novelaction Chapter 165 The Wolf
Chapter 165 The Wolf
Suddenly, a snow-white figure darted past the tent.
"You scared me! What did I think it was? It was just a rabbit."
Seeing that Anna was calmer than him, while he himself had almost fired, Wang Ergou said awkwardly.
Li Xiangyang did not respond to Wang Ergou's words, his brows furrowed.
This snow hare's behavior was very unusual; it seemed completely unconcerned about the firelight, something he had never seen before in his many years of hunting.
"Something's not right," Li Xiangyang said in a low voice.
He carefully observed the black cat's reaction.
The black cat's ears stood straight up, its eyes fixed on the direction where the snow rabbit had disappeared, and its fur stood on end.
This is its standard reaction when it encounters danger.
Just then, an exceptionally strong cold wind blew by, causing the firelight to flicker violently.
A rustling sound came from the woods in the distance, and several gray shadows could be vaguely seen moving.
Li Xiangyang picked up his gun and held his breath.
In the wind and snow, a large gray wolf slowly emerged from the woods.
Under the moonlight, Li Xiangyang's first impression was that the wolf's back looked strange, as if it was carrying something.
When he looked closely, his heart sank.
On the back of this wolf lay a terrifying creature.
It was a size smaller than a wolf, with unusually short forelimbs that were pressed tightly against the wolf's back, as if they were grown there.
The creature raised its head slightly, its eerie green eyes fixed intently on the camp.
That look sent chills down Li Xiangyang's spine.
He had seen the eyes of a wolf, fierce and direct; he had seen the eyes of a tiger, majestic and domineering.
But those eyes held a calculating quality that was almost human.
“Beetle…”
The moment their eyes met, the phrase "colluding in evil" uncontrollably popped into Li Xiangyang's mind.
Legend has it that wolves and jackals are the same type of animal. Wolves have long front legs and short hind legs, while jackals are the opposite, with short front legs and long hind legs.
Every time the wolf goes out, it has to rely on the wolf, putting its front legs on the wolf's hind legs to move; otherwise, it will be unable to move an inch.
As for what exactly a "bei" is, there is still no definitive answer. Some say it is a crippled wolf, while others say it is a hybrid of a wolf and a fox.
Li Xiangyang never imagined that he would actually meet him one day.
“What is a ‘bei’?” Anna asked softly.
Li Xiangyang didn't have time to answer. Suddenly, the wolf moved, its front paw gently patting the wolf's neck.
The wolf pack immediately sprang into action, as if receiving some kind of signal, and began to slowly approach the camp.
"It's over, we've really run into a wolf! It's commanding the wolf pack..." Wang Ergou's voice trembled.
Li Xiangyang stared intently at the strange combination.
The way the wolf lay on its back resembled a short hunter in animal skin, coldly observing his prey.
In this vast, snow-covered forest, this scene is more chilling than any wild beast.
Just as Li Xiangyang was observing the wolf by the firelight, the wolf pack began to stir.
The first to move were two young wolves, who approached the camp tentatively from different directions.
Li Xiangyang could tell that these were inexperienced wolf cubs, but even so, the ferocity in their eyes was not to be underestimated.
"Don't fire yet, they're testing the waters," Li Xiangyang said in a low voice.
Before the words were even finished, one of the wolf cubs suddenly accelerated and charged towards the camp.
Despite Li Xiangyang's instructions, Wang Ergou and Anna found it hard not to fire when they saw the wolf charging at them.
Just as the two were about to fire, Nightshade roared and darted out like a black shadow.
Its reaction was so fast that even Li Xiangyang hadn't expected it.
With a sudden lunge, Nightshade bit a wolf's neck, causing the wolf to let out a pitiful howl.
Seeing that things were not going well, the other wolf turned and ran away.
The one bitten by Nightshade struggled desperately, but Nightshade still ended its life.
"Good heavens!" Wang Ergou couldn't help but exclaim. "No wonder Master Zheng treasures it like a precious jewel. If I had a hunting rifle like that, I'd treat it like a sacred object too."
Although Nightshade's heroic performance resulted in the loss of one wolf in the pack.
However, instead of retreating, the enemy launched a massive attack.
In the second wave of probing, the other side clearly deployed its elite forces.
The three old wolves were clearly much more experienced, and under the cover of the wind and snow, they approached silently.
Faced with this extremely oppressive scene, Anna couldn't withstand the psychological pressure and decisively fired a shot.
The gunshots pierced the snowstorm. One wolf fell to the ground, while the other two quickly retreated.
Li Xiangyang noticed that their retreat route cleverly avoided all possible firing angles.
At the same time, the wolf's expression changed.
It stared at its fallen companion, a cold glint flashing in its eerie green eyes. With a gentle pat on its back, the pack immediately tightened its formation and disappeared back into the snowstorm.
"This is troublesome," Li Xiangyang said in a low voice.
"No way? They still dare to come knowing we have guns?" Wang Ergou asked nervously.
"This is a psychological game. The side that strikes first indicates a lack of confidence and a blood feud. How could the other side not retaliate?"
Li Xiangyang said helplessly.
Anna felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.
"Don't take it to heart. Even if you don't fire, if you get any closer, we'll have no choice."
Li Xiangyang comforted him.
Amidst the wind and snow, the howls of wolves rose and fell, as if mourning their fallen comrades, or perhaps brewing an even fiercer attack.
“There’s not much firewood left in the fire,” Anna reminded her.
Li Xiangyang glanced at the dwindling fire, then at the approaching wolf shadows: "They're waiting for this. Waiting for the fire to die down, for visibility to worsen, and then..."
Before he could finish speaking, a particularly biting gust of cold wind blew in, causing the fire to shake violently and almost go out.
In the blink of an eye, the wolf pack surged in like a tidal wave.
Li Xiangyang saw at least five or six wolves launch an attack simultaneously. They no longer probed but instead used the most direct method, trying to break through the camp's defenses in one fell swoop.
Nightshade and Black Cat arched their backs at the same time, but they knew they couldn't handle so many wolves.
Xiao Hu trembled as he hid behind Li Xiangyang.
"Attack!" Li Xiangyang roared.
Three gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.
Despite the close distance, the three men were unable to inflict fatal injuries despite hitting the targets due to impaired vision.
With no other option, Li Xiangyang had to fire continuously to force the attack back.
However, before he could catch his breath, he saw the wolf's front paw rhythmically tapping lightly on the back of the wolf beneath him.
Immediately afterwards, the other party let out a shrill wolf howl.
"Watch out above!"
Realizing something was wrong, Li Xiangyang immediately raised the muzzle of his gun.
At the same time, two huge wolves pounced down from the top of the tent.
It turns out that the previous frontal attack was a feint; the real killing move was this.
At the critical moment, Nightshade suddenly leaped up and crashed head-on into one of the wolves.
Another wolf pounced on Anna, and was about to succeed.
Li Xiangyang decisively opened fire.
The shot was extremely accurate, hitting the wolf squarely in the throat.