Chapter 3: Monster? Miracle?

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  Li Wenjun ignored the pain in his thigh and struggled to get up, dragging his injured leg, stumbling towards the axe.

  The wolf looked up at Li Wenjun, it noticed Li Wenjun's movement, but its brain, which had just been hit hard, made its reaction a bit dull, and it didn't react in the first time.

  When Li Wenjun was very close to the chopper, the wolf completely woke up. It arched its body and shot out like an arrow, determined to tear this human who had hit it on the head into pieces.

  Li Wenjun found it difficult to complete the action of bending down to pick up the knife, he was injured and his body was inconvenient, the wolf was also pressing behind him, so he simply pounced forward and grabbed the axe in his hand.

  Li Wenjun had learned a few moves from a martial arts master who lived next door before he fled, but the master said he wasn't cut out for it and couldn't grasp the essence of martial arts. He taught him for two days and then gave up on him. However, Li Wenjun always suspected that the master was prejudiced against his poor family and was afraid of being matched with their daughter who had freckles all over her face.

  Li Wenjun thought of the bodyguard uncle next door at the moment he pounced on the knife, if he saw his move, would he say that he was a martial arts prodigy who met once in a hundred years?

  In a daze, Li Wenjun grabbed the axe, and at this time, the wolf also pounced over.

  Li Wenjun swung his hand holding the hatchet backward with all his might.

  With a "plop", Li Wenjun heard the sound of the knife entering flesh, and something scalding splashed onto his hands, face, and body.

  He focused his attention and suddenly saw that the axe had chopped onto the wolf's neck, the axe was stuck in the wolf's neck bone, even the wolf's trachea was cut open.

  So badly hurt, the wolf could hardly stand still, its body swaying back and forth, its feet staggering. Before long, it lost its balance and fell into the water with a splash.

  Water splashed everywhere, and what little water there was flew out in all directions. The puddle of water instantly dried up.

  "No..."

  Li Wenjun let out a loud roar, this time he had risked his life, one leg was broken, just to grab the last bit of water from the wolf's mouth, but in the end it was all wasted by the wolf, how could he accept that?

  Li Wenjun didn't know where he got the strength from, but he jumped and bounced to the side of the puddle, pulling the wolf that was already exhausted out of the puddle. He lowered his head to take a look, only to see that inside the puddle there was only muddy water, even if there was water, it was mixed with mud.

  Li Wenjun recklessly lay on the ground, grabbing the muddy sludge with his hands and putting it into his mouth. The water in the muddy sludge drove Li Wenjun into a frenzy. His hands kept stretching out and then pulling back, and when he grabbed the mud, he even picked up the soil underneath. The blood from his thigh also flowed into the puddle, dyeing the puddle bright red.

  In a daze, Li Wenjun seemed to have grabbed something hard, and he almost subconsciously threw the hard object along with the muddy pulp into his mouth.

  The hard object melted at the entrance and slid down his throat, esophagus, and into his intestines.

  Suddenly, a green light shot out from his chest, Li Wenjun lowered his head to take a look, and that green light made him react too slowly to understand what was happening.

  Could it be that I've encountered a monster?

  More green light emanated from his body, and the eerie situation caused Li Wenjun, who was already exhausted and seriously injured, to shout "Monster!" before fainting.

  ……

  After an unknown period of time, perhaps a day, or just a few short minutes, or even just an instant, Li Wenjun opened his eyes. He looked at his chest with some confusion, where the green light was no longer shining through.

  Li Wenjun got up, and to his surprise, he found that his thigh didn't hurt at all. The thigh that was bitten by the wolf had returned to its original state, not only did it stop bleeding, but even the place where the wolf bit off flesh had recovered.

  What's going on? Was I just dreaming a moment ago?

  Li Wenjun looked around and saw the wolf's body lying next to a puddle of water, with the axe stuck in its neck and fresh blood seeping out. The wolf's mouth was still dripping with blood.

  What happened earlier wasn't fake, it was real, but Li Wenjun's leg injury somehow healed itself.

  This is a miracle!

  Li Wenjun, who had little experience, could only attribute it to the all-powerful god. Perhaps some legendary immortal saw that he was suffering too much and lent him a helping hand.

  Li Wenjun knelt on the ground and knocked his head against the sky several times, thanking the passing immortal for saving him.

  After worshiping the god, Li Wenjun pulled out the axe stuck in the wolf's body and then knelt down on the wound, drinking the wolf's blood that was flowing out.

  The wolf's blood had a unique stench and wasn't good to drink, but for Li Wenjun who had been starving for several days, this was the best taste under heaven.

  After drinking for a long time, Li Wenjun let out a satisfied belch. By this time, he had almost drunk all the blood from the wolf's body. He finally reluctantly moved his mouth away. He wiped off the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth, picked up the machete, and began to skin the wolf's corpse.

  Li Wenjun's father was a tanner, making a living by tanning various animal hides and making leather garments. Occasionally, he also skinned cattle and sheep. Li Wenjun had learned a few skills from him, but technically, he couldn't compare to his father. However, it was still possible for him to completely skin a wolf hide.

  After stripping for a while, Li Wenjun felt the heat. He looked up and saw that the sun had risen high. Continuing to strip the wolf's skin under the scorching sun would consume a lot of physical strength and lose a lot of water, which was not worth it. He didn't dare continue, so he prepared to drag the half-stripped wolf carcass to a cooler place.

  Suddenly, Li Wenjun's gaze fell on the puddle again. After a period of settlement, the muddy water and soil had separated again, with the water floating on top. There wasn't much, only a thin layer, not even half a finger deep. If Li Wenjun didn't care, it was estimated that within a day, under the scorching sun, this bit of water would evaporate completely.

  Li Wenjun hastily ran to the riverbank, picked up the water bag, and broke off a thicker reed. He lay down beside the puddle, inserted one end of the reed into the water, sucked the water from the puddle into his mouth, then spat it into the water bag. In this way, he gradually collected all the water from the puddle, barely filling the water bag.

  Li Wenjun wiped the sweat from his forehead, dragged the wolf carcass, and hid in a cool place. His body tilted to one side, and he fell asleep with his clothes on. He had been traveling all night yesterday, fighting with wolves, and peeling off wolf skin, and had been exhausted for so long.

  The golden crow descends, the jade rabbit ascends.

  Li Wenjun woke up and picked up the machete again, continuing to skin the wolf's corpse. The moon was now just a crescent, its light much dimmer than in previous days. Logically, Li Wenjun should have found it difficult to see things clearly, but he seemed to be under the bright light of a full moon.

  Li Wenjun somewhat awkwardly stripped off the entire wolf skin, and then spread it out. He also used a hatchet to cut all the meat from the wolf's body, hanging them on the already dry shrubs, preparing to dry them out and bring them as dried rations.

  The wolf weighed over 100 pounds, and Li Wenjun couldn't possibly take all the meat away. He just selected the most tender and fatty pieces, about 50-60 pounds, which would be around 10-20 pounds after drying. Any more than that, he wouldn't have been able to carry on his long journey.

  Li Wenjun stayed in the same place for another two days, during which he survived by eating roasted wolf meat. He also took off and cleaned the clothes from those people who were bitten to death by wolves. From their bodies, Li Wenjun found a few silver coins and dozens of copper coins, which he carefully collected. As for burying their corpses, Li Wenjun could only express his inability to help, as he had neither the tools nor the physical strength to do so, and could only continue to leave them exposed in the wilderness.

  On the third day, after the wolf meat was basically dry, he rolled up the wolf skin and dried wolf meat together, tied them with a rope made of old clothes, put it on his back, and set out again to find a way to survive.

  This encounter with the wolf was perilous, but the outcome was good, and it rekindled Li Wenjun's desire to survive, which had almost been abandoned.

  Because there was wolf meat to eat and water to drink, Li Wenjun's physical strength was supplemented to a certain extent, and the speed of rushing at night was faster every day.

  After several days of rushing through the night, he stood on the river embankment, looking ahead, and the green line at the horizon was unbroken. Li Wenjun almost cried out, finally he was going to leave the drought-stricken area.

  The horse ran to death on the mountain, Li Wenjun hurried for a whole night, and finally saw a field of farmland the next day. The corn stalks in the field were growing weakly, the land was a bit dry, but the overall color of the corn stalks was still green.

  Li Wenjun took a deep breath, and the air that entered his nostrils seemed to have an extra hint of moisture.

  These corns have not yet reached the ear stage, some of them haven't even grown their husks, and even if they have, they are empty inside.

  Seeing the corn, it means there is a village here. Li Wenjun restrained his impulse to rush out and gnaw on the corn stalks. He planned to find the village, have a good bowl of hot porridge, eat a few meat-filled buns, and comfort his stomach properly.

  To explore the direction, Li Wenjun stood on the riverbank again and looked forward. He was delighted to find that the dry riverbed finally had water in front of him. The river water meandered, like a silver snake lying in the riverbed.

  Li Wenjun, who had not seen water for many days, was overjoyed and rushed down the riverbank, taking big strides to rush into the river. He lay in the water, drinking painfully until his belly was swollen. Then he took out the water bag, washed it repeatedly, and waited until the strange smell inside was almost gone before refilling it with clear river water from a calm spot.

  Li Wenjun looked at the river water again, and his heart moved. He looked around and saw that there didn't seem to be anyone nearby, so he took off all his clothes and plunged into the river once more, washing himself thoroughly before putting on a relatively tidy set of clothes.

  Li Wenjun simply washed the clothes he had changed out of and hung them on a shrub by the shore. The sun was already up, and today was another sunny day; it wouldn't take long for these wet clothes to dry.