Chapter 733 - 253: Sister-in-law, the Wolf Is Coming (3)

Qin Mei’s eyelid twitched. She didn’t respond to Qiao Wei. ’What could she say? Admire Qiao Wei’s fixation on romance?’

"Cousin-in-law, do you love my cousin?" Qiao Wei asked again.

Qiao Wei’s questions always revolved around her and Jie Jingchen. Qin Mei really wanted to ask her, ’Don’t you have anything else to talk about?’

"Cousin, do you like stories?" Qin Mei asked in return.

"I do." Especially her cousin-in-law and cousin’s love story. Qiao Wei loved hearing those epic and poignant love stories most of all.

"I’ll tell you a story," Qin Mei said.

"Okay!" Qiao Wei was full of anticipation.

"Once upon a time..."

And so, subjected to the torment of Qin Mei’s fairy tales, Qiao Wei was on the verge of being lulled to sleep.

Led by Qiao Wei, the two ventured deep into the mountains. Before they entered, Qin Mei gave Qiao Wei a sachet that kept snakes, insects, rats, and ants from coming near.

"Cousin-in-law, why did we come into the mountains?" Qiao Wei was tired from walking and leaned against a tree, panting.

"To gather herbs." Qin Mei was tired too, so she sat down against a tree to rest.

’Good, at least she remembers we came here to gather herbs. I was starting to think she thought we came all this way just so I could tell her stories.’

"We’ve walked so far, but I haven’t seen you gather any herbs." Qiao Wei sat down too, lightly pounding her legs. As someone who took a car everywhere she went, walking this far on a mountain path was really taking its toll on her.

"Haven’t found any yet." Qin Mei also massaged her shoulders and legs. She was starting to regret this. ’I shouldn’t have come to gather herbs myself. I should have just told Jie Jingchen and had him arrange for people to do it. Wouldn’t it have been better to be at home, enjoying the air conditioning?’

"How about we head back first? You can tell me what herbs to gather, and I’ll arrange for people to come find them." Qiao Wei wanted to retreat. Gathering herbs wasn’t something you had to do yourself. If she had known it would be this hard, she wouldn’t have agreed so readily.

"Okay," Qin Mei agreed.

"Then let’s rest for a bit and head down the mountain." Qiao Wei breathed a sigh of relief, worried that Qin Mei would be stubborn.

The two sat resting under a tree. Qiao Wei had sharp ears and heard a strange sound. "Cousin-in-law, did you hear that?"

Qin Mei listened carefully. Her expression changed in an instant as she urged, "Quick, get in the tree!"

Qiao Wei didn’t understand why, but seeing Qin Mei climb the tree, she immediately tried to follow. Qin Mei was agile and quickly scrambled up the tree. Qiao Wei, however, was clumsy, climbing up only to slide back down.

"Hurry!" Qin Mei urged.

"Cousin-in-law, I don’t know how to climb trees," Qiao Wei said, her face a mask of misery.

The sound was getting closer. Not daring to delay, Qin Mei deftly jumped down from the tree, crouched, and braced herself against the trunk. "Come on, step on my shoulders."

Qiao Wei ran to Qin Mei but hesitated. "Cousin-in-law, I don’t think this is a good idea."

’If I step on my cousin-in-law’s shoulders to climb a tree, my cousin will kill me. Before we left, I swore I’d bring Qin Mei back in one piece, and now I need her help just to get up a tree.’ Qiao Wei was mortified.

She cursed herself for being so useless she couldn’t even climb a tree.

"Stop dawdling! If you want to live, hurry up!" Qin Mei pressed.

Hearing that her life was in danger, Qiao Wei didn’t hesitate any longer. She steadied herself against the tree and stepped onto Qin Mei’s shoulders.

Don’t be fooled by Qiao Wei’s slender frame; she was tall. With her standing on Qin Mei’s shoulders, Qin Mei had to brace herself against the tree just to stand up straight. It was quite a struggle.

"You should consider losing some weight," Qin Mei said through gritted teeth as she straightened up. Unfortunately, Qiao Wei was like the hopeless Adou—she still couldn’t get up. She reached for the trunk, but Qin Mei was a bit too short. Even standing on tiptoe on her shoulders, Qiao Wei’s fingertips could only just brush against the bark.

Qin Mei was straining under Qiao Wei’s weight, her voice a little unsteady. "Hurry up! If you keep dawdling, we’re both going to die."

"Cousin-in-law, I can’t reach!" Qiao Wei was trying her best, but she just couldn’t climb up.

The rough bark had scraped her delicate palms raw. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Qiao Wei kept trying.

Qin Mei clenched her back teeth. ’If this keeps up, we’ll both be wiped out. Should I just ditch this idiot Qiao Wei? At least one of us would survive.’

Qiao Wei steeled herself, gritted her teeth, and lunged. But instead of grabbing the trunk, she ended up pulling Qin Mei down with her, and they both tumbled to the ground.

"AH!" Qiao Wei cried out, looking at her badly scraped hands. "Cousin-in-law, my hands!"

’Utterly hopeless. Completely and utterly hopeless.’

Qin Mei had taken a hard fall too. She really wanted to abandon Qiao Wei and run for it. ’So this is the "most suitable candidate" that Jing Qi picked after his screening? How is Qiao Wei suitable at all? She has no self-preservation skills, yet she swore up and down that she’d protect me. Where does she get this confidence?’

"Qiao Wei, the wolf pack is getting closer! If you don’t want to be eaten alive, get up the tree now!" Qin Mei wasn’t just trying to scare her. Encountering a wolf pack deep in the mountains was common. She had dared to come this far with Qiao Wei because she could protect herself and had assumed Qiao Wei could too. As it turned out, Qiao Wei couldn’t.

’She can’t even do something as basic as climbing a tree. Xu Jiali was quite nimble when she helped me over that wall. Xu Jiali’s skills are good, so I thought Qiao Wei’s would be too. But the result? Qiao Wei has zero combat capability.’

Hearing the words "wolf pack," no matter how clueless Qiao Wei was, she was terrified.

’Eaten alive... Just thinking about that way to die is excruciating.’

"Cousin-in-law, is there any other way besides climbing the tree?" Qiao Wei asked, her face contorted.

"Yes," Qin Mei said.

Qiao Wei’s eyes lit up. "What is it?"

"Run," Qin Mei bit out a single word.

Qiao Wei’s face fell, and her eyes dimmed. "I can’t outrun a wolf."

"If you can’t outrun them, then get up the tree." Qin Mei was still loyal enough not to abandon Qiao Wei. She crouched down again. "Hurry."

"Cousin-in-law, how about you just leave me. If I die, go to the Governor Mansion and find my dad. Have him avenge me." Qiao Wei didn’t want to drag Qin Mei down with her. It was better for one person to die than for both of them to.

"Hurry up." Qin Mei wanted to strangle her. ’She’s so slow.’

Qiao Wei was touched that her cousin-in-law hadn’t given up on her. She quickly got up and stepped onto Qin Mei’s shoulders as Qin Mei slowly rose.

"Get ready. I’m going to jump, and you grab the trunk," Qin Mei said. They were just a little short. If she jumped hard, Qiao Wei could seize the opportunity, and with another boost from her, Qiao Wei could successfully get into the tree.

"Okay." Qiao Wei got ready, just waiting for Qin Mei to jump.

With Qiao Wei standing on her shoulders, forget jumping—Qin Mei’s legs were trembling just from standing there.

"Cousin-in-law, I’m ready. You can jump," Qiao Wei said when she saw Qin Mei wasn’t jumping. Her ready stance was getting a little stiff.

"..." Qin Mei was speechless.

Qiao Wei might have been ready, but Qin Mei couldn’t jump. She tried a few times, but the spirit was willing and the flesh was weak.

"Let me." A deep, rich voice spoke.

Qin Mei and Qiao Wei both froze. Qiao Wei looked down, and Qin Mei looked up with some difficulty. Question marks filled both their minds. ’Who is this person?’

’No matter who he is, anyone who helps us at a time like this, even if he’s an enemy agent, is a kind-hearted enemy agent.’

"Thank you," Qin Mei said.

"Step on my shoulders." Jiang Yuan stood beside Qin Mei and patted his own shoulder. Qiao Wei didn’t hesitate, stepping onto Jiang Yuan’s shoulders and easily grabbing the trunk to pull herself up into the tree.

Seeing this, Qin Mei was at a loss for words. ’So the problem wasn’t Qiao Wei, it was me. Swap me out for a tall guy, and she gets right up the tree.’

"Cousin-in-law, the wolves are here!" Qiao Wei, standing in the tree, watched the wolf pack stampede toward them. Her pupils shrank, her face went pale, and a terrifying chill shot up her spine.

Qin Mei immediately and deftly climbed the tree. Jiang Yuan didn’t have time to find another one, so he scrambled up the same tree with swift movements.

Qiao Wei trembled, hugging the trunk tightly with her eyes squeezed shut, not daring to look down. Qin Mei and Jiang Yuan remained on high alert.

But as it turned out, the ferocious wolf pack was just passing through. They didn’t stop for a second. As the sounds grew more distant, Qiao Wei dared to open her eyes. She looked down at the ground below and saw only the tracks left by the pack, but not a single wolf.

"Where are the wolves?" Qiao Wei asked curiously.

"They’re gone." Qin Mei let out a breath and glanced gratefully at Jiang Yuan beside her. If he hadn’t stepped in when he did, she and Qiao Wei would have been carried off by the wolves.

’The pack wasn’t even after us. To be torn apart and eaten by them would have been such a pointless death.’

Jiang Yuan’s tense expression also subconsciously relaxed, and he waved a hand at Qin Mei.

"They’re gone just like that?" Qiao Wei was incredulous.