Chapter 134: Da Kui Got Bitten

After just that incident, the horse lowered its head, nervously snorting, Lu Cheng knew this place was not suitable for lingering.

Having just withdrawn his gaze from the endless mountains, Tian Shukuan suddenly shouted again: "Group Leader Lu, something's wrong!"

Lu Cheng turned his head, saying indifferently: "Don't make a fuss; what could be bad? As long as the three of us survive, that's better than anything."

However, as Tian Shukuan slowly pointed at the Snow Plow, Lu Cheng widened his eyes—"We're doomed; this really is not good."

All the supplies on the Snow Plow had vanished; even the cotton quilt had fallen into the deep ditch during the impact.

These supplies were vital—dry rations, water, matches—all necessities that provide the body with heat.

It was still a day and a half to Spring City; without these supplies to provide warmth, how could we endure the freezing weather?

Lu Cheng pulled out his only flashlight from his pocket, stood at the edge of the ditch, and shone it downward—unable to gauge its depth, the beam was swallowed by darkness as if the ditch had no bottom.

Lu Cheng immediately gave up the idea of going down to retrieve anything; never mind the jagged rocks protruding from the ditch's edge, even if he could slowly descend, the slippery snow would make climbing back up a problem.

Besides, the three of us plus the horse need to stick together; if a fierce beast appeared, anyone who strayed would be in danger.

"Sorry, Group Leader Lu, I wasn't watching," Tian Shukuan said, clutching the satchel to his chest; although the documents had stayed safe, he felt guilty.

Lu Cheng waved a hand: "The situation was special then; it's not your fault as long as the documents aren't lost."

Most importantly, the rifle wasn't lost; while on the Snow Plow earlier, Lu Cheng had mentioned needing a gun, and Niu Da Kui had been looking for a chance to hand it over.

Even if he had fallen from the Snow Plow, the rifle remained tightly gripped in Niu Da Kui's hand.

That's why he had run over—to deliver the rifle.

This also gave Lu Cheng some comfort; otherwise, traversing dozens of kilometers of forest, he truly feared he wouldn't make it out.

"Alright, stop grieving over those supplies; even if we looked, they won't fly back." Lu Cheng gazed at the vast forest, took a breath: "We can only tough it out now—let's move out!"

"There's something edible," Niu Da Kui suddenly said out of the blue.

Lu Cheng turned around, thinking Da Kui had some tasty snack hidden, but instead saw Da Kui staring at the horse and swallowing.

Lu Cheng stepped forward and kicked him: "What? You still want to eat the horse?"

Niu Da Kui sniffed: "Horse meat is edible."

Lu Cheng gave him a speechless stare, and Niu Da Kui insisted: "It really can be eaten."

Lu Cheng tapped his head again—"What's in there, paste?"

"'How could I not know it's edible? If we eat the horse, we'll have to walk on our two legs—stop messing around!'"

Actually, if it came to that, we would indeed have to eat horse meat, since humans come first.

But for now it's not that dire; we have a rifle, so we might be able to shoot some pheasants along the way to replenish our strength.

After gathering what we could… there was really nothing left to pack; everything was gone.

We pressed on; the horse was already exhausted from fatigue, yet we dared not rest, and Lu Cheng felt the place was too eerie.

If the horse had just lost control, it must have sensed a large beast in the forest—but if there were such a beast, we should have heard some noise by now.

Yet now the entire forest is eerily silent.

Could we have run into a ghost?

Lu Cheng only hoped it would be a female ghost; with his pick‑up artist skills, maybe he could embark on a tragic human‑ghost romance.

To lighten the horse's load, the three of us no longer rode the Snow Plow; Niu Da Kui led the horse, Tian Shukuan walked in the middle, and Lu Cheng clung to the rifle, guarding the rear while staying alert all around.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, showing no sign of letting up; in the night, aside from the wind, all we could hear was the "creak‑creak" of footsteps on the snow.

On the way here we left a line of white footprints, which were quickly buried by the heavy snow.

About an hour later, it was nearly four a. m.; if we could hold out another two or three hours, we'd make it out of the forest, and the sky should be light by then.

Once daylight came, this forest wouldn't be so scary.

Yet at this moment the three of us were both cold and hungry.

"Everyone, hold on a bit longer; once we exit this forest we'll see a village, and then we can ask the locals for something to eat."

To encourage the two, Lu Cheng had to resort to the "quenching thirst by thinking of plums" tactic; in truth, his hope of seeing a village was slim.

They pressed on against the biting wind for another half hour; snowflakes struck their faces like knives, so they could only pull their caps tight, lower their heads, and move slowly forward.

Just then the horse suddenly stopped again; no matter how Niu Da Kui urged it, it refused to take another step.

"What's wrong, Da Kui?" Lu Cheng stepped forward and asked.

Niu Da Kui pointed at the horse and said, "It doesn't want to go."

Tian Shukuan added, "It's surely hungry; too bad the hay we brought fell into the ditch."

Niu Da Kui was obviously tired as well; otherwise he could still have mustered the strength to drag the horse along.

Lu Cheng had no choice but to say, "Let's rest here for ten minutes; that big rock over there can block the wind."

Lu Cheng led the two to the rear of the big stone; Niu Da Kui didn't sit down, saying, "I need to pee."

Lu Cheng chuckled, "Do you need to file a report to pee? This isn't a train—go ahead, just don't wander too far."

Niu Da Kui walked to a nearby large tree, undid his belt, and began to urinate.

He happened to be downwind, so a strong urine smell hit him; Lu Cheng complained, "Da Kui, couldn't you have peed behind the tree? I'm already thirsty."

Lu Cheng grabbed a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth, while Niu Da Kui stepped back, watching the urine form a yellow line.

"'Chief, the snow is thirsty too—it drank my urine.'"

Lu Cheng mumbled in reply, "It's fine if the snow drinks your urine; just don't let a wolf eat you…"

Lu Cheng hadn't finished speaking when Niu Da Kui suddenly shouted.

"'What are you yelling about now? Finish up and come over quickly.'"

Lu Cheng had just spoken when he saw Tian Shukuan staring at the back of the tree, involuntarily standing up and trembling as he pointed.

"'Lu, Group Leader Lu, you, you better look—there's a dog, a dog biting Da Kui!'"

Lu Cheng sprang to his feet and saw that Niu Da Kui's earlier yelling wasn't nonsense—indeed a big wolf dog was clamped onto his arm, tearing at it.

But out in the wilderness, with no households around, how could we possibly encounter a wolf dog?

Only upon closer inspection did I see clearly—that wasn't a dog at all; it was clearly a wolf gone mad with hunger.

Looking at Da Kui, whose arm was gripped by the wolf, he spun in a circle and flung the beast away.

No wonder the horse was frightened; no wonder there was not a sound—it turned out to be a sly wolf.

Wolves are pack animals; there couldn't be just one. Who knows how many more hungry wolves are lurking in the dark forest?