The crunching grew louder, distinct. Dai Yunya flattened herself behind a cluster of rough, wind-stunted pines near her napping spot, Daodao a furry, vibrating mass beside her. Accountant Liu Guang, his pale face slick with exertion, reached the base of the crag’s steep ascent first. He paused, wiping his brow with a greasy sleeve, his gaze sweeping the rocks. The three outsiders fanned out behind him, their broad shoulders set against the dusk. Iron spade heads gleamed, coated in thick river silt. “Dai Yunya!” Liu Guang’s voice, usually a simpering whine, carried up the rocks. “Are you up there? We have urgent brigade business!” Yunya remained still, allowing the silence to stretch, to amplify their unease. Daodao rumbled, a low, guttural sound that vibrated through her ribs. “She’s probably sleeping,” one of the men muttered, his tone rasping like stones in a wooden bucket. “The parasite.” Liu Guang shot him a sharp glance, stretching his lips into a tight grimace. “Gentlemen, please. We proceed under regulation. This ridge has been designated for immediate quarry work.” He gestured vaguely at the hillside, then toward her sun-warmed ledge. “Granite cutting. The brigade requires foundation stones before winter.” Yunya pushed herself up, stepping out from behind the pines, a picture of innocent bewilderment. Her pale, simple dress fluttered in the faint breeze. She offered a small, hesitant smile. “Oh, Accountant Liu! What a surprise! I was just enjoying the fresh air. Stone mining, you say? Up here?” Her voice was soft, laced with a delicate curiosity that gave away nothing. Liu Guang’s eyes narrowed fractionally. “Indeed, Dai Yunya. Vital labor. We require this entire section cleared. You’ll need to vacate immediately.” He didn't even try to soften the demand. “Pack your meager belongings and report to the communal sleeping quarters by sundown.” “But… this is my designated resting place,” Yunya said, her smile faltering just enough to convey confusion, not defiance. “After Rong Xueli surrendered it, I thought I had secured this spot.” “Circumstances change!” Liu Guang snapped, his patience fraying. “Collective quotas supersede individual laziness. Move along.” He waved a dismissive hand, expecting immediate obedience. A thickset man with a split eyebrow and a neck like a pine stump stepped forward, his spade resting angled toward the dirt. Daodao, until now a shadow by Yunya’s ankles, hissed through bared teeth. Before anyone could step back, forty pounds of bristled fat launched directly at the scarred man's shins. The man yelped, startled, and stumbled back. Daodao, surprisingly agile, followed up, nipping furiously at his calves, then his ankles, a low growl rumbling from his chest like distant thunder. The man flailed, his spade clattering on shale as he kicked at the animal. “Get that creature!” Liu Guang shrieked, his composure completely shattered. “It’s rabid!” The other two men closed in, digging blades raised to pin the beast. Daodao twisted on short claws, rolling under an errant boot and snapping at cloth. The split-brow man regained his balance, his gaze snapping to Yunya. His lips pulled back from brown teeth. “You and your beast will pay!” He bent down, snatched his spade by the ash shaft, and swung it straight toward her skull. Her mouth stayed curved in a soft, apologetic crescent, entirely still while the iron swept down. This was it. The moment she had orchestrated. A whistling cut through the air, sharp and sudden. A dark shape vaulted down from the upper boulders. The man with the split brow gasped as wood cracked against his collarbone. The spade dropped, tumbling against the ledge before skittering off into the scrub below. He dropped to his knees, clutching a broken forearm. He Zhenting stepped between Yunya and the intruders, boots planted wide on the gravel. He held a length of dried branch, thick as a man’s forearm, which he’d clearly used to disarm the assailant. He leveled an oak threshing stave, chest rising and falling in measured strokes. “Explain this,” Zhenting said, his voice flat as hammered iron. He ignored the struggling smugglers and the still-snarling Daodao, his gaze fixed on Liu Guang. Liu Guang, pale and trembling, stammered, “Production Chief He! A misunderstanding! We were… we were just performing a routine geological survey! This… this woman and her wild animal attacked us!” He jabbed an unsteady finger at Yunya, who sank into a quiet, trembling crouch against the pine trunk. She looked utterly terrified, her sweet smile gone, replaced by a picture of fragile vulnerability. “Geological survey?” Zhenting looked from the heavy spades to the bruised faces of the three rivermen. “At twilight? With iron tools aimed at a brigade worker's skull?” “Explain yourselves, or I will have you all sent to the regional public security bureau for attempted assault and disturbance of communal peace!” The two uninjured haulers backed into the shadows, while the man on the gravel gritted his teeth against a broken wrist. Liu Guang, recognizing the unwavering resolve in Zhenting’s stance, knew he was beaten. “Fine! Certain county committees authorized this clearance under special provisions!” He regained a sliver of his usual arrogance, though his voice still trembled. “You’ll hear about this, Production Chief. Interfering with a state-sanctioned initiative has grave consequences. Grave.” He shot a venomous glance at Yunya, then turned, motioning his men to retreat. They scrambled down the crag, leaving Daodao to let out a triumphant bark before trotting back to Yunya’s side, nudging her hand with his snout. Zhenting watched them scramble down the gravel path, then turned toward Yunya. He leaned down, his rough knuckles resting on the bark above her head. “Are you hurt?” She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, her lower lip quivering. She shook her head, unable to speak, clutching Daodao’s fur for comfort. She played the part perfectly. He Zhenting stood, his gaze sweeping the ledge and the chalky patch of rock concealing the shaft. “This place isn’t safe for you. Not anymore. Not with them sniffing around.” He looked back at her, his eyes serious, his voice firm. “You have two choices, Yunya. Either you move into my family compound tonight, or I will be forced to have you arrested as an accomplice to these smugglers, for your own protection.”

The Badger's Defense