"Grandfather, I understand. Anyway, all the lucky encounters of our grandparents and grandchildren are attributed to traveling merchants."
Thinking of the traveling merchant profession, the scapegoats for them, one after another, were almost too numerous to count.
Grandpa Meng couldn't help but laugh heartily, his face wrinkling even more. He showed no awareness that others were taking the blame for him.
However, Fu Xin Ci suddenly sensed something unusual in the cold wind. Ever since she had taken away that scoundrel's wood-elemental ability, her senses had become incredibly sharp.
This was especially true after her space had been upgraded.
"Ci'er?"
"Grandfather, it seems there's a wild beast nearby."
"This place is in the middle of nowhere. Let's go quickly," Grandpa Meng said, and was about to whip the donkey to speed up.
"Grandfather doesn't need to run. It's just one. I can handle it."
Hearing his granddaughter say she could handle it, Grandpa Meng was still uneasy. He quickly reined in the donkey cart, preparing to find a suitable weapon.
Fu Xin Ci saw her grandfather's intention, pulled a stainless steel pipe from her space, and handed it to him.
Looking at the gleaming silver rod, Grandpa Meng's attention was completely captured.
He asked in a trembling voice, "Ci'er, is this rod made of fine steel?"
"Grandfather, I only know it's stainless steel. I'm not sure if it's the fine steel you mentioned."
"It definitely is." Grandpa Meng never imagined that he would obtain a rod made of fine steel, something that all military generals and martial arts practitioners dreamed of.
He would have to tell his granddaughter later that he wanted to keep this rod and not put it away.
Grandpa Meng himself couldn't explain why he, a scholar, would want to keep a stainless steel rod.
Perhaps it was some kind of inexplicable attachment.
However, Fu Xin Ci didn't have time to observe her grandfather's inner thoughts. She jumped off the donkey cart and took out a small crossbow from her space, which she hadn't used in a long time.
She aimed it in a certain direction.
When the wild beast appeared within their sight, Grandpa Meng gasped, "Ci'er, it's a wild boar."
"Grandfather, it's only one wild boar. It's fine."
"Ci'er, this wild boar looks quite large even from a distance. Two or three grown men might not be able to defeat it. We should run quickly."
Grandpa Meng wondered if it was still possible for them to escape.
"Grandfather, stay here and don't move. I'll deal with that wild boar." Fu Xin Ci saw that the wild boar was about two hundred meters away and was changing direction.
She immediately panicked. How could that be? She immediately activated her wood-elemental ability and darted out like a great bird.
Grandpa Meng: The martial arts his Ci'er had learned from an immortal master were probably good enough to participate in the imperial military examinations.
Perhaps, she could even win the top spot.
The wild boar, happily snorting and running ahead, became enraged when it sensed humans approaching.
It changed direction and charged towards the humans.
Grandpa Meng saw it from afar and couldn't care less. He ran towards it, carrying the rod in his hand.
However, after only a few steps, he saw from a distance that the wild boar had fallen to the ground and couldn't get up.
Fu Xin Ci first used vines to trip the wild boar's four legs, then triumphantly muttered, "You dare be fierce to this young lady? Dream on."
Then, she quickly took out a long, thick rope from her space and tied up the wild boar's four hooves.
Fu Xin Ci ignored the wild boar's angry protests and activated her wood-elemental ability, dragging it back with the rope.
She was fortunate that it had just snowed. The accumulated snow had covered the withered vegetation, making the desolate wilderness smoother.
Otherwise, with her small frame, even with the enhancement of her wood-elemental ability, dragging a large wild boar would have been very difficult.
Fortunately, Grandpa Meng was not slow either. By the time he ran over with the rod, looking at the wild boar on the ground, weighing over two hundred catties, he was still trembling.
"Ci'er."
"Grandfather, it's really fine," Fu Xin Ci said, then turned in a circle for her grandfather to see.
"Grandfather knows, but Ci'er's actions are too shocking. Who has ever seen an eight-year-old girl so easily capture a wild boar weighing over two hundred catties? If outsiders saw this, who knows what rumors would spread."
Fu Xin Ci understood her grandfather's worries and quickly assured him, "Grandfather, I won't make a move when there are outsiders present."
"Yes, that's right," Grandpa Meng said. Then, the grandfather and granddaughter worked together to drag the wild boar onto the main road.
Grandpa Meng then tied the rope to the donkey cart, and with a solemn expression, raised the rod in his hand and heavily smashed it onto the wild boar's front leg.
The wild boar's piercing scream echoed for a long distance.
Fu Xin Ci, however, gave her grandfather a thumbs-up, "Brilliant."
"To reduce unnecessary trouble, we can only do this. Otherwise, anyone who sees it will suspect how we grandparents and grandchildren managed to catch a live wild boar."
"Yes, grandfather's planning is thorough."
After Grandpa Meng broke all four legs of the wild boar, the grandfather and granddaughter got on the donkey cart and continued along the main road towards the garrison.
Perhaps the wild boar's screams were too loud, because a long distance from the garrison, Qi Yuan Shan rode over on his horse.
Seeing the grandfather and granddaughter returning with the donkey cart, Qi Yuan Shan called out from a distance, "Uncle, are you and Xin Ci alright?"
"We're fine, we're fine. We were just lucky, and we found a wild boar on the road." Grandpa Meng's voice now carried a hint of pride, as if they had truly stumbled upon a great fortune.
"Whoa." When Qi Yuan Shan rode his horse closer, he saw the large wild boar being dragged behind the donkey cart.
He was also quite surprised. "Uncle, your luck is truly amazing. Otherwise, I would find it difficult to deal with such a large wild boar by myself."
"Yes, our Ci'er has always been lucky," Grandpa Meng said with pride.
Qi Yuan Shan had long heard of this little girl's good fortune. His own foolish son had often grumbled about it to him.
After Qi Yuan Shan finished talking about the wild boar with Uncle Meng, he belatedly noticed the strange clothes the grandfather and granddaughter were wearing.
"Uncle, where did you get these clothes? They look very warm."
"Hehe, as soon as we arrived at the edge of the town, we met two traveling merchants. Ci'er thought their attire was unusual, so we bought all their goods. Here, this set is for you, Yuan Shan."
"Uncle, there's one for me too."
"Yes, Ci'er carefully picked these out," Grandpa Meng said, picking up the bundle Fu Xin Ci had prepared for Qi Yuan Shan.
"Thank you, Uncle Meng, thank you, Xin Ci."
Fu Xin Ci smiled delicately, her eyes curving, and didn't stand on ceremony. She just lowered her head, making one think she was shy at such a young age.
In reality, she was not. She was simply not good at conversing with elder males.