Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty-Five: Slaying the Evil Wolf

Just as He Yuzhu and Hou Weiguo were talking, Chen Yun shouted from inside the tent, 'Zhuzi, hurry up and come in—the receiver has picked up a signal.'

He Yuzhu hurried into the tent after hearing Chen Yun's words, and at that moment Professor Li also left the tent and walked to the telescope; inside the tent they heard Professor Li say, 'Old Chen, hurry—I see they seem to have started lighting a fire.'

Chen Yun inside the tent said after hearing that, 'Zhuzi, you must keep a close watch on the receiver and the recorder,' He Yuzhu nodded and put on the headphones.

After He Yuzhu put on the headphones, he felt the radio frequency rising higher and higher, the recorder beside him also began to record, and just as the two were nervously gathering information, they heard Hou Weiguo shout from outside the tent, 'Everyone be careful, the wolf pack is coming up!' After saying that, Hou Weiguo lit the Molotov cocktail in his hand and threw it toward the pile of firewood.

By ill fortune, the Molotov cocktail struck a wolf lunging at them in midair; with a howl, the bottle exploded on the wolf's body, instantly turning the whole animal into a fireball that fell to the ground, and three or four wolves had already stepped over the firewood and were running up the slope.

At that moment Hou Weiguo swung the rifle from behind his back, and with an up‑and‑down heave the Type 53 bayonet was flung out; as Hou Weiguo swung the bayonet, the wolf that had been ignited by the Molotov cocktail writhed on the ground a few times, then a burst of flame shot upward, the firewood was ignited by sparks falling from the wolf's body, and the slower wolves behind were held back by the flames.

Hou Weiguo gripped the rifle's barrel with his left hand and its stock with his right; the whole Type 53 bayonet gleamed darkly in the firelight, he shouted and charged at the four wolves rushing forward, thrusting with the rifle and sending the lead wolf tumbling down the steep slope.

The remaining three wolves had already passed Hou Weiguo and were heading up the slope; Hou Weiguo hesitated no longer, pulled the rifle's bolt and fired two shots, hitting one wolf; hearing the shots, the other two—one had already charged toward the tent, the other turned, bared its teeth, and stared at Hou Weiguo.

Hearing the rifle shots inside the tent, He Yuzhu immediately took off his headphones and stood up; seeing a gray figure rush in, he did not hesitate, grabbed the enamel cup on the table with his left hand and swung it— the cup struck the wolf's head; the wolf that had entered the tent was hit, immediately stepped back a pace, bared its teeth, looked at He Yuzhu, and then suddenly lunged and knocked him to the ground.

At that moment He Yuzhu shoved the enamel basin into the wolf's open mouth with his left hand, while with his right he drew a dagger and stabbed it into the wolf's neck; the wolf winced, its front paws clawing at He Yuzhu, he pulled out the dagger and stabbed repeatedly until the wolf ceased moving; just as He Yuzhu tried to move the wolf aside, a bright beam of light shone through the tent onto his face, dazzling him so he could not open his eyes.

Immediately a loud bang accompanied by a blast of air came, blowing the tent noisily; the instruments on the table were shaken to the floor; after a while, He Yuzhu, his head dazed from the blast, rose to his feet, looked toward Chen Yun, and saw Chen Yun bent over, shielding the instruments beneath him.

He Yuzhu staggered over, helped Chen Yun to his feet, and shouted loudly, 'Professor Chen, are you all right?' Chen Yun stood up and said, 'I can't hear what you're saying.'

At that moment Hou Weiguo walked in from outside the tent and said, 'They've left, the wolf pack has withdrawn—we must retreat immediately.'

The two could not hear Hou Weiguo's words, and He Yuzhu asked, 'What did you say?'

Seeing the situation, Hou Weiguo said nothing more and began to tidy the things on the table; He Yuzhu saw Hou Weiguo working and hurried to the recorder, discovering that the paper had torn; he slowly rolled up the torn sheets, then helped Hou Weiguo put things away, and Chen Yun, now reacting, joined in to help the two of them clean up.

After the three had finished packing up, Professor Li entered the tent and said, 'Quick—I see a convoy approaching.'

Hearing Professor Li's words, Hou Weiguo grabbed a box and rushed out of the tent; He Yuzhu and the others, seeing this, also hurriedly lifted the box and went out.

After the two came out of the tent, Hou Weiguo, walking ahead, kicked the fire aside to make a path; the four of them ran down the steep slope, placing the equipment on the vehicle at the bottom of the slope, and at that moment they saw Hou Weiguo running up the slope, Professor Chen saying, 'Zhuzi, hurry and help Company Commander Hou.'

He Yuzhu jumped off the vehicle and followed Hou Weiguo up the steep slope; the two quickly took down the tent, He Yuzhu glanced around, saw nothing, then turned and followed Hou Weiguo back down the slope.

After the two got into the vehicle, Hou Weiguo started the engine, moved forward a couple of steps and said, 'Damn it, the tires have been bitten through by a wolf!' He continued to rev the engine and move forward, but because the tires were chewed, the vehicle could barely move; seeing the headlights behind getting closer, the rear guard stopped the vehicle and said, 'Director Chen, Professor Li, you three hold onto the important items and run to the rear quickly—I'll stay behind to cover.'

Having said that, Hou Weiguo jumped out of the vehicle, pulled the rifle's bolt, and took cover behind it, keeping watch; He Yuzhu saw this and said, 'Professor Chen, you two hurry on—I'll stay with Company Commander Hou.'

After He Yuzhu got out of the vehicle and walked to Hou Weiguo's side, seeing that He Yuzhu had not left, Hou Weiguo smiled, handed him the rifle, and said, 'Just pull the trigger toward the front; wait for my orders.'

Having said that, he walked toward the rear of the vehicle and said, 'Director Chen, you all hurry on.' After saying that, he again pulled an infantry rifle from the gap under the seat, walked to the other side of the vehicle and took up a guard position; He Yuzhu and the other saw Professor Chen and the others go far off, then Hou Weiguo said, 'Comrade He, I will swing the vehicle around—this will protect us for a while.'

After saying that, Hou Weiguo climbed onto the vehicle, started it, and turned it sideways to face the headlights.

One of them took position at the front of the vehicle, the other at the rear; as the headlights drew nearer, Hou Weiguo said, 'Don't rush—wait until they get a little closer, then fire at their headlights, and listen for my command.'

He Yuzhu answered 'Okay,' his grip on the rifle tightening involuntarily, sweat still pouring from his face despite the cold of the night's Gobi desert; at that moment he saw the vehicle ahead slowly come to a stop, and then heard Hou Weiguo say, 'Comrade He, don't be anxious—the situation is not right.'

At that moment a voice called out from ahead, 'Is that Company Commander Hou up front?'

After hearing the voice, Hou Weiguo took a deep breath and shouted, 'That's right, I'm Hou Weiguo.' Having said that, he stood up and told He Yuzhu, 'Comrade He, it's all clear—we're among our own.'

After hearing Hou Weiguo's voice, the opposing convoy began to move forward again; when it reached the two of them, there were three vehicles in total—exactly the guard company stationed at the temporary camp. Hou Weiguo instructed the soldiers to repair the vehicle carrying He Yuzhu and the others, then he got into another vehicle and set off in pursuit of Chen Yun and the other two.

After Hou Weiguo left, He Yuzhu's nervousness finally eased; the soldiers saw that his coat was torn to shreds, so they took one from the vehicle and gave it to him. He Yuzhu took the coat, and in the light from the vehicle's headlights he saw his own damaged coat, smiled, had no time to check his injuries, and quickly put on the new one.