun as he strode into the inner room. "Go fetch a basin of cool water from the water vat in the yard, and hurry up!"

Li Xiaoyun carefully untied the cloth sash, gently placed Ya'er on the couch, and reached out to touch her forehead. It was so hot that it almost burned through his palm. His heart felt like it had been hit by a heavy hammer, and he panicked.

Old Wu came out of the inner room, clutching a small porcelain bottle. Seeing Li Xiaoyun still standing there in a daze, he immediately became anxious: "What are you still standing there for? I told you to fetch water! Don't worry, with me here, this little girl won't die today!"

Before he finished speaking, he unscrewed the stopper of the porcelain bottle, poured out a dark brown pill, deftly pried open Ya'er's mouth, stuffed the pill in, fed her a few sips of warm water, and only breathed a sigh of relief after watching her swallow the pill.

Li Xiaoyun then seemed to wake up from a dream, turned around and ran into the courtyard, and soon came in carrying a basin of cold water.

The two of them busied themselves for a while, soaking a clean cloth in cool water, wringing it out, and applying it to Ya'er's forehead.

"Change the handkerchief as soon as it gets hot," Old Wu said, while placing his fingers on Ya'er's wrist to take her pulse. "Then take another handkerchief and wipe her palms and soles to bring her temperature down, and she'll be fine."

He squinted, gently feeling the pulse with his fingertips, before releasing his grip and looking at Li Xiaoyun, asking, "This little girl has a weak spleen and stomach; has she been taking medicine to regulate it these past few days?"

Li Xiaoyun nodded quickly and recounted Ya'er's previous situation in detail.

Old Wu stroked his beard, nodding repeatedly, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes: "Using medicine to regulate the body, combined with nourishing food, this method is indeed reliable. Was this idea really come from that young woman you mentioned? She's quite talented, not simple at all..."

As he spoke, he lowered his head, stroked his beard, and pondered something, seemingly lost in thought.

Looking at him like this, Li Xiaoyun was filled with doubt and couldn't help but ask, "Old Wu, you actually know medicine? How come no one in the village knows about this?"

Upon hearing this, Old Wu immediately glared at him, puffing out his beard and glaring, "Who told you I know medicine? I never admitted to that!"

"Besides, I'm not some saintly savior, nor am I some Tom, Dick, or Harry who deserves my help." He curled his lip, his tone laced with disdain. "Let me tell you, even if someone I hate were to lie dead in front of me, if I choose not to save them, they'd be heading to the underworld!"

He was indeed not a doctor, and naturally did not possess the compassion of one.

Li Xiaoyun looked at the old man in front of her. The scar on his face looked particularly ferocious under the dim light, making him look somewhat like a demon. This old man, Wu, was eccentric and rarely left the village. Apart from the strange rumors about him, almost no one could remember his existence.

Li Xiaoyun had delivered mountain products to him several times before, and knew that he, like herself, deliberately isolated himself from others and lived in his own little world.

Only now did Li Xiaoyun realize that this old man Wu was actually a hermit living in Chenjia Village.

Once Li Xiaoyun understood this, she realized how incredibly lucky she had been that night.

He stood up solemnly, clasped his hands in a respectful bow to Old Man Wu, and said in a voice full of gratitude, "Thank you so much, Old Man Wu, for saving my sister's life today! I, Li Dalang, will remember this kindness!"

Old Wu stroked his beard, raised his hand to help him up, his expression softened, and he grinned, "Don't be in such a hurry to thank me, I didn't help you out of respect for you."

"I've taken a liking to that young lady's cooking," he said, rubbing his belly with a sly grin. "Big Brother, have your cousin cook me a few more good meals as repayment for saving your sister today, how about it?"