Chapter 677: Painstaking Effort

She had put a lot of painstaking effort into Xiaobai.

If it were too high, she feared it would fall, or be afraid to come down.

If it were too low, she feared it would be eaten by other animals in the Forest; this height was just right.

However—it had just been placed securely.

Seeing Xiaobai, who had been sleeping and blowing bubbles, suddenly open its eyes in shock and then pounce back fiercely.

It had experience now; it pounced very steadily, landing firmly in Shi Youxuan's arms, and could cling tightly to her clothes with its four limbs without even needing to be held—it couldn't be pulled off!

What should she do?

She looked at the snow-white ball in her arms; leaving it behind wouldn't work, and holding it wouldn't work either—she was in a dilemma.

The three of them had a major disagreement, the kind that could not be reconciled.

Sheng Hanyu wanted to stew Xiaobai, or perhaps barbecue it.

Shi Youxuan firmly opposed it.

She clutched Xiaobai, glared at her husband with hostility, and clamored: "Stewing it is fine, but you can stew me along with it, if you can bring yourself to do it."

Sheng Hanyu:...

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

And she wouldn't listen to reason.

This woman's maternal instincts were overflowing now, and she wouldn't listen to a word.

A classic case of remembering the food but forgetting the beating.

The couple had been very peaceful lately, never arguing, but now they were red-faced and at a stalemate over Xiaobai.

Jian Yining acted as a peacemaker: "How about we change locations, lock Xiaobai in a tree hollow, and leave?"

Sheng Hanyu: "I'm afraid your memory isn't very good; we are waiting for Nianyin here. What if she comes back and can't find us?"

None of them were carrying any electronic equipment, because the Ji Family could instantly decrypt unfamiliar signals and quickly locate them.

This technology was invented to prevent invasion by outside clans.

Everything has its two sides; there is a good side and a bad side.

Technology that was originally for the sake of security had now become a tool for bad people to control good people!

Therefore, so that Nianyin could find them upon her return, the three of them could not change locations.

But if the three of them didn't change locations, even if they dumped Xiaobai somewhere, it could find its way back if it didn't want to leave.

In the end, Sheng Hanyu compromised and decided to let Xiaobai stay.

With the little thing added, the tree hollow was no longer safe.

Sheng Hanyu wove a Rope out of vines and tied it to the highest, sturdiest branch.

He also placed a sleeping bag, drinking water, and food like dried meat up there.

If the Bai Lang came looking again, they could quickly climb the tree along the vine; wolves couldn't climb, so it was safe in the tree.

With the food prepared in the tree, there would be no problem maintaining them for three days even if they didn't come down.

Shi Youxuan watched Sheng Hanyu busy himself and felt a bit guilty, preparing to reconcile with her husband.

"Husband, thank you." She quickly kissed her husband on the cheek.

Sheng Hanyu: "Kiss me again."

She was just about to lean in again... but Xiaobai in her arms suddenly darted onto her shoulder, stood on its hind paws, and nudged Sheng Hanyu with its furry head.

Then, at the very moment before he lost his temper, it quickly returned to Shi Youxuan's arms and hid.

Only a tiny, furry head was exposed, its pure blue eyes full of ignorance and innocence!

This guy.

Clearly mischievous, yet able to put on such an innocent look—there really is no one like it.

Xiaobai had been with everyone for three days.

In those three days, everything was peaceful, and the lead wolf had not come looking for them.

But Nianyin hadn't returned either.

The Square.

A pitch-black pillar stood in the center of the Square.

It was dozens of meters high, and the clan flag hung at the very top, still as bright and beautiful as ever.

A woman was tied beneath the pillar.

The woman had been beaten terribly, her body covered in wounds.

Her face was swollen like a pig's head, to the point where her original appearance couldn't even be recognized.

But from the clothes on her body that were torn into ribbons, it was not hard to tell they were of very expensive fabric.

Only Elders were qualified to wear this kind of fabric; others were not.

The Ji Family Castle.

Zhu Yiwen sat on the Clan Leader's throne, majestically scanning the women kneeling on the ground.

"If you are obedient, everyone's life will remain the same as before, without any difference; if you are disobedient, Elder Lian will be your fate." He pointed outside with his hand, and those kneeling below didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Elder Lian was the woman tied to the pillar outside.

This matter had to be traced back to half a month ago.

Half a month ago, the Conservative Faction and the loyalist faction suddenly joined forces, broke into the Clan Leader's bedroom, and demanded that Zhu Yiwen hand over his power!

The leader was Elder Lian.

This attempt to seize power had failed.

Elder Lian and several trusted followers were quickly captured, and Zhu Yiwen discovered that most of these people should have been buried alive.

They actually didn't die and came out alive?

However, a few people were missing.

He didn't care about the others, but Nianyin was missing, and this had to be taken seriously.

Nianyin was the most capable assistant by the Clan Leader's side; if she were missing, it would be a future disaster.

Those "trusted followers" were thrown into the Water Prison and subjected to torture.

At the time, those people had been heavily punished for failing their tasks, but Zhu Yiwen wasn't worried about having no one to use, because he had transferred Feiying over!

They used every cruel method, but these women wouldn't budge, refusing to say where Nianyin had gone.

Feiying lacked patience and said disdainfully, "What is there to talk about with them? If they don't listen, just kill them."

Zhu Yiwen: "No."

"These people must be kept; I want to keep them as my bait to lure the big fish out and catch them all in one net."

The "big fish" was Nianyin.

She still had great prestige in the clan; if that woman lived, the future troubles would be endless.

Nianyin snuck back into the Ji Family and discovered that the sisters who remained in the clan had not listened to her instructions not to act rashly, and had acted rashly anyway.

She hadn't contacted anyone for these past few days.

She had been secretly observing everything in the clan.

New people had come to the clan—a group of men from outside the clan, and very dangerous men at that.

There were over thirty of them in total, all under militarized management.

The clan's core departments and strongholds were all in their hands.

Trying to save people right under their noses was simply a pipe dream!

For these three days, Nianyin had been quietly observing from the shadows.

Utilizing her advantage in terrain and her intelligence, she managed not to be discovered by Feiying's men.

Having investigated everything clearly, Nianyin noted down the locations of the guard posts, the number of people on patrol, and the shift change times, then quietly returned to the Forest.

……

"Xiaobai, jump!"

Shi Youxuan held a wild fruit in her hand to train Xiaobai's jumping ability.

"Awoo—"

Xiaobai glanced lazily at the wild fruit and didn't look a second time.

Jian Yining lay in a hammock woven from vines between two trees, chewing on a grass stalk, watching Shi Youxuan tease Xiaobai with the wild fruit with the look one gives an idiot.

"Hey, Xuanxuan, they say pregnancy makes you stupid for three years. Your Zichen is over two years old, right? How come your pregnancy-stupidity hasn't passed yet?"

"It's a wolf; it's a wonder if you can succeed by using fruit to attract it."

It wasn't that Xiaobai didn't eat any fruit, it was just that the fruit here was truly terrible.

It had tasted it once at the beginning, and then never wanted to try it a second time.

Shi Youxuan argued indignantly, "You're the one who's pregnancy-stupid, your whole family is pregnancy-stupid."

"Xiaobai is different from ordinary wolves; it is the smartest wolf. I want to train it to learn to listen to us, so that person doesn't always want to use it as emergency rations."

"That person" was Sheng Hanyu.

For these three days, Xiaobai had tried every method to please him, but hadn't received a single kind look in return.

Later, it just kept its distance.

"Awoo!"

Xiaobai suddenly leaped up, snatched the fruit from Shi Youxuan's hand in one bite, and spat it onto the ground.

Then it rubbed against her feet, looking aggrieved...

"Swish!"

It suddenly slipped away from Shi Youxuan's feet.

"Xiaobai, where are you going?"

"Awoo—"

A familiar howl resounded through the valley; it wasn't Xiaobai, the Bai Lang had come!

"Quick, get up the tree."

Sheng Hanyu rushed out of the tree hollow like an arrow released from a bow, pulling Shi Youxuan as he ran back.

At the same time, he shouted to Jian Yining, "A Ning, hurry up, don't dawdle like a grown man."