Dancing with Wolves Chapter 2

  It wasn't until much later that Liu Ze slowly regained consciousness, but his entire body ached as if it had been torn apart, the pain indicating that he still had feeling and hadn't died yet. In his heart, Liu Ze was still joyful, although he didn't understand how he had managed to escape from death's door, this wasn't important, what was important was that he was alive, being alive meant he could see his loved ones again.

  He forced himself to open his eyes, although it was a rather difficult thing to do. But everything in front of him left him stunned. Logically speaking, he should have fallen to the bottom of the deep pit, but at this moment, he found himself in an unfamiliar environment. The half-person-high wormwood was lush and green, the fragrance of wild chrysanthemum filled his nostrils, the sky was azure blue, and the clouds were spotless white. It had been a long time since he had seen such a blue sky, so deep, so pure. In Liu Ze's impression, the sky was always gray and hazy, either foggy or dusty, when had he ever seen such a beautiful day with a clear blue sky?

  What is this place? How did I get here?

  Liu Ze moved his hands and feet, although it was painful to the heart, but he clearly felt that there were no fractures. He secretly let out a sigh of relief and struggled to get up. Here was a vast wilderness, with wild grasses spreading wildly, not many tall trees, but low shrubs could be seen everywhere. There were no roads, only paw prints left by beasts. Liu Ze covered the scorching sun with his hands, judging the direction, but when he gazed at the western mountain peaks again, he was stunned.

  Although the environment was unfamiliar, those mountain peaks were familiar. The middle one, which resembled a tiger's head, was the Tiger Head Peak that he had climbed countless times since childhood. He knew every ridge and valley of the Tiger Head Peak like the back of his hand, let alone the Double-Headed Peak and Broken Rock Mountain on either side, which hadn't changed at all. In other words, he was still standing in the same place, still standing at the edge of the cliff where he had fallen! But where was the collapsed cliff? Where was that bumpy mountain road? Liu Ze looked around in dismay, but there was nothing here except a desolate wilderness without any signs of human habitation. The roads, villages, towns, and even the tall smokestacks that Liu Ze hated for emitting thick smoke every day had all disappeared.

  What's going on here?

  Time-travel? This term suddenly popped up in his mind, and it was the only possibility that could make sense. Although Liu Ze didn't receive higher education, he enjoyed reading books on astronomy, geography, and history. However, he wasn't fond of the time-travel genre that flooded various websites, although he would occasionally read a few articles, but deep down, he looked down on them. Wasn't this just nonsense?

  But at this moment, he had to accept the fact that he really crossed over! What era is this? It's so desolate, at least a few thousand years ago? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, or maybe he even crossed over to prehistoric times. A few small birds flew out of the nearby grass with a "fluttering" sound, and Liu Ze secretly let out a sigh of relief, fortunately not crossing into the Jurassic period, otherwise ten of him wouldn't be enough for a Tyrannosaurus Rex's breakfast.

  Although I'm glad I didn't fall into the era with dinosaurs, but separated from future generations for thousands of years, how can I return to my own home, back to his beloved wife and children?

  A sense of despair and sorrow surged up in his heart, and with a turn of the eye, everything had changed. Liu Ze collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Nianian pounced on him, calling out sweetly: "Daddy, I love you so much!" But when he opened his eyes again, all the illusions disappeared. He dared not imagine how his wife and child would react after learning of his disappearance - would his wife be heartbroken, crying uncontrollably? Would his son wail and sob ceaselessly? Perhaps only his young daughter, who didn't understand what was happening, would ask: "Where did Daddy go?"

  Without him, where would this family go? Liu Ze looked up at the sky and shouted, "Heaven, why are you treating me like this?! We've already struggled to the bottom, but why won't you let us off? You took everything away from me, leaving me alone in the wilderness. Since you don't let me die, what's the point of giving me this life?

  A sharp pain shot up from his left leg, and Liu Ze couldn't help but turn around to see a large wolf-like dog emerging from nowhere, its jaws locked onto his left leg. Liu Ze's mind had already been consumed by grief, leaving no room for fear, so he picked up a nearby rock and smashed it down on the dog's head with all his might, shouting: "You beast! You dare to bully me too!"

  That wolf dog was hit by a stone and let out a mournful howl, tucking its tail between its legs as it fled more than ten meters away.

  At this time, Liu Ze stared at the hand holding the stone and was stunned. It wasn't that the stone was covered in wolf blood, but his palm had actually shrunk, and the calluses on his palm were gone. His pale and tender hands were no different from those of a child. He had already vaguely felt this change just now, but he hadn't had time to think or make judgments while in pain. Not only his hand, but also his height and waistline had shrunk significantly, the originally well-fitting clothes became loose and tattered, although these clothes were all torn apart anyway.

  But Liu Ze didn't have the mood to care about these things, looking at his left leg which was still bleeding, and that wolf-like animal was squatting not far away, staring at him with dead eyes. It wasn't until now that Liu Ze felt a chill run down his spine, Wolf! This thing wasn't some kind of wolf dog, but a real wolf! At the same time, he also realized that in this savage era, filled with countless wolves and beasts, he had been reborn here just to serve as a snack for these ferocious creatures!

  But at this time, Liu Ze had already lost all interest in life. Whether he died or lived, it didn't matter to him anymore. He stumbled forward a few steps towards the wolf, laughing sarcastically at himself.

  "Come on! Eat up! Fresh and delicious human flesh! First come first served!"

  But a strange thing happened, the wolf retreated in fear, its hind legs limping, hopping and skipping, looking very comical. Liu Ze noticed that it was an old wolf, with drooping ears, dull eyes, thin and bony body, and long and disheveled fur. It was just such an old toothless wolf, otherwise the bite on his leg earlier would not have been so simple as just a tooth mark.

  The wolf is a pack animal, this old wolf standing alone here must have been abandoned by the pack. Perhaps it was once a wolf king, but as it grew old and weak, it was replaced by a new king. The lame leg was probably bitten off during the battle for dominance. It seemed to be intimidated by Liu Ze's crazy behavior, retreating several meters back, but still unwilling to give up its prey, crouching there, staring fixedly at Liu Ze.

  Liu Ze slowly calmed down, and he thought of Jack London's "Love of Life". The situation was surprisingly similar to the protagonist's encounter in the text. On the desolate ice field, two dying creatures, a man and a wolf, were dragging their dying bodies on the barren land, preying on each other. To survive, to conquer this disgusting sick wolf, he gritted his teeth and persisted until the end, biting the wolf to death, drinking its blood, and in the battle between man and wolf, man emerged victorious. In the end, he was rescued, and life radiated dazzling light.

  Life is never giving up! Liu Ze looked at the old and weak wolf, perhaps it had once led a pack of wolves roaming the wilderness, but now it was out of power, expelled from the pack, hunger and disability would take its life at any moment, with its ability, it was impossible to hunt for living prey again, what awaited it might be only death, but Liu Ze saw the wolf's greed and desire to survive in his dim eyes.

  Even ants steal life, let alone wolves, and even more so humans!

  In an instant, Liu Ze's mind firmed up a lot. Without him, his wife and children might have lived a harder life, but they would never give up! If his wife really knew about his current situation, she must also hope that he would live on!

  Yes! In order not to disappoint his wife and children, he must live on! He must! Every life given is not for giving up. Since he was reborn in this barbarous era, then he must live on resolutely, no matter what, never give up lightly.

  Liu Ze felt the blood in his body boiling, the flame of confidence burning. He was just a sick wolf, what was there to fear? He patted his pocket, apart from the tens of yuan in loose change, he also had a multi-functional combination tool knife and a family photo.

  Looking at the smiling faces of his wife and children in the photo, his eyes blurred again. He gritted his teeth and firmly wiped away his tears, silently telling himself that this was the last tear he would shed for his wife and children, and from now on, he would never cry again! If he could travel through time to get here, why couldn't he find a way back home? No matter how long or far the road was, as long as there was a dream in his heart, perhaps there was hope. Don't give up! Never give up!

  Liu Ze put away the photos, grasping a three-inch-long utility knife. Using this thing to deal with a wolf seemed a bit unrealistic. But he quickly came up with an idea, finding a dry wooden stick as thick as a duck egg in the grass, using the utility knife to sharpen it, making a wooden stake, the sharp tip of which was enough to pierce the sick wolf's throat. With a weapon, Liu Ze's mood stabilized, and self-defense was no longer a problem. Only then did he remember the backpack on his back, after this ordeal, he had no idea if that laptop could still be used.

  He tried to open the laptop, turned on the power, and quickly the LCD screen lit up, and the icons on the desktop appeared - amazingly intact! This laptop was functioning normally except for the fact that it couldn't connect to the internet - what a joke, this was at least thousands of years ago. Liu Ze curiously opened the laptop's disk, remembering what the middle-aged man had said about not deleting the important things inside. What important things? He didn't know until he looked, and was shocked to see that almost the entire 1TB hard drive was full, containing a complete set of encyclopedias covering all aspects of modern knowledge, even including videos of Teacher Cang and Teacher Fan's lectures.

  Liu Ze was puzzled, what's the use of installing a whole set of encyclopedias on this laptop? It's understandable to have Teacher Cang's videos, as one needs some reference materials when going to bed with a mistress. But what's the point of having astronomy, geography, biology, and chemistry? Is he a scientist or something? Liu Ze thought for a moment, that man's appearance was completely like a nouveau riche, not even close to a refined and elegant scientist. However, you can't judge a person by their appearance, who knows what use he has for installing this big encyclopedia - but that's not the point, the point is that Liu Ze now owns this laptop, equivalent to having a golden finger, heaven knows what it will bring to this ignorant era. Although the solar-powered battery only lasts three or four hours after charging, it's enough.

  But now is not the time to study this stuff, Liu Ze urgently wants to know which era he is in, Qin and Han? Tang and Song? Or the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? The only way to find out the answer is to find people!

  Liu Ze ripped off a piece of cloth and bandaged the wound that was still bleeding. Damn it! Who knows if this wolf has rabies? There's no vaccine for rabies now, if I get infected, I'm done for! Liu Ze could only secretly pray in his heart, old wolf, whatever disease you have, just don't have rabies.

  On a dry riverbed, a strange scene appeared: a ragged young boy was walking in front with the help of a wooden stick, limping and staggering, while ten meters behind him, a weak old wolf with a similar limp followed closely, its eyes fixed on the boy. As they moved forward, they left countless footprints on the shallow sandy beach, as if performing a synchronized dance.