Chapter 62: Snow Wolf Down

  Zhan Peng was drenched in sweat in an instant, and the Snow Wolf was about to launch a attack on him! Was he going to die here today? If he were to fall here, would anyone come looking for him? What was he worth? Could he be called a martyr? He raised his hand and slowly pulled out the combat knife from his leg strap, holding it horizontally in front of his chest. He wanted to wait until the Snow Wolf pounced on him, then use the combat knife to pierce its belly, which was the softest and most vulnerable spot for all beasts. If he failed, he would probably become its next meal.

  The Snow Wolf also saw his knife, and a look of disdain and contempt flowed from its eyes. It suddenly let out a low scolding sound towards Zhan Peng, although he couldn't understand what it was trying to express, but Zhan Peng instinctively felt that this low scolding sound seemed like... an elderly elder teaching his ignorant younger generation.

  "What's going on?" Zhan Peng couldn't help but wonder. The escape route he had chosen - the big tree beside him - suddenly made a faint rustling sound. He abruptly lifted his head, and a leopard cat agilely pounced down at him, drawing a beautiful arc in mid-air, heading straight for him.

  The leopard's body is small, but from high altitude jumping down, its powerful hind limb strength plus the inertia of its jump, can instantly crush the peregrine falcon's spine!

  A snow-white shadow suddenly flashed before Zhan Peng's eyes, and a force that could not be stopped fiercely crashed into the flower leopard. The flower leopard was in mid-air and was caught off guard, and it was actually knocked out seven or eight meters away, rolling on the ground five or six times. Before it could even get up, two sharp claws had already torn at its body, and the flower leopard let out a mournful cry as more than ten bloody claw marks appeared on its body instantly.

  The one who launched an attack on Hua Bao was actually Xue Lang!

  The snow wolf seemed to have rich combat experience, and the flower leopard was repelled by it several times in a row. Zhan Peng watched the battle with a tense gaze, suddenly realizing that humans were so small in front of nature, and he didn't even have the possibility of rushing up to help the snow wolf.

  This life-and-death battle between the two carnivores lasted less than five minutes, ending with the Snow Wolf's complete victory. The leopard fled, and the Snow Wolf shook its snow-white fur, stretched lazily, and let out a mournful howl, as if proclaiming its own triumph.

  It is a lonely wandering wolf without companions, but at this moment Zhan Peng seems to have seen a lone warrior facing various dangers and challenging various strong enemies! Day after day, year after year of wandering has sharpened its teeth and strengthened its will!

  It slowly walked up to the motionless Zhan Peng, suddenly stretched out its paw and patted his shoes, as if comforting his frightened emotions.

  "Wolves are emotional towards animals that have shown them kindness and can repay with their lives." The instructor's words suddenly flashed into Zhang Peng's mind, he didn't know if the snow wolf was also repaying him for the kindness of feeding it for several days.

  After a long time, Zhan Peng finally found his voice again. He squatted down and looked into the Snow Wolf's eyes: "Thank you for saving me," he slowly stretched out his palm, "May... I touch you?"

  The snow wolf tilted its head, looking at his hand, as if it had understood what he said and was considering the feasibility of the proposal. Slowly, it crouched down on the ground, narrowing its blue-gray eyes, with a hint of tenderness in its gaze, and sniffed at Xiang Peng's face, its soft fur lightly brushing against his skin, making him feel a slight itch.

  Zhan Peng tentatively reached out and placed his palm on the Snow Wolf's back, gently stroking it. The Snow Wolf lowered its shoulders, resigned to its fate, and sat still, letting out a few snorts of discontent at this turn of events.

  The wolf's ears perked up in a certain direction, listened carefully for a while, and suddenly stood up, making several consecutive leaps, its snow-white figure silently disappearing into the dense forest.

  Zhan Peng looked in the direction it disappeared with a hint of loss, not knowing if he would see it again. After a while, he slowly got up, used his compass to locate himself, and felt that he was already very close to the fifth supply point. He reorganized his equipment and looked around, hoping to find some prey left for the snow wolf as a way to repay its lifesaving favor.

  But in a place where a wolf and a leopard had once fought to the death, the small animals had long since fled without a trace, so he could only continue on his way, carefully searching along the route.

  He stumbled forward for a kilometer, when suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes, and a snow wolf jumped out, standing silently in front of him, making low growls, then biting his pant leg, as if trying to drag him somewhere.

  Zhan Peng's heart was still a bit tense and fearful, but he couldn't bear to disappoint Xue Lang, so he had no choice but to follow it forward. After crossing a low-lying area and trudging through a large expanse of wild grass, a wild boar that had fallen to the ground and stopped breathing suddenly appeared before Zhan Peng's eyes.

  The snow wolf ran to the side of the wild boar, using its sharp mouth to nudge the body of the wild boar, with a hissing sound coming from its nose. It raised its head and looked at Zhan Peng, its eyes seeming to say: "Eat, this is for you."

  Zhan Peng did not expect Snow Wolf to be willing to share food with him, it seemed that Snow Wolf had already regarded him as a companion. He squatted down and looked carefully, the body of the wild boar was still warm, there were obvious tooth marks on the neck, which were left by the wolf's teeth, it seemed that this wild boar had just died under Snow Wolf's attack.

  The wild boar's skin is extremely thick, even adult male bears encountering the wild boar can only retreat, while the snow wolf has the courage to challenge this wild boar that is not much smaller than it, and uses its sharp teeth to cut open the wild boar's throat. What a formidable and terrifying fighting force!

  He looked at Snow Wolf with inquiring eyes, who had already crouched down and was tapping the ground with its front paws, impatiently urging him on.

  Zhan Peng took out the wild battle knife, cut open the boar's corpse, and placed most of the meat and internal organs in front of Snow Wolf. He only took a few small pieces of meat, put them in a bag, and stuffed it into his backpack. This was Snow Wolf's prey, he couldn't be too greedy. He cut off a small piece of raw pork, closed his eyes, and swallowed it whole. Having eaten raw meat for over twenty days, he gradually got used to the pungent smell.

  The snow wolf ate a big meal without hesitation, and after eating its fill, it let out a satisfied belch, licking the fresh blood from its mouth, waiting for Xing Peng to get ready to set off.

  One wolf again on the road, the only difference is that now they walk shoulder to shoulder, and in this endless primitive forest, they have formed an extraordinary friendship. The snow wolf still howls at midnight, but Zhan Peng will no longer feel frightened.

  At the fifth supply point, Zhan Peng found a note with his mission written on it. The mission was actually quite simple: to walk out of the primeval forest within five days and gather at the coordinate points marked on the note.

  As the trees were gradually replaced by more and more lush shrubs, Zhan Peng knew that he had already reached the edge of the primeval forest. The journey that was supposed to take five days only took him three and a half days. Taking a deep breath of the humid air filled with the fragrance of grass and wood, Zhan Peng looked at the Snow Wolf who had been walking beside him all along. He had gradually gotten used to the companionship and protection of this "comrade", and now that they were about to part ways, he felt a pang of reluctance in his heart.

  He crouched down, gazing into the Snow Wolf's eyes: "I'm about to leave the forest now. Ahead is a world that belongs to humans, it's not suitable for you to survive in. Go back to the forest. Thank you for accompanying me all along, we should part ways now."

  The snow wolf tilted its head to look at him, then looked ahead at the road that was no longer hidden by dense forests. There were wheel tracks on the road, indicating human activity. It seemed to understand Zhan Peng's words and squatted down on the ground, making low whining sounds in its mouth, as if bidding farewell or warning.

  Zhan Peng put all the remaining meat in his backpack next to it and said softly, "Farewell, my friend, I will miss you."

  Reluctantly parting ways, they walked a long, long distance. When Zhan Peng turned back to look again, the Snow Wolf was still squatting at the edge of the forest, gazing in his direction.

  Before nightfall, Zhan Peng successfully found the gathering point. There were several temporary tents set up here, and the cooking team was busy making porridge for the snipers who had already returned. Zhan Peng reported to the company commander, handed over his gun, and was informed by Commander Gao Jianjun to take a bath, change clothes, and engage in free activities while waiting for other comrades to return to camp.

  After drinking a bowl of hot steaming rice porridge, Zhan Peng let out a long sigh. In nearly thirty days, this was the first time he had eaten food that was emitting steam. He felt as if he was about to forget the taste of human delicacies.

  The cooking team boiled several large pots of boiling water, and the snipers who had returned to the camp washed themselves with relish, changed into clean clothes, and sat around the bonfire in twos and threes writing their own experiences and insights from this long-distance training exercise.

  Suddenly, a burst of rifle bolts sounded from the sentry post, and someone shouted loudly: "Wolf! There's a wolf! It's a white wolf!"

  Zhan Peng was startled and jumped up, took a glance at the sentry and immediately rushed over, shouting while running: "Don't shoot! That's my friend!"

  Outside the camp, Snow Wolf faced countless gun muzzles without flinching, its eyes gleaming with a fierce light. Zhan Peng rushed over and hugged Snow Wolf's neck, using his body to block the soldiers' guns, shouting: "It doesn't have malicious intentions, it's here looking for me, don't shoot!"

  "Put down your guns!" came a stern low shout from behind, and the sentries slowly lowered their gun barrels.

  Zhan Peng turned around and looked at Gao Jianjun, saying in a low voice: "Gao Lian, this wolf once saved my life. If it weren't for it, I'm afraid all that would be left of me now is a skeleton."

  Gao Jianjun's discerning gaze fell on the Snow Wolf, he was an old hand in the jungle, having dealt with wolves countless times. He found that this wolf indeed had no intention of attacking humans, so he nodded: "Give you two hours to say goodbye to your friend, is that enough?"

  "That's enough, thank you, Commander Lian!" Zhan Peng was overjoyed and was about to invite Xue Lang to leave the camp together when Gao Jianjun suddenly shouted from behind him: "Treating guests like this isn't very polite, is it? Go to the cooking squad and get some game meat to entertain your friend!"

  Zhan Peng turned around and looked at Gao Jianjun with a thick smile in his eyes, saluted and shouted: "Yes!"

  He took two unskinned wild rabbits, and Zhan Peng brought Xuehu to a small hill far away from the camp, where they sat side by side with the wolf, gazing up at the moon hanging high in the sky.

  "Do you know? I've always wanted to be an excellent special forces soldier." Zhan Peng spoke as if he was confiding in a long-lost friend, "So, I've been working very hard, striving to make myself even better, and striving for everyone's acceptance. My spirit has always been on high alert, ready to face all sorts of challenges at any time. Before meeting you, I really felt exhausted, like I was about to collapse."

  The snow wolf seemed to understand, gazing at Xian Peng's face with eyes like a loving father examining his son who was about to embark on a journey. After a while, it lowered its head and carefully sniffed Xian Peng's scent, then stretched out its front paws to gently pat his shoulders, as if giving him some encouragement.

  Zhan Peng lowered his head and smiled, gently stroking the snow-white fur on Xue Hu's back. "It was you who taught me how to fight tenaciously when I'm alone, thank you for making me understand that loneliness can give you such immense power! From now on, I won't be afraid of being alone anymore! Nor will I be afraid of challenges!"

  The snow wolf ran away, rushing towards its eternal home - the primeval forest. Zhan Peng didn't know how it came to this forest, and it couldn't tell its story to Zhan Peng, but Zhan Peng knew that for the rest of his life he would never forget this silent friend.

  It wasn't until many, many years later, when Zhan Peng himself became a father, that he understood why Snow Wolf had gone to the temporary camp to visit him. It was just like a kind father, worried that his son would not be able to survive in an unfamiliar environment, and had to go see for himself before he could rest assured.

  Zhan Peng held the telescope, staring at the back of the snow wolf until it gradually became a blurry white dot and finally disappeared. He let out a soft sigh, lowered his head, and stared at the grass under his feet.

  "Leaving?" came Gao Jianjun's low voice from behind.

  "Let's go." Zhan Peng turned around, took a deep breath, and met Gao Jianjun's eyes. "Gao Lian, thank you." He gave Gao Lian a brief report on his days of "dancing with wolves", then asked expectantly: "Last time you told me to give myself a code name, can I be called 'Snow Wolf'?"

  Gao Jianjun looked at him hesitantly: "I can understand that you want to commemorate this friend, but the code name of a sniper must have an 'eagle' character."

  Zhan Peng gazed silently in the direction where Xue Lang had disappeared, without saying a word.

  Gao Jianjun suddenly felt that Zhan Peng was a little different from before. On his body, an invisible and sharp aura was slowly rising. Was it his majestic figure that still stood proudly in the deep night? Or was it his face with angular features, strong as steel? Or was it his pair of eyes that were both piercing and hot, having merged with the vast and wild original forest?

  Gao Jianjun's heavy hand patted his shoulder: "I'll try to help you make a request to the battalion, if the battalion has no objection, then use this code name. Let's go, get on the car and return to the company."

  Back to the sniper team, still physical training, regular training, psychological quality training, and occasionally confrontational training with other troops. Sometimes they were sent to the border for patrol missions, or thrown into the primeval forest for long-distance solo exercises. However, in the years that followed, Zhan Peng never saw Snow Wolf's shadow again. He often thought that perhaps Snow Wolf was in a quiet corner, blinking those blue-gray eyes full of wisdom, staring at his every move, feeling sad for every failure, and happy for every success.