Chapter 441: How to Tame a Person

Chapter 441: Chapter 441: How to Tame a Person

Ji Huan jumped off the kang bed and started furiously ruffling and rubbing Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding.

No wonder their back fur was so long, and their chests were broader than a normal dog’s.

No wonder they shot up like they’d been fed fertilizer.

A very obvious trait of hybrid species was their size.

Ligers are huge, their weight equivalent to a male lion and a female tiger combined. While mules weren’t that extreme, their size was also nothing to scoff at.

And their eyes—she should have noticed that sooner.

No matter how fierce a domestic dog was, its eyes would soften once it got familiar with you.

But after Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding grew up, although they looked magnificent and imposing, a ferocious light often glinted in their eyes.

Widow Xie and Ji Xuelan had mentioned more than once that the four of them staring made their scalps tingle, but Ji Huan never took it to heart, just assuming they were being vigilant around strangers.

She never would have thought this ferocity was innate.

"So you’re wolf hybrids..."

The offspring of a wolf and a dog isn’t called a wolf-dog, but a separate new species known as a wolf hybrid.

Ji Huan suddenly got up and yelled out the window, "Dahuang! Dahuang!"

Although Dahuang usually ignored everyone but Dabao, she would occasionally humor Ji Huan. So, after Ji Huan called for her relentlessly a few more times, she finally sauntered into the east room.

"Oh my god, Dahuang, I can’t believe you even hooked up with a wolf. You’re that cool?"

Guan Shan: "..."

Ji Huan didn’t dare manhandle Dahuang the way she did Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding, but she couldn’t resist ruffling the fur on her head a few times.

Dahuang dodged to the side with a look of disdain, only to be mercilessly pulled back by her.

"I’ve never heard of any wolves around here. And with that sneaky look of yours, how on earth did you manage it? No wonder Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding are so good-looking and nothing like you. Their father must be handsome, right? Going by the family tree, he’d be my son-in-law! Where is my son-in-law? Or are you a widow now?"

"..." Guan Shan was silent for a moment, then took an outer jacket and draped it over her. "The floor is cold. Get on the kang."

Ji Huan waved her hand, busy communicating with Dahuang.

Dahuang had no interest in communicating, her entire body screaming resistance.

Through the dog’s body language, Ji Huan fully sensed her aversion to her past memories and immediately concocted a story about a sneaky little wife running off with the kids.

"Either you’re a widow, you dumped him, or he dumped you. It has to be one of the three. Nod your head and tell me which one it is.

If it’s the first one, don’t be sad. Look forward, we can find someone better later.

If it’s the second... well, if you dumped him, you dumped him. I wouldn’t have approved of this marriage anyway. Bringing a wolf into the family? What were you thinking?

If it’s the third one, we can’t let that stand! We have to get justice... but he’s a wolf, so maybe let’s forget it..."

Dahuang couldn’t take it anymore. She pushed away with her front paws, broke free, and bolted out of the east room.

Those little rascals Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding scurried out after her.

"Hey? What are you running for? Whatever painful memories you have, share them so we can all have a good laugh..."

Guan Shan’s patience also reached its limit. He swept her up by the waist and tossed her onto the kang bed.

Ji Huan propped herself up from the cotton quilt, holding her waist and glaring at Guan Shan.

Guan Shan thought he had hurt her with the fall.

It shouldn’t have. The quilt was thick, and he had controlled his strength.

But girls were, after all, delicate.

"I..."

He was about to say, ’Let me rub it for you,’ but Ji Huan slapped his outstretched hand away.

"You men are all the same! Seducing and abandoning women, heartless and cruel, leaving your wives and children..."

Guan Shan’s face darkened when he heard the last part. He lifted the quilt and stuffed her back under the covers.

"How do you know it wasn’t Dahuang who seduced and abandoned him, was heartless and cruel, and ran off with the kids, leaving her husband?"

"That’s not impossible. I heard male wolves are very responsible. If a female wolf is pregnant, the male will protect her constantly. Dogs are different; they don’t take any responsibility for their actions... Thinking about it that way, it’s actually more likely that Dahuang was the one who dumped him." Ji Huan shook her head and sighed. "I blame our family’s lax morals."

But then her expression brightened. "Though I’ve never been fond of wolves, for the sake of Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding, I’ve decided not to hate them anymore."

’Four wolf hybrids, how cool is that.’

But coolness aside, she had to consider the practical problems.

A wolf’s brain is large, and their intelligence is much higher than a dog’s.

They are highly vigilant, even hostile, towards anything that suddenly appears in a familiar environment, whether it’s an inanimate object, a living creature, or even just a leaf.

Therefore, contact with strangers and unfamiliar animals had to be carefully avoided. If approached forcefully, they would proactively attack the offender to eliminate any perceived threat to themselves.

And in a fight between animals of the same size and condition, a wolf’s combat prowess far exceeds that of any domestic dog.

The so-called wolf-hunting dogs could only succeed with ample protective measures, attacking in packs, and with the help of human weapons.

In a one-on-one fight, not even a Tibetan Mastiff or some large fighting dogs would be a match for them.

All of these factors meant that wolves had a very low safety rating.

Furthermore, biological reproduction is hereditary, which meant that first-generation wolf-dog hybrids were not suitable for domestication.

Wolf hybrids only became suitable for domestication from the third generation onward. Only then would the genetic aggression and hostility towards strangers begin to diminish. Even so, their owners had to be extra careful with guests or when going out.

Fortunately, Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding had grown up by her side and were used to being around people. Although wary of strangers, they weren’t overly hostile, and their habits weren’t much different from those of a normal dog.

But they still had half wolf-blood in them, after all...

And they hadn’t even reached their prime yet...

Besides, the mere mention of wolves made people pale. If anyone found out what Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding were, they wouldn’t be easily accepted.

Out of a sense of public duty, Ji Huan couldn’t let them continue to run loose in the village without the other villagers knowing.

Today, Ding had killed a dog. What if one day they were provoked by a person, or they mistakenly thought someone was attacking her... The consequences would be unimaginable.

’Looks like from now on, I can only walk them on the back mountain. I’ll have to go when there are fewer people, and I’ll need to get leashes...’

At this thought, Ji Huan’s mood grew heavy.

"Some things seem to be mine, but it feels like I don’t have the ability to truly own them."

She lay under the covers while Guan Shan sat on the edge of the kang.

He could clearly see the disappointment on her face.

"I’ll help you train them."

In truth, he had been training them quite a bit these past days, but some animal instincts were beyond the help of even the best Beast Tamer.

Guan Shan knew this, and of course, so did Ji Huan.

But no matter how well they knew it, they had to try. She couldn’t just let things be, nor could she release them into the forest... Ji Huan couldn’t bear to.

She buried her face in the quilt and mumbled something softly.

Guan Shan didn’t hear it clearly.

But Ji Huan refused to repeat it, just mumbling that she was sleepy.

With that, she closed her eyes.

Guan Shan watched her sleeping face for a moment, said, "Go to sleep," then leaned over to blow out the lamp and left the east room.

The moment the door closed, Ji Huan rolled over and sighed.

"Animals can be tamed, but how do you tame a person."