Chapter Six: Pursuit

  Gan Ping only focused on escaping forward, but didn't notice that the old wolf behind him had already gotten up, its left front paw was disabled and slightly curved, staring in the direction he was running, with a fierce glow in its eyes.

  Just now, the wolf pounced on Gan Ping, but ended up breaking one of its front paws and was thrown out. However, it didn't occur to him that the child who had just escaped in a flurry had crushed his front paw. Wolves are animals that hold grudges, and this old wolf that was almost a spirit was even more so. This time, because Gan Ping had suffered such a great loss, he couldn't help but feel resentful. In its limited thinking, it had already decided that the prey in front of him had escaped by luck, and unexpectedly injured himself.

  What's crucial is that having suffered such a severe injury, it can't even catch small animals, so the old wolf can't let go of this piece of fat that just escaped its jaws, and thus limping and hobbling along, it follows in the direction Gan Ping ran.

  Gan Ping hastily fled forward, because he had continuously bumped into tree trunks two or three times. This made Gan Ping extremely cautious about this strange place and not dare to run at full speed. He could only walk with slightly faster footsteps, but still couldn't control his strength well, almost bumping into trees from time to time. In the midst of his panic, he became even more convinced that this was definitely a weird forest, where even the trees seemed to be deliberately colliding with him, causing him to quicken his pace.

  Gan Ping fled in a state of panic, constantly looking back over his shoulder, fearing that the ferocious beast would pounce on him and snap its jaws shut around his throat. Just as he had begun to calm down slightly and was thinking of taking a short rest, he suddenly spotted the wolf several dozen yards away, coldly sizing him up, which made his heart skip a beat again, and he hastily stopped in his tracks, watching the beast's movements with bated breath.

  However, the already disabled old wolf did not rush over to attack him, but instead stared at him from a distance. The icy gaze made Gan Ping feel chilled to the bone, and he realized that the ferocious beast had no intention of pouncing on him. Gan Ping quickly turned around and walked forward, occasionally glancing back at the wolf with the corner of his eye. As long as he reached a populated area, he wouldn't be afraid of it, Gan Ping thought.

  The mountain wind howled, the fallen leaves were golden yellow, and it was already a desolate autumn. Under the towering trees, there were thick layers of fallen leaves everywhere. Gan Ping had not slept well for two days and two nights. Although he couldn't see any wild beasts in the previous few days, the dark forest was oppressive and lonely, but he somewhat missed those times.

  Because at that time, he only needed to find a big tree every night, climb up and nest on the branches for a night, and he could sleep until dawn. But in the past two days, he was nervous and fearful of falling down and being eaten by wolves when sleeping in the tree at night.

  At night, the wolf's mournful howls struck Gan Ping's fragile nerves again and again, but fortunately he was physically strong and didn't suffer much, only looking a bit troubled.

  This is exactly the old wolf's trick, wanting to drag down Gan Ping, waiting for him to support it until he can't hold on anymore, and then pounce over to bite through Gan Ping's throat. A wolf often tracks its prey for several days and nights without sleep or rest, until the prey collapses and falls apart. It seems that this old wolf is well-versed in this way, as it has been disabled and is not convenient to launch an attack, so it takes a step back and chooses this method to track Gan Ping.

  What a pity that the cunning beast's calculations all fell through. In its eyes, Gan Ping was just a plump and tender piece of meat, but in order to avoid aggravating his injuries, it wanted to drag down Gan Ping. However, what it never expected was that this piece of meat was actually a copper pea that could shatter its teeth. The reason the pea had been able to chase it all the way here was simply because it hadn't discovered its own strength yet.

  Gan Ping is now numb to the old wolf, moving quickly for two consecutive days, and still hasn't reached a place with human footprints. This makes Gan Ping suspect that he may have taken the wrong direction, walking deep into the mountains. He occasionally uses the corner of his eye to scan if the old wolf is following him, moving slowly as usual. When he turns his head back to look around, he suddenly discovers that the beast has disappeared.

  Gan Ping was shocked and hastily turned his head to look around, only to find that the wild wolf with a crippled paw had somehow appeared in front of him. He couldn't help but be startled, and he held up a dry branch he had picked up two days ago to block his body.

  The wolf in front of him had become much thinner, apparently the broken claw had consumed a lot of his physical strength, and the continuous tracking for two days and two nights had also exhausted him greatly. His fur had lost its luster, and his originally thin body now showed every joint prominently, but the green glow in his eyes remained undiminished, staring fixedly at Gan Ping.

  This wild wolf can no longer hold on, its originally weak body plus the disabled front paw makes every step forward so difficult. What it cannot understand is that after two days of long-distance trekking, this little kid in front of it seems to be unaffected. It has stopped thinking about that now, its body tells it to launch an attack. If it doesn't take advantage of its remaining strength to eat this piece of fat meat in front of it, then the one who will die is itself.

  Gan Ping also understood that after two days of trekking, this wild wolf would launch another attack. With the experience from last time, he calmed down a bit and stared at the old wolf that had been following him for two days to see what it would do.

  That thin and weak wild wolf slowly moved forward, step by step towards Gan Ping. Suddenly, it let out a loud howl, opened its bloody big mouth and pounced on him. Even though he had once faced the wolf's mouth before, Gan Ping still couldn't help but take a step back, but the withered branch in his hand didn't stop, striking at the wolf that was flying towards him.

  A shrill howl echoed through the entire forest, startling a flock of birds into flight. Gan Ping stared blankly at the old wolf that lay about ten feet away, rolling on the ground in agony, then looked down at the withered branch in his hand, which had been broken into two sections, and wore an expression of utter incredulity on his face.

  Who would have thought that just a light blow could knock down the nightmare of these two days? The wolf fell to the ground, licking its bloody mouth nonstop, and let out a mournful howl towards the sky. For wolves, their teeth are their life, and their sharpest weapon is these four teeth. With them, even if this wolf loses its paws or goes blind, it can still survive. But without its teeth, its fate is sealed. That one blow from Gan Ping just now knocked out all of its teeth, and from now on, it will no longer be able to hunt and kill prey at will. Its ultimate outcome has only one possibility - death.

  He threw away the branch in his hand, and quietly walked away from the wolf that was still rolling on the ground, wailing. Looking at the wolf's miserable appearance, the resentment of being chased for two days dissipated a lot. In Gan Ping's small heart, there was still some reluctance, but if he had to bury himself in the wolf's belly and become its food, he would never agree to that.

  As the mournful howl of the wolf grew fainter and farther away, the gloom that had been weighing on Gan Ping's mind for two days gradually dissipated. He carefully examined his own hands, hardly believing he possessed such great strength. After a moment's thought, he walked over to a nearby tree, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and punched the trunk with all his might.

  With a loud crash, Gan Ping opened his eyes to see that the solid tree trunk had a deep fist print on it. Upon closer inspection of his own hand, there wasn't even a scratch. This made him extremely delighted, although he didn't know why, but having such strength would undoubtedly add weight to his journey out of this forest.

  This sudden divine power made Gan Ping unable to suppress his own joy, bouncing and jumping forward, after all, he was just a child under the age of ten.

  Even if the forest is dark, the road is rugged, and perhaps it's a dead end ahead, but at this moment, Xiao Ganping is undoubtedly happy. This kind of innocent heart is the foundation for keeping one's mind clear and open.

  Days of rushing around had left Gan Ping disheveled and covered in dust, with only a pair of bright, piercing eyes revealing his inner strength. Such a long and arduous journey would have exhausted an ordinary person, but perhaps only someone like Gan Ping, a rare breed, could remain so optimistic and carefree.

  At this time, he was leaning against a tree, looking at Erlang's legs, secretly worrying that so many days had passed and there was still no sign of anyone.

  Eating those wild fruits all day, now thinking about it makes my mouth water with sourness, when can such days come to an end?

  He was at a loss, and while he was dazed, a green wild fruit hit his head. Gan Ping sat up with a start, looked around in all directions, and just as he was searching in vain, another wild fruit hit the back of his head. This time Gan Ping got angry, "Who? Come out, who's hitting me."

  "Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak." Gan Ping looked up to see a monkey jumping and leaping on the tree he had just been leaning against, seemingly overjoyed at being discovered by Gan Ping.

  This monkey was only half a foot long, and unlike ordinary monkeys, its whole body was covered with dark red fur. Geping had seen many wild animals in the past few days, including a group of mischievous monkeys, but he had never seen a red-haired monkey like this before. Just as Geping was stunned, the monkey threw another wild fruit at him, and Geping hastily dodged it.

  The monkey dodged the wild fruit and jumped up, stretched out its claws to scratch its head in a rather human-like manner, turned around, picked up a nearby fruit, and leaped onto a branch not far from Gan Ping.

  Gan Ping didn't know what it wanted to do, standing there carefully admiring the monkey not far away. This time he got a little closer, and Gan Ping finally saw the whole appearance of the monkey. The monkey was more than half a foot tall, with dark red fur all over its body, but on top of its head, there was a small bunch of cyan-gray hair. A pair of shiny black eyes were constantly rolling around, revealing extraordinary cleverness. Two large nostrils were turned upwards, looking extremely comical and cute. A long tail curled up behind its body, at least twice as long as its torso.

  At this time, the monkey was chattering loudly, holding a wild fruit and making gestures to offer it to Gan Ping. Gan Ping was somewhat perplexed, as he had never seen monkeys behave like this before - they would either keep their distance or attack him with objects, but never actively approach him in a friendly manner.

  He hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly to the tree and stretched out his hand. The monkey loosened its two paws, and the fruit fell into his hands. Gan Ping examined the wild fruit in his hand, which was undoubtedly more fragrant than what he had picked himself. It seemed that this monkey was better at picking fruit than him.

  Just as he was sighing in admiration, the monkey suddenly let out a series of shrill cries. Gan Ping looked up to see what was happening and found that the monkey had seen him receive the wild fruit it had sent over. The monkey was excitedly jumping around on the branches, its dark red fur standing out against the green leaves, with a small tuft of blue-white hair on top of its head, like a flame dancing among the branches.