Chapter 2: Snatching Food from the Jaws of Wolves

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  Dragging his heavy footsteps, Li Wenjun walked until the second half of the night. He suddenly heard unusual movements coming from the riverbed in front of him.

  Aaaaoooouuu...

  The sound is desolate and bleak, with a hint of pain.

  Li Wenjun was startled, this is the howling of wolves. He had heard adults describe the sound of wolves many times before. The adults also told him that wolves are ferocious, greedy and united, so when he encounters a wolf, he should hide if possible and try not to provoke it.

  If possible, Li Wenjun really wanted to turn around and walk back, far away from the wolf blocking his way, but turning back was just a beautiful luxury.

  He has been walking for several days since leaving the small village, with no food or water, going back and forth, unable to change this situation, and all that awaits him is a dead end.

  If he leaves the riverbed and walks in a direction perpendicular to it, his chances of finding water will be even slimmer, still a dead end.

  Li Wenjun thought and thought, his only remaining choice was to continue moving forward, passing by the wolf's side, snatching a path of life from the wolf's mouth.

  If I couldn't escape, even if it meant being eaten by the wolf and becoming its meal, it would be better than suffering like this, half dead and half alive. Perhaps dying like that would also be a kind of liberation.

  The many days of hardship had already made Li Wenjun, who originally had a strong desire to survive, also have a thought of giving up.

  At this time, the sky was already brightening, and the dry riverbed revealed its true face to Li Wenjun in the hazy morning light.

  Li Wenjun found that the river in front of him was not far away, and it turned a bend. The wolf's cry came from behind the bend.

  Li Wenjun slapped his cheeks hard to make himself more awake. Then he tiptoed towards the river bay, trying to make his footsteps lighter and quieter, but even this, he couldn't do it, he didn't have much strength left to control the heaviness or lightness of his footsteps.

  Aaaaoooouuu...

  The wolf kept howling, as if warning Li Wenjun not to get close. Fortunately, the wolf was just barking and had no intention of intercepting Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun climbed up to the riverbank, stuck his head out and looked in the direction of the wolf's howl. What he saw first was not a wolf, but a shimmering wave of light, which was formed by the reflection of water when it was illuminated.

  Water is now life for Li Wenjun, representing his hope of survival and the possibility of reuniting with his family.

  Li Wenjun was about to rush out, but the wolf howls still held him back. With water, there was hope, and his will to survive surged again.

  He doesn't want to die! He still wants to live! For this, he must make a good plan.

  Li Wenjun carefully observed the situation in the river bay.

  Perhaps it was the reason why the river turned here, and the long-term flushing of the river bed made a water pit with an area of about two or three zhangs on the river bed. The sparkling light came from there. Looking far away, the water in the pit had already been very little, just at the bottom of the pit, the water area was not even as big as a bathtub, only a little bit.

  The wolf that brought Li Wenjun over was guarding the side of the water hole, it crouched on the ground, raised its head and howled from time to time. Occasionally, when it got tired of howling, it lowered its head and lapped up two mouthfuls of water in the water hole.

  Watching the wolf drink water, Li Wenjun swallowed his saliva. But he couldn't secrete any more saliva, and this subconscious action only brought him throat pain, which made him even more awake.

  Li Wenjun forced himself to shift his gaze away from the puddle and the wolf, and suddenly found that on the riverbank leading to the water pit, the ground was covered with dark red bloodstains that had dried up, and there were several human corpses lying horizontally, including men and women, old and young, looking like a family.

  These corpses were incomplete, some missing arms, some without legs, and some with their bellies hollowed out, looking as if they had been eaten by some wild beast. They were reminding Li Wenjun of the ferocity of that wolf in this way.

  Li Wenjun thought to himself that with his small build, it would be harder than climbing to heaven to snatch the lifesaving water from the wolf's claws. But if he didn't snatch it, he wouldn't survive, just like that family lying on the ground, knowing it was impossible but still having to try.

  To survive, I must try hard.

  Li Wenjun continued to observe the terrain around the wolf, hoping to find some details that he had overlooked. Soon, he found that next to the bodies of those killed by the wolf, there were things like clubs, including a hatchet.

  Li Wenjun's heart suddenly had a glimmer of hope. With so many people attacking a lone wolf, it should be possible to inflict some injury on the wolf.

  What made him more and more certain that his inference was not wrong was that the wolf must have found him. He found that the wolf would occasionally raise its head and glance in the direction where he was hiding, but until now, the wolf had been lying on the ground, unwilling to move at all.

  This is very abnormal. The wolf's body may have been injured.

  To verify whether his inference was correct, Li Wenjun picked up a clod of earth with all his might and threw it in the direction of the wolf.

  The clod of earth fell down when it was still a few feet away from the wolf.

  Dong...

  The wolf suddenly stood up and looked towards where Li Wenjun was hiding, letting out a warning howl.

  Li Wenjun didn't stop at one, picked up another clod of earth and threw it again at the wolf.

  Dong...

  This time, the place where the clod of earth fell was a bit closer to the wolf.

  The wolf could no longer bear this provocation and got up unsteadily.

  Li Wenjun was overjoyed at first sight.

  The reason he was happy is very simple, the wolf was really injured, its right hind leg was broken and it was hanging weakly. This will inevitably greatly reduce the wolf's lethality. Also, this seems to be a wolf that has not yet reached adulthood, its body shape is much smaller than the adult wolves Li Wenjun usually sees.

  Apart from being overjoyed, Li Wenjun also has worries.

  The wolf was not thin at all, it had water to drink and food to fill its belly, which was enough to keep it in good physical condition. In contrast, Li Wenjun had been fasting and dehydrated for many days, lacking strength, even walking was laborious, and fighting the wolf to snatch that remaining water from its claws was extremely difficult.

  But no matter how difficult it is, I have to give it a try.

  Li Wenjun no longer hesitated, he opened the water bottle and drank down the last mouthful of "water" left inside. The mouthful of "water" with a pungent smell moistened his throat, lubricated his esophagus, and somewhat invigorated his spirit.

  Li Wenjun looked up at the sky again, the eastern horizon was a pale white, and the sun would soon rise. He had to settle the battle before the sun could scorch the earth with its heat. Otherwise, the sun would evaporate the little water in his body, weakening his strength, reducing his physical agility, and at that time, his already limited advantage would be lost, and he would likely end up under the wolf's sharp claws.

  Li Wenjun removed everything that could weigh him down from his body and put it on the ground, picked up the two-foot-long jujube wood mallet, fixed his eyes tightly on the wolf with one lame leg, and walked over step by step with slightly heavy legs.

  In the wolf's triangular eyes, a fierce and disdainful look was revealed. Even if it had only one leg left, it could still bite to pieces anyone who dared to provoke it and tried to snatch its life-saving water.

  Aaaaoooouuu...

  When Li Wenjun was still some distance away, the wolf let out a howl and charged towards him. Although it only had three legs that could move, its running speed and agility were no match for those of a normal adult wolf, but compared to Li Wenjun, who was severely lacking in physical strength, it still had a considerable advantage. Moreover, its survival instincts were not weaker than Li Wenjun's.

  Ah...

  Li Wenjun also let out a cry, his voice hoarse and weak, like that of a dying beast.

  The wolf pounced over, leaped up, its huge bloody mouth open wide, and bit at Li Wenjun's throat. Its movements were swift and fierce, it didn't need much time, just a blink of an eye, and it could bite down on Li Wenjun, tearing through his throat and sending him to his death.

  Li Wenjun was extremely calm, he knew his physical strength was no match for the wolf's, so he could only seek an advantage in technique. At this critical moment, he aimed at the wolf's incoming bite, swung the jujube wood club up and struck it into the wolf's open mouth with great force.

  The wolf's mouth unconsciously closed together, and its sharp teeth bit onto the date wood mallet. The date wood mallet was extremely hard, causing several of the wolf's teeth to break off.

  Li Wenjun took advantage of the situation and didn't show mercy, grabbing the handle of the date wood mallet with both hands and forcing it into the wolf's mouth, the mallet suddenly reaching the wolf's soft throat.

  Fresh blood flowed from its mouth, and the wolf hastily loosened its jaws and shook off the date wood mallet.

  Li Wenjun hastily grabbed his jujube wood club and retreated backwards, reopening the distance between him and the wolf.

  The bloody smell stimulated the wolf to become more ferocious, it circled around Li Wenjun, looking for a chance to strike a fatal blow.

  In the first round of hand-to-hand combat, Li Wenjun had a slight upper hand, which gave him a glimmer of hope. He lowered his body and circled with the wolf, always keeping his face to the wolf.

  The wolf's physical strength was much more abundant than Li Wenjun's. After accompanying Li Wenjun for a few laps, Li Wenjun's feet were tripped by something and stumbled.

  The wolf seized this opportunity and let out a loud howl before pouncing on Li Wenjun.

  Li Wenjun dodged quickly, but his speed was still a beat slow, barely avoiding the fatal blow, and the wolf leapt over his shoulder.

  Unexpectedly, the wolf made another move and swiped its left hind leg, its sharp claws scratching Li Wenjun's body, not only knocking him to the ground but also leaving a long wound on his body.

  Before Li Wenjun could get up from the ground, the wolf rushed over again. Li Wenjun rolled on the ground and dodged the fatal spot once more, but this time the wolf's bite did not fail. It bit down on Li Wenjun's thigh with one mouthful, and the little flesh left on his thigh was bitten off by the wolf, and the femur was also bitten off by the wolf.

  Li Wenjun let out a mournful cry and suddenly sat up, swinging the jujube wood mallet at the wolf.

  This time, perhaps it was Li Wenjun's potential bursting out, the speed was extremely fast, and the wolf didn't even have time to dodge. The wooden stick struck with a loud "thud", hitting the wolf right on the head.

  No matter what animal, the head is always the hardest place. Adding to Li Wenjun's weak body and lack of strength, this blow didn't make the wolf's brains splatter, but it did make the wolf a bit dizzy.

  Li Wenjun used too much force, and it was also smashed on the wolf's head. The counterforce shook the jujube wood mallet in his hand and flew out far away.

  The wolf shook its head, trying to sober up a bit. Li Wenjun, on the other hand, was frantically looking around, hoping to find something to defend himself with. Suddenly, he spotted the axe that someone had left behind. The axe was old and rusty, with notches on it and bloodstains, but it was made of iron, had a blade, and most importantly, it was the closest thing to a "weapon" near Li Wenjun.