Chapter 30: Wolf Pack (Part I)

A single rabbit was naturally not enough for so many children and three adults to eat; instead, it only whetted their appetites. This half-full, half-hungry feeling made them crave food even more, and sweat beaded on every one of their foreheads.

"Then let's eat until our bellies are round."

So Li You had Wa Qingyun gut the badger, while Liu Longjin busied himself skinning the hairy rats.

Li You used small wooden sticks to skewer the grasshoppers, bamboo borers, and silkworm pupae one by one, roasting them back and forth over the charcoal like lamb skewers.

Although these things looked unappetizing, they were extremely rich in protein. Sprinkled with a bit of salt, they were highly effective for growing children like Xiao Juzi, Shuizhu, and the young girls to eat.

After roasting for only a short while, the insects began to emit a savory aroma, and Li You distributed them according to their age.

In the prosperous era where he lived in his past life, many children would never eat such things, but for the children of the present, this was simply a delicacy—and the kind that was hard to come by.

After they finished the insects, Wa Qingyun had already set the badger meat over the fire, and Liu Longjin, having been slightly slower at skinning the hairy rats, soon had them roasting as well.

Next came another round of gorging. The feeling of being full made every cell in Li You's body brim with joy; all anxiety and worry were instantly swept away.

By the time the sky turned pitch black, they were all stuffed to the brim. Heiliuzi, having eaten a large pig trotter, lay happily on the ground, groaning.

"Collect all the bones, don't throw them away. We'll take them back to make soup for those miners," Li You said.

Liu Longjin had already gathered the bones; when it came to filling their stomachs, there was no need for Li You to say a word.

Wa Qingyun also found a vine and bundled up the rabbit skins, badger skins, and hairy rat skins; these furs were extremely useful.

Although the two of them were old bandits, they had once drifted under the command of Wu Ying, a kind-hearted man, so their hearts were not truly evil. Later, after Wu Ying died, knowing the filth involved, they surrendered to Cao Er and had been working as guards at the mine ever since, never having committed acts of murder, arson, rape, or pillage down the mountain.

Even as guard foremen, they were not as ruthless as Huang Mao, Old Third Gu, or Lu Biding and their gang, but precisely because of this, they belonged to the most marginalized layer in the Shanzhai, and no one looked up to them.

"This world is a giant dye vat; it can soak a normal person and turn them into a beast... The bandits in the Shanzhai cannot all be struck down with one blow. Some have already become demons through murder, while others still have a shred of conscience left, though these people are indeed few."

"I must find a way to win over those six border soldiers. As for the group of miners and salt slaves, at the end of the day, most are just good farmers, so I must find a way to win them over too... But what exactly is my current situation in the Shanzhai..."

"A bunch of old schemers playing power games—how does it feel like I've become a bargaining chip for checks and balances! When will I have the chance to break this deadlock?"

"Let's go, Mr. Li. It's almost dark. We were gutting and roasting meat here just now; who knows if some tigers or wolves might have smelled it!" Wa Qingyun said to Li You.

"Hmm... alright..." Li You cut off his train of thought, retrieved his arrows, and walked at the very front, with Liu Longjin walking in the middle of the children, while Wa Qingyun brought up the rear.

They hadn't even walked a mile when, in the foothills on both sides, a dozen greenish "fireflies" began to follow them like shadows.

"Are those fireflies?"

Xiao Juzi suddenly pointed at the flickering lights in the grass and asked.

Liu Longjin's expression changed abruptly, and he said in a sharp voice...

"Wolves, it's a pack of wolves!"

"Do not panic, do not turn around, do not run. In this terrain... running... is just offering up meat," Li You roared immediately.

Their current position was a mile away from the small plain where they had roasted the meat. It was fortunate they weren't there; the terrain was too flat, making it a natural hunting ground for a wolf pack. Their current location was better because there was a sheer rock face on the south side of the creek.

"Xiao Yu, look after them. We will retreat together; first, fall back to the rock face and stand firm. Don't let the wolf pack get behind us!"

Li You suppressed the panic in his heart and said calmly to Yu Zhengchun behind him.

At the same time, he glanced at Liu Longjin and Wa Qingyun from the corner of his eye and felt relieved. The two of them were likely accustomed to wolf packs; their expressions were still relatively normal, though they both had their lips tightly pressed, holding single-edged blades, and were positioned in an arc on either side of Li You, with Yu Zhengchun, Xiao Juzi, and the other children behind them.

"Twelve... fourteen... wow, there are so many!"

Li You's heart began to pound, and he felt somewhat nervous. His blood seemed to boil throughout his body, and his skin felt a slight tingling sensation from the inside out; this was the reckless surging of hot blood.

He gripped the cold hilt of his blade, but it felt as if the hilt had suddenly turned into a scorching coal, making Li You dizzily feel as if he were holding a bolt of lightning, a Mount Taishan, or an RPK machine gun. As long as he charged up and slashed, there would be crimson wolf blood and the gamey stench of wolves, and all the vicious wolves would be torn into shreds of meat by him...

This strange, bloodthirsty sensation quickly devoured his meager nervousness, as if there were a powerful impulse to charge up and slaughter them immediately!

However, Xiao Juzi and the other children behind him forced him to suppress this surging hot blood. The wolf pack's main target was definitely these children.

Generally speaking, wolf packs only appear in winter.

During this season, small animals hide away for the winter, and wolf packs can only hunt large, herding animals like deer and wild boars. At such times, they must work in packs and coordinate, and behind this concerted effort, there must be one or two wolves responsible for leading the march—the alpha wolves.

After the spring, wild wolves need to raise their cubs, and small animals become more numerous.

At this time, they choose to live in small groups; under normal circumstances, there are usually seven, which is why there is the saying "seven wolves." It is rare for a pack to exceed ten, and although it is still early for winter, the temperature is already freezing, so encountering such a large pack is not entirely strange!

Li You wanted to quickly identify the alpha wolf, but it was not easy. The kind of "wolf king" often mentioned in movies—super-sized, covered in white fur, howling from atop a high rock—did not appear.

"It must have attacked humans more than once. It must have seen the bow in my hand and is hiding behind the grass or rocks, not yet revealing itself... Don't be impulsive, be patient! Must be patient."

Li You said silently to himself, taking a shovel-headed arrow from his quiver. The arrow shaft was a full three and a half feet long. He nocked it to the bowstring. With the support of the Dragon Spine Bow, Li You was confident he could shoot the wolf king through with a single arrow!

Upon discovering that Li You and his group had changed direction, the wolves slowly revealed themselves from the grass.

They were all gray wolves, with pointed snouts and protruding noses. Their yellowish-gray fur was curled and withered, and their ears appeared extremely sharp and long due to hunger. Their greenish-yellow eyes, combined with their ghastly fangs and the long trails of drool hanging from their mouths, gave one a sense of cruelty and bloodthirst...

More than seventy paces away, the wolf pack scouted and patrolled, as if their shadows were everywhere. In fact, looking closely, they were divided into two groups, one at the front and one at the back, with their focus directed more toward Wa Qingyun and Liu Longjin.

There were indeed three or five wolves directly in front of Li You, but their footing was unsteady and they were looking left and right; they were likely feinting, or at least they were definitely feinting against Li You, who held the large bow.

"It's coming!"