Chapter 7 (1/1)
Su Pu was stunned and fell backwards The wolf’ssos, its sharp white teeth was already touching Su Pu’s cheeks Li Wenxiu was terrified, but she rey wolf’s tail backwards The grey wolf ry and planted its feet firround Li Wenxiu thus was unable to pull it away It atteain
Su Pu yelled loudly as the wolf bit his left shoulder Li Wenxiu was on the verge of tears, but she th and pulled the wolf backwards The wolf gave a howl of pain, and released its grip on Su Pu’s shoulder Dazed, Su Pu thrust his knife forwards, and by chance stabbed the wolf’s soft belly The entire knife sank into the wolf, and its hilt could not even be seen He was about to pull out the knife and stab the wolf again when it bounded up violently, rolled in the snow several ti upwards
As the grey wolf rolled about, Li Wenxiu also took a few tu go Su Pu struggled to get up Seeing the huge grey wolf lying dead in the snow, he was momentarily astounded Then he cried jubilantly, “I’ve killed a big wolf, I’ve killed a big wolf!” Stretching his hand to help Li Wenxiu up, he said proudly, “A’xiu, look, I’ve killed a big wolf!” He was so proud of hi profusely, he did not feel any pain Li Wenxiu realised that his woolen jacket and soaking with blood and quickly pulled it open She took a handkerchief fro wound, asking, “Is it painful?” If Su Pu had been alone, he would be wailing loudly in pain But at this moment his heart was filled with lofty herois, “I’m not afraid of pain!” Suddenly, so?” Both of the on a horse Su Pu cried, “Father, look, I’ve killed a wolf” The large ot off his horse He saw that his son’s face was spattered with blood, and then ran a glance over Li Wenxiu’s face He asked Su Pu, “You were bitten by the wolf?” Su Pu replied, “I was listening to A’xiu tell stories, and suddenly this anted to bite her…” Instantly, the largeat Li Wenxiu, he said icily, “Are you the daughter of those Hans punished by Allah?” Li Wenxiu recognized him as Su Lu’ke, the man who had kicked her She recalled old man Ji’s words, “His wife and eldest son were both killed by Han bandits overnight, and thus he now hates Hans terribly” She nodded, and was about to say, “My father and mother were also harmed by those bandits” Before she could say a word, there was a loud ‘swish’ A long reddish gash appeared on Su Pu’s face His father had used a horsewhip to lash his face
Su Lu’ke yelled, “I told you to hate the Han people for all eternity! But you forgot what I said, and actually went off to play with a Han girl, and even risking your life for her!” With another ‘swish’, he lashed his son a second time
Su Pu did not dodge, but gazed dumbfounded at Li Wenxiu, and asked, “Is she really one of the Hans punished by Allah?” Su Lu’ke roared, “Isn’t she?” With another ‘swish’, he whipped Li Wenxiu’s face Li Wenxiuher face with her hands Su Pu had already been seriously injured by the wolf, and after being whipped twice, he was unable to support hiround
Su Lu’ke was shocked when he saw that his son had shut his eyes and fainted He carried his son, and leapt onto the horse’s back He threw out a circle of rope, and lassoed the dead wolf’s neck With a kick, the horse galloped off The dead as pulled along, leaving a long trail of blood in between ts of hoofprints in the now After riding about ten zhang, Su Lu’ke turned his head, and gave Li Wenxiu a poisonous glare, as if saying, “If I see you again, I’ll give you a good hiding” Li Wenxiu was unafraid of his glare But she felt an emptiness in her heart, for she knew that froer befriend her, and he would no longer listen to her sing and tell stories She felt that the as so cold that it was unbearable, and the gash on her face hurt intensely as her pulse raced
Sadly, she drove her sheep home The old man Ji noticed a lot of blood on her clothes, and that there was a reddish mark of a whip on her face Shocked, he questioned her on what had happened Li Wenxiu simply said, “I was careless, and fell down” Of course the old s, Li Wenxiu continued to say the sa When he questioned her anxiously, she burst into tears and refused to speak anymore
That night, Li Wenxiu ran a high fever, and her little face was flushed bright red She raved continuously, “Big grey wolf! Su Pu, Su Pu, save me quickly!…Hans punished by Allah…” The old uess what had happened, and was extremely anxious Fortunately, at dawn, Li Wenxiu’s fever subsided, and she fell into a deep slumber
Her illness lasted for ot out of bed, the harsh winter had ended The snow on the un todown into the pastures Tender blades of grass had started to appear in the pastures
One day, Li Wenxiu awoke She opened the door, intending to bring the sheep to the pastures Then she saolfskin mat outside the door Li Wenxiu was stunned The colour of the fur was exactly the same as the colour of the fur of the hich had tried to bite her in the snow that day She bent down and saw that there was a hole made by a knife stab in the wolfskin’s belly area Her heart thuotten her, and he had not forgotten what he had said, secretly placing the wolfskin in front of her door in the ht She hid the wolfskin in her room, and did not mention it to the old man Ji She herded the sheep to the pastures, and then went to their usualplace to wait for Su Pu
She waited until sunset, but Su Pu did not turn up She saw the flock of sheep belonging to Su Pu’s fahteen Li Wenxiu thought, “Could it be that Su Pu has not yet recovered from his injuries? But then, how did he place the wolfskin outside o to his tent to take a peek at him, but then she recalled Su Lu’ke’s whip
In the e, and walked to the back of Su Pu’s tent She did not know the purpose of her visit Was it to say, “Thank you for your wolfskin?” Was it to see if his wounds had healed? She herself did not know the answer She hid behind the tent Su Pu’s sheepdog recognized her, sniffed her body several ti off, and did not hted by a candleloudly