Chapter One: Perplexity

  Huang Yan finally couldn't hold back his tears after hearing Gao Huaiyuan's words, and they burst out. He squatted down, hugging his head and crying, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault! Waaahhh..."

  Gao Huairen kicked him and scolded: "I'm not dead yet, what are you crying about? If you're still a man, get up for me! Crying like a woman! It's not necessarily going to die! Everyone is annoyed by your crying!"

  Huang Yan finally stopped crying and stood up from the ground, picking up his knife again. His eyes began to fill with a firm gaze.

  Gao Huaiyuan took a closer look at the current situation. Just now, something unexpected happened, and everyone didn't have their bows and arrows. Although they were gathered around the bonfire now, they had lost their ability to attack from a distance. Otherwise, with their backs against the bonfire and using their bows and arrows, they could hunt down those ferocious wolves nearby.

  What to do? Gao Huaiyuan looked around and suddenly saw a bow and arrow in the nearby grass, which gave him hope. He looked up at the top of his head again and saw that there was a branch above the bonfire that stretched out just above their heads, but it was too small to hold his weight, otherwise they could have climbed the tree first.

  After a few rapid turns in his mind, he watched as the bonfire jumped up again and began to weaken, time was no longer waiting for people, Zhou Huan threw a piece of clothing into the bonfire, and the flames immediately jumped up again, burning more vigorously, filling the air with the smell of burning canvas.

  Gao Hua Yuan's brain flashed, he looked up to measure the height, then suddenly squatted down without warning, his legs exerted force, and he jumped up with a burst of energy. Relying on the elasticity of his legs, he actually lifted his body more than one person high, his right hand swung fiercely, chopping down the tree branch on top of his head, startling everyone.

  Gao Huaiyuan picked up the tree branch, immediately cut off the branches above and threw them into the bonfire. He then pulled over the wolf corpse next to him, split open its body with a knife, scraped out some wolf oil, tore off his two pant legs, wrapped them in wolf oil on the wooden stick, and made a simple torch.

  "Wait here, I'll go get the bow and arrow. Don't follow me over there, no matter what happens, don't leave the bonfire! Does everyone understand?" Gao Huaiyuan instructed the crowd with a torch in his left hand.

  Everyone immediately understood what Gao Huaiyuan was going to do. Huang Yan immediately shouted: "No, it's my fault that things have come to this, let me go!"

  "Huang Yan is injured, let me go instead!" Zhou Hao also said immediately.

  The other two young men also begged to go and retrieve their bows and arrows.

  Liu'er gazed at Gao Huaiyuan with tears in her eyes, not saying a word, just staring blankly at him, as if there was something unspeakable in her eyes.

  Gao Weiyan shook his head impatiently and said, "If any of you think you're better than me, then go ahead. If not, then all of you just stay put quietly. I have a torch in my hand, the wolf won't dare to get close to me! Take care of Liu'er for me, I'll be right back!"

  Everyone knew that persuading him was useless, so they had to agree. Gao Huaiyuan lit the torch on the bonfire and immediately a pungent smell of burning wolf oil filled the air, but the flames were not small.

  "You can rest assured, if you have any mishaps, I, Liu Er, will not live in this world alone!" Seeing Gao Huaiyuan about to leave, Liu Er's teeth lightly bit her cherry lips, and she spoke to Gao Huaiyuan in an unusually firm tone.

  After hearing Liu'er's words, Gao Huaiyuan felt a tremble in his heart. Everyone believed that Liu'er's words would not be just empty talk. So, Gao Huaiyuan forced out a smile and nodded, without saying a word. Then he picked up the torch and jumped out, rushing towards the direction of the bow and arrow.

  The wolf pack discovered Gao Huaiyuan's movement and immediately let out a burst of howls. Several wolves, although afraid of the torch in Gao Huaiyuan's hand, still pounced towards him under the urging of their leader.

  Gao Hua yuan knew that this time he was racing against time, not daring to stop for a moment. His body maintained high speed as he swiftly pounced on the place where the bow and arrow were kept. With one swift slash of his hand, he struck down a ferocious wolf that had leapt out from the grass thicket. He then kicked away another approaching wolf with one foot. Waving the torch in his left hand, he forced the remaining wolves to retreat with mournful howls. Seizing this opportunity, he picked up the bow on the ground and slung it over his back at an angle. Again waving the torch, he drove off the pack of wolves and snatched up the quiver full of arrows from the ground.

  At this time, seeing that there were still relatively sufficient reserves of torches, Gao Huaiyuan decided to take another risk and handed the torch over to his right hand, holding it together with the knife. Swinging it around, he didn't retreat back to the bonfire, but instead rushed towards the small hut where he was hiding.

  His abnormal action immediately caused the exclamation of Zhou Huan and others, several vicious wolves followed closely behind, chasing after Gao Huaiyuan. Huang Yan, in a moment of desperation, picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and used all his might to throw it at the vicious wolves that were relentlessly pursuing Gao Huaiyuan.

  He, who had practiced archery, was not covering up his arm strength and accuracy. The thrown stone hit the wolf's back, and the wolf let out a miserable howl, rolling on the ground before jumping to one side.

  As soon as everyone saw this, they immediately followed suit and picked up large and small stones from the ground to throw at the wolves that were chasing Gao Huaiyuan relentlessly. Even Liu'er joined in, picking up small stones to throw at the vicious wolves. Although it didn't have much effect, it did serve to distract them and support Gao Huaiyuan's actions.

  Gao Hua Yuan didn't even have time to look back at himself, only using his senses to guard against the wolves that could appear at any moment. He swung the torch in his hand, driving the wolf pack away, and quickly rushed to the side of the den, tearing it open with one pull. After kicking a few times, he risked taking out his knife sheath from the den - this thing was a lifesaver, worth risking for! As soon as he saw the knife sheath being kicked out, he lifted his foot and kicked it up, stretching his neck to pick it up in his mouth. Then, he quickly tucked a bundle of firewood under his left armpit and rapidly retreated back towards the bonfire.

  Although he was waving a torch and running wildly, he couldn't outrun the wolves, especially since he was dragging a large bundle of things and was getting tired. Two wolves finally caught up with Gao Huaiyuan and pounced on his back, trying to bite through his neck. Feeling the wind behind him tighten, Gao Huaiyuan relied on his instincts to kick backwards while running, and surprisingly kicked one wolf right in its small belly. The wolf let out a miserable howl from the pain, rolled away, tucked its tail between its legs, and escaped into a nearby thicket to lick its wounds alone.

  Gao Huaiyuan's good fortune also came to an end, as a wolf savagely bit his calf, causing him to stumble and almost fall to the ground. Several wolves immediately took advantage of this opportunity, howling as they pounced on him, wanting to tear Gao Huaiyuan apart on the spot.

  Huang Yan and others saw that Gao Huaiyuan's situation was critical, so they no longer cared about Gao Huaiyuan's orders. They rushed over in a swarm, with knives and guns raised, and drove away those vicious wolves in one fell swoop, bringing Gao Huaiyuan into the circle.

  Looking at the wound on Gao Huaiyuan's leg, Liu Er's face turned pale. Without thinking, she tore off a piece of her own clothes and quickly bandaged him up. The bite was quite deep, and with a forceful tear, the wolf's teeth had ripped open a big gash on Gao Huaiyuan's calf, with fresh blood flowing out, looking very frightening.

  "Stop staring, make the bonfire bigger, it's almost enough to last until dawn!" Gao Huaiyuan took a slight breath of cool air, and after Liu'er finished bandaging his leg wound, he instructed Zhou Huan and others.

  The bonfire, with the help of the dry grasses that Gao Huaiyuan had rushed back to get, once again began to crackle and pop, and the wolf pack, seeing the flames rise higher, retreated once more, and the situation was stabilized.

  Although the wolves didn't dare to approach due to the bonfire, it doesn't mean the danger has been eliminated. Everyone is eagerly waiting for dawn, but who knows if the wolf pack will retreat after daylight? Moreover, it seems that no one has ever heard of wolf packs only hunting at night; don't they also roam during the day?

  So Gao Huaiyuan, after a brief rest, began to think about the escape plan again. It was now the second half of the night, and if he were to break through with a group of wounded men, it would be equivalent to seeking death. Even if he could rely on his skills to escape, it was likely that others would not be so lucky, so a nighttime breakout was impossible.

  Wait until dawn to break through? It seems that this is the only consideration at present. After all, after dawn, people's field of vision will be much broader, and they can discover the approaching pack of wolves in advance. However, this group of forest wolves has been thoroughly enraged by them and will definitely follow them closely without letting go. Whether they can escape then is also an unknown number, and the risk is equally great.

  The only way is to get rid of the leader of the pack, once the leader is dead, the pack will lose its command and without the leader, some strong male wolves in the pack will definitely fight for the position of the leader, at that time they will naturally not be interested in continuing to hunt down these travelers.

  After making up his mind, Gao Huaiyuan started to perk up his ears and stare widely into the darkness around him, trying to find the leader of the wolf pack and kill it to end this battle.

  But even if his eyesight was good, in the dark, he was in a bright place, wanting to see clearly the wolf pack in the dark land was an impossible thing, unless he had a pair of night vision goggles from a later generation, otherwise, don't even think about it!

  One person can't do it, so let everyone work together. After hearing Gao Huaiyuan's instructions, everyone opened their eyes wide and started searching around. However, after a busy search, everyone still had nothing to show for it. This leader wolf was really cunning, from the beginning of the siege on the camp, it never showed its face, always staying in the dark, using its howling voice to command the wolves under its paws to launch separate attacks, making Gao Huaiyuan and his group unable to do anything about it.

  Gao Huaiyuan checked the quiver and found there were still twelve arrows left, which was relatively abundant. He decided to use a tactic of "startling the snake by hitting the grass" to see if he could force out that head wolf.

  The distance between the human and wolf confrontation was not far, Gao Huaiyuan and the crowd were in a small clearing in the woods, while the wolf pack surrounded the surrounding grass and shrubs, under the reflection of the bonfire light, the green wolf eyes appeared and disappeared in the woods, and from time to time, they let out a few howls, filling this mountain forest with a terrifying atmosphere.

  Gao Huaiyuan calmed down, took a deep breath, and soon spotted a wolf not far away. He drew his bow, aimed briefly, and shot an arrow. The unfortunate wolf let out a miserable howl and rolled to the ground, struggling as if it was doomed. A keen-eyed observer saw that Gao Huaiyuan's arrow had hit the wolf right in the chest, with the powerful bow propelling the arrow shaft deep into the wolf's body, almost halfway in. It would be hard for the wolf not to die.

  After seeing his companion being shot, the wolf pack suddenly made a **, and let out a howl. Gao Huairen perked up his ears and listened carefully to the howling sound, trying to distinguish the location of the leader wolf from the howls.

  Unfortunately, he wasn't a wolf and couldn't understand the wolf language, so in the end, he still couldn't find the location of the alpha wolf. So, he continued to hunt and kill wolves nearby, shooting arrow after arrow, killing three more wolves in succession. This time, the wolf pack started to get scared. Although they were a bunch of beasts, it didn't mean they weren't afraid of death. Watching their companions being killed one by one was unbearable, even for wolves with thick nerves. They began to retreat.

  At this time, in the direction of Gao Huaiyuan's due east, a wolf howl suddenly rang out. After hearing this wolf howl, the wolves immediately began to press towards Gao Huaiyuan and his party again.

  It seems that Gao Huairen's actions have thoroughly enraged the leader of this pack of wolves. After being tossed around for so long, with so many wolves, they still haven't been able to take down these few two-legged creatures, greatly damaging the leader wolf's dignity. In anger, it let out a long howl towards the sky, intending to command the pack to continue their attack and thoroughly eliminate those damned two-legged creatures.

  But its action immediately exposed its tracks, and Gao Huaiyuan was worried that he couldn't find its location. When he heard its howling sound, he immediately turned his gaze to the position where it made the howl, and carefully searched in the darkness.

  "Whoosh……" Another eagle feather arrow flew out, and a wolf in the distance immediately let out a mournful howl as it fell to the ground. Gao Huaiyuan locked onto this wolf and quickly shot an arrow to kill it, but soon he discovered that he had targeted the wrong one, the wolf that was hit by the arrow was not the head wolf he was looking for.

  They soon picked out the voice of the lead wolf again in the howls, this time coming from the north. Gao Huaiyan couldn't help but curse: "Damn it! This lead wolf is too cunning, actually circling around us!"

  Huang Yan and others also scolded loudly, but no matter how much they scolded, they still couldn't find it! Gao Huaiyuan saw that the number of arrows was not many, so he didn't dare to shoot easily again. He had to come down honestly and wait until dawn to say anything else.

  Fortunately, the firewood was still holding up, and the bonfire persisted until dawn. The people sitting next to the bonfire, including Gao Huaiyuan, all felt a bit exhausted. Throughout the night, everyone's nerves had been highly tense. As the eastern sky began to brighten, the crowd quickly got up from the ground, picked up their weapons, and prepared for the final battle.

  As the sky brightened, they also saw the situation around them clearly. After a fierce battle overnight, at least twenty or more wolf corpses lay on the ground, each with their intestines ruptured and dying in a miserable state. The wolf packs hidden in the surrounding forests also emerged, and everyone couldn't help but take a deep breath. Having killed for one night, there were still at least forty or fifty wolves outside, fortunately they didn't venture out to break through last night, otherwise they would have been chased down and eaten by the wolf pack.

  The wolf pack became restless again after seeing the sky start to brighten, as if they knew that once daytime arrived, they would no longer have the same advantage as at night, and the bonfire that these people relied on also began to weaken, making them less cautious.

  Suddenly, Gao Huaiyuan saw a grey-white giant wolf jumping onto a stone in the distance, staring at these people from afar. Based on his intuition, he immediately determined that this grey wolf must be the leader of the wolf pack. With a silent curse in his heart, he quickly drew his bow and aimed at the grey wolf.

  The grey wolf stretched its neck and let out a long howl towards the sky, all the wolves began to emerge from the forest in his howling voice.

  The beast was still a beast, although it knew that the things in these people's hands were fierce, but out of habit, it jumped out and thought it was safer to command the wolf pack to attack from behind, so this gray wolf wasn't too careful.

  He Xiaohuai seized the opportunity, drew his strong bow into a full moon shape, and cursed with gritted teeth: "Go to hell, you damn beast!"

  As soon as his curse fell, the arrow immediately left the string and flew towards the gray wolf like lightning. The gray wolf was extremely cunning, but it did not expect that its enemy could shoot and kill it from such a long distance. It let out a miserable howl, and a blood flower burst forth on its neck, rolling down from the big rock.

  As the lead wolf gave the command, the pack was about to launch its final fierce attack on Gao Huaiyuan and his group when they heard their leader let out a mournful howl. Instantly, the pack fell into disarray. Some wolves continued to carry out their previous orders, leaping out of bushes or thickets to pounce on Gao Huaiyuan and the others. Others began to retreat, checking to see what had happened to their leader.

  Looking at the wolf pack rushing over, Gao Huaiyuan immediately dropped his strong bow and drew out his treasured sword. After swinging it open, he started slashing left and right, killing in all directions. The other people also swung their single-edged swords or chopping knives, shouting loudly as they clashed with the wolf pack that rushed out.

  In this way, several people with good eyesight no longer suffered losses like last night. The wolf pack was in a state of confusion and was quickly knocked to the ground by them. The remaining wolves discovered that their leader had fallen to the ground, twitching and struggling, and let out a long howl. After hearing these howls, the wolf pack stopped attacking and quickly retreated into the mountains, disappearing without a trace.

  Gao Huaiyuan and others looked around the mountains and forests with tension, afraid that the wolf pack would come back and give them a counterattack. They waited for a long time until they heard the mournful howling of wolves gradually fading away, before they all let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that things were finally over.

  In the early morning forest, the air was less fresh but had a bloody smell. The crowd that had been busy all night only felt their bodies ache unbearably after seeing the danger lifted, and they sat down on the ground one by one, looking at each other as if in a dream, truly experiencing the feeling of being left alive after a disaster, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.