"Ow!!"
Ruanruan twitched her ears, hearing a faint sound and immediately recognizing it as Little Baibai's voice, which carried a hint of a scream.
Ruanruan pursed her lips and quickly ran towards the source of the sound.
The closer she got, the clearer she heard it, it was indeed Little Baibai and there were other children's laughter.
"What are you doing! Don't bully Little Baibai!"
Seeing the situation clearly, Ruanruan got angry, ran over, and knocked the boy who was about to throw a stone at Little Baibai to the ground.
"Little Baibai!" Ruanruan hurriedly picked up the small wolf cub in her arms. There were already a lot of stones on the ground, and Little Baibai was dirty and bloodstained—its snow-white fur red with wounds.
Ruanruan felt so heartbroken she almost cried again.
"Ow ow..."
The little wolf cub made two weak cries and nestled tremblingly in Ruanruan's arms.
The children who were throwing stones at Little Baibai stepped back in fear and fell silent.
However, the boy who Ruanruan had knocked down stood up with a furious face.
"You dare to hit me! I'll kill you!" he said and then picked up a stone and threw it at Ruanruan.
Ruanruan deftly dodged and kicked the chubby bully again.
"Why are you bullying Little Baibai!" Ruanruan was also very angry, especially thinking about how much pain Little Baibai must be in from being hit by these people.
"Waaaah... you hit me, I'm going to tell my mom on you!"
Ruanruan then looked at the other children with eyes red with anger. Frightened by her, they quickly shook their heads.
"Wu Yong told us to do it, it's not our fault!"
"Right, it's none of our business."
The group of children usually followed Wu Yong, the chubby kid Ruanruan had beaten, as he was good at fighting, sturdy, and the biggest kid. Now that they saw Wu Yong easily taken down by the Little Monk, they were completely cowed.
That chubby kid was still crying, but Ruanruan ignored him and started rummaging through her bag, pulling out a small porcelain bottle.
After opening it, she found a pale green ointment inside, with a faint, refreshing fragrance.
She quickly scooped some out with her hand and applied it to Little Baibai's wounds.
"Little Baibai, be good, it won't hurt in a little while, I'll blow on it for you." Ruanruan puckered her lips and gently blew on the places where the little wolf cub was hurt while administering the ointment.
The little wolf cub whined and looked at her with its wet eyes, full of attachment.
"Who's bullying my Xiaoyong! Which bastard did this!!"
A sharp and loud voice suddenly rang out. Ruanruan looked up to see a robust, portly woman running over.
Her face was covered in coarse flesh, and her eyes were fierce.
Ruanruan pursed her lips, quickly put away the ointment, and hugged Little Baibai tightly, fear in her eyes.
After all, she might easily beat children, but she wasn't sure she could handle an adult.
The woman came over and embraced Wu Yong off the ground, cursing loudly.
"Ah!! That damned wench has beaten up my Xiaoyong! Such a vile creature, she won't die a good death!"
Ruanruan looked at the woman who was wailing and bawling, her face creased into a frown as she hugged Little Baibai, saying nothing.
"Ow ow..."
Little Baibai glared fiercely at the children, baring its small milk teeth and making threatening, vigilant sounds.
Seeing his mom come over, Wu Yong immediately began to tattle.
"Mom... it was her, she bumped into me and kicked me."
The woman glared at Ruanruan with ferocity. "You little wretch, nobody wants you, how dare you bully my Xiaoyong, today I will show you what's what," she snarled.
Rolling up her sleeves, the woman raised her hand to deliver a fierce slap to Ruanruan.
Ruanruan immediately hugged Little Baibai and ran agilely.
If you can't win, run; master had said you should stomach anything but a loss.
"Dare to run! Stop right there, let me see if I don't beat you to death."
"Li Miao, stop it, what do you think you're doing!"
An elderly woman, who had rushed over just in time to see Ruanruan being chased, hurriedly protected Ruanruan behind her.
Other villagers also gathered around and felt the woman was going too far.
"Li Miao, look at the size of you, chasing after a child to hit them, have you no shame!"
"Pah... What face does she need? She allows her own child to bully others, and when Xiaoyong just got pushed a bit, she acts as if someone killed him."
Upon hearing this, Li Miao immediately started cursing back.
"So your kids don't matter, do they? This little wretch hit my Xiaoyong, and you think she can just walk away without consequences, pah, not a chance."
Ruanruan stared at the woman indignantly.
"That's not true, they were the ones who bullied Xiaobai first, even threatening to hit me with stones."
The woman immediately spat, "It's just a filthy animal, if it dies, it dies, can it be compared to my Xiaoyong? Even you, an orphaned wretch, cannot compare to my Xiaoyong!"
"Li Miao, you better shut that filthy mouth of yours, it's like you've eaten shit, speaking such foul words. Just because your Xiaoyong is precious, does that mean he's made of gold? He is just a dirt-digger. Why should he be allowed to hit others without letting their children fight back?"
The elder woman shielding Ruanruan cursed back at her.
Li Miao's eyes grew red with rage, and she stepped forward as if to hit someone, but the elderly woman did not back down.
Ruanruan was about to step out to protect the elder woman when she was pulled back, the elder woman stood tall and approached Li Miao.
"Come on, you old woman, my body isn't agile, and if something happens to me later, your family will be paying my medical expenses if I end up in the hospital, so hit me!"
Hearing about medical expenses, Li Miao instantly calmed down. Other than her son, money was what she cherished most in life. Considering the elder woman's frail health, if Li Miao should hurt her, she would indeed have to pay up, which would be a big loss for her.
"Don't try to welsh on me, old hag, hand over that little wretch, or this is far from over!"
"Dream on, Ruanruan is such a good child. Your Xiaoyong injured her dog, and we didn't ask for compensation, yet you have the nerve to blame her. Shameless crazy woman!"
The two women started hurling insults at each other, neither yielding an inch, and the surrounding villagers quickly came over to break up the fight.
Ruanruan looked at the old woman and felt a surge of guilty urgency.
"Who! Who is picking on my son!" Another resounding voice came.
Hearing her husband's voice, Li Miao's eyes lit up, and she quickly started yelling.
"Husband, come deal with this unwanted little wretch; she had the nerve to come here and bully our son, she really needs to be taught a lesson."
Seeing the situation turning dire, the old lady also became anxious.
"Ruanruan, run quickly, I will hold them off."
The elder pushed Ruanruan, who didn't want to leave; she was afraid the grandmother might get hurt later.
"Run quickly, go call for the village chief!"
Ruanruan nodded, her eyes welling with tears, and ran off; Li Miao, seeing this, tried to grab her but was blocked.
"You little scoundrel, stop right there!"
"Forget it, after all, that's just a child, and besides, your Xiaoyong is completely fine."
"Who says I'm not hurting? My body hurts all over." The chubby boy immediately started wailing loudly, but his expression revealed no real pain – it was clear he was faking. Yet, his parents both believed him and comforted Xiaoyong, determined to catch Ruanruan and teach her a lesson to avenge their son.