CHAPTER 308: CHAPTER 308

"If Dingding is scared, hide behind me," Ye Chen said.

Yu Dingding, upon hearing Ye Chen’s voice, seemed to be pulled away from her fear and looked back at him, dumbfounded.

"Young Master Ye, I’m scared too, I’ll hide behind you," Shu Yani said, seeing that Yu Dingding was just foolishly making eye contact with Ye Chen. She hurriedly hid behind him.

Yu Dingding had been slowly moving towards Ye Chen but stopped in her tracks when she saw Shu Yani had already squeezed in behind him.

Seeing this, Ye Chen decisively pulled Yu Dingding into his arms and whispered, "Don’t worry, they would have to step over my dead body to hurt you."

A ripple seemed to traverse Yu Dingding’s glistening eyes as she looked at Ye Chen, her expressions mingling confusion and panic.

This reminded Ye Chen of the times when they were inseparable when Yu Dingding would look at him with various flickering emotions.

Unlike recently, when Yu Dingding’s eyes were lifeless, as if nothing could stir any ripple within her.

Ye Chen even thought to himself, how wonderful it would be if time could stop at this moment, so he could be with Yu Dingding forever and ever.

But at that moment, the wolf in the distance moved.

It wasn’t heading their way but seemed to be preparing to leave in the opposite direction, likely going back to inform the rest of the pack.

Naturally, Ye Chen wouldn’t let it return to signal the pack, so he shot it immediately.

After the gunshot, the wolf fell and didn’t rise, momentarily averted the crisis.

However, Ye Chen said, "We shouldn’t stay here long; we need to inform the others at the Hunting Ground."

Coming back to her senses, Yu Dingding immediately took out her phone: "I need to get Jiang Moxi to come back quickly."

But as soon as she took out her phone, Yu Dingding frowned, "No signal. Check your phones, see if you can get a signal."

Ye Chen and Shu Yani each took out their phones, only to find no signal at all.

"This isn’t good, it’s likely a trap," Ye Chen’s expression turned very grim.

Ye Chen and Fu Youhan had visited the hunting grounds at Nanfeng Manor a few years ago.

Back then, when they went up the mountain, they could contact each other at any time.

But this time, signal at the Hunting Ground was abruptly cut off, coupled with the appearance of wolves that shouldn’t be here...

Everything seemed to be a deliberate arrangement, intending to claim someone’s life here.

"It’s likely a trap set by the Si Family’s collateral branches against Si Lin and Si Ruo," Ye Chen quickly concluded.

After all, they were only gathered together temporarily to celebrate Si Lin’s once-every-four-years birthday.

Only Si Lin and Si Ruo were certain to be present at this party, and with only the two of them left in the Si Family, should any mishap befall them here, the enormous wealth of the Si Family would fall into the hands of the collateral relatives.

Such despicable means of fighting for inheritance are not uncommon in wealthy families.

But hearing Ye Chen say this, Yu Dingding’s face turned even paler, "Then Jiang Moxi and Young Master Si being together, isn’t that very dangerous?"

"Yes, there’s that possibility!" Ye Chen said.

After all, the Hunting Ground housed wild beasts, and it was unlikely they would obey commands to only attack one person.

Jiang Moxi and Si Lin together would naturally increase the risk factor.

Hearing this, Yu Dingding immediately said, "I must notify Moxi to leave the Hunting Ground; they should still be nearby."

But Shu Yani said, "Knowing full well there are wild beasts inside, we can’t keep going deeper to our deaths! I propose we go back first and find someone to rescue us!"

They had been less than half an hour’s distance from the entrance to the Hunting Ground, so going back should be quite straightforward.

But venturing deeper into the Hunting Ground now could mean encountering more wolves or other dangerous animals!

"If you’re scared, you head back with Young Master Ye first, I can’t just abandon Moxi!" Yu Dingding retorted coldly.

Jiang Moxi meant the world to Yu Dingding.

Yu Dingding could not possibly ignore her life and death!

With those words, Yu Dingding immediately turned around and headed deeper into the Hunting Ground.

"Young Master Ye, let’s head back first then. We can find people to come rescue them later!" Seeing Ye Chen still looking at the back of Yu Dingding, Shu Yani quickly approached and latched onto his arm.

She thought, no matter how much Ye Chen dotes on Yu Dingding, there must be a limit, and he certainly wouldn’t risk his life with Yu Dingding.

So in the end, Ye Chen must prefer leaving the mountain with her, Shu Yani, first.

But what Shu Yani didn’t expect was that Ye Chen quickly shook off her hand: "If you want to go back, go back by yourself. Dingding and I will go notify them..."

Ye Chen also understood that it was extremely dangerous and irrational to continue deeper into the Hunting Ground.

But he also knew Yu Dingding’s stubbornness; he was aware that nothing he said now would change her determination to find Jiang Moxi.

Yet he really couldn’t bring himself to leave Yu Dingding to fend for herself, nor could he bear the thought of her getting even a tiny bit hurt in the process.

Ye Chen walked up to Yu Dingding and took her hand.

Yu Dingding wanted to shake off Ye Chen’s hand, not wanting to hold hands with him like that; it was an intimacy reserved for lovers or spouses.

But after trying to shake it off several times and failing, she finally let it be.

"Young Master Ye!"

"Young Master Ye, you can’t go! It’s too dangerous!"

Shu Yani called out to Ye Chen somewhat reluctantly, but Ye Chen didn’t even look back.

Seeing the two of them holding hands as if they were headed to their deaths, she called out a few times without any response and then stopped worrying about them, hurriedly running towards the exit...

*

On the other side, Si Ruo led the team members at the front and had already successfully hunted several pheasants and hares.

Others followed closely behind but with little to show for it.

Jiang Moxi and Si Lin’s team had only caught one hare.

Moreover, the hare was hunted by Si Lin.

For this reason, Si Ruo even deliberately slowed down to tease Jiang Moxi.

"Aren’t you supposed to teach me how to behave? Why have you still got nothing to show? Or do you intend to wait passively for success?"

"Just stop getting in the way up front, and I’ll quickly surpass you," Jiang Moxi said.

The Hunting Ground had plenty of game, far beyond the few kinds that Si Ruo had hunted.

But because Si Ruo and her team members were fooling around, many games were scared away by the time they arrived.

Like now, there were several birds in the surrounding bushes.

But Si Ruo kept talking and scared the birds away.

Si Ruo smirked, "Blaming your own incompetence on others. That’s probably the only lesson you can teach me."

From behind, Si Lin scolded, "Ruoruo, go hunt your game, stop causing a disturbance here!"

Were it not for Shen Ruyi constantly bothering him, Si Lin would have kicked Si Ruo out already.

Thinking she had the upper hand, Si Ruo didn’t persist further: "Alright then, I’ll go have some fun first and later come back to continue the competition with you."

Si Ruo gave Jiang Moxi a taunting smile and led her team members away to pick fruit.

But just as Si Ruo left the area, a girl suddenly screamed, "Wolves! There are wolves!"

At first, the rest didn’t take it seriously.

"Wolves? How could there be wolves here! You must have seen it wrong, that definitely must be a Husky!"

But the girl said, "I can’t be wrong, I have a Husky at home, I know the difference between a Husky and a wolf!"

The girl’s words caught the attention of Jiang Moxi and Si Lin.

Following the direction the girl pointed, they saw several cold, ghostly eyes in the nearby bushes...

"It’s a wolf!" Si Lin narrowed his eyes.

"And there’s quite a number of them." Jiang Moxi’s aqua eyes also fixed on that direction, seeing more and more wolves emerging from the bushes.